Forbidden Land – CH 001

Early March 2008, night.

Zhang Chao was a third-year Life Sciences student at Zhejiang University. Normally, he wouldn’t study at night; his grades were mediocre, he enjoyed playing games, and he only crammed two weeks before exams. However, he had failed an exam before the new year, and with a makeup exam next week, he had no choice but to study with his roommate, Li Weihao.

The Zijingang campus had seven student campus dormitories: Danyang, Qingxi, Baisha, Cuibai, Bifeng, Ziyun, and Lantian. Both Zhang Chao and Li Weihao were Life Sciences majors and lived in room 123 of Building 2 in Baisha. Although the dorms were supposed to be four-person rooms, it was just the two of them. The other two had changed dorms two years ago after transferring majors, and no new students had been assigned to their rooms.

Li Weihao was a quiet person, but he had excellent grades and was very diligent, studying at the library every night.

The University Library was located on the east side of the campus, close to the dormitories. It had heating in winter and air conditioning in summer, making it the preferred study location for most students. The University Library closed at 9 PM, but Zhang Chao wanted to study a little later, so he went with Li Weihao to the Medical University Library in the southwest corner of the campus.

The School of Medicine’s Library was located in the most remote southwest corner of the campus, farthest from the dormitories, and therefore had the fewest people. When they arrived, only about twenty students were sitting in the library. Around 10 PM, Li Weihao, who had been concentrating on his work, suddenly turned around and whispered, “Did you hear anything?”

Zhang Chao listened carefully, but apart from the sound of students writing on paper, it was completely quiet. It was early March, and no insects or birds were chirping in the grass or bushes outside; there couldn’t be any noise. Zhang Chao could only shake his head.

Li Weihao glanced around again, then lowered his head and continued writing. After a moment, he asked again, “It sounds like someone’s singing, doesn’t it?”

Zhang Chao shook his head again. “Probably someone listening to an MP3 player; their earpiece isn’t very good, and the sound is leaking out.”

Li Weihao frowned. “It sounds like someone’s singing outside.”

Zhang Chao laughed. “Someone’s singing outside; who cares?”

Li Weihao hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and continued writing.

At 11 o’clock, all the other students who were studying had gone home, and the security guard came to close the gate. Zhang Chao and Li Weihao stood up, packed their things, and went out. As they walked, Li Weihao asked, “By the way, you were in the hospital for a week last week. Are you alright now?”

Zhang Chao smiled. “What’s wrong? Sigh, I was inexplicably unconscious for a week. I don’t know what happened, but the doctor said I’m fine.”

Li Weihao cautiously asked, “Then you weren’t thinking about—” He stopped himself from speaking.

Zhang Chao asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Li Weihao’s eyes darted around, and he said, “Nothing.”

The two arrived at the bicycle parking garage on the basement level of the Teaching Building, 300 meters behind the library. The entire Teaching Building was pitch black; only the streetlights outside provided any light.

Suddenly, Li Weihao stopped and said, “Listen, isn’t someone singing?”

Zhang Chao sighed and said, “You must be hallucinating. No one’s singing.”

Li Weihao said, “There must be someone singing right up in the Teaching Building. I’ll go check!” He immediately ran up the stairs.

Zhang Chao laughed. “This kid, he always seems so serious. I never expected him to want to get to know a girl just because he heard her singing. Heh, I never knew he’d be like this before; I never studied with him.” He shook his head and also headed towards the stairs.

The parking garage was on the basement level, above which was the Teaching Building, which had six floors. Inside the Teaching Building, all the corridor lights were off, with only the streetlights in the distance providing a faint glow.

Li Weihao ran up, while Zhang Chao walked slowly. By the time he reached the second floor, Li Weihao’s footsteps seemed to have reached the sixth floor. Zhang Chao called out, “Weihao, what are you doing?”

Only his echo echoed in the empty building. Li Weihao didn’t say a word.

Zhang Chao asked again, “Weihao, what are you doing? Come down quickly; it’s pitch black, and I’m too lazy to walk!”

Still no response.

Zhang Chao waited a moment, then called again, “Weihao, what are you doing? Come down quickly; I want to go back to sleep.”

Still no response.

After about a minute, suddenly, he glimpsed a large object falling from the window of the adjacent corridor, followed by a muffled thud. Zhang Chao quickly opened the window, looked down, and instantly, his face turned deathly pale.

Lying on the terrace outside the first floor was a person with blood pooling underneath, and next to the person was a schoolbag, Li Weihao’s schoolbag.