School of Humanities

Chapter 2

September 12, 1989

The gate reopened today, but by 10 PM, blood was flowing from the entrance again. This time, I mustered my courage and saw clearly that the person standing bleeding at the gate was Huang Jing. What happened to them? Sigh, I still didn't dare go up to her and talk to her, even though her eyes were fixed on me. What's the problem? Is it Shan Liang?

September 13, 1989

I finally couldn't hold back any longer and told the dean what I had seen, but he only asked if anyone else knew about it besides me. I wasn't sure, but I told him I hadn't told anyone else.

He told me not to tell anyone afterward, that it was for the sake of the college's reputation. Fine, then what about the classmates who died? Is life less important than reputation?

October 14, 1989

So that's the truth...

"Hey, Chen Penghai, are you kidding me? You're just going to stop copying here?" I yelled at him.

"What? Impossible! I copied everything except the specific details of the Blood Curse. Let me see it." He took the notebook, flipped through it, and looked at it repeatedly.

"Oh dear, how could this happen?"

"What exactly happened?"

"Where did those pages go?"

"What's missing?"

"Did someone erase the words on those pages?"

"No way? You're showing this notebook to other people?"

"No E"

"Then tell me, what is the truth revealed later?"

"It says on the back..." Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly swayed, and I was about to go forward to support him when he collapsed.

"Chen Penghai, Chen Penghai!" I shouted.

"Chen Penghai?" I shook his body vigorously, but he didn't move at all. I started to panic. What happened? He fainted without any warning.

Just then, I heard the sound of the door opening. I looked towards the doorway and saw that Wu Bo had returned.

"Hi, Brother Lin, oh, what's wrong with Peng Hai?" He casually put down his backpack, just about to lie down on the bed. "Has Hua Zai come back yet?"

"Hua Ge hasn't returned yet. But Peng Hai fainted?"

"No way? This guy doesn't even have a girlfriend, how could he faint?" I can't believe he was joking when I was in the worst mood.

I snorted at him, carried Chen Penghai to the bed, and then said to him in a very serious tone, "This is serious. It seems we need to take him to the hospital."

"No, what happened?"

Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [8]: I told him the gist of it, and then sat on the edge of the bed at a loss, looking at Chen Penghai’s pale face.

"Then why don't we hurry up and take him to the hospital?" Brother Bo walked over. "Let's carry him down together."

I shook my head and said, "But what if the hospital asks why he fainted?"

Is it possible that she's possessed by a ghost? This is superstition; what if the police get involved?

"We can't worry about that now, let's save them first."

"kindness!"

Hospitals have always been one of my least favorite places, and of course, police stations are my least favorite. Hospitals are rife with unspeakable secrets. But if I had to pinpoint a reason, it might be superstition. I've had a special ability to see things since I was little, and I often see unclean things. Hospitals have the highest mortality rate, so I'm hesitant to go there.

Chen Penghai is still in the emergency room, so Wu Bo and I have no choice but to wait outside. Brother Bo scrutinizes me like I'm a criminal, making me feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Brother Bo, come on, I'm not a woman, don't look at me with such a lewd gaze, I can't stand it."

"You really saw Marco Shin? And it really was just a head?"

Why would I lie to you? Sigh, actually I wish I hadn't seen anything.

“Then,” he stood up and looked at the emergency room, “will I still be able to go to the academy? Ghosts, I’m most afraid of those things.”

"Silly boy, you might not even see it. But I think it's best not to go at night."

Just as he was about to reply, the doctor came out of the emergency room. Wu Bo and I rushed over to ask how he was doing. As usual, the doctor gave us some words of reassurance that his life was not in immediate danger, then changed the subject and asked us, "How did he faint? Did he do anything after he fainted?"

Wu Bo and I exchanged a glance and gave each other a wry smile. I could only say to the doctor, "He suddenly fainted, and I don't know what happened. Doctor, can he be saved?"

"I can't say for sure, but the problem is that his heart rate is normal, his blood pressure is normal, and we've even checked his brain waves, which showed nothing unusual. In other words, he's a perfectly normal person. His condition is like he's asleep, but we can't wake him up no matter what we do. This is truly a medical mystery. So I need to know what you're hiding. You're all students at CUHK, so don't worry, for the sake of CUHK's reputation, I will keep whatever you say a secret."

