Wu Min

The cold wind was blowing, and the hurried students wrapped their clothes tightly and ran to their study rooms. Today is the day before the postgraduate entrance examination, and everyone who will take the exam is doing their final struggle. The postgraduate entrance examination is different from the college entrance examination, so it is still useful of.

Wearing a thick down jacket and buttoning his hat, Wu Min walked slowly on the silver-covered campus. Half a year ago, he was also a member of the postgraduate entrance examination army. He also bought car locks to lock tables and benches in order to occupy favorable terrain. All the same, but he was luckier than those who robbed him of the study room. In the first month of his senior year, the tutor solemnly called him to the office and asked him if he would like to continue his studies at the school. Got a research quota.

B University, one of the top ten domestic science and engineering colleges, although the Department of Folklore is just a tasteless major here, and the teachers and research results are unremarkable, but it cannot stand up to the famous brand of B University, and there are still a large number of people who want to come in every year. , so Wu Min agreed without any hesitation, so while the others were desperately studying the books and test questions, he was walking on the way to the showroom.

The Department of Folklore, as the name suggests, is a department that studies folk culture. The Folklore Department of University B has only one major, Folklore, which is under the unified management of the School of Humanities.There are various courses, not to mention public courses. Professional courses cover almost all current research directions. It can be said that every aspect has been dabbled in, and none of them is specialized.The students are like this, and so are the teachers, so the word of mouth in the Department of Folklore—come to B University to study the Department of Folklore is to easily get a fraudulent diploma.

As for what job to do after graduation, that is something to consider after graduation. Anyway, professional knowledge, that is not at all.

The freshmen and sophomores are reviewing the final exams. In the junior year, there are several colleges that are still in class, and the Department of Folklore is one of them.Wu Min, an idler who does not need to study or look for a job, was selected by the teacher to be in charge of organizing the showroom where various folk items are piled up.

The showroom is divided into two rooms, the inside and the outside, where orphans and gadgets collected by teachers of the folklore department are stored. They are said to be orphans, but in fact they are a little more expensive, and they are afraid of being damaged by careless students.In the outer room are rows of cabinets, which contain various common folk items, most of which are teaching aids for teachers to show to students in class.

The next class is about a blessing ceremony that has been handed down to this day from a small tribe in the Northwest. Six blessing masks are needed. The study committee members of the third and second classes of the Folklore Department were waiting outside the showroom early, and saw Wu Min grinning and yelled "" Brother", Wu Min greeted them politely, and led them in to get teaching aids.

"Damn it, this mask is for praying? It's really scary!" Xu Da, the school committee member of Class [-] of the junior year, is a tall man, speaking in a low voice, Wu Min was a little dizzy from his shock, and rubbed his ears .

Liu Shuangshuang, the school committee member of Class [-] and [-], was a quiet girl. She glanced at the ferocious mask, turned her head, and wrinkled her small face into a ball. Brother, did you take it wrong? The teacher asked us to take the blessing mask."

Wu Min spread his hands. When he took this class last year, he was also terrified by the mask, but the teacher Zhao who taught the class said that the mask was taken back from the local area, and it was guaranteed to be replaced. After class, he checked the relevant information and confirmed it Masks that are more like sacrificial rituals are indeed used for blessings.

After all, Xu Da is a boy, and exaggerating his voice does not mean he is really scared. After adapting to the first visual impact, he began to look carefully.The six masks are lined up, each of which is brightly colored, making the already terrifying expression even more pervasive, like a ghost.The masks are different. Wu Min said that these six masks are a group. On New Year’s Eve and major local festivals, the local people will choose six people in the tribe to wear masks according to the instructions of the gods, and complete the blessing, implying the next day. Years can get the asylum of God.

"Why is this mask so new?" After looking at it for a while, Xu Da found that the third mask from the left was different from the other five masks. The other five masks seemed to be covered with a layer of dust, and the colors were not so bright.And this mask will reflect light in bright places, and the color is bright. If you look closely, you will find that the expression style is slightly different from those of the others, and it doesn't look like a group.

Wu Min took a look, "Oh, Mr. Zhao bought this one online. It turned out that the one in our class was broken by a classmate last year. Mr. Zhao found a similar one online."

The corner of Xu Da's mouth twitched, "Our school is too good at making do, can't we just buy a new set, these are so old!"

Wu Min glanced at his junior brother who was not in charge of the family and did not know Chai Migui, and explained patiently like a Tang monk: "The local tribe takes the mask very seriously, and it is replaced every six years. During these six years, the mask must not be damaged at all, otherwise the tribe will not be able to wear it. After completing the blessing, there will be a six-year catastrophe. The masks that have expired will be burned to worship the sky when the new one is replaced. Mr. Zhao went to the northwest just in time for the tribe to change the mask. He begged the tribe leader for a long time to come. Now Before the new season is changed, he will not be able to ask for it again, and besides, if the tribal leaders know that we broke their treasure, they will be in a hurry."

"Superstition!" Xu Da curled his lips, picked up the make-up mask and turned it upside down. Wu Min just wanted to remind him to be careful, and Teacher Zhao would go crazy if he fell, so he saw Xu Da put the mask on his face with his hands Holding her chin, she smiled strangely at Liu Shuangshuang who was hiding far away.

