Ye Tiancheng had not fully opened up his trust to Qiao Zhanyuan.
He wasn't entirely without caution.
The credibility of Qiao Zhanyuan's words was still unknown. Whether to choose to trust him was a matter of opinion, and everything ultimately needed to be verified before a true conclusion could be reached.
Both Ye Tiancheng and the little fox remained reserved.
However, neither of them chose to question further.
The truth would always reveal itself, and as long as they continued to wait, all doubts would be answered.
Ye Tiancheng maintained the superficial logic of the conversation and continued to ask Qiao Zhanyuan, "Oh? What kind of attempts have you made?"
Qiao Zhanyuan shrugged his shoulders.
"As I mentioned before, I tried to record it in writing, and I also tried to express it verbally, but both failed. So, I thought of ways to see if I could pass the message on through people around me."
"Later, I chose a suitable person, who was also at the university and had experienced these things. However, he wouldn't remember during the day, so I tried to talk to him about it. But I discovered that communicating these matters with him was not hindered. Just as I was about to be happy, who knew that he, like me, was completely unable to seek help from outsiders who were unaware of the situation."
"Not only that, but after remembering everything, he could recall the events of the night, which had a great impact on him. In the end, I had no choice but to make him forget these things again, leaving only me remembering."
"However, it did allow me to verify one thing: I can communicate about matters within this university with those who are also troubled by the university's imagery."
"Since you two know what's happening in this university, I naturally lean towards the conclusion that you have also joined the 'assessment.' Therefore, regardless of whether you are restricted or not, I can certainly tell you all of this."
After listening, Ye Tiancheng stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, not pursuing this point further.
He then changed the topic and asked another question.
Ye Tiancheng asked Qiao Zhanyuan, "Speaking of which, I remember you saying that as long as one has participated in the 'exam assessment' and has not, in a certain sense, completely detached from that university, they will always be unable to escape it. But what is the standard for selection?"
"And what is the frequency of this selection?"
"Ye Li and I did come here to investigate something and got entangled in it, only then did we realize the abnormality here. But it's been several days now, and it seems we haven't been drawn into it again."
Upon hearing Ye Tiancheng's question, Qiao Zhanyuan thought for a moment and then asked Ye Tiancheng, "Mr. Ye, did you participate in the students' 'exam' or the teachers' 'assessment'?"
The little fox blinked at this question.
"Why didn't you mention the university's leadership?"
Qiao Zhanyuan smiled helplessly. "The leadership level is different from the teaching staff and the student body, and it's not as easy to investigate. So, I don't know much about that area and am unclear about their situation. Therefore, even if you ask, I have nothing to answer."
Only then did the little fox say, "Alright."
After the little fox and Qiao Zhanyuan finished speaking, it was Ye Tiancheng's turn to answer Qiao Zhanyuan's previous question.
Ye Tiancheng told Qiao Zhanyuan, "Ye Li and I participated in the students' 'random exam.' We were investigating a situation and got delayed at the school, and then we were accidentally involved. In one of the examination rooms, our names were not originally there, but after the broadcast announcement, our real names appeared on that door."
"We felt that the situation was abnormal at the time, so we wanted to know the real situation. Therefore, we went along with it and entered the examination room to take the test."
Ye Tiancheng did not mention the abnormal situation that occurred when Long Miaomiao's name first appeared on the list on the examination room door.
This was also a part he kept to himself.
Qiao Zhanyuan nodded.
"If it's the students' 'exam,' then the randomness is very strong. According to the situation of my initial employer's daughter, when unlucky, one might be selected for several consecutive days, then skip three to five or seven days, and sometimes even a week or half a month might pass without being selected."
"However, the 'assessment' for mentors and professors is more stable. It's a fixed rotation every ten days. For example, last night, I had just finished my 'assessment' before going to get the medical records and then meeting you."
Ye Tiancheng asked, "You were scheduled last night?"
Qiao Zhanyuan replied, "Yes, because I am also considered a teacher, and the days are fixed for people, so I can calculate when I need to undergo the 'assessment.'"
Now, Ye Tiancheng knew that even the mentors and professors, like the students, could not escape this situation.
Regardless of whether Qiao Zhanyuan was good or bad, or how much truth or falsehood was in his words, this matter was not difficult to verify, and it would only take some effort. There was little point in deceiving someone in this regard.
If Qiao Zhanyuan was good, then he had no reason to deceive Ye Tiancheng on this point. If Qiao Zhanyuan was bad, then he would be even less likely to deceive Ye Tiancheng on this point, because if he were deceiving Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, he would surely have a purpose.
