At lunch, only Cotton and his mother were at the table. Cotton's father was the head of the internal medicine department at a hospital, and because of his busy work schedule, it was common for him not to be home for meals. Cotton's mother was a Chinese teacher at a middle school, and like her son, she was enjoying a relaxing and leisurely summer vacation.
Halfway through the meal, his mother slowly put down her chopsticks, looked at her son, who was eating with gusto, and said, "Cotton, I need to ask you something."
"Mm?" Cotton mumbled, chewing a big bite of food, his words unclear, "What is it?"
"Are you dating Lancy?"
"Uh…" The sudden question made Cotton swallow the food he hadn't finished chewing in a hurry, almost choking. He quickly grabbed the soup spoon and drank a few sips of soup, finally catching his breath. Frowning, he complained, "Mom, what are you doing? Trying to choke me?"
"I didn't expect you to be this nervous," his mother said, "It looks like I was right."
"Mom, stop joking around!" Cotton shouted, his face turning red. "How could I be dating that tomboy? How could you even think of that!"
His mother chuckled lightly. "You say that, but deep down you know better than anyone—Lancy is the prettiest girl in your class, right?"
"Just because she's pretty, should I like her? Even if she looked like a goddess, I wouldn't want to date someone with her wild personality."
"Really? Then why does she come to call you out every afternoon, and you don't refuse?"
"Well… she just happens to come by to call me to go to Sean's house," Cotton awkwardly defended, "I'm not going just to hang out with her."
His mother smiled gently. "Cotton, you know, I'm not that kind of conservative or old-fashioned parent. I understand what kids your age are thinking and what interests them. So, even if I know you're hanging out with a girl, I won't strictly forbid it. I just hope you can handle your relationships appropriately and be careful…"
"Okay, Mom. You can talk to me about this when I'm really dating someone," Cotton interrupted, then paused for a moment, "Speaking of 'forbidding', I have a question for you."
"What question?"
Cotton frowned and thought for a moment before asking, "If you got a book and found the words 'Prohibit reading humanity 'printed on it, what would you think that meant?"
His mother smiled with her lips pressed together, "It means you're changing the subject—though your way of doing so is not very natural."
"I'm not joking, Mom, I'm serious!" Cotton said with a serious face.
"Really? You're saying there's a book with the words 'Prohibit reading humanity' on it? Why would such a book even exist? Is it from an alien planet?" His mother said dismissively while putting a piece of beef into her mouth.
Cotton could tell that his mother either thought he was trying to change the topic with a clumsy excuse or that she thought it was just a silly joke, and she wouldn't take him seriously. He raised his hand to signal that the topic was over, finished his meal in a few quick bites, and left the table to go to his room.
Less than ten minutes later, Cotton's phone buzzed with a text message. He looked at it and saw that it was from Lancy: "I'm downstairs at your house, come down."
Cotton quickly jumped out of bed, ran out of his room, and told his mother, who was cleaning up the dishes, "Mom, I'm going to Sean's house."
His mother replied, "Sean's mother is the U.S. Consulate's ambassador to China. Is it really appropriate for you to visit their house all the time? Don't disturb their work."
As he changed his shoes, Cotton said, "I'm just going to his house to hang out, not to visit the U.S. Consulate. Besides, Sean's parents are really nice, it'll be fine—I'm off!"
He ran out the door, and Lancy was standing by the flower bed, waiting for him. Cotton checked his watch and said, "It's only 12:50, why did you come so early today?"
Lancy glared at him and said, "Don't you want to find out what that strange book says?"
"I want to know! I was thinking about it last night while I was falling asleep!" Cotton said, "But what's the point of going so early? We still have to wait for Lu Hua to get to Sean's place."
"I just called him, he's on his way—let's go."
Cotton got excited. "What did he say? What's in the book?"
"You're so impatient," Lancy said, walking ahead. "Lu Hua said we should wait until we're all at Sean's before telling us."
"Then let's go already!" Cotton playfully tapped Lance and dashed ahead.
