Translator: CinderTL
After a lengthy discussion that yielded no real progress, Huai Yi suggested they investigate the site in person—the abandoned sports field.
It was daytime, and according to Yuan Xiaoyi, there shouldn't be any danger.
But as they approached the abandoned sports field, a man walking towards them stopped them.
The man appeared to be around 25 years old, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a dark blue jumpsuit. He still had a youthful appearance.
His gaze swept across their faces before he frowned slightly and tentatively asked, "Which of you is Jiang Cheng?"
"Why are you looking for him?" Jiang Cheng replied, giving the man an odd look, as if he weren't the person being sought.
"Oh, right. I'm Professor Wu's student. The professor asked me to find a freshman named Jiang Cheng. I can't reach him by phone. Do any of you know him?" the jumpsuit-clad man explained, his demeanor polite and refined.
Only then did Jiang Cheng notice the card clipped to the man's chest, just below his pocket—a card that looked identical to the one Professor Wu had given him.
"Senior Brother," Jiang Cheng greeted him with a cheerful smile, reaching for the man's hand, which hung in mid-air, and shaking it vigorously. "I'm Jiang Cheng. What does Professor Wu want with me?"
"You're the one?" The man instinctively adjusted his glasses, visibly surprised.
"That's right, I am." Jiang Cheng produced the identification card Professor Wu had given him, complete with his photo and name.
"I'm not entirely sure of the details myself. Just follow me," the man in work clothes said, glancing at the others. "You should all come too."
Gao Yan looked reluctant. "Do we have to go?"
"That's what Professor Wu said. He knows you're new and might need some catching up. He has another class today and thought you could sit in." The man's expression darkened slightly. "Unless... you don't want to go?"
For some reason, when Gao Yan met the man's gaze, his earlier confidence seemed to deflate.
Finally, Shen Mengyun stepped in to smooth things over. "Thank you for Professor Wu's kindness. We were planning to attend his lecture anyway."
After all the commotion, by the time Gao Yan, Liang Shan, and the others emerged from the academic building with a crowd of students, it was already afternoon.
They were so exhausted they could barely straighten their backs. They had been told they would attend lectures, but as soon as class ended, several professors summoned them to the lab to move equipment.
It was the kind of summons you couldn't avoid, with the professors blocking the doorway.
Now they understood: wasn't this just like yesterday?
The tasks were clearly designed to leave them no time to familiarize themselves with the campus.
Compared to Gao Yan and his group, Jiang Cheng, Fatty Huai Yi, and their crew were having a much easier time.
Huai Yi and Fatty had barely started moving equipment when Jiang Cheng, claiming Professor Wu had summoned them, whisked them away. The three then proceeded to bask in the air-conditioned comfort of Professor Wu's office.
Professor Wu left after giving them a few instructions. When Gao Yan and the others finally tracked them down, they were dumbfounded to see Jiang Cheng, Huai Yi, and Fatty huddled together playing Landlord.
Fatty, having lost badly, had his face plastered with white paper slips.
Hearing that Jiang Cheng had lost his phone, Professor Wu lent him an old spare from his office to use until he got a replacement, asking him to return it later.
Jiang Cheng grasped Professor Wu's hand, his eyes reddening. "I've had a tough life," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Growing up, only my parents were this kind to me—and now you, Professor."
After a quick meal, the group returned to their dorms to rest and prepare for their nighttime expedition.
Around 11 p.m., Jiangtan University fell silent. Several shadowy figures crept along the narrow paths, furtively advancing toward the abandoned sports field.
Unsurprisingly, it was Jiang Cheng and his companions.
As they neared the field, they spotted two flashlight beams sweeping across the area, indicating the presence of two security guards.
"Those must be the guards Yuan Xiaoyi mentioned," Jiang Cheng thought. He knew that being discovered would likely lead to trouble.
Perhaps the night's chill had dampened their enthusiasm, or more likely, the guards were aware of the field's sinister past and were merely going through the motions of patrolling.
The group didn't dare approach. The guards briefly scanned the area with their flashlights before moving in another direction, their faint conversation drifting into the night.
Once the guards had disappeared, the group followed Yuan Xiaoyi's instructions. They turned their backs to a small gate in the northwest corner of the field.
Silently, they waited for midnight to arrive.
When the time came, everyone simultaneously closed their eyes and began slowly backing away, walking backward.
They didn't know how far they had gone, but the air grew damp and chilly. A biting wind swept through the night, capable of freezing them to the bone.
The sudden shift in atmosphere immediately reminded them of the chilling sensation they had experienced inside the Medical Building.
Then, raindrops began to fall on their heads and bodies. The rain seemed to materialize out of nowhere, filling the once-silent world with a soft, steady patter.
They were inside.
Slowly, they opened their eyes.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it was relentless, shrouding the entire abandoned sports field in a misty haze that severely limited visibility. Beyond ten meters, only faint outlines could be discerned.
Back in Professor Wu's office, Jiang Cheng and the others hadn't been idle. They had discovered old photographs in the computer's image library—shots from past sports meets, with the abandoned sports field as the backdrop.
Combining this with the information they had obtained from Yuan Xiaoyi, Jiang Cheng pieced together a rough map of the field's layout.
The entire area, including the surrounding facilities, could be divided into several key sections:
The abandoned sports field encompassed several features: the equipment room they were headed to, a sizable restroom in the northwest corner, a small grove of trees to the south, and several dilapidated, unfinished gray buildings bordering the woods. In the center stood a reviewing stand, and at the far eastern edge, an incongruous, pseudo-bell tower completed the scene.
First, they made their way to the equipment room.
As they trudged through the rain, they were soon soaked to the bone. Their drenched clothes clung to their skin, and the wind cut through them like knives.
Shen Mengyun's long hair plastered against her face. With a swift, practiced motion, she pulled a hair tie from her pocket and gathered her hair into a neat bun.
"We're here," she announced.
Through the curtain of rain loomed a two-story building, its footprint surprisingly large, but clearly long abandoned.
They circled the structure until they found a rusty, dark red iron gate. Touching the handle left their hands coated in reddish-brown rust flakes that, at first glance, resembled dried blood.
A chain lock hung from the handle, but the padlock was missing. With a gentle push, the gate swung open, revealing an interior far larger and more spacious than they had anticipated.
The room was littered with discarded equipment, all covered in a thick layer of dust.
In a far corner, plastic tarps draped over what appeared to be larger pieces of machinery, their angular outlines visible beneath the protective covers.
"Why is there plastic sheeting on the walls?" Liang Shan wondered aloud, peering closer. "Are they trying to stop leaks?" Unwilling to touch anything directly, he lifted a loose corner of the tarp to peek underneath.
The color drained from his face in an instant.
He was staring at a gray, indistinct face.
(End of the Chapter)
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