Chapter 18: Lu Xing, Don’t Stir Up an Ant’s Nest for Fun

After reading through the history of the future world, Lu Xing finally understood why nuclear wars in ancient times were not considered significant. Throughout that vast expanse of history, wars that didn't result in the death of half the population weren't even deemed worthy of mention in historical records. The reason the 21st century was rarely mentioned was simple: since a single conversation with extraterrestrial beings took five thousand years, the history of the 21st century was truly negligible in comparison.

Time slipped by. At five o'clock in the afternoon, school ended. Lu Xing shouldered his empty backpack and sauntered slowly out of the classroom, deliberately taking the stairs instead of using the local network to teleport to the school gate.

As he reached the corner on the second floor, a male student called out to him.

"You're with the White Cat Society, right?" Lu Xing preempted him.

"Yes."

"I'll consider the invitation, but not right now." Lu Xing paused before adding, "Right now I am Lu Xing. When I am Jiang Xuan-nv next time, I'll let you know my decision."

The member of the White Cat Society was stunned, then asked with a hint of awe, "You have two adaptation systems?"

Lu Xing, having no idea what that meant, left calmly.

The boy followed him, hurrying to explain, "Our White Cat Society is definitely stronger than the others. We have an activity room that can block surveillance from the smart-AI. We've also discovered many loopholes; for instance, we can stay overnight at school without being punished, and we can skip classes and walk around the campus as we please!"

So that’s what they meant by loopholes? Lu Xing had assumed they meant programming bugs. He was actually quite interested in the White Cat Society, but now wasn't the time to engage with humans. After all, he was operating under the identity of Jiang Xuan-nv, and anything he did required her consent.

"Talk to me in three days."

After dropping that line, Lu Xing arrived at the school gate. Over a dozen school buses were already waiting. He didn't need to search; a quick query to his smart hairclip told him exactly which bus to board.

Three days later.

"Novice experience mission two completed. Mission reward: 700 experience points."

Relying on the smart hairclip left behind by Jiang Xuan-nv, Lu Xing finally completed the novice mission of spending three days in the virtual world, with only ninety points deducted.

***

After falling asleep on the third night, Lu Xing woke up to find himself squatting on the grass behind the school cafeteria. He was holding a stick, poking at an anthill, with a few ants crawling up the stick onto his hand.

Before Lu Xing could shake the ants off, a pleasant female voice came from behind him: "Lu Xing, throw the stick away! Ants bite! It hurts!"

"..."

What was with that tone, as if she were coaxing a child?

Lu Xing tossed the stick aside, clapped his hands, and turned to look at the tall, elegant, and wealthy-looking president of the company with the classic "prosperous and peaceful" face. "What happened?" he asked.

Xiao Yu was stunned, but after a moment, she covered her mouth with her slender, fair hand and laughed. "You've changed back? Done playing with ants?"

Given Xiao Yu’s tall, fair figure and striking appearance, coupled with the bizarre spectacle of a six-foot-tall college boy squatting on the ground watching an anthill, many students had already stopped to watch. Lu Xing blushed and pulled Xiao Yu away in a hurry. Seeing him holding the hand of such a beauty, many boys looked disappointed, their intentions of chatting up the senior forgotten as they dispersed.

Xiao Yu was dragged along, her fair face still lit with laughter. They didn't stop until they reached a secluded grove, where Lu Xing let go and looked at her speechlessly. "What happened just now?"

"You don't remember? You were watching ants and trying to poke the anthill with a stick!" Xiao Yu explained with a straight face.

If she weren't someone else's girlfriend, Lu Xing would have loved to flick her on the forehead. Now, he’d just have to do it to himself the next time he turned into her.

Lu Xing sighed. "I was going to tell you some interesting things about the future world, but since you can't even tell the difference between me and Jiang Xuan-nv, forget it." He turned to leave.

"So stingy, I was just joking." Xiao Yu laughed and called him back. As they strolled through the grove, she recounted what had happened that day. She knew that after Lu Xing turned into Jiang Xuan-nv, he had come to Haicheng University and met her at the bottom of the dormitory building.

"To be honest," Xiao Yu said with a light chuckle, "if I hadn't experienced yesterday, I would have suspected you had a split personality!"

Lu Xing spread his hands.

Xiao Yu tucked a strand of hair blown by the wind and looked at him, smiling. "She was very calm. She first asked me if this was the human world, then asked if she could walk around freely and do whatever she wanted. I quickly told her she couldn't do anything illegal. She wanted to look at the laws and regulations, and started talking to the air to link to the network, only giving up after trying three times."

Lu Xing was caught between laughter and tears. "Her world is a virtual one. And even if it weren't, future humans can access the internet at any time."

***

"Ah?"

"It's a long story. You go first," Lu Xing said.

Xiao Yu continued, "I saw she didn't have a phone, so I told her to go upstairs and get it so I could teach her how to use the internet. Then I realized you couldn't click on the screen, couldn't type, couldn't open apps—she even had to learn Pinyin on the spot."

"In the future world, people access the internet through their thoughts; it's normal not to know how to type," Lu Xing explained. "As for Pinyin, they probably have chips implanted at birth that allow them to recognize text instantly."

After all, he had lived in the future world for three days; he could understand why Jiang Xuan-nv acted the way she did.

"Unbelievable." Xiao Yu’s tone turned reflective. "She learned incredibly fast. She mastered every operation on the first try. She used the Pinyin she learned to deduce other characters and was soon able to type and browse the internet. Then, the first thing she did was look up the Constitution of China, followed by downloading the Criminal and Civil Codes to study them earnestly."

By the end, she couldn't help but laugh, finding the sight of a sixteen-year-old girl—wearing Lu Xing's face—studying law so intently quite amusing.

Lu Xing couldn't laugh. He sighed, "You have to realize, in a world where you get points deducted just for spacing out in class, that's just how absurd things are."

"Did you get points deducted for spacing out while you were in Jiang Xuan-nv's body?" Xiao Yu asked.

Lu Xing nodded. "Keep going."

"I bought her breakfast. After she finished, she pointed at your lower abdomen and said it felt strange. It took me half an hour of asking before I realized she wanted to go to the bathroom."

Xiao Yu laughed again.

Lu Xing wanted to flick her forehead again. "Stop with the 'you' and 'her'—watch your pronouns! It was Jiang Xuan-nv, not me!"

"I know, I know, I know!" Xiao Yu stifled her laughter. "She lived in a virtual world and never had to use a bathroom—I know that!"

If Lu Xing didn't know how to use a bathroom, that would be the real joke.

After suppressing her laughter, Xiao Yu continued, "I had no choice but to call your classmate down and have him take you—no, take Jiang Xuan-nv—back to the dorm to use the bathroom."

Lu Xing's heart sank. *Oh no.* Qi Wenyu must definitely suspect he was having another episode. He might already be booking an appointment with a psychiatrist for him!