Cotton's house wasn't far from Sean's, only about a ten-minute walk. Since Lancy had brought her own UV-protection umbrella, they decided to walk. Halfway there, Cotton suddenly burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at by yourself?" Lancy asked.
"I was thinking about what my mom said at lunch today," Cotton glanced at Lancy and then pinched his lips, "Forget it, I'll keep it to myself."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Lancy asked, glaring at him. "Sounds like it has something to do with me?"
Cotton couldn't help but laugh, glanced at Lancy, and said, "Yeah, it does—are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me!"
Cotton said, "My mom suddenly asked me during lunch—'Cotton, are you dating Lancy?'"
"Ah…" Lancy's cheeks turned red, and she spoke with a slight pout, "That's annoying, how did your mom figure it out… oh no, I mean, how could she think that?"
"Right? It scared me to death, I almost choked!"
"So, what did you say?" Lancy paused, lowering her head to hide her blush.
"Well, what else could I say? I told her we're just buddies, there's no way it's what she thinks, she totally misunderstood—right, Lancy?" Cotton patted her on the shoulder, then lowered his head and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Lancy suddenly raised her head, her face flushed with anger, and shouted at him, "Go die!" Then, she quickly walked ahead.
"Hey, what's going on? Why are you suddenly mad—what's your problem?" Cotton scratched his head in confusion, but she wouldn't respond to him as they walked.
They arrived at Sean's house, and the maid Lian took them upstairs to Sean's room, then went downstairs to get drinks. The door was open, and Sean was sitting at his desk playing a computer game. When he saw Lancy storm in angrily and Cotton awkwardly follow behind, he asked, "What happened with you two?"
Cotton shrugged, signaling that he didn't know. Sean looked at Lancy, hoping to get an answer from her, but Lancy clearly didn't want to discuss what had just happened. She asked, "Has Lu Hua arrived yet?"
"Probably soon," Sean replied, "Why don't you play PS3 for a bit?"
"Okay," Cotton grabbed the controller from the coffee table and asked Lancy, "Wanna play?"
"No," Lancy snapped irritably, turning her face away.
"Fine, then I'll play alone," Cotton said aloud, glancing at Lancy. Since she wasn't paying attention, he started playing the game.
About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Sean put down his mouse. "That must be Lu Hua."
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Lu Hua entered the room with the poetry book from the previous day. Cotton stopped playing the game, hurried over, and asked, "So, did you translate it?"
Lu Hua nodded and sat down on the sofa. He looked at the three of them and said, "Don't get your hopes up too high, I've only translated a few poems."
"Uh? You spent an entire day and only translated a few?" Cotton said, disappointed.
Lu Hua widened his eyes and looked at him. "Do you think it's easy? This book was written hundreds of years ago, in Old French. It's quite different from the French we use today—translating it was exhausting! Each poem took almost an hour to translate."
"Well, forget about that. Just tell us the content of the poems you've translated," Sean said eagerly. "I really want to know what's in this 'Prohibit reading humanity. '
At that moment, the maid Lian came in with a drink and handed it to Lu Hua. He thanked her, then sipped the juice and sighed. "To be honest, I don't think you guys need to care so much—once you hear the poems, you'll be disappointed. The 'Prohibit reading humanity' part is just the author trying to make it sound mysterious."
"Just tell us already, we'll judge for ourselves!" Cotton urged.
"Okay, I'll start with the first poem," Lu Hua said, flipping through the book.
"Wait a minute, why are you flipping through the back? Isn't it supposed to be the first page?" Lancy asked.
Lu Hua said, "Did you forget? We discovered this yesterday, didn't we? This book must have been scattered at some point, and when it was rebound, the first few pages got placed at the back—I've been reading it in page order."
"Oh, right," Lancy nodded, recalling it, "Then hurry up and tell us."
