Chapter 327: Education from Sister Bai~
Click—
As the door to the Dream World opened, Tan Han stepped onto the corridor outside, looking somewhat fatigued. There was a hint of desolation and confusion in her eyes, but my words echoed in her ears.
That’s right… since she’s decided to resist, she should learn to grow. This is a good start, making her realize just how difficult the path she chose is.
Outside the hotel, it was pitch black; the glow from the Earth Vein had been obscured, just like the truth Tan Han had learned at this moment: all she could see was darkness. However, such a vast and luminous Earth Vein would always reveal some light, and between the holes in the obscuring curtain, Tan Han believed she would seize that opportunity.
“Can’t escape, huh…” A glimmer of gold flashed in Tan Han’s eyes, her gaze steady.
Then, clutching a blank Extraordinary Research Base apprentice badge in her hand, she hurried back.
This badge was different from a regular apprentice badge; it was a Dream Badge exclusive to Xiao Han’s scholars, impossible to replicate. There were two types: one was the Real Badge, held by those foolish dreams working as apprentices within the base, while the other was the Residual Qualification in the Dream World, which served a simple purpose: it allowed one to have a compliant housing in the Underground City.
This was the treatment for scholars in the Underground City. You could see many people sleeping in tents on the streets, but you would never find scholars homeless; they could even change their residence every day, which was very common in the Underground City. Don’t forget who holds the resources in the Underground City.
Watching Tan Han leave, I stepped partly out into the doorway. Although I had previously said I didn’t care about those guys, and neither did Tan Han, well… a statement is one thing, actions are another.
Moreover… with this, Tan Han wouldn’t be stopped by the base personnel next time she wanted to enter the Extraordinary Research Base.
Even if Tan Han wanted to go in, they wouldn’t be able to stop her.
However… what I was more concerned about was her ability, which seemed to be granted by the Fortune Seed—Spiritual Eyes, in a way, that felt like cheating.
But looking at it from another perspective, treating the Witch Academy and even all the Extraordinary Academies as outsiders independent of the script, Tan Han’s ability to see through the Threads of Fortune could be said to be the greatest obstacle for someone who fancied controlling the script.
“Is it a revelation from the Spiritual Eyes? Hehe…”
I chuckled softly. Tan Han had previously claimed she ventured here for a friend, which was clearly just an excuse. The real reason was the revelation of the Spiritual Eyes; she knew she would find the answer to her dilemma here.
She thought that answer would come from me, but now the facts proved otherwise… so who could it be?
Even I was curious.
It couldn’t possibly be the Academy Head speaking personally, right?
After all, the interference of the Spiritual Eyes with the script could greatly hinder control over it. It was as if a cheat code granted by the world’s consciousness to its child.
Such favoritism was beyond my reach, but Tan Han didn’t want it.
Who would have thought… that before today, I hadn’t noticed Tan Han had such thoughts at all.
Maybe I truly hadn’t spent enough time with Tan Han.
Not long after Tan Han left, the door across from me, Sister Bai’s room, was gently pushed open.
“Sister Bai, are you leaving soon?” I smiled at Sister Bai.
“I know, but could you tell me what you discussed?”
“Eh? Didn’t Sister Bai hear?”
“Well, I heard quite a bit, but not on purpose. My hearing is pretty good, especially after your soundproofing spell wore off…” Sister Bai said helplessly.
“Ah? Were we loud?”
“Ordinary people wouldn’t hear it, but I’m not an ordinary person,” Sister Bai explained.
“Alright, but Sister Bai still wants to know what we talked about.” I made a face as if pretending to be angry and pushed Sister Bai back into her room.
After all, such topics were not suitable for open discussion in the corridor.
“Xiao Han, although I don’t want to say this, as an outsider…”
“Sister Bai is not an outsider; feel free to say whatever,” I declared as I entered Sister Bai’s room, closed the door, and flopped onto her neatly made bed, leaving the imprint of my body on the smooth bedding.
“Eh… Xiao Han, don’t mess up my bed.”
“I’ll fix it later. Just say what you want, Sister Bai~” I turned to face Sister Bai on the bed.
