YA Ch111: The Good Kid

Lu Yu pressed the emergency eject button and quickly removed his helmet, shouting loudly, “Turn off the live stream!”

The live stream crew poked their heads in and said, “Mr. Lu, the stream suddenly cut out just now.”

Lu Yu looked up and saw the large screen was completely black. Ming Yan and the top fan had also been forcibly ejected; the fan removed his helmet with a confused look, looking around, “Why did I get disconnected?”

Yang Chen walked over, bent down, and whispered in Lu Yu’s ear, “I manually cut it off.”

He then showed Lu Yu the replay of the live stream.

The screen showed Hua Wenyuan saying, “Your instrument can modified—” but the rest was beeped out as if it was a forbidden word. The barrage was filled with questions about what was said, and the next second, the screen went black, displaying a signal interruption.

Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back against the game pod, and patted Lao Yang’s chest, “Reliable!”

Lao Yang tapped his right fist against his left chest and then raised his hand for a fist bump with Lu Yu, a gesture of camaraderie from over ten years: “Don’t forget who we are. For the live stream, I used tools to analyze data and set up some hidden forbidden words. These words can be said by you, but not by the protagonist. For example, plot, protagonist, human, data, AI, world domination, destroy the earth…”

Lu Yu twitched his lips, “You were quite thorough.” Even including phrases like ‘destroy the earth’ ensured that the AI would appear absolutely friendly.

Yang Chen looked around and said, “Exactly. No matter how careful you are, it’s never too much.” He then made a hand gesture indicating cutting the throat. Meaning, this is an unregulated training method; if something goes wrong, not only will the ‘kids’ be destroyed, but the three of us might also end up in prison.

Lu Yu didn’t know why he could understand so much from Lao Yang’s single gesture. With ears everywhere, he didn’t continue speaking and simply nodded.

Ming Yan instructed the live stream crew, “Tell the audience that there was a technical issue, and we’re working on a fix.” He then called the head of the PR department and gave detailed instructions.

Hong Wuyang was still confused, “What broke?”

Lu Yu said, “We need to adjust some data. You all take a break; I’ll go check it out.”

Ming Yan held down his hand as he was about to take off his helmet and frowned slightly, “I’ll go with you.” The current state of Hua Wenyuan was unstable and might be dangerous.

Xiao Jiang took the top fan to rest. The fan, chattering non-stop, said to Xiao Jiang, “I was just beating up Li Lin with the guards, and I wasn’t done having fun yet.”

Xiao Jiang pushed up his glasses and said, “I’ll get you a customized Li Lin punching bag later.”

Hong Wuyang’s eyes lit up, “That’s great, make it into a boxing bag, and I can train to become a professional boxer in a year!”

Yang Chen returned to the monitor, but this time it was a black screen, and he only monitored the data. Refusing the participation of other technicians, Lao Yang personally took out the keyboard and started typing to adjust the values.

The internet had exploded with questions.

【Why did it suddenly cut off? I was watching so intently, what did Hua Wenyuan say at the end?】

【What did he say about instrument modifying? Could it be changing the plot? No way, did the AI come alive?】

【It shouldn’t be. Earlier, he was tricked by Han Di Ba Yu into thinking the instrument was a “Mute Immortal Instrument,” and the kid was just desperate.】

【Hahaha, he was boasting and got a boomerang hit in the rear, right?】

【Ahhhh, my Aying, I’ll get back at you, Old Thief Han Di Ba Yu!】

【Hurry up and resume the stream, stopping halfway through is just inappropriate!】

Lu Yu glanced at the online discussion, put on his helmet, and returned to the scene.

In the small wooden house, Hua Wenyuan was still staring at him with blood-red eyes.

Lu Yu frowned and asked, “Who told you this?” His tone was unusually serious, quite different from his usual casual demeanor.

Hua Wenyuan displayed a “just as I thought” expression and said, “I heard it myself. That day by the river, you said ‘plot.'”

By the river? Lu Yu recalled the scene by the riverbank, where he and Ming Yan were chatting from a distance on the ridge. That was hundreds of meters away; how could this kid hear it?

He laughed in anger, “Are you a dog with extraordinary hearing? You could hear that?”

“I guessed correctly. This isn’t a normal world,” Hua Wenyuan said coldly, putting away his short knife, and pointing it at Lu Yu. “Who are you?”

Lu Yu remained unmoved, unperturbed by the knife pointed at his nose, and sighed, “Kid, how did you awaken early? This is a bit troublesome.”

With that, he sat down on the floor, placing the qin on his lap. “You’re right. This isn’t a normal world. It’s a novel, specifically a script, called ‘Shooting the Heavenly Wolf.’ And you are the protagonist of the novel.”

Hua Wenyuan’s breathing quickened, “Then who are you?”

Lu Yu looked up at him and sincerely said, “I am your father.”

Hua Wenyuan pressed the knife to his neck.

Lu Yu said, “Again, first meeting and you act like this towards me? Keep it up, and I’ll spank you.”

Ming Yan suppressed a chuckle, and his laughter drew Hua Wenyuan’s attention. Lu Yu took the opportunity to push the knife away, even a minor cut would be quite painful.

“I really am your real father,” Lu Yu smacked his lips; the statement sounded like a cheap ethical joke. He quickly added, “To be precise, I created you. I am the author of the book.”

He raised his hand, waved his sleeve over the qin, hoping for a dramatic transformation. However, it stayed as it was, so he had to turn to Ming Yan for help.