If he were to lie about something so easily exposed, it would be even more impossible to gain the trust of Ye Tiancheng and the little fox. Unless Qiao Zhanyuan was an idiot, even if he were a bad person, he wouldn't do such a thing.
Ye Tiancheng reviewed the information he had gathered so far in his mind before saying to Qiao Zhanyuan, "Let's continue. What do you know? Where did we leave off?"
He had completely given up on explaining why he could pass on the message. However, for some reason, Qiao Zhanyuan did not choose to pursue it further and demand a thorough explanation.
He was quite sensible.
After Ye Tiancheng's words, the three people present fell into a state of recollection.
After a short while, the little fox was the first to snap her fingers to prompt, "We started discussing why Teacher Qiao and we couldn't pass messages outside because Teacher Qiao said he couldn't completely solve the problem of his employer's daughter and trace it back to the university."
"He discovered that what was happening in the university was beyond his ability to solve, so he wanted to find someone to help. It was then that he realized the message couldn't be passed on, and he had no choice but to fight alone."
Reminded by the little fox, Qiao Zhanyuan immediately recalled and said, "Yes, it seems that's it."
Ye Tiancheng nodded slightly. "Then, what we need to talk about next is probably the results of your investigation after fighting alone, Teacher Qiao? Shall we continue from there?"
"Okay," Qiao Zhanyuan agreed. "Then I'll continue talking about what I discovered afterwards."
"The entity behind all this, perhaps to give us humans who provide it with vital energy and life force a breathing space, so even when it's our turn to undergo the 'assessment,' it's actually not a big deal to occasionally choose not to participate. We'll just get points deducted, and these points can be made up."
"Only when too many points are deducted and a critical threshold is reached will there be more serious consequences, and we might even be made an example of."
Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had also inquired about this matter from students when they were in the examination room, so they were aware of it.
Qiao Zhanyuan continued, "In short, occasionally missing an exam doesn't really affect anything. The entity behind it turns a blind eye, probably because occasionally missing one or two people, given the vast numbers, doesn't have much of an impact."
"However, this situation is more convenient for me to investigate the situation at night, so I've also taken the opportunity to conduct some tests and investigations."
"After long-term verification, every time it's our turn as teachers to undergo the 'assessment,' we never see any students in the school. I suspect that at these times, students are not 'randomly selected.'"
"Of course, there might be other possibilities, such as us not being in the same layer of space. But if my initial guess is correct, if I hadn't learned about what was happening in the university through the employer's daughter, the teachers in the university would probably not be too clear about the students' current situation."
"Anyway, I've asked some other mentors and professors, and they haven't explicitly stated the situation, but they've mentioned it with concern, confirming that they are indeed unaware."
"This system of 'exams' and 'assessments' first appeared about six years ago. After all, when I went to solve the problem for the employer's daughter seven years ago, it was still controlled by dreams. There was no distinction of place or identity, and one could never see companions."
"In short, one would enter a dream at any time and have their vital energy and life force drained."
As Qiao Zhanyuan said this, he couldn't help but rub his forehead.
"When the system of 'exams' and 'assessments' first appeared, I thought the entity behind it was playing some new trick. However, it was later confirmed that although this was indeed a new trick, the root cause might be the university library."
"Some mentors and professors who happened to read novels saw some clues and said they were like plot devices from horror novels."
"You know places like libraries, even university libraries, actually have some miscellaneous books. After that, I also browsed those books and roughly understood what was going on."
"But even so, what could I do? The matter had already happened, and I could only get used to this mode of operation."
Ye Tiancheng recalled his previous experiences and found it quite troublesome.
He said, "I don't understand this very well, but my younger brother understands a bit about these things, so when we encountered it, he guessed in that direction."
After complaining about this, Qiao Zhanyuan continued.
"To further elaborate on what I've investigated, I don't know if you've noticed, but when we undergo the 'assessment,' there's an invisible wall outside the school that prevents us from leaving."
Ye Tiancheng replied, "We've known about this for a long time. It was precisely because we realized we couldn't leave and heard the school broadcast that we changed our objective and ended up participating in the 'exam.'"
Qiao Zhanyuan said, "Although when we undergo the 'assessment,' the space we are in is still more inclined towards a dream, and we are pulled into a dream before experiencing those events, which is why our bodies don't show any signs of injury. However, I later discovered that those air walls also have a purpose."
"At first, I always thought that this was the entity controlling everything, not wanting us humans who provide it with vital energy and life force to leave the school's premises, and thus setting them up on the periphery."
"However, after careful investigation, I discovered that the reality was not like that at all."