Заприте дверь - Глава 2
He Jianfei's head was throbbing with worry, and he quickly pulled Tian Yinzhen out of the library. The truth was already quite clear. The Ghost Road originated in 1949, changed in 1951, and the secret was still held by members of the student council until 1954. However, it was unknown whether, due to human negligence or other reasons, the secret was gradually lost, or even distorted by misinformation. To find out the truth, they could only ask the elders from 1954.
He Jianfei and Tian Yinzhen rushed to the student union office and shouted to the president, "Old He, I want to see the records of student union officers from previous years." President He was startled and said, "I thought you were a policeman. You don't need to bring your girlfriend with you when you cause trouble, do you? Xiao Zhang, find her and give her to this red-faced lion."
"A red-faced lion?" Tian Yinzhen couldn't help but chuckle. Chairman He glanced at her and laughed, "Miss Tian, you'd better not laugh. If he's a lion, then you're a lioness, which only makes you look bad." Now it was He Jianfei's turn to chuckle, immediately earning him a big eye roll from Tian Yinzhen.
The student council officer records had been delivered. He Jianfei picked them up and glanced through them, then frowned and said, "Old He, what kind of records are these? Why don't those from before 1958 have addresses?" Chairman He replied, "What's so strange about that? I'm not from the household registration office. Those people have changed jobs so many times, and so many years have passed. How could I possibly find out everything? But then again, why are you doing all this? Do you have some long-lost relatives here...?" Before he could finish, He Jianfei smacked him on the head: "Is my background really that tragic?"
Tian Yinzhen suddenly exclaimed, "Wow! So the Organization Department Minister from '56 was this handsome!" He Jianfei sighed, feeling utterly unlucky, with setbacks everywhere. Suddenly, he remembered something and mysteriously approached Chairman He, saying, "Did any senior students pass on any treasures to you, like a stone throne or something?" Chairman He called out, "Hey, Brother Jianfei, this is the Student Union, not the Green Dragon Gang!" He Jianfei immediately slumped down, it seemed his hard-won lead was about to be lost again. He then asked, "Do you have a list of students who dropped out or died before?" Chairman He waved his hand: "Go check at the funeral home."
Helpless, He Jianfei was about to leave when Chairman He suddenly looked up and said, "However, I do have a yellowed, unidentified record here. Would you like to take a look?" Overjoyed, He Jianfei shouted almost in a roar, "Yes!"
It was just a yellowed piece of paper with some strange dates and events recorded on it:
3rd
The decision to carry out the project was made without their knowledge.
4th
success
5th
Seeing that it failed to achieve the expected results, further investigation was conducted.
6th
Mission accomplished
18th
To be continued
19th
Its departure
23rd
Seeing that three of them had left
28th
graduate
The phrase "其去" was circled in red, followed by comments from several former student council presidents: "This matter is of great importance and should not be taken lightly."
Chairman He said, "Look at this mess! It says it's so important I'm afraid to throw it away. Do you see what it means?" He Jianfei shook his head, secretly wondering to himself that the key to the whole piece of paper was the word "it." Who did "it" refer to? What had been carried out?
Chairman He said, "The 180th anniversary of the school is in a few days. You can go and pick up those alumni to ask them for clarification. I really don't understand why you're interested in these things. I told you to join the student union, but you refused." He Jianfei's eyes lit up: "That's right! How come I didn't think of that? You're more than enough for the student union, what use is a useless person like me? Yinzi..." He turned around and saw Tian Yinzhen still infatuated with that photo, and said angrily, "You can keep gazing at him with affection, I'm leaving." Instantly, the office was filled with laughter.
Later, He Jianfei discovered that the student council president and vice president in 1949 were widely recognized as the most outstanding student leaders since the school's founding, known as the "Campus Duo." It was in that same year that Yougangding ceased to be Yougangding. How the "Campus Duo" handled the incident, and what clues they left behind, miraculously disappeared from their files. In the latter half of their junior year, only the vice president's annotations appeared; the president's name never appeared again. He Jianfei instinctively felt that the key to the biggest mystery must lie in the first half of 1949. However, unable to find the student council leaders at the time, this lead had to be abandoned. Thus, all leads went cold.
Chapter Four
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The students gradually got used to the absence of Chuanxun, but He Jianfei remained unable to adapt. If the prophecy, "He's destined to die! There's no escaping it!" was true, there would be a second victim, perhaps a third, or even a fourth. These past few days, he'd been thinking about those strange and unusual statements all day, but he couldn't make heads or tails of them. Perhaps there were simply too many hidden twists and turns involved.
