LMBYE 4
A rather special service.
After class, Ning Ci headed straight to the office to collect his new meal card. Because of his outstanding appearance and the way he made the school uniform look almost ascetic, he attracted quite a few glances along the way.
The lady handling the meal cards was gossiping with a colleague. When she saw such a pleasant-looking student, she handed him the new card and gave him a guide to the school cafeteria.
Yizhong High School was well-funded, and the school put a lot of effort into ensuring students had quality meals.
Thanks to the auntie’s explanation, Ning Ci learned that the first floor served Chinese food and fruit bowls, the second floor specialized in noodles, and the third floor had the best (and priciest) stir-fried dishes. There was even a dessert window offering both Chinese and Western sweets.
"Oh, right," one of the aunties suddenly remembered something. "The food on the third floor is good, but don’t eat there too often."
"Why?" Ning Ci asked.
The auntie lowered her voice mysteriously. "Because I heard that the third floor has bad feng shui. Students who eat there often tend to get sick. You look quite pale already—if your constitution is weak, you should avoid eating there too much."
Another auntie scolded her, "Hey, don’t say such unlucky things! This is a school—students should believe in science! Stop scaring people!"
Ning Ci wasn’t scared. Instead, he walked away deep in thought.
According to what they said, only the third floor’s food caused students to get sick. If it were really a feng shui issue, other floors should be affected too. Why only the third floor...?
He pondered this as he walked into the school’s convenience store.
He originally planned to buy a bottle of the same drink Lou Zhengdu had given him earlier so he could return the favor—and hopefully get back his three confiscated Qing Dynasty coins.
But after searching the store, he couldn’t find the drink. In the end, he settled for a bottle of coconut milk and headed toward the cafeteria.
Despite the auntie’s warning, he went straight to the third floor.
If he had no choice, he would keep to himself. If he had the ability, he would help others. That was what his master, Daoist Ling Feng, had taught him.
Earlier, Ning Ci had absorbed quite a bit of yang energy from Lou Zhengdu, so he had more than enough strength to handle a trip to the third floor.
His sect had strict rules: great evils must not be saved, but small kindnesses could be done.
This meant that even if a truly wicked person begged for help, he could not intervene, as doing so would damage his own karmic virtue. At the same time, he couldn’t help every good person he met either—because everyone had their fate, and interfering too much could lead to greater disasters. However, if it was just a general act of kindness with no specific target, something easy to do, he could step in.
Especially for someone like Ning Ci, whose unique constitution made accumulating good karma beneficial—good deeds could help offset the damage caused by the yin energy clinging to him.
Ning Ci got his food and stepped out of the line.
There was definitely something strange here. He had observed carefully on his way in and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the cafeteria’s structure.
The building’s orientation was fine, the space was bright and open, and there were no obvious sources of negative energy nearby. And yet, the food on the third floor was shrouded in a layer of yin energy—there was even a faint, grayish, eerie aura. It made the entire cafeteria’s lighting look unnaturally pale.
Just as he was thinking about this, a student wearing glasses brushed past him. As the student passed, he lifted his head slightly and cast a glance at Ning Ci.
For a brief moment, the lenses of his glasses flashed with a cold reflection.
Ning Ci froze. Even after the student walked away, he turned to look at the departing figure.
That student looked familiar. Fortunately, Ning Ci had an exceptional memory from years of memorizing scripture. Quickly, he recalled where he had seen that face before.
That student was his classmate—he sat in the second row. Earlier that morning, when Ning Ci finished drawing and stepped down from the podium, that student, who had kept his head down the entire class, had briefly lifted his gaze. At that moment, his thick glasses had flashed with the same cold reflection.
Ning Ci furrowed his brows. The lenses were too thick, and the student’s bangs were long, making it hard to see his face clearly.
But... in that brief moment before the reflection, Ning Ci thought he saw something unusual—his upper eyelids formed a straight line, connecting to the tear troughs, creating a sharp, downward-facing triangle.
This type of eye shape was commonly known as "triangle eyes."
Unless it was due to aging and sagging skin, a natural triangle eye shape was considered highly inauspicious in face reading.
People with such eyes were often short-tempered, paranoid, and prone to violence. In face reading, they were associated with misfortune, even fatal disasters.
Moreover, his thick bangs obscured most of his eyebrows, making it unclear if he had "ghost brows"—messy, thick brows that curled upward at the ends. People with this type of brow were said to be narrow-minded. If their brows also pressed down over their eyes, it signified an even more ruthless and dangerous personality.
Why would a regular high school student have such a dangerous-looking face...?
Ning Ci frowned in thought. Unfortunately, the student’s forehead was covered, preventing him from analyzing his "Life Palace"—the area between the eyebrows. Many street fortune tellers liked to say, "Young man, I see darkness in your Life Palace," referring to this spot.
A sharp whistle interrupted Ning Ci’s thoughts.
He turned to see where it came from and realized he had unknowingly stopped next to a table where Lou Zhengdu and his group were eating.
Chen Jue, one of Lou Zhengdu’s friends, grinned and called out, "Hey, balding little hero, wanna eat with us? You’ve been standing there forever."
At first, because of the rumor that Ning Ci had confessed to the school’s top delinquent and had even fought him, the students of Class 8 hadn’t thought too highly of him.
But after his impressive display in class that morning, their view of him had changed slightly.
A true warrior! Someone brave enough to challenge the hardest difficulty!
And Lou Zhengdu, as the hardest difficulty, was certainly worthy.
Ning Ci glanced around. Since the cafeteria was already crowded, he took a seat next to Lou Zhengdu.
