Chapter 94: The Intruder in the Research Room
The newly created account was rejected by the Urban Legends Chat Group, deepening Luxianbei’s suspicions about the group that Pharaoh and others once belonged to, though he refrained from making rash judgments.
It’s also possible that the new account was simply too low level and lacked sufficient information, leading to it being politely rejected as a marketing account.
As for the possibility of an IP check, while the probability is relatively low, it still exists.
What can Internet trolls not do? Isn’t it common sense? How can they be an Internet troll if they don’t even know how to do an IP check?
After returning home tomorrow, he would first figure out a way to create a seemingly realistic account, then log in from a different computer and give it a try.
If that still didn’t work, he would have to wait until he finished telling Jiang Li the “story” and she stopped focusing on his account before trying again with his original account, Luxianbei thought.
He hoped that this chat group, which might be hiding urban legends and solitary spiritual ability users, could hold on a bit longer and not be wiped out by Jiang Li all at once.
After studying the Urban Legends Chat Group for a while, Luxianbei half-lay on the sofa, playing with her broken phone, and realized how boring life was without a proper phone.
She missed Bai Xiaohua a bit; she wondered if Bai Xiaohua, alone in the cold game world, felt just as lonely and bored.
Thinking of this, Luxianbei felt a surge of determination within her: after all this, she must buy a good new phone!
……
Huacheng University, Special Text Content Research Room.
Professor Ma was hunched over his desk, immersed in the study of special characters on bamboo slips.
Although earlier, when Luxianbei checked the bamboo slips, a series of unbelievable events had occurred, reasoning told him he shouldn’t study the bamboo slips again for a while.
However, he couldn’t help it; whenever he had free time, his mind was consumed with thoughts of the bamboo slips.
It was unclear whether there was some bizarre power on the bamboo slips tempting him or if it was his strong thirst for knowledge driving him, or perhaps both.
In any case, as soon as he returned from the police station, he plunged headfirst into the study of the bamboo slips, greedily absorbing their contents, completely oblivious to the outside world, as if only he and the bamboo slips existed.
While comparing other similar texts and translating the special characters on the bamboo slips intermittently, Professor Ma spoke to himself, as if this method facilitated his thinking.
“This place means the black big snake? Did the ancient people who wrote this bamboo slip worship a snake totem?”
“Mountains, flowing… this should be an exaggerated description of the object of worship, right?”
Totemic snake worship is not uncommon in primitive societies around the world.
Fuxi and Nüwa, who are well-known, the snake goddess Wajit from Egyptian mythology, the Naga from Indian mythology, and the feathered serpent from Mesoamerican mythology all fall under snake totem worship.
In this type of worship, the totems they venerated often gained supernatural abilities and characteristics based on the local geography, life or d*ath, flight and thunder…
Therefore, it’s not strange that the snake totem revered in the bamboo slips was endowed with the characteristics of mountains and rivers.
During his studies of special text content, Professor Ma had come across similar totemic worship many times and didn’t pay much attention to this description, simply recording the translated content on a nearby manuscript.
After noting a few key terms on the manuscript, he adjusted his glasses and refocused on the bamboo slips, pulling his chair closer to the desk.
Just then, something slid out of his jacket pocket and fell to the ground, making a light “ding!” sound.
Professor Ma was momentarily stunned and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a smooth, shining Kaiyuan Tongbao lying in the corner next to the desk, reflecting a faint light as if quietly telling a story.
“How did it fall out?” Professor Ma muttered, bending down to pick up the coin and putting it back in his pocket.
When he sat upright again, ready to continue studying the bamboo slips, he abruptly realized that the sky outside had somehow completely darkened.
He quickly glanced at his watch and internally exclaimed that it was bad.
It was 8:47 PM; it had been dark for nearly three hours.
He had been so immersed in his research that he hadn’t noticed how late it was; had the coin not mysteriously fallen from his pocket and made a noise, he might have stayed even longer.
Since it was already so late, why not…
Professor Ma thought, unconsciously turning his gaze back to the bamboo slips, a deep reluctance appearing in his eyes.
He didn’t know if it was because he had been hunched over for too long, but his mind momentarily went blank and dizzy.
However, in that moment, scenes of what had happened in the daytime when the urban legend had attacked flashed through his mind, along with Luxianbei checking the bamboo slips, sending chills down his spine.
“Snap——!”
Professor Ma covered the bamboo slips with the manuscript, forcing himself not to look at them, and violently shook his head before randomly stuffing them into a wooden box meant for storage.
