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Join the ServerUpon hearing this, Lu Yang instantly realized his chance had come. He had been feeling useless, but now, a fearless resolve eclipsed his lingering apprehension.
Clutching the heavily rusted, yet surprisingly sturdy, iron pipe, he took a deep breath. He then channeled all his strength into prying at the recessed corner of the wall that Lin Juan’s lingering spirit indicated.
The iron pipe grated against the concrete and shattered bricks, creating an earsplitting scrape. Dust cascaded down, mixing with the stale, musty air of the chemistry prep room, making it even more suffocating.
Lu Yang toiled, drenched in sweat, but driven by a single-minded determination. He couldn’t afford to complain; his only thought was to prove himself.
“Clang!”
A resonant clang echoed as the iron pipe struck something hard—something distinct from the usual brick and cement.
Lu Yang’s spirits lifted. He redoubled his efforts, carefully clearing away the surrounding debris and loose earth. Soon, the outline of a square object, wrapped in thick oilcloth and waterproof plastic, emerged from behind the heavy, discarded iron frames.
The multi-layered plastic was severely brittle and damaged.
He cast aside the iron pipe and used his hands to carefully pry open the last layers of dust, retrieving the wrapped bundle.
The bundle wasn’t large, roughly the size of two dictionaries stacked together, yet it felt heavy in his hands.
The oilcloth crumbled at his touch, revealing a hardbound notebook with severely yellowed, curled, and damaged pages. The cover bore no title, only stains and watermarks left by the passage of time.
“I found it! It’s… a notebook?” Lu Yang gasped, raising the item he held.
Qin Xuan immediately took it, shining his flashlight meticulously over the cover and title page. Then, donning the thin cotton gloves he carried, he very carefully turned to the inner pages.
Even though the paper was severely embrittled and crumbling, the blue fountain pen ink was still legible, despite some fading and discoloration. The handwriting exuded a starkly different feeling—precise and methodical, every word a clear record.
[X Year X Month X Day, Wang XX of Construction Company Li XX “sponsored” five thousand yuan for the West District experimental building project.]
[X Year X Month X Day, a pair of Qing Dynasty jade pendants (estimated value around twenty thousand) given to “express gratitude” to Director for his children’s transfer.]
[X Year X Month X Day, textbook procurement kickbacks, three hundred thousand yuan received.]
The entries were densely packed, spanning over a decade. The individuals involved were diverse, including university staff, external businessmen, and student parents.
The reasons covered every aspect of university operations: infrastructure, procurement, admissions, title evaluations, and project approvals. The items ranged from cash and jewelry to books and antiques.
Lu Yang, peering over Qin Xuan’s shoulder, felt his eyes glaze over, a dizzying blur of numbers and names. “What… what is all this recorded? A ledger? It doesn’t look like a proper one.”
Qin Xuan’s gaze rapidly scanned the pages. His eyes, slightly narrowed behind his glasses, absorbed the information at high speed.
He flipped to a section in the middle of the notebook where the frequency of records and the fixed recipient titles were noticeably higher than elsewhere. He then quickly turned to the last page, mentally calculating the dates of the entries.
“This isn’t an ordinary ledger.” Qin Xuan closed the notebook, his voice carrying the cold weight of a chilling truth.
“This is a systematic record of bribery and illicit gains by the former principal of N University during his tenure. Judging by the date of the last entry, it spans his ten years and six months in office.”
He paused, then added, “I’ve made a rough tally of the visible pages, including clearly marked cash and estimable items. The cumulative total exceeds three million five hundred and sixty thousand yuan.”
“This doesn’t even include many records without clear valuations or those that might have been overlooked. The records are extremely detailed, even briefly mentioning hidden handover locations and intermediaries.”
Lu Yang gasped, “Three million five hundred and sixty thousand?!”
“Xuan, you just calculated that in your head?!” He was not sensitive to numbers. Then he indignantly added, “That’s over three million from thirty-four years ago! That must have been an enormous sum back then!”
Qin Xuan adjusted his glasses, calmly correcting him,
“Considering inflation and changes in currency purchasing power, three million five hundred and sixty thousand yuan from thirty-four years ago is actually equivalent to about fifty to eighty million yuan today, or even higher.
To put it another way, this amount of money would have been enough to acquire a large number of high-quality assets or make massive investments in any first-tier city at that time.”
“One… one hundred and twenty million?!” Lu Yang’s eyes widened, his voice rising in pitch. “Holy hell! This is outright grand corruption! No wonder it was hidden so thoroughly!”
He then looked puzzled. “But what does this have to do with Chen Wan being bullied by students? How could a poor student like her have something so deadly?”
Su Mian’s mind flashed back to several scenes from last night—Chen Wan huddled in a corner, clutching an old schoolbag; Zhou Li and others fiercely demanding, ‘Where is the thing?’, Chen Wan shaking her head, eyes filled with terror, yet with a hint of stubbornness.
“I understand!” Su Mian blurted out, her voice trembling slightly with excitement. “In those visions, I was blocking Chen Wan to force her to hand over that thing. Could it be… that she accidentally obtained this item?”
Qin Xuan nodded, the light of wisdom in his eyes growing clearer.
