5: A Heart with Seven Apertures

[Congratulations Host, for achieving first place in the Hehuan Sect entry trial. System Reward: Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart]

[Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart: You possess a transparent heart, born close to the Dao. You can listen to the voices of all things and communicate with them, gaining profound insight and the ability to see through good and evil.]

Li Xiuwu, who was currently practicing within the sect, put down the physics exam questions in his hand.

He placed his hand over his heart, feeling its beat, and looked up, sensing the atmosphere of diligent study permeating his surroundings.

From his deskmate Ma Ke, he felt a sense of approachable kindness.

He looked up; the sunlight outside the window was bright, the small trees were budding, and several Sparrows flew over, landing on the windowsill.

On a whim, he tried to project a friendly gaze.

That Sparrow suddenly tilted its head and looked into the classroom through the glass. Its gaze fell upon Li Xiuwu.

Within his heart, Li Xiuwu felt an ignorant and curious will.

He stood up and pushed open the window. A chilly spring breeze brushed against his face, and his classmates, who were buried in their studies, looked up.

They were surprised to find a Sparrow perched on Li Xiuwu's hand.

Li Xiuwu looked into the Sparrow's eyes, heard the noise in the classroom, and realized he was affecting everyone's studies.

He raised his hand to let the Sparrow fly away, closed the window, and sat back down.

"Li Xiuwu, how did you catch that Sparrow?" Ma Ke asked in surprise, and the surrounding classmates were equally curious.

"It probably got dazed from the impact; I just saw it hit the glass," Li Xiuwu made up an excuse.

"Oh." Everyone thought it sounded reasonable, discussed it for a few moments, and then resumed their revision.

Li Xiuwu also reined in his thoughts, picked up the physics exam paper, and began working through the problems.

He couldn't let the system's sect Comprehension bonus go to waste.

...

The next day, Li Xiuwu went to Beijing Film Academy to pick up his transcript. After parking his car, he walked onto the Beijing Film Academy campus; the chirping of birds in the trees was very pleasant to hear.

He looked up among the branches and could vaguely see two Orioles that seemed to be arguing.

Orioles are very timid birds and are rarely seen in the city; he hadn't expected to find them on the Beijing Film Academy campus.

Li Xiuwu stood under the tree, projecting kindness and inviting them to come over.

The sound of the two Orioles arguing stopped instantly, and they looked down at Li Xiuwu beneath the tree.

Li Xiuwu felt two faint responses of curiosity. They hopped along the branches, slowly reaching the edge.

He reached out his hand, and the two Orioles hopped onto it curiously, tilting their heads to look at Li Xiuwu.

"What are you arguing about?"

"Building a nest..." The two Orioles chirped, and Li Xiuwu roughly sensed their meaning.

The female wanted to build a nest in this tree, but the male felt it wasn't safe.

"It really isn't safe here; there will be many cats."

"Why are there many cats?"

"Because the students like them and will feed them."

"Students are bad guys," the two Orioles concluded.

"Too many bad guys, we can't stay here."

"Li Xiuwu?" A voice filled with pleasant surprise came over. The two Orioles' bodies shook, and they took flight.

"Run fast, the bad guy is here," the two Orioles chirped as they flew up.

Seeing that Li Xiuwu stood there without moving, they flew back and circled him, chirping. Although the sound was melodious, they were worried to death.

"Human, run fast, there's a bad guy."

"Wow, they're circling you." Liu Yifei had seen the two birds in Li Xiuwu's hand from afar and ran over in surprise. Seeing them flying around him, she was very envious.

"How did you do that?"

"I guess I look like a good person," Li Xiuwu said to Liu Yifei.

Seeing Liu Yifei approach, the two Orioles flew straight away and landed on a branch, still urgently calling for Li Xiuwu to climb the tree.

Liu Yifei looked up at the Orioles on the branch: "Their song is so beautiful."

She reached out her hand and spoke softly: "Come down quickly, I won't hurt you."

Liu Xiaoli walked over and glanced up at the Orioles in the tree.

"Hello, Auntie."

Liu Xiaoli nodded to Li Xiuwu and looked at her daughter: "Xixi, let's go. They can't understand you."

"Alright." Liu Yifei felt it was a pity and walked further into the campus with Li Xiuwu.

"Li Xiuwu, over here!" Before reaching the place where the results were posted, he heard someone calling his name.

"Zhang Lu, you're here so early?" Li Xiuwu went to his side, sensing a peaceful kindness from him.

"I never went back." He had a smile on his face. During the third round of exams, it was a competition, but now that they had all been admitted, he was willing to be friendly.

"Congratulations, you got a perfect score on the art exam."

"A perfect score?" Li Xiuwu was surprised. Through the system, he knew he was first in this year's art exam, but he hadn't expected to get a perfect score.

Because Zhang Lu had just called out Li Xiuwu's name, everyone looked over. Some were jealous, some were envious, and some even felt a hint of hatred.

