mellizo

Capítulo 1

Vampire Fang

Chapter One: Give Me Back My Body Section One: The Story of the Amputated Arm The summer of 1994 came exceptionally early. While Zhou Wen's classmates were still sweating profusely at school, making their final sprint for the dreaded July, he had already received an early admission notice from S University. Although the job prospects for Applied Chemistry majors after four years were rather bleak, Zhou Wen was still very grateful to have finally avoided the fierce competition for limited opportunities.

Of course, his parents were very dissatisfied with his choice. They said that if you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old. People strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill. Life is short, and you only get a few chances to fight for something. They said he had to give it his all and try to get into a prestigious university like Q University or B University, which are located in the heart of the country. But Zhou Wen had his own ideas and wouldn't listen to them at all.

After a heated argument and a cold war, Zhou Wen spent the entire long month of June wandering around various scenic spots in G City, wasting the most precious years of his youth. Life is like sand in your hand; the tighter you hold it, the faster it slips away.

The day of the accident was Tuesday, June 28th, at 1:37 PM. Zhou Wen still remembers it clearly many years later. That day, he was escaping the summer heat at Gufeng Garden in the west of the city. He was standing on a rockery as tall as a person, looking down at the winding and ancient covered walkway opposite him, and outside the walkway was the emerald green river.

Suddenly, a childish voice shouted in his ear, "Give me back my body!" Zhou Wen was startled, and the hairs on his body stood on end. As if possessed, he jumped down involuntarily.

Normally, a rockery as tall as a person wouldn't be a problem, but this time, after Zhou Wen landed on both feet, he inexplicably jumped again, immediately losing his balance and tumbling forward. His left hand slammed heavily onto the red lacquered handrail of the veranda. With a "crack," the radius and ulna of his left forearm bent upwards into a strange arc, causing excruciating pain.

Despite the sweltering summer heat and the scorching sun that could boil a person alive, Zhou Wen was still drenched in cold sweat. He looked up at the artificial rockery, but there wasn't a soul in sight. Who had spoken in his ear just now? Judging from the childish voice, it must have been a little boy who hadn't even grown all his baby teeth yet.

The pain in his arm was so intense that Zhou Wen didn't have time to think things through and hurriedly left Gufeng Garden. His only thought was to keep it from his mother, to avoid her endless nagging, and to handle the situation discreetly. He comforted himself, thinking that maybe his arm was dislocated, and any doctor could set it back in place.

Zhou Wen didn't dare to take the bus, so he walked six stops to the Fourth People's Hospital, which wasn't far from his home. He queued, registered, and saw a doctor. A young surgeon glanced at him and confidently said, "The bone is broken." He told him to get an X-ray immediately.

Zhou Wen's heart sank suddenly, his whole body went cold, and his ears were ringing as if a thousand bees were swarming over him. He didn't really need to worry so much; in the 1990s, broken bones were nothing serious, and any third-rate hospital could fix them. But this was the first time in his life he'd broken a bone, and he had no experience. Many years later, when Zhou Wen broke the same arm a second time, he was much calmer and more experienced.

Things still had to be done. Zhou Wen, still somewhat dazed, followed the crowd, paid, and got an X-ray. He didn't receive the film until four o'clock. The doctor, growing impatient, took the film and examined it against the sunlight for a while, muttering, "The radius and ulna are broken, thankfully not comminuted!"

He rolled up his sleeves and pulled each of Zhou Wen's five fingers outward one by one. Then, he gripped the severed arm and twisted it forcefully in the opposite direction. A series of cracking sounds rang out, even crisper and louder than when the arm was broken. Zhou Wen, terrified, felt a sharp pain, but before he could even cry out, the bone was already set.

The doctor was quite skilled, quick and efficient. He quickly splinted Zhou Wen and bandaged him, then told him to get an X-ray to check if the splint was properly in place. When Zhou Wen returned to the surgery department with the X-ray, it was almost closing time. The doctor, while packing his bag, took the X-ray and examined it closely, saying, "Hmm, not bad! Come back for a follow-up appointment in ten days. Be careful, don't strain!"

With his left arm in a sling, Zhou Wen walked home cautiously, like a wounded soldier in a Korean War movie. As he passed Shanren Bridge, he saw a large crowd gathered on the riverbank, pointing and discussing the water. Intrigued, Zhou Wen peeked out from the crowd and saw two members of the joint defense team pulling a stiff corpse from the river.

