Forbidden Land – CH 023

Zhang Chao stood on the grass for a while, then turned and went back to his dormitory. When he reached the Baisha Square, he saw a girl wearing black stockings, with slender calves, straight thighs, and slightly upturned buttocks.

Although it was early March and the weather was still quite cold, girls seemed to undergo a genetic mutation after entering university from high school, becoming immune to the cold. This was especially true in Baisha, where the girls from the Economics Department lived—a veritable free-for-all of beauties.

Zhang Chao recognized the girl—a girl with an absolutely stunning figure—as Zhu Xiaoyu, Bai Qiu’s former roommate.

During that phone call, Zhu Xiaoyu had hung up immediately, and Zhang Chao was cursing. Later, he learned that Bai Qiu had developed a mental illness, which explained Zhu Xiaoyu’s unusual behavior on the phone.

As usual, Zhang Chao greeted her from afar, “Xiaoyu!”

Zhu Xiaoyu turned around, saw it was Zhang Chao, said nothing, and quickened her pace towards the Baisha girls’ dormitory.

Zhang Chao ran up to her and said, “Don’t you recognize me?”

Zhu Xiaoyu replied, “I’m going back to my dorm. Is there something you need?”

Seeing her cold voice, Zhang Chao wasn’t too pleased. He casually asked, “Have you seen Bai Qiu recently?”

Zhu Xiaoyu’s face remained cold. “You ask too many questions,” she said.

Zhang Chao chuckled, “I think I only asked one.”

“Get out of the way!” Zhu Xiaoyu called out in a low voice. Passersby all turned to look.

Zhang Chao awkwardly stepped aside to let her pass. He was about to curse, but then he thought, Zhu Xiaoyu was considered a beauty in the Economics Department. There were plenty of men who wanted to sleep with her. If someone heard him, he might get a beating. He reluctantly returned to his dorm.

After getting to his dorm and going to sleep, he, who already suffered from mild neurasthenia, found it difficult to fall asleep and was prone to waking up. Having experienced so much, his headache only worsened. He drifted off to sleep in the middle of the night, then woke up to use the restroom. His eyes were still heavy with sleep; he’d finally managed to fall asleep, and he was afraid that if he opened them wide, he’d wake up and find it hard to fall back asleep. He got out of bed, carefully checked his feet on the floor, slipped on his shoes, and headed for the bathroom.

But after only a few steps, he sensed something was wrong.

These weren’t his slippers!

His own slippers were made of wool, but these were clearly different.

Looking down, he felt a cold sweat trickle down his back, and every pore on his body seemed to widen. He was wearing a pair of black cloth shoes!

Red stitching, several holes in the uppers, all covered in mud. They were those old, worn-out shoes!

A silent, suffocating pressure pressed down on his nerves.

But what he caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye made him completely go limp.

Inside the bathroom door, it looked like…it looked like someone was standing there! A shadow, winding and twisting, emerged from the dimly lit toilet.

This time, it wasn’t a shadow hiding behind the door, only the upper body visible; this time, it was a complete human figure. The head of the shadow was about 10 centimeters in front of his feet, seemingly with long, flowing hair.

Who, and when, came in?

Zhang Chao’s heart pounded. He desperately suppressed his breathing, slowly raising his head, his gaze inching towards the toilet.

His eyes met a pair of feet at the toilet doorway.

Brand new black cloth shoes, white socks, and a white cloth skirt that reached all the way to his ankles!

Who in modern times would wear a skirt that reached all the way to their ankles?

What was that?

An ancient skirt!

Zhang Chao couldn’t hold back any longer and screamed.

He opened his eyes instantly; it was all a dream!

He breathed a sigh of relief; it was a false alarm. The image of the School of Medicine building earlier that day must have been too vivid, causing the nightmare.

He climbed out of bed; this time, he really needed to pee. He checked the floor carefully; only his wool slippers were there, no black cloth shoes. Reassured, he put on his shoes and glanced at the shadow of the toilet door—a perfectly straight line, incredibly realistic. He walked confidently to the toilet door, turned on the light, and went in to relieve himself.

After coming out, he turned off the light and was about to crawl back to bed to sleep.

Suddenly, a long, faint sigh came from behind him—a woman’s sigh!

Zhang Chao stopped, listening intently behind him.

Several seconds passed without sound.

Just as he was about to turn around, the woman shouted, “Don’t go to the School of Medicine again!”

It was Bai Qiu’s voice! Zhang Chao whirled around and ran towards the window. In the distance, on the grass, Bai Qiu, wearing a red down jacket, walked slowly forward with her back turned.

Zhang Chao hurriedly opened the window and called out several times, “Bai Qiu, Bai Qiu!”

His voice wasn’t loud because he didn’t want to wake the others. But Bai Qiu was only about ten meters away; in the quiet night, she must have heard him.

However, Bai Qiu didn’t seem to hear him at all. Her posture remained unchanged, and she continued walking forward step by step.

This patch of grass was south of the dormitory. If Bai Qiu wanted to go back to the dormitory, she should have walked north to Baisha Square after coming out of the grass. But Bai Qiu was continuing south, and at the intersection, she turned west towards the cafeteria.

Zhang Chao panicked. Bai Qiu had a severe case of split personality. Where was she going in the middle of the night? Would she encounter danger?!

Zhang Chao quickly put on his pants and shoes in a few seconds and ran out of the dormitory, putting on his clothes as he went. Reaching the entrance to Baisha Square, he swiped his access card, pushed open the door, and ran out. When he got to the grassy area, he looked around, but Bai Qiu was gone.

Just as he was about to run towards the road, the window of dormitory 121 opened, and Lin Yi’ang, wearing pajamas, poked his head out and whispered, “Zhang Chao, what are you doing? You were yelling again; are you looking for trouble?”

Zhang Chao walked to the window, also lowering his voice so as not to wake the others, and said, “I just saw Bai Qiu walk that way. I went to check on her. It’s the middle of the night, and I’m worried about her safety.”

Lin Yi’ang said, “Bai Qiu? Impossible! What time is it? You must have seen wrong.”

Zhang Chao was too lazy to argue with him and said, “You can go back to sleep. She’s not your wife anyway. I’m off!” With that, he ran towards the road.

After turning past the Agricultural Bank of China in the Baisha Comprehensive Building behind the dormitory, he quickly ran to the cafeteria across the street. This cafeteria at Zijingang Campus was known as “Asia’s largest cafeteria,” with a plaza of several thousand square meters below called “Cultural Plaza.”

Zhang Chao took out his phone and glanced at it. It was already 1:30 AM. In the cultural square, only two or three people seemed to be sitting and chatting in the distance, drinking. Apart from them, there was no one else in sight.

Zhang Chao had no choice but to walk towards them. They looked like students, but the more “free” type of university students. Reaching them, Zhang Chao asked, “Excuse me, did you see a girl in a red dress walk by just now?”

The group looked at each other and asked, “Did she?” “I don’t think so.” “Definitely not!” “If she did, we would have noticed.”

Zhang Chao could only say, “Sorry to bother you.”

Saying this, he walked back to the main road between the cafeteria and the Baisha Comprehensive Building. The road was deserted, with only the streetlights shining alone. Zhang Chao felt anxious. He looked south, and suddenly a thought occurred to him. Bai Qiu always mentioned the School of Medicine. Now that she had a mental illness, could it be… Could it be that she went to the School of Medicine alone?

Never mind, he’d go check. As long as she wasn’t there, he’d be half relieved. That place was too eerie, Bai Qiu… Thinking of Bai Qiu always brought a pang of sorrow to his heart.