Chapter Five: Past Events Bring Tears of Blood

  "Hello, Dean Wang." I hastily stood up straight and called out obediently. After all, he was a senior member of my school, the dean of a generation, and if I really offended him, it wouldn't be a trivial matter.

  "Who are you?" Dean Wang frowned.

  Just as I was about to speak, Jiang Zhun suddenly reached out and pressed his hand on my shoulder, patted it lightly, and then stood up and said to Dean Wang: "Dean, hello. I'm Jiang Zhun, a second-year graduate student in computer science at the University of Science and Technology. I came uninvited today because there's something important I'd like to discuss."

  The assistant's eyes widened: "Are you guys cheating me?! But that phone number..."

  The director of the palace stopped her words and looked at the young man in front of him with great interest: "I'm curious, what's worth your trouble."

  Jiang glanced at his assistant with difficulty, and Director Wang hinted that the assistant should leave. The assistant was very resentful, but could only grit his teeth and turn to leave.

  I swear I saw her bitter and indignant little eyes.

  "It's like this, Director Wang. We want to know about the Metro Line 5 incident ten years ago. We heard that you and Secretary Zheng strongly opposed it at the time. Can we ask why?" Jiang asked politely.

  Director Wang was taken aback, not expecting that after ten years, someone would still come to ask him about this matter. But the impression left on him by this matter was too deep, and its significance was also extremely significant, so once it was mentioned, all his memories came flooding back instantly.

  He sat down in the swivel chair behind his desk, first picking up the teacup on the table, taking a sip of water, then letting out a long sigh, covering the teacup with the lid, and said slowly: "This matter is really a long story."

  It must be a very long story that can make an old professor of Chinese studies feel like talking about it for a long time. I thought to myself, this is the right person we're looking for. I exchanged a glance with Jiang Zhun and sat up straight. I could sense that what we were going to hear next was certainly some little-known secrets.

  "Line 5, used to be an ancient post road, did you know?"

  We almost nodded at the same time.

  The director Wang let out a long sigh and said: "Evil deeds, evil deeds indeed."

  Hearing him say this, I couldn't help but ask: "What's going on?"

  "In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yue Family Army was summoned back to the capital. Among them, a small detachment on the way received a secret mission from Yue Fei and took this plank road to carry out the task. However, the secret was leaked, and Qin Hui sent people to ambush on this plank road, and the entire army of 100 people was annihilated."

  Director Wang sighed again, "At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, this plank road gradually evolved into a commercial street as an important channel for trade and commerce. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty when foreign powers invaded, this street could not withstand the destruction of artillery fire and was destroyed."

  "Obviously, this plank road has a significant historical value. But why hasn't it drawn the attention of government departments?"

  Director Wang shook his head: "This matter is only passed down through oral tradition among the people, and I also heard it from a descendant of the Yue family army. But I am willing to believe in the authenticity of this matter, because after that, I consulted many remote ancient books and found some clues." He bent down and took out a thick notebook from the bottom drawer and handed it over.

  I took it with both hands in a daze and flipped it open eagerly.

  Director Wang continued to immerse himself in memories: "This notebook is all the evidence I recorded when I studied ancient books for three years. When the government proposed building Line 5, I also took out this notebook, but no one believed it. Alas, after all, it's still a systemic problem."

  The system problem is too sensitive and it's not something that two university students like Jiang Zhen and I can discuss. So, I shifted my attention to the notes in front of me.

  "Eh, Dean." I frowned, pointing at a line of text and said, "You wrote about the Dark Troops up there?"

  "Oh, yes." Dean Wang chuckled and said, "Now that you mention it, you two are interested in what happened on Line 5 these days, right? You can investigate things from ten years ago, you two aren't simple."

  "Modestly declined, modestly declined," Jiang Zhen hastily said. "Director, what's going on with these secret troops?"

  "The appearance of the yin soldiers was first seen in the early Yuan dynasty, when the world had just been pacified. One night, this plank road suddenly echoed with the sounds of weapons and horse hooves, like thunder. I also have records of this in my notes, you can take a look. Later on, the incidents of the yin soldiers occurred over ten times on this plank road, each time seeming as real as if it had actually happened." Dean Wang rubbed his temples wearily, feeling a bit exhausted from recalling these events.

  Jiang Zhun saw this and stood up saying: "Director, today has been a lot of trouble, I'm really very sorry. Can we borrow this notebook to make a copy?"

  "Take it away, I'm giving it to you, anyway I won't be using it anymore."

  Bidding farewell to Director Wang, under the resentful gaze of Assistant Ms. Qiu, Jiang and I walked out of the administration building with joy in our hearts.

  I waved the notebook in my hand and smiled: "An unexpected surprise."

  "Let's go, next stop, Secretary Zheng." Jiang Zuixin's temperament had matured a lot, he just smiled and led the way to the train station.

  I hurriedly caught up with him: "Hey, no need to rush, right? It's almost noon, let's eat lunch first!" To be honest, I had just met the famous Dean Wang and was about to go to Secretary Chu's mansion, and I really couldn't handle it.

  Jiang Zhun: "...... Little sister, you just ate two pieces of cake before coming here, right?"

  "Negotiations are too exhausting, and I'm starving, aren't I?" I wrinkled my nose and hugged the notebook in my arms. Okay, fine, I admit it, actually I just wanted to study the notes first.

  "Alright, maybe we don't need to go find Secretary Zheng after all," Jiang said with a sigh. His gaze was also fixed on the notebook in my hand.

  It's clear that our goals are the same.

  ……

  The notebook turned to the last page, and the two heads that had been put together finally parted reluctantly.

  Facing the leftovers in front of me, I remained silent for a long time before suddenly speaking up: "I'm hungry again."

  Jiang Zhen bought two Shaoxing shaobing, gave me one, and took a bite himself. As he ate, he asked, "What do you think about the things in my notes?"

  "The credibility is sixty-five percent." I remained silent for a moment before giving a relatively high credibility.

  "In that case, I think we don't need to go find Secretary Zheng anymore." Jiang Zhun raised his hand to glance at his watch, "2 o'clock. Let's make a trip to the Public Security Bureau."

  I was so scared that the pancake in my hand fell to the ground: "What?"

  This police station's level seems to be even higher than the secretary's...