It was an old woman in her fifties, her mouth half-open and stiff, completely dead. Her body had been drained by something, leaving only a skin, somewhat like a mummified corpse from a horror novel. Her hands were pale from being soaked in river water, and Zhou Wen immediately thought of the belly of a dead fish and a face mask on a woman's face.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [4]: Tuesday, June 28, 1994, Zhou Wen will never forget this day, not because it was the first time he had ever broken a bone, but because the corpse under the Shanren Bridge, in full view of everyone, slightly opened its eyelids, parted its eyes a crack, and gave him a cold look. Zhou Wen was so frightened that he took several steps back and fell on his butt on the sidewalk, pulling on his broken arm, making him wince in pain.

But no one around him noticed anything amiss. Instead, they were amused by Zhou Wen's actions, and some bored onlookers even joked, "Hey buddy, why is your face so pale? Did you see a ghost?" A chill ran down Zhou Wen's spine as he desperately tried to reassure himself that it was a hallucination, it must be a hallucination. He suddenly turned and ran, which drew a burst of laughter from behind.

Back home, Zhou Wen's mother, Lu Ping, was shocked. After understanding what had happened, she was heartbroken and tears streamed down her face. She scolded Zhou Wen severely and immediately called the Shanrenqiao Police Station, asking his father, Zhou Zitong, to come home early. However, it seemed that some major case had occurred there, and he couldn't leave immediately.

It wasn't until 11:30 p.m. that Zhou Zitong dragged his weary body home. He offered his son a few words of comfort, then took a shower with a furrowed brow, sat down in a wicker chair to rest, and occasionally mentioned a bizarre case that had occurred in his jurisdiction. Zhou Wen interrupted, "Was it the female corpse found under the Good Man Bridge? It looked like something had drained all the blood from her body!"

Zhou Zitong looked at his son strangely and said, "Did you see that?... Her name is Han Mei, she's the director of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Fourth Hospital. She delivered you. There's something else you don't know: she had a cut on her skull, and all her brain matter was sucked out. The forensic doctor said it was probably done by some pervert seeking immortality... Hey, why is your face so pale?"

Zhou Wen clutched his left hand, saying it hurt terribly. Zhou Zitong comforted him, saying that it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, and the pain is especially bad at night when you're calm, but it will get better eventually. But he couldn't help but worry, so he carefully lifted the gauze to take a look and was immediately shocked. The skin on his son's elbow was bluish and almost swollen like a big bun.

The three of them didn't sleep all night. Zhou Wen was in too much pain to sleep, while Zhou Zitong and Lu Ping were worried about their son. The next day, the couple took half a day off to go to the Fourth Hospital to have a follow-up examination with a doctor they knew. They had another X-ray taken, and that's when they discovered their son had a comminuted fracture of the elbow, thankfully without any displacement. The doctor advised against any further correction, saying that it would heal naturally once the swelling subsided.

After all this commotion, Zhou Wen became even more exhausted. He lay in bed for three or four days, constantly in a daze and unable to sleep soundly. Every time he closed his eyes, he would hear that childish voice clearly saying in his ear, "Give...me...body...back...to...me..." This voice sent chills down his spine.

Section 2 Lin Yongshou

Zhou Wen's greatest strength was that he never worried. He dismissed the open-eyed female corpse and the noisy little ghost as hallucinations, completely putting them out of his mind. Sure enough, familiarity breeds contempt, and the strange things eventually disappeared. He gradually broke free from the nightmare, ate well, slept soundly, and his severed arm healed quickly. Lu Ping cooked bone broth for her son every few days; it was nutritious and rich in oil. Within a few weeks of the summer vacation starting, Zhou Wen had gained a lot of weight.

Throughout the long summer vacation, Zhou Wen stayed at home reading and watching TV, which eventually became quite boring. Fortunately, after the college entrance examination, his classmates learned about his situation and came to visit him one after another, especially the energetic girls, who brought some life to his peaceful life.

The afternoon temperature reached 40℃, and the scorching sun turned the asphalt road into a muddy mess. Zhou Wen hadn't slept well the night before and was lying on a bamboo chair with his eyes closed, trying to rest. He vaguely heard someone knocking on the door, but he was too lazy to answer. His mother, Lu Ping, hurriedly dropped her knitting and rushed to open the door in her plastic slippers.

