Ewige Nacht

Kapitel 3

"Oh my god! The best of the thirty-six stratagems is to run away! Let's make a run for it!"

"Xu Xian, don't run away..."

"Ah! Please let me go! I didn't look and just grabbed one without thinking. I didn't mean to!"

"Enough with the nonsense!"

"Next time, I'll pick out the lingerie, okay?"

"You think you'll have another chance to do it..."

"..."

Let them relax for now! Our main characters still have many trials to face...

Another week passed, and everyone decided to check out the library basement that Li Ke had mentioned. They deliberately chose midday because it would be less crowded and no one would notice them. Considering the basement was likely damp and dark, each of them brought a flashlight.

Walking in the cold basement, I couldn't help but shiver. It's July now, not the hottest time of the month, and the sun is blazing outside, so why am I shivering? It's as if the central air conditioning in a library has extended into the basement.

Many people wouldn't imagine that the library here is top-notch, with everything from electronic reading rooms and study rooms to specialized reading rooms for each major. The library's exterior resembles a European-style villa, existing since the school's inception. Although it has weathered over half a century and undergone renovations a couple of years ago, it looks almost brand new. However, walking into the basement feels nothing like a library; it's impossible to imagine that the exterior is such a well-equipped building. The upper part is so magnificent, while the lower part is so ugly—like the contrast between a swan and a frog.

Finally, we arrived at the door of the old archives room. Looking at the lock, everyone was both amused and exasperated. Last time, Li Ke's visit was rushed; he only remembered Professor Chen mentioning the lock, but hadn't actually seen what kind. Everyone had assumed it was one of those old-fashioned locks from before Liberation, so they brought a hammer. They also thought it might be a modern, common lock, so they brought wire and phone cards. But it turned out to be an advanced electronic combination lock. All their preparations were wasted. Besides the 'confirm' and 'cancel' buttons, there were ten other keys from 0 to 9. Apparently, this kind of lock automatically alarms after three incorrect entries, so we had to return empty-handed!

Back in the dormitory, everyone was shocked – the rooms were completely flooded! The water was a dark yellow color, and although it flowed down the stairs, the water level didn't seem to decrease at all. What was going on? Knowing there was slight water seepage on the walls and ceilings of the dormitory hallways, they immediately suspected the problem was on the sixth floor. Several people rushed up to the sixth floor to find out, but there wasn't a drop of water on the corners or floor. Only the fifth floor and below were affected. They spent the entire afternoon cleaning, but the water in the rooms didn't decrease. In the evening, just as everyone was about to give up, the water finally receded.

Many strange things happened after that.

A strange smell started appearing in our dorm room. No matter how much we cleaned, ventilated, or even used air freshener, the smell just wouldn't go away. It was a kind of foul odor, a strange, unpleasant smell.

Later, Wu Xi started having strange dreams. During that time, Wu Xi was always worried that she was going to die, because the girl often had strange dreams before she died!

The difference is that the girl doesn't remember what dream she had, but Wu Xi vaguely remembers one thing, to be sure, it was a sentence.

According to him, there always seems to be someone talking to him in his dreams, but he doesn't remember who it is or what the dream is about. He only remembers one sentence: "Good friends, back to back."

Wu Xi grew increasingly haggard, and everyone was deeply worried about him. Xu Xian had tried many methods, but none could help him get rid of the nightmares. Finally, he decided to switch beds with Wu Xi. It proved effective; Wu Xi stopped having the strange dream, and Xu Xian also stopped having it…

A month has passed, and their room still has that strange smell.

One day, Xu Xian accidentally bumped into a boy while getting food. The boy looked very haggard. In the instant their bodies touched, he read the boy's heart—"Good friends, back to back."

He decided to talk to that boy.

But before evening, the tragic news of the boy's accident spread throughout the campus.

It's said that in the Art Appreciation class, the boy started sleeping at the beginning and was still lying there after class. The girl next to him nudged him, and he collapsed. When he died, there was a strange hand gesture: his left hand had all five fingers except the thumb clenched, like the gesture used when praising someone, raising the thumb. His right hand was gently placed on his left hand.

