When the sky darkened, the neon signs in front of the dozen or so hair salons on Old Street lit up as well. Most were in murky red tones, spreading across the glass like lips smeared with cheap lipstick had licked them.
The scents of various perfumes and body washes mingled in the night wind and drifted all over the street. Faintly, one could even hear the sounds of haggling.
Lu Jiuling pedaled harder.
Ten minutes later, he rushed into Jiayuan Residential Complex and stopped below Building 12.
After locking his bicycle, Lu Jiuling lifted the bulging schoolbag from the basket—so swollen it looked like it was ten months pregnant and about to give birth—slung it over his right shoulder, and walked into the apartment building.
Bang! Bang!
As Lu Jiuling went upstairs, he stomped hard twice.
The motion-sensor light did not turn on at all. The corridor was so dark that Lu Jiuling felt as if he were walking through the large intestine of a carnivorous beast.
301!
Lu Jiuling took out his key and opened the door. A moldy smell like a rainy day immediately rushed into his face.
He changed into slippers, tossed the schoolbag onto a sofa older than he was, then walked to the balcony and opened the window to air the place out.
Pale moonlight squeezed in like a thief. Unfortunately, Lu Jiuling was so poor he could not even afford a tea egg for breakfast.
Steal his heart?
Lu Jiuling’s heart was currently as cold as someone who had spent ten years killing fish at RT-Mart!
He walked into the simple kitchen, took a cup, and turned on the faucet.
Splash!
Lu Jiuling filled a cup with cold water and gulped down more than half of it. He poured the rest into the electric kettle, filled it up again, and plugged it in.
While waiting for the water to boil, Lu Jiuling took out a packet of instant noodles, tore it open, and dumped the noodle block and seasoning into a stainless-steel basin.
He took out his secondhand phone and glanced at it. 8:20.
Lu Jiuling opened the game boosting group and skimmed through a few messages. When the water boiled, he hurriedly soaked the noodles, pressed the lid down, and carried the basin to the living room.
Collapsing onto the sofa, the exhausted Lu Jiuling did not want to straighten his back again.
During four years of university, while others indulged in romance and love, Lu Jiuling, who came from a rural family, did not have that luxury. Every day, he buried himself in the study room. Aside from completing coursework and working part-time, he also wanted to obtain a few more certificates, hoping he could find a good job after graduation.
Lu Jiuling’s suffering had indeed not been in vain. He received scholarships every year and was outstanding enough to choose between several good companies. In the end, he picked a major internet corporation.
An annual salary of four hundred thousand!
Lu Jiuling had been thinking that once his life and work stabilized, he would find a girlfriend. In the end, on the nineteenth day after starting work, on the way back to his rented apartment after overtime, he was hit by a ride-hailing car.
When he woke up, he found himself in the living room of this old residential complex. Strange patterns had been taped on the floor with yellow tape, with more than a dozen candles placed on top, along with freshly chopped chicken heads and duck heads.
It looked as if some kind of mysterious ritual had been underway.
Lu Jiuling was dumbfounded for two days. Then he confirmed that he had once again become a third-year high school student, and there were only three months left until the college entrance exam!
His name had not changed, and neither had his appearance, but the city he lived in had.
“My four-hundred-thousand annual salary!”
Lu Jiuling felt so miserable he wanted to cough blood. He lifted the lid of the lunchbox, and the smell of industrial flavoring immediately rushed into his nose.
After stirring with his chopsticks, Lu Jiuling began slurping the noodles.
There was no time to wallow in sorrow anymore. First, he had to get through the college entrance exam and do his best to score high. After that, he would learn about this world.
After hurriedly finishing the noodles, Lu Jiuling washed the bowl and chopsticks. Just as he was about to go do practice questions, the security door was knocked on.
Knock, knock! Knock, knock!
“690, open the door!”
An impatient voice came in.
Lu Jiuling frowned.
It was the female landlord who lived downstairs. A hundred percent, she was here to urge him to pay rent again.
Lu Jiuling opened the door.