A skinny boy, peeking out from the doorway, stood with a silly grin on his face and said in a hoarse voice, "Hey, Auntie! I'm Zhou Wen's classmate, here to see him!" The visitor was Xie Minxian, Zhou Wen's childhood friend, middle school classmate, and high school deskmate. He always liked to throw in a few English words when he spoke. His father was in charge of solving cases in the criminal investigation team, and whenever you told him some strange or unusual cases, he would bring them to the classroom and embellish them to reenact them.

Lu Ping forced a smile and let him in: "Welcome, welcome! Oh dear, it's such a hot day, and you've gone to all this trouble..." She hurriedly took half a watermelon from the refrigerator, cut it into pieces, and placed them on a plate, warmly inviting Xie Minxian to eat as much as he wanted without being shy, which made him feel quite embarrassed.

Zhou Wen ate a few slices of watermelon with Xie Minxian and asked him about his college entrance exam. Xie Minxian patted his chest and said excitedly, "Fantastic! I performed exceptionally well. I estimate I got 670 points, which is enough to get into the Automation major at Q University!" Zhou Wen joked, "Here's a piece of advice for you: if you really get into Q University, don't find a girlfriend during your four years of college."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [5]: Xie Minxian was taken aback, not understanding the hidden meaning in his words, and asked, "What do you mean? What does my finding a girlfriend have to do with whether or not I get into Q University?" Zhou Wen suppressed his laughter and said seriously, "Haven't you heard the saying 'When a girl from Q University turns her head, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers flow backward'?" Xie Minxian suddenly realized, "Go to hell, you jinx! Let me find you a girl who is both talented and beautiful!"

The two chatted and joked for a few more minutes. Xie Minxian casually mentioned a familiar nickname: "Hey, by the way, did you know Lin Zhugan is dead?" Zhou Wen was taken aback, quite surprised. Lin Zhugan, whom Xie Minxian was referring to, was their junior high school homeroom teacher, Lin Yongshou. He taught math, was thin and tall, and was known for his strict and rigid personality, with a terrible reputation among students. He had once publicly berated Zhou Wen for talking to his female deskmate during class, and even threw a piece of chalk at his face. At the time, Zhou Wen hated him intensely, vowing to push Lin Zhugan into a latrine and make him infamous for eternity!

Seeing Zhou Wen looking dazed, Xie Minxian assumed he couldn't remember and clicked his tongue to remind him, "Forgot? What a disgrace! Lin Zhugan, Lin Yongshou, our junior high homeroom teacher, the one who threw chalk at your face!" Zhou Wen mumbled, "I don't need you to remind me, I remember! How did he die?"

Xie Minxian immediately perked up, chuckling as he said, "You were right, he really did die in the latrine! Tell the truth, did you do it?" Zhou Wen gasped, glaring at Xie Minxian, "Stop talking nonsense! Tell me quickly, how did Lin Zhugan die? Did he accidentally fall into the latrine?" He thought of Lin Yongshou, who had taught junior high school his whole life and still lived in that dilapidated bungalow, having to run to the latrine at the alley entrance to use the toilet, and couldn't help but feel a pang of inexplicable sadness.

Xie Minxian said, "Lin Zhugan died very strangely. There were many teeth marks on his body, and it seemed that his blood had been sucked dry by some animal. He was as shriveled as a mummy, Mummy! His body was stuffed in the latrine at the entrance of the alley, and it was swarming with flies. It stank horribly. It was an old man with an upset stomach who reported the case. I heard that he was so scared that his face turned pale, like the eyes of a steamed fish."

Zhou Wen's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but say, "This is the second one!" Xie Minxian was surprised and asked, "Who was the other one? My dad never mentioned it to me." Zhou Wen said, "Probably when you were preparing for the college entrance exam, and your dad didn't want you to be distracted." He recounted seeing the withered female corpse under the Shanren Bridge, but didn't mention that the corpse had open eyes. Xie Minxian clicked his tongue in amazement, praising Zhou Wen's good luck in seeing a corpse with his own eyes. He had begged his father several times, but his father refused to take him to the crime scene. Zhou Wen couldn't help but ask, "What did your dad say? Was it murder or an accident?" Xie Minxian said, "My dad and the others thought it wasn't done by a human. They suspected there might be giant vampire bats nearby, and they even hired an animal expert to examine the body. Hmm, do you think it could be a vampire?"

