189 Stage (1/2)

On the long avenue, a galloping carriage suddenly stopped and disappeared in a flash, revealing the youth behind it, and the dumbfounded group behind him.

”Design mistake.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. ”What kind of carriage has uneven wheels and can still be so stable and fast?” Passing through the graduating student’s remaining shocked apparition, he continued forward. In passing, he flashed his badge on a sign beside the road.

”F*ck!” the sign yelped and quickly disappeared.

Ye Qingxuan side-eyed him. ”The perspective is completely wrong. Go back and study again. How bad does a woodworker have to be to make a sign like that?” Continuing forward, he slapped his badge on a streetlight. Looking up at it, his eyes were reluctant as he sighed. ”Tell me truthfully, what streetlight looks like a chimney?”

The streetlight shook. It turned to light before it could reply. His wail dispersed in the air, ”Is it my fault for being fat…”

Ye Qingxuan continued. The dazed students behind him had already turned into zombies. They followed his each step and had lost all capability to think. What was going on? Seriously, what was going on?

Why did this world suddenly become so weird? Where were the professors? There seemed to be something wrong…

Under everyone’s stares, Ye Qingxuan suddenly halted. He turned and entered the crowd. The students moved, quickly getting out of his way. They watched as he took a right and entered a café.

The enthusiastic server greeted him. ”How may I take your order?”

Ye Qingxuan ignored him and pushed him away, entering the café. Outside the window, everyone saw clearly as Ye Qingxuan walked past the bar, lounge and stopped by the corner. He looked up at the oil painting and seemed to say something.

The painting did not move and did not reply.

Ye Qingxuan narrowed his eyes and snatched the lighter on a nearby table. With a crack, he lit the fire and held it close to the painting.

”If you don’t own up, I’m going to burn you.”

”Wait, wait, don’t! Don’t burn!” The painting actually moved and climbed down from the wall. ”What’s wrong with my mimicry? I checked!”

”Go back and study art history.” Ye Qingxuan mercilessly lit the painting on fire. ”This entire street is decorated with classicism, which was popular centuries ago. Why would there be a Rococo wall painting from one hundred years later? It’s too obvious.” He flashed his school badge and the burning oil painting disappeared without a trace, save for a pile of hemp ash on the ground.

”Here’s your lighter.” Ye Qingxuan tossed the lighter back at the dumbfounded customer and picked the lit cigar out of his mouth, snuffing it in the coffee. Ye Qingxuan smiled and waved farewell. ”No smoking in public. Thanks.”

-

When the sixth hour ended, the environment changed once again, transforming from the streets of Avalon to a barren island. Beasts thrived and the students even faced the challenge of survival now.

Ye Qingxuan had just seen a parrot being chased by a tiger and screaming, ”Come get me, come get me! I don’t want to get eaten…”

And so Ye Qingxuan happily obeyed the fifty points that had given itself up and killed the tiger for the heck of it too. The tiger actually had resistance because it was born in an area of dense aether. Its mutation level was not low either and required a lot of effort on Ye Qingxuan’s part. He almost tripped and fell into a ditch.

”But if you’re gonna be a rock, can’t you at least be something cooler?” He raised his hand and kicked the rock under his foot. ”Granite? Diabase? Or limestone? There are so many volcanoes on this island. Can’t you at least turn into volcanic rock?”

The rock trembled with every knock. Finally, it gave up. ”Who cares what rock? This is what I look like!”

”Then you deserve to die.” With a scan of the badge, fifty more points entered his hands. ”Where are you going?” Ye Qingxuan looked back out of the corner of his vision. Behind him, the weird shrub that had prepared to tiptoe away and escape suddenly stiffened. The shrub’s movements froze and it warped, as if slowly turning around. ”Wh—what did I do wrong?”

Ye Qingxuan suddenly asked, ”You don’t have friends, right? Know why?”

”Huh?” The shrub’s voice was obviously lacking in self-confidence. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

”Obviously it’s because you’re too ugly!” Ye Qingxuan flashed his badge on the shrub’s face. ”Even your mimicry is so ugly and you want to graduate? Repeat the d*mn year!”

”Wah…” The shrub disappeared with a snap. One could faintly see the brokenhearted face of a graduating student.

”And you!” Ye Qingxuan pointed at the ruins of a boat stranded on the beach. ”I didn’t even look at you. Why are you shaking?”

”I-I…” The damaged boat lay in the ocean tide innocently and tried to justify himself. ”I’m cold, alright?” He got a school badge on his face in reply.

”Come back after you change your clothes!”