A young woman who had just taken a shower, still carrying the scent of body wash, was lowering her head and tapping away on her phone, replying to messages.
She wore a pair of flip-flops. Her beige camisole nightdress could not conceal skin whiter than October frost and snow, adding a touch of allure to the dim corridor.
“What took you so long to open the door?”
The female landlord’s somewhat foxy eyes left the phone screen and glanced at Lu Jiuling. “Let me tell you, don’t be like that roommate you shared the place with, messing around with those weird rituals he found online!”
Lu Jiuling remained silent.
He had once had a roommate, but on the second day after Lu Jiuling came here, that boy had gone mad.
“The rent for next quarter is due!”
The female landlord flicked her hair. Recently, she kept losing at mahjong. Her luck was truly terrible.
“Doesn’t the contract say payment is due at the end of the month?”
The name of this female landlord surfaced in Lu Jiuling’s mind. She seemed to be called Su Xiangrong.
“I’m telling you in advance. You’ll have to pay the full rent. Don’t try to argue with me when the time comes!”
Su Xiangrong cast Lu Jiuling a sidelong glance and lowered her head to tap on her phone. “If you try to play deadbeat, I won’t return your deposit!”
“…”
Lu Jiuling had been renting with someone else, each of them paying half the rent. It was just that after his roommate performed some bizarre ritual and went mad, he naturally could not pay rent anymore.
“If you think it’s expensive, you can move out.”
Su Xiangrong chuckled.
She had this boy in the palm of her hand.
How could housing near No. 2 High School be that easy to find?
Most importantly, there were only three months left until the college entrance exam. Even if he found a place, moving would be troublesome, and he would have to adapt to a new environment. How much would that affect his studies?
“690, a kindhearted and pretty landlord like me is one of a kind. Plenty of people are fighting to rent my place. I’m only doing this because you’re honest…”
Before Su Xiangrong finished speaking, Lu Jiuling interrupted her.
“Are you done?”
“Huh?”
“If you’re done, I need to study!”
Bang!
Lu Jiuling closed the door.
“No, wait…”
Su Xiangrong looked at the security door that had nearly smacked her nose and was suddenly a little stunned. “This kid actually dares to give me attitude?”
The young married landlord grew angrier the more she thought about it and raised her hand to start pounding on the door.
Creak!
The door opened.
“Do you need something else?”
Lu Jiuling stared at the young married landlord.
Because he usually did not get enough nutrition, he was rather thin and weak, but he was not short. With a height of over 1.8 meters, when he looked down at a young married woman late at night, he still gave off quite a bit of pressure.
“Uh…”
Su Xiangrong looked at Lu Jiuling’s cold, stern eyes. Her voice caught, and she subconsciously shook her head. “No… nothing!”
Bang!
The security door closed once again.
“Eh, something’s not right!”
Su Xiangrong scratched her hair. This boy usually gave people the impression of being very obedient and docile. He did not even dare look her in the eye. What was going on now?
Could something dirty have possessed him?
At the thought of 690’s roommate who had gone insane, Su Xiangrong suddenly shivered!
Forget it.
When this kid failed to pay rent, she would deal with him then.
Su Xiangrong was not afraid of Lu Jiuling defaulting. That kid was fair and clean, and his looks could reach eighty-five points. Sister Song, who played cards with her, had been thinking about him for a long time.
As long as this kid was willing, he could earn the rent in a single day.
…
After Lu Jiuling finished the instant noodles, washed the basin, and sat back down on the sofa.
No. 2 High School was one of the top three high schools in Anzhou. It had no dormitories, so students like Lu Jiuling, who had tested in from the Rust Belt, could only rent places.
Although sharing an apartment brought many inconveniences, the advantage was that it was cheap. But Lu Jiuling’s roommate had gone mad and withdrawn from the lease, so the female landlord wanted him to shoulder the full rent, or else move out.
What she was betting on was precisely that he had neither the time nor energy to struggle and could only accept being fleeced!