Zhou Wen remained noncommittal, then pressed further: "What did those animal experts say? Was it really done by vampire bats?" Xie Minxian said, "They weren't sure either. After studying it for a long time, they said it was probably bitten by a genetically mutated vampire. Ordinary vampire bats don't have that much strength, and besides, it's too dry here in the summer. Vampire bats can only live in tropical rainforests."

Zhou Wen suddenly remembered something and felt uneasy: "Did you check Lin Yongshou's head? Was his brain drained?" Xie Minxian shook his head and said, "It's different from the one you saw. There were no bite marks on his head, and his brain is still there. Shanren Bridge is far from where Lin Zhugan lives. I don't think it was done by the same murderer!"

Zhou Wen stared blankly for a moment, then muttered, "That's terrible! Why isn't it reported on TV or in the newspapers?" Xie Minxian said, "Naive! How can this kind of thing be reported? If it gets out, people will panic and it will cause riots. The residents in that area are going to go to the city government to cause trouble! The alley where Lin Yongshou lives has been sealed off. They said there was a murder, and they need to protect the scene and not allow anyone to enter or leave freely. My dad has already spoken with the leaders of the TV station and the newspaper to ask them to suppress the reports for now. No one can afford to make a mess of things."

Zhou Wen remembered that Lin Yongshou always worked late at the school and didn't care much about his family. He casually asked, "Does he have any family members?" Xie Minxian counted on his fingers and said, "He divorced his wife a long time ago. He has a 73-year-old mother and a daughter in junior high school. I heard that he keeps it a secret from them. He only said that Lin Yongshou went on a business trip to Guangzhou and wouldn't be back for a while."

Zhou Wen sighed, "He has elderly parents to care for and young children to raise; it must have been tough for him. Looking back now, we were indeed a bit immature back then, always going against him. Actually, Lin Yongshou was quite responsible as a teacher." Xie Minxian reached out and touched his forehead, laughing, "Are you running a fever or have you changed your personality? Back then, you were a real nuisance to Lin Yongshou; he was most annoyed by you!" Zhou Wen sullenly.

Seeing that he wasn't in good spirits, Xie Minxian got up to leave. Zhou Wen didn't try to stop him and saw him all the way downstairs. Before leaving, Xie Minxian told him that the cause of Lin Yongshou's death was still under investigation and that he mustn't let it get out, as too many people knowing could cause trouble. Zhou Wen nodded: "You know my temper! Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut."

After Xie Minxian left, Zhou Wen remained lying on the bamboo chair, lost in thought. Lin Yongshou's death was like a thorn in his heart, impossible to shake off. He felt somewhat guilty towards him, as if Lin Yongshou had been cursed to death by him. Zhou Wen vaguely heard someone laughing coldly in his ear, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet up his spine. He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [6]: Section 3 Ivory Tower

The long summer vacation passed by day by day, and the start of school was just around the corner. Because of the bandages, Zhou Wen hadn't washed his left hand for over two months. His arm was tightly wrapped, and a thick layer of yellowish grime had accumulated on his palm, with a faint odor. He decided to act first and ask for permission later, secretly removing the bandages to properly wash his arm. He couldn't possibly go to university with bandages on!

It was Saturday, and Zhou Zitong had to work overtime. Lu Ping braved the scorching sun to visit Zhou Wen's grandmother. The old lady had indulged in half a watermelon the night before, and as a result, she had suffered from diarrhea several times that morning and could barely stand. As the saying goes, the elderly are like children; they don't know how to take care of themselves.

Zhou Wen was left alone at home. He locked the front door, rummaged through drawers and cabinets, found a pair of Zhang Xiaoquan scissors, and quickly cut the bandage to shreds. He peeled off the cardboard and rotten cotton, lifted the gauze, and revealed a thin, bony arm covered with a hardened layer of grime.

How pitiful! Zhou Wen almost burst into tears. He'd only been gone two months, and he'd gotten so thin! He turned on the tap, carefully wet his arms, applied Shanghai medicated soap, and rubbed them a few times, but it had no effect whatsoever. Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day; two months' worth of accumulated grime couldn't be washed away in an instant.

