Forbidden Land – CH 029

Returning from Beigao Peak, Zhang Chao went to bed early that night. After several days of severe sleep deprivation, he slept soundly.

The next day was Monday, with his makeup exam the following evening. He didn’t want to go to the School of Medicine at this time, fearing it would affect his mood for the exam.

On Tuesday, the exam was from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. He handed in his paper early, around 7:00 PM. Since it was a makeup exam, the questions were very simple, all the same ones highlighted in the book. Failing this would be a waste of his time.

Zhang Chao returned to his dorm full of confidence, turned on his computer, and played some games. It was almost 9:00 PM when he heard Bai Qiu’s voice from the window: “Zhang Chao, come here.”

Zhang Chao looked up and saw Bai Qiu still wearing her red down jacket, her fair face and thin, rosy lips as lovely as ever. Zhang Chao leaned against the window and said, “Bai Qiu, why are you out again?”

Bai Qiu looked at him suspiciously, then slowly said, “Why can’t I go out for a walk?”

Zhang Chao thought for a moment; she herself didn’t know she had a mental illness, so he couldn’t say that. He quickly smiled and said, “It’s so cold; you should go back and rest.”

Bai Qiu shook her head slightly, turned around, facing south with her back to Zhang Chao, and said, “Zhu Xiaoyu is gone.”

Zhang Chao asked, puzzled, “Where did that stinky woman go?”

Bai Qiu asked, “What stinky woman?”

Zhang Chao chuckled, “That stinky woman, Zhu Xiaoyu. I called her on the street, and she didn’t answer. Ugh, not as good-looking as you, and so arrogant.”

Bai Qiu turned back and smiled, “Am I good-looking?”

Zhang Chao nodded with a smile, “Of course! My wife is definitely the most beautiful!”

Bai Qiu nodded in satisfaction, then turned back again, saying casually, “Zhu Xiaoyu is gone; aren’t you going to look for her?”

“Looking for her?” Zhang Chao was completely bewildered. “What does she have to do with me? Why should I look for her?”

Bai Qiu’s voice sounded somewhat troubled: “She’s my good friend after all. Can’t you go and save her?”

“Save her?” Zhang Chao was even more surprised. “Where did she go? I have to go save her?”

Bai Qiu said slowly, “She went to the School of Medicine. You… you should go find her. I’m begging you.”

School of Medicine again!

Zhang Chao looked surprised. “How did you know she went to the School of Medicine?”

Bai Qiu turned her head, tears welling in her eyes. “I saw her riding her bike that way. Please go find her, I beg you.”

Seeing Bai Qiu crying, Zhang Chao, though not understanding her words, quickly comforted her, “Qiu, Qiu, don’t cry. If you want me to go find her, I will. But just because you said she rode her bike that way doesn’t necessarily mean she went to the School of Medicine. The school is so big, how am I supposed to find her? Besides, even if she went to the School of Medicine, what would she think if I suddenly went looking for her?”

Bai Qiu’s tears fell drop by drop. “Please go find her; please go find her, I beg you.”

Seeing her crying so hard, Zhang Chao quickly said, “Okay, I’ll go right away. Don’t cry, don’t cry!”

Bai Qiu stopped crying and said, “Don’t go alone; ask Chen Rong to go with you.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Why ask Chen Rong?”

Bai Qiu burst into tears again, crying, “Just call Chen Rong, just call Chen Rong…”

Zhang Chao quickly coaxed her, “Okay, I’ll definitely call Chen Rong. Why don’t you go back to your dorm first?”

Bai Qiu nodded, turned, and left the grassy area, heading towards Baisha Square.

Zhang Chao hurried out of his dorm and ran down to Baisha Square. Seeing that Bai Qiu had already gone into the girls’ dormitory, he finally felt relieved. Then he thought, was Bai Qiu telling the truth? Why was Zhu Xiaoyu going to the School of Medicine? Why did Bai Qiu insist that he go find her?

Oh well, forget it. Let that bitch go wherever she wanted; it was none of his business. Just because Bai Qiu said he should go find her, he was just going to run off like that. Zhu Xiaoyu would think he was crazy.

Bai Qiu had a split personality; she always had some inexplicable thoughts. If he did what she said, wouldn’t he be just like her?

Zhang Chao thought for a moment and decided not to go, but he was still somewhat worried about what Bai Qiu had said, so he took out his phone and called Zhu Xiaoyu.

Upon answering, Zhu Xiaoyu’s cold voice came through: “What do you want!”

Zhang Chao felt a little awkward and could only ask, “Where are you?”

Zhu Xiaoyu replied, “None of your business!”

Zhang Chao swallowed hard and said, “Are you at the School of Medicine?”

There seemed to be a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, then Zhu Xiaoyu’s impatient voice came again. “I’m coming back; don’t call me again!”

With that, she hung up the phone.

Zhang Chao cursed a few times, put away his phone, and suddenly realized that, according to Zhu Xiaoyu, she really was at the School of Medicine!

Then, how did Bai Qiu know she went to the School of Medicine when she saw her riding her bike there?

Zhang Chao couldn’t figure it out, but hearing that Zhu Xiaoyu was alright and so unwelcoming, why would he go to see her? He returned to his dorm room dejectedly and searched for information about dissociative identity disorder on his computer.

After reading a lot of information about dissociative identity disorder, two pieces of information stuck in his mind. One said that patients with dissociative identity disorder would sometimes become extremely sensitive, even able to accurately predict future events. An experiment was conducted using three windowless rooms, one with a light on and the other two without. Several patients with dissociative identity disorder correctly identified which room had the light on each time, with an accuracy rate exceeding 90%, which was astonishing and scientifically inexplicable.

The other said that a very small number of patients with dissociative identity disorder sometimes possessed exceptionally high intelligence and judgment far exceeding that of ordinary people. Some scientists were patients with dissociative identity disorder.

Could Bai Qiu be one of those rare cases of dissociative identity disorder? Not only was her intelligence extremely high, but she could also foresee what would happen.

That seemed to be the only explanation.

He sat in front of the computer, thinking for a while. Just then, Bai Qiu’s voice came from the window again: “Zhang Chao, why haven’t you gone to find Zhu Xiaoyu yet?”

Zhang Chao quickly leaned out the window and saw that Bai Qiu’s eyes were red again. He hurriedly lied to her, “I went to find her. She’s studying peacefully, and she even scolded me.”

Tears streamed down Bai Qiu’s face. “You’re lying to me again,” she said. “You didn’t go to find her at all. She’s in danger. Go find her.”

Zhang Chao asked, “She’s in danger? In what danger?”

Bai Qiu shook her head, sighed softly, and said, “If you really don’t want to go find her, then… then forget it.” With that, she turned and walked away.

Zhang Chao called her name several times, but Bai Qiu didn’t respond.