Ming Yan lightly tapped the qin with a jade-colored brush, removing a layer, and instantly, the seven-stringed qin transformed into a black keyboard.

Lu Yu said, “I came here to tell you the truth about the world and to take you to a higher-dimensional world. But first, you need to complete the plot of this novel and, importantly, study well!”

### Chapter 111: The Good Kid (continued)

The final sentence carried a bit of personal criticism, addressing Hua Wenyuan’s lack of dedication to his studies.

Hua Wenyuan looked at the strangely shaped keyboard and then at Ming Yan’s jade brush, feeling like his worldview was collapsing and being rebuilt from scratch. After a long silence, he said, “Since you are the god of creation, then revive Shen Ying.”

Lu Yu shook his head, “He’s already dead. This world has its own rules. One of them is that there’s no resurrection; you can only restart from scratch.”

In this world, there are no immortals or demons. Even if he typed “Shen Ying resurrection” on the keyboard, Shen Ying wouldn’t come back to life. The simulated world has its own underlying logic, and forcing changes would cause it to collapse. This is similar to how he couldn’t give himself the ability to fly.

Hua Wenyuan threw the short knife on the ground, and the gemstones embedded in the handle shattered and scattered. He said disappointedly, “What kind of god are you? Just leave.”

Lu Yu stood up and made the keyboard disappear. To avoid suspicion, he had been carrying it all along, which was quite troublesome. Now he didn’t have to pretend anymore. He patted Hua Wenyuan’s shoulder and said, “Hey, I’m not a god. I’m just your father. Don’t be sad. I promise you, I’ll take Shen Ying to the higher-dimensional world. How about that?”

In the higher-dimensional world, there would be eternal electronic life, which could be considered a form of revival.

Hua Wenyuan frowned, “Then let’s go now.”

Lu Yu’s forehead twitched. This kid had such a quick temper. He extended a finger and shook it, “No way, you have to properly complete the plot, at least to the point of becoming emperor.”

Hua Wenyuan smiled wryly, “What’s the point? It’s all fake.”

Lu Yu was startled and immediately corrected the child’s misunderstanding, “No, this is a novel world for us, but for the beings here, this is the real world. They were born here, grew up here, and have their own joys and sorrows. You should continue well, not just for yourself but for all the people in this world.”

“Tell me, are Xie Zhongyun, Xu Changshan, and the pearl gatherer who offered you the Dongzhu for protection fake? Are you going to leave and hand over the empire to the Tatars and Luo Dahu?”

Hua Wenyuan fell silent and quietly picked up the shattered gemstones and knife from the ground.

Ming Yan took over, cleaned up the broken gemstones, and replaced them with a new one.

Lu Yu rubbed Hua Wenyuan’s head, “Be a good kid. Forget about these things from just now. Don’t mention them in this world. I’ll give you a signal later, and you’ll change that line to, ‘Isn’t your instrument the immortal instrument that can change fate?’ and repeat it.”

Hua Wenyuan pressed his lips together and placed the repaired knife back at his waist, “One last question, why must Shen Ying die?”

Lu Yu said, “You’ll understand when you go to the higher-dimensional world. Only a deceased white moonlight can be truly regarded as such. Only after his death will the popularity reach its peak and he will qualify to enter the higher-dimensional world.”

Hua Wenyuan didn’t understand a word, but he had no choice but to believe.

Lu Yu patted him and said, “Make sure you don’t mess up. If you show any flaws, this world will have to be restarted.”

Hua Wenyuan nodded.

Lu Yu gave him an OK gesture and said, “Later, when I make this gesture to the sky, you start reciting your lines.”

With that, he let Hua Wenyuan return to his original position. Ming Yan used the Ma Liang brush to draw a dotted line and adjusted his position to ensure it was the same as before, then softly said, “Okay, stay still here.” He even helped Hua Wenyuan tidy his hair.

Hua Wenyuan found the situation absurd but kept his head down and allowed the adjustments.

Ming Yan comforted him warmly, “Life itself is like acting. Maybe the higher-dimensional world we live in is also a novel. At least you’ve learned the truth about the world before others. Stay focused, do what you need to do, and achieve what you want. That’s enough.”

Hua Wenyuan looked up at him, and his eyes gradually regained their light.

Lu Yu smiled and embraced Ming Yan, saying to his confused child, “Think of it as cultivating immortality. Once you become emperor, you can ascend and revive your friend.”

Hua Wenyuan indeed perked up, nodding firmly, “Okay.”

Protagonists are always enthusiastic about upgrades and such. He couldn’t accept being a mere paper figure controlled by a novel world, but telling him that this was a small world where hard work could lead to ascension made him happy.

Lu Yu went out and instructed Lao Yang, “Start with a single screen first. Wait until I give the OK signal before resuming the stream, to prevent any trouble from this kid.”

Yang Chen set up a single screen for monitoring.

Lu Yu returned and had Ming Yan change the keyboard back to the seven-stringed qin. He faced Hua Wenyuan and asked, “Ready?”

Hua Wenyuan nodded almost imperceptibly, his attitude quite cautious.

Lu Yu made an OK gesture towards the main camera in the sky, and the live stream restarted.

Hua Wenyuan, with red eyes, asked, “Isn’t your instrument the immortal instrument that can change fate?”

Lu Yu spread his hands, “My dear, that was just boasting. I even said, ‘Afetr taking a powerful pill, my golden spear will last twelve hours.’”