Chapter 119: Door
“Keep the balcony doors closed after lights are out. If someone enters the room to check it after the lights are out, pay attention to their expressions. If they are smiling, leave the bedroom immediately.” “Do not use your phones after midnight. Any message you receive might be wrong…”
The papers had many hostel rules. The rules were several times more than the class rules. Just memorising them would take a lot of time.
“This is not good.” Even Wang Jie, who normally didn’t like to study, tried to memorise everything. “We have Zuo Jun and Yuan Hui, the two unstable factors, in our bedroom. If they still don’t come back, we’ll experience two more bedroom checks. In other words, we have to open the bedroom door after the lights are out.” Wang Jie said viciously, “What a pair of trouble!”
“It’s fine if they don’t come back. It’s more frightful if they come back after lights out. We won’t be able to tell if they are the real ones. After all, we don’t have a code with them.” Du Bai carried a basin and prepared to leave.
“What are you doing?”
“Get some water to prepare for bed. The cupboards have some toiletries.”
“Is it time to care about things like that?” Wang Jie grabbed the basin. “Our time is precious. The longer we stay here, the harder it is for us to escape.”
Wang Jie put down the basin and drew a simple map of the school. “I’ve heard from my family elders that if we fail to escape scary buildings after seven days, we’ll stay there forever. Our bodies will become parts of the horror.” Wang Jie’s elder was influential. They told their family juniors info that Gao Ming didn’t even know.
“There’s no point in hurrying.” Du Bai was not afraid of Wang Jie. They often argued when they were in school. At that moment, it really felt like they were back in school.
“I’m too lazy to argue with you. You can survive until now because you are assigned the same room as Gao Ming and me.” Wang Jie kicked the basin away. He was about to paste his plan on the wall when he heard the knocking again.
“What is it this time?”
The bedroom door opened again. Yuan Hui entered the bedroom with a class timetable.
“Is the big man finally back?” Wang Jie immediately put away his plan once he saw Yuan Hui. He hid it in his pocket.
“I’m not interested in your thoughts.” Yuan Hui printed out the black-and-white table on the door. “This is the timetable Zuo Jun has given us. From tomorrow onwards, we’ll have to follow this table and attend the classes.”
“You’ve met Zuo Jun?!” Gao Ming walked to Yuan Hui. “Where did you get this?”
Yuan Hui took out his phone and searched for Zuo Jun’s messages. “To give everyone a better experience, we’ll return to Class 13 to study again starting tomorrow to find our missing youth and memory!”
“We’ve all forgotten one thing. We might have died in the incident ten years ago. If we go back to the same class, we might remember the past.” Yuan Hui pasted the table. “You should come with me.”
“Who are you? Why should I listen to you?” Wang Jie didn’t even glance at the table. “I’m fine. How could I have died ten years ago? I suspect this is a trap set up by you and Zuo Jin!”
“Wang Jie, back then, you have always been a bully due to your family background. In the past, people didn’t mind it, but this is related to our lives!” Yuan Hui insisted, “I’ve already discussed everything with the people from the other hostels. We’ll go to the class tomorrow morning. If you don’t agree, we’ll drag you with us!”
“You can try.” Wang Jie leaned against the wall and crossed his legs.
“We can discuss tomorrow. You say this like we can survive this night.” Gao Ming climbed into his bed and stopped this meaningless argument.
The night arrived. The lights lessened. The places covered by darkness became blurry. The shadow on the wall was washed away by the rain.
“What will the school turn into after the light is gone?”
The bedroom checks began at 10 pm.
A few students in old uniforms entered the room. They had no expression and didn’t look at anyone. They paused beside each bed for a few seconds and then left.
“Is that it?” Xi San poked his head out of the bed. He didn’t even remove his shoes. He was ready to run.
The school became quieter. Some rooms had already closed their lights. The corridor was also quiet. It felt very eerie. It was like the school had been abandoned.
Wang Jie closed the doors and windows. He pushed the door behind the door. He lay on the door and looked out through the gap. The atmosphere became anxious. Absurdity permeated everywhere.
At 10. 30 pm, the light above Wang Jie went out punctually.
The hostels felt like they had sunken into the deep sea.
Wang Jie didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. He focused on the corridor.
“It feels like something is moving…”
Before Wang Jie got a closer look, the doorknob moved.
“Xi San, open the door. It’s Ma Tao.” Ma Tou was soft, but he sounded nervous. “Zuo Jun sent me a message to sleep in his bed in his stead so that he wouldn’t be caught. Open the door. It’s too dark outside.”
Xi San was the most innocent in Room 1314. Once he sat up, he was pushed back down by Gao Ming.
“Open the door, Xi San, monitor! I’m not lying to you. Zuo Jun said if I didn’t help him, all of us would die!” Ma Tao’s voice trembled. “If the students who checked the bedrooms realised there were people missing, none of the bedrooms could survive! Open the door, monitor!”
Ma Tao made sense.
“Don’t trust me.” Xuan Hui shook his head at Wang Jie. “Ma Tao violated the canteen rules and was led to the kitchen. If we open the door now, we’ll let other things in.”
“I know that.” Wang Jie leaned on the door. The corridor was dark. He could hear Ma Tao but not see him.
“I will not open the door.” Wang Jie took a step back. Soon, his phone lit up. Gao Ming sent him a message.
Wang Jie read it and sucked in a cold breath.
Gao Ming, “Xuan Hui left on his own in the afternoon. He didn’t join us at the canteen. He didn’t even show up. He shouldn’t know that Ma Tao had violated the canteen rules. Plus, we all have the bedroom key. However, Xuan Yui didn’t use his key but knocked on the door to get us to open the door for him. Be careful. The ghost might be among us already.”
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