“The logical chain is complete. Chen Wan came from a poor family. Perhaps to subsidize her living expenses or out of interest, she often visited old bookstalls and junk shops to find old books.
It’s highly probable that she inadvertently bought or picked up this notebook, which contains the fatal evidence against Zhou Li’s father, from one of these places.”
“She might not have fully realized the weight of its contents at first, but Zhou Li or her family might have learned of the notebook’s whereabouts through some channel, or perhaps Chen Wan’s accidental words or actions aroused Zhou Li’s suspicion.”
He looked at the yellowed manuscript, as if he could see the thrilling events of that year through the pages.
“For Zhou Li, this notebook was not just evidence of her father’s crimes, but a sword hanging over her entire family, a sword that, once exposed, would lead to utter ruin.
Therefore, she had to retrieve it at all costs. And this seemingly light, yet heavy-as-a-mountain, notebook—or perhaps certain pages within it—became the starting point for her transformation into a killer, even leading to an intentional cover-up… the beginning of all tragedy.”
Just then—
“Crack! Boom—”
The ice wall finally buckled under the immense pressure. Under the blade light infused with dense ‘dread,’ large chunks of ice crystals shattered and peeled away!
Miyuki-maru grunted, the chill around her momentarily faltering. The ice wall’s repair rate was far outpaced by its destruction!
“Miyuki-maru!” Su Mian exclaimed.
Just as the dark red liquid, transforming into a streamlined attack, lunged at Lu Yang, who was closest, a flash of blade light, as black as ink and wreathed in dense ‘dread,’ tore through the night like lightning. Hua Liang, who had subtly shifted to the flank at some unknown moment, delivered a seemingly casual yet resolute horizontal slash!
“Pfft—”
There was no earth-shattering roar, not even the violent corrosive hiss of something plunged into cold water. The menacing liquid tentacles evaporated violently, as if they had encountered their nemesis.
As the blade light swept through, it actually cleaved the regenerating liquid outline into two halves!
Black energy swirled around the severed edges, preventing their rapid fusion. The two separated parts writhed frantically, attempting to reconnect, but the black energy at the cuts clung like a persistent gangrene, greatly delaying the process.
Hua Liang sheathed his blade, his movements fluid and natural, as if he had merely performed a trivial task.
His reddish-brown eyes calmly swept over the temporarily suppressed liquid entity. There was only a sizzling sound, like a red-hot iron plunged into cold water, that erupted the instant it met the dark blade light!
“Leave this to me. You all go find the core of the array.” He paused, then looked at the pale-faced Miyuki-maru. “Miyuki-maru, you go too. Your current state won’t allow you to harm me.”
Hua Liang cut her off, his tone brimming with confidence. “Before its true form completely breaks the seal, these overflowing remnants cannot stop me, nor can they injure me. But the seal is on the verge of collapse; time is short. You must find the core quickly.”
Su Mian watched Hua Liang’s tall back, then glanced at the two masses of liquid, still stubbornly writhing and attempting to merge despite being cleaved and infused with corrosive black energy.
She asked worriedly, “Student Hua Liang, are you really okay? It looks…”
Hua Liang slightly turned his head, a hint of wildness curving his lips. “I just haven’t found an effective way to completely eliminate this conceptual, resentful spirit, but it won’t be easy for it to break through my defenses either.”
He swept his gaze over the pale-faced Lu Yang, who deliberately said, “Of course, if its main body breaks the seal and its strength surges, it might be able to create some trouble for me. But before that, it can easily kill you.”
Lu Yang shivered. His momentary awe at Hua Liang’s strength was instantly drowned by even greater fear. With a terrified expression, he pleaded, “Hua Liang, my lord! You must hold on! Please, hold on!”
Hua Liang said no more, simply waving his hand to signal them to hurry.
Lin Juan’s lingering spirit also seemed to sense the urgency of time. Her ethereal form flickered as she drifted directly through the chemistry prep room and towards the rusty iron door they hadn’t noticed earlier, half-hidden by thick shelves.
The iron door looked like it led to an internal storage room or a pipe shaft. Its hinges were severely corroded.
Qin Xuan stepped forward, once again demonstrating his astonishing lock-picking skills. This time, he didn’t even use a wire; he merely used the special hook on his multi-functional military knife to fiddle with the keyhole for a moment. With a soft ‘click,’ the lock sprang open.
Pushing open the heavy iron door, a wave of air, colder and damper than the chemistry prep room, rushed out, carrying a strong earthy smell and a faint odor of decay.
Behind the door was a narrow, steep concrete staircase descending into profound darkness. The flashlight’s beam could only illuminate a few steps covered in dust and cobwebs.
Lin Juan’s lingering spirit hovered above the stairs, slowly drifting downwards, like a faint guiding light.
Su Mian followed closely, with Qin Xuan supporting the somewhat weak-kneed Lu Yang at the rear. His flashlight and instruments provided as much illumination as possible for the path ahead.
The staircase seemed to lead even deeper, beneath the very foundation of the teaching building, far more profound than imagined.
The air grew progressively colder, and white mist was visible with every breath. The walls were rough concrete, unpainted, covered in mottled water stains and strange dark smudges.