“To be honest, while I have some understanding of how you interact with others, I still didn’t expect you…”
“Uh… did I say something serious?” I sat up and looked at Sister Bai, trying to gauge her reaction.
“Not very serious…”
“Then it should be fine, right?”
“It’s very serious!”
“Eh?”
“Xiao Han, you’re a girl; you don’t need to be so harsh, do you?”
“Hmm…”
I pressed my lips together and seriously reflected on what I had said before; it didn’t seem like there was much wrong. At worst, it was just an issue with the order of my excited speech, and the words I had spoken didn’t perfectly convey my meaning.
In terms of tone… it indeed sounded somewhat cold, but…
“Xiao Han, are you even listening to what I’m saying?” At this moment, Bai Yu looked at me, her head lowered, with a serious demeanor, her voice rose a few notches.
“Ah? Yes! I heard! I’m listening!” I nodded vigorously.
“Xiao Han, do you blame me for saying this for others?”
“Eh?” Caught off guard by Sister Bai’s sudden question, I was momentarily stunned.
“How could I? But… Sister Bai, you really don’t have to worry so much; all the advice you gave, I will listen to it. I won’t blame you, and you don’t need to use ‘it’s for your own good’ as an excuse. My mind is pretty straightforward; if it’s the right thing, I will find a way to convince myself. If I don’t agree deep down, no matter how many times you say it, I might not change…”
“Xiao Han… you.” Hearing my answer, Bai Yu facepalmed, “Alright… then let’s talk about it. Starting with your conversation with Tan Han.”
“Okay!” I straightened my posture and listened attentively.
“First, you need to understand that no one is perfect, and no one lives or speaks according to someone else’s thoughts.” Bai Yu said as she reflected on her own understanding. As an ordinary topic, she had much insight into people, as the ordinary topic couldn’t escape humanity, and as long as a person existed, they couldn’t escape flaws. People were complete because of their flaws, and they pursued perfection in life.
It was precisely because of the differences between people that the art of communication and interaction existed; language carries weight, infused with emotion, capable of moving others. Conversation can empower but also hurt invisibly.
“Oh… I naturally understand the differences between people and the generation gap…”
“I’m glad you understand, Xiao Han. I know you comprehend many things, but you also need to realize that what you think may cause issues. The more you think, the more problems arise; the more you do, the more answers you accumulate. You realize you’re not good at chatting, right? In fact, you’re quite good at it, but you think too much; you analyze too much. That’s not a conversation with others; that’s a conversation with yourself. Once you notice that someone’s response deviates from your expectations, you view it as their problem. But… Xiao Han, have you considered it might be your problem?”
“I… my own problem?”
“If you can’t tolerate any hint of ignorance, self-deception, or arrogance from others, then a chasm you can’t cross will open between you and them.”
“But… why should I tolerate?” For once, I rebutted Sister Bai’s words.
“I’m not trying to persuade you to do anything; I see your contradictions. Xiao Han… you desire friends, don’t you? A friend you can communicate with effortlessly, just like how you feel after using the Illusionary Clone, right?”
“Yeah… it feels so easy…”
“Exactly, very easy. Yet, while you yearn for outside friendship, you also build high walls around yourself, screening others. Didn’t you jokingly say that those filtered out by society are trash? By screening friends and chatting partners, what will you ultimately gain?”
“I…”
“Let’s put it this way: how is your screening behavior different from arrogance? Xiao Han, you’ve also told me that weakness and ignorance aren’t obstacles in life, but arrogance is. I want to return that phrase to you. I don’t know where you heard this insightful statement, but I think it’s more suitable for you at this moment.”
“Ugh…” I lowered my head, too ashamed to look at Sister Bai. Had I just been hit by a boomerang of my own words?
What could be more uncomfortable than this? And to have it pointed out by Sister Bai…
“Alright, cheer up. I only hope you can be a bit livelier…” Seeing my gloomy expression, Bai Yu hurried to console me.
“It’s nothing… I just got hit by my own words, need a moment to recover…” I mumbled softly.
“Phew… all better now.”
“So soon?” Bai Yu looked at me, surprised that I went from introspective to lively in an instant.
“Yeah, it’s just that minor. It doesn’t affect me too much.” I responded with a smile.
