Chapter 75: Each with Their Own Motives
After hanging up the telephone, Professor Ma leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. The news of the changes in the Old Friends’ household had already left him feeling somewhat down, and now hearing about Luxu’s disappearance made him even more restless.
He had spent most of his life researching ancient special characters, and over the decades, he had indeed encountered many unbelievable events.
He had heard calls coming from outside the window during the midnight hours, seen a black dog wandering near his home, and had countless bizarre dreams.
Those strange experiences had not caused any harm to him or those around him; he had attributed them all to illusions afterwards.
But this time, things felt a bit different.
With a heavy heart, Professor Ma got up from his chair, one hand holding a teacup and the other in his pocket, and looked out the window.
From his office, he could see a boys’ dormitory building in the distance.
On the third floor lived students from two cohorts above Luxianbei, and Professor Ma had a deep impression of that batch of students because a Nightfall Syndrome patient had appeared in their class, causing an uproar on campus—by hiding a corpse.
Although it was not a human body, when the police received a tip-off and forced open the dormitory door, they found him lying amidst dozens of rotting animal corpses, their stench making them retch uncontrollably.
According to teachers present at the time, one officer complained afterwards, “Even homicide scenes aren’t this nauseating. It’s just too disgusting.”
The dormitory where the incident occurred remained empty to this day, with its windows boarded up, and even the neighboring dormitory was unoccupied; clothes hung on the balcony, the dust on them a testament to the passage of time.
Feeling somewhat uninterested, Professor Ma slowly shifted his gaze upward to the top floor where freshmen lived.
In a moment of daze, a figure intruded the edge of his vision.
Someone was standing on the rooftop of the student dormitory, overlooking the direction of his office. The familiarity of that silhouette inexplicably made him think of the missing Luxu.
Professor Ma froze for a moment, hurriedly stepped forward, and leaned over the windowsill to look at the rooftop of the student dormitory.
The rooftop was deserted, with only a dead weed stubbornly clinging to the edge of the wall, swaying in the wind.
But I clearly saw someone just now! Professor Ma frowned at the withered grass, feeling a strong sense that there had indeed been someone there moments before.
While he was deep in thought, a faint, unpleasant odor wafted into Professor Ma’s nostrils. That nauseating smell was identical to what he had detected before his conversation with Luxianbei; he was just about to turn around and find the source of the stench when his body froze in place.
Suddenly, a feeling of unease rose up within him, and his subconscious dictated that if he turned around, something bad would happen.
People often experience such flashes of intuition. For instance, when fully engrossed in reading, one may suddenly feel someone approaching, or on a clear morning out the door, they may have the foresight to bring an umbrella, which shortly after, leads to a torrential downpour.
Professor Ma frequently encountered similar feelings. When faced with similar situations, he usually interpreted them as a sign that good things happen to good people.
In just a few seconds, the foul odor intensified, as if there were a highly decomposed corpse standing in his blind spot, slowly creeping closer to him with malicious intent.
If he turned around, that corpse would suddenly move and snap his neck.
“Gulpp—!” Professor Ma swallowed hard, his hands trembling slightly, feeling that the invisible thing behind him was very close now.
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine as if blown by the wind, and in the next moment, his body jolted.
Like a hallucination, he felt a pair of hands gently resting on his shoulders, slightly exerting force, pushing him towards the window.
But on closer inspection, it felt more like many people looking down from a high place, suddenly overwhelmed by an impulse to jump down—only that sensation was much stronger.
Just then, a shout echoed from outside the corridor, “Professor Ma, Professor Ma? Where are you? It’s Luxianbei, I’ve come to find you!”
Hearing Luxianbei’s voice, Professor Ma snapped back to reality, and upon realizing that half of his body had already leaned out of the window, his face turned pale, and his heart raced.
“Bang—!”
In his panic, he stepped back abruptly, crashing into the corner of the desk behind him.
In that instant, the vague presence behind him and the stench that had no identifiable source vanished in the blink of an eye, and new pain seized his nerves.
……
Although it was not Luxianbei’s first time hunting urban legends, this situation was different from previous ones.
This time, he was not fighting alone.
When he left, Jumeng had earnestly instructed him to contact her anytime he encountered an insurmountable situation.
Though Luxianbei verbally declined, he felt a wave of excitement within.
That was a mythological species’ urban legend! A powerful ally! What a wonderful sense of security!
As Luxianbei thought about this, he glanced around and frowned.
Wait, where exactly is Professor Ma’s office?
……
Professor Ma hadn’t told Luxianbei where his office was located.
He asked as he walked, spending quite some time before finding it. Standing in the corridor in front of the office, he gently knocked on the door.
After hearing a “Come in,” Luxianbei pushed the door open and saw Professor Ma sitting in a chair, supporting his lower back, grimacing, and continuously inhaling deeply.
