Chapter 2.
The only choice.
Sima Yi spent some time unpacking things, although he didn't have too much compared to the other students in his dorm. The suspicious kid from the train had a whole suitcase of stuff.
He also visited the school library, which was just about as cold and grey as the rest of the school, however, the choice of books was really great. Yi picked a book called "Journey to the West", about Sun Wukong the monkey king and his adventures, and Buddhist monks, and magic and all sorts of wonderful things. He had already read it twice or thrice, but it was pleasant and comforting to recognize familiar characters and events in such a foreign and rather unfriendly environment.
Sima Yi got so carried away with the book he barely managed to make it in time for supper. He rushed into the hall just before Cao Angxing came in.
"S-sima Yi!" he hissed, "I hope you will do your best not to be late next time."
"Yes, sir." the boy nodded, looking at the grey tiles on the floor not to meet the head of Wei's watery blue glare.
But Cao Angxing had other things to do apart from scolding a first-year late for supper. He waved his hand and food appeared on the tables. It was rather plain, rice and fried chicken, but the way it had come to be surprised most, if not all, of the first-years.
"Watch out, he's the Chemistry teacher after all!" a Wuist boy giggled, covering his mouth with a long black sleeve of the robe.
"Woah, will you teach us to do that?" a short-haired Weion girl asked the teacher, "Like, make all this food appear out of nowhere?"
"Ask your Taoism teacher, that's his responsibility," Cao Angxing sounded annoyed. He always sounded annoyed. "Would you please be so kind as to shut up? All of you!"
The girl shrugged her shoulders and started eating. The Wei table received a few pitiful stares and a couple of giggles from the other faculties. Their teachers were not like that at all. Sima Yi sighed. Nothing new here either.
Yi had eaten nothing apart from a bit of the Sorting Ceremony salad since the very morning, so he was pretty hungry by now. He was consuming his rice so quickly that some boy asked if the food would disappear if they didn't manage to eat it on time.
"No idea." the short-haired girl answered instead of Sima Yi. "But that would be so-o-o Cao Angxing."
Yi stopped eating and turned to look at the Chemistry teacher. He stood in the corner nearby, arms crossed on his chest, and he was biting his thin lips nervously. Liu Yongye, the History of Han teacher and the head of Shu, stood beside him.
"...I hope such incidences will not occur again, but if something similar happens, I suppose the school will have to be closed," Angxing said in his usual annoyed manner.
"I guess the school itself is relatively safe though. After all, we have encountered this two hundred years ago, and..."
"Have you lived two hundred years ago, Mr. Liu? Times change, so do humans. Moreover, Han itself is nearing its end..."
Liu Yongye frowned.
"What on Earth are you saying. Han is going to last forever and a day!"
"Ha. Leave the loyalty to the court outside of the school walls, Mr. Liu. Han is over, we can all see it rotting. This is yet another sign."
"Mr. Weion, the only thing to be left outside of the school walls is... is your revolutionary thinking!" Liu Yongye answered angrily.
"Afraid to lose the job?" Cao laughed. "Who needs History of Han when..."
They suddenly realized they were talking too loudly. Since they were standing between the Wei and the Shu tables, not many students could hear them from such a distance. Only two, in fact. Sima Yi and...
He turned around and saw two curious green eyes staring at him closely.
"Who is that boy?" Cao Angxing asked quietly.
"Zhuge Liang."
"Make sure he doesn't tell anyone," the Chemistry teacher warned quickly, "Silence and silence only. We need no stupid first years..."
Sima Yi wasn't listening anymore. He left the rest of his food on the plate and slipped quietly out of the hall.
He ran past the long grey corridors decorated by a few dull landscape pictures, then went down the windy stairway, and knocked at the navy blue door.
"Rising Phoenix," he panted.
This was the password needed to enter the dorm. Some more Taoist magic wasted on trifles.
He jumped onto his bed and hid his face in the pillow. This was just too much for a single day. First Zhuge Liang, then sorting, and now this.
He wanted to fall asleep, just elapse into emptiness and rest.
"Something is threatening the school. Something we're not supposed to know about. They don't evacuate us or anything, which literally means danger lurks somewhere nearby and," he kept going back to the teachers' conversation, "And we are to wait for it to come. Silently. What could it be?.."
Suddenly he felt somebody's hand touch his shoulder.
"Don't take it too seriously, Sima Yi." Cao Angxing said, piercing the first-year with his steely glare.
"T-take what seriously? What are you talking about, sir?.." Zhongda lied, staring right into the Chemist's cold eyes.
"Lying helps sometimes." the chief Weion smirked in a sinister way. "I highly recommend you to keep lying to everybody else. Make sure nobody knows of our little chat with Mr. Liu."
"I'm not lying, sir." Sima Yi felt something wet on his upper lip. No. Not that again. He pressed the black sleeve against his nose to prevent the blood from pouring all over the sheets.
"Whatever you call it." Angxing smiled coldly, handing him a tissue. "Good night, Sima Yi."
"Good night, sir." Yi took the tissue and replaced the sleeve with it.
The head of Wei crossed his arms on his chest and left quickly, before the other students came back.
Deep inside Sima Yi felt he wouldn't manage living on with this knowledge and doing nothing.
He got to the sink and washed his face with cold water to halt the blood flow. The sleeve, however, was ruined. Right before the school year. Oh well.
It was reckless to tell any of the teachers, since they either wouldn't believe or would somehow punish Cao Angxing, which would lead to severe problems. It was just as stupid to tell any of the kids. He promised not to. Besides, he didn't know anyone but Zhang Jiao whom he didn't trust much.
He couldn't tell anybody. Anybody but...
Sima Yi wiped his face with the clean sleeve since there was no towel.
He hated to admit it, but this was the only choice.
"Zhuge Liang."
