After leaving the school, Lu Yibei stopped a taxi and went all the way to Huacheng Central Hospital, skillfully bypassing the sight of the security guards and walking to the inpatient department.
Why does he have to bypass security? It really is quite simple. He is blacklisted from every hospital in the region for telling doctors horror stories.
Lu Yibei came to the door of Professor Ma’s ward with great difficulty and then leaned on the door. Through the small window on the door, after confirming that Professor Ma was the only one in the ward, he sneaked inside.
When Lu Yibei entered the ward, Professor Ma had just finished arguing with the doctor. He hugged the quilt alone, curled up in a sullen mood.
It’s stressful to be under constant supervision.
Squeak.
“Argh, didn’t I make myself clear?” Professor Ma yelled. “I don’t need a psychiatric evaluation! Get out!”
He was slightly taken aback upon seeing Lu Yibei and his eyes watered up. It was as if he were seeing his child.
“Yibei? You’re here? Why? I missed you so much! Also, why are you here? Hurry back and finish your thesis!”
Yibei could feel a slight joy radiating from Professor Ma, despite his pushy words.
“Professor, I came to ask something important.”
Professor Ma frowned upon hearing this as if he were saying, “You only come here because you want something from me.”
“Is it about your thesis? I can’t help you with it. I encourage independent thinking amongst my students, and…”
“It’s not about the thesis.”
As he spoke, he glanced outside the ward before getting closer.
“Somebody was attacked by an urban legend today, and it’s related to a scarlet lantern that resembles Lu Xu’s lantern. What I want to ask is: Do you know their origin? The scarlet lantern was accompanied by an old man wearing a colourful shroud.”
An old man in a colourful shroud? Professor Ma thought for a while with a serious expression, and a flash of light flashed in his eyes. “I think I do.”
In the next few minutes, Professor Ma gave Lu Yibei a brief account of the bizarre process of the old friend who gave him the bamboo scrolls, from his death to his sudden resurrection to his mysterious disappearance.
“That’s all I know about the scrolls.” Professor Ma sighed. He was still worried about his friend and his friend’s son, though he could already guess their fates.
After listening to Professor Ma’s lecture, Lu Yibei briefly recalled the whole story about the recent attacks at the school and suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
Most of the urban legends that appeared with the blood-red lanterns are related to the bamboo scrolls in some form.
He Ruo was attacked, probably because he bumped into Lu Xu, who sneaked into the laboratory building to look for the bamboo scrolls.
Professor Ma is the holder of the bamboo scrolls, so it is reasonable to attack him.
As for Counsellor Xue…
‘He deserves it,’ Yibei pouted. ‘Looking for trouble.’
‘Now, the scrolls are in my hand, which means I have a big target on my back… Besides that old man, I wonder if there are any more urban legends.’
“Yibei, listen to me. If worst comes to worst, just give them the scrolls back. I have reproduced the contents of the scrolls, so it is fine to give them back. We don’t need to fight with things beyond our comprehension. I don’t want something bad to happen to you.”
“I’ll be careful.”
‘Because I’ll be throwing them away!’
“Yibei… I have something I want to give you. Maybe it can help you out a little.”
Oh! he thought. ‘What kind of special thing would Professor Ma have? Only psychic items can help in this matter, right? So what does he have up his sleeve?’
He took out an old, polished copper coin and placed it in his palm, “This has been with me for a long time. Anytime I encounter something difficult, it helps me make the correct choice. Treat it as a good luck charm from me to you.”
Lu Yibei had seen Professor Ma’s special copper coin before. When he was in the research room, he often saw Professor Ma playing with it in his hand.
Something that Professor Ma valued was gifted to him. He couldn’t help but feel touched.
“Thank you, Professor Ma.”
“Oh. I’m not giving it to you permanently. I still want it back after you’re done.”
“Oh.”
“Also, there is one more thing!”
“What is it?”
Professor Ma grabbed Lu Yibei’s wrist and said solemnly, “Come with me to the toilet. I have caught all the patients and doctors I could catch, and I pretend I don’t exist. I have been holding it in for almost ten hours now.
‘Right. The hospital sent me a text about him bothering everyone to accompany him to the toilet, even until now.’
Ten minutes later.
Lu Yibei bid farewell to Professor Ma and boarded the bus back to the University.
Sitting on the bus, he was free to study the copper coin that Professor Ma lent him.
Holding the shiny copper coin in his hand, Lu Yibei didn’t feel burning pain in his eyes or any other abnormal reaction, which temporarily ruled out the possibility of it being an urban legend.
The only thing that made him feel special was that no matter how long the copper coin was held in his hand, it was like a piece of ice, permanently cold.
‘Maybe it’s like Acala, the Immovable.’
Thinking of this, he pondered for a few seconds and then said to himself, “O’ Copper Coin, do I need to prepare fifty charms for my upcoming operation?
Heads for yes, tails for no.
“Tails? Is fifty not enough? What about sixty?”
Tails again.
“What about eighty?”
Tails again.
Eighty pieces are almost my limit, and there will be no more in stock. What should I do?
“A hundred?”
Tails.
“My god, is there something wrong with this shitty thing?”
The copper coin would never lie. As a qualified divination psychic item, it cannot lie.
‘It’s not my problem, it’s you!’