“Professor, what’s wrong with you…?” Luxianbei hesitated, but upon seeing Professor Ma’s condition, it suddenly occurred to him, and he expressionlessly said, “Professor, if you need it, I can go get you some… uh, Ma Ying Long?”
Professor Ma froze for a moment at those words, “You little rascal, what are you talking about?! I’m not!”
“Professor, there’s no need to be embarrassed. Nine out of ten men have hemorrhoids! There are only the two of us here, come on, be bold…” Luxianbei said, noticing Professor Ma’s face growing darker, and wisely shut his mouth.
“None?”
“None!” Professor Ma yelled, slamming his hands down on the desk.
Luxianbei, “……” If there really isn’t any, why so fierce?
……
Professor Ma thoroughly explained the circumstances surrounding Luxu’s disappearance to Luxianbei, then paused for a moment and relayed the missing Old Friends case and his eldest son’s description.
After listening to Professor Ma’s account, Luxianbei frowned in contemplation.
At this point, wasn’t it already quite clear?
There could only be one truth: There was a huge problem with that set of bamboo slips!
Thinking about this, Luxianbei opened his mouth, just about to request to see the bamboo slips, only to see Professor Ma limping over to a corner of the office.
Luxianbei, “……” There, isn’t there really any?
“Tea or coffee?”
“Uh, coffee please!” When he heard Professor Ma’s question, Luxianbei came to his senses and replied, “Two spoons of sugar, one spoon of milk, thank you, Professor.”
Although neither tea nor coffee had much flavor, after being tormented by that little sprite last night, drinking some coffee to boost his spirits would be good. Luxianbei thought.
Upon hearing this, Professor Ma pouted, “What a demanding request. No fancy stuff, only instant.”
Carrying the instant coffee he prepared, he sat down across from Luxianbei and raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you think this matter is related to mysticism? I’d like to hear your opinion.”
Luxianbei took a small sip of coffee and replied solemnly, “I can’t say for sure, but I feel that what has been happening around you lately is closely related to that set of bamboo slips. If it’s convenient, could I take a look?”
“Bamboo slips…” Professor Ma hesitated for a moment, “Do you really want to see? My Old Friend and Luxu both encountered anomalies because of those bamboo slips. I’m worried for you…”
“It’s fine! You also came into contact with the bamboo slips; haven’t you had any issues?” Luxianbei said with ease.
“……” Professor Ma fell silent for a moment, then looked directly into Luxianbei’s eyes and said earnestly, “Then come with me? The bamboo slips are in the research room.”
……
A few minutes later.
Luxianbei followed Professor Ma into the ancient special characters research room.
Professor Ma seated Luxianbei in the seminar room, then walked alone toward the storage room.
“Click—!”
As he turned on the storage room’s lights, briefly scanning the area, Professor Ma’s gaze fixed on an ancient wooden box in one corner of the room.
He approached, opened the box with both hands, and the dark bamboo slips revealed themselves to his sight.
He stared at the bamboo slips, hesitating for a few seconds before slowly covering the box again and picking up a nearby replica of the bamboo slips that was an exact one-to-one replica, then turned and walked out of the storage room.
……
At the moment the storage room opened, Luxianbei felt a slight pain in his eyes. He stood up and looked toward the storage room through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, only seeing a pale light illuminating the room behind the security door, but no sign of Professor Ma.
My eyes always exhibit anomalies when urban legends emerge. Feeling the sensation in his eyes, Luxianbei thought, that set of bamboo slips truly has a problem!
But now he had no idea what was happening in the storage room; only when the professor came out could he confirm.
He thought about it, somewhat disappointedly pouting, before sitting back down. Soon, Professor Ma returned with the set of replica bamboo slips by his side.
“Take a look?”
Luxianbei received the bamboo slips, slowly unfurling them, revealing a string of oddly shaped hieroglyphs before his eyes.
What puzzled Luxianbei was that just now, his eyes had clearly shown anomalies, but after he received the bamboo slips, that strange feeling vanished.
“……”
Luxianbei stared at the bamboo slips with a serious expression for a long while before raising his head to look at Professor Ma, saying, “Professor, what does this say?”
“It should be a ritual ceremony; I haven’t fully deciphered the specifics yet,” Professor Ma explained. “Have you noticed anything unusual from it?”
Luxianbei shook his head, shaking the bamboo slips in his hand, “Nothing special stands out; it seems like just a set of ordinary bamboo slips.”
But just because I can’t see anything doesn’t mean that little sprite at home can’t see it. I’ve memorized a lot of content and will ask her when I get back. Luxianbei thought.
“Is that so?” Professor Ma’s expression fell a bit, “I suppose I was overthinking; I appreciate your help today.”
Should I have just shown him the original? Professor Ma pondered, but…
Professor Ma found it very strange; the moment he touched the bamboo slips, he inexplicably felt a strong desire not to hand them over to Luxianbei.