Upon examination, it was determined that the boy died of a heart attack.

Things are definitely not that simple, Xu Xian decided to go to their dormitory that night to check.

Returning from the boy's dormitory, Xu Xian fell silent. He knew he had to find out the truth, otherwise more people would die, and the others wouldn't know what to do; they could only follow Xu Xian's advice.

Chapter Four

After the spirit was sent away, everyone was at a loss for words, and some questions lingered heavily in their minds: the female ghost, the basement, and the blackish-yellow water that appeared out of nowhere.

Xu Xian knew it was time to address each of these concerns one by one. He decided to go to the library the next day, even if it meant breaking down the door, as it was their only lead. He didn't tell anyone else about this plan, because the circumstances were beyond the control of ordinary people.

Xu Xian had his own idea, so he stood up, stretched, and comforted the others: "Although we didn't get the answer we wanted, there's nothing to be disappointed about. Sleeping is the right thing to do." With that, he jumped onto the bed.

Others were also infected, and everyone put on a relieved expression and returned to their own beds.

The next day, an ordinary Sunday morning, was the kind of morning no college student disliked—the perfect time to sleep. Comfortable, lazy, and sometimes even accompanied by blissful daydreams.

Liu Quan woke up around eight o'clock. Since he was sleeping on the upper bunk on the south side, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a whole patch of plaster collapsed on the wall behind Xu Xian on the lower bunk opposite him. Behind the plaster was a dark, tangled mess.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, and suddenly he instinctively understood what it was. He sat up abruptly and screamed Xu Xian's name.

His hysterical screams could be heard throughout the entire dormitory room, and even the entire dormitory building.

Xu Xian was also woken up immediately. He turned over to sit up, only to find that his fingers were entangled by something. He pulled hard and broke the thing off.

At that moment, he also noticed what was wrapped around his fingers—a clump of human hair. He instinctively lunged outwards, so quickly that he and Li Ke, who had come down from the upper bunk, were thrown across the room to Liu Bin's bedside.

At this moment, Wu Xi also came down, and almost everyone in the dormitory noticed that it was a pile of hair embedded in the wall. Moreover, it was a woman's hair; only a woman's hair could be that long and so tangled.

Everyone froze for a moment, and within two or three seconds, they all ran out like madmen. No one could stay in such an environment any longer, especially since they suddenly realized that another person had been sleeping in their dormitory all along—a woman, a dead person. The feeling of her long hair wrapped around her hands was both terrifying and disgusting.

At this time, there were already a few nosy students at the door. Seeing the people inside rush out, they couldn't hide their curiosity and went in to see what was going on. Of course, they didn't have a good impression.

After the initial panic subsided, someone called the police station. Two bizarre murders had occurred in quick succession at the school, and the police had already taken the matter very seriously. As soon as they received the call, someone came over.

The forensic examination revealed that the woman was between 23 and 25 years old. She was handcuffed behind her back, and the true cause of death is unknown. However, she was dismembered after death, with her upper body facing north and cast into the north wall of dormitory room 509. (This explains why Wu Ximeng heard someone say that good friends should sit back to back.) Because the body had been stored in cement, an air layer remained between the body and the cement after decomposition, thus preserving the body well. The police are currently working to reconstruct the deceased's appearance before death.

All of that is hindsight. Let's go back to the time when the people in room 509 escaped from their dorm. After calming down a bit, they discovered that Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi were both gone. When did they leave? Had they discovered something? Where did they go? Can anyone tell me?

Xu Xian and his group of four finally arrived at their dormitory building. It was a very long walk. If you've ever been in the same situation as them, you'll understand how that conflicting feeling of seemingly having to go but also desperately not wanting to can drag on for so long. It's like needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night—haha, that analogy might be a bit inappropriate, but it's a perfect description.

Liu Quan was the most timid of the four. Timid people often have this problem: they always feel the urge to urinate when faced with stressful situations. Scientists explain this as a result of a surge in adrenaline, though I haven't investigated it. But Liu Quan just felt the urge; he was just too embarrassed to say it. Thinking that going up to the fifth floor wouldn't take long, he figured he'd take care of it when he got back, Liu Quan thought.