After leaving the school, Lu Yibei stopped a taxi and went all the way to Huacheng Central Hospital, skillfully bypassing the sight of the security guards and walking to the inpatient department.
Why does he have to bypass security? It really is quite simple. He is blacklisted from every hospital in the region for telling doctors horror stories.
Lu Yibei came to the door of Professor Ma’s ward with great difficulty and then leaned on the door. Through the small window on the door, after confirming that Professor Ma was the only one in the ward, he sneaked inside.
When Lu Yibei entered the ward, Professor Ma had just finished arguing with the doctor. He hugged the quilt alone, curled up in a sullen mood.
It’s stressful to be under constant supervision.
Squeak.
“Argh, didn’t I make myself clear?” Professor Ma yelled. “I don’t need a psychiatric evaluation! Get out!”
He was slightly taken aback upon seeing Lu Yibei and his eyes watered up. It was as if he were seeing his child.
“Yibei? You’re here? Why? I missed you so much! Also, why are you here? Hurry back and finish your thesis!”
Yibei could feel a slight joy radiating from Professor Ma, despite his pushy words.
“Professor, I came to ask something important.”
Professor Ma frowned upon hearing this as if he were saying, “You only come here because you want something from me.”
“Is it about your thesis? I can’t help you with it. I encourage independent thinking amongst my students, and…”
“It’s not about the thesis.”
As he spoke, he glanced outside the ward before getting closer.
“Somebody was attacked by an urban legend today, and it’s related to a scarlet lantern that resembles Lu Xu’s lantern. What I want to ask is: Do you know their origin? The scarlet lantern was accompanied by an old man wearing a colourful shroud.”
An old man in a colourful shroud? Professor Ma thought for a while with a serious expression, and a flash of light flashed in his eyes. “I think I do.”
In the next few minutes, Professor Ma gave Lu Yibei a brief account of the bizarre process of the old friend who gave him the bamboo scrolls, from his death to his sudden resurrection to his mysterious disappearance.
“That’s all I know about the scrolls.” Professor Ma sighed. He was still worried about his friend and his friend’s son, though he could already guess their fates.
After listening to Professor Ma’s lecture, Lu Yibei briefly recalled the whole story about the recent attacks at the school and suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
Most of the urban legends that appeared with the blood-red lanterns are related to the bamboo scrolls in some form.
He Ruo was attacked, probably because he bumped into Lu Xu, who sneaked into the laboratory building to look for the bamboo scrolls.
Professor Ma is the holder of the bamboo scrolls, so it is reasonable to attack him.
As for Counsellor Xue…
‘He deserves it,’ Yibei pouted. ‘Looking for trouble.’
‘Now, the scrolls are in my hand, which means I have a big target on my back… Besides that old man, I wonder if there are any more urban legends.’
“Yibei, listen to me. If worst comes to worst, just give them the scrolls back. I have reproduced the contents of the scrolls, so it is fine to give them back. We don’t need to fight with things beyond our comprehension. I don’t want something bad to happen to you.”
“I’ll be careful.”
‘Because I’ll be throwing them away!’
“Yibei… I have something I want to give you. Maybe it can help you out a little.”
Oh! he thought. ‘What kind of special thing would Professor Ma have? Only psychic items can help in this matter, right? So what does he have up his sleeve?’
He took out an old, polished copper coin and placed it in his palm, “This has been with me for a long time. Anytime I encounter something difficult, it helps me make the correct choice. Treat it as a good luck charm from me to you.”
Lu Yibei had seen Professor Ma’s special copper coin before. When he was in the research room, he often saw Professor Ma playing with it in his hand.
Something that Professor Ma valued was gifted to him. He couldn’t help but feel touched.
“Thank you, Professor Ma.”
“Oh. I’m not giving it to you permanently. I still want it back after you’re done.”
“Oh.”
“Also, there is one more thing!”
“What is it?”
Professor Ma grabbed Lu Yibei’s wrist and said solemnly, “Come with me to the toilet. I have caught all the patients and doctors I could catch, and I pretend I don’t exist. I have been holding it in for almost ten hours now.
‘Right. The hospital sent me a text about him bothering everyone to accompany him to the toilet, even until now.’
Ten minutes later.
Lu Yibei bid farewell to Professor Ma and boarded the bus back to the University.
Sitting on the bus, he was free to study the copper coin that Professor Ma lent him.
Holding the shiny copper coin in his hand, Lu Yibei didn’t feel burning pain in his eyes or any other abnormal reaction, which temporarily ruled out the possibility of it being an urban legend.
The only thing that made him feel special was that no matter how long the copper coin was held in his hand, it was like a piece of ice, permanently cold.
‘Maybe it’s like Acala, the Immovable.’
Thinking of this, he pondered for a few seconds and then said to himself, “O’ Copper Coin, do I need to prepare fifty charms for my upcoming operation?
Heads for yes, tails for no.
“Tails? Is fifty not enough? What about sixty?”
Tails again.
“What about eighty?”
Tails again.
Eighty pieces are almost my limit, and there will be no more in stock. What should I do?
“A hundred?”
Tails.
“My god, is there something wrong with this shitty thing?”
The copper coin would never lie. As a qualified divination psychic item, it cannot lie.
‘It’s not my problem, it’s you!’