Sister Bai was right; overthinking leads to issues, while taking action brings answers. When you don’t focus on the problems, there’s no internal conflict, and when you don’t pay attention to the negative feelings brought by emotions, you won’t be unhappy.
It seems I still need to pay more attention to the practice of unifying knowledge and action; I fell into this internal conflict state again over something trivial.
“Good to hear…”
“By the way, Sister Bai~”
“Is there anything else?”
“It’s dark, and the corridor outside is really dark… can I sleep here with you?” I tugged at the blanket, looking expectantly at Sister Bai.
“Xiao Han, you… eh… don’t use this excuse next time!”
“How about this time?”
“This time… I’ll let it slide.”
…
“Eh? Is that the apprentice badge from Scholar Xiao Han? Well, it’s the first time I’ve seen one that can’t be obtained. I’ll arrange for your housing.”
“Thank you.”
As the elderly person in charge of the housing led Tan Han to her new place, despite being called housing, it was not too small overall.
However, compared to the villa style of the Witch Academy, it was naturally incomparable; there weren’t as many guest rooms here, but at least it was much more spacious than the previous cramped room.
After registering the right to use the room, Tan Han didn’t linger and returned without delay.
Tan Han looked up at the obscured Earth Vein above, surprised at how plain and unadorned the dark sky was.
“Sister Tan Han, you’re back?”
“Hmm? Heddy? Why are you out?” Tan Han was a bit surprised but still asked.
“Oh, I came out to check the surroundings and see if there’s any danger.”
“Let’s head back together; we need to change our place of residence.”
“What? Why do we need to change residence?”
“Let’s thank our Xiao Han sister; she heard about our situation and got us a house. It may not be very big, but it’s definitely larger than where we’re currently staying.”
“Yay~ Really! I told you Xiao Han sister wouldn’t give up on us. Even though we haven’t seen her yet, we’ve already benefited!”
“Yeah, let’s go back and tell them about this.”
After Tan Han brought a group of girls to their new residence, they could at least manage to get a good night’s sleep.
“Sister Tan Han, aren’t you going to sleep?”
“I can’t sleep; you all should sleep quickly.” Tan Han shook her head. Although she hadn’t found the answers she expected on this trip, it had reinforced her determination. She had to admit that this blow was significant, and despite feeling tired now, sleep eluded her.
“I can’t sleep either, Sister Tan Han. Let’s chat… I noticed you seemed different after coming back.”
“Really? Is it that obvious?” Tan Han instinctively touched her face and asked.
“Well, it’s not visually obvious; it’s mainly your state. It feels like every time you visit Xiao Han, you return feeling disappointed, but you don’t have to…”
“No… you don’t understand. Some things, even if they end in disappointment, are still worth it.”
“Okay… I won’t meddle in your matters anymore. By the way, Sister Tan Han, what are we going to do next? We can’t possibly stay cooped up here forever, can we?”
“Hmm.”
“Qiu Yue was taken away by the City Guard; although she said it’s fine, we definitely can’t just leave without a care.”
“I know, which is why we came here to seek that slim chance. Don’t lose your composure; we just need to wait for events to unfold. Our greatest advantage lies in our combat capabilities in the Dream World, which means we need to harness the power of Ninglan New City to eliminate those Dream Demons.”
“Will that guy named Ninglan Qiuyu succeed?”
“Don’t underestimate that guy’s ambition; even without our arrival, that ambitious person is already eager to kick his father aside. As for us, we’ll steadily initiate contact with the Extraordinary Research Base; the Extraordinary Research Base here is an indispensable strategic point in Ninglan New City. The extraordinary weapons they possess will likewise serve as great support to us.”
As Tan Han spoke, she opened her hand, revealing the badge. With this, she could save a significant amount of effort.
No wonder Xiao Han chose to teach runes there; had everything begun its layout back then?
Realizing the importance of extraordinary skills, she could easily enter the Extraordinary Research Base based on her knowledge of Rune Literature while the relations between Ninglan New City and outsiders were still relatively harmonious.
And she had achieved such a valued status.
“Sister Tan Han, what is this?”
“This is the apprentice badge of the Extraordinary Research Base, also the goal of our journey. It seems Xiao Han has already paved the way for us.”
