I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Chapter 37: Account

The bus pulled up to the platform, and Zheng Fa stepped off, following the directions on his phone towards the zoo.

To his surprise, the prefecture-level city he found himself in actually had a zoo—though the reviews on the map app weren’t promising.

Tang Lingwu had made an offhand remark about watching birds, but Zheng Fa had taken it seriously.

The Seventh Young Master had once mentioned that the key to mastering Ling Crane Body lay within the first volume. Yet despite their thorough examination of the book, they hadn’t found any hidden codes or secrets.

The Seventh Young Master suspected that since it was a copied version, perhaps something critical had been omitted.

But what if the secret was concealed in the self-narrative?

Among the four volumes of Ling Crane Body, the first had the most content. If one were to dismiss the possibility that the author was simply an egotistical braggart... Okay, that was hard to dismiss.

Still, what if the author’s exaggerated self-aggrandizement also contained clues?

The most likely candidate was the detailed account of the author's journey: traversing countless mountains and observing countless birds. This was the part most closely tied to the essence of the martial art.

In the Xuánwēi Realm, Old Bai wasn’t entirely wrong—the author would have to be a person of immense perseverance, or possibly immense madness.

Traversing mountains in the Xuánwēi Realm wasn’t like hiking in the modern world; the mountains were often home to powerful and dangerous demonic beasts. Such ventures were truly life-threatening.

As for observing birds...

Would the birds even let you?

How could you know if the bird in question was just an ordinary creature or one with spiritual cultivation? Even if it were mundane, how could you be certain it didn’t have a demonic beast parent ready to seek revenge?

Given all that, risking your life to practice a mundane martial art like Ling Crane Body seemed absurd.

But while such efforts might be impossible in the Xuánwēi Realm, in the modern world, they were laughably easy!

When Zheng Fa reached the zoo’s entrance, he found it less of a "zoo" and more of a fenced-off park.

The main gate featured a battered, red-painted table with a middle-aged woman in a red armband seated behind it.

Behind her, a piece of paper tacked to the wall read: Tickets: 15 yuan.

"Twenty," she said.

Zheng Fa obediently handed over the money.

He had come during his school’s lunch break, so he didn’t have time to haggle and save the five yuan.

The interior of the zoo matched the gate’s aged and worn aesthetic. Midday, there weren’t many visitors—or animals.

Just inside, a human-sized signboard proclaimed the zoo’s prized exhibit, accompanied by a bright arrow pointing the way.

Curiosity piqued, Zheng Fa followed the path.

Sure enough, outside a building, another sign proudly displayed the word "Panda."

They have pandas?

Excited, Zheng Fa craned his neck to peek inside. There, on the ground, two black-and-white furballs were tumbling and frolicking...

And barking.

Turning back to the sign, he noticed the small word "Dog" tucked beside the larger characters for "Panda."

This zookeeper must be a troll, Zheng Fa thought. Why not paint yourself black and white and sit in the exhibit while you’re at it?

Feeling utterly betrayed, Zheng Fa headed straight for the section labeled "Bird Paradise."

Though he had lowered his expectations, the sight of pigeons pecking at the ground beneath a large black net overhead still left him speechless.

When he left the zoo, Zheng Fa immediately pulled out his phone to leave a scathing review.

Back at school, Zheng Fa slumped over his desk, dejected.

The zoo debacle was one thing, but the net had made him realize a deeper issue—birds could fly.

Zoos and bird markets went out of their way to treat birds like land animals, restricting their ability to fly.

Even the most advanced zoos likely housed birds that had lost their natural instincts.

Trying to gain insights into Ling Crane Body from these birds… unlikely to work.

Inside the desk, Zheng Fa’s phone vibrated twice.

He discreetly pulled out his phone, noticing a jumping cat icon as the notification.

"Who’s that?" Wang Chen’s curious and gossiping face suddenly appeared over Zheng Fa’s shoulder, staring at the cat avatar. "Looks like a girl!"

"Tang Lingwu," Zheng Fa replied, tapping on the icon.

Tang Lingwu had sent two messages:

The first was a link.

The second was a rather long text:

"I saw you mentioned going to the zoo? Are you going to look at birds? The zoo in our city isn’t great, so I found a few documentaries for you."

He clicked on the link, which opened a cloud drive containing several folders.

After saving the files, something felt off—Wang Chen was staring straight at him, his expression filled with confusion.

"What’s wrong?" Zheng Fa asked.

"You… have Tang Lingwu as a friend?"

"Is that a problem?"

"It’s a huge problem! You’ve been scammed!" Wang Chen declared confidently. "She doesn’t even have an account!"

Zheng Fa paused in confusion. "She added me in person."

Wang Chen couldn’t hold back anymore. "You haven’t checked the class group chat, have you?"

"I muted it."

Their class had a group chat without any teachers, just students. However, it had a few overly enthusiastic members who spammed constantly, so Zheng Fa had muted the group.

Wang Chen whipped out his phone and practically shoved it in Zheng Fa’s face.

Opening the class group chat, Wang Chen revealed an unusually quiet conversation history.

The last chat exchange had occurred two months ago.

"Tang Lingwu, I added you as a friend. Why haven’t you accepted it?" a particularly chatty boy had asked.

"She doesn’t have an account," someone using the name Tang Lingwu replied.

"Huh? Then who are you?"

"I’m her mom."

The group chat went dead silent after that, and no one had spoken since.

"We already made a new group. I’ll add you," Wang Chen whispered, clearly amused by the situation. "Whoever dragged her mom in completely killed this group!"

Zheng Fa finally understood why Wang Chen insisted Tang Lingwu didn’t have an account.

Scrolling through his chat history with Tang Lingwu, he realized they hadn’t exchanged many messages. The first message she’d sent him read:

"Medium-sized, half sugar, with pearls, no ice."

Followed by another:

"Make it large!"

And a red packet.

"You guys even drink milk tea together?" Wang Chen asked, astonished as he examined the chat log. He hadn’t noticed the earlier messages and continued prying. "What did she want from you just now?"

"She sent me—"

"The teacher’s here!" a deep, anonymous voice warned from the back of the classroom.

Old Chen, their stern-faced teacher, appeared at the back door, scanning the classroom before his gaze locked onto Wang Chen.

"Wang Chen! What are you doing with your phone?"

Wang Chen froze, staring at the phone in his hand before glancing at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa held a textbook, his brow furrowed in deep concentration, completely immersed in the pursuit of knowledge.

"Look at Zheng Fa," Old Chen said pointedly. "Even during break, he’s studying. Why don’t you learn from him?"

Wang Chen: "…"

Zheng Fa: A true martial artist must master seeing in all directions, listening to all sounds, and quick reflexes to evade danger.

The videos Tang Lingwu had shared were incredibly comprehensive—arguably too comprehensive.

There were documentaries from both domestic and international sources, in Chinese and English.

With over a dozen documentaries on birds neatly stored in the cloud drive, Zheng Fa felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice.

However…

"The Vanished Sky Overlords: Pterosaurs"… Does this count as birds?

Frowning, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but think that Tang Lingwu might have overdone it.

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