British writer

University of Cambridge,

King's College.

Montague James strolled over the withered lawn and watched the clouds cast their pale reflections on the school river.

Not far away, the steeple of King's College Chapel stands tall, and the magnificent Gothic architectural style has become the symbol and glory of the entire city of Cambridge.

James took a deep breath.

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

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

James turned around,

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

James took the initiative to say hello: "Mr. Supervisor, why are you here?"

Cavendish said with a smile: "I'm here to 'inspect' 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 and was established by the then King Henry VI of England, hence the name "King's College".

Because of this background, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "great".

James laughed,

"Mr. Chancellor was joking."

Cavendish came up and stood side by side with James, and said in a low voice, "The recent incidents haven't affected your research on the Bible, have they?"

There was a hint of apology in his tone.

James didn't answer.

The two walked towards the main building of the college together, and occasionally encountered students in twos and threes, and said hello to them respectfully.

Cavendish added: "I'm a little impatient about the bet."

James waved,

"Mr. Chancellor, you know that I have been writing "Strange Records of Antique Dealers" for a long time, but I have never been sure whether to publish it or not. If it wasn't for the bet, I might never be able to make up my mind."

This is very sincere.

Seeing that James was not angry, Cavendish felt relieved, and then asked, "Against Lu, do you have any chance of winning?"

James lowered his head in thought, as if this question was difficult to answer.

Cavendish wasn't about to rush either.

The two continued to walk aimlessly in the academy.

At this time, the students' comments came from the ears:

"Do you smell gunpowder? Professor James criticized Lu's "Roman Holiday" and launched a new work in the "London Illustrated News". No matter how you look at it, it looks like a set of punches."

"The short story written by Professor James is called "Painting", right? It's very well written, and I feel chills after reading it~"

"But that kind of scaring is just the most primitive, rather than fear and horror. In this respect, I think the atmosphere created by Lu's "And There Were None" is better, even if you know that the series of murders are not ghosts and gods People are playing tricks, but I still can't help being nervous."

"Yes, that kind of fear is even more terrifying."

...

Just like "Resident Evil" and "The Grudge\

,"Both are scary, but in very different ways, one is physical fear, the other is psychological fear.

(Actually, "The Grudge" is also quite physiologically scary.)

James shrugged,

"Mr. Chancellor, did you hear that?"

Cavendish chuckled, and said, "It's okay, Lu Shi won't write suspense and reasoning works this time, he can't be your opponent. Besides, Doctor Doyle also joined the battle... Humph... the world's speculative There are quite a few customers.”

James nodded knowingly,

He also heard of Holmes' return,

Doyle chose this point in time, undoubtedly because he took the opportunity to suppress Lu Shi.

James said: "London is short of everything at present, that is, there is no shortage of liars, robbers, speculators, and politicians."

Cavendish shook his finger,

"wrong."

James is puzzled,

"Ah? What's wrong?"

Cavendish explained: "A politician is equal to a liar, a robber, and a speculator."

James was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help laughing, and then said, "Mr. Supervisor, you are also a politician yourself. Is it really okay to say that?"

The two were joking.

After a while, James changed the topic back,

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

Cavendish was stunned,

What about the good literati?

How can anyone think they are inferior?

He said, "You...do you think Lu Shi can write better novels than you?"

James nodded and said seriously: "After reading his novels, poems, and plays, I already understand that he is a complete and specialized geek in terms of creation. If I want to win him, I can only bully him." No experience writing fantasy stories."

Cavendish said in amazement: "Is it really that powerful?"

Unexpectedly, before James had time to answer, he heard the students next to him talking again:

"Look, Lu has written a book review. Is this a challenge?"

"Is this a challenge? It's just a book review at most. If it's a challenge, Lu will definitely serialize new works in The Scotsman."

"However, Professor James writes strange and fantasy novels, and Lu writes suspense reasoning. How do you judge?"

"Sales and literature~"

"It's okay to say that the literary nature is justified by the public, or that the mother-in-law is reasonable. It has to be sales."

...

Guan Gong and Qin Qiong really need to find hard targets.

Cavendish frowned,

"book review?"

James let out a "hmm" and said, "You heard me right, Lu Shi did write a book review. Let's go and have a look."

He stepped forward and asked the students for newspapers.

Students frantically handed over the Manchester Guardian book review.

James read carefully:

——

What is a good ghost story?

If a ghost story is intended to be scary, there must be a rule that the closer it is to normal life, the scarier the story will be.

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

When they change, no matter they come suddenly or slowly, they will inevitably make people tremble.

——

After this paragraph, Lu Shi chose a short story from "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio\

,"Chinese-style ghosts also have a special taste in reading.

James couldn't help but praised: "Lu Shi is indeed an all-rounder. Even if he has never written a ghost story, he can still sum up its essence."

Cavendish said: "Stop praising him. You look at the back of this book review, criticizing your "Painting" thoroughly, saying that it is too far away from life and inhibits the reader's imagination. It is not scary at all." .”

The writer must be upset when his work is criticized in this way.

"This is a public provocation," James deadpanned.

But he forgot that it was he himself who criticized "Roman Holiday" first,

Therefore, even if it is provocative, he is the first to act.

Cavendish frowned,

"This Lu Shi is really arrogant."

He pointed to the back of the book review and said: "Look here, he also sprayed "The Empty House", saying that it was Dr. Doyle's work to please readers. From the perspective of mystery novels, "The Empty House" is preferable. There aren't many places."

...

London,

Doyle mansion.

boom!

Doyle slapped the "Manchester Guardian" on the table, clutching his chest and panting.

He never expected that his thoughts would be exposed so easily by Lu Shi, and he would make it public on the book review page.

"Lu Shi, I want to see if you are really superhuman!?"

Doyle gritted his teeth with hatred, and a plan gradually took shape.