“No, no, I need to leave.” He muttered, restraining himself from wanting to continue studying the bamboo slips, grabbing the wooden box and heading straight to the storage room.
After placing the antique wooden box containing the bamboo slips back in the storage room and securely locking the door, Professor Ma still felt light-headed. Leaning against the door for a moment, he turned and headed to the restroom in the research room.
The restroom in the research room was about the same size as a regular household one, but lacked bathing facilities and had an extra pit, separated by dividers similar to public restrooms.
“Squeak——clatter——!” Accompanied by the soft sound of turning a switch, clean and clear water began to flow continuously from the faucet.
Professor Ma bent down and repeatedly splashed clean water on his face until the dizziness in his head subsided before straightening up and taking out a handkerchief to wipe the water from his face.
The soft touch of the cotton handkerchief brushed across his face, and in the darkness, a vague foul smell seeped into his nostrils.
Sensing that familiar stench, a sense of foreboding rose in Professor Ma’s heart, freezing him in place as he suddenly opened his eyes wide.
In his line of sight stood an old man with a pale face, a wrinkled visage, and murky eyes, standing straight in front of him.
His heart skipped a beat; Professor Ma instinctively took a half-step back, and upon realizing that the lifeless old man was merely his reflection in the mirror, he broke into a bitter smile.
Truly, one grows old; it’s not the same. In his youth, staying up several nights in a row wouldn’t make him look this bad.
Maybe I really should listen to my wife, getting home early every day, and before it gets dark, joining her for some square dancing to strengthen my health.
With my clumsy moves, dancing around in the square must look ridiculous, right?
Professor Ma thought to himself, tucking away the handkerchief and preparing to leave, eager to reunite with his wife.
Just as he pushed open the restroom door, he felt as though the lights in the research room dimmed slightly.
The bookshelves, desks, chairs, and various experimental tools cast large shadows around; his view became hazy as if shrouded in mist or separated by frosted glass.
In the southeast corner of the room, near Gate Four of the school, a window he didn’t notice had opened at some point.
A gust of wind rushed in through the window, causing the deep blue curtains to flutter, resembling a bizarre figure twisting with soft limbs.
The wind outside was strong, carrying the chill of a late autumn night; the temperature in the research room seemed to drop slightly, and the books and materials on the desk rustled in the wind as if an invisible presence were flipping through them.
Something had entered the research room.
A thought suddenly crossed Professor Ma’s mind.
Although the research room looked just as it did before he entered the restroom, with everything quietly in place, he felt that something was different, as if someone had moved things around and returned them to their original positions.
This was a sensitive intuition developed over many years of working in the same place.
It was like noticing that a computer had been played with by a child or that a hiding spot for secret money had been rummaged through by his wife—unable to discern it with the n*ked eye, he could still vaguely sense that something was off.
“Clatter——!” A faint sound echoed from an unseen place, like a book being knocked to the ground, and the entire research room fell into a deathly silence once more.
The intruder had not left!?
Professor Ma’s pupils constricted, feeling a jolt of fear.
He suddenly sensed that the atmosphere in the research room had become eerie, as if there were someone hiding in every corner beyond his line of sight.
Behind corners, under the desk, in the gaps between bookshelves, even behind the bathroom door that was just a stone’s throw away…
They were curled up, hiding in the shadows, with strange smiles on their faces, quietly watching him with malicious eyes.
“……”
Professor Ma’s heart raced, goosebumps erupted all over his body, and his back felt chilly; he dared not think further.
He cautiously retreated back into the restroom.
Gently locking the restroom door behind him, Professor Ma shook with trembling hands as he rummaged through his jacket pocket, finally locating the three Initial Scene Spring Breeze Talismans that Luxianbei had given him for self-defense.
He placed two of them, one in front of the door and the other on the windowsill, while holding one in his hand and retreating to a corner distant from the main door. He then pulled out a pillbox from his inner pocket.
Though not having directly experienced an urban legend event, having lived this long, he had certainly heard about many.
In numerous urban legend incidents, the victims were not directly killed by the urban legend but were scared to d*ath.
So…
Better take two antihypertensives!
Otherwise, while waiting for rescue, he might not be able to endure the fright and end up scaring himself to d*ath, which would be quite the shame.
Professor Ma thought as he took two tablets from the pillbox and swallowed them, then pulled out his phone to find Luxianbei’s number in his contacts and began drafting a message.
Whether it was his imagination or not, at that moment when the door closed, the foul smell hanging in the air seemed to intensify.
As if the source of the stench was gradually approaching from somewhere beyond his sight…
