Chapter 5 Welcome Party (V)

Mu Yu, Lu Chongnian, Jiang Shuyue and Su Mingyun ran towards the audience seats in Area B together.

While running at full speed, Jiang Shuyue had time to glance at Lu Zhongnian and said, "Are you really from the University of Lian? I have never seen you before."

Lu Zhongnian leaped onto the audience seats in two or three steps and said calmly, "There are 4,089 freshmen in the first year. You have to see all of their faces. Can you remember them all after seeing them?"

Jiang Shuyue was choked. Before he could answer, Mu Yu retorted in surprise: "Your face is not an ordinary face. Unless you are severely face-blind or have a serious memory defect, you will remember it after seeing it once - right, Jiang classmate?"

Lu Zhongnian: “…”

Jiang Shuyue: “…”

Su Mingyun nodded in agreement and said to Jiang Shuyue, "Student Jiang, you may not pay much attention to gossip. The Xinlian University student forum has been discussing your Lian University campus hunk these days. Look carefully and someone should have posted a photo of Student Lu."

Jiang Shuyue: “…………”

His face was distorted.

The four of them didn't have time to whisper any more and soon went their separate ways.

It was too dark in the auditorium, and they couldn't use any strong lighting tools except for the faint light from the mobile phone screens.

In this case, you should also pay attention to whether the host's introduction is about to end and be alert to the appearance of monsters at all times.

Scan the rows to see if there is anything obviously strange in the field of vision, and wonder if there is any ordinary object that may be the "monster generator" mentioned on the rule sheet.

Everyone's concentration has been stretched to the limit, and the brain is processing countless information at the same time.

After walking two or three rows, Mu Yu felt that this wasn't going to work. He squatted down and tried to check under the seats, but it was even darker underneath and he couldn't see anything except a pair of feet.

He simply reached out his hand and touched under one of the chairs. The male "audience member" sitting there was startled and almost jumped up: "What are you doing?"

Not far away, Lu Chongnian immediately turned around.

Mu Yu calmly stopped and said, "Student Union, please do a surprise check to see if there are any unscrupulous audience members who chewed gum and wiped it under the seats!"

"...Fuck, you dare to touch me directly, werewolf?"

The werewolf Mu Yu hung his right hand at his side, quietly made an "OK" gesture, and said calmly: "It's nothing."

Lu Zhongnian's eyes relaxed and he raised his lips slightly.

The six players in the inner field merged into the nearly three thousand spectators, just like a few small fish swimming into the sea and being easily submerged.

They moved forward quickly in the darkness, rapidly narrowing the search area.

Whenever a performance started, they all stopped in unison.

But even though his steps stopped, his gaze did not stop.

He kept looking around, his eyes passing over the audience in the auditorium who were engrossed in the show, their clothes, and the mobile phones in their hands.

Rows of seats and steps.

There is also a large wall surrounding the entire theater.

——Don’t miss any corner.

But no, nothing.

No one saw anything that looked like a monster generator.

…

Mu Yu and Lu Zhongnian came to Area A and searched for a long time before they found Ye Sui, who was sitting in the middle of the tenth row.

Ye Sui was very tall and thin, sitting in the middle of the audience, with an expressionless face shrouded in darkness. If you didn't look closely, you would see him as a tall, eerie black shadow.

The scenery on the stage was reflected in his pupils, the light changed, but nothing was left, only emptiness and silence.

There was no blood on his clothes or around his mouth, and his friend was safe and sound - at least that's what it seemed for now, and Mu Yu was completely relieved.

Lu Zhongnian asked in a low voice: "Continue to go up?"

Mu Yu nodded: "Yeah."

…

Before the poetry recitation program began, the two of them checked the areas they were responsible for and ran back to the bottom of the stage.

Not to mention the monster generator, not even a single useful clue was found. It can be said that there is no clue at all.

The two looked at each other and tacitly decided to go to the corridor to take another look.

While there were still a few seconds left for the host to introduce the show, they rushed out from the passage between the AD areas and stopped the moment they heard the sound of poetry recitation in the backstage.

The panting sounds were intertwined with each other.

At this moment, the corridor is empty.

There were no staff members running back and forth, nor were there two groups of friends searching for clues outside.

The circular corridor was very quiet. The lights were as pale as ever, and there was a chill in the air that was completely different from the hot temperature in mid-to-late September.

At the front entrance, outside the two large glass doors, just as Wang Lei said, there was already a thick black fog.

The fog was like smoke and clouds, surging slowly, as if it wanted to touch the glass door, but was repeatedly forced back by the inorganic coldness of the glass.

It was impossible to see anything behind through the fog.

Are the roads still there? Are the flowers, plants and trees that can be seen everywhere on the polytechnic campus still there?

Is the teaching building diagonally opposite the Grand Theater still there? Are the rows of public bicycles downstairs of the teaching building still there?

unknown.

Mu Yu asked in a low voice: "Lu Chongnian, have you seen the movie "The Mist"? "

"Well," Lu Zhongnian said softly, "Pre-class presentation for English class in the second year of high school, one of your horror movie lists."

