Chapter Ninety-Eight: I Was Terribly Afraid at That Time
In the Special Text Research Room.
“Professor…”
Luxianbei glanced sideways at Professor Ma, her thin lips parted slightly, hesitating for a long time, unsure of how to begin.
She always felt that an urban legend couldn’t possibly help an ordinary person for no reason; the professor must have some subtle and unspeakable connection with that Decapitated Senior.
Although there was no expression on Luxianbei’s face, Professor Ma still sensed from her clear, bright eyes, which looked shrewd and cunning, that she wanted to ask something but was too embarrassed to speak.
That look was just like a student in class wanting to talk to a classmate but worrying about being caught by the teacher, desperately pretending to listen attentively, while their mind had already begun to wander.
“After so many years of teaching, I still can’t see through your little thoughts?” Professor Ma thought, his expression stern as he spoke in a low voice, “Just say what you need to say. Don’t stutter.”
“Alright, Professor, you asked me to ask.” Luxianbei said helplessly, “I just wanted to ask, do you have any…”
Before Luxianbei could finish her sentence, her head received a sharp knock.
“Ow! Hiss—!” Professor Ma exclaimed, shaking his throbbing hand, gazing resentfully at Luxianbei, “What are you always thinking about? I don’t even know her; how could there be any affair?”
Luxianbei, “…” I didn’t say anything about an affair!
Okay, I thought that, but I didn’t actually say it out loud, did I?
Thinking about it, Luxianbei quickly changed the topic back on track, “By the way, Professor, I haven’t finished talking just now!”
Not finished? Professor Ma opened his mouth, about to stop Luxianbei from continuing, but she jumped in first.
“Encountering that unfortunate senior was just the beginning; the experiences afterward were even more thrilling and exciting! Especially when I went into the experimental building and ran into Luxu.”
Hearing Luxu’s name, Professor Ma froze for a moment, deciding to endure and listen further.
Then…
He grabbed two pressure-lowering pills and swallowed a heart-rescue pill.
“Go on!”
Luxianbei stared blankly at Professor Ma, finally realizing something, and weakly said, “Professor Ma, if you’re not up for it, then maybe we should just forget it?”
“Talk! If you don’t, it will affect your grade!” Professor Ma shouted in a dark tone.
A man can’t admit he’s not up to it?!
Moreover, ever since Luxu went missing, Professor Ma had been worried about him.
Did everyone see that? He’s the one who asked me to speak! This isn’t about North North’s affairs! Luxianbei shrugged and continued.
…
When she found out that the Decapitated Senior was actually “on the way” with her, Luxianbei stared at the terrifying yet slightly comical figure in front of her, frowning.
Should I just let her go first? Or take a small detour?
I am rushing to save someone; I don’t have time to get entangled with an urban legend.
While Luxianbei was deep in thought, she noticed that the Decapitated Senior had stopped not far ahead, turned around, waved at her, and then ran back towards her.
“!!!!” Luxianbei’s heart skipped a beat; she widened her eyes and instinctively took two steps back.
As the Decapitated Senior came closer, Luxianbei’s eyes widened; clearly it was the same urban legend, but the fear was even more intense as it approached her head-on.
Not far away, there was a rustling sound coming from the ground, as if a small creature were crawling.
Following the sound, the fallen head began to move, the pale blue face facing Luxianbei, its murky eyes staring at her, then…
It blinked.
On that twisted and terrifying face, such a playful yet menacing expression felt somewhat out of place.
What the heck? What’s going on? What do I do about this?
Does this mean that if I don’t go with her, she’ll keep bothering me?
Luxianbei froze for a few seconds, and the footsteps ahead suddenly stopped. She looked up to see that the Decapitated Senior had stopped several meters away from her, pointing at the head on the ground.
Luxianbei stared at the head expressionlessly, reached out her hand, pulled it back, reached out again, but then quickly retracted it as if electrocuted.
This thing, even if you asked me to pick it up, I wouldn’t dare! Luxianbei thought bitterly.
As if sensing Luxianbei’s terror, the Decapitated Senior froze for a moment, and the head sighed as it lay on the ground.
“Ah—!”
That resentful and helpless voice seemed to quietly blame, “I thought you were so calm; I didn’t expect you to be scared of me!”
Then the head rolled away, with disheveled black hair, looking somewhat like a small beast crawling on the ground.
