Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
“You are overthinking things.” Chen Ge saw the black trash bag out of the corner of his eyes, but he did not place much attention on it at all. Regardless of whether it was a dead body part or everyday trash inside the trash bag, what did that have to do with him?
Chen Ge had not lost his mind. The first thing that he needed to figure out was his own ident.i.ty; he needed to find out what kind of person this Lin Sisi was. From his perspective, there had supposedly not been any changes to his physique and appearance, but he had no idea why w.a.n.g Xiaoming and the people around him had been treating him as Lin Sisi.
Perhaps this Lin Sisi is not even a person's name but a code name, a type of ident.i.ty.
“If you wish to go to the canteen later, you can come and get me. I'll go with you. But now I shall go and rest.” Chen Ge's expression did not change much. It was as if he did not see the trash bag at all.
“Okay.” w.a.n.g Xiaoming was about to slither inside the darkened bedroom when he was suddenly reminded of something, and he turned around to yell at Chen Ge, “Xiao Lin, you slept in cla.s.s again today. Did you hear the few crucial things that Mr. Bai specifically told us about?”
“What things?”
“Do not leave your bedroom at night, and we should stay quietly inside our room. Other than that, the time for lights out has been moved earlier from the previous 11 pm to 10:30 pm. There will be people patrolling the corridors after the lights go off, so it is wise for us to pay more attention to these details.”
“That's all?” Chen Ge had thought that w.a.n.g Xiaoming wanted to tell him something very important. He had been inside the door for quite some time already, but the things, incidents, and people that he had encountered could not have been normal, or at least they could not have been more normal on the surface. This school appeared no different from a normal night school, and there was nothing worth investigating about it.
w.a.n.g Xiaoming bit on his lips. He seemed to have more to say, but due to uncertainties, he eventually revealed nothing. The door closed, and Chen Ge was left alone in the dormitory corridor. The surroundings were extremely quiet—there was no sound at all.
“It still hasn't reached the time for lights out, so why is the corridor so quiet? Could it be that all the bedrooms here are actually unoccupied?” Chen Ge took out the keys from his bag and then turned to look at the door of the bedroom opposite from w.a.n.g Xiaoming's. There was a number on the door, 413.
“Is this Lin Sisi's room?” Staring at that number, Chen Ge suddenly felt it looked so familiar. “The four probably represents the fourth floor, but what about the number 13? The 13th room?”
Chen Ge had once seen this number thirteen inside the diary in the bas.e.m.e.nt of Nightmare Academy, and he remembered it very clearly. On the last page of the diary, the following phrases was written—I, Die, One Three, School of the Afterlife, Run.
“Does the thirteen mentioned in the diary refer to this bedroom? I sincerely doubt it is that simple.” Inside the eerily quiet corridor, the only sound was the keys turning the lock. Chen Ge tried multiple keys before he found the correct one. After he got the door open and strode into the bedroom, Chen Ge's brows creased heavily when he saw what was inside the bedroom.
The bedroom was not big by any means, but there were six beds in total. They were all bunk beds. The beds were placed on the top bunk, and underneath were a table, shelves, and storage for various objects.
If that was everything, Chen Ge would not have thought anything was a problem, but what attracted Chen Ge's attention were the walls of the bedroom. There were many human shadows on the bedroom's ceiling and walls. They had the same height as a normal person, and it was hard to tell whether they had been pasted there or drawn there.
“One, two, three…” Chen Ge made a rough count, and there were five shadows inside the bedroom. These things were so eye-catching that it was hard to pretend that they did not exist. For his own safety, Chen Ge first climbed up the bunk bed's ladders to study the human shadows at a closer distance.
His fingers touched the shadow closest to him. Chen Ge used his fingers to lightly peel at the wall. “This is painted by some kind of paint, but who would do this kind of thing inside their bedroom?”
Those shadows that had the same size of a normal person were so scary in broad daylight, but once the lights were off, how scary would it be to open one's eyes and realize that there were human shadows everywhere?
After scanning all the shadows with his eyes, Chen Ge jumped down from bed. After losing the aid from his employees, Chen Ge had become more careful than ever before. “There are six beds in total, but there is only one water bottle in the room, and there is only one pair of slippers on the ground. Xiao Lin is probably the only person who lives in this bedroom.”
Chen Ge looked through the tables and shelves of the other bunk beds. Even though they were filled with junk, they were not everyday items. Instead, they were strange objects like a painting palette, paint cans, the broken arm of a statue, a ruined electrical wire, and so on. This bedroom was like a storage where Xiao Lin was the only living occupant, and the rest was not occupied.