Zhou Wen dared not scrub too hard, afraid of peeling off all the skin. He patiently spent over an hour washing the square bar of soap down to just a stub before finally getting rid of the hardened skin on his arm. When Lu Ping returned, she made a big fuss and gave her son a severe scolding, nagging for a full half hour. Zhou Wen, annoyed, couldn't help but retort. The mother and son went back and forth, the tension escalating until they finally had a big argument. This was the last time Zhou Wen argued with his mother.

On the morning of September 12, 1994, Zhou Wen, carrying 10,000 yuan in his pocket, took a bus alone to S University to register. The main gate of S University was located at the end of Sijing Street in the west of the city, and it was packed with new students registering that day. Zhou Wen inquired at the reception desk of the Chemistry Department. A young man who looked like a student smiled and said, "You must be Zhou Wen. I'm your class teacher, Li Yong. Go to the auditorium across the street to pay your fees, get your receipt, and then go to the general affairs office to collect your washbasin and bedding. We have a cart here to help you get to your dormitory!"

Zhou Wen smiled at his future homeroom teacher and followed the crowd into the auditorium. A long, winding line stretched out, so long there wasn't even room to insert a needle. The indoor temperature was astonishingly high, enough to bake a person alive. Almost all the new students were accompanied by their parents, except for Zhou Wen, who was all alone. He couldn't help but regret not asking his father to take half a day off to come with him.

S University left a terrible first impression on Zhou Wen. People were crammed together, sweating profusely, and incredibly irritable. The young teachers collecting fees were impatient, and the students and parents were all shouting like they'd taken toxic spice. Add to that the incomprehensible dialects from both the north and south, and the cacophony of voices made the auditorium resemble a bustling market, lacking any of the atmosphere one would expect from an ivory tower.

Zhou Wen stood out somewhat from the crowd; he was merely a detached observer, patiently cutting in line and watching the soap opera unfold and end, devoid of any real plot. Human life can be quite boring at times, and impatience is futile. It's better to calm down and wait patiently; bad times will eventually pass—and so will good times.

Zhou Wen waited in line for three whole hours in the sweltering auditorium before finally reaching the payment counter. He paid his admission notice, household registration transfer certificate, tuition fee of 4,500 yuan, and miscellaneous fees of 1,500 yuan. He received two receipts and a stamped voucher. The young teacher in charge of collecting the fees, with a hoarse voice, told him to go to the general affairs office to collect daily necessities such as washbasins and bedding.

The General Affairs Office is located in the clock tower on the South Campus of S University. A large, rusty clock is embedded in the Western European Gothic spire, with the hour and minute hands forever frozen at 3:40, which is said to be the moment when the flag of the Republic of China was lowered forty-five years ago—a moment worth commemorating, marking the end of an old era and the beginning of a new one.

Two desks were placed in front of the general affairs office, and several support staff members, who looked like middle-aged women, were busily distributing basins and bedding. It was even more disorganized than the auditorium. Freshmen and their parents were crammed together, sweating profusely, shouting incoherently, and countless arms squeezed through the crowd, waving thin vouchers, demanding to receive their supplies as soon as possible.

Zhou Wen felt very bored, so he wandered around the clock tower, following the cool air from the air conditioner. This used to be the administrative center of S University, with the president's office, the political education department, the general affairs department, the academic affairs department, the teaching and research offices... all sorts of departments, big and small, were concentrated in this gloomy and damp clock tower.

"Excuse me, have you received your supplies yet?" A middle-aged man wearing thick glasses called out to Zhou Wen, frowning as he sized up the student who was wandering around aimlessly. Zhou Wen casually waved the voucher in his hand and said, "The general affairs office is such a mess. There's no queue at all. I couldn't squeeze past them, so I wanted to report this to a leader."

