Forbidden Land – CH 122

Seeing the man, Zhang Chao was startled. He hadn’t expected there to be two people, and both of them were dressed like corpses.

The girl in black glared at Zhang Chao again after hearing the man’s words, then turned around, and the two prepared to go downstairs together.

Seeing that they didn’t seem to intend to harm him, Zhang Chao forgot his earlier pain and called out, “Wait!”

The man turned around, his face expressionless, looking at Zhang Chao calmly, his tone seemingly refined and polite. “Excuse me, is there something you need?”

Zhang Chao didn’t know where to begin, only wanting to learn more about the School of Medicine from them, and stammered, “I…I wanted to ask, you…you are from the Qiushi Society?”

The man didn’t speak, and the girl in black said, “You’d better forget about these things; this…it’s none of your business!”

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Zhang Chao said, “This…how is this none of my business!”

The man let out a surprised “Eh?” and said, “Excuse me, how much do you know about this place?”

Zhang Chao blurted out, “A woman in ancient clothing…is she a jiangshi?”

Both the man and the woman in black seemed somewhat surprised. The man asked, “Who told you that?”

Zhang Chao, unsure of the man’s intention, stammered, “I…I guessed.”

The man, who was about to walk down, stopped, turned around, and walked in front of Zhang Chao, calmly looking at him. “Have you seen her?”

Zhang Chao nodded.

The man smiled, but it was just a fleeting smile. He then said, “Forget about it. Don’t tell anyone, okay? I think this kind of thing will soon be a thing of the past.”

Zhang Chao didn’t agree but instead asked, “Can you catch the woman in an ancient costume?”

The man nodded confidently. “Things that shouldn’t be in the school will definitely disappear. Everything here will return to normal. I hope you promise me you won’t tell anyone about this. Don’t tell anyone you saw us either. I apologize on behalf of Xiao Wang for what she did earlier.”

The girl in black stared at Zhang Chao without showing any sign of apology. Only the man was very polite, seemingly a seasoned veteran.

Zhang Chao remembered Chen Demao’s introduction: the Quishi Society was a mysterious organization that didn’t want anyone to know about it, secretly researching feng shui and metaphysics, and had always been a covert supporter of the school’s development. He figured the members were all good people. Xiao Wang hitting him earlier was just to scare him. If they really wanted to do something to him, he probably would have already let them do as they pleased.

Thinking they were good people, Zhang Chao grew bolder. He desperately wanted to know all the mysteries of this place. If he directly agreed not to tell anyone, he might never know the answers.

After a moment’s thought, he said, “I can promise you I absolutely won’t reveal it. However, this matter is also closely related to me, and I won’t be at peace if I don’t understand it. I hope you can also answer some questions in my mind.”

The man lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, then looked up and said, “Alright, since you know our identities, I’m interested too. Besides us, who else can explain the story behind the school song? It’s too dark here; let’s find another place to talk.”

Zhang Chao said, “Okay!”

The three of them walked down together. The girl in black seemed consistently unfriendly towards him, remaining cold and aloof the whole way. The man, on the other hand, seemed very good at dealing with people and gave off a friendly impression.

Upon arriving at the ground floor of the Teaching Building, the man led him towards a large vehicle parked by the roadside. Upon closer inspection, Zhang Chao was astonished—a BMW 730 luxury minivan, costing a million or two! Who were these people? They were incredibly wealthy!

The man got into the driver’s seat, while the girl and Zhang Chao sat in the back.

The girl took out a basin, poured water into it, and then took out two towels. She dampened one and gave it to the man, using the other to wipe her face.

The two quickly wiped away the thick white powder from their faces, revealing their true appearances. The man’s face was relatively smooth. The girl’s face wasn’t as white, and her features were quite regular, but now she looked even less like Bai Qiu.

Afterward, they both took off their black clothes and put on casual everyday clothes. At this point, they looked no different from ordinary people.

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The man appeared somewhat thinner, while the girl had a good figure.

Zhang Chao looked at them strangely and asked, “Why did you wear black clothes and paint your faces white?”

The man smiled, a very small smile, just a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. This was the kind of restrained, professional smile usually seen on company executives. The man didn’t answer but asked, “Do you know why people wear either black or white clothes at funerals? They never wear brightly colored clothes.”

Zhang Chao replied, “That’s how it is everywhere. It’s a custom. Brightly colored clothes are too festive and don’t match the atmosphere of a funeral.”

The man smiled again, shook his head slightly, and said, “What you said isn’t entirely correct. Bright red clothes represent joy, so they aren’t appropriate for a funeral; they don’t fit the atmosphere. But what about bright green? Green doesn’t represent joy, so why are bright green and bright purple clothes also considered inappropriate for funerals?”

Zhang Chao said, “Bright green and bright purple clothes aren’t considered inappropriate for funerals, are they? I see some people wearing them now.”

The man laughed. “People don’t follow old sayings anymore, so now, besides avoiding brightly colored clothes, everyone wears whatever they want for funerals. But family members usually wear white veils and black headscarves, right?”

Zhang Chao nodded; even someone unfamiliar with customs knew this basic concept.

The man explained, “Traditionally, why do relatives attending a funeral wear black or white? It isn’t just about it not fitting the atmosphere of a funeral; the main reason is that people used to believe that a soul exists after death. The soul is considered yin and is afraid of bright, vivid colors. Bright colors are like sunlight, causing pain to the soul. Only black or white, representing night and moonlight, aren’t feared by the soul.

“For example, even though a person is dead, the soul naturally wants to see and be close to family members as a final farewell before reincarnation. If filial children wear bright colors, it’s seen as deliberately preventing the soul from getting close, a sign of disrespect for the deceased. Because ancient people believed in the existence of a soul after death and that the soul only resonates with black and white, the long-standing custom is that relatives should wear black or white clothing during funerals and processions.”

Zhang Chao asked, puzzled, “Then… what does this have to do with you dressing like this and painting your faces white?”

The man smiled and said, “Let’s find a teahouse first and talk about these issues slowly, because I also want to know about you.”