Chapter 20: Stirred by Emotion, Yet Bound by Propriety

At the hotel, Qingya Liu had already reserved a private room.

When she saw me and the old man enter, Qingya Liu clearly paused for a moment.

“Oh, I thought someone else was treating us to dinner. Didn’t expect it to be you, Qingya,” Zhang Yuxuan said cheerfully. “Tonight, I can really eat to my heart’s content.”

“Master Zhang, don’t be polite. Order whatever you want,” Qingya Liu said, handing the menu to Zhang Yuxuan. Then she looked at me. “I heard there was an incident at your university last night?”

“Yes,” I nodded. Qingya Liu seemed unsurprised by the news.

The news of a student jumping into the lake at Ancient Capital University had spread like wildfire today.

“This is quite troublesome. The old man and I plan to investigate tonight,” I said.

Upon hearing this, Qingya Liu glanced at the old man with a hint of distrust.

“Maybe I should come with you,” she offered.

Zhang Yuxuan was utterly unreliable—when danger arose, he was the first to run.

“It’s fine. We’re just going to take a look tonight. It shouldn’t be dangerous,” I replied casually. The goal was to investigate tonight, find the root cause, and resolve the matter once and for all.

If Qingya Liu came along, I’d worry about her getting into trouble.

Though Zhang Yuxuan was a bit of a charlatan and unreliable, at least he was a man, and it was more convenient for him to accompany me.

The meal dragged on slowly, and it wasn’t until around 8:30 p.m. that we finally finished.

The old man and I tidied up and prepared to leave.

…

That night, Ancient Capital University issued a notice: by 10 p.m., all students must return to their dormitories, all faculty and staff must leave, and no one was allowed to remain on campus.

The old man and I wandered aimlessly around the campus, hoping to catch a lucky break and find some clues.

“Brother Jiang, this is exhausting work. Why don’t we ask the school for more money?” the old man said, puffing on his cigarette, sweat beading on his forehead as he panted. “Just walking around this campus is enough to wear me out.”

Though the old man had no other skills, he was quite adept at feigning fatigue to demand more pay.

No wonder I nicknamed him “Zhang the Fee-Hiker.”

“Let’s handle this first. Demanding more money before we’ve even done anything—is that fair?” I gave him a sharp look. “Let’s check the lake again. If someone jumped in there, it means something serious is going on. Also, have you received the documents?”

“Just got them.”

The old man took out his phone and opened the file sent by the university officials.

…

The file contained records of student incidents over the past two decades.

There were eight cases in total, mostly suicides.

I took the phone and carefully read through it.

Of the eight cases, two were due to failing graduate school entrance exams and the immense psychological pressure, five were because of heartbreak leading to suicide.

As for the student who died last night, the cause was still unclear.

Today’s students seem far too fragile mentally.

One heartbreak, and they’re ready to end it all!

I shook my head. These people didn’t deserve to be children—if only they had never been born.

However, a pattern emerged: three incidents happened in the university library, three on the back hill, and two involved jumping into the lake.

Is this a coincidence?

I wasn’t so sure.

Anyway, we should check out the lake first.

…

Under the night sky, beside the lake at Ancient Capital University.

The old man and I circled the lake. There were some clues—the lake’s feng shui was somewhat problematic. It faced south to north, shaped somewhat like a gourd.

There was a large rock in the center of the lake. If the lake had negative energy, the rock should serve to suppress it.

Originally, the lake’s feng shui was mediocre, but with the rock’s suppression, the negative energy was transformed into positive energy—a decent feng shui setup.

I imagined that when the school was built, they must have consulted a feng shui master.

“Brother Jiang, notice anything?” the old man asked.

“Let’s go check the library,” I replied.

We needed to examine the feng shui of all these key locations.

The library was not far from the lake and was mostly empty at night. When we arrived, the building was dark and the lights were off.

The large building faced north to south. The surrounding buildings were spaced apart, providing a broad view. There was nothing special about the feng shui here—it was quite ordinary.

We also checked out the back hill.

Though called a hill, it was small, more like a mound.

…

The school’s young couples loved to hang out there.

“Creak…”

Before we even reached the top of the hill, we heard noises from within.

What was going on?

Wasn’t the school requiring all students to return to their dorms early tonight?

It was nearly 11 p.m., so why were people still outside?

We walked a few steps forward and saw a young man and woman lying in the woods, the man’s hands wandering while he chatted flirtatiously with the woman.

“Ahem, ahem!”

I deliberately cleared my throat twice. The old man was more direct, shining a flashlight right at them.

“What are you two doing?”

Under the sudden light, the young couple was visibly startled and scrambled to their feet, ready to run.

“Don’t you know the school wants everyone back early tonight?” I said, somewhat annoyed. We were clearing the campus to investigate these strange occurrences.

What if they encountered something supernatural by lingering outside?

Ignorance breeds fearlessness. Such encounters could be minor or deadly—at worst, one could lose their life; at best, fall ill for days.

The two didn’t answer and ran down the hill.

The old man sighed. “These girls don’t know how to respect themselves. Brother Jiang, you’re just a student—without the means to be independent—and yet you dare to fool around with men.”

“What if it ends badly? What if the guy dumps you? And those men, they’ll do anything to get the girl. You’re just a student—you might not even afford an abortion if you got pregnant…”

“Ahem… I am a student!” I suspected the old man was speaking indirectly about someone.

“Haha, I didn’t mean you, Brother Jiang. I meant those people,” he chuckled.

“Let’s keep looking around the hill. Stay alert for anything strange,” I said, not wanting to dwell on the matter.

The hill was popular with couples at night but usually deserted during the day.

The old man nodded and began searching nearby with his flashlight.

Honestly, despite his earlier remarks, I found the old man sometimes reliable—at least he had his limits and knew right from wrong.

We were all students; academics should come first. Even if one wanted to date, it should be done with feeling but within proper boundaries.