I, the transmigrated villain, please wait, gentle master.

Chapter 105 I am who I am, a firework of a different color

Li Tingyun gave Wang Laoliu a cold glance.

Looking around, the place was dark and gloomy, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, but it felt quite different from the night scene after dark.

There was a sense of emptiness and deathly stillness everywhere.

The two seemed to be standing in outer space, where there was no starlight, no trace of life, utter silence, and the end of all things.

The small space where the two of them stood was exceptionally bright, as if two spotlights had been cast onto a huge stage.

Li Tingyun cursed under his breath, "What kind of nonsense is this?"

He mentally told himself that this was all a dream, and told himself to wake up right now!

Li Tingyun rolled over in bed and threw the pillow off the bed; it was too high and could easily cause a stiff neck.

Even so, he still couldn't open his eyes.

Li Tingyun lay face down on the bed, one arm hanging out of the bedside, his sleeping posture extremely carefree.

But he knew perfectly well that he was not asleep.

"Host...host? Host! Siwu Su—Zhiwu Zhu—surnamed Li? Li Tingyun!"

Wang Laoliu called his name again in his dream.

Li Tingyun finally responded: "What are you doing? Are you trying to call back my soul?!"

Wang Laoliu had been holding out his right hand for most of the day, wanting to greet him politely, but no one paid any attention to him, so he awkwardly withdrew it.

Li Tingyun said, "It seems that I didn't dream about you unconsciously, but rather that you actively appeared in my dream. Wang Laoliu, what kind of trouble are you up to now?"

Wang Laoliu said, "Host, you are really smart. I have something I want to tell you in a serious manner."

Li Tingyun said, "Release."

Wang Laoliu said, "But before that, I want to test you."

Li Tingyun said, "Release it quickly."

Wang Laoliu kept everyone in suspense, saying, "But before I test you, I have another question for you."

Veins bulged on Li Tingyun's forehead. "Are you fucking done yet...?"

Before he could get beaten up, Wang Laoliu asked, "I just want to ask you one question first: you've been in this fantasy world for so long, how much of the basic cultural knowledge that college students should know still do you remember?"

Li Tingyun said, "To be honest, I remember everything. Can you be more specific? What are you going to test me on?"

"It's good that you remember everything; hopefully you're not exaggerating. Now, candidate number one, please listen to the question—"

Wang Laoliu chuckled, immediately switching into examiner mode. He pulled a question card from his pocket and read it aloud:

"In 'Water Margin,' one of China's four great classical novels, Elder Zhizhen of Mount Wutai gave the Flower Monk Lu Zhishen four lines of verse. Can you recite them in their entirety?"

Li Tingyun didn't know why Lao Liu had prepared a card in advance specifically to give him a question, but the question he asked was a piece of cake.

Without hesitation, Li Tingyun replied, "The four lines of verse are of course 'Capture in summer, seize in winter, achieve perfection by listening to the tide, and find tranquility upon seeing the letter.'"

"Holy crap, you remember that?!"

Wang Laoliu jumped up in surprise and said in astonishment, "They both went to university, but all I remember is that Wu Cheng'en wrote 'Water Margin'."

He said confidently, "And another thing, isn't there one among those outlaws nicknamed 'The Pilgrim'? I know him! He's a monkey, his Buddhist name is Sun Wukong."

Wang Laoliu scratched his head, "Hiss, let me think again... Ah, right! Isn't 'Water Margin' about Liangshan Marsh... and the story of Zhu Yingtai?"

Li Tingyun: "...6".

What else could he say?

Is what Wang Laoliu is reading a haphazardly compiled edition of China's Four Great Classical Novels and Four Great Folk Love Stories?

If he keeps spouting this nonsense, Shi Nai'an will turn in his grave.

Li Tingyun raised an eyebrow and said, "Wang Laoliu, just stop there. You, a fish that slipped through the net of compulsory education, actually managed to go to university? What kind of diploma mill did you attend?!"

Old Wang sighed, "Don't be like that. I was a top student back then! I went to a key provincial university and studied science and engineering. I've been working for five or six years since I graduated, so it's normal that I can't remember these things."

Li Tingyun didn't have time for idle chatter and immediately said, "Tell me, do you have any more questions? What is it that you can't just say directly, and you have to make me answer questions and pass a test?!"

"Calm down, I have a second question, which is also the last one... Ahem, candidate number one, listen up."

Wang Laoliu cleared his throat and continued reading from the question card: "In the novel *Water Margin*, it is written that many years later, Lu Zhishen heard the tide on the banks of the Qiantang River and remembered the verse that Elder Zhizhen had given him, which is as the saying goes, 'Hearing the tide brings fulfillment, seeing the message brings tranquility'..."

"When the monk heard the tide, he suddenly remembered this phrase, realized the meaning, asked for paper and pen, wrote a eulogy, and then passed away peacefully on the spot."

Lu Zhishen composed a poem: "All my life I've never cultivated good deeds, only loved killing and arson. Suddenly the golden shackles are broken, the jade locks are torn apart. Ah! Qiantang..."

Li Tingyun, annoyed by his dawdling, learned to answer quickly: "The tide comes in on the Qiantang River, only today do I realize who I am!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That's the line!"

Wang Laoliu revealed his true intentions: "Host, this is what I want to solemnly inform you. You are yourself, and you are who you are."

"I am who I am..."

Li Tingyun's mind went blank.

Wang Laoliu's map of the Yan Kingdom was far too long.

Li Tingyun was completely bewildered by what had happened.

He was momentarily stunned, then continued with the lyrics: "I am who I am, a firework of a different color?!"

Wang Laoliu: "...6".