Chapter 72: Artificial Stupidity (8)

72 – Artificial Stupidity (8)

It seemed Zhao Jiagou wouldn’t be looking after him anymore.

Lin Xun put down his phone.

He felt both lost and sour at the moment.

The system had gone into self-repair mode, so he couldn’t receive rewards or level up, but he still skimmed through some basic textbooks for inspiration.

None came.

In the end, he opened QQ and clicked on the “Little Flirts” group chat.

They were discussing trivial matters, like lipstick shades.

Lin Xun typed.

Dong Jun’s Green Switch: What kind of person do you think Lo really is?

Galaxy’s Madam: How come you’re back from the dead again?

Dong Jun’s Green Switch: I’m living in the real world now.

Sauerkraut Fish: @Dong Jun’s Green Switch, wake up, it’s not the Lo era anymore

Galaxy’s Madam: The male god has already replaced the old with the new, he has a little friend now

Lin Xun knew this “little friend” was probably himself.

And precisely because of that, he wanted even more to know who the previous “old” one was.

Dong Jun’s Green Switch: But the treatment of the little friend is clearly different from Lo’s.

Dong Jun’s Green Switch: Look, Lo was hidden so well by Dong Jun—we dug for years and couldn’t find a single clue. That’s true love.

Dong Jun’s Green Switch: The little friend is different. They were so high-profile from the moment they met, the male god’s attitude seems casual.

Galaxy’s Madam: How do you know they just met?

Sauerkraut Fish: How do you know they just met?

Galaxy’s Young Mistress: How do you know he and Lo had that kind of relationship?

Galaxy’s Madam: Green Switch, do you know some inside scoop?

Lin Xun muted himself.

He shouldn’t have talked to the girls.

Just as he was sinking into self-isolation, familiar scratching sounds and meows came from outside the door. Lin Xun opened the door for Zhi Zhen, who skillfully jumped onto the bed and settled on the pillow, clearly intending to sleep with him.

This gesture comforted Lin Xun—though his exact standing in Dong Jun’s heart remained uncertain, Zhi Zhen had already switched sides.

He took a shower, put on his bathrobe, was quickly dried by the bathroom device, and then snuggled into bed.

Zhi Zhen watched him from the pillow, this time without the frame.

If Zhi Zhen were the Emperor—

Lin Xun couldn’t imagine how such a small kitten would wield a sword. Carrying it in its mouth? With those tiny sharp teeth, it wouldn’t be able to hold it.

The Heavenly Dao probably wouldn’t play such a joke on the cultivation world.

As he was thinking, his phone rang again—an unfamiliar call.

He answered without speaking.

“Hello.” A little girl’s voice, very soft.

Lin Xun immediately recognized who it was.

It was Lin Kexin from the psychiatric hospital. She had probably gotten his contact information through Mingming’s grandmother.

Lin Xun: “Lin Kexin?”

“It’s me.” The little girl’s voice was low, as if she had been crying: “You won’t come again, will you?”

Lin Xun: “Probably not.”

“Then what exactly did you do?” The little girl’s voice suddenly turned sharp: “I can’t find him anymore!”

This likely meant she couldn’t find the friend no one else could see.

Lin Xun paused for three seconds.

During those three seconds, he sorted through his thoughts.

“I know some information about them,” he said. “What about you?”

Although the little girl on the other end was not yet ten, her organized way of speaking made Lin Xun sense her intelligence: “If I tell you, can I get him back?”

“Perhaps,” Lin Xun replied. “I won’t stop you.”

Lin Kexin said, “Then you go first.”

“Eleven days ago,” Lin Xun said, “around that time, these things started appearing.”

“Then I’m about the same,” Lin Kexin replied, “I saw them ten days ago.”

“Can you see them? Actually, I can’t—only when they actively appear do I notice them,” Lin Xun said.

“You don’t have eyes,” the little girl said something like that.

Lin Xun: “What kind of eyes?”

“We’re on a ship,” Lin Kexin said slowly, “They are the fish beneath the water’s surface. The world under the sea is much larger than ours.”

This statement piqued Lin Xun’s interest.

“So, are you saying that none of us can see what’s under the water, only you can?” he asked.

Lin Kexin: “When you can’t see them, they’ve already gathered beneath the ship. Only I can see them.” Her voice was clear and innocent, yet what she said sent chills down one’s spine: “When the ship’s hull cracks, they’ll jump up.”

