Chapter 67: Anomalies Worth Befriending

The middle-aged man standing before him had regular features and a very standard square face, bearing a striking facial resemblance to the actor Hu Jun who played Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, there were a few discordant elements on this square face.

Beneath his left eye was a distinct black mole.

Across his right cheek stretched a scar about ten centimeters long, running from the outer corner of his right eyebrow all the way to the right side of his lips, looking as though he had been slashed by a blade.

The wound, however, had long since healed and crusted over, lacking any nauseating or terrifying appearance.

Lu Yuan studied the middle-aged man for a moment, feeling a trace of suspicion in his heart; he sensed no hostility emanating from this man.

"Another shrine elder?"

The circumstances were similar.

The shrine elder was a bizarre entity existing somewhere between the ominous and the unmentionable, which was why Lu Yuan's eyes would sting noticeably when looking at the face of the shrine elder, Song Pei.

Even when Lu Yuan uttered the shrine elder's name, his body would react with intense discomfort.

By comparison, the security guard before him should be somewhat weaker.

Lu Yuan could clearly see the security guard's face without experiencing any stinging sensation in his eyes, indicating that this guard had not touched upon the taboos of the unmentionable entities.

Just as Lu Yuan stood in silent contemplation, the middle-aged man wore a guarded expression and drew his baton from his waist: "You must be a child trafficker!"

Lu Yuan was stunned.

Did he really look like someone who stole children?

Yet, something felt slightly off about this security guard's state.

He seemed entirely unaware that he was a bizarre entity, nor did he realize that Mingzhi Elementary School was different from a normal school.

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly as he broke into a smile and flashed the identity badge on his chest: "Sir, I'm a newly appointed teacher."

"I'm here to report for duty at the school."

Lu Yuan's attitude was very amicable.

At this, the guarded look in the old guard's eyes receded significantly, though a sense of detachment remained: "Who reports for duty in the middle of the night? You aren't trying to trick me, are you?"

The corners of Lu Yuan's mouth twitched a few times.

My good man!

Does this world even have daylight?

He would have loved to report during the day, but the problem was that this world was plunged in perpetual night—what else could he do?!

Lu Yuan laughed awkwardly: "Sir, I really am here to report for duty. If you're worried about me, why don't you take me to the principal's office? I don't know my way around anyway, so I'd appreciate it if you could show me the way."

Hearing this, the old security guard pondered for a few seconds and lowered the baton in his hand.

"What's your name?"

"Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan cast a casual glance out the school gates.

The singing that had been watching him just moments ago had now vanished entirely.

The old guard nodded and shone his flashlight forward: "Follow me, I'll take you to the principal's office."

Lu Yuan followed right behind him.

Mingzhi Elementary School was massive.

This school covered the largest area of any elementary school in S City, accommodating nearly a third of the city's children.

Following the security guard deeper into the grounds for a while, he looked back and found that the iron gates were completely out of sight.

Lu Yuan struck up a casual conversation: "Sir, what should I call you?"

Perhaps because of Lu Yuan's amiable demeanor, the old guard gradually relaxed his vigilance and opened up: "Xia Hai. You can just call me Uncle Xia."

Lu Yuan stood on ceremony not at all: "Uncle Xia, our school is so huge, how come we don't see a single person around?"

Xia Hai turned his head and shot Lu Yuan a look as if he were looking at someone simple-minded: "Young man, it's nighttime. Who wanders around in the middle of the night!"

Lu Yuan: ......

No!

He had to converse with Xia Hai using normal human logic.

Lu Yuan had a sudden realization: "Ah, right, right, it's nighttime. Look at my brain—just got here and I'm a bit nervous."

Xia Hai pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped out a few, and motioned for Lu Yuan to take one. Lu Yuan's eyes flickered, and he accepted it.

A faint ember glowed on and off at the tip of the cigarette.

Lu Yuan smacked his lips.

I'll be damned!

The kick of this cigarette was quite fierce, even more invigorating than coffee.

Xia Hai lit one for himself as well, took a drag, and slowly began: "Young man, what do you teach?"

Lu Yuan played along: "Uncle Xia, I'm a psychological counselor. I heard the kids in our school are a bit hard to manage, so the principal asked me to come provide psychological counseling for them."

Xia Hai clicked his tongue: "Then you'd better prepare yourself mentally. The kids in our school are more troublesome to deal with than the last."

"The few psychological counselors who were brought in before didn't even last a week; they kept getting replaced."

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly.

If he guessed correctly, the psychological counselors brought in previously were the psychologists of this world, and An Shi was one of them.

"What happened to those teachers afterward?"

Lu Yuan asked out of curiosity.

Xia Hai was clearly an old smoker; just as the cigarette in Lu Yuan's hand was only half-smoked, the one in Xia Hai's mouth had already burned down to the butt.

Xia Hai tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground and ground it out with his foot: "They died, of course."

"The principal said that as a teacher, one must fulfill their proper duties. If you can't teach the students well, you deserve to die."

Lu Yuan wore a peculiar expression: "Uncle Xia, don't you find that terrifying? They just didn't teach the students well; surely it doesn't warrant death."

Xia Hai wore an equally peculiar expression: "If a teacher fails to fulfill their duties, isn't death the proper outcome?"

Lu Yuan was speechless.

Although Xia Hai looked and acted much like a living person on the surface, his mindset and thoughts remained those of a bizarre entity.

Lu Yuan did not dwell on the matter further; it was impossible to reason with bizarre entities, so he had to go along with their logic: "Uncle Xia, how long have you been a security guard here?"

Xia Hai pondered for a moment: "I don't remember clearly. It's got to be thirty or forty years."

Lu Yuan was deeply skeptical.

Xia Hai looked to be only in his fifties; pushing back thirty or forty years would mean he started when he was barely an adult.

Coming here to be a security guard right after coming of age meant he really had bypassed decades of detours compared to everyone else?!

With bizarre entities, you only believe half of what they say.

Or perhaps you shouldn't even believe half.

As if remembering something, Xia Hai beamed with joy: "You're about the same age as my son. I have two sons; one is a teacher here, and the other is a professor at a university."

"Though I didn't go to school much and lack any real culture, having these two sons means my life is complete."

At this, Xia Hai wore a deeply contented expression.

Perhaps seeing the friendly image of his own son in Lu Yuan, he added: "Young man, you should chat with my son sometime. You're peers, so you'll definitely have plenty to talk about."

The more Xia Hai looked at Lu Yuan, the more pleased he became.

Lu Yuan agreed on the surface, but internally he didn't take it to heart at all.

Once he figured out the internal workings of Mingzhi Elementary School, he would need to plan his own safe escape.

As for mingling with other bizarre entities, Lu Yuan wanted nothing to do with it.

After a moment, Xia Hai led Lu Yuan to a black building: "Young man, the principal's office is on the fifth floor inside. I won't go in."

A chill ran down Lu Yuan's spine.

"Thank you, Uncle Xia."

Xia Hai waved his hand and said with a cheerful smile: "Drop by the guard room when you have time. I think you're a good kid, let's chat more often."

Lu Yuan acknowledged the offer.

Unlike other bizarre entities, Xia Hai was different—perhaps he was worth trying to befriend.