Lu Jiuling had never thought of calling home to ask this world’s “mother” for money. Aside from the psychological barrier, he also knew that mother was a hard-luck person at the bottom of society, working three jobs a day for her son.
“I’d better earn living expenses first!”
After the female landlord caused such a fuss, Lu Jiuling thought about the balance in his wallet and no longer had the mood to study. He opened the game boosting group.
He had only just arrived and knew absolutely nothing about this world. Out of caution, he had not gone out to work part-time, but instead joined several boosting groups.
Although there was not much money, at least he did not have to leave home, saving time.
Lu Jiuling had only been doing this for a few days and had almost no clients. He only accepted orders distributed by those big boosting streamers.
Leveling, clearing daily tasks, farming equipment, and the like—hard-earned money.
An hour passed. After completing three accounts and deducting the big booster’s commission, thirty yuan entered his account.
Looking at that bit of money, Lu Jiuling went numb!
From an annual salary of four hundred thousand to an hourly wage of thirty yuan, and an unstable one at that—who could bear that?
“This can’t go on. Even if I’m going to be a booster, I have to do something with a technical threshold!”
As Lu Jiuling was pondering which game to start with, in Boosting Group No. 1, the group owner suddenly posted a link.
Farm Owner: @everyone, big job incoming.
Farm Owner: A game that’s about to be released soon is recruiting trial players. Find one bug, get 50 yuan!
Cangying Paizi: Only 50 yuan? Not even a dog would do it!
Pure Love Warrior: O-God, launch!
Shanyue Shao: Farm Owner, you’re too black-hearted. You really treat us like cattle and horses to squeeze dry!
I’m a Nimble Dog in the Mountains: Add money!
Mountain Ghost Can’t Read: @Farm Owner, are there any other things to watch out for?
Farm Owner: Nope!
Farm Owner: That’s why I like Mountain Ghost. Never wastes words.
Pure Love Warrior: Yesterday you said you liked 690 the most!
Farm Owner: 690 does orders the fastest and best. How could I not like him?
Farm Owner: @Six-Nine-Zero, hurry up and play. Try to find all the bugs within three days!
After Lu Jiuling finished reading the messages, he clicked the link. As a result, his index finger felt as if it had been stung by a scorpion. His vision suddenly went black, and he lost consciousness.
…
When Lu Jiuling opened his eyes again, his first sensation was that his head hurt terribly, as if a giant had taken a stone club and forcibly ground his skull into meat paste.
But when Lu Jiuling saw that his surroundings were not his rented apartment, he was instantly alarmed.
“What the hell is this place? A temple? A main hall?”
Lu Jiuling saw a great Buddha more than ten meters tall.
This great Buddha looked as if it had been carved from a single massive block of bluish stone, sitting in lotus position.
Its left hand rested on its left knee, while its right hand was raised upward, thumb and middle finger touching, naturally forming a ring.
Lu Jiuling knew this was called the “teaching mudra,” but he did not know which Buddha or Bodhisattva this was…
Because this great Buddha had no head!
“…”
Lu Jiuling wanted to curse.
The great Buddha had been carved so vividly that even every fold of the kasaya draped over its body was so lifelike. It exuded a solemn and sacred aura, making people unable to resist the urge to kneel, offer incense, and worship in reverence.
But when one looked up, the Buddha statue had no head, as if it had been chopped off by an executioner. This enormous contrast made people very uncomfortable.
“Fuck, the flesh on its neck looks like it’s wriggling!”
A cry of alarm came from the side.
Lu Jiuling turned his head and saw a young man in shorts and a tank top, with a seven-three parted haircut, staring at the great Buddha as he observed it.
A girl in hot pants and a camisole, with an influencer face and a sexy aura all over her body, held a phone in one hand and clutched the young man’s arm with the other. Her face was full of nervousness and anxiety.
Judging from their intimate movements, the camisole girl should be the seven-three part’s girlfriend.
She was trying to use her phone to contact rescue. Hearing her boyfriend’s words, she abruptly raised her head and looked toward the headless great Buddha.
