University of Cambridge,

King's College.

Montague James strolled through the withered lawn and watched the clouds leave a white reflection on the school river.

Not far away, the spire of King's College Chapel rises high, and the magnificent Gothic architecture has become an icon and glory of the whole city of Cambridge.

James took a deep breath,

The cold, damp air burrowed into his lungs, making him unconsciously shiver.

At this time, someone stopped him: "Montagu! ”

James turned around,

I saw Cavendish Ash, the Chancellor of Cambridge University, walking slowly towards him with a deep smile on his face.

James took the initiative to greet him: "Mr. Superintendent, why are you here?" ”

Cavendish smiled and said, "I'm here to 'tour' our great King's College. ”

King's College,

King's College，

One of the most prestigious colleges within the University of Cambridge.

It was founded in 1441 by King Henry VI of England at the time, hence the name "King's" College.

Because of this background, it is not too much to describe it as "great".

James laughed,

Mr. Supervisor laughed.

Cavendish walked up to James, side by side, and whispered, "Recent events haven't affected your Bible studies, have they?" ”

There was a hint of apology in his tone.

James didn't pick up.

The two walked together in the direction of the main building of the college, occasionally meeting students in twos and threes, greeting them respectfully.

Cavendish added: "I'm a little anxious about the gambling contract. ”

James waved his hand,

"Mr. Supervisor, you know, I've been writing Persona of Antique Dealers for a long time, but I don't know whether to publish it or not. If it weren't for the bet, I might never have made up my mind. ”

This is said very sincerely.

Cavendish was relieved to see that James was not angry, and then asked, "Do you have a chance of winning against Lu?" ”

James looked down in contemplation, as if the question was a little difficult to answer.

Cavendish wasn't prepared to rush either.

The two continued to walk aimlessly around the academy.

At this time, the students' discussion came to my ears:

"Do you smell gunpowder? Professor James was critical of Lu's Roman Holiday and took advantage of the situation to publish a new book in the Illustrated London News. It's like a combination of punches no matter how you look at it. ”

"Professor James wrote a short story called 'Paintings', right? It's very well written, I can see the cold hair stand on end~"

"But it's just the most primitive scary, not fearful and terrifying, in this regard, I think Lu's "No One Survives" creates a better atmosphere, even if you know that the serial murders are not committed by ghosts and gods, but people are doing ghosts, you still can't help but be nervous."

"Yes, that fear is even more terrifying."

……

It's like "Resident Evil" and "The Grudge",

Both are scary, but they take very different approaches, one is physical fear and the other is psychological fear.

(Actually, "The Grudge" is also quite physically frightening.) ）

James shrugged,

"Mr. Superintendent, do you hear that?"

Cavendish Xu smiled and said, "It's okay, Lu Shi won't write suspense and reasoning works this time, he can't be your opponent." Moreover, Dr. Doyle also went to war...... Hum...... There are a lot of speculators in this world. ”

James bowed his head knowingly,

He also heard of the return of Sherlock Holmes,

Doyle chose this point in time, undoubtedly with the idea of taking the opportunity to suppress Lu Shi.

James said: "London today lacks nothing but liars, robbers, speculators and politicians. ”

Cavendish shook his finger,

"That's not right."

James was puzzled,

"Huh? How is it wrong? ”

Cavendish explained: "A politician is a liar, a robber, a speculator. ”

James was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing, and then said: "Mr. Supervisor, you are also a politician yourself, is it really good to say this?" ”

The two laughed.

Just like that after a while, James turned the subject back,

"Frankly, I don't think I'm as good as Lu."

Cavendish looked confused,

What about the literati who say that they are light?

How can anyone think they are inferior?

He said, "You...... Do you think Lu Shi can write a better novel than you? ”

James nodded and said seriously: "After reading his novels, poems, and plays, I already understand that in terms of creation, he is a comprehensive and specialized geek. If I want to win him, I can only bully him for not having experience in writing fantasy stories. ”

Cavendish was stunned and said, "Is it really so powerful?" ”

Unexpectedly, before James could answer, he listened to the student next to him talk again:

"You see, Lu wrote a book review. Does this count as a battle? ”

"Can this be considered a battle? At best, it's just a book review. If he does, Lu will certainly serialize a new work in The Scotsman. ”

"However, Professor James writes strange fantasy novels, and Lu writes suspenseful reasoning, how can this be judged?"

"Sales and Literature~"

"Literary, this kind of public saying is justified, and mother-in-law saying that mother-in-law is reasonable. It has to be sales. ”

……

Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong, he really needs to find hard indicators.

Cavendish frowned,

"Book reviews?"

James let out an "um" and said, "You heard it right, Lu Shi did write a book review." Let's go over and see. ”

He stepped forward and asked the students for newspapers.

The students immediately scrambled to hand over the Manchester Guardian book review edition.

James peruses:

——

What does a good Monster story look like?

If you want to be terrifying, there is absolutely a rule, that is, the closer it is to normal daily life, the more terrifying the story is.

For example, the space you are in every day, the things you do, the situations you can encounter, the people you meet, the things you eat,

They are mutated, whether they are sudden or slowly penetrating, and it is inevitable that people will shudder.

——

Later in this paragraph, Lu Shi selected a short story from "Strange Tales from Liaozhai",

The Chinese-style ghosts also have a special taste to read.

James couldn't help but praise: "Lu Shi is really an all-rounder. Even if you've never written a story about a monster, you can summarize the essence of it. ”

Cavendish said, "Stop praising him. If you look at the back of this book review, it's not scary at all to criticize your "Paintings" to the fullest, saying that it is too far away from life and inhibiting the reader's imagination. ”

The work is criticized like this, and the writer must be unhappy.

James said with a blank face: "This is a public provocation. ”

But he forgot that it was he who first opened the microphone to criticize "Roman Holiday",

Therefore, even if it is provoked, it is he who makes the first move.

Cavendish frowned,

"This Lu Shi is really a bit arrogant."

He pointed to the back of the book review and said, "Look at this, he also squirted 'The Empty House', saying that it was Dr. Doyle's work to please readers, and from the perspective of mystery novels, 'The Empty House' has not much to offer." ”

……

London

Doyle Mansion.

Bang!

Doyle slapped the Manchester Guardian on the table with a single palm, clutching his chest and gasping.

He never expected that his mind would be so easily debunked by Lu Shi and put it on the book review page.

"Lu Shi, I want to see if you really have three heads and six arms!?"

Doyle's teeth itched with hatred, and a plan gradually took shape.