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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
The armed police warriors had likely been instructed by their superiors before arriving that they must not fire unless absolutely necessary. As a result, the armed police exchanged glances and coldly pushed away the hands reaching for their arms. With no other options, they could only take a step back.
Seeing the armed police retreat, the car owners felt even more justified and pressed forward, with more car owners joining in the pushing. It was clear that a riot was about to break out.
"Stop!" A loud voice rang out. Looking closely, they saw a chubby man known as Fatty striding across the street towards the intersection with a megaphone in hand.
The sunlight shone on his round face, giving him a benevolent appearance reminiscent of Maitreya Buddha. His bare arms jiggled with fat, adding to his imposing presence. Additionally, the large gold chain around his neck and the colorful wild boar tattoo on his chest further betrayed his character.
He was the boss of Yuhua District—Fatty.
Behind Fatty followed about twenty muscular men with buzz cuts, adorned with gold chains and tattoos, all wielding steel pipes and iron rods.
Upon seeing such a fierce group emerge, the car owners were momentarily stunned but quickly ignored them and continued pushing against the armed police.
"Attack!" Without hesitation, Fatty waved his hand, and his twenty or so men instantly split into four groups of six or seven. They charged directly at the car owners pushing against the armed police, swinging their steel pipes and iron rods at them.
"What are you doing?" Several car owners who hadn’t reacted in time were struck by the pipes and rods, resulting in injuries as they retreated while shouting angrily.
Some car owners hid behind the armed police and officers, crying for help as if their earlier insults and attacks on the police had nothing to do with them. The armed police watched Fatty and his men coldly, their guns already raised. If Fatty's men dared to attack the warriors, they would not hesitate to open fire.
"I’m here to save you!" Ignoring the threatening looks from the armed police, Fatty shouted into the megaphone: "Are you all idiots? Don’t you know that the guards are sacred and inviolable? If you keep being stupid, it’s only right if the armed police shoot you dead!"
Hearing this from Fatty eased the expressions of the armed police somewhat. Fatty continued shouting: "We’re all neighbors here; I care about you! I don’t want your parents or wives and children coming to ask me why you were shot dead on the street. Am I supposed to take responsibility for your stupidity? So I won’t allow this to happen. Back off now, or before the guards make a move, I’ll take you down myself!"
Fattyy waved a carrot and then a big stick, leaving the car owners stunned. The scene quickly fell silent.
"But there are bombs in our children's school!" an elderly man shouted loudly.
"Rumors! It's all rumors!" Fattyy declared firmly. "My child is also in that school. If this were true, I would have been the first to rush in."
"Just because you say it's a rumor, does that make it so? What evidence do you have?" A hefty woman retorted, and interestingly, her figure matched Fattyy quite well.
"Evidence?" Fattyy exclaimed passionately. "My reputation as Fattyy in Yuhua District is evidence enough!"
The crowd erupted in disbelief; clearly, this evidence did not convince them.
Fattyy looked around and spotted me, his face lighting up with joy. "Isn't it about evidence? Let me introduce you to this Ghost Brother. He is the highest Special Security Consultant at the Star City police station, and he can answer your questions."
I was taken aback. How did Fattyy know about my nonexistent position? This title was just a joke between me and Lingfeng. Then I recalled that during my time at the Swimming Pool in Dragon Soaring Prosperity District, I had mentioned this title to Leizu Wu. Perhaps one of Fattyy's subordinates was nearby or maybe Leizu Wu had shared it.
At this point, I couldn't refuse any longer. I stepped forward, took the megaphone from Fattyy, cleared my throat, and began to speak: "Everyone, this video is a tactic used by foreign forces to disrupt our national order. A baseless video combined with some text can lead us to suffer huge losses. Look at our current situation; thankfully, no vehicles have collided yet. But let me ask you, if there weren't armed police here, could it lead to a trampling incident? If you were the one on the ground or if it were your friends or family, how would you feel? If all of Star City were like this, what would the losses be?"
Hearing my words, the car owners began murmuring among themselves. One dignified middle-aged man spoke up loudly: "You have a point, but let's put ourselves in each other's shoes. If your child were in that school, would you feel at ease? How can you prove our children are safe?"
I quickly thought of a solution: "It's simple. Everyone should cooperate with the armed police and traffic police to clear the vehicles. Our police will work with each school to upload updates on the situation at each school on the Star City Forum. Each school will have its own thread where we will post photos or videos of the teaching buildings at regular intervals. Would that satisfy you?"
"That sounds best!" the middle-aged man exclaimed. "I don't want to cause trouble for the government either. If I can see real-time updates about my child's school, that would be ideal."
I confidently handed the megaphone to Fattyy. As for how to share the photos at school, that's not my concern. I just can't believe they can't handle such a simple task. The only thing I'm worried about is that Website might not be able to handle the sudden influx of visitors and crash.