When the head rolled to the foot of its body, the Decapitated Senior bent down to pick it up, brushed off the dust on it, and steadied it back on her neck, then picked up an umbrella, shielding her upper body.
Once the upper body was hidden by the umbrella, the Decapitated Senior immediately lost the terrifying and menacing vibe; just from the figure visible under the umbrella, she appeared slender and alluring.
Seeing this, Luxianbei thought, no wonder rumors say some people who have no sense run over to talk to her only to be scared half to d*ath.
Just then, a sound of stomping echoed from ahead, as if urging her to move forward. Looking in that direction, the Decapitated Senior turned her back to Luxianbei, waved her hand, and then walked towards the College of Arts and Literature Experimental Building.
Luxianbei narrowed her eyes, watching the slender silhouette with the umbrella walk away, not in a hurry to follow.
Although it seemed that the Decapitated Senior had no intention of harming her, she was still an urban legend; who knew whether there was some trick or malice in what she was doing?
Better to be cautious; otherwise, if I get tricked, I’d be foolishly counting money for others!
Thinking about this, Luxianbei recalled the approximate distance when the Decapitated Senior had rushed out earlier; when she saw that the Decapitated Senior was nearly at that distance and about to stop, she jogged to catch up, maintaining that distance, creating a somewhat eerie scene.
Fortunately, Gate Four’s main path was secluded, making it nearly impossible for pedestrians to appear.
Otherwise, if someone saw a girl holding a kitchen kn*fe, appearing relatively normal, chasing a headless girl on the empty street at night, I wonder what they would think.
…
Starting from the middle section of Gate Four’s main path, the distance to the College of Arts and Literature Experimental Building was not far. Luxianbei followed the Decapitated Senior, and in less than a minute, they arrived near the experimental building.
When she reached near the experimental building, it seemed like the Decapitated Senior had no intentions of stopping, quietly walking through the front door. The dimly lit corridor quickly swallowed her figure.
At that moment, the security uncle in the experimental building had not yet rested; the lights in the duty room were still on, and occasionally the sound of Sichuan opera music could be heard.
However, there had been incidents where someone was attacked and killed by an urban legend in the experimental building.
No matter how brave the security uncle was, daring to guard here alone at night, he kept the curtains on both windows in the duty room tightly drawn without leaving a crack.
Seeing this scene, Luxianbei furrowed her brows slightly, imagining the absurdity of the security uncle suddenly pulling open the curtains and seeing a headless girl floating outside.
But then she shook her head.
Earlier, when she was near the bulletin board, she hadn’t seen the Decapitated Senior right away, indicating that the senior had ways to conceal herself.
However, Luxianbei had no means to become invisible; fortunately, her current stature was relatively short.
This allowed her to crouch down, snug against the wall beneath the window, and walk past quietly without being noticed.
…
Entering the experimental building, Luxianbei followed the Decapitated Senior all the way up to the second floor.
Just as her foot stepped onto the last stair leading to the second floor, her eyes felt slightly warm, and a strange sensation surged from all directions.
The hallway was empty, and the white walls and ceiling brought an unusual sense of oppression.
Due to insufficient lighting, the energy-saving lights were on, extending all the way to the other end of the corridor.
The entire corridor was astonishingly quiet; Luxianbei could even hear her own breathing echoing in the glaring light, gradually reverberating until it became somewhat eerie and slowly faded away.
The Decapitated Senior had vanished at some point.
Luxianbei stood alone in the corridor, frozen for a few seconds, feeling uneasy.
She didn’t know where to start looking for Professor Ma.
Although she had previously inferred that Professor Ma was in the experimental building studying bamboo slips and had run into danger, there could be several places where he might be.
The research room, office, or archive room were all possibilities, but those three places were across different floors and locations, making a thorough check quite time-consuming.
Where should I go first?
Luxianbei furrowed her brows, weighing the probabilities of where Professor Ma might be among these three places and planning the best route, just then, the missing Decapitated Senior appeared again.
She hurried down the stairs leading to the third floor.
Seeing Luxianbei, as if afraid of scaring her, she slowed her steps on the midway landing, retreating a few steps timidly, allowing most of her figure to disappear into the shadows, then waved at Luxianbei, as if signaling her to hurry and follow.
“Are you trying to tell me the professor is upstairs?” Luxianbei furrowed her brows and asked in a low voice.