All sorts of stray thoughts were cast aside by Li Xiuwu.

He looked at the list; his own name was at the top with a perfect score. He also saw some familiar names; Wen Zhang's name was also on there. He probably got into the Central Academy of Drama as well and would go back there.

"Congratulations on your perfect score and first place," Liu Yifei congratulated him, her eyes curved with a smile. She had also seen her own name.

Zhang Lu also greeted Liu Yifei. Having been in the same group and with all three of them getting in at the same time, they were quite lucky.

"Do you want to have lunch together? I'm taking the train back to Shaanxi this afternoon," Zhang Lu suggested.

"Sure." Li Xiuwu didn't refuse. They might be classmates in the future, so it was good to get to know each other in advance.

"Can I join too?" Liu Yifei asked, looking up at her mother.

"Let's treat everyone," Liu Xiaoli said, seeing her daughter's gaze; she didn't refuse.

Her daughter was going to go to school in the Mainland and needed friends.

The few of them registered, picked up their transcripts, and walked out of the campus together.

"Wow, a BMW 5 Series, it must cost over seven hundred thousand, right? Do you have a driver's license?" Zhang Lu sat in the passenger seat.

"No," Li Xiuwu answered simply, his gaze turning to Zhang Lu.

Zhang Lu recognized the BMW and could even state the 5 Series model and price; he must have had some contact with them at least.

"Uh." Zhang Lu was stunned, then smiled.

"As long as you can drive."

The car was driven very steadily, which put Zhang Lu much more at ease. He was truly afraid that Li Xiuwu had sneaked out with his family's car.

Following Liu Xiaoli's car, they stopped at a restaurant not far away.

After a few words of conversation, Liu Xiaoli became more interested in Zhang Lu.

This kid was a child of a prominent family from a Shaanxi compound.

While eating, Liu Yifei's eyes would occasionally drift toward Li Xiuwu.

"What are you going to do next?"

"Review and prepare for the National College Entrance Exam."

"Oh, I have to go back to New York." There was some disappointment in her tone, not because of Li Xiuwu, but because she hadn't stayed in the country long enough and didn't want to return to New York.

Li Xiuwu looked at her conflicted expression.

"You should be in school too, right? Go finish your studies, and you'll be back soon."

"Yes, once I finish my studies, I can stay in the country permanently." A smile appeared on her face again.

"Can I come find you to hang out during the summer break?" She was very lively, with an extroverted personality, and even a bit of a chatterbox, chirping away and loving to Ma Ke friends.

"I guess so." He looked up and saw Liu Yifei's eyes full of expectation.

"Do you have a cell phone? I'll contact you during the summer break," Liu Yifei asked him.

Li Xiuwu pushed the Nokia in front of Liu Yifei.

She picked it up, entered her mother's cell phone number, and dialed it.

Liu Xiaoli, who had been keeping an eye on her daughter, took out her phone.

"Xiuwu, if you need anything, you can call me too."

Liu Xiaoli saved Li Xiuwu's phone number and spoke to him at the same time.

"Thank you, Auntie," Li Xiuwu thanked her, took back the phone Liu Yifei handed him, and then handed it to Zhang Lu.

"Just in time for me to let my family know I'm safe." Zhang Lu didn't stand on ceremony either; he entered his home phone number and dialed it, telling his father that he had passed the art exam and would be taking the train back tonight.

...

"You two take care on the way." After leaving the restaurant, Li Xiuwu drove Zhang Lu to the train station.

"Call me when your college entrance exam results come out!" Liu Yifei stuck her head out of the car window and said to the two of them.

"I'll definitely let you know," Zhang Lu promised with a smile.

"Let's go, I'll take you to your hotel first." Li Xiuwu got into the car.

"Thank you." Zhang Lu sat in the passenger seat.

"Don't mention it. I'm taking the day off anyway, so consider it driving practice."

Zhang Lu: "..."

At the train station, in front of the waiting hall entrance.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Watching Zhang Lu walk into the waiting hall, Li Xiuwu turned around and looked at the iconic large clock.

Time ticked away; the spring breeze turned the southern bank of the river green once again.

Li Xiuwu applied for on-campus housing at Yingcai High School and moved into the faculty and staff building.

[Detected that the Host has changed residences. Would you like to set up a Spirit Gathering Array?]

"No."

[Detected that the Host has moved into the sect and is in seclusion within the cave-dwelling. Comprehension bonus is now open twenty-four-seven.]

Li Xiuwu felt at ease and spent every day diligently reviewing, not wasting a single moment.

With every test, his grades were improving.

Until he received a phone call.

"Mr. Li, your Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau has been processed. Do you need it mailed, or will you pick it up yourself?"

Li Xiuwu was dazed for a moment before remembering the permit he had applied for: "I'll go pick it up tomorrow."