Though Huang Xin’s face was a little pale, she had fastened her seatbelt beforehand and had experienced similar driving skills previously, so she wasn’t quite at the point of nausea.
However, the others beside her were not so fortunate. Each of them looked as if their souls had been startled right out of their bodies, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Among them, Yang Qu was the most miserable.
The chubby boy, defying caution, had stood up for some unknown reason when the bus accelerated. He not only fell, but then spent the entire journey hunched over a plastic bag, continuously retching.
‘I hope the motion sickness helps him lose a little weight!’ Huang Xin politely offered a two-second moment of silence for him in her mind.
The bus sped along, and she had long since lost her bearings, only knowing that they were in the outskirts of the city.
She looked up, taking in Tiandu University, which they had reached after such arduous travel.
No residents or houses were visible nearby; in the distance, one could even discern green mountains and dense forests.
Only a single, straight asphalt road stretched from afar to this very spot.
“In the vicinity of the capital, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it was astonishing to find such an undeveloped expanse,” Huang Xin murmured, surprised.
Yet, considering Tiandu University and its Awakened individuals, she found it strangely logical.
She attempted to use her phone to pinpoint her location, but it was impossible to lock onto a signal.
‘Is there some kind of anti-detection device?’ Huang Xin wondered.
The bus did not drive into the campus but stopped in a spacious open area just outside the school gate.
Facing the front of the bus was a school name stone, standing a story high, easily visible with a slight turn of the head upon disembarking.
It was unclear what type of stone it was, but its surface was veined with delicate red streaks.
On its front, a flamboyant, gilded school name, written with the flourish of a dragon and phoenix, adorned the stone. Beside it was an inscription from an unmentionable, revered figure.
“This was personally inscribed by a great figure when the school was founded,” the Senior Female Student said, having quietly approached Xiao Xiu’s side.
She raised her brows, studying the inscription. The setting sun danced in her pupils, illuminating the fine downy hairs on her face.
“This is also one of Tiandu University’s school mottos.”
A school motto, indeed…
Xiao Xiu committed it to memory, then her gaze drifted past the name stone to the school gate behind it.
Tiandu University’s main gate was not particularly unusual; its traditional Chinese style exuded a profound sense of history.
The red paint on the pillars was slightly flaking, a testament to the passage of time, though not severely so.
The crossbeam featured exquisite and vivid bas-reliefs depicting dragons and phoenixes soaring, symbolizing peace and prosperity for all people.
Xiao Xiu could only offer the highest praise a Great Xia citizen could.
“Holy heavens!”
It was all Miss Xiu’s fault for always daydreaming during Chinese classes. Faced with such a sight, she could only utter a common, emphatic exclamation.
The driver of their bus was a brawny young man, every inch of him sculpted with taut muscle.
His bronze skin and gleaming white teeth… Xiao Xiu inexplicably recalled a familiar face from New Himura.
He wore a vest and clapped his hands. “Is everyone done throwing up?”
The new students, pale-faced, nodded. The plastic bags filled with vomit were all discarded into a nearby trash can.
“Then prepare to go in and register!” Zhuang Han announced.
“But before we do, I must remind everyone: do not wander around the campus. You must stick closely with us.”
Zhuang Han’s gaze swept over them, and only when everyone nodded in acknowledgment did he say, satisfied, “Good.”
At that moment, the Senior Female Student from Xiao Xiu’s bus walked over to Zhuang Han.
“Department Head Zhuang, we’ll head back to the station now. We still have another bus of new students to pick up!” she informed him.
“Alright!” Zhuang Han nodded.
The special train couldn’t cover all provinces across the nation, so Tiandu University had arranged two such trains.
These were the first batch of students, and the second batch was due to arrive shortly.
That second group was far smaller than the first; half the number of large buses would be sufficient to transport them.
Therefore, only four Senior Male and Female Students had been dispatched.
The remaining three volunteers, along with Zhuang Han, led the new students into the Tiandu campus they had long yearned for.
Everything about Tiandu University was kept secret from ordinary people, especially information related to the campus itself.
Some even found pleasure in searching for this information online, giving it a sense of cyber adventure.
But now, all those hidden details were unveiled without reservation before the eyes of the new students.
They craned their necks like radars, eager to take in every single detail of their surroundings.
“But… it feels very ordinary!”
Huang Xin compared what she saw before her with the images of universities she’d seen online, yet found no discernible difference between them.
The campus was exceptionally spacious, with straight, clean roads and lush greenery everywhere. The trees were verdant and vibrant.
The only potential difference was the sheer variety of architectural styles found across the campus.
In less than ten minutes of walking, they had already passed at least five buildings, each as large as a typical university gymnasium.
“And… there are so few people, it’s quite desolate!” Xiao Xiu whispered, frowning softly.
It was well-known that Tiandu University had a small student body, as it only admitted the most exceptional individuals, whether Awakened or ordinary.
But this level of sparseness seemed excessive!
Following at the end of the line, she had only seen two Senior Male Students pass by, both looking hurried. They merely glanced at the new students before quickly moving on.
Some of the new students were also discussing this. A volunteer Senior Male Student, walking on the right side of the group, responded.
“The examination month isn’t over yet. Your Senior Male and Female Students are all working hard on their final sprints outside, so you won’t see many people.”
‘Don’t you Senior Male Students need to sprint?’
A somewhat thin Senior Male Student with glasses chuckled upon hearing this. “Us? Guiding you is our sprint!”
As they spoke, the front of the group halted, and a voice echoed from further ahead.
“We’ve reached the registration point! Everyone, please queue up in an orderly fashion to register. Once you’re done, I’ll take you to your dorms.”
“Tonight’s dinner has also been delivered to the dorms.”
Huang Xin listened to the voice, her gaze sweeping past the line to the front.
The registration building was a five-story structure, distinctly Russian in style.
It was symmetrical around a central axis, with the middle section taller and the sides lower, and its exterior walls were a cold gray.
The overall impression it gave was one of gloom.
The queue moved slowly forward, but registration was remarkably fast; typically, one person emerged every minute or so.
Even so, it took a considerable amount of time for over two hundred new students to complete their registration.
By the time it was Huang Xin’s turn, the sky had grown oppressively dark.
The red afterglow of the sunset was almost invisible, yet it still cast a faint reddish hue over everything her eyes could see.
This was the darkest hour.
The moon had not yet risen, and the sun was about to set.
Had the streetlights not illuminated in time, it might have been utterly black.
Huang Xin stepped into the Russian-style building and immediately saw a massive table.
On the table sat a spherical machine, roughly the size of a millstone.
It was entirely black, with one side flattened into a plane.
Overall, it resembled a computer, as a mouse and keyboard were connected to it.
Behind the spherical machine sat a familiar face to Huang Xin—her Senior Female Student, Li Qinyue.