"Then it's settled. I'll submit your name today, and we should have a result tomorrow." The old professor looked at Jiang Cheng with satisfaction.

"My name is Jiang Cheng, Professor," Jiang Cheng reminded him again, following behind the old professor. "Jiang, as in *jianghu xian'e* (the dangers of the martial world), and Cheng, as in *chengfu* (city, implying deepness)."

Only after the old professor left did Fatty and Huai Yi release Wen Liangshan. The latter, having just climbed up from the ground, angrily confronted Jiang Cheng, demanding an explanation. "Why did you set me up?"

Jiang Cheng wore an innocent expression and asked, "Set you up for what?"

"Why did you submit my name?" Wen Liangshan pressed.

Just then, the middle-aged man walked over, waving his hand and saying, "Alright, Wen Liangshan, don't make a fuss. You haven't lost anything. Let's leave it at that."

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Wen Liangshan, though still looking displeased, shut his mouth.

He glanced at Fatty and Huai Yi, and suddenly noticed them staring at him with ill-concealed intentions.

But as the middle-aged man turned to face Jiang Cheng, his attitude changed completely, becoming polite as he said, "Brother Jiang, after all, we all benefited from what happened in class. I almost caused you trouble just now. I'm truly sorry."

Noticing Shen Mengyun was also looking at him, Jiang Cheng perked up and replied in a well-modulated tone, "It's nothing."

"Brother Jiang," the middle-aged man continued smoothly, "I was just discussing the details of this mission with Miss Shen. We've made some progress. Would you like to hear about it too?"

Jiang Cheng didn't refuse. The three of them walked side by side at the front, chatting as they went, with the others following behind.

The sky gradually darkened. They made a point of returning to the classroom where they had attended the lecture earlier. Near there, they found the female teacher who had brought them here.

"Where did you all run off to?" The female teacher said with a hint of complaint. "I was looking for you around here, but I couldn't find anyone."

"Sorry, Teacher, we just arrived and thought we'd take a walk around," Jiang Cheng said.

Fortunately, the female teacher didn't dwell on it. Instead, she took out a few keys from her bag and handed them to Jiang Cheng. "The student dormitories you'll be staying in haven't been cleaned up yet. Stay in the faculty dormitories for a few days first, and we'll move you when the new dorms are ready."

There were three keys in total, each with a number attached with white tape.

After speaking, the female teacher glanced at her phone, as if in a hurry. But after taking a few steps, she seemed to remember something and turned back to them. "Oh, right, the dormitory building you'll be staying in is an old one. It's in a rather secluded location, and the streetlights are poor. Get back early at night."

"If there's no need, don't wander around at night," the female teacher added.

"Got it," everyone replied.

After saying her piece, the female teacher left in a hurry, carrying her bag.

Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't completely dark yet, everyone decided to head to the dormitory first. Following the directions given by the female teacher, they walked for nearly 20 minutes before finding the dormitory building.

There were no other buildings nearby. The entire building was quite low and surrounded by trees, with the faint gray outline of the dormitory building visible through the sparse branches.

A few dim streetlights hung in the air, as if guiding them into another world.

The ground nearby was covered with fallen leaves. After approaching the dormitory building, they found a stone-paved staircase. The steps were clean, with few fallen leaves, suggesting someone had been taking care of them.

The dormitory door was an old-fashioned double iron door, dark green in color, looking heavy and full of age.

Just as the female teacher who had given them directions had said, this dormitory building had indeed been around for a long time.

A light bulb emitting an orange glow hung under the cement awning in front of the iron door. The light slightly dispelled the surrounding darkness, like a barrier, preventing something from approaching.

The middle-aged man straightened his collar and said in a low voice, "Let's go take a look."

Their shoes were a bit slippery on the steps. Shen Mengyun's attention was focused on the dormitory door, and without realizing it, her foot slipped, and she almost fell.

Fortunately, Jiang Cheng was quick to react and grabbed her. Just as Shen Mengyun regained her senses and was about to thank him, she suddenly realized that Jiang Cheng's eyes were looking at her upper body in a very dishonest way. Her expression instantly darkened, and she shook off his hand.

"Strange," Huai Yi said, squatting down and staring at the steps. "Why is there so much water around here? Did it just rain?"

"I don't think so. I didn't see any signs of rain on the way here," someone replied.

After entering, they found themselves in a long corridor, with only a few lights flickering intermittently overhead.

Apparently hearing the sounds outside, a door a few meters away from them opened, revealing the face of an old man.

The old man was wearing striped pajamas, a thick pair, and a pair of old-fashioned glasses. Behind the lenses were a pair of cloudy eyes.

Seeing the old man, Fatty was about to introduce their intentions, but he found the old man waving his hand, interrupting him in a slow voice. "Teacher Wu called in the afternoon, saying you'd be staying here for a few days."

"That's right, thank you for your trouble," Shen Mengyun said.

"It's no trouble for me. Just make yourselves comfortable," the pajama-clad old man said. He leaned half his body out, and Jiang Cheng noticed that he was clutching a newspaper in his hand. The old man's cloudy eyes slowly turned, scanning each of them one by one.

"Since you're staying here, you have to follow the rules. As you can see, this building is old, and the electricity isn't very good. The light is poor. Don't wander around at night unless you have to."

"The toilet and the water room are together, at the corner at the end of the corridor. You can go there if you want hot water, but remember, only before 9 p.m."

"There's also a bathroom on each floor, right across from the water room," the old man said, pointing to the end of the corridor.

The sleeve of the pajamas slipped down, revealing the old man's extremely thin arm, like skin stretched over bones. It was an unsettling sight.

"One more thing, I'm old, and I'm a light sleeper. I wake up easily at night if there's any noise. Don't make too much noise at night and disturb me."

After saying all that, the old man closed the door as if he had completed his task.

It seemed they were to choose their own rooms. There were eight of them and three keys.

Taking out the keys, they saw the numbers 107, 229, and 318 written on the white tape in ballpoint pen, corresponding to three rooms.

One room per floor, spreading everyone out.

Normally, everyone would prefer to stay on the lower floors, as it would be easier to respond in case of a sudden incident.

But this time was different. The person staying in the room on the first floor would have to face the old gatekeeper, who gave everyone a strange impression.

Some had already imagined a hunched figure lurking in the dark corridor at night, pressed against the door of 107, peering at the movements inside.