“And then they want to take over the ship?” Lin Xun tried to keep his voice gentle to ease the girl’s guard. “I know cracks appear in the city, and they come out from those cracks, taking over people’s bodies to do certain things.”

Lin Kexin answered, “I don’t know what they want to do.”

Lin Xun: “What about that friend of yours? How did you meet?”

“I don’t have friends,” Lin Kexin said, “Only he was willing to talk to me, so I talked to him.”

Lin Xun: “What does he look like?”

Lin Kexin replied, “Black, I don’t really know either.”

“So, he discovered you could see things beneath the water’s surface and became interested in you, starting to communicate with you,” Lin Xun said. “I have some friends who know about this too. We call them ‘demonic creatures.’ So far, I haven’t encountered any demonic creatures that can communicate with humans.”

“So both he and I are special, and we became friends.” At this point, her voice grew wary: “You’re here to drive them away, aren’t you? After you left, the police came. After the police left, some other people arrived. I know the crack downstairs has been sealed.”

That was indeed the case. After the signal was restored, Lo passed the address to their master and the others. People from the Cultivation world came and performed some work to seal the cracks.

Lin Xun: “They shouldn’t be in the human world.”

Lin Kexin didn’t speak. After a long while, she said, “I don’t care.”

“He left,” Lin Xun said, “because I received a phone call?”

Lin Kexin: “What else?”

“I’m a bit curious about what you and he talked about,” Lin Xun asked.

“Nothing much. He wanted to know information about our world,” Lin Kexin said. “I would look up information for him and tell him.”

“What kind of information?”

“None of your business.”

Lin Xun typed a few more words into his memo, then said gently, “Actually, if you don’t have friends, you can talk to me too. I’m a good person.”

The little girl fell silent.

Lin Xun thought it might be because his image of threatening someone with an axe was already deeply ingrained. He coughed and said, “Really, I’m also surnamed Lin, and we can both see demonic creatures. Maybe we’re long-lost siblings.”

—That was practically talking nonsense. His parents had long passed away, and the surname Lin wasn’t uncommon.

But it seemed to have some effect on Lin Kexin.

“I saw you helping that ghost with the axe.” After a while, he heard Lin Kexin whisper softly.

“If they don’t attack me, I’m actually quite kind to them,” he said. “So, let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Your friend is gone. You don’t know how to find him, and he doesn’t know if he’ll come back for you. But my work is a bit special—I deal with many monsters and rifts. I can keep an eye out for him or ask around for you,” Lin Xun told her. “In exchange, you tell me what unusual things you’ve seen. And when no one is around to play with you, I’ll come visit.”

Lin Kexin fell silent again for several minutes.

After a long pause, she asked, “Will you hit him?”

“If he doesn’t attack me, I won’t hit him. And if he eventually comes back for you, we’ll stop cooperating. I won’t bother you again.”

He waited for Lin Kexin’s response. Three minutes later, she said, “Okay.”

The little girl was still easy to fool, and Lin Xun felt no guilt about it.

If monsters didn’t cause trouble, he really wouldn’t go out of his way to provoke them. But he was genuinely interested in that monster friend who could communicate normally with humans and wanted to track him down—in fact, he suspected that thing might be a leader among monsters.

Lin Xun then asked, “So, do you have any clues?”

“I know about a rift,” she said. “A very big one, so I can see it. When I look out the window, I can see it. It hasn’t fully opened yet, but it’s close.”

Lin Xun: “Where is it?”

“Take subway line 4 to the end. It’s around there.”

Lin Xun noted down the location.

“Thank you,” he said to Lin Kexin. “Do you like Barbie dolls? I’ll get you a set. Or is there anything you’d like to eat?”

Lin Kexin: “No need. I don’t eat things from dead people.”

Lin Xun: “.”

He: “Am I dead?”

“Because there are many rifts about to open. When I sleep, I can feel the ground trembling,” Lin Kexin said matter-of-factly. “If you plan to fight them, you might as well be dead.”

Lin Xun: “Oh.”

“I don’t think I will,” he said. “My knowledge level and that of monsters aren’t on the same plane.”

Lin Kexin: “Oh.”

“It’s quite late. You should sleep,” Lin Xun smiled. “Goodnight, little sister.”

