The pendant was made of jade, entirely white, with a carving of a creature that looked like a phoenix. However, the phoenix was red, as if it were floating on the surface of the jade. The color transition of the jade was exceptionally natural.
I wondered if a student had dropped it and someone else had found it and left it with me.
Looking at my watch, it was already past 8 a.m., but for some reason, Sister Wang hadn't arrived yet. Instead, a duty teacher came in and told me that Sister Wang had been hospitalized, and he was here to cover for her.
Sister Wang was hospitalized?
My heart skipped a beat, and for some reason, the image of the girl in the dress flashed through my mind.
Hesitating for a moment, I decided to check the fifth floor—I wanted to see what was going on in the room that Yingying had tried to get me to enter last night.
The entire fifth floor showed no signs of being occupied. All the doors were locked, and even the hallway was covered in a layer of dust. But the strange thing was, after searching the entire floor, I couldn't find Room 514 between Rooms 513 and 515!
What was going on?
I was completely baffled. I walked around the fifth floor multiple times, unwilling to give up, but the fact remained—there was no Room 514 on the entire floor.
Instead, there was a Room 521 on this level. Normally, each floor in Building One had twenty rooms. Although I didn't know why, it was clear that Room 514 had never existed in the first place.
Now I was thoroughly confused. Could it be that I had been dreaming last night?
No, something was definitely wrong, because dreams still follow basic logic. This was my first time on the fifth floor in my three months of working here—I hadn't even known that Room 514 didn't exist.
If I hadn't known, how could I have dreamed about it?
Besides, I remembered clearly that on the key rack in the security room, there was a spot labeled "514"—just without a key.
I recalled what Yingying had said last night—the room that caught fire, the two dorm managers who resigned. All these details were burned into my memory. Normally, I forget my dreams as soon as I wake up, so why could I remember this one so vividly?
I couldn't figure it out. I felt like I had to find Sister Wang and ask her about the girl in the dress. I had a strong feeling that last night's events were connected to her. Ever since Sister Wang had stopped me from opening the door for her, strange things had been happening.
With that thought, I went downstairs to find the duty teacher and asked which hospital Sister Wang was in. I told him I wanted to get a checkup today and visit her while I was at it.
The teacher was straightforward and told me she was at the Second Hospital. He said he'd be here all day and that I just needed to return by 7 p.m.
I agreed and left, taking a taxi straight to the hospital to see what was going on with Sister Wang.
Originally, I had planned to get checked out first, but strangely enough, since morning, the tightness in my chest had eased.
I hesitated. Thinking about how I'd been working late nights and might just be overworked, I ultimately couldn't bring myself to spend the few hundred yuan. I convinced myself that I had a strong fate and decided to skip the checkup.
Then I called Sister Wang's phone. It rang for a long time before someone answered—it sounded like her husband. He asked what I needed.
I told him that I worked with Sister Wang and had heard she was hospitalized, so I came to check on her. He told me to go to Room 802 on the eighth floor.
Just as I was about to go up, I realized it was impolite to visit empty-handed, so I went downstairs to buy a fruit basket before heading up.
When I arrived, her husband and son were both there. I handed them the fruit basket and stepped inside the hospital room.
Sister Wang was lying on a small bed. She looked like she had lost a significant amount of weight, her eyes were dull and lifeless, and her face had a sickly, bluish tint. Her chest barely moved—only the heart monitor confirmed that she was still alive.
I called out, "Sister Wang?"
She didn't respond. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, staring blankly.
Her condition made me feel incredibly uneasy. It had only been two days since I last saw her, yet she looked like she had aged twenty years.
I quickly turned to her husband and asked, "Brother, what happened to Sister Wang? What did the doctors say?"
He sighed and told me that they had run tests but found nothing specific. The doctors suspected a psychological issue, possibly triggered by some kind of stress, and suggested they take her to a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation.
Hearing this, I immediately thought of the girl in the dress. I had seen her following Sister Wang that night, and the next day, Sister Wang was hospitalized.
I didn't believe this was a coincidence. My gut told me that Sister Wang's condition was directly related to that girl.
That girl was too eerie. I had never believed in ghosts or supernatural beings, but after what happened last night, my skepticism started to waver.
I began to wonder—did Sister Wang know that the girl was dangerous? Was she afraid something would happen to me, so she stopped me from opening the door?
If that was the case, had I harmed Sister Wang by forcing her to leave that night?
A wave of guilt washed over me. I pulled Sister Wang's husband aside, discreetly handed him 500 yuan, and asked, "Brother, have you taken her to see a spiritual healer?"
He was taken aback and asked, "Why are you bringing up spiritual healers now?"
I told him about what had happened the night before—how Sister Wang had come around 11 p.m. to get her phone, and how she had left just before midnight. However, I left out the part about the girl and how I had forced Sister Wang to leave, fearing he might blame me.
As I spoke, he kept staring at me with an expression I couldn't quite place.
His gaze made me uneasy. I finally asked, "Brother, why are you looking at me like that?"
He said, "Brother, you must be mistaken. My wife never left the house that night."
I was stunned.
He continued, "She came home from work, said she was tired, and went to bed. Around 10 p.m., I woke her up for dinner, but she just lay there without moving. I knew something was wrong, so I brought her to the hospital."
I shook my head. "That's impossible. She was at the school that night! She even said she needed to transfer money for her child's school fees!"
He frowned. "That doesn't make sense. I already paid the school fees last week. Why would she need to pay again? You must be remembering the wrong night."
We argued back and forth for a while until he got frustrated and pulled out the hospital admission record.
"Here, look for yourself. See what time she was admitted."
I took the paper and read it. The admission time was listed as 11 p.m.
I was dumbfounded. I clearly remembered that Sister Wang had come to the school at 11:30 p.m.
Without thinking, I blurted out, "That's impossible! She was with me that night! She even asked to stay in my room, but I turned her away!"
At this, her husband's face darkened. "The hell are you talking about? Why would my wife ask to stay with you?!"
My hands started shaking. I stammered, "Then… then who did I see that night?"
He glared at me. "How the hell should I know? Get the f*** out of here! Stop spouting nonsense!"
I refused to leave and tried to enter the hospital room again, but he kept pushing me back.
At that moment, I suddenly noticed Sister Wang—somehow, she had turned her body toward me. Her vacant eyes locked onto mine.
Her expression… I can't describe it. It was like a weasel casting a spell on someone, staring at me with a sinister smile.
I let out a terrified scream and bolted out of the room.
Her husband shouted after me, "If you come back here again, I'll break your damn legs!"