The school anniversary celebration finally arrived. He Jianfei, who never participated in activities, unusually stood at the front of the welcoming team. Upon seeing any elderly alumni with white hair, he immediately rushed up to them and asked who wasn't from 1949. If they weren't, he'd immediately pass them to Chairman He beside him and then immediately find another. Chairman He spent an hour just apologizing and bowing, making him so angry he wanted to give He Jianfei a good beating. He Jianfei asked at least fifty alumni, none of whom were from 1949. One of them wasn't a student leader. He Jianfei was secretly puzzled; logically, as the most outstanding student leader, he should have been present for such a grand anniversary celebration. Confused, he simply stopped greeting alumni, stood to the side thinking for a while, then suddenly realized, exclaiming, "The two campus heroes must be here! I completely forgot about that place!" He hurriedly greeted Chairman He and rushed into the depths of the campus.
He Jianfei's guess was right. An old man stood quietly at the Ghost Road, gazing up at the sky, muttering to himself. His white hair obscured his tearful eyes. He Jianfei quietly approached him, and when the old man stopped muttering, he bowed respectfully and said, "The Campus Duo, is it? Junior brother He Jianfei has been waiting for you." The old man, startled, turned around and sized He Jianfei up, saying, "What Campus Duo? Don't just assume anyone is an old man."
He Jianfei laughed and said, "Yes, but I know that alumni are not necessarily the two campus heroes, but only the two campus heroes are interested in this road of vengeful spirits. Old man, am I right?" When the old man heard him say the words "road of vengeful spirits," he trembled violently, but quickly regained his composure and said, "Since you know this is the road of vengeful spirits, why don't you hurry up and get out of here? Do you want to die?"
He Jianfei smiled and said, "Many people have already lost their lives, why should I care about one more?" Upon hearing this, the old man could no longer contain himself. His face changed drastically, and he said, "If you have anything to say, don't say it here, or you will surely die. I don't care who you are, you must leave here now!" The last sentence was almost a command.
He Jianfei was not about to give up so easily. Seeing that the old man remained stubbornly unwilling to reveal the truth, he thought: I have no choice but to use my ultimate move. So he abandoned the old man and began to loudly recite the poem to those around him:
Cherry blossoms in full bloom
Roadside grass barrier
Pagoda top
It's inevitable that I have a good intention
Devotion to Christ
Have pity on my life
Luoshen West Lake
King Xiang's deep affection
Upon hearing the poem, the old man could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground with a thud. He Jianfei hadn't expected such a strong reaction, and felt a mix of panic and guilt. He was about to help him up when a sudden gust of wind swept through, swaying the grass and trees, whipping up dust and dirt, and creating a thick sandstorm that rushed towards the two men. He Jianfei was horrified; he hadn't anticipated that the grievances here were so intense that they could cause trouble even in broad daylight. At this critical moment, the old man struggled to his feet and roared, "Donglu! The sun is above, the stone statue is before us, how dare you move it? I'm old and nearing my end; take what you want, but don't harm this young man!"
A soft, womanly moan suddenly came from the bushes. He Jianfei was terrified. He knew that if he didn't act now, he would be dead before sunset. He quickly untied the string of prayer beads and threw them into the bushes, chanting, "Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Chen, Lie, Zai, Qian!" The beads shone brightly in the sunlight. After the woman's moan, the wind died down, the dust settled, and everything returned to calm. He Jianfei put away the beads, grabbed the old man, and ran for his life, finally escaping the path.
"That was close." He Jianfei knew in his heart that if the sun hadn't been so strong today, he definitely wouldn't have been able to suppress that female ghost. He said to the old man with some guilt, "I'm sorry, the campus..." The old man interrupted him, "My surname is Li, you can just call me Uncle Li. Young man, even if you have magic powers, there's no need to recite that poem on that road, is there? You're lucky to have escaped this time." He Jianfei smiled bitterly, "How was I supposed to know it was that powerful? I was too arrogant, I only brought a string of Buddhist beads with me." Uncle Li said with great emotion, "So what if you have magic powers? A-Qiang also has magic powers, doesn't he?" He Jianfei was confused, "Who is A-Qiang?" "He was the student council president at the time. He wrote this poem before he died, and I risked being dismissed to secretly slip it into the student council records according to his last wish." Uncle Li sighed repeatedly, as if recalling the unbearable years of the past.
This information was a second major blow to He Jianfei; the person who knew the truth best was already dead! He Jianfei asked, full of doubt, "Uncle Li, do you know the inside story?" Uncle Li shook his head heavily, "I don't know. I've been pondering this for nearly fifty years, and I still can't figure it out." As He Jianfei listened to his story, he became increasingly alarmed.
