The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#173 - Take the bamboo path

Chapter 172: Gathering Bamboo on the Path

Following Director Huang's instructions, Lu Jing entered the adjacent room.

As soon as he stepped inside, he was surprised to see the person within, exclaiming, "Senior, I didn't expect to meet you again."

However, the man waved his hand upon hearing this, saying, "Wrong, wrong, you've mistaken me. The one in the coffin shop wasn't me."

Lu Jing was taken aback. With his current eyesight, it was almost impossible for him to mistake someone.

So he carefully examined the person again. Although the man before him was dressed differently from the old Jiangshi in the coffin shop, there was no difference in his eyes, eyebrows, nose, or mouth. Even the wrinkles on his face were exactly the same.

Thus, Lu Jing said again, "Senior, are you perhaps joking?"

"I'm not joking," the old man with the Jiangshi face shook his head. "Before his injury, Lord Dong was a fourth-rank inspector, a well-known expert in the office. I am just a mortal, and I am grateful to Academic Director for taking me in and allowing me to do some chores in the academy. Please don't confuse us."

"As for my current appearance, it's because I encountered a great calamity when I was young and lost my face."

"Ah, losing face isn't a big deal. It's good that you're still alive," Lu Jing subconsciously comforted him.

"No, no, no, the losing face I'm talking about is literally losing my face. My original face was stolen by a strange object. In order to save my life, Lord Dong lent me his face, and since then, I've shared the same face with him."

Hearing this, Lu Jing looked at the person again and indeed found some subtle differences in the figure of the old man in front of him compared to the old Jiangshi in the coffin shop.

"Oh, right, Lord Dong also asked me to bring you a message."

"What message?" Lu Jing asked curiously.

"Why the hell are the medicines you need so expensive?!"

"… … … …"

After Chen Bo finished speaking, he quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Lord Dong specifically instructed me to say it to you word for word."

"I heard from Director Huang that the money wasn't coming from the academy?" Lu Jing asked, stunned, somewhat confused as to why the old Jiangshi was so unhappy.

"The money is from the academy, but Lord Dong was also fined half a month's salary because he didn't ask clearly in advance. Although it's not much to him, he's definitely upset about it."

Chen Bo sighed as he spoke, "I feel like I've gotten a few more wrinkles on this face in the past few days."

"Senior, I'm sorry."

"Haha, don't call me senior. I told you, I'm just a mortal. People in the academy call me Uncle Chen. If you don't mind, you can call me Uncle Chen too. I'll take you to your residence first."

"As for the rules for studying in the academy, we can talk as we walk," Chen Bo said.

"Thank you for your trouble."

Seeing Lu Jing's eyes dazzled by the riot of flowers, Chen Bo smiled and explained, "This is a formation. Director Huang is particularly skilled in this. I still remember when I first came here, this place was still a pond, but later, Director Huang felt that the view from the window was too monotonous, so he filled in the small pond and transplanted these flowers and trees."

The two walked out of the courtyard while talking.

Outside the courtyard was a verdant bamboo forest. Chen Bo said, "This place is called Bamboo Path. The reason it's called this is because students who have made mistakes are often punished by being sent here to gather bamboo. They can only leave after collecting a hundred bamboo stalks."

"Isn't that quite easy?" Lu Jing asked.

Chen Bo smiled without saying a word, only gesturing with his eyes for Lu Jing to try it out. So Lu Jing grasped the Zen staff in his hand and used the second stance of the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staff Techniques, Sweeping in All Directions.

As a result, the Zen staff struck the bamboo and emitted a crisp metallic sound.

Lu Jing's tiger's mouth shook violently, and he almost couldn't hold onto the Zen staff.

Looking again at the seemingly weak bamboo stalk, it only swayed slightly and had a small notch knocked out of it.

Lu Jing's expression changed slightly, and Chen Bo's expression also changed along with his, and he couldn't help but blurt out.

"You can even smash a dent into it?!"

"Why is the bamboo here so hard? Is it also a formation?" Lu Jing glanced at the Zen staff in his hand and found that a small piece had also been dented in at the head of the staff.

However, as a weapon mainly used for swinging and hitting, it didn't affect its use.

"No," Chen Bo shook his head, "There is a strange object [Armor-Class Seventy-One] in Bamboo Path. Its effect will affect the surrounding plants and trees, making these plants and trees harder than metal and stone."

"Director Huang isn't deliberately making things difficult for you. It's mainly because bamboo itself grows very quickly. If it's not cleared in time, it may not be long before the entire academy is filled with bamboo, and… …"

Chen Bo paused, "The cut bamboo also has many uses, such as being used to refine weapons. This is a good material, especially the bamboo that is deeper into the center, the older it is, the better the hardness."

"But having said that, even if it's the bamboo at the edge, it's very impressive that you can smash it. I don't know if any newcomers can do it. Hmm, that girl named Yan Yun should be able to too."

Lu Jing frowned, "Since the bamboo is so hard, how can the punished people get a hundred stalks?"

"Good question… … This requires you to find your own solutions, and there is more than one way. Either use the knowledge you have learned, or ask the professors of the academy, or even odd-job men like me, but the latter two choices… … certainly come at a price."

"In short, the academy encourages every student to fully use their brains and find possible solutions through various means, because when you leave the academy and become formal inspectors, you will also encounter all kinds of unexpected situations."

"If you can't even handle this small test in the academy, then when you encounter truly powerful guys outside, I'm afraid the coffins Lord Dong sent you earlier will come in handy," Chen Bo said.

"You mentioned earlier that the bamboo in this bamboo forest became so hard because of a strange object? In that case, there should be other strange objects in the academy," Lu Jing asked again.

"That's right, you immediately grasped the key point. Earlier, I took a silly boy named Yang Tao to find his residence, but his mind was full of how to get a bamboo stalk back to make a gun. I don't know how many of my later words he listened to."

Chen Bo first nagged a few words, and then continued, "There are many strange objects in the academy. To be honest, even Academic Director probably doesn't know how many there are, after all, when the academy was first built, those seniors at the time threw a lot of them in at will."

"Later people will also put a few more in from time to time, but don't worry, most of the strange objects are harmless, but some of them are not bad at causing trouble. The [Armor-Class Seventy-One] in Bamboo Path is one of the most honest, so you usually better be careful, many students in previous sessions have been tricked by them."

"But don't kill all the strange objects with one blow, because some strange objects can bring you great help. If you make good use of these strange objects, it will make your studies easier. Although you are studying in the same academy, in the end, how much you can learn depends on your own abilities."