Forbidden Land – CH 005

The next morning, he woke up to clear skies. Although the March temperature was still low, the rare clear blue sky instantly lifted his spirits.

Especially Zijingang Campus, covering over 6,000 acres, larger than most towns, was filled with lawns, trees, and lakes, except for the campus buildings. Every morning, tens of thousands of students would rush to their classrooms and libraries, some by bicycle, some on foot—a truly magnificent sight. Most students admitted to Zhejiang University were diligent learners, and every morning, facing the resounding voices of tens of thousands of students, everyone felt a profound sense of peace and wonder.

Zhang Chao woke up around 9 AM. He didn’t have classes that morning and wasn’t a particularly diligent student, so he ate some snacks as usual and turned on his computer to go online.

He first checked the school forum, but after browsing, he found nothing related to the previous night’s events; he guessed they had all been deleted.

He then went to another forum section, flipping through a few pages, when suddenly, a post title caught his eye. The post, titled “Has anyone seen a woman in ancient costume in the West Campus?”, read: “It was past 10 PM tonight. I was cycling around the campus, and on a small path behind the School of Medicine in the southwest corner, I saw a woman about 30 meters away in the woods. She was wearing white, what looked like ancient clothing, with disheveled hair, standing there motionless. I initially thought she was some kind of sculpture, but when she saw me, she actually moved and slowly walked into the woods. Ah, it really scared me to death!”

Zhang Chao, seeing the post, which was from a few days ago, didn’t pay much attention. After all, TV drama crews often filmed at Zijingang Campus, so filming period dramas wasn’t unusual.

However, as he read on, he noticed many follow-up comments. One comment wrote: “So the original poster saw it too! I thought I was the only one. Is that forest in the undeveloped swamp? How did that woman in ancient costume get in? I saw her two weeks ago, and when I told others, they didn’t believe me.”

Later, someone else posted: “I saw her too. She must be mentally ill. It’s actually a bit scary.”

After scrolling through a few pages of replies, most people were just commenting for fun or to watch the drama unfold, but more than ten people claimed to have seen the woman in an ancient costume.

Following further, there was another post: “You saw her in the swamp? I was walking with my girlfriend at night, passing by the School of Medicine building, and saw her standing on the upper floor. She had disheveled hair, wore an ancient costume, and we couldn’t see her face. We were terrified. The mentally ill person saw us and immediately turned and left. We were so scared!”

Zhang Chao’s heart skipped a beat. School of Medicine building, woman in ancient costume!

There was another comment: “Was it a woman in a white ancient costume, wearing black shoes? I saw her too; it must be some crazy person trying to scare people.”

After reading through everything, there was nothing else. Zhang Chao suddenly remembered the pair of feet in yesterday’s security camera footage—could they belong to this crazy person? Right, there were security cameras on other floors too; he wondered if they caught anything.

Thinking about this, a sudden, inexplicable panic gripped his heart.

Just as he was engrossed in the post, there were a few knocks on the door. He jumped in surprise, opened it, and saw Lin Yi’ang, his classmate. Lin Yi’ang and Zhang Chao were practically best friends. It wasn’t just that they got along well; Bai Qiu was Lin Yi’ang’s cousin, and Lin Yi’ang had played a significant role in introducing Bai Qiu and Zhang Chao.

Seeing Zhang Chao’s pale face, Lin Yi’ang asked with concern, “Zhang Chao, are you alright?”

Zhang Chao shook his head, saying, “It was you who startled me with that knock! What is it?”

Lin Yi’ang glanced at Li Weihao’s empty bed and said, “I came to check on you, after all… so much has happened.”

To be honest, although Lin Yi’ang and Li Weihao were classmates, Li Weihao was always rather introverted, and Lin Yi’ang wasn’t very close to him. Aside from exchanging greetings, they didn’t have much to talk about. So, while Lin Yi’ang felt a little depressed knowing Li Weihao had committed suicide, he wasn’t really heartbroken. It was like seeing someone die online—you were indifferent.

Zhang Chao and Li Weihao were roommates, but they didn’t talk much and didn’t know each other very well. However, since he was the one who witnessed Li Weihao’s death, while he wasn’t exactly heartbroken to the point of crying, he couldn’t bring himself to laugh lately.

Lin Yi’ang added, “Seeing you’re alright, I’m relieved. By the way, the head teacher asked me to inform everyone that Teacher Liu is coming over for a meeting at noon. After lunch, let’s all go to room 125 together.”

Zhang Chao nodded and said, “By the way, what did the police say?”

Lin Yi’ang said, “I heard from the student leader that the police initially ruled it a ‘suicide.'”

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, “Impossible.”

Lin Yi’ang said, “Yeah, it’s impossible. Although I’m not familiar with Weihao, he hasn’t seemed unusual lately. But I heard the whole thing is on the surveillance footage.”

Zhang Chao said, “That’s because they only saw part of the footage.”

“Ah, part of the footage?” Lin Yi’ang lowered his voice. “What do you mean?”

Zhang Chao said, “Let’s go to the meeting at noon and hear what they have to say. I’ll tell you after the meeting. Let’s go eat first.”

Lin Yi’ang stopped him: “Wait, brother, stop keeping me in suspense! Just finish what you have to say!”

Zhang Chao closed the dorm room door, lowered his voice, and said, “Yesterday, Weihao and I went to study together. He didn’t seem unusual at all, and he was very focused on his work. He didn’t seem like the type to ‘commit suicide’ at all.”

Lin Yi’ang asked, “And then?”

Zhang Chao said, “I’m telling you, but don’t tell anyone. Yesterday, we were studying in the School of Medicine library, and Weihao said several times that he heard someone singing. After we finished studying, we went to get our bikes, and he said he heard someone singing again. So he went upstairs, and that’s when that happened. Isn’t that weird?”

Lin Yi’ang frowned and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Are you still in the mood to lie now?”

Zhang Chao said seriously, “I swear I haven’t told a single lie! From beginning to end, I didn’t hear anyone singing. Besides, I saw the surveillance footage at the police station yesterday.”

Lin Yi’ang’s expression turned serious.

Zhang Chao continued, “In the video, after Weihao jumped down, three minutes later, a pair of feet appeared in the far distance of the frame, stood for a few seconds, and then walked away.”

Lin Yi’ang didn’t believe it at all. “You’re fucking kidding me!”

Zhang Chao said seriously, “I’m being serious. How could I joke about something like this?”

Lin Yi’ang was still skeptical: “Really?”

Zhang Chao nodded. “This is too far-fetched. I’ll investigate further. I won’t be able to sleep peacefully until I find out.”

Lin Yi’ang pondered for a moment, then said, “Could there really be a woman in ancient costume?”

“Huh?” Zhang Chao exclaimed in surprise, “You know about women in ancient costumes?”

Lin Yi’ang said, “I also saw that post. But to be honest, I haven’t seen the video, so I really can’t believe what you’re saying.”

Zhang Chao shook his head disappointedly. “Whatever. Let’s go eat first. I still have something to ask Teacher Liu after we finish eating.”