Translator: CinderTL
"She kept saying, 'Wait for me, stay calm, don't act rashly.' And, 'You can't do this alone. I can help you. You must trust me.'" Senior Sister seemed very nervous, and Jiang Cheng realized she was imitating Professor Chen's state at the time.
"It was Yuan Xiaoyi who called," Jiang Cheng said.
Senior Sister nodded and whispered, "I could tell too. Her voice was loud and grating. Her state seemed off too—almost manic. It was completely different from how she usually seemed."
"Before, she was in a state of... of panic. She avoided contact with everyone—teachers, classmates, anyone. She was timid and withdrawn, trembling at the slightest loud noise." Senior Sister explained in detail, fearing Jiang Cheng wouldn't understand.
"I saw Professor's emotions fluctuating wildly. He forgot his scarf and just kept walking out. I grabbed the scarf and ran after him."
After a few seconds, Senior Sister continued, "Giving him the scarf was one thing, but I was also worried about him. I wanted to ask if he needed any help."
"Professor Chen was incredibly busy during that period. And I always felt that ever since he met Yuan Xiaoyi, he had changed completely. He became very strange, as if his entire focus was consumed by her illness. He seemed to care less about his daily life and work, relying on others to help him with many things."
Jiang Cheng sighed, gazing at her with an expression that said, "Senior Sister, you're so kind." It seemed she had been helping Professor Chen a great deal in these matters.
This also explained why she knew so much about Professor Chen and Yuan Xiaoyi's situation. She was practically his assistant.
"But after Professor Chen took the scarf, he told me to stay behind because he was going to find Yuan Xiaoyi. He instructed me to write down any messages or phone calls that came for him and tell him about them the next day."
"Then he hastily put on the scarf and rushed out of the office."
Senior Sister continued her recollection, "I had just sat back down at my desk when I heard a sound from the hallway—a series of heavy, dull thuds."
"Something felt wrong, so I rushed out to investigate. I found Professor Chen had fallen down the stairs. He was unconscious, and there was blood everywhere—on his head and on the ground."
"Professor Chen was on his way to see Yuan Xiaoyi when he fell down the stairs," Senior Sister said, confirming Jiang Cheng's suspicions.
"That's right," she replied, taking a deep breath and looking at Jiang Cheng. "It was on the same flight of stairs you just climbed."
Jiang Cheng remembered the stairs well. They were neatly maintained, making such an accident seem unlikely.
Just as he was about to press for more details, a seemingly insignificant detail mentioned by Senior Sister caught his attention. "Because of his age and a leg surgery he had years ago, Professor Chen always took extra care on the stairs. But someone had spilled water on the steps."
"He slipped on the water and fell," Senior Sister said, a hint of anger flashing across her face.
Jiang Cheng understood immediately. This confirmed the Heart-Corroding Demon's involvement. The demon always left water stains in its wake, almost like a calling card.
"Oh, right," Senior Sister said suddenly, her gaze shifting strangely toward Jiang Cheng. "At the time... I found Professor Chen's phone on the ground. It had been badly damaged, with the casing cracked. It was lying in the corner at the bend of the stairs."
Jiang Cheng watched her without interrupting, knowing there was more to come.
As expected, Senior Sister lowered her voice and continued, "The moment I picked up my phone, the screen suddenly lit up with a text message from Yuan Xiaoyi."
"She said she had a solution. She finally knew how to get rid of that stalker. One of her five friends had told her."
"She also told Professor Chen not to bother her anymore, saying she was confident this time she could finally shake off the person following us."
"I didn't think much of it then. I was too focused on getting Professor Chen to the hospital. It wasn't until the next day that I heard Yuan Xiaoyi had been found unconscious in front of the warehouse gate."
"Some of these photos were taken by the School Security Department at the time."
"They also found evidence that Yuan Xiaoyi had smashed things at the scene. That mirror on the wall? She shattered it herself. She brought it with her."
Jiang Cheng nodded. Senior Sister's account closely matched his own suspicions. The school, worried about the incident escalating, had photographed the scene to preserve evidence before cleaning it up.
This also aligned with the School Security Department's subsequent behavior after discovering Gao Yan.
Glancing at the time, Jiang Cheng's thoughts remained fixed on Yuan Xiaoyi. After hastily offering a few words of comfort to Senior Sister, he excused himself and left.
On his way to the Small Woods, Jiang Cheng pieced together the information he had gathered that day—from the library and Senior Sister's account. Gradually, a clearer picture began to emerge.
For the first time, the entire mission unfolded before Jiang Cheng as a scroll painting.
First, it was confirmed that the five friends Yuan Xiaoyi claimed had disappeared didn't exist in the real world. They were merely the five alternate personalities—commonly known as Dissociative Identity Disorder—that had split from her host personality after she experienced a traumatic event.
Second, the identity of the Stalker Ghost that had been hunting girls in the mission was also confirmed. Western exorcism masters called it the Heart-Corroding Demon.
In reality, it was just a Western Ghost.
Though Jiang Cheng had never seen its true form, it was highly likely to be water-related.
Moreover, he noticed that both Curator Zhou and Professor Chen, as mentioned by Senior Sister, had emphasized a crucial point:
The Heart-Corroding Demon seemed to be active only at night.
Finally, what exactly happened in the warehouse on the night Professor Chen was attacked?
Based on current evidence, the Heart-Corroding Demon harmed Professor Chen to prevent him from going to find Yuan Xiaoyi.
The outcome of the incident suggests that Yuan Xiaoyi conducted a ritual in the warehouse that night, similar to the one performed by the foreign Exorcism Master long ago.
In a text message Yuan Xiaoyi sent to Professor Chen, she mentioned that she had found a way to completely rid herself of the Heart-Corroding Demon.
This method was revealed to her by one of her five friends.
Connecting the library and the notebook, it's not difficult to deduce that this "friend" was Xiaohui, one of Yuan Xiaoyi's multiple personalities.
Xiaohui's defining trait was her love for the library and her habit of devouring books.
Following this line of reasoning, Jiang Cheng concluded that by chance, the book that was supposed to be destroyed had been cataloged and numbered by the library, eventually being borrowed by Xiaohui.
The book contained information about the Heart-Corroding Demon and methods for defeating it.
Thus, on that fateful night, Yuan Xiaoyi, representing the host personality, and her other five personalities "gathered" in the Activity Center warehouse.
Following the instructions in the book, they set up the ritual, determined to break free from the Heart-Corroding Demon's grasp.
(End of the Chapter)
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