As her words fell, Luxianbei saw the outline of the Decapitated Senior in the darkness, clutching her neck and nodding.
Seeing this, she glanced towards the end of the second-floor corridor where Professor Ma’s office was located.
The archive room was on the third floor, and the research room was on the fourth; where would the professor be? Should I trust an urban legend? Sigh, it’s almost been half an hour; I hope the professor is okay.
After pondering for a few seconds, Luxianbei gritted her teeth, mustering all her courage, and followed.
In her opinion, the research room on the fourth floor was where Professor Ma was most likely to be; even without the guidance of the Decapitated Senior, it was her first target for investigation.
Rather than being suspicious here, it was better to trust the Decapitated Senior once to save a bit of time.
Eh? Have I become bolder lately? Is it just an illusion? Or have I been scared so much that I’m somewhat numb? Luxianbei thought.
As she was lost in thought, the Decapitated Senior had unexpectedly stopped a few paces ahead. Luxianbei, not paying attention, bumped right into her, and the head—disconnected from its body—wobbled a couple of times and landed directly in her arms.
The feeling of long hair was fuzzy against her palms, mixed with thick, cold bl**d, causing Luxianbei to spasm as if electrocuted, then froze stiffly in place.
She instinctively wanted to toss the fuzzy, round object away but felt it was inappropriate for a moment, so she could only use both hands to hold the head, maintaining the farthest possible distance, like holding a grenade about to explode, afraid to breathe.
She cautiously glanced at the twisted pale face of the Decapitated Senior.
Then…
She saw the murky eyes rolling at her.
Immediately, a pair of pale, slender hands reached out from the darkness, took the head from her grip, and securely placed it back on its neck.
Luxianbei, “…” Did I just get looked down upon by a ghost girl?
Luxianbei thought, looking up at the Decapitated Senior.
She raised her hand to point upwards, then stepped aside to clear the way for the stairs, not advancing further herself, but her gaze kept drifting upwards, then quickly returning, as if she was afraid of something.
Was there something up there that scared her?
Luxianbei thought, wanting to ask, but saw the Decapitated Senior retreating a few steps, her figure fading into the shadow of the staircase corner, disappearing after two or three breaths.
What the hell, is she leaving just like that? Now it’s up to me? Luxianbei frowned, took a few deep breaths, and finally mustered the courage to go up.
When she reached the top of the stairs, with only a few more steps to enter the fourth-floor corridor, she cautiously stopped, pulled out two initial scenery spring wind charms from her pocket, one left and one right, and threw them towards the invisible corner at the stairs.
I know about corner attacks. Luxianbei thought; charging in recklessly could lead to encountering something strange hiding in the corners—wouldn’t that be for nothing?
“Thud—!”
The wooden initial scenery spring wind charms landed on the ground with a crisp sound, and then a dazzling green light enveloped Luxianbei’s view, accompanied by a piercing and bizarre scream.
The sound was like a male voice with a very hoarse tone, interspersed with insect-like hisses, reminding Luxianbei of the strange villagers she saw in the illusion triggered by the bamboo slips.
Luxianbei, “…” What was that? I™ just knew these ghostly things had bad intentions!
She thought and quietly took out two more initial scenery spring wind charms and threw them upward.
The charms landed, making a soft sound, but no green light or screams came.
Once she confirmed there were no ambushes at the corner of the stairs, Luxianbei finished the last few steps up to the fourth floor, and what she saw was a horrifying scene.
In the corridor, bl**d-red handprints and footprints covered the white walls and ceiling, as if something bloody had crawled over using both hands and feet.
Mixed in those handprints and footprints were messy, twisted characters. Upon closer inspection, they were precisely the same as the special characters seen on the bamboo slips.
…
“Wait a minute!” At this point, Professor Ma couldn’t help but interrupt, glancing anxiously at the direction of the corridor and whispering, “You mean to say the corridor right now…”
Professor Ma imagined the scene Luxianbei was describing and felt an instinctive concern that when he went out later, the pressure-lowering medication and heart-rescue pills might not be effective.
“Of course!” Luxianbei pouted. “I was terribly afraid at that time! I almost didn’t dare to go in and save you.”
“And then?”
Luxianbei thought for a moment, her expression unchanged, “Then I saw Luxu in the corridor; not directly, but he was hiding in a corner, and I discovered him…”