Lu Hua turned to the first page and read with a serious tone: "The first poem translates to this—'Nergal visited the new city for the second time in September, bringing four terrifying flying monsters. The mad white beasts perished with the twin towers, and Satan laughed wildly in the smoke and dust.'"
After reading, Lu Hua closed the book and placed it down. Three pairs of eyes stared at him. Cotton asked, "That's it?"
"Yes, that's it," Lu Hua said, "After all, a poem only has a few lines."
"No… what does this poem even mean? I don't understand it at all," Lancy asked in confusion.
"If you want to know what this poem specifically expresses, I can't answer that either—I just translated it literally, as for the deeper meaning of the poem… you'd have to ask the author himself," Lu Hua replied.
Cotton scratched his head in puzzlement, "What 'flying monsters,' 'twin towers'… Hey, I said, could this be a medieval version of 'Harry Potter'?"
"I think it feels more like 'The Lord of the Rings,'" Lu Hua said with a bitter smile. "The other poems are pretty much similar—anyway, I see this book as an imaginative fantasy poetry collection."
"Ah? This is so boring!" Lancy complained. "Isn't it just a fairy tale? I waited all day for this!"
"Now you know why I said that the phrase 'forbidden for human reading' was just the author being mysterious—how does it feel, now that you know the result?" Lu Hua smirked.
Cotton and Lancy both sighed simultaneously, feeling disappointed. At that moment, Cotton suddenly noticed that since Lu Hua finished reading the poem, Sean had been sitting silently in the corner—he glanced at Sean and saw that he was sitting motionless on the sofa, his expression serious. His left hand tightly gripped his chin, his eyebrows knitted together in a deep furrow, as if he had just thought of something unbelievable.
Cotton nudged him gently with his elbow and asked, "Sean, what's wrong?"
Sean slowly lifted his head, glanced at Cotton, then turned his gaze to Lu Hua and Lancy. His lips quivered slightly, but no sound came out—his whole expression was truly strange.
Both Lu Hua and Lancy noticed Sean's unusual demeanor, and they both asked in unison, "What's wrong with you?"
Sean hesitated for a few seconds, clearly unsure, before he said, "I suddenly… remembered something, but… ah, it's impossible…"
Lu Hua shook his head, indicating he didn't understand, and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Sean, still with furrowed brows, suddenly asked, "Lu Hua, what did you say earlier—the 'Nergal' in the first sentence, what does that mean?"
"Nergal?" Lu Hua thought for a moment, "That's a name. I translated it phonetically. What's the matter?"
"A name? Whose name?" Sean pressed.
"Actually, it's not a person's name. It's the name of a god in ancient Babylonian mythology. Nergal represents Mars, and he is one of the seven planetary gods who govern the seven days of the week—this is something I found out when I translated the poem last night and checked online. Why are you asking about this?"
"One of the seven planetary gods who govern the days of the week… Which day does Nergal govern?" Sean's expression suddenly became tense, making Lu Hua uneasy. He answered in confusion, "…Tuesday."
"Tuesday? Really Tuesday!" Sean shouted, covering his mouth, his face full of fear. "Oh my god… how could this be so coincidental!"
Sean's outburst startled everyone, and they all looked at him in confusion. Cotton asked, "Sean, what are you remembering?"
Sean ignored Cotton's question entirely, grabbing Lu Hua's arm urgently and asking, "You said… this poetry collection was written by someone from the medieval period? Are you sure?"
Lu Hua was completely puzzled by Sean's question. "I can't be sure if it was written by someone from the medieval period, but… it definitely wasn't written by someone modern—because the ancient grammar and sentence structures used in this book are no longer in use. Besides, the paper is so old and brittle, it must be several decades or even centuries old by now."
Sean slowly released his grip on Lu Hua's arm, lost in thought, muttering to himself, "That's strange… how could such a thing happen…"
Finally, Cotton couldn't hold back and stood up, asking, "What are you talking about? Stop talking to yourself, tell us what's going on!"
Sean looked up and stared at all three of them: "Don't you all think that the poem describes a major event that happened a few years ago?"