After the murder, the dormitory manager became vigilant. However, since Xu Xian and his three companions were students in the building, their faces were always in front of her. So even though she was vigilant, she couldn't react immediately. Xu Xian and his three companions entered the dormitory without any hindrance.

There were people on the first and second floors, so there was nothing to be nervous about. However, once you reached the third floor, the entire hallway suddenly became quiet. Although the lights were still on, this unsettling silence made people nervously turn around every now and then. Liu Quan became even more nervous. When he finally reached the third-floor stairwell, he planted his feet firmly on the floor and wouldn't move an inch.

Li Ke wanted to laugh, but he knew that saying anything now would only make Liu Quan more nervous, so he remained silent and followed Xu Xian upstairs. Wu Xi was still the same as always, avoiding conversation whenever possible. He usually had a calm, melancholic air about him, but now he looked more like a dead man, making Liu Quan even more anxious. Suddenly, a series of hurried, thumping footsteps startled Liu Quan. He shouted, "What's going on?"

It was alright; the voice came from upstairs, but it was faint and off-key. Anyone would be nervous in this situation. Xu Xian and Li Ke simultaneously and rapidly ran upstairs as they circled the stairwell between the 3rd and 4th floors, their footsteps making a loud thud on the wooden floor. They stopped on the 5th floor. Room 509 was at the end of the corridor. A yellow safety tape marked the boundary between the rooms, used to protect the scene. Xu and Li bypassed the tape and slowly made their way towards the room, calling out Zhang Xiaodi and Liu Bin's names. Both were on high alert, ready to respond to any unexpected events.

Room 509 was locked by the police, partly to protect the crime scene. The two approached the door and tried to peek inside. Although the dormitory building was old, the doors were usually very secure, and now with the lock, they could see even less. Li Ke pressed his ear to the door, listening carefully for any sounds. Of course, he couldn't hear anything, because no one was there. Anyone with basic deduction skills knows that people can only enter before 5 PM, when the police wouldn't let anyone in. After 5 PM, with the door locked, no one could get in. However, Li Ke still habitually knocked on the door three long knocks followed by two short knocks, then asked if anyone was home. This was their code for returning late at night, a way to distinguish them from the cleaning ladies. Normally, someone inside would knock twice, two long knocks followed by three short knocks, and then say that everyone inside was dead. That was obviously a joke, but Li Ke recalled feeling something pull at his skin, making his entire body tense.

There was no movement inside for a while. Li Ke and Xu Xian let out a long sigh, as if telling each other, or perhaps themselves, that they would look again tomorrow, or they might have to report it to the police. Then they walked towards the stairs together. After taking less than five steps, they both suddenly turned around, but of course, there was nothing there. What do you think there could be? Hehe.

Just as they were exchanging wry smiles, the hallway lights suddenly dimmed briefly, then immediately came back on. However, only the two of them could withstand this agonizing fear; their reactions were somewhat sluggish, and they continued walking up the stairs.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, two long and three short. A sinister voice whispered that everyone inside was dead.

Upon hearing the sound, Xu Xian's first reaction was to turn around and throw a punch, which, of course, missed completely. Looking back, Li Ke had already dodged seven or eight steps away with incredible agility. The floor returned to deathly silence. Only the creaking of the summer evening breeze rattling the windows, the dripping of water from the dilapidated faucet in the toilet at the other end of the corridor, accompanied by the beating of one's own heart, one beat after another.

"Did you hear wrong?" Xu Xian asked. Li Ke shook his head. "No, it can't be." Although he didn't know what Xu Xian had heard, he was certain that what Xu Xian heard was the same as what he had heard. If it was a hallucination caused by fear, it could only be Xu Xian himself, because only he and the other four people in the dormitory knew this secret. Xu Xian came after the ghost incident, and since then, no one in the dormitory had ever come home late. Xu Xian naturally didn't know this secret. Who was it? Was it Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi? Or was it the half-corpse that had been living in the wall all along?

Thinking of this, Li Ke took two steps back, accidentally snagged on the base of the warning line hanging on the ground, and fell hard.

