Cambridge University,
King's College.
Montague James strolled on the withered lawn, watching the clouds leaving white reflections on the campus river.
Not far away, the spire of King's College Chapel stands tall. The magnificent Gothic architectural style has become the symbol and glory of the entire city of Cambridge.
James took a deep breath,
The cold, 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 me slowly with a thick smile on his face.
James took the initiative to say hello: "Mr. Superintendent, why are you here?"
Cavendish smiled and said: "I came here to 'visit' our great King's College."
King's College,
King's College,
One of the most famous colleges in the University of Cambridge.
It was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, the then King of England, hence the name "King's" College.
Because of this background, "great" is not an exaggeration at all.
James laughed,
"Mr. Superintendent, you are joking."
Cavendish walked up to James and whispered, "The recent events have not affected your study of the Bible, have they?"
There was the slightest hint of apology in his tone.
James didn't answer.
The two of them walked towards the main building of the college together. Occasionally they met students in twos and threes and greeted them respectfully.
Cavendish added: "I'm a little impatient about the bet."
James waved his hand,
"Mr. Superintendent, you know that I have been writing "History of an Antique Dealer" for a long time, but I have never been sure whether to publish it or not. If it weren't for the bet, I might never be able to make up my mind."
This was said with great sincerity.
Cavendish felt relieved when he saw that James was not angry, and then asked: "Do you have any chance of winning against Lu Shi?"
James lowered his head and pondered, as if this question was a bit difficult to answer.
Cavendish was not prepared to push either.
The two continued to walk aimlessly in the academy.
At this time, the students’ comments came to my ears:
"Do you smell the smell of gunpowder? Professor James criticized Lu's "Roman Holiday" and took advantage of the situation to launch a new work in the "Illustrated London News." This looks like a combo punch."
"The short story written by Professor James is called "Painting", right? It's so well written that my hair stood on end~"
"But it's just the most primitive kind of scare, not fear or horror. In this regard, I think Lu's "No Survival" created a better atmosphere, even if you know that the series of serial murders were not caused by ghosts and gods, but by ghosts and gods. People are up to no good, but I still can’t help but feel nervous.”
"Yes, that kind of fear is even more terrifying."
…
Just like "Resident Evil" and "The Grudge",
Both are scary, but in completely different ways. One is physical fear, the other is psychological fear.
(Actually, "The Grudge" is also quite physically scary.)
James shrugged,
"Mr. Superintendent, did you hear that?"
Cavendish chuckled and said: "It doesn't matter, Lu Shi won't write a suspense mystery this time, he can't be your opponent. Moreover, Dr. Doyle has also joined the war... hum... speculation in this world There are so many customers.”
James nodded knowingly,
He also heard about Holmes' return,
Doyle chose this time, undoubtedly with the idea of taking the opportunity to suppress Lu Shi.
James said: "London currently lacks everything except liars, robbers, speculators and politicians."
Cavendish shook his finger,
"wrong."
James was confused,
"Ah? What's 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. Superintendent, you are also a politician yourself, is it really okay to say that?"
The two chatted and laughed.
After a while, James changed the subject,
"To be honest, I feel like I'm not as good as Lu."
Cavendish looked confused;
What about the promised literati's mutual affection?
How could anyone consider themselves 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 complete and specialized geek. If I want to win against him, I can only bully him. I have no experience writing fantasy stories.”
Cavendish said in astonishment: "Is it really that powerful?"
Unexpectedly, before James had time to answer, he heard the students next to him talking again:
"Look, Lu wrote a book review. Does this count as accepting a challenge?"
"Can this be considered a challenge? It's just a book review at most. If I accept the challenge, Lu will definitely serialize a new work in The Scotsman."
"But Professor James writes fantasy novels, and Lu writes suspense reasoning. How can we judge this?"
"Sales and literary quality~"
"Forget it about literature, where the public is right and the mother-in-law is right. It still has to be sales."
…
Guan Gong and Qin Qiong really need to find hard targets.
Cavendish frowned,
"book review?"
James said "hmm" and said, "You heard it right, Lu Shi did write a book review. Let's go over and take a look."
He walked up and asked the students for newspapers.
Students immediately scrambled to hand over book review pages of the Manchester Guardian.
James reads carefully:
——
What does a good fantasy story look like?
If a supernatural story wants to be scary, then there is definitely a rule, that is, the closer it is to normal daily life, the scarier the story will be.
For example, the space we are in every day, the things we do, the situations we encounter, the people we meet, and the things we eat,
When they change, whether they happen suddenly or slowly seep in, it is unavoidable to make people shudder.
——
After this paragraph, Lu Shi chose a short story from "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio",
Chinese-style ghosts are also a unique experience to read.
James couldn't help but praise: "Lu Shi is really an all-rounder. Even if he has never written a supernatural story, he can still sum up the essence of it."
Cavendish said: "Stop praising him. Look at the back of this book review. It criticizes your "Painting" completely, saying it is too far away from life and inhibits readers' imagination. It is not scary at all. .”
The writer must be unhappy when his work is criticized in this way.
James deadpanned: "This is an open provocation."
But he forgot that it was he who criticized "Roman Holiday" on the mic first.
Therefore, even if he was provocative, he would be the first to make the move.
Cavendish frowned,
"This Lu Shi is really a little arrogant."
He pointed to the back of the book review and said: "Look here, he also criticized "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 House.
boom!
Doyle slapped the Manchester Guardian on the table, holding his chest and gasping.
He never expected that his thoughts would be revealed so easily by Lu Shi and published on the book review board.
"Lu Shi, I want to see if you are really three-headed and six-armed!?"
Doyle was so angry that a plan gradually formed.
