Volume 2, Chapter 48 (Chapter 86): A New Discovery

Haruki Murakami once said that going to university is a test of how one deals with boredom.

Although Lu Yibei acknowledges the importance of the subjects taught in university, he found the statement misleading.

University isn’t boring when you’re out skipping class!

The bell rang, signifying the end of class, and he flew out of class like a hungry dog tempted by food.

Just as he reached the bottom floor of the building, he was stopped by Professor Ma.

“Lu Yibei, right?”

‘Damn it,’ Yibei cursed, not wanting to run into this grumpy old man. “Yes. It’s me.”

“Skipping class?”

“Ah… well, yes.”

Professor Ma smiled, leaving chills down Yibei’s back.

“Prof’, listen to me, I’m skipping because-“

“I understand,” the professor patted his shoulders. “We all have different things to do, especially when you’re a student. Your choices are your own – you’re an adult, aren’t you?”

“R-right?” Yibei stuttered. “You have such a way with words, prof’.”

“I don’t mind you skipping class, but…”

While speaking, his face turned dark, and his expression became serious, “You’re not allowed to skip my class. Otherwise, your grades…”

“N-no. I would never skip your class! If I could, I would attend your class now!”

“Hah!” Professor Ma laughed. “You’re good. Now, go on, I have my own things to do now.”

Lu Yibei bid him farewell and ran out the building.

A young man in his early twenties was by the entrance of the building as Yibei ran out.

Yibei passed the man, and the strong, woody fragrance of his suitcase tempted Yibei to take a closer look.

It was an ancient suitcase – the surface was polish and lacquered, and the copper handle was engraved with designs of clouds on it.

Yibei felt strange looking at the suitcase.

And a brief moment of blankness washed over his head.

When he came back to his senses, he found that the man had entered the building, standing side by side with Professor Ma and hugging him as a greeting.

They talked and laughed, but the professor’s expression froze as the man whispered something in his ear while patting the suitcase. Professor Ma looked around hurriedly, and led the man downstairs.

Just what is in that box?

Something is in that suitcase… Yibei thought.

Yibei shrugged, deciding that the suitcase had nothing to do with him. Even if it was related to an urban legend, there were still thousands of other urban legends in the city.

After all, he is among one of the many thousands.

Professor Ma’s full name is Ma Zhen. In addition to teaching ancient literary theory courses, he has been engaged in research on the content of special, ancient characters in Southwest China for a long time, and his research results have been remarkable.

The young man who met Ma Zhen today is a descendant of a rather famous, family of scholars in Huacheng. This time, he came here to fulfill the dying wishes of his father — to return the contents of the suitcase to Ma Zhen.

The contents of the suitcase are unnamed bamboo scrolls – only a few volumes, but hold countless information regarding ancient ethnic minorities.

Two years ago, Ma Zhen heard of these bamboo scrolls that were found in an ancient village, but he never thought that the father of this young man would get to it first.

After several, tired and rigorous negotiations, his father agreed to let Ma Zhen have the scrolls, on one condition – give him three years to study the scrolls in full.

However, his father passed away mysteriously, and his son decided to fulfill his dying wish by honoring the three-year duration.

Through the clean, glass windows of Ma Zhen’s office, you could see the withered cherry blossom trees down Cherry Blossom Avenue of the university.

An unconcealable excitement flickered in Ma Zhen’s eyes, fiddling with the suitcase in front of him.

“Would you like to open the suitcase now?” the young man asked, sitting across from him.

“No, no, now is not the time,” Ma Zhen waved his hands and said, “There are no protective measures in my office. If I just open it and check it, it may get damaged. You should also know that the sweat on your hands may have cause these ancient books to…”

Realizing that he had lost his composure, Professor Ma smiled dryly and said, “I’m sorry, I was a little too excited. After all, I have been waiting for these scrolls for forever.”

“My father was just as enthusiastic as you,” the young man smiled. “He holed himself up in his study, refusing to eat or drink just to read the contents of the scrolls.”

After the young man finished speaking, he stood up and bowed.

“I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Don’t you want to sit around for a while?”

“No,” the young man smiled and laughed at himself, “Unlike my family, I have no interest in literature. I’ll let you have your fun.”

“Ah, shall I send you off?”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about me,” the man said and left.

The office was quiet again, and Ma Zhen stared at the suitcase before him. He hurriedly sent an email to his students to suspend all of their research, and to come look for him as soon as possible.

Now……

There was a much more important research project that was about to begin.