Reality Programming Association

Chapter 165 -70: The Missing Fourth Person

Friday morning.

Yu Xian groped under his pillow for his phone and turned off the alarm. Out of habit, he opened his class schedule. When his eyes landed on the name of his morning major course, his finger paused.

“Quantum Field Theory. Instructor: Liang Guangzhao.”

Yu Xian’s heart sank sharply, an uneasy premonition slowly welling up inside him. He thought back to the analysis he and Shi Zuozhou had after their Theoretical Acoustics class yesterday.

“Those in applied sciences are fine, but those in theoretical sciences are all in trouble.” This was the “purge pattern” they had deduced and speculated.

Professor Sheng’s research was in acoustics, leaning towards the applied side, so he was safe and sound, even calmly assigning homework after class. Meanwhile, Professor Gao Jiguo’s high-energy physics, Professor Shu’s collider data models, Professor Ning’s condensed matter physics… These were all theoretical disciplines that explored the essence of matter and touched the very boundaries of the universe.

And today’s Quantum Field Theory was a theoretical cornerstone that went a step further than quantum mechanics, attempting to unify special relativity and quantum mechanics. It was pure theoretical physics, as pure as it could get. Quantum Field Theory could be considered one of the top-level foundations of the modern physics edifice, and Professor Liang Guangzhao was one of the foremost academic masters in this field domestically.

If they followed the “Subtraction” logic of Su Mingyuan that they had guessed at the North Campus on Wednesday, following that so-called “removing redundancy” train of thought… Professor Liang would definitely be in the top few rows of that list.

Feeling a chill down his spine, Yu Xian sat up abruptly. Barefoot, he called out to Shi Zuozhou in the adjacent bed. Seeing Shi Zuozhou bleary-eyed and completely dazed, Yu Xian shoved his phone screen right into his face.

“Today’s class is Professor Liang Guangzhao’s Quantum Field Theory.”

Shi Zuozhou froze for a moment. He stared at the course name for two seconds, and his hazy, sleepy eyes instantly widened, all traces of drowsiness vanishing. Without another word of nonsense, the two finished washing up at top speed, grabbed their umbrellas, and hurried straight toward the Second Main Building.

Their hiking boots stepped into the puddles, splashing up water. All around them were students hurrying along with umbrellas in hand. Yu Xian kept his umbrella pulled low, his eyes fixed dead on the path ahead, but his mind was a chaotic mess.

If Professor Liang also failed to show up today, it would completely confirm their suspicions. This would mean that the riots were perhaps just a facade, and the underlying truth was a targeted purge directed at a specific group of people with precise logic.

Still a dozen meters away from the lecture hall, Yu Xian could already hear the chaotic noise coming from it. The classroom was more than half full. The BUZZING commotion was filled with restlessness and anxiety.

Yu Xian’s heart sank.

For an 8:00 AM Friday class like Quantum Field Theory, students were usually catching up on sleep or eating breakfast. Even if some discussed their weekend plans, they would suppress their excitement and keep their voices down. A scene this noisy was indeed a rare sight.

Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou both cast their gazes toward the podium in unison. Sure enough, a very young man stood there.

He exchanged a glance with Shi Zuozhou. Here they went again.

This young man was a bit calmer than Chen Bo, who had substituted for Professor Shu’s class, as he explained to the students about Professor Liang’s work arrangements for an academic exchange abroad.

Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou walked silently along the wall to a corner at the back. When the class bell rang, the young man on the stage opened and closed his mouth, but they didn’t hear a single word of it.

Yu Xian took out his notebook, turned to a new page, and uncapped his pen. “Old Shi, about the phone call this afternoon.” He wrote down the three words “Su Mingyuan” on the paper and lowered his voice. “We need to plan it out properly.”

Shi Zuozhou leaned in as well. His usual playful smile vanished, replaced by a rare seriousness. “Yeah, that old fox definitely won’t be easy to deal with. How are we going to fish information out of him?”

“By exploiting the information gap,” Yu Xian said, sharing his thoughts from last night. “Compared to the professors, they are in the light while Su Mingyuan is in the dark. But compared to us, Su Mingyuan is in the light while we are in the dark. He doesn’t know how much information we have.”

“Got it. We’ll have Shao Chacha play dumb, show weakness, act foolish, pretend to be pitiful, and butter him up.” Shi Zuozhou chuckled mischievously, summarizing a messy string of methodologies. Who knew what Shao Yiyi would think upon hearing this.

“Right. In short, we can’t let him think Shao Yiyi knows too much. The entry point needs to be soft.” Yu Xian nodded and wrote down the first point on the paper. “First, have Shao Yiyi ask for his thoughts on this rain. He is Shao Yiyi’s martial uncle; since Shao Yiyi calculated that a great flood is coming, it makes perfect sense to ask for his uncle’s perspective.”

“Yeah, that’s perfectly reasonable,” Shi Zuozhou agreed.

“If he follows the thread of the conversation and mentions a prophecy like the Torrential Calamity Waters, then it’ll at least prove one thing: what Professor Ning said is true.”

“Right. Once that’s confirmed, we’ll ask deeper questions.” Yu Xian’s pen paused on the paper. “Have Shao Yiyi ask him what caused this great flood, and see if he brings up keywords like ‘physics’.”

“That works. Curiosity is human nature, not to mention with Shao Chacha’s gossipy personality, it’s very natural to ask about the source of the disaster.” Shi Zuozhou nodded thoughtfully.

Yu Xian wrote down the words “Boat Ticket” on the paper. “Then, follow up by asking if he has any methods of taking refuge. If someone learns the world is going to end, seeking a way to survive is a logical step. He shouldn’t get suspicious.”

Shi Zuozhou looked at Yu Xian, his eyes lighting up. “First ask if there is one, then ask why, and finally ask how. A smooth little combo, ending with revealing the dagger hidden in the map. You’ve got quite a long Yan Kingdom map here, Old Yu!”