Oni-tsubo

Kapitel 18

Chen Kai glanced at the girl. She was quite tall, probably around 1.7 meters. Her hair was dyed dark red, and she wore a black turtleneck sweater. She looked much more mature than the undergraduates. The girl said to Professor Wang, "Let me open the teaching aids room for you! I have the key today!"

Professor Wang glanced at the girl with a displeased expression: "Shubai? Why are you joining in the fun with them?"

The girl named Shubai lowered her head and didn't say a word in rebuttal. She reached out and took the bag from Chen Kai's hand: "Let me help you carry it!"

"Thank you!" Chen Kai looked at the spirited girl and suddenly felt like a child in her presence. He hurriedly said, "I'm Chen Kai from the Department of Ten! I'm a freshman!"

"Oh!" The girl didn't even glance at him. "My name is Murong Shubai. My name is too long, so most people just call me Shubai!"

Chen Kai looked at her aloof and arrogant face. People in the history department are really different. Even the girls are so cool. Even their names are incredibly cool. He followed Murong Shubai with the map in his arms.

Upon entering a room, Professor Wang said to Shubai behind him, "Open the door!"

"Um, Professor! Don't be surprised if you see anything, it's definitely not us!" Shubai seemed very afraid to open the door.

"It's appeared again?" Professor Wang turned to her and asked after a while, "Were you the ones who were rushing to look at it just now?"

Shubai didn't speak, but nodded seriously and opened the door.

Chen Kai felt that the history professor and students were too profound, and what they said was completely nonsensical, yet the two of them were still able to communicate.

When Chen Kai pulled the light cord, the scene inside startled him. Teaching aids were scattered haphazardly on the ground, and a plaster statue was broken, making it impossible to recognize what it was originally.

The three people went in and carefully made their way through empty spaces to the inside, where there were rows of safes.

“It’s this one again!” Shubai said, pointing to one of the safes.

That safe seemed newer than the others, but it was now a complete mess; only the edges hinted at its newness. It was scratched and mangled, with some parts even having the metal sheet torn off.

"What happened here?" Chen Kai asked. "It looks like something scratched it, right?" It's not something a flesh-and-blood body could do to scratch a safe like this.

"Ignore it!" Professor Wang said. "It must have been done on purpose! I don't believe in ghosts or monsters!"

"Professor!" Shubai said nervously, "This isn't the first time. Let's return the things inside!"

"Don't worry about it!" Professor Wang waved his hand. "The items in these safes are of great historical value. Do you expect me to return them all? Besides, they were all donated by the public. How can I return them?"

He turned back to Chen Kai and Shu Bai and said, "You two tidy up this room and don't pay attention to those boring things!" Then he left.

Chen Kai held the map, not knowing what to say. Sure enough, he was being asked to do chores again. Why did everyone he knew boss him around? Was he destined to be a servant?

However, he was still very happy to have Shubai with him. Shubai was not talkative or cheerful, but she was a beautiful woman. Although she was a bit tall, it did not affect Chen Kai's happy mood.

The two chatted as they tidied up, and Chen Kai couldn't hold back any longer and asked her, "Do you know what's in that safe?"

Shubai was surprised that Chen Kaihui would suddenly ask her such a question, and hesitated for a moment about whether she should answer.

"I won't tell anyone, and I have a friend who specializes in dealing with these kinds of things, so maybe he can help!"

Shubai looked at the messy safe again and said, "Inside is a mask!"

"What? A mask?" Chen Kai was disappointed; he had thought it contained some priceless treasure.

“Yes!” Shubai nodded. “But this mask is very special; it’s said to be Nalan’s mask!”

"Nalan? Who is Nalan?" Chen Kai asked her, as if it were the name of a dish.

"You probably don't know these characters from folk tales!" Shubai said, then ignored him and continued packing her things.

Chen Kai felt a pang of regret. He guessed that she realized she wouldn't understand even if he explained, so she simply stopped talking. He should have studied more!

By the time we came out of the history department building, the moon was already high in the sky.

Chen Kai pushed open the door and ran in to ask Fei Xiao, "You saw what happened today, right? I don't need to tell you again, do I?"

"What are you talking about?" Fei Xiao asked him, her eyes wide, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Stop pretending. Didn't you find a way to follow me around every day?" Chen Kai asked him. This guy was really stubborn.

