Research Notes

The next morning.

Gallo arrived at Lubo Lane at his usual time. Just as he stepped into the entrance of the lane, he heard the melodious eight o'clock chimes ringing from the clock tower.

Upon arriving at the Moonlight Cafe, he saw Professor Vanason already sitting at the same table Gallo had occupied yesterday, waiting for him.

"Good morning, Professor." Before Vanason noticed that Gallo had arrived, he took the initiative to greet him.

Seeing Gallo appear, Vanason let out a long sigh of relief. He said half-jokingly, "I was truly worried you wouldn't come today."

He then added impatiently, "I brought another item from Professor Jeffrey." Vanason immediately stood up and took a thick stack of bound notes from his briefcase.

He handed the research notes to Gallo.

"Here, these are Professor Jeffrey's research notes on the ancient hieroglyphs of the Askia Dynasty.

After you read these materials, you should be able to decipher the contents of those rubbings from yesterday. Perhaps you might even be able to recall the contents of those rubbings."

Gallo took the notes; they felt heavy in his hands, the edges of the paper slightly curled from frequent flipping.

"I'll give it a try." He didn't say much more, sat down directly, and opened the first page of the notes.

Professor Jeffrey's notes were far more systematic than those messy survey records.

Inside, they detailed various variants of hieroglyphic symbols, speculations on possible pronunciations, and usage examples from the few inscriptions already deciphered.

Gallo was fully focused, understanding and memorizing this complex semiotic knowledge.

His reading speed remained astonishing, but when deciphering these completely unfamiliar symbols, his pace was significantly slower than reading ordinary books.

Professor Vanason watched nervously from the side, his breathing gradually slowing, fearing he might disturb Gallo's reading and train of thought.

About ten minutes later, Gallo closed the last page of the thick notebook.

He closed his eyes, struggling to summon the vague memories of the rubbings from the survey box yesterday.

However, he failed.

The patterns and symbols on those rubbings remained like a thick fog in his memory, blurry and indistinct, making it difficult to precisely map them to the systematic knowledge he had just learned.

He could remember everything in Jeffrey's notes, but he could not use this knowledge to activate those dormant memories of the rubbings.

Gallo opened his eyes, looked at Professor Vanason, and shook his head gently: "I'm sorry, Professor.

I have fully mastered the contents of the notes, but they are... not very helpful for recalling those rubbings.

The images of the rubbings in my memory are too blurry and lack sufficient detail."

A flash of undisguised disappointment crossed Professor Vanason's eyes. He took out a one Copper Nil banknote and offered it to Gallo, but was politely refused.

Gallo did not accept the Copper Nil, explaining that he had not fulfilled Professor Vanason's request for this session, so he would not charge a fee.

Professor Vanason could only take the money back, sighing as he rubbed his brow: "To think it ended in failure.

For unknown scripts and graphics, even with your memory, it is impossible to fully retain them after only a brief encounter yesterday."

Gallo rested his chin on his hand and speculated: "Perhaps... if I could see the contents of the rubbings again now, I would be able to remember them completely.

And with the annotations in the notes, I could translate them accurately."

Gallo's words perked Professor Vanason up again. He picked up the stack of notes, carefully tucked them back into his briefcase, and said with determination: "It seems I must make another trip to see Jeffrey.

I will borrow those rubbing materials again!"

Gallo watched the professor's firm expression and said nothing, simply watching him leave.

He knew that for a scholar obsessed with the truth, this situation of being kept in the dark and unable to explore the full picture was the most agonizing thing.

Gallo then began his day's work, with regular customers and students arriving one after another for consultations.

About an hour later, just as Gallo had finished seeing off a client, he saw the figure of Professor Vanason appear in the distance again, walking toward the cafe.

His pace was no longer as hurried as before; instead, it seemed heavy and dejected.

He walked to Gallo's table, his face looking terrible.

"How did it go, Professor?" Gallo asked.

Vanason shook his head: "He refused, very firmly. One could even say... agitatedly."

He sat down and continued to describe the scene from just moments ago: "When I found him, he looked even worse than yesterday!

His eye sockets were sunken, his hair was disheveled, as if he hadn't slept all night.

The moment I proposed borrowing those rubbings again, he jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on."

Vanason mimicked the way Jeffrey had been waving his arms in agitation.

"He practically roared at me, 'No! Vanason, don't touch those things again! Forget them! For your own sake, and for the sake of everyone you care about!'"

Vanason rubbed the corners of his eyes and sighed: "I tried to reason with him, asking him what exactly he was afraid of.

But he just stared at me, his eyes... filled with bloodshot veins and a fear bordering on collapse.

He kept muttering, 'You don't understand,' 'You can't go any deeper,' 'Some doors, once opened, can never be closed'... it was as if..."

Vanason searched his mind for an adjective, then said: "It was as if his mind was already standing on the edge of a cliff, and one more step forward would lead to a total breakdown."

He fell silent for a moment, as if speaking to himself: "Perhaps I really should report this to the university administration."

Perhaps we could have the school board order Professor Jeffrey to take some time off at home, or arrange for a psychological expert to intervene early."

His expression turned bitter as he said, "I'm afraid that in a little while, the only place I'll be able to visit him is an asylum."

Vanason did not linger there any longer. Since he had a class in the morning, he hurriedly bid Gallo farewell and headed back.

Not long after Vanason left, a server from Moonlight Cafe brought a cup of coffee with milk and sugar to the table in front of Gallo.

"Uh... sorry, I didn't order any coffee." Gallo immediately stood up to explain to the waitress.

He quickly added apologetically, "Actually, I was planning to order coffee when I first sat down, but I had a client waiting for me.

And then a few more groups of people came by, so I just forgot..."

The waitress smiled and explained, "Mr. Gallo, this is on the house."

She leaned in and whispered, "Because Mr. Gallo has been spending time here lately, business at the cafe has been much better than usual these past two days."

After she left, Gallo noticed the female manager standing inside the cafe's glass window, polishing a bright silver coffee pot.

Noticing Gallo's gaze, she offered him a faint smile from behind the glass.

Gallo nodded with a smile, then sat down and took a sip of the coffee, feeling his body warm up a little.

Ever since his soul transmigrated into this world, he had basically given up hope of ever returning to his original one.

As it stood, living out a peaceful life in this world wasn't so bad; he didn't have any attachments in his original world anyway.

As Gallo took another slow sip of coffee, that feeling of being watched from the shadows returned, causing his hand, which was about to set the cup down, to pause a few centimeters above the table.

"Even if I just want to live a peaceful life, there will always be some ripples, won't there?"