"On June 29, 1949, a girl named Donglu from the class next to mine hanged herself. This naturally shocked the entire campus. I didn't know how to handle the news, so I decided to ask A-Qiang, since we were in the same class, I figured he'd know more. When I got to the office, I saw the once lively A-Qiang standing blankly by the desk, his eyes vacant. I was startled and asked him what was wrong. A-Qiang composed himself and forced a smile, saying, 'Perfect timing, Xiao Li, there's something I need to tell you. If I'm at this desk within a month…'" "Whatever you leave behind, if you can guess it, fine; if not, try to slip it into the records for posterity to see." I laughed, "Chairman, you don't need to go to such lengths to solve this riddle, do you?" Ah Qiang's face, pale and bloodless in the sunlight, was hoarse. Ignoring my teasing, he continued, "I might leave some instructions, Xiao Li. I don't usually think much of you, but today you absolutely must remember to follow these instructions. Not only will it protect you, but it will also benefit the region."
I finally sensed something was wrong; he was practically making his final arrangements. I was utterly shocked and grabbed him, asking in a panic, "Qiang, what's wrong? What happened? Why are you saying these things? Is someone chasing you?" Faced with my barrage of questions, Qiang simply pushed my hand away and calmly said, "No need to ask. I'll try my best; maybe it'll be the same." Then he waved for me to leave. I asked him what to do with Dong Lu's news, whether to publish it. Qiang seemed to tremble, and after a long pause, he replied, "Ask the academic affairs office." Seeing his distraught state, I had no choice but to retreat.
In the days that followed, I paid close attention to A-Qiang. As the days passed, four students in A-Qiang's class had mysteriously died. The entire grade was in chaos, but his class remained remarkably calm. Speculation abounded, with many saying it was related to Dong Lu's suicide. Dong Lu was supposedly misdiagnosed with cancer and committed suicide out of despair. No one could explain what this had to do with the class or why it was causing these deaths. A-Qiang's face grew increasingly pale; he talked to himself constantly and fiddled with a pile of small stones in his office. I was terribly worried and tried to force my way in to question him several times, but he always rudely chased me away.
The rumors spread far and wide, causing widespread panic and chaos throughout the grade. Finally, the school authorities intervened, summoning A-Qiang and me to ask what was going on. A-Qiang replied that someone was spreading rumors and promised to resolve the matter within seven days. I was very surprised; how could A-Qiang be so confident? After all, "many voices can melt metal!"
On the 7th, someone woke me from my bed and told me news I would never forget: A-Qiang was gone! I rushed to his dormitory like a madman, and there he lay quietly on the bed, his face ashen, as if he had died of poisoning, a look of intense pain mixed with other unreadable emotions surfacing on his face. I buried my face in his body and wept bitterly. His body was cold and stiff. I felt his fists were clenched tightly, so I used all my strength to pry them open and found only three small stones inside. I suddenly remembered what he had told me before he died, quickly wiped away my tears, and ran back to the office. Sure enough, there were three pieces of paper on the table. I didn't have time to look at them closely, I stuffed them into my clothes and rushed out the door. The police car was already outside honking its horn, but thankfully I wasn't discovered.
When I ran back to A-Qiang's dorm, I was breathless. There were two policemen inside, questioning the two boys who shared the room with A-Qiang. The two boys claimed to know nothing, and judging from their cold expressions, they might have poisoned A-Qiang. I really wanted to rush over and beat them up, but I held back. Later, the police called the gatekeeper, an elderly man, to question them. The gatekeeper was certain he had seen A-Qiang go out once the previous night, around 1 or 2 a.m., but the two boys argued that they were fast asleep and hadn't heard anything. I couldn't take it anymore and stood up to confront them: "You're lying! A-Qiang told me at the beginning of last month that there was something wrong with his dorm door; it made a loud noise when it opened and closed, like thunder." Their faces immediately turned grim, and they whispered among themselves, as if plotting against me. Later, before the police took them away, one of them suddenly blurted out, "Didn't A-Qiang tell you anything?" I was stunned for a moment and didn't answer.
After the two men left, I remembered the three pieces of paper I had tucked in my pocket. I locked myself in my dorm room and took out the papers to examine them closely. Each piece of paper contained bizarre riddles that left me speechless and bewildered. The first was that strange poem, the second was a record, and the third, the most chilling of all, was his will. He instructed: 'Within seven days of my death, collect the ashes of the rest of my classmates and bury them together at the site where the Sun Yat-sen statue is being built. My earnest instruction! Remember it!'