Fattyy looked at me with admiration. "Ghost Brother, you're still impressive. I'll call Boss Tang right away to promote this experience."
Nodding, I signaled for Kong Xuan to leave. The most important thing now was to quickly find that school, locate Ray Yu, and find that bomb.
I called Lou Wei again to update him on the situation on the streets. Things were pretty much the same on his end as well. When he heard about my plan to upload photos, he agreed enthusiastically and said he would notify Wan Dahai immediately.
After hanging up, Kong Xuan and I crossed the street and walked about five hundred meters along Spring Breeze Road before turning onto Peace Road. There was a school on Peace Road, Peace Academy, a private institution with nearly two thousand students and staff.
"Kong Xuan, what does your 'Xunyang River at Night Sending Off Guests, Maple Leaves and Reed Flowers in Autumn Rustling' actually mean?" I asked as we walked.
"I'm not good at guessing these things; Fatty should be better at it. I just called him to help me figure it out," Kong Xuan frowned and said. "If it were me, I'd say it's a word puzzle. 'Xunyang River Night Farewell' is one word, and 'Maple Leaves and Reed Flowers in Autumn' is another."
"What could 'Xunyang River Night Farewell' be?" I thought Kong Xuan's reasoning was sound. After pondering for a moment, I slapped my forehead. "Right! Let's search online and see if there are any similar riddles."
Hearing this, Kong Xuan nodded vigorously. "Yes, let's check Baidu."
Both of us took out our phones, opened the browser, and searched for keywords. After a while, we exchanged glances, both feeling disheartened—there were no related riddles online.
With a helpless expression, we continued walking. After a few steps, Kong Xuan suddenly asked, "By the way, what’s the name of that poem?"
"Pipa Song!" I remembered this one; it was in our middle school textbook years ago.
"Is there a school called Pipa Middle School in Star City?" Kong Xuan frowned.
"There are so many schools in Star City, I don't know if that name exists. However, you can search online for Star City Pipa Middle School. If it shows up on Baidu, then it exists." I quickly replied. "That's one way to think about it. Perhaps the clue lies in the title of this poem. Pipa, pipa... Hmm, if we break down this word, what characters would we get?"
Pipa, when broken down, consists of four 'Wang' characters, one 'Bi', and one 'Ba'. What combinations could that yield? Four Wang School? Bi Ba School? Wang Ba School? What a mess! I don't even need to search Baidu; I can be sure that there is absolutely no school with such a name in Star City.
If there were such a bizarrely named school, how could I, as a local in Star City, not know about it? Conventional things might not be memorable, but unusual and strange things always leave a deep impression.
Just as I was lost in thought, Kong Xuan looked up from her phone and said with a wry smile, "There is no Pipa Middle School."
Isn't the approach supposed to start from the poem's title? I pondered for a moment. "Could it be the author's name? Bai Juyi. Is there a Bai Juyi School?"
Kong Xuan confidently replied, "That definitely doesn't exist. By the way, let me check what Bai Juyi's other name is."
I looked at Kong Xuan in surprise. "What do you mean? Isn't Bai Juyi just Bai Juyi? What other name could he have?"
Kong Xuan chuckled. "People in ancient times usually had a courtesy name. For example, Guan Yu had the courtesy name Yun Chang, and Zhao Yun had the courtesy name Zilong."
I couldn't help but laugh at that moment; Kong Xuan was referring to the courtesy names of ancient figures. In ancient times, names and courtesy names were distinct. For instance, Guan Yu's surname is Guan and his given name is Yu; Yun Chang is his courtesy name. Similarly, Zhao Yun's surname is Zhao and his given name is Yun; Zilong is his courtesy name. As for the hao (literary name), it's similar to a pen name. For example, Li Bai had the courtesy name Taibai and the hao Azure Lotus Scholar; Azure Lotus Scholar is his hao.
In ancient times, names were taken very seriously. When meeting someone, people generally addressed each other by their courtesy names. For example:
Zhao Yun: Hello, Brother Yun Chang, have you eaten yet?
Guan Yu: Yo Xue, Zilong, it's been a while. How about we go have some fun together?
...
But if you only call someone by their name, it can be used as an insult, for example:
Liu Bei: Cao Cao, I curse your sister!
Cao Cao: Damn it, Liu Bei, you idiot! Do you believe I can have someone kill you?
...
Getting a bit off track, one thing is certain: Bai Juyi has a title, but we just don't remember it. Kong Xuan searched on her phone and read aloud: "Bai Juyi, courtesy name Le, titled Fragrant Mountain Scholar..."
At this point, I exchanged a glance with Kong Xuan and saw the answer in each other's astonished eyes.
Xiangshan High School!
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