Wu Min shook his head with a wry smile. Every nation and people in every region have habits that the outside world cannot understand. Studying these customs will allow more people to recognize different customs and make the long-standing traditions be passed on from generation to generation. It is their folk customs. The meaning of existence, unfortunately, how many students in the Department of Folklore have a sense of awe?No wonder the old professors in the department often beat their chests and feet with grief, saying that with every breath, the national culture that has been passed down for thousands of years may disappear.

In another 100 years, how many treasures left by our ancestors will be left?

Wu Min was sighing in his heart, but he had no intention of admonishing Xu Da and Liu Shuangshuang, their hobbies should not be forced, and now the biggest wish of these children is not to fail the final exam, and to have a few more days in the winter vacation, even his senior dog They are all looking forward to pack up and go home early, even though his home is in this city.

The loud bell for the end of get out of class rang, calling back Wu Min Piaoyuan's thoughts, and also woke up the two study committee members who were messing around. Xu Da hurriedly tore off the mask, stuffed it into a bag, picked it up and left.Liu Shuangshuang was angry and startled, her eyes were a little red, when Xu Da passed by, she glared at him and followed him.

It wasn't until the footsteps of the two could no longer be heard that Wu Min woke up from his daze, staggered and leaned against the cabinet, took a few deep breaths, but still felt stuffy, moved to the window again, opened the window, let the cold The air came in, awakening his numb nerves.

Is that an illusion?Looking at the bustling campus and the rush of people, Wu Min gradually relaxed, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, the scene just now reappeared——

Xu Da took off the mask, and the mask tore off a layer of skin.

Wu Min didn't know how to describe that scene, like an abstract movie, Xu Da's face was stretched so long that it was finally torn off.

While his heart was beating soaring, he glanced at Xu Da's face, there was no blood dripping, no painful distortion, just paler.

Does the mask have a whitening effect?Wu Min was amused by his own thoughts, closed the windows and started cleaning the showroom.

Probably the whole dormitory is preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. He, who doesn't have to take the exam, is not consciously nervous, so he has hallucinations!Wu Min found a reasonable explanation for the scene he saw just now, cleaned up the showroom with peace of mind, and rushed into the restaurant before the next get out of class bell rang, ordered a few meals that were almost unavailable and filled the table .

This is the food for the four people in their dormitory. The other three brothers who have been studying all morning will rush here to eat all the food. After eating, they rush back to the study room to read. He, the temporary nanny, is responsible for the plate. Put it in the recycling place.

Get through today and this hellish life is over.Wu Min was in a good mood and ordered two more dishes.

For those who take the postgraduate entrance examination, every second of the two-day exam period is like a war, but for those who don't take the exam, it is just two normal days.The exam location for the three people in the dormitory was far away from the school. They booked a hotel early and moved to the hotel the night before the exam. Wu Min was the only one left in the lively dormitory. Playing games happily all night under the quilt.

After two days of decadence, the three brothers in the dormitory returned, which indicated that the final exam was about to begin.In order to facilitate the internship and job hunting for senior students, many schools end their senior courses early. They either do not take the exam, or take the exam halfway through the semester. For example, there are no students in B University who postpone the final exam until after New Year's Day.

Wu Min planned to go to the library to be serious for two days to deal with the last three exams of his undergraduate career. Unexpectedly, the day before the exam, the head of the department personally notified that the three closed-book exams for the senior year of the Department of Folklore were changed to open-book, and the three-day exam time was shortened to One day, after the exam, I will have a holiday.

Hearing this good news, every senior student is beaming, and Wu Min is no exception. He picked out a few reference books and stuffed them into his schoolbag, planning to go home after the exam. Although his parents are abroad, he went home There is only one person, but the heating at home is good anyway, and the dormitory in the school in winter is simply not for people.

But there is always a gap between ideal and reality. After the exam, Wu Min and his bedmates Shen Kuo, Luo Tanwen, and Qiu Kai were called to the office. Stay at school for two more days.

Here's the thing.

The final exam of the third year of folklore studies was a few days earlier than that of the senior year, and the postgraduate entrance examination started the next day.College final exams aren't very technical, and no one takes time off of exams unless absolutely necessary.Not taking the exam is tantamount to failing the exam. You have to make up the exam when you come back from the Chinese New Year.But on the first day of the junior year exam, two students asked for sick leave. According to the roommates, they were too sick to get out of bed.

Sickness is impossible to prevent. The third-year supervisor, Mr. Liu, went over to see that the two students who missed the exam were indeed seriously ill, so he agreed to make up the exam for them in the next semester, and told them to rest well and not worry about it.Unexpectedly, as the exam progressed, more and more people asked for sick leave. When the last exam was taken, the number of people who asked for leave rose to ten.

There were 60 students in the two classes of junior and junior high school students, and one-sixth of them got down.

Teacher Liu was shocked, and so were the leaders of the hospital. Could this be some serious infectious disease?They were sent to the hospital overnight for isolation and examination, and all the teachers were dumbfounded by the conclusion that all the physical indicators of the ten students were normal, that is to say, these people were not sick, even though they seemed to be dying.

The four of Wu Min frowned. This kind of incident in the department made everyone feel uncomfortable, but what does this have to do with them?Are they supposed to go to the hospital to take care of ten younger brothers and younger sisters?

Teng Yuanwu saw their doubts, hesitated for a moment, and gave the details, "Something happened at the hospital last night. A girl named Shi Shi in the hospital disappeared. Liu Shuangshuang, who slept with her and accompanied her, crazy."