I smiled wryly again and shook my head. Even if I said it, would this doctor who uses science to help patients believe me?

"I really don't know how he fainted. I'll come back and tell you if I remember anything." I winked at Wu Bo, and we said goodbye to the doctor together.

--

When Wu Bo and I returned to the dorm, we immediately sensed something was wrong. A large crowd had gathered outside their dorm, making a racket. Wu Bo and I squeezed our way in, only to be dumbfounded. Two men who looked like police officers were taking Huang Hua's statement, and a man in a leather coat was sitting in front of Chen Penghai's computer, casually browsing the internet. When the two men who looked like police officers saw us, they said to us in an unfriendly tone, "There's nothing to see here, get out." Wu Bo was an impatient person and couldn't stand being treated like that. He slammed his hand on the bed and shouted, "Damn it, so what if they're police? I live here, if anyone should get out, it's you!"

"And what about him?" the policeman asked, seemingly trying to save face.

Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [9]: My name is Lin Wei. I don't live here, but I come every day. You guys are the uninvited guests, aren't you?

I chuckled to myself. Wu Bo smiled at me, and I shook my head, signaling him not to go too far.

"Lin Wei?" The person sitting in front of Chen Penghai's computer repeated, then stood up and walked over to me.

Only then did I look at him seriously. He was about 1.7 meters tall and very robust, but his chubby face was covered with a medium-length beard. He looked at me, and his eyes naturally revealed a chilling aura. What was truly terrifying was that, in this sweltering heat, he was wearing a thick leather coat.

"Your name is Lin Wei?" he asked, looking at me in a deep voice.

"Yes, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"How dare you be so rude to our section chief?" the two policemen said in unison, flattering him.

"Tch." I spat disdainfully into the air.

"Good, he's someone to be reckoned with."

"Stop talking nonsense, what are you doing here?" Wu Bo began to get impatient.

Seeing that we didn't seem to be afraid of them like the street vendors outside, the two policemen didn't dare to raise their voices too much, but they still deliberately raised their voices to save face: "Ma Kexin has been missing for two days, and we're here to investigate."

Oh, so the police have gotten involved. That makes things much more complicated. I glanced at Li Heng, who was still lying in bed, my eyes filled with worry. The man in the leather coat seemed to notice this, and he looked at Li Heng too. We both jumped in surprise and exchanged another glance.

After the two policemen took Wu Bo's statement, they left. Before leaving, the man in the leather coat gave me a business card and said, "If you have any news, remember to let me know." He emphasized that I should let him know.

I looked at the business card; it read, "Li Xie, Head of the Department of Psychiatry."

I didn't understand what Li Xie, that strange man, meant by "notifying him," but I vaguely sensed that he understood something. In other words, he wasn't like the average policeman, superficially dismissing unsolvable cases. But, of course, I still couldn't trust these so-called officials.

I approached Li Heng's bedside, looking at him strangely. In such a noisy environment, how could he be sleeping so soundly? Could it be that he…? I didn't dare think further, and quickly helped him up with Wu Bo and Huang Hua, washing his face with cold water. But he remained fast asleep, showing no sign of waking.

"Chen Penghai!" Wu Bo and I shouted almost simultaneously. Li Heng and Chen Penghai were in the same situation, which meant that even if we got him to the hospital, it wouldn't help and would only make things more complicated. Now, Ma Kexin's matter alone had become the talk of the town.

After weighing the options, we decided to let Li Heng stay there. Suddenly, the phone rang; it was the hospital calling to ask me to come over because Chen Penghai's condition had taken a turn for the worse. Huang Hua was about to ask what it was when I said, "You can ask Wu Bo about anything; he knows the gist of it," and then I ran out by myself.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the doctor quickly led me to Chen Penghai's ward.

As soon as the servant entered, a foul stench hit him, somewhat like the smell of a garbage dump.

The doctor gave me a mask and told me to put it on. Then he and I went to Chen Penghai's bedside and pulled back the blanket covering him.

"What?!" I could hardly believe my eyes. His entire body was visibly rotting, with several bloody holes crawling all over the entrances. Blood was slowly seeping from those holes, emitting a pungent stench.