The middle-aged man said "Oh," and muttered, "There are just too many new students registering this year, and we don't have enough staff to arrange things. There's nothing we can do about it..." He asked Zhou Wen for his credentials, squeezed through the side door of the general affairs office, and soon came out carrying a washbasin and bedding. He placed them at Zhou Wen's feet, panting, and said, "I have a lot of stuff. What department are you in? Do you have a cart to deliver it to the dormitory?"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [7]: Zhou Wen said, "I'm from the Chemistry Department. The cart is waiting outside. Thank you!" The middle-aged man waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. Go on, put your things down and go eat." Several freshmen from other places looked at Zhou Wen with envy and felt indignant: "This guy must have connections. He doesn't have to queue to get his things, and someone is even fawning over him to bring them out!" In fact, Zhou Wen had no connection with the middle-aged man. He didn't know until long after he entered the school that the person who helped him get his things was Wang Bingsheng, the director of the General Affairs Office of S University.

Several senior students from the Chemistry Department pulled a cart full of basins and bedding to help the first-year students move to their dormitories. Zhou Wen's dormitory was in Building 2, the northernmost building on campus. It was a 20-minute walk from the General Affairs Office to the dormitory. The sun was shining brightly, and waves of heat rose from the ground. The senior students were sweating profusely and didn't even have time to exchange pleasantries.

Zhou Wen followed slowly behind the cart, curiously observing the largest institution of higher learning in G City. Disappointment! Dilapidated teaching buildings, noisy canteen, dirt-covered cement roads, shirtless migrant workers... S University was nothing special, not even as neat and beautiful as his high school.

It wasn't until 2 PM that Zhou Wen finally managed to settle down. His dormitory was room 203 in building 2, directly opposite the stairs. His bed was on the west side, and his roommates were three other people from out of town, all from the famous "Three Ts" region: Cai Wenyuan and Liu Zifeng were from T Prefecture, and Ge Hui was from T County. They greeted each other warmly, chattering in their local dialects, which Zhou Wen found completely incomprehensible, like listening to Japanese.

It was incredibly hot. Zhou Wen had been queuing all morning and was quite tired. He had little appetite, so he slipped out of the north gate and found a small restaurant. He ate a plate of pickled cabbage over rice—it was so sour! But it made him feel much better. Back in his dorm, his three roommates had gone out for a meal. He spread out his mat, put up his mosquito net, collapsed onto his bed, and fell asleep immediately, his mind hazy as he thought, "Here come the beauties of S University!"

Section 4 Li Jinyu

Zhou Wen slept until 4:30 in the afternoon when he was woken up by the voices of Cai Wenyuan and the others. Ge Hui smiled at him and said in broken Mandarin, "It's about time to get up. Let's go outside for a walk and get familiar with the area." Zhou Wen agreed, washed his face with cold water in the restroom, and the four of them locked the door and walked out of Building 2, wandering aimlessly along the cement road on campus.

Bathed in the twilight, the S University campus exuded a serene, scholarly atmosphere. The dawn redwood groves along the roadside, like wise elders, silently watched the passing students. Zhou Wen chatted casually with his three roommates, their conversation growing increasingly familiar. But he couldn't help but recall a Brazilian TV series he'd watched years ago, "The Stone Circle"—the students in the 3T region had their own circles, and he, a local, found it difficult to fully integrate.

They walked past the main sports field and the student bookstore, arriving at the drab Rongxi Hall, the place where the grade-level student assembly was held. The seats inside were supposedly old stock discarded by the New Guangming Cinema. A huge billboard stood in front of Rongxi Hall, which read, "Welcome to S University, the martial arts epic 'Lu Xiaofeng' will be showing tonight." Zhou Wen paused for a moment, then pointed at the sign and almost burst out laughing.

Liu Zifeng paid no attention, turning his face towards the library and whispering, "Look, see that long-haired girl? She's the beauty in our class!" Cai Wenyuan immediately perked up, muttering, "Where? Where?" and craning his neck to look around. Zhou Wen followed his gaze and saw three girls walking hand in hand from the library. The one on the left had long hair, but her face was obscured by the distance.

Cai Wenyuan squinted and stared at her for a while, then said, "She's quite pretty! What's her name? How do you know her?" Liu Zifeng said, "She was in front of me when we registered this morning. We're in the same class, so I chatted with her for a bit. Her name is Li Jinyu, and she's from X City." Zhou Wen asked curiously, "You can tell how pretty she is from this distance?" Cai Wenyuan said, "What's wrong with that? My eyesight is 2.0!"