Might as well absorb a little extra yang energy.
Lou Zhengdu gave him a look that seemed to say, "So, you really do want to get closer to me, huh?"—his expression a mix of amusement and disdain.
This little psycho is so fake!
He looks so pure, but he’s actually so shameless! First, he hoards my personal belongings, and now he’s following me to the cafeteria?!
Leaning in, he muttered so only Ning Ci could hear, "What are you now, a little stalker?"
Ning Ci protested, "I’m not! I came later than you—how would I know you’d be here? Do you eat here every day?"
At this, the group fell silent.
Ning Ci: "Wait… you guys eat on the third floor every day?"
His gaze swept over their plates—two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a bowl of sweet soup. The dense yin energy surrounding them was ridiculous.
Lou Zhengdu let out a small laugh. If Ning Ci had checked the school forum even once, he would’ve known that they were practically the third floor’s resident diners.
Ning Ci understood.
These guys had strong constitutions and plenty of yang energy. With Lou Zhengdu constantly around them, they didn’t need to worry about yin energy affecting them.
But he wasn’t as lucky…
He seemed to have been disliked by Lou Zhengdu. If he got too close, he might cause even greater disgust.
Moreover, Yin energy will only become more and more difficult to get rid of. If Ning Ci is too close to him from the beginning, the absorption rate of Yang energy will become lower and lower. In the end, I'm afraid just getting close to him won't do any good.
For the sake of long-term planning, Ning Ci had to control himself.
But... Ning Ci looked down at his plate. As the saying goes, disease comes from the mouth. This is not an exaggeration. The Yin Qi that is directly ingested into the stomach and the Yin Qi that comes into contact with the outside of the body are not on the same level. Even though he had gained a lot of Yang energy today, Ning Ci was still a little timid.
Seeing that he didn't move his chopsticks, Chen Jue said, "Are you scared by the weird stories we heard about our No. 1 Middle School?"
"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just that the stir-fried dishes on the third floor are quite hot. Eating too much of them can easily cause a sore throat. After all, this is a century-old school. There are so many weird stories about No. 1 Middle School. This is just a trivial one. It can't even make three episodes of "Science Approaches." Chen Jue said.
Ning Ci grasped the key point sharply: "Are there any other weird stories?"
"They are all nonsense, such as the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset or at night, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset after sunset, the ghostly figures of the ghostly figures appearing in the playground after sunset, the ghostly figures of ...
"The previous ones are all nonsense. I don't know which pervert the last one is. The school has issued a notice now. There are rewards for reporting criminals. You can pay attention to this."
Chen Jue was puzzled: "I have finished talking, why don't you move your chopsticks? Do people like you grow up drinking dew and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and don't need to consume worldly things?"
Ning Ci: "..."
He hesitated for a while, but couldn't help asking the person next to him The cool guy who had been eating with a stern face: "Can I exchange food with you?"
Lou Zhengdu looked at his half-empty plate: "..."
Everyone: "!!"
Ning Ci found it difficult to speak, and after a long while of grunting, his face became a little hot: "I think... yours looks more delicious. Sorry, I'm a bit picky about food."
Chen Jue and the other two: Who am I, where am I, and what am I doing.jpg;
Are you picky about food? ! You are clearly picking people! !
"You fuck..."
Are gays nowadays speaking so bluntly?
The man who had just been standing there stupidly for a long time now came over and said that the food he had eaten was more delicious. Lou Zhengdu glared at this shameless little pervert fiercely. It turned out that gays all have no moral integrity!
I must not be bewitched by this kind of sticky cake spirit who likes to say obscene words! !
"What the hell is this brand of sticky rice cake?" Lou Zhengdu cursed.
Tang Yuan: “…”
Actually, he wasn’t imagining things in a wrong way. It was true that his brother Lou was a little flirtatious.
Tang Yuan found it hard to imagine that Lou Zhengdu would say such a weak insult.
If it were his former brother Lou...if he wanted to express his disgust for this kind of behavior, he would probably call the person a piece of chewing gum that can't be thrown away, right? At the very least it should be a dog-skin plaster, right? !
What's the matter with you calling someone a sticky cake? !
Brother Lou, please say something!
Ning Ci was indeed a little ashamed, but he also didn't want to eat other people's leftovers. The return gift for water is coconut milk, but Lou Zhengdu has already made some sugar water himself, so I'll give it to him later. Then how should I return the favor?
Ning Ci thought about it and decided that he would have to clear out the ghosts and evil spirits in the dormitory when he returned at night, otherwise he would not be able to sleep at all. Then he could also help Lou Zhengdu to drive away the evil spirits. Although Lou Zhengdu had a pure yang body, after all, the two of them were facing increasing calamities, so a good living environment would definitely be beneficial.
But it is still a bit difficult to say this openly, after all, we live in a society ruled by law.
He came closer and whispered, "Then I'll come to you tonight and give you a return gift."
The young man raised his eyebrows, "What return gift?"
"It's that kind of... more special service." Ning Ci said seriously, his fair little face full of "I guarantee you'll be satisfied", "I'll give you a discount", "Come back next time".
Ning Ci thought, he should be able to understand. I have revealed so many things related to metaphysics in front of him, and also told him about the calamity. I have been very frank with him!
Lou Zhengdu's pupils trembled. Could it be what he thought?
"That kind?" The astringent kind?
"Yes, that kind." The very mysterious kind.
Three seconds later, Lou Zhengdu's face suddenly turned red, and his tone was so fierce that he seemed to be able to eat a bucket of sticky cakes: "You just eat it yourself!"