"Why would you think that? Are you running a fever?" Feixiao said, reaching out a long hand to touch his forehead.

"Oh dear, our history professor saw it all, so stop acting!" Chen Kai said anxiously. Was it really that shameful for him to be with him? Why was he so stubbornly refusing to admit it?

"Does your history professor have delusions?" Fei Xiao asked, puzzled.

Chen Kai's heart sank when he heard this. Maybe so. That old man was getting senile, and he had actually taken his words seriously? Looking at the carefree Fei Xiao in front of him, she really didn't seem to care about him at all!

"Then let me ask you! Who is Nalan?" Chen Kai decided to cut to the chase and get straight to the point.

"Nalan?" Feixiao touched her chin as if she were thinking. "Was he a talented scholar from the Qing Dynasty?"

"It doesn't seem to be that Nalan!" Chen Kai vaguely sensed something was wrong: "Does this person exist in folk legends? Or in older ones?"

“That looks like a handsome man from the Xianbei tribe!” Fei Xiao said, then asked Chen Kai, “Why are you asking this?”

"Oh dear! What happened next! What's the story with that handsome guy?" Chen Kai finally got a clue and couldn't afford to be interrupted.

"The Xianbei were a minority ethnic group during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, people admired beauty, and this trend spread to the Xianbei. Later, the Xianbei people went even further, and even their rulers had to choose beautiful women. In the end, it was proven that most of them were just pretty faces, and the ethnic group declined!"

"Is that Nalan the Emperor?" Chen Kai asked curiously.

Feixiao thought for a moment: "It seems to be a warrior who was said to be extremely beautiful. So much so that he had to wear a mask when he went to the battlefield, probably because people would be affected by his face. Later, someone imitated his dance moves on the battlefield and choreographed a dance to ward off evil spirits. It was also a dance with a mask on!"

"A mask?" Chen Kai thought. This must be the legend. Just how beautiful was Nalan? Did she have to wear a mask to kill enemies on the battlefield? If possible, he really wanted to go back and see that era of boundless romance and those stunning beauties.

"Hey! Why are you asking this?" Fei Xiao was full of dissatisfaction.

"What would you think if I told you that Nalan's mask really exists?"

Feixiao's eyes flickered, and she said to Chen Kai very seriously, "That can't possibly be true. Even this person can't be found in history books, so how could there be his mask?"

She stretched again, "Go to bed early! Don't believe those kidding stories!"

Chen Kai watched his retreating figure, feeling that Fei Xiao seemed to be holding something back from him. He didn't like to talk about it, and Chen Kai couldn't do anything about it. He just looked at the moon outside the window. What kind of person was he? Could he be so beautiful, even more beautiful than Fei Xiao? The passage of time has caused everyone to be submerged in the river of history, gradually becoming legends for later generations to sing about.

The masked warrior wielding a long sword was gradually taking shape in Chen Kai's mind. However, Chen Kai hadn't anticipated that the appearance of this mask would later disrupt their lives, and in a way that was anything but beautiful.

The next day in class, just as Chen Kai reached the entrance of the teaching building, someone grabbed him.

Looking back, I saw Shu Bai, the history graduate student, wearing a white trench coat and glasses, which made her look even more mature.

"Come to our department after class later, I need to talk to you," Shubai said to him before leaving with her books. The wind blew her dark red hair, and her face was cold and expressionless; no one knew what she was thinking.

Chen Kai was left standing blankly at the entrance of the teaching building, wondering what this person was up to. However, after class, he still ran straight to the history department's teaching building.

When he arrived, he realized a problem: where was Shubai's classroom? Or did graduate students only have study rooms instead of classrooms? He had come without knowing this, and could only stand dumbfounded at the door, not knowing what to do next.

"Chen Kai!" A voice drifted over, startling Chen Kai, who was standing in the dimly lit stairwell.

"It's you!" He turned around and saw Shubai standing behind him. He didn't know when she had arrived, and she hadn't said a word.

"What do you want to see me about?" Chen Kai asked her.

"Shh!" Shubai held up one finger, signaling him to be quiet. "Let's go to the teaching aids room!"

Chen Kai had no choice but to shut up and go upstairs with her without saying a word. It was broad daylight, but her mysterious antics made him nervous.

"Is it about the mask?" Chen Kai asked her in a low voice.

Shubai nodded without saying a word, and led him to the end of the corridor. She took out her key and opened the door to the teaching materials room. The huge teaching building was like a ghost town, with no one in sight.