The three girls gradually approached. Zhou Wen took a closer look and realized that the "beauty" Liu Zifeng had described was merely fair-skinned and delicate-looking, nothing like the cover girls he'd seen in magazines. But then he thought, the beauties in magazines are all made up and digitally altered; they're completely different from real people. Haven't they seen how terrifying the real-life photos of the "Jade Girl Sect Leader" are?

Liu Zifeng greeted Li Jinyu warmly, and after introducing themselves, they stood in front of Rongxi Hall and chatted. The two girls next to her were her roommates, Ji Yun and Dai Shuzhen, who lived in Room 304 of Building 6. They were both majoring in Applied Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and would be classmates for the next four years.

Li Jinyu noticed their overly solicitous manner and found it somewhat amusing. She glanced at Zhou Wen casually and was startled. A semi-transparent shadow floated above his head, resembling an underdeveloped fetus. Its eyes were closed, its mouth half-open, its head and body shriveled, its limbs as thin as reeds, and its feet buried in Zhou Wen's hair—an indescribably eerie and frightening sight.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [8]: Zhou Wen noticed that she kept looking at the top of his head, which made him a little strange. He scratched his head and asked, "Is there something on my head?" Li Jinyu clearly saw his hand pass through the fetus's body and scratch her scalp. The fetus suddenly opened its empty eyes and gave her a cold look. Li Jinyu shivered and pulled Ji Yun's hand, saying, "I'm tired. Let's go back to the dormitory."

After they broke up, Liu Zifeng stared at Zhou Wen and said sourly, "Li Jinyu seems to have a thing for you, she keeps staring at you! Tell me honestly, did you two know each other a long time ago?" Cai Wenyuan and Ge Hui chimed in from the side, and Zhou Wen was a little embarrassed, saying, "No, this is not the case. This is the first time I've seen her."

After returning to her dormitory, Li Jinyu immediately called her grandfather in X City and described the semi-transparent fetus on Zhou Wen's head. Her grandfather said confidently, "This is a vengeful spirit, formed from resentment, seeking revenge on your classmate." Li Jinyu asked, "Is there any way to get rid of it?" Her grandfather said, "The power of a vengeful spirit is very weak; a little bit of yang energy can disperse it. This vengeful spirit may be related to your classmate by blood, which is why it can possess him. You can draw a jade talisman and stick it on to drive it away."

Li Jinyu agreed, feeling reassured. Just as she was about to hang up, her grandfather reminded her again, "Be careful in G City. It's best to help others if you can, but never reveal your identity. Times have changed. You're the only one left in our family!" Li Jinyu replied, "I know, Grandpa. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing! It's late, get some rest. Bye!"

That evening, the 113 freshmen of the Chemistry Department, Class of '94, gathered in the Chemistry Building north of the Clock Tower for a general meeting. Among them were 56 students from the Teacher Training Program, 33 from the Applied Chemistry Program, and the remainder from the Analytical Chemistry Program. Their class advisor, Li Yong, introduced himself; he was a recent graduate who had stayed on as the class advisor for the Class of '94, primarily responsible for the freshmen's studies and daily life, while classes were taught by other faculty members.

Then Li Yong lectured on the dormitory regulations and freshman instructions, rambling on and on for a good half hour, like an old woman's foot binding cloth, making Zhou Wen drowsy. Next, he arranged the next phase of activities. As usual, freshmen would participate in a month-long rigorous military training upon entering the school, including standing in formation, marching, combat training, and live-fire shooting. Classes would officially begin after National Day.

Upon hearing about military training, a murmur rippled through the room. The girls complained that standing in formation under the sun would tan their skin, while the boys, excited about the combat and live-fire exercises, banged loudly on their desks. "Quiet! Quiet down!" Li Yong shouted, raising his voice. "We'll also have to take two exams during the training!" Hearing the word "exams," the classroom fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

Li Yong smiled slyly and said, "You're all a little scared of exams, aren't you? One exam is in foreign languages. Based on your scores, you'll be divided into an advanced class and two slower classes. The advanced class will be taught by foreign teachers. Be serious, because if you don't get a Level 4 certificate in English, you won't graduate with a bachelor's degree. Another exam is on the student code of conduct; if you fail, you'll be expelled!" The class paused for a moment, then erupted in another uproar.

