97: Chapter 21 Heading to the School Workers Committee_1 97: Chapter 21 Heading to the School Workers Committee_1 Having been in the school for almost a week, Zheng Qing had roughly figured out the school’s area division.
The entire First University is situated on an isolated island deep in the ocean, the location of which is unknown to anyone.
The wizards simply refer to this island as ‘Buji Island’.
Zheng Qing wasn’t sure about the size of the island, but he knew that it had a river and an endlessly dense forest.
From his dormitory balcony, he could see the towering peaks and rolling mountains in the distance.
The river was nad Silent River, which andered in twists and turns.
Even the senior students in their fourth year couldn’t tell how long the river was; Lin Zhong Lake of Jiuyou Academy was ford from a tributary of the Silent River.
The forest was called the Silent Forest by the wizards.
Originally, this forest had no na, but it was said that many terrifying magical taboos were hidden deep in the forest.
Every year, there were nurous wizards who silently ventured into the forest and never returned.
The ones who luckily escaped would completely lose their ability to speak, hence the wizards respectfully nad it the Silent Forest.
There was a ti when the Wizard Covenant discussed completely destroying this dark forest at the Covenant’s conference, but the proposal was unanimously defeated.
At the sa ti, the covenant passed the ‘Silent Forest Protection Law’ in the form of a bill, which finally confird the na of the forest.
From the simple map available in the campus, one could see that the whole island was covered by the vast Silent Forest.
On the map, apart from detailed annotations for the First University campus, the forest-covered area was blank.
The campus was mainly divided into two parts: The First University’s public zone and the academy territories.
Every formal mber of the First University could freely move within the public area of the university.
This included areas like the First Square, the First Gate, the First Hall, the Hunting Ground, and the dicine Gardens.
What the seniors referred to as the ‘Heliport’, the First Square, was situated on a high ground on the western side of the island; the majestic First Gate was located on the edge of the high ground.
This was the only coordinate that all maps and external information could use to determine the location of the First University.
It was also the entrance to the First University.
This type of caution was a long-standing tradition of the First University for security purposes.
When the students entered the First Gate, they would be transferred to the First Hall.
This central hub-like hall had eight doors that served as the second line of defense, protecting the secrets of the school.
All of the above were considered part of the public area of the school, a region shared and maintained by several academies.
The academy territories were different.
Every academy and research institute on Buji Island had a territory of its own.
Most of these territories only allowed mbers of the respective academies to enter as they carried the legacy of each academy.
The territory of Jiuyou Academy was known as ‘Jiuyou Mansion’; the territory of Alpha Academy was ‘Alpha Castle’; the territory of Atlas Academy was ‘Atlas Tower’; the territory of Starry Sky Academy was known as ‘Starry Sky Cube’.
The First University had arranged nurous powerful defensive arrays and guarding magic around each territory to protect the students from the erosion of the Silent Forest.
Between different territories and between the territories and the university’s public area, there were magical corridors connecting them.
These corridors could be an unnoticeable small door;
They could also be a winding staircase;
Or they could be a long corridor.
For instance, the corridor connecting the male students’ dormitory in the West Chinese Garden and the School Affairs Committee’s Office Building, was a secluded corridor.
Now, Zheng Qing, Xiao Xiao, Zhang Ji Xin, the three of them, were walking down such a secluded corridor.
On Monday morning, during the first session, the head teacher of Astronomy Class 08-1, Professor Yao, handed out the school’s punishnt notification to several new students.
The third item on the notification clearly stated that the involved students needed to report to the School Affairs Committee within a week to receive subsequent punishnt tasks.
This punishnt weighed heavily on the minds of Zheng Qing and the others, making them uneasy for the entire week.
No one told them what kind of tasks they would face.
Professor An, whom they t on the Pedestrian Street ntioned so punishnt tasks, such as weeding and pest control in the Hundred Herb Gardens, organizing books in the Book Mountain Library, or cleaning the silt at the bottom of Lin Zhong Lake.
But Xin Fat Man faithfully assured Zheng Qing that his relative’s friend’s child once served on the School Affairs Committee, and these punishnt tasks were not as simple as they appeared.
For example, it’s hard to distinguish between weeds and herbs in the Hundred Herb Gardens.
If one carelessly removed a precious herb as a weed, the student labor committee would demand huge compensation from the student involved;
Similarly, the corridors of the Book Mountain Library resemble a maze, and freshn could easily lose their way.
There was even a case of a freshman being trapped in there for almost a week!
As for cleaning the sludge at the bottom of Lin Zhong Lake, it’s a total scam.
“Apart from dangerous creatures like Fishn and Water Ghosts, the stench of sludge can linger on the worker for a long ti,” Xin Fat Man pinched his nose in horror, as if he could already sll the strong stench from Zheng Qing.
“If it were , I would rather starve for a week in the Book Mountain Library than sll of the lake bottom!”
At this point, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but sigh.
He wondered if he could ask to change his disciplinary arrangents.
If he were assigned to the Hundred Herb Gardens, he certainly couldn’t afford the school’s pricey herbs.
As for the other options ——
Zheng Qing squeezed the gray cloth bag in his arms.
The bag contained dry food and water that could last for a month.
In case he was assigned to the Book Mountain Library and got lost there, this food and water should keep him alive for quite so ti.
Feeling uneasy, he clung to his Law book.
He had already attended five days of classes at Jiuyou Academy, but his Law book was still blank.
Because he had not learned a complete spell yet.
All the teachers used half of the first week’s class ti for students to introduce themselves and chat with the students about the preface of the textbooks and course plans for the second half.
Apart from Teacher Zhang testing the students’ knowledge during the talisman class, no other knowledge was imparted by the teachers!
The only benefit was that everyone morized their self-introductions.
He wondered if he would need to introduce himself at the student labor committee.
At the thought of this, Zheng Qing laughed quietly to himself.
Zhang Ji Xin, who was walking alongside him, gave him a puzzled look.
“Don’t space out, mind your step,” Xiao Xiao poked Zheng Qing with her notebook from behind.
“These corridors are not as safe as you think, dangerous creatures often break in.”
“Dangerous creatures!” Zheng Qing sucked in a breath of cold air: “Where do these dangerous creatures co from!
Why would they invade here!”
“Test subjects that escaped from the labs, wild demons that ran from the hunting ground, mutated spiritual beasts, and even malevolent spirits that evolved from ancient corpses — you should know, there’s a small graveyard north of our school.”
“As to why they invade, that is unknown.” Xiao Xiao quickened her pace to co forward, shook her head and said, “Maybe they are looking for an escape route from the academy, or maybe they just caught the scent of food.
I am not them, so I don’t know.”
The night wind swept across the corridor.
The vine leaves clinging to the walls rustled.
A cold breeze from behind crept into Zheng Qing’s neck, raising goosebumps all over his body.
Zheng Qing turned around.
There was not a single shadow in the gloomy corridor.
He slowly let out a breath, tiptoed to catch up with Xiao Xiao and Zhang Ji Xin, who were not far ahead, and dared not let his mind wander anymore.
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