Mu Yu smiled softly. She didn't expect that Lu Chongnian still remembered it.

Soon, his face turned serious again: "Do you think the monster will be in the fog?"

Lu Zhongnian thought for a moment and then shook his head.

Maybe there are monsters in the fog, but the monsters corresponding to the monster generators that the rule paper requires them to find are definitely not in the fog.

The fog was a wall, and its purpose was obviously just to trap them here.

If they don't follow the rules and open the door without solving the puzzle, they will step into the fog and escape from the Xinlian Theater.

Then the fog might become a complete dead end for them.

Before they die, facing the fog rushing in from all directions, perhaps they can use the last few moments left in their lives to imagine the fate they are about to face, or in other words - the way they are about to die.

In silence, the two people's eyes left the door and slowly moved to the side.

Opposite the main entrance, the four characters "Xinlian Theater" cast in bronze are vigorous and powerful, with a few lines of small characters carved below. They are words from Principal Dou's speech at the first student evening party after the Xinlian Theater was built.

Science and technology do not limit students' development.

It is true that every student who is admitted to the major of their choice needs to complete the corresponding studies and obtain the corresponding credits.

But at the same time, if during these four years, students discover their potential in other areas and find themselves interested in other areas, the University of Science and Technology fully supports them to boldly try, no matter whether such attempts may be too unconventional or out of the ordinary in the eyes of others.

Students who study theoretical research that seems rigorous, old-fashioned and boring to many outsiders want to tell interesting crosstalk and perform funny skits? Then tell it! Then perform it!

A civil engineer who draws all day long suddenly wants to design clothes? Then design them! Make the clothes, find models, and any place on the huge campus can become the stage for your fashion show at any time.

Want to sing? Then sing.

Want to dance? Then dance.

This land is free, and everyone is full of possibilities. Their stage will never be limited to their feet.

Xinlian Theater represents the spirit of science and technology.

The huge stage in the inner field is not just provided to one person or one group of people.

That stage, with its bright spotlight, belongs to everyone.

People of science and technology, people from other schools, and even all young people who are in the wild youth, with countless energy to burn and countless passion to release.

...Students who come to the University of Science and Technology have infinite imagination about the University of Science and Technology and their own future.

In front of Mu Yu and the others' vision, that is, on the left side when entering from the front door, there is a wall.

The wall is covered with stacks of sticky notes of various colors, which are messages written by past seniors.

Mu Yu heard from the boss that this message wall was originally used for students to write down their goals and expectations for new fields they wanted to try. Later, it gradually evolved into a wishing wall, and then became a check-in wall for growth and changes before freshman admission and senior graduation.

What kind of person you were when you entered college as a freshman is what kind of person you become when you graduate as a senior.

This wall records your time.

So many years have passed, and countless sticky notes have fallen off or been picked up by staff, but the marks and colors of youth will not disappear. These colors are the colors of the students and the colors of the Xinlian Theater.

He - Mu Yu could only think of this title for the moment to refer to the person behind the scenes who was creating all this at the moment - was it a coincidence that He chose the Xinlian Theater to start this copy game?

Inside the venue, the poetry recitation finally ended.

"We should go now."

"......Hmm." Mu Yu took one last look at this place.

*

At 6:40, everyone met again in the middle of the two CB areas.

Everyone was out of breath, and the first thing they did when they met was to shake their heads.

Nothing was found.

Nothing was found.

Wang Lei, a student at the New Foreign Language School, said: "Jing Qiao and I didn't see anything suspicious. Oh no, we saw an NPC's mobile phone pendant that looked weird, made of iron. We tried to step on it, but it was useless. We didn't see any changes!"

Chang Sen, a senior from the Civil Engineering Department, said: "There are no clues outside either. Hong Huanyu and I tried to smash two chairs, but nothing happened."

Jiang Shuyue frowned and said, "If the monster generator is really a chair, it's impossible for you to guess it right just by guessing it twice."

"What should we do?" The two roommates looked livid. "There's only half an hour left. We don't have any clues at all. Are we just going to wait to die?"

Su Mingyun said weakly: "How about we switch search areas and check again?"

Hong Huanyu disagreed with this plan: "It will take more than ten minutes to check like that. It's not a good idea to keep searching blindly. After all, this place is so big, we can't go through every chair and every position in such a short time!"

"We haven't even encountered a monster. Do we need to lure the monster out before we can find clues? Didn't Mu Yu say that he saw someone in Area A turn on a flashlight and was attacked by something that came out from the ground?"

"Wait, don't do anything rash, calm down and think about it!"

"There must be some way for us to narrow down the search area, right?"

"Everyone, try harder to think about whether there is any place we missed or did not check!"

Mu Yu and Lu Chongnian lowered their heads in thought.

The only clues they currently have are "rules".

Three untitled general rules, and five "New Lotus Theater Usage Rules".

Lu Chongnian raised his eyelashes and looked towards the stage.

Mu Yu murmured, "Rules 4 and 5 of the Xinlian Theater's Rules of Use."

Rule 4: Applause may be used at any time to praise a performance. Five rounds of applause, please.