I've said before that the floor here conducts sound exceptionally well; when someone walks across it, it's like playing basketball in the courtyard. So, naturally, heavy objects falling on the floor would make a huge noise.

They asked downstairs what had happened. Neither of the two people upstairs answered.

There was only Wu Xi downstairs at this time. Liu Quan had just run to the toilet because he couldn't hold it in any longer. The distance from the top of the stairs to both ends is the same, and the toilet is at one end of the stairwell.

Wu Xi, not hearing any response from upstairs, worried that something was wrong and hurriedly ran upstairs to see what was going on.

Liu Quan was focused on relieving himself in the toilet, but for some reason, he felt an urgent need to go but couldn't seem to finish. I'd seen the movie "Peeping Tom" starring Daniel Wu, which explained why men shouldn't relieve themselves when sexually aroused; I figured Liu Quan's situation was probably similar. Just as he was struggling, Liu Quan heard someone walk by in the hallway. The clatter of leather shoes on the wooden floor felt like a hammer pounding on his heart.

"Wu Xi, stop joking. Who would know what's happening upstairs once you leave the stairwell?" Wu Xi didn't answer. He felt Wu Xi walk past him, but he was busy relieving himself and didn't have time to turn around. He felt Wu Xi pause for half a second behind him before heading to the separate stall for defecation. Liu Quan had just finished and turned to Wu Xi, saying, "Why are you always like this? Would it kill you to say something?" Just as he turned around, he saw Wu Xi's foot hook onto the stall partition. He felt something flash before his eyes and then disappeared, unable to quite place what it was. So Liu Quan walked over to Wu Xi in the stall and said, "I knew you wouldn't utter a sound, even if it meant death."

"He also said, 'Hurry up, the people outside are waiting for us.' Actually, Liu Quan didn't dare to go out alone."

"If you don't say anything, I'll kick you. You asked for it if you fell into the toilet." He made a kicking motion. At this moment, Wu Xi in the stall wisely stood up. Liu Quan was feeling smug when he suddenly realized something was wrong. He hadn't seen Wu Xi's upper body emerge from the stall for a while. He glanced at the gap under the partition, and guess what he saw?

He saw a pair of red high heels.

Chapter Five

"Ahhhhhh! A ghost! A ghost! Waaah!" Upon seeing the red high heels, Liu Quan instinctively screamed and then fainted. In this situation, no one could remain calm in such a terrifying moment, let alone the usually timid Liu Quan. This was perhaps the only normal reaction he could maintain at that moment.

Wu Xi, who was waiting for Liu Quan on the third floor, was considering whether to go up and check on Li Ke and the others when he heard Liu Quan scream from the building. He immediately rushed to the bathroom and kicked the door open with a bang. He turned on the light switch by the door and saw Liu Quan lying on the ground, unconscious and pale.

The building wasn't very soundproof, so Li Ke and his companion upstairs also heard the scream. Their expressions turned even more grim than before. Xu Xian gestured to Li Ke with his eyes, signaling him to calm down and go downstairs to check, then turned to leave. *Knock knock knock knock knock knock!* The door behind them emitted three long knocks followed by two short ones, stopping them in their tracks. Xu Xian looked at Li Ke, whose eyes were wide open as he stared at the door, and suddenly realized something, but a vague feeling of unease lingered…

"Ah!" Xu Xian exclaimed softly, which startled Li Ke.

"What's wrong?" Li Ke asked anxiously.

"Ring~ It didn't ring," Xu Xian said, taking a small golden bell out of his pocket.

"Ring? What ring? It's not ringing? What's wrong if it's not ringing?" Li Ke asked anxiously, as if he thought Xu Xian was possessed.

"This is a demon-detecting bell, which I usually carry with me just in case. It can detect demonic energy within three miles, but it didn't ring, which means..." Xu Xian said thoughtfully. "The one knocking on the door inside... is it a person?!"

"Ah, could it be Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi? No, I have to open the door..." Li Ke was unusually calm. Yes, how could he possibly remain calm at a time like this?

