Translator: Cinder Translations
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"The more terrifying thing is... that woman was wearing a pair of red high heels!"
Upon hearing this, both Yu Wen and Zhang Yinyin's expressions changed. They immediately recalled the earlier mention of the high-heeled footsteps hidden in the sounds described by the woman. Could it be...
The woman didn't give them time to dwell on this thought. In a hoarse voice, she continued, "It was from that moment I began to suspect their identities."
"Though I hadn't been at the school long, I'd encountered the security staff a few times, and I had never seen these people before."
"Also, the security staff are not allowed to wear high heels while on duty."
"I purposely stalled, saying I needed to find something, and they just stood outside the door waiting for me. But soon, the leader, the fierce bald man, as I mentioned earlier..." the woman emphasized.
"His attitude became worse and worse, his face darkening as if it were about to drip water. I was terrified, but I insisted that I wouldn't leave until I found what I was looking for."
"They stayed outside the office and didn't come in, right?" Yu Wen asked.
The woman nodded, her face reflecting similar confusion. "That's right. I couldn't understand it either. The door was wide open, but they didn't come in. They just stood outside, waiting for me."
"What happened next?" Zhang Yinyin couldn't help but ask. "How did you get away?"
"When I realized they wouldn't come inside for the time being, I calmed down a bit and made an excuse to go to the department head's office to get some materials. In reality, I was planning to hide inside."
The woman explained, "At that time, our office was quite large, shared by all the teachers in the department. In the far corner, a separate room was partitioned off as the department head's office."
"I didn't pay attention to their reactions, as I had already decided to go to the head's office and use her phone to call for help from the other teachers."
"That office door had a large mirror on it, specifically placed there so teachers could adjust their attire."
"Just as I was pulling the door halfway open, the mirror's angle perfectly reflected the spot at the entrance. I glanced at it instinctively..."
At this point, the woman stopped talking. Yu Wen noticed her eyes widening slowly, filled with horror.
Zhou Taifu, trembling with fear, was on the verge of tears, hugging himself tightly. "You can't just stop there! What... what did you see?"
"There were... there were four people standing at the door." The woman gasped heavily, as if a broken, old bellows had been installed in the small space.
Zhang Yinyin frowned sharply. This didn't match her hypothesis.
Yu Wen also put down her pen, looking at the woman in front of her with confusion.
After a long pause, the woman finally spoke again, enunciating each word slowly, "None of them had a chin."
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Back to Jiang Cheng and his companion:
Fatty sipped on his millet porridge enthusiastically while talking to Jiang Cheng. "Doctor, you're amazing! How did you know that those two in room 405 would quietly wipe away the bloody handprint?"
Jiang Cheng chewed his food for a moment and then leisurely spat out a fishbone. The fried fish from yesterday had been good, so he had ordered another one today, feeling in a pretty good mood.
"In any mission where someone is marked by a ghost, the others are bound to abandon them," Jiang Cheng explained. "This mission wasn't easy, and they wouldn't make it alone."
---
The scene flashed back to a few hours earlier, around 4 or 5 a.m.
The sky outside was still pitch black.
Fatty was leaning against the wall, head tilted, sleeping soundly.
Suddenly, he felt a chill around his neck, jolting him awake with a start, immediately thinking that a ghost was trying to twist his neck.
"Doctor," Fatty looked at Jiang Cheng, who stood nearby with a bottle of mineral water, observing him with a curious expression. Feeling embarrassed, Fatty stammered, "I swear I just fell asleep; I was keeping watch before that."
Jiang Cheng couldn't be bothered to argue and simply told him to keep quiet, as they were about to head out.
Fatty shook his still-groggy head, pulled back the curtain slightly, glanced outside, and then turned back, puzzled. "It's still dark outside. Isn't it dangerous to go out now?"
Jiang Cheng had already packed everything he needed. He turned and asked, "Want to stay behind and wait for me?"
Fatty thought about it and nodded. "Alright, just be careful."
But just as Jiang Cheng was about to open the door and leave, he suddenly paused and turned back, lowering his voice to Fatty, "Oh, by the way, when I woke up just now, I thought I saw a shadow under your bed."
Fatty shuddered, "???"
"Of course," Jiang Cheng continued, "it might have just been my imagination."
Now, Fatty was fully awake. His throat tightened, and he immediately distanced himself from the bed.
His face was full of fear, yet he dared not raise his voice. He mumbled nervously, "Don't scare me like that! I may look big, but I'm actually really fragile inside."
"Don't worry about it," Jiang Cheng comforted him. "Try to think positively. Even if it is a ghost, it doesn't necessarily want to kill you. Maybe it just wants to break your limbs, pull out all your teeth, and hang you upside down as a mascot on the flagpole."
Fatty trembled as he hastily grabbed his coat and threw it on. "Stop talking! I... I'll come with you."
"Are you sure?" Jiang Cheng asked calmly, never one to force others to do things. He was simply respecting Fatty's choice.
"No need to think anymore," Fatty shook his head. "Even if I don't go with you, I don't think I can stay here any longer."
"Alright then."
What Fatty hadn't expected was that they didn't even leave the dormitory building. In fact, they hadn't gone far from their room.
They were now standing outside the door of room 405.
In the dim light, Fatty watched as Jiang Cheng took out a small white bottle from his pocket.
It was the kind used for medicine, very common.
And then they waited.
Fatty's job was to stand guard for Jiang Cheng.
His eyesight was sharp—back in school, he could peek over someone's shoulder and see their answer sheet two rows away.
Now, his neck moved like a radar, scanning their surroundings.
"Whoosh—"
"Whoosh—"
A strange wind blew down the corridor, sweeping up bits of debris and rattling a few ajar doors, creating an eerie noise.
Jiang Cheng immediately poured the contents of the bottle into his right palm.
Fatty, sharp-eyed as ever, saw that it was a dark, slightly viscous liquid.
At the same time, a pungent smell reached his nose.
It was blood!
His pupils constricted.
Then, he watched as Jiang Cheng smeared the blood onto his palm and pressed it against the door of room 405.
When he pulled his hand away, there was a clear bloody handprint left on the door.
Fatty's eyes widened, and he gulped nervously.
Next, Jiang Cheng tapped the bottle again, using the remaining blood to continue drawing, extending each finger of the handprint to twice their normal length.
(End of the Chapter)
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