Upon entering the teaching aids room, it was a complete mess, even though they had cleaned it up last night!

"What happened?" Chen Kai exclaimed in surprise when he saw the messy room.

Shubai turned around, closed the door, and said, "It's class time now. Professor Wang is lecturing, and I skipped class to come out."

"You came to me just to clean up?" Chen Kai pointed to the scattered maps, chalk, and books on the ground and asked her why these people only remembered him at this time.

"Of course not!" Shubai waved her hand, then pointed to the safe: "It's for this!"

Chen Kai then noticed the safe, which was even more damaged than yesterday. There were several bright red handprints crisscrossing the dark green safe, as if someone had desperately tried to tear it apart.

"Is this...is this blood?" Chen Kai asked, reaching out to touch it. The dried bloodstains felt creepy to the touch.

"I don't know!" Shubai bent down to look at the safe. "It was like this when I arrived this morning!"

"Is it really a ghost?" Chen Kai looked at her in fear. How could a human have done such a destructive thing?

"Didn't you say you had a friend who could resolve this?" Shubai asked Chen Kai anxiously. "Look at our history department, everyone's in a panic because of this. There are hardly any people coming to the teaching building even during the day!"

"How long has this been going on?" Chen Kai asked her.

"It seems like?" Shubai stared at the ceiling. "It's been about two weeks!"

"What about before?" Chen Kai asked her. "Has anything like this happened before?"

"No, it started when an alumnus from one of the schools donated this mask!" Shubai said nervously. "Professor Wang has never believed in ghosts, but we students are all very scared!"

"Then I'll go back and ask my friend!" Chen Kai nodded. This situation was definitely not ordinary; it seemed like some kind of ghost or monster wanted to take the mask.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll figure something out with Professor Wang!" Shubai said happily to Chen Kai.

Chen Kai looked at her expression, unsure of what to say: "Shubai, my friend isn't exactly innocent either. I hope you won't be scared by what he says when you see it!"

"How could that be?" Shubai said with a smile, "Does he have three heads and six arms?"

"No, that's not it!" Chen Kai muttered, really not knowing how to tell her that Fei Xiao was a fox.

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat, come help me tidy up this teaching aids room again!" Shubai said, pulling Chen Kai to get to work.

"You still say you're not making me clean?" Chen Kai protested. This was the umpteenth time this had happened; these people always found some high-sounding reason to make him do chores.

When he got home, he talked to Feixiao about it, but he still ignored her, leaning against the bed and looking at himself in the mirror.

"When are you going to stop looking in the mirror?!" Chen Kai couldn't stand him anymore; all he did was play PUBG and look in the mirror.

"Oh dear, I already said it's nothing, you'd better not make trouble for yourself!" Fei Xiao put down the mirror, then went to the kitchen and brought out a chicken: "Do you want some?"

"I'm not eating!" Chen Kai was almost driven mad by him. "Are you going or not? Otherwise, I won't help you with the work!" He had no choice but to resort to his trump card.

"Since you insist, then we'll go!" Fei Xiao said, biting into a chicken leg, but her tone had softened considerably. Making him clean up was practically the death of him; catching a ghost or something would be much easier.

He turned back and glanced sideways at Chen Kai, saying, "You're such an easy guy to fool!"

"Why are you saying this about me?" Chen Kai asked. "Who fooled me?"

“Alas! How could there possibly be a mask of Nalan in this world!” Fei Xiao sighed, her gaze deep and distant. “It’s just a legend, and legends are destined never to be true!”

Isn't that Nalan's mask? Chen Kai stood in the center of the room, puzzled. But what was in that blood-stained safe?

The next day, Fei Xiao wore a white trench coat and went out with Chen Kai. The two walked to the history department's teaching building and saw Shu Bai and Professor Wang talking as soon as they went upstairs.

Seeing the two of them arrive, Shubai was delighted, her smile immediately blossoming. She waved to Chen Kai from the stairs, saying, "You're here!" Then she looked at Feixiao and said, "This is your friend? I'm truly amazed. How can there be such a beautiful person in the world?"

Feixiao smiled at her: "Thank you, but I'm not someone who really likes being flattered!"

"This isn't flattery!" Shubai placed a ballpoint pen under her chin and carefully examined Feixiao. "How can something that comes from the heart be considered flattery?"