Exorzismus - Kapitel 8
Upon seeing those two words, Chunyu's heart inexplicably raced, and she hurriedly reached out to reach the book. But the highest bookshelf was far too high for a girl, and despite her strenuous efforts to stand on tiptoe, she still couldn't reach the book.
Suddenly, she saw a man's hand—at that very moment, as Chunyu tiptoed to reach the tallest book on the bookshelf, she unexpectedly discovered such a beautiful hand—she had never seen a man's hand so beautiful before. The skin was as white as winter snow, and the veins on the back of the hand resembled dark rivers flowing across a snowy field. The long, strong fingers were slightly bent as they gently took down the tallest book.
Then, Chunyu's gaze followed the hand until she could see the man's face clearly.
He is not an illusion.
Chunyu stared blankly at his face, her heart suddenly pounding, and she involuntarily lowered her head.
The reason she was so shy was actually quite simple: she had seen a very handsome man. This man was wearing a long, knee-length black trench coat, black trousers and leather shoes, and with his shiny black hair, he was completely enveloped in black, impeccably clean and spotless.
His face looked quite mature, not like a naive college student; he must have at least completed a postgraduate degree.
His eyes are the most lethal weapon.
These were eyes that could attract any girl; the black pupils and irises seemed unfathomable. Chunyu had never seen a man with such alluring eyes before. Perhaps this was what ancient books referred to as double pupils?
He finally spoke: "Do you want to read this book?"
Chunyu kept her head down, shaking it blankly like a frightened sheep. She didn't know why she was shaking her head; she had clearly intended to take the book, but looking at the man in front of her, she hesitated.
The man smiled, held up the book, and said, "I saw you trying to reach this book, but you couldn't, so I got it for you."
Perhaps due to nervousness, Chunyu stammered, "I...I'm sorry..."
"I don't want it anymore." "That's alright." He shrugged, picked up the book cover, looked at it, and then read the title aloud—"The Hellish Legends of Early Human Civilization," by Heath Brown—what a coincidence!"
I'm looking for this book too.
It seemed like "I searched high and low but found it without any effort," and he seemed to not believe his eyes either, shaking his head and laughing: "I searched so hard for this book, I thought it had been borrowed and lost, but I didn't expect you to find it."
Chunyu noticed that he looked especially handsome when he smiled, and there was even a small dimple at the corner of his mouth.
He nodded politely and said, "Thank you."
Watching him walk out with his books in his hands, the hem of his trench coat billowing with each step, Chunyu could only stand there dumbfounded, like a little girl who had never seen the world before. She lowered her head, took a deep breath, and then another, pausing for several seconds before finally running out bravely.
Her crisp footsteps echoed through the quiet library, creating a strange resonance in the ancient building. Chunyu ran into the reading room and saw the man from before had already reached the service desk, seemingly checking out books. "Wait a minute."
Chunyu couldn't help but call out, and when she saw several students around her looking up, she could only smile apologetically.
He turned around very sensitively, saw Chunyu, smiled slightly, and lowered his voice to say, "You can't be loud here. Is there something you need?"
Looking into his eyes, Chunyu became a little nervous again, and simply pointed to the book in his hand.
The other person immediately understood: "Is it this book? You want to borrow it too?" "Yes, I really need this book right now. Could I borrow it first?" "Hmm—" He looked at the book in his hand and said somewhat reluctantly, "Heath Brown is a famous American anthropologist, and this book of his is also very important to me. However, since you found this book first, you should naturally have priority to borrow it."
He slowly handed the book to Chunyu.
Chunyu took the book and lowered her head again: "Thank you very much. What department are you in? I'll give you the book after I finish reading it."
He smiled slightly and said, "Just go to the Fine Arts Department and find Gao Xuan." "Gao Xuan?" "Gao as in 'high mountain,' and Xuan as in 'mysterious.'"
Profound and mysterious? Chunyu thought to herself, this name is really interesting.
Gao Xuan smiled slightly and said, "You've left me empty-handed today."
The library was about to close, and only the two of them remained in the reading room. The librarian had already begun urging them to leave.