“Sigh, it started like this not long after you left. We tried to stop the bleeding and did some first aid, but it was completely useless. Strangely, he seems to be asleep and doesn’t feel any pain at all.”

"Then, can he still be saved?"

"At this rate of bleeding, he could only live for five more minutes at most. Alas, at first we sewed up one bloody hole, but two more bloody holes immediately appeared, and there was no way to save him."

The doctor changed the subject, saying, "What exactly are you hiding?"

I quickly said, "It's nothing, I just remembered I had something to do, I'll do it right away. I'm leaving now."

I returned to Li Heng's dormitory and, looking at Li Heng still fast asleep, suddenly made up my mind that I must break into the Arts Building that night. I asked Wu Bo how to sneak in, and Wu Bo thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution. He said that all the doors were locked and it was impossible to get in.

Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [10]: I just sighed, and Huang Hua, who hadn't said anything, said, "I have a way."

He smiled, patted my shoulder and said, "I roughly know what happened, but before you go, I want to tell you a story I heard about the gate of the School of Humanities."

Huang Hua sat upright in front of me, his eyes deep as if recalling some unforgettable past events.

In my opinion, he has always been a very optimistic person, with excellent grades and good interpersonal relationships. I couldn't bear to see him like this, so I said, "Sigh, if telling you this will make you sad, then forget it."

Huang Hua shook his head, patted my shoulder, and said with a smile, "It's nothing, I just thought of my sister."

"Your sister?" To my recollection, he had never mentioned having a sister.

Huang Hua sighed, then said, "Well, my sister's name is Huang Jing. She..." "What? Huang Jing?" I exclaimed in surprise.

"What's wrong? You know my sister."

"No, no, it's just... well, how should I put it?" I hesitated.

"Oh, you couldn't possibly know. My sister was also a student at Sun Yat-sen University, majoring in Chinese literature. She suddenly disappeared in 1989, and there's still no news about her. So, we all assume she's dead. Actually, many people died back then, but the university just kept the news under wraps."

"Oh, oh," I replied dismissively. I dared not reveal the so-called "truth" I had gleaned from the diary, because the lack of news meant there was still hope for him.

"Later, in order to find out where my sister was, I also came here. But I could only search in secret, and finally a month ago I found some clues."

"Okay." I knew he was about to get to the point.

"A month ago, I went to Dean Li Haitao's office to discuss student council matters. However, when I arrived, no one was there. I originally intended to wait for the dean to return, but due to time constraints and the fact that the dean said he had already prepared the necessary materials and placed them on his desk, and that I could find them myself if he wasn't there, I couldn't find them. Just as I was getting frustrated, I suddenly discovered a hidden compartment in the first drawer. I knew it wasn't right to rummage through other people's things, but my curiosity was overwhelming, driven by my eagerness to find the truth behind my sister's disappearance. So I opened the compartment and found only a very old book inside. As I casually flipped through it, I discovered a yellowed note tucked inside."

I glanced at it and realized I didn't know, because the note was written to the dean by someone named Li Zheng. I remembered Li Zheng as my sister's classmate, so I had a feeling it must be related to something important, and I took the note back.

He stood up, walked to the desk, pulled out the first drawer, reached into the innermost part, took out a yellowed, A4-sized piece of paper, and handed it to me. I took it and began to read it carefully.

The note was indeed related to the events of 1989. It read: "Dean: I am a student in the Chinese Department, my name is Li Zheng. I apologize for bothering you, but I would feel uneasy if I didn't write this letter. Our Arts Building, Ma Gangding, and Yongfang Hall form a triangular layout, and those two places are the most yin-heavy areas of Sun Yat-sen University."

You might call me superstitious, but I must say that once the main entrance to the Arts Building is opened, the flow of yin energy will inevitably accelerate. This will inevitably lead to things that science cannot explain.

Also, I must tell you, Zhang Xue and Huang Jing didn't disappear, they died. I saw them when blood was flowing from the gate. They were covered in blood, looking at me in agony, as if hoping I would save them.

After more than a month of searching, I finally found out the truth, but some details are still unclear. I suspect that someone is using the yin energy in the Arts Building to carry out a harmful conspiracy, and the method is somewhat similar to the Taoist teachings I've studied.

Dean, I hope you'll be willing to believe it's true and allow me time to discuss this in detail with you.

Li Zheng