Chapter 1 Nightmare

Suddenly, Director Zhou's gaze stopped on Jiang Cheng's chest. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Are you... Professor Wu Jinzhong's student?"

Jiang Cheng then realized he was wearing Professor Wu's lab badge. "That's right, I'm Professor Wu's student. He treats me like his own son."

It was clear Professor Wu and Director Zhou had a close relationship. After a few seconds of hesitation, Director Zhou said to Jiang Cheng and Fatty, "Come in and talk. It's not convenient outside."

After a detour, they walked into the circulation desk. Director Zhou waved, signaling Jiang Cheng to sit next to him. After a pause, he whispered, "There are some things here that are hard to talk about. Just listen, and don't spread it around."

"Don't worry, I'm good at keeping secrets," Jiang Cheng said, straightening up and adopting a serious listening attitude, assuring Director Zhou.

Wu Qing walked over and placed a cup of hot tea in front of Director Zhou.

"Thank you, Wu Qing," Director Zhou said with a nod. He took a sip of tea, held the cup, and very naturally looked at the woman, asking, "Do you have class later?"

"I don't have class until tonight, Director," Wu Qing replied.

"Senior," Jiang Cheng turned around and said with a grin, "I'm really sorry about earlier. My attitude was bad. How about I treat you to bubble tea?"

As he spoke, Jiang Cheng took out his campus card, ready to hand it to her.

"No need, thank you," Wu Qing still had that otherworldly face, not at all interested in Jiang Cheng's attentiveness.

"Wu Qing, don't turn down this classmate's good intentions," Director Zhou said helplessly, rubbing his temples. Wu Qing was good in every way, except she was a bit stubborn and easily got stuck on things.

In the end, out of respect for Director Zhou, Wu Qing left, agreeing to buy bubble tea, and even emphasized to Jiang Cheng very seriously before leaving that she didn't like bubble tea, so he didn't need to treat her.

"Could you... could you bring me one?" Just as Wu Qing opened the door, about to walk out, Fatty weakly said, "Just milk tea, half sugar, no ice, and less of the beans inside."

After a pause, Fatty swallowed and said, "Thank you, Senior."

With a "bang," Wu Qing closed the door and left.

Realizing Director Zhou was looking at him, Fatty widened his innocent eyes. After a long while, he seemed to react and explained, "Director, I'm also Professor Wu's student, I..."

"Alright," Director Zhou waved his hand, signaling that no explanation was needed. Immediately afterward, Jiang Cheng noticed Director Zhou's expression become strange, his eyes gradually losing focus.

"Before Jiangtan University was established, this place already existed, but not as a library, but as a museum."

"A folk museum," Director Zhou said.

Hearing it wasn't a funeral home or a mental hospital, Fatty's face slowly regained color, but then, as if suddenly choked, it paled again in the next second.

Folk museum...

If he remembered correctly, Huai Yi had previously found several missions on the website, one of which was in a folk museum.

It said that paranormal events had occurred there, related to a strange half-body statue.

"Folk museum?" Jiang Cheng seemed to be thinking as well, apparently having thought of the same thing as Fatty.

"Yes," Director Zhou said, as if lost in memory, holding the teacup with both hands. "When Jiangtan University was being built, we were allocated a large piece of land, but of course, we also faced a lot of pressure."

"Some old buildings were located within this area. It was impossible to move them, and the negotiations were difficult. This folk museum was one of them."

"And there was also a very thorny issue. The operator of this folk museum at the time was a foreigner."

A foreigner opening a folk museum here didn't sound right, but Jiang Cheng didn't react immediately, instead continuing to listen to the director.

"The city, the school, they talked to him many times, but couldn't reach an agreement. Later, he simply closed the door and wouldn't see us at all."

Director Zhou shook his head slightly. "But he was just the operator, that is, the user, not the owner of the building."

"In other words, he had only rented this building and transformed it into a museum, but he was not the owner of the building."

"We found the owner of the building, and they agreed to our terms very readily and were very supportive of our work."

Fatty listened for a while and understood that the foreigner was just being difficult.

"Later, we gave him a final ultimatum, telling him that we would give him one more week. If he didn't move the things out by then, we would not be polite."

"This time he panicked and rushed out, saying that he needed at least two more months and hoped we could give him an extension. He said he didn't want any of the compensation we offered."

"We just took it as a delaying tactic and no one paid him any attention. Anyway, when the day came, we brought people over. Sure enough, the door was locked, and there was no movement inside."

"We didn't stand on ceremony and broke down the door. Then he rushed out, frantically trying to stop us, waving a dagger-like object. Our people pinned him down and gave him a shoulder throw." Director Zhou sighed. "It was just bad luck that he hit his head, and the person was sent to the hospital directly and has been in a coma ever since."

"Although such an incident was something no one wanted to see, the work had to continue. The construction of the library was already much slower than planned."

"After a simple cleanup of the exhibits inside, we started arranging the library, placing batches of books bought, collected, or donated from various places on the bookshelves, and then categorizing them. After about two weeks, the library was basically up and running and began lending to the public."

"The number you have is from that time." Director Zhou looked at Jiang Cheng and said.

Looking at the numbered slip in his hand, Jiang Cheng didn't expect there to be such a background story.

As he spoke, Director Zhou dialed a number. It took a long time for the other end to answer. Director Zhou repeated the number to the other party, asking them to recall it.

"He's an old senior of mine. He knows more about what happened back then than I do," Director Zhou explained to Jiang Cheng after hanging up.

"You've gone to a lot of trouble," Jiang Cheng said gratefully.

Hearing Jiang Cheng say this, Director Zhou didn't know what he remembered, but his lips trembled slightly. After a moment, he shook his head, exhaled a long breath, and his voice was suddenly a little hoarse, "If I could do it all over again, I would rather the school not build a library than choose this place."

"Why?" Jiang Cheng suddenly had a feeling that he was about to break through the clouds.

Director Zhou looked up at the door and said in a low voice, "That foreigner, there's something wrong with him."