“Zhou Xuebin, do you have a death wish? Trying to scare me?”
The influencer-faced girl viciously pinched her boyfriend.
“Are you sick?”
A young man wearing a yellow delivery uniform cursed irritably. He had also been frightened.
Lu Jiuling confirmed it. This was the main hall of a temple. Apart from him, the delivery guy, and that couple, there were four other people.
A female high school student wearing a sailor uniform, an office worker with glasses holding a briefcase, and a shirtless muscular man.
In front of the tightly shut doors of the hall stood a female white-collar worker. She wore a blue blazer on top and a pencil skirt paired with black stockings on the bottom. She was trying to find a way to pry the door open and get out.
The muscular man’s gaze was like a lizard’s tongue, licking back and forth over the female white-collar worker’s black stockings and high heels.
“What are you all standing there for?”
The female white-collar worker urged them, “Hurry over and pry the door!”
“I suggest you wait and see. We suddenly arrived in this temple hall, our phones have no signal, and there’s a bizarre headless great Buddha beside us. Even if you think with your little head, you’d know this isn’t normal!”
As the muscular man spoke, he walked to the female white-collar worker’s side and lowered his voice. “For risky things, why not wait for someone else to do them?”
“Do you want to die that badly?”
As the muscular man said the last words, his large hand reached toward the female white-collar worker’s butt.
The female white-collar worker dodged back and stared warily at the muscular man.
“Beauty, in a situation like this, we definitely have to stick together. Only then will our survival rate be higher!”
The muscular man chuckled. “Look at these men. In terms of physique, I can take ten of them. In terms of intellect, I see far ahead. If you don’t team up with me, are you going to cooperate with these scrawny dogs?”
“At a time like this, you’re still thinking about hitting on women, and you dare say you’re intelligent?”
The influencer-faced girl scoffed lightly, her face full of disdain.
“Beauty, you’re only so fearless in mocking me because your boyfriend is here!”
The muscular man sized up the influencer-faced girl’s figure. “Have you never considered that your boyfriend might die very soon?”
“When that time comes, you’ll have to rely on me!”
“Haha, don’t worry. I’m broad-minded. As long as you lick me until I’m satisfied, I won’t hold your arrogance and rudeness against you!”
After the muscular man finished speaking, he even flexed both arms hard, showing off his bulging muscles.
“What bullshit are you spewing?”
The influencer-faced girl’s expression darkened. Unable to swallow even the slightest loss, she immediately threatened him. “Do you know who my boyfriend is?”
“Enough!”
Zhou Xuebin glanced at the muscular man and soothed his girlfriend. “What’s the point of arguing with him? The urgent matter is to get out of here!”
“Handsome!”
The muscular man gave Zhou Xuebin a thumbs-up. “Rational enough!”
His name was Zheng Mang. He had been mixing in society since he was sixteen. For him to have run wild in the Rust Belt until thirty-five and still lived comfortably, how could he possibly lack discernment?
The watch on the left wrist of this young man with the seven-three part was called a Patek Philippe. It cost over a million yuan, more expensive than an ordinary family’s apartment. He was a proper second-generation rich kid.
Zheng Mang was no good person. If he had not been wary of this second-generation heir, just based on that sarcastic remark from the influencer-faced girl, he would have already slapped her across the face.
If this woman did not kneel and sing Conquer for him twice, this matter would not be over.
The female high school student looked at the five men and two women in the dim hall and sensed the disharmonious atmosphere. Subconsciously, she edged toward Lu Jiuling.
This boy was about the same age as her, with delicate features. He looked harmless, making her feel that the two of them could stick together.
“Hello, classmate, my name is Song Xue…”
The female high school student forced out a smile and had just wanted to greet Lu Jiuling when a hoarse, furious roar resounded throughout the great hall.
[Head?]
[Where is my head?]
[Give me back my head!]
Whoosh!
Everyone’s hair stood on end. In unison, they turned their heads and looked toward that headless great Buddha.
That shout had come from it.