Chunyu quickly completed the borrowing procedures, and carrying the book she had finally managed to get, she ran out of the library.
By six o'clock, it was almost completely dark. Chunyu looked up at the winter night under the dark clouds, then looked back at the gloomy library. She thought of the dozens of rows of coffin-like bookshelves inside, sleeping quietly in the darkness. If someone were to make a horror movie based on this, it would definitely be terrifying.
Gao Xuan walked up to her, looked into her eyes, and said, "Have you ever had the experience of reading in this library late at night? It's very interesting."
Chunyu made a face and said, "I wouldn't dare. Sorry, it's already dark, I have to go back to my dorm." After saying that, she ran out quickly, her long hair flowing, but she didn't dare to look back even once.
Gao Xuan watched her disappear into the night, a small dimple appearing at the corner of his mouth.
A trip to the library made Chunyu's heart beat much faster.
When she finished her dinner in the cafeteria, feeling unsettled, and returned to her dormitory, she found that Nan Xiaoqin had also returned, while Xu Wenya was sitting alone by the window, lost in thought.
Chunyu felt very sleepy and had no energy to talk to them, so she sat down in an inconspicuous corner of the dormitory and began reading the hard-won book: *Hellish Legends of Early Human Civilization*. Actually, she had never heard of Heath Brown, but before the incident in the deserted village, she was quite interested in ancient civilizations and mysterious events. Although these weren't exactly areas that girls preferred, Chunyu had been a Wesley fan since childhood, and reading many of Ni Kuang's novels had filled her mind with many whimsical ideas.
However, this book, *Legends of Hell from Early Human Civilizations*, was far too profound for her. She couldn't even finish a few pages; it seemed only someone with a philosophy background could understand it. The book focuses on hellish legends from various early human civilizations, but most are from Europe and India. Every page is filled with quotations and academic jargon, making it seem more like an archaeological report. In short, this book is definitely not written for girls.
Just as Chunyu was bracing herself to continue watching, a strange scream suddenly rang in her ears, startling her so much that her hair stood on end.
The scream came from Xu Wenya, her small body huddled by the window, as if she had seen a ghost. Nan Xiaoqin immediately helped her up and asked her what had happened. Chunyu also walked nervously to the window and looked outside, but apart from a few large trees in the darkness, there was nothing unusual.
Xu Wenya's face was frighteningly pale, and large beads of sweat slid down her forehead. She scrambled back to bed, clutching Nan Xiaoqin's hand tightly, and cried, "Monkey—monkey!" "What did you say?"
Nan Xiaoqin was a little confused and just kept patting Xu Wenya's back.
Monkeys? Chunyu immediately thought of a famous Japanese horror movie.
Xu Wenya hugged her shoulders, still shaken, and said, "I saw...I saw a monkey outside the window...it was smiling at me." "You saw a monkey outside the window?" Nan Xiaoqin connected her words, "You saw a monkey outside the window smiling at you?"
Xu Wenya nodded repeatedly and pointed to the window.
Just then, Chunyu opened the window, and the cold wind immediately blew in. She covered her mouth and peered outside, but couldn't see anything in the darkness. "How could there be monkeys on a university campus? Besides, it's so cold now. If a monkey came out in the middle of the night, it would freeze to death." Nan Xiaoqin smoothed Xu Wenya's messy hair and whispered, "Are you hallucinating?" "No, it's definitely not a hallucination! I really saw a monkey, hanging in the tree outside the window!" Xu Wenya's tone was so serious that it didn't seem like she was making it up.
But Chunyu shook her head and closed the window. She knew that the tree outside had lost all its leaves, let alone any laughing monkey. Nan Xiaoqin kept comforting Xu Wenya, telling her to go to sleep early and stop thinking about the monkey.
The lights were turned off early again, and the three girls went to sleep, each lost in their own thoughts. The dark dormitory room was heavy with tension, like a large coffin.
Chunyu was still sleeping on the top bunk, her eyes closed and covered by the blanket, but her mind was still on what had happened at the library that day.