Article 5: All students may perform on stage during non-performance periods.

Both rules are related to the stage and performance. They are not violation rules. If they don't do them, it does not mean that monsters and punishments will be attracted.

It is a safe rule, but also one that seems meaningless at first glance.

But are there really "meaningless" rules?

And if there is anything they missed and didn't check, the only thing left is the stage.

Maybe this is the clue.

Thinking of this, Mu Yu made up his mind, turned around and walked towards the stage.

Lu Zhongnian immediately grabbed his wrist: "Wait."

The attention of the others was drawn over.

Mu Yu turned around.

Before Lu Zhongnian could even open his mouth, Mu Yu whispered, "I'll just go up and sing a song, don't worry. You can't sing as well as I do, so just help watch from below and see if you can find any other clues in the process."

He patted the back of Lu Zhongnian's hand, but Lu Zhongnian didn't loosen his grip at all.

Lu Zhongnian stared at him and said, "This is not some campus singing competition."

This is not the time to compare who sings better or worse.

So, it is not necessary for Mu Yu to go, he can go too.

What's more, the two of them have never competed in singing, so how can we say who sings better?

Mu Yu's face showed no trace of guilt for talking nonsense: "I know, but as long as you follow the rules, it is always relatively safe, isn't it?"

He said seriously: "Lu Chongnian, let's not waste time on this issue. I will go this time."

After saying this, he pulled his hand out.

Lu Chongnian wanted to say something, but his skin rubbed against him inch by inch. The feeling of not being able to hold it and sand flowing through his fingers made him feel inexplicably dazed.

His gaze moved from Mu Yu's face to their hands that were clasped but about to be completely separated. His eyes fixed and his fingers were a little stiff.

Mu Yu didn't notice it, but at the last moment, he gently pinched the tip of Lu Zhongnian's index finger.

Lu Chongnian paused.

Then, Muyu completely let go of her hand, turned around, and strode towards the stage.

They were surprised and asked, "What is he going to do?"

Lu Zhongnian stared at Mu Yu's back, slowly withdrew his hand, let it hang by his side, curled up his five fingers, and lightly touched the palm of his hand with the tip of his index finger.

"…Now it's time for the host to come on stage. All students can go on stage during the non-performers' performances."

“T-This is also possible?!”

Lu Zhongnian did not answer them again. He took a step and followed closely behind Mu Yu.

The lights on the stage were shining. The host was halfway through his words when he suddenly saw Mu Yu crawling up from the corner. The rest of the words were stuck in his throat.

"This, uh, student, what are you doing here?"

Mu Yu patted his trouser legs, and under the lights and the countless gazes around him, he said calmly: "Well, I also want to perform a show for everyone to see, is that okay?"

The host was full of questions: "This, well, although there has never been a precedent for inserting performances into the evening party, according to the rules, this is of course allowed... Then what do you want to perform?"

“I want to sing a song.”

"What song?"

Below the stage, Lu Zhongnian looked up at him silently, while the other eight people looked nervous, their hearts almost jumping out of their throats.

While dealing with the host, Mu Yu carefully observed the stage beneath his feet.

"Guess what?"

"...Hahaha, this classmate is really good at playing. How can I guess this?"

"Just guess!" Mu Yu turned his head and glanced at the stage behind him.

Mu Yu sometimes spoke with a strong Xinlian city accent, and the ending word "ma" was subconsciously euphemistic, which made the host blush.

"Well, let me think, what's popular these days? Well, I really don't know, so I'll just guess something classic that will be passed down forever!"

"Is it me spinning and jumping with my eyes closed? Or is it me walking alone in the dark alley and loving the way you don't kneel? Or is it unforgettable, tonight, unforgettable tonight?"

Mu Yu looked at the host strangely: "You...know a lot."

The host touched the back of his head and smiled innocently: "Not bad, not bad, you have some talent, so what is your performance piece, classmate?"

Mu Yu paused.

At this moment, in the entire Xinlian Theater, three thousand pairs of eyes were staring at him quietly from the darkness, like a group of wild beasts quietly spying on their prey in the jungle, or like countless cold, venomous arrows about to pierce the only target in the center of his field of vision.

...You have to perform when you come up here. If you don't perform, you probably won't be able to leave the stage. Fortunately, he said he would come up to sing a song, and he really can sing it. At least at this moment, despite being nervous, he does have such a song in his head and can remember the lyrics clearly.

He walked over and took the microphone off the stand.

Below the stage, Lu Zhongnian pursed his lips slightly, his eyes dark.

The other eight people clenched their fists and put them against their chests, too nervous to dare to breathe.

Mu Yu put the microphone in front of his mouth, got into singing posture, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and straightened his back.

Everyone is watching, the lights are on.

Don't panic.

He counted down in his mind: three, two, one.

His face was calm and his lips were slightly parted.

The next second, the clear and penetrating voice of a young boy spread throughout the theater along with the beautiful singing.

"——his eyes were as big as copper bells, emitting a lightning-like shrewdness!"

In an instant, Lu Zhongnian's expression shattered, and the other eight people fell to the ground together.