Amidst the uproar, the young homeroom teacher, Li Yong, hastily appointed class officers and then ordered all students to go to the library to collect textbooks and workbooks. Everyone surged towards the library, while Zhou Wen deliberately slowed down, hoping to find Li Jinyu among the hundred-plus people and catch a glimpse of her. But Li Jinyu remained hidden far behind him, watching the vengeful spirit sway from side to side with his steps, and a sudden, inexplicable fear gripped her.

My first day in the ivory tower ended peacefully.

Section 5 Jade Talisman

Li Jinyu flipped through the thick stack of textbooks. There were eight or nine different types of chemistry alone. Add to that compulsory courses like English, advanced mathematics, general physics, the history of the Chinese revolution, and computer programming, and she would have to devour so many boring and tedious books over the next four years to earn enough credits. Alas, it's like being caught between two tigers. Chinese students are truly unlucky!

Ji Yun and Dai Shuzhen were exhausted after a long day and could no longer stay awake. They haphazardly piled their textbooks and workbooks on the bookshelf, and without even washing their faces, collapsed heavily onto the straw mat, their bodies feeling like they were falling apart, groaning in pain. Taking advantage of their inattention, Li Jinyu rummaged through her suitcase and took out a calligraphy brush, inkstone, and cinnabar, secretly hiding them under her pillow, and casually asked, "Why hasn't Huo Lili come back yet?"

Ji Yun muttered, "Who knows her..." Before she could finish speaking, Huo Lili's voice suddenly came from the doorway: "Just leave it here, thank you!" A deep male voice said, "It's quite heavy, let me help you carry it inside!" Huo Lili said, "No need, it's a girls' dormitory, it's inconvenient for you to go in. Go back quickly, the old lady at the door will start gossiping again." The male voice said, "Then I'm leaving, bye-bye!"

After waiting a while, Huo Lili jingled as she fumbled for her keys and opened the door, saying sweetly, "Oh dear, can someone help me carry these books inside? They're so heavy!" Ji Yun ignored her and pretended to be asleep on the bed. Dai Shuzhen quickly ran to the window and looked down, lowering her voice to say, "Handsome guy! Huo Lili, is he your boyfriend?" Huo Lili smiled and said, "Just a friend." Dai Shuzhen said enviously, "Tall and handsome, I'd be perfectly content if my future boyfriend was even half as good!"

Li Jinyu helped Huo Lili bring the books in and neatly stacked them on the bookshelf. Huo Lili, seeing her slender figure and supple waist, couldn't help but ask, "You're so pretty, did any boys pursue you in middle school?" Li Jinyu was a little embarrassed and said, "We live in a small city, not as open as yours. We were too busy studying to think about these things!" Huo Lili smiled and said, "If you put on some makeup and wore fashionable clothes, you'd look like a movie star. There would be at least a platoon of boys chasing after you."

Li Jinyu didn't like talking about this, so she gave her a few perfunctory replies and took the thermos to the water room to get some water. She deliberately dawdled for a while, and by the time she returned to the dormitory, the lights were already off. The three of them had gone to bed early, and Ji Yun was even snoring softly; this time she was really asleep.

Li Jinyu crawled into the mosquito net, sat cross-legged on the mat, mixed cinnabar with hot water, licked the brush until it was full, and thought: "Drawing it on talisman paper is too obvious and will arouse suspicion if people see it, no good! Hmm, I'll draw it on my palm and slap it on him when I have time. At most, they can say that he mistook me for someone else."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [9]: She drew a talisman on her left palm in a crooked manner. Upon closer inspection, she couldn't help but blame herself: "Oh no, how did I draw a talisman for going down the mountain? How careless!" Just as she was about to erase it and redraw it, she thought again, "I've already drawn it, wouldn't it be a waste to waste it?" She muttered a few incantations under her breath, imprinted the talisman on the mosquito net, and said with satisfaction: "Now no mosquitoes will bite me!"

Under the dim moonlight, Li Jinyu drew another jade talisman on her palm, examined it several times to make sure it was correct, gently blew on it to dry, put away her inkstone and cinnabar, washed her brush, and went back to her mosquito net to sleep. She heard Ji Yun snoring, Dai Shuzhen grinding her teeth, and Huo Lili talking in her sleep, and couldn't help but chuckle, thinking, "Do those boys who fawn over them know about their bad habits when they're asleep? Hmm, I shouldn't talk about others; I might be snoring, grinding my teeth, and talking in my sleep myself!"