“There are few students who stay at the night school's dormitory. Xiao Lin does not come from a rich family, and it is impossible to think that he would spend more money to live at school, so the only explanation is that staying here cost less than renting a house outside the campus.”
Normally, the price of a dormitory apartment would be far higher than the rental of nearby houses. However, since Xiao Lin could afford to stay there, there was only one explanation—there had to be something wrong with the room.
Chen Ge had no idea what had happened in Xiao Lin's bedroom in the past, but there was a strange sense of urgency inside his heart. Chen Ge walked to the bed number four, which was furthest from the door. This bed had a new mattress and cover. Even though the other beds also had mattresses and covers, most of them were covered in dust, and they had long outlived their usefulness.
“Since no one is staying here, why would they prepare the mattress and covers? Would anyone even someone sleep in such a dirty bed?” Chen Ge climbed up the ladder and sat down on the fourth bed. He looked around the bedroom from this perspective, and it felt completely different; it no longer felt so cramped.
“I must be right. This is Xiao Lin's bed.” There were words of encouragement and a schedule pasted next to the pillow. If this was not inside a strange school, Chen Ge would have had no doubt that Xiao Lin was a hardworking ace student.
“The cover has been recently cleaned; there is still a lingering smell of the detergent. The blanket is carefully folded. When I was at school, I rarely saw such organization in a male dorm. Xiao Lin should be an extremely self-disciplined student who cannot stand messiness.” Chen Ge started to draft up an image of Xiao Lin in his mind.
Other than the blanket and pillow, a book and a pencil were in the bed. Chen Ge thought that this was because Xiao Lin was reading in bed, but once he read through a few pages, he realized that things were not that simple.
Most of the books related to the subject and schools were clean and untouched; there were no mark on them at all. It was like they were brand new. But Xiao Lin's own notebooks were dog-eared and folded at many pages, which was a sign that they were heavily used. Chen Ge took out the three notebooks that were hidden among the textbooks. They were filled with paper sc.r.a.ps. Some were directly cut out from newspapers, some came from the notices pasted on the bulletin board downstairs, and there were also small notes with different handwriting.
“These are…” Chen Ge just had a casual glance through them, but he was quickly drawn into them.
“The man entered the student dormitory when it was a holiday, but he did not expect that there would still be students who had not left. He hid inside the closet and was discovered by a student when he tried to escape in the middle of the night.
“The student's body was found inside the closet at dawn the next morning. The murderer has still not been found. All the students and staff must be on full alert.”
The newspaper cuttings were all about some mysterious cases. There was no detailed address to any of them, and the names had all been removed. The articles merely spoke of killing cases that people should be conscious about.
“The people's names look like they have been purposely removed. Where did Xiao Lin find these newspaper articles? The paper itself is yellowing, so they should be from some time back.” The notebook recorded more than one case, and the crime scenes were all over the place. They included the library, a bedroom, laboratories, and inside the elevator booth.
“Could these cases have all been real?” Chen Ge looked through the notebook. The further he read, the more nervous he became. “This notebook is extremely important.”
As he read through the notebooks, Chen Ge's curiosity in Xiao Lin only continued to grow. Who was this person? Why would he keep tabs on those strange, curious cases?
Chen Ge placed all of Xiao Lin's notebooks that he had found on the bed. The one that he had been carrying inside the bed and the three found on the bed, so now Chen Ge had four notebooks in total. “The notebook inside the bed should be used for some kind of distraction. It does not contain any real important information. These three notebooks found here should be Xiao Lin's biggest secret.”
Chen Ge read through them carefully and tried to memorize everything that he saw. Chen Ge paid his full focus and did not allow himself to be disturbed, but at that moment, knocking came from the door.
The silence was broken, and out of habit, Chen Ge quickly held his breath.
The door knocking continued a few times before it stopped completely.
“Is it w.a.n.g Xiaoming outside the door? Does he wish to ask me to go with him to the canteen for dinner?” Chen Ge did not want to presume too much about this w.a.n.g Xiaoming, but he did not wish to have much more interaction with him either. After about one whole minute, that annoying knocking sound returned again. It was as sudden as the one before it.
However, this time, the knocking appeared to be more forceful. Chen Ge did not make a sound; he did not move to open the door either. The knocking continued for several seconds, and then… the sound of a key being pushed into the lock, the spring of the lock moving, and the door unlocking came!
CREAK…
The door was pushed open. The pale-faced teacher, Mr. Bai, appeared at the door, holding the key and a flashlight.