In the silence, only their footsteps, their breathing, and the faint, distant ‘drip-drip’ sound—whether of water or something else—could be heard.
After walking for about two or three minutes, the stairs finally came to an end. Ahead was a low, narrow brick and stone passage, just wide enough for one person. It looked quite old, with some bricks already loose and fallen.
Lin Juan’s lingering spirit floated steadfastly forward. After passing through a seemingly endless dark passage, the path ahead suddenly opened up.
A naturally formed underground cave, slightly modified by human hands, appeared before everyone’s eyes. The space wasn’t exceptionally large, about half the size of a basketball court, but it had a high ceiling from which some damp, stalactite-like structures hung.
The temperature inside the cave was extremely low, and the air was so humid it felt icy. The ground was slippery, covered in gravel and mud.
In the very center of the cave, on a slightly elevated, drier stone platform, a horrifying scene was clearly illuminated by the flashlight beams.
A skeleton, curled up and wrapped in tattered, decades-old clothing, lay silently there. The bones were in an extremely painful posture, the cervical spine clearly broken and dislocated, yet the struggle and unwillingness seemed frozen in the air, unscattered even after thirty-four years.
At the skeleton’s chest, beneath fragments of clothing, a corner of a small, dark wooden box, engraved with complex runes, was vaguely visible. The box seemed to be clutched in the skeleton’s hand, or rather, the skeleton’s grip, which had not loosened even in death, still held it.
Around the skeleton, on the ground, a massive and intricate magic array had been drawn using a dark red, viscous liquid that seemed to be a mixture of cinnabar, metallic powder, and a special pigment.
The lines of the array were somewhat blurred and faded, but the core structure was still recognizable—it was the ‘Seven Stars Suppressing Spirit Seal’ formation that Moyuan had mentioned!
In the seven star positions, there were depressions. Six of these held embedded jade-like or bone-like talismans, many of which were cracked, with two already shattered into several pieces.
Only the talisman at the position of the seventh star of the Big Dipper still emitted a faint, intermittent golden light, barely sustaining the array’s final operation.
However, the entire array, especially beneath and around the skeleton, was continuously seeping that familiar dark red, viscous liquid, which persistently polluted and corroded the array lines!
This place was Chen Wan’s burial ground, and also the core array eye of the ‘Seven Stars Suppressing Spirit Seal’!
Lin Juan’s lingering spirit floated near the skeleton, no longer advancing.
She simply gazed silently at the white bones, her translucent form trembling violently, radiating endless sorrow, guilt, and grief. Her eyes, which had been completely dim, were now filled with despair.
Su Mian looked at the curled skeleton, thinking of her delicate appearance in life, the undeserved bullying and tragic death, and the thirty-four years of confinement and anger after death. Her heart felt clutched by a cold hand, her nose stung, and her throat tightened painfully.
Miyuki-maru analyzed, “This place is a rare extreme yin land. No wonder Chen Wan transformed into a malevolent spirit so quickly.”
“The corpse was actually dumped here.”
Su Mian’s necklace, around her neck, suddenly brightened at this moment. Its light not only enveloped her entire body but also shone upon the skeleton and the crumbling array.
The dark red liquid seeping from the ground, where the light touched, seemed to encounter its natural enemy, emitting a faint ‘sizzle’ and shrinking back, evaporating somewhat.
The light from the nearly extinguished seventh star talisman also seemed to stabilize for an instant.
Miyuki-maru sensed for a while and then said, “The array eye’s pollution level exceeds eighty percent! The core talismans are almost completely exhausted! It can only hold out for three to four more minutes before it completely collapses!”
Lu Yang looked at the skeleton and the terrifying array, his legs turning to jelly. He gripped Qin Xuan’s arm tightly. “Then, what do we do now? What can we do? Bury these bones… or fix this array?”
Qin Xuan’s expression was grave.
“The way of seals is complex and profound. Especially ancient arrays like this, centered on suppressing malevolent spirits, their energy circuits and runic structures are deeply intertwined with the earth veins and the suppressed resentment.
Rashly touching it could not only accelerate its collapse but also trigger a backlash of resentment or a surge of earth energy.”
“None of us are proficient in this art.” She looked at Su Mian’s glowing necklace. “However, Su Mian’s necklace seems to have a special purifying effect on the resentment here. Perhaps…”
Just then, Lin Juan’s lingering spirit suddenly moved.
She turned towards Su Mian, then with extreme difficulty, raised her translucent arm and pointed towards the chest of the white bones—more precisely, towards the dark runic wooden box clutched in the skeleton’s hand.
A faint, almost inaudible voice, broken and intermittent, reached Su Mian’s mind directly:
‘Chen Wan wasn’t just holding onto the manuscript…’
‘There was also… what Zhou Li hastily hid inside…’
‘A curse medium…’
Before she finished speaking, Lin Juan’s lingering spirit flickered violently several times, becoming even more transparent and illusory, as if it could dissipate at any moment.
Miyuki-maru’s face was cold. “How truly malicious… They never intended to let Chen Wan go, no wonder her resentment is so deep…”
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