Lin Kexin went quiet again for a moment. Then, a faint, mosquito-like voice came through the receiver: “Goodnight.”

She hung up.

The smile faded from Lin Xun’s face as he noted down “End of subway line 4” in his memo.

After finishing, Lin Xun put down his phone. Only then did he notice that Zhi Zhen had been watching him the whole time, not only listening intently but also tilting its head slightly.

Lin Xun picked it up and held it close. “Can you understand?”

Zhi Zhen looked innocent and reached out a paw to touch his face.

—Seems like it doesn’t understand.

He picked up Zhi Zhen, intending to sleep.

But he couldn’t fall asleep.

Even if there was a fleeting hint of drowsiness, it couldn’t overcome the fact that he had slept for a full nine hours during the day.

Since he wasn’t sleeping, Zhi Zhen didn’t sleep either.

“You’re just a little cat,” Lin Xun tried talking to it. “You should sleep.”

Zhi Zhen remained unmoved, even climbing onto him and wrapping its tail around his neck in a circle.

“Even without the frame, you’re still a little kitten.” Lin Xun continued, “If you don’t sleep properly, Dong Jun won’t like you.”

Zhi Zhen showed no reaction, even elegantly licking his paw before gently licking Lin Xun’s earlobe.

Lin Xun felt tickled by its whiskers and was about to toss it to the foot of the bed when the phone rang again—the third call of the night.

It was Wang Anquan.

Unlike that fake friend Jia Gou, Wang Anquan demonstrated the genuine bond between them. He asked about Lin Xun’s health and expressed his concern during the time Lin Xun had been out of contact.

Lin Xun was deeply moved: “You’re so good to me.”

Wang Anquan: “You know, Dad’s biggest worry is your personal safety. Everything else is fine. Even if you fly up the social ladder and get married to Dong Jun right away, I’d only celebrate you becoming rich and then cling to your leg. I’m not like Jia Gou.”

Lin Xun: “.”

He: “Marriage is impossible. There’s a problem with how Dong Jun and I interact.”

Wang Anquan: “What problem?”

“Our interactions are awkward. You know, we’re completely stuck in awkward small talk,” he said. “I don’t feel good about it, and he definitely doesn’t find it enjoyable either. I don’t know how to fix it. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in a relationship, or maybe this is just how people in relationships interact, but I don’t know.”

Instead of answering his question gently, Wang Anquan said, “You think you’re in a relationship? Actually, no. You haven’t adjusted your position yet.”

“How so?”

“Right now, you’re approaching your interactions with him with a dating mindset, but the two of you aren’t even close. You can’t properly flirt or be affectionate, so of course it’s awkward small talk.”

“Then,” Lin Xun asked, “what should I do?”

“Adjust your mindset. You’re not trying to date him—you’re being kept by him.”

“Kept? I’m not that kind of person.”

“Then what? You moved into his mansion within three days.”

“You have a point,” Lin Xun said, “but what do I have to offer for being kept?”

“Think about those juniors who are obsessed with you,” Wang Anquan said. “Our Lin Suanfa, the top talent in the Computer Science department, always gets dragged to represent the department at events. You could debut just based on your looks, your voice is pleasant, you’re neither too fat nor too thin, with a slim waist and long legs. Dong Jun must have been swayed by your appearance.”

“It’s the School of Computer Science. Can you speak like a normal person?” Lin Xun said. “But your logic doesn’t hold up either. If it were just about looks, there are people more attractive than me. It would be easy for him to keep someone else.”

“You’re forgetting one key condition,” Wang Anquan said. “You can also write algorithms. You’re a genius. You share common interests with him. He can get both physical and spiritual satisfaction.”

“I believe you,” Lin Xun said. “So, should I go climb into his bed tonight?”

Wang Anquan: “You’re adapting pretty fast.”

Lin Xun: “Shut up.”

“I really don’t know how to interact with him, but I really want to.”

“Since Jia Gou isn’t here, I’ll be honest with you,” Wang Anquan said.

Lin Xun: “Go ahead.”

“If sleeping together can solve the problem, what’s the point of whining to me about it?”

Lin Xun hung up the phone.

Useless.

All useless calls.

He was utterly disappointed in this fake friendship.

Expressionlessly, he stroked Zhi Zhen’s fur.

Only this cat’s fur still held a bit of warmth.