“Why didn't you come answer the door?” Mr. Bai glared at Chen Ge. His forehead was breaking in cold sweat, and his Adam's Apple was shuddering. He appeared to be deeply fearful.
“I fell asleep.” As Chen Ge pulled himself straighter, he very naturally yanked the blanket to cover himself and to s.h.i.+eld the three notebooks from view.
Mr. Bai did not enter the room—he merely stood at the door and looked around the room. “Do not wander off at night. Stay inside your room after the lights are switched off. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Chen Ge nodded.
Mr. Bai closed the door and left straight after.
“What a strange man. He was being so urgent when he was trying to open the door. It was as if he was trying to see whether I am still alive or not.” With the blanket over him, Chen Ge was about to continue reading the notebooks when the lights in the bedroom were switched off.
“It's already time for lights out? It is already 10:30 pm?” Lying in the darkness, Chen Ge suddenly came to a realization. “Ever since I entered the world behind the door, I don't think I've encountered any object that can tell time. There hasn't been a clock, watch, or phone in sight.
“Time should be a very important clue—it might prove useful to my investigation.” Ever since the lights went off, Chen Ge had been dividing his focus into two. One part was to count his heartbeat silently, and the other was to use his Yin Yang Vision to read the notebooks in the dark.
“After I've studied everything in the notebooks, I should go look for other clues. If nothing is found, I should go to another location.” Mr. Bai had the bedroom key, and he could enter the bedroom freely, which gave Chen Ge a very weak sense of security.
The curtain inside the bedroom was very thick, and only a very thin sheath of light was able to pa.s.s into the room through the gap.
There were five human shadows in the room, and as time pa.s.sed, the atmosphere inside the room became more pressured.
Bang, bang, bang….
In the dark, Chen Ge suddenly heard someone knock on the bedroom door, but it was very soft.
Why do I have so many visitors?
This new knocking was completely different from Mr. Bai's, so it should be a different person beyond the door.
Could it be w.a.n.g Xiaoming? No, he looks so easily scared, and he is too afraid to stay in the dormitory corridor alone. This shouldn't be him.
Chen Ge stayed in bed with the blanket over him. He was reminded of what Mr. Bai and w.a.n.g Xiaoming had said that night, ‘Do not leave your bedroom after dark.'
Chen Ge was still hesitating over whether he should go take a look when the knocking stopped. The person only knocked three or four times.
The knocking stopped, but I don't hear any footsteps, so the person is probably still outside the door.
Chen Ge was quite experienced when it came to sleuthing and deduction. He did not make any sound—he did not even move his body—he wanted to create the impression that the bedroom was completely empty.
After ten minutes, there was still an enveloping silence outside in the corridor.
Has the person left?
Chen Ge sighed slightly in relief. He moved his hand inside Xiao Lin's bag and found the sharpened scissors.
Whether it is useful or not, having this at least provides some security.
Chen Ge was not a pa.s.sive person, no matter how deep his despair, he was not going to give up so easily.
However, before he even pulled the scissors out of the bag, the knocking began again. It was not very hard, and it had a constant rhythm to it like it was made by a machine.
Has the monster outside the door caught onto my presence?
Chen Ge tightened his grip around the scissors as he kept his eyes glued to the door. This time, the knocking did not stop but instead became more erratic.
The thing outside sounds like he's being chased by something. Don't tell me… he's coming in here to hide?
Chen Ge himself was in deep water, so obviously, he was not going to go open the door. The frequency of the knocking became more intense, but the force was weakening. It felt like the thing's life force was draining.
Could this be a prank? It's merely trying to lure me to open the door?
As the knocking changed from urgent knocking to a weak, dwindling knocking, his eyes narrowed.
The knocking appeared out of thin air. There was no other sound in the corridor. Something is not right. Perhaps I've missed an alternative possibility.
Chen Ge flipped through the notebook next to him. One of the pages recorded the case of a murderer hiding inside the dormitory's bedroom closet. When the murderer attempted to escape around midnight, he was spotted by the student, and then the student's body was eventually found inside the closet.
Regardless of whether it was the murderer or the student, they were both inside the bedroom that night. So, if that incident happened inside this room, the knocking that I'm hearing right now isn't coming from outside but a cry for help coming from inside the room! The ghost is probably inside the room with me!
A chill ran up Chen Ge's spine, and the position of the human shadows on the walls appeared to have s.h.i.+fted slightly. To make matters worse, Chen Ge suddenly felt something moving under the cover!
