The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#270 - Paper Figure

Lu Jing had originally planned to return to the academy before midnight, but by the time he stood again outside his small courtyard, the sun was already high in the sky.

By this time, the vast majority of students in the academy had already gone to attend lectures.

Lu Jing didn't have any classes today, but thinking about how he had spent most of the night in unrestrained revelry with Gu Caiwei, he felt he had been a bit too indulgent.

But unexpectedly, a visitor arrived before he had even practiced for a quarter of an hour.

When Lu Jing first came to the academy, many people had come to visit him, both students and professors, but after it was revealed that he had no talent for secret force cultivation, the number of people who came to him decreased significantly. Now, besides Yang Tao and Xia Huai, they had basically disappeared.

It wasn't entirely due to snobbery. Mainly, everyone figured that Lu Jing wouldn't be in a good mood after suffering such a serious blow and probably wouldn't want to see guests, so they didn't come to disturb him.

And Lu Jing was happy to have some peace and quiet.

But this time, the person standing outside his door was a rare guest.

Lu Jing opened the door and saw Wu Han's tanned face, and was slightly surprised.

"Uncle Wu, what brings you here?"

Wu Han didn't answer Lu Jing's question, but instead looked Lu Jing up and down several times before saying with a strange expression, "What kind of charm do you have, kid, that makes everyone care about you?"

"Everyone is concerned about me? Concerned about what?" Lu Jing was confused by this nonsensical question.

"You know that besides instructors, servants, and students, there are also many hidden seniors in the academy, most of whom are former experts from the Department of Celestial Observation."

"There are also some with more complicated identities, who were recruited by successive Junior Directors because they possessed unique skills or special abilities. The former situation is fine. Except for special cases like Senior Ye, many instructors know or have heard of their names. But the latter situation is much more mysterious."

"Especially since many people change their names after entering the academy, severing ties with their past selves. If they were newly recruited by the current Junior Director, there would still be traces to follow. The worst is when they were sent in by a previous Junior Director who has since passed away. In that case, it's troublesome."

"No one knows the background of these people anymore. The academy calls them Paper Men."

Wu Han suddenly started talking about the history of the academy for some reason.

"Paper Men?"

"Because they are like blank sheets of paper now. You can't see anything," Wu Han explained. "No one even knows how many Paper Men live in the academy."

"Some Paper Men like to chat with people and even actively approach new students. And the instructors in the academy might even give them something if they get along well. But when they talk about things related to their past, they suddenly clam up or beat around the bush."

"Some Paper Men just live their own lives quietly, not interacting much with people or leaving the academy." Wu Han paused here, then looked at Lu Jing again.

"I've said so much just to tell you that Paper Men are mostly very mysterious with complicated identities. Even the old professors in the academy may not know many Paper Men friends, but..."

Wu Han changed his tone, "There are indeed people who have dealt with many Paper Men."

"Like you, Uncle Wu?" Lu Jing reacted quickly and immediately thought of the answer.

Wu Han grew vegetables in the academy, and he was also responsible for delivering the good vegetables and fruits to various places. Even Ye Gongmei, who had suddenly become younger and didn't want to see people, knew him. Although those Paper Men were called Paper Men, they weren't really made of paper. They still had to eat, so they naturally couldn't avoid Wu Han.

But Lu Jing still didn't understand what Wu Han was trying to say by suddenly bringing this up.

Fortunately, Wu Han didn't keep him in suspense and said directly, "You went to visit Senior Ye before, and not long after, Senior Ye actually walked out of her formation, which is very rare. She found me and asked if I knew any Paper Men who could help you improve your cultivation aptitude."

"Huh?" Lu Jing smiled wryly upon hearing this. He didn't expect that although Ye Gongmei had said she would only teach him the Jianghu techniques of beast control, she was secretly concerned about his secret force cultivation.

And she didn't tell him, but secretly went to find Wu Han. This would be a great favor to anyone else, but for Lu Jing, it wasn't a good thing.

Before Lu Jing could refuse, he heard Wu Han say again, "It's not just Senior Ye. Afterwards, four other people came to me and asked the same question."

"Four others? Who are they?" Lu Jing became alert upon hearing this.

One Ye Gongmei was already enough to give him a headache. Lu Jing didn't expect that there were actually four people plotting against him.

He had carefully checked his daily life several times during this period, confirming that all dangerous factors had been eliminated. It was rare for him to be able to breathe a little and relax for a few days.

As a result, just as he relaxed, new problems appeared!

Lu Jing was suddenly jolted awake, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on his head.

It was really a case of missing something despite thorough planning. He originally thought that by not attending secret force classes and not coming into contact with anything related to secret force, he wouldn't have any relationship with secret force. But he had overlooked the other people around him. Some of those people actually wanted him to be able to cultivate, and they were secretly doing it behind his back.

Even if Lu Jing wanted to get angry now, he couldn't. After all, strictly speaking, those people's starting point was good. They were truly concerned about him, but those people didn't understand his situation and were purely doing him a disservice.

Fortunately, it was discovered in time. Otherwise, Lu Jing might have been sent to the morgue by their operations.

After calming down, Lu Jing thought for a moment and had a plan in mind. He said to Wu Han, "Let me guess. Xia Huai and Yang Tao are among them, right?"

Wu Han nodded, "That's right. They both seem to care about you very much. I don't know where they found out my name, but they came to me yesterday evening."

"And... Chi, right?" Lu Jing rubbed his temples helplessly. That woman had no common sense at all. She kept saying she wanted to live with him and refine weapons together.

Lu Jing had finally managed to send her away by saying that he couldn't cultivate secret force, but now it seemed that she hadn't given up and was still thinking of ways to let him cultivate secret force.

But he had no idea who the last person was. He didn't know who else was full and idle, thinking about him, so he could only wait for Wu Han to reveal the answer.