"Don't rush, do you have anything on you that Liu Bin or Zhang Xiaodi used? Something they took within the last three days?" Xu Xian asked Li Ke.

"Hmm... Ah! Yes, how about this?" Li Ke pulled a silver cross necklace from his pocket and said, "This is a cross necklace that Zhang Xiaodi got from the church. He said it was for protection and to ward off evil spirits. He takes it off every time he takes a shower, saying it won't work if he washes off the holy water. Yesterday, I got a phone call while I was showering, and he forgot to take it in his haste. I was planning to give it to him when I got back to the dorm, but he went out, and I was asleep when he came back. So I just left it on myself. I don't know if it'll be okay."

"Oh, let's give it a try!" Xu Xian took a peace talisman (those who have read the previous posts will know that it was used when looking for Li Ke), and lit the talisman. After the talisman burned out, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "They're inside the door. Tell them to calm down first. I'll set up a soul-exorcising array here, and they won't be in danger for an hour. Go find the dormitory auntie, tell her the situation, and ask her if she has a key. If not, quickly call the police to unlock it. I'll go see what happened to Liu Quan. Let's act quickly."

Because Li Ke believed Xu Xian's words, his fear subsided somewhat, so he boldly knocked on the door and called out, "Liu Bin, Zhang Xiaodi, is that you?"

"Li Ke! Is that you?" "We're here, we can't get out, please come and save us." Sure enough, it was the two of them inside the door. They must have been calling for too long after being locked up, and coupled with fear, their tired and hoarse voices were tinged with sobs, which explained why they sounded so sinister.

Li Ke breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the people inside were safe. He then said some comforting words as Xu Xian had instructed, telling them to relax and that he would find someone to rescue them immediately. After settling them in, Xu Xian had also completed his formation. Now, the most worrying people were the two downstairs. They hadn't rushed down to check on the situation because they were too busy dealing with the terror around them, but now that scream had returned to their minds, making their relaxed mood rise again.

The two went down to the third floor but didn't see Wu Xi and Liu Quan, which made them even more worried. Li Ke originally wanted to accompany Xu Xian to find Wu and Liu, but to avoid any more trouble from Liu and Zhang upstairs, Li Ke had no choice but to rush off to find someone to unlock the door, leaving Xu Xian to go find the two alone.

In this situation, Xu Xian didn't care about disturbing others. He called out Wu Xi and Liu Quan's names loudly and searched the vicinity of the restroom. He heard someone answer, "We...we're here..." The voice came from the restroom door. Xu Xian went over and found Wu Xi holding the unconscious Liu Quan against the wall by the restroom door, looking terrified and anxious. Seeing Xu Xian's arrival, she seemed to feel relieved.

"How are you? What happened? What's wrong with Liu Quan?" Xu Xian asked a series of questions, which made Wu Xi shake his head repeatedly.

“I don’t know what happened. He said he was going to the restroom, and I waited for him at the bottom of the stairs for a long time but he didn’t come out. Then I heard him scream. When I ran in, he was already lying on the ground. I don’t know what happened. I can’t carry him out by myself. I think you must have heard the scream, and even if you didn’t, you would have come looking for us if you couldn’t see him, so he and I waited here for you.” Wu Xi explained helplessly. “What should we do now?” Wu Xi looked at Xu Xian as if he were a lifeline, waiting for Xu Xian’s next instructions.

"Let's leave here first and carry him to the student's dormitory on the second floor to rest. Li Ke has already gone to find someone. We'll discuss the details later. After Li Ke returns, we'll take him to the hospital." Xu Xian made the decision immediately.

So they went down to the dormitory on the second floor to ask for help. Since they all knew each other quite well, they didn't ask too many questions. To avoid causing panic, Wu Xi and Xu Xian, despite having a lot of questions, tacitly remained silent until Li Ke returned.

Speaking of Li Ke, he also encountered a lot of trouble. First, he was scolded by the dorm supervisor, who was always nagging him. Then, he was told that the key wasn't with her and he had to get it from the police station. Helpless, he had to bite the bullet and call Captain Jiang, who was in charge of these cases (he had contacted her before). Then he got a good beