Chapter 1267: The Academic Master is the Academic Master

The thick fog before her eyes suddenly vanished, and a street appeared in front of her.

This street was paved with bluestone, and shops stood in rows along its sides, but the signs above these shops were written in traditional characters, which she looked at with only a partial understanding.

More importantly, the street was completely deserted, and as she stood in the middle of it, she suddenly felt a sense of panic.

Chen Yu and Zhang Haowen had been following right behind her, and seeing her panicked appearance, Zhang Haowen was somewhat surprised: "Can she not see us now?"

"She has entered an Otherworldly Realm, a world that existed several decades ago but no longer exists today," Chen Yu said. "However, this world is stored in an unknown space, and at the right moment, people can enter it."

"Is that the principle behind a Ghost Wall?" Zhang Haowen said thoughtfully. "Or rather, is the world she is currently in an alternate dimension?"

"That's right, another dimension, not belonging to our world," Chen Yu nodded.

"Then what kind of things will she encounter inside this world?" Zhang Haowen was even more curious.

"Some people and events from the past; of course, these people have been dead for a long time," Chen Yu said.

"I want to go in and see it too, why didn't I enter that space?" Zhang Haowen asked.

"You are different from her. Your intellect is high, and those things cannot deceive you, so you have no way to enter that dimension. Of course, if you want to go in, I can give you a hand," Chen Yu said.

"Then I will trouble you, Teacher Chen. I want to go in and see what that world is actually like," Zhang Haowen said.

"Very well, I will send you in." Chen Yu nodded slightly, pointed his right hand, and Zhang Haowen vanished before his eyes in an instant.

Just at this moment, Li Yan, running blindly, plunged into a patch of forest and then disappeared from sight.

Chen Yu paused for a moment, then quickly followed.

In Li Yan's world, changes had already occurred. As she strolled along the street, it suddenly became bustling ahead. She looked up, not knowing when she had appeared inside a teahouse.

People were coming and going inside the teahouse, but their attire was all from the Republican era; there were rickshaw pullers and those making a living wandering the world.

It was exceptionally lively here, and the people around her also looked very real.

"Miss, what would you like to eat?" A waiter ran over, bowing and scraping as he asked, then led her to a table: "Our little shop has a complete selection; whatever you want, we have it. How about I bring you some of our specialties?"

Li Yan nodded as if under a Ghost Envoy's spell; she had even somewhat forgotten where she currently was.

She sat down and looked around blankly, seeing the myriad states of life displayed by the people around her: some were shouting loudly while drinking, others were drinking tea and chatting while cracking melon seeds.

There was also a group of children running back and forth through the bustling teahouse.

Soon, the waiter brought over a few small dishes that looked quite exquisite. Li Yan picked up her chopsticks woodenly, then suddenly remembered something and looked up to ask: "How much is this?"

"Not expensive, one silver dollar," the waiter said glibly.

"I don't have any silver dollars." Li Yan suddenly remembered this problem. She was a modern person; what was she to do without silver dollars? Could one dine and dash in this place?

But looking at the burly shopkeeper and the few sturdy waiters at the entrance, she immediately abandoned this thought.

"Then what do you have?" the waiter asked.

"I have this." Li Yan took out a one-hundred-yuan bill.

"This?" The waiter was slightly stunned. He took the hundred-yuan bill, flipped it over to look at it, and then shook his head: "No, this won't do."

"Why won't it do?" Li Yan said: "People where I'm from all use this."

"Then go back to where you came from. I'm telling you, people here all use this." As the waiter spoke, he took out a stack of paper money and pointed to a coin-shaped piece of paper money: "See that? This is the only hard currency."

Li Yan's face turned pale; she suddenly sobered up. She had encountered those things.

"Then... I won't eat it after all. I don't have any. I'm sorry." She hurriedly stood up and retreated in a panic.

"Why come here if you don't have money? A waste of my time." The waiter rolled his eyes, though he didn't make things difficult for her, and then he took the dishes back off the table.

Ever since Li Yan entered this place, her consciousness had been affected by the yin energy here; it seemed as if everything before her was a script already written, and she was just following those scripts.

But she was awake now, and she hurried outward, wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible.

Yet just at this moment, she slammed into a child who was running around playing.

"Ouch, I'm sorry, little one, I didn't mean to." She hurriedly helped the child up.

"Big sister is so pretty." The child, wearing old-fashioned clothing, looked up and bared his teeth: "Let's play ball together."

"I can't, I have to go back," Li Yan hurriedly refused.

"Come on, big sister, let's play. Look how fun this ball is." A group of children surrounded her, not letting her leave.

Helpless, Li Yan had to agree to them. She kicked the ball to one side, and then the group of children chased after it frantically.

As they kicked it back and forth, a child suddenly shouted: "Stop kicking, you kicked it wrong! That's Erbao's head, the ball is on the other side."

Li Yan's scalp tingled. She looked up abruptly, and saw that the 'ball' rolling on the ground was no ball at all; it was a child's head.

Just at this moment, a child kicked it hard, and with a 'whoosh', the head flew toward Li Yan.

She subconsciously reached out both hands and caught the ball in her arms.

She saw a fuzzy head in her hands, and in an instant, she and the head were face to face.

"Big sister, put my head down. It's very uncomfortable for me when you hold me like this." The head suddenly opened its eyes and gave a giggle.

"Ah..." Li Yan felt icy cold all over. She screamed desperately while holding the head. She should have thrown the head in her hands away, but now she was so terrified that she found it difficult to even move a finger.

"Why are you holding my son's head? Give it back to me." A muffled, droning voice came over.

Following the voice, a man walked over. He was walking normally at first, but as he walked, one of his arms suddenly fell off.

Immediately after, his body began to collapse—arm, leg, eye. By the time he reached Li Yan's side, only half a skeleton remained.

The miserable scream Li Yan let out pierced the clouds and traveled far away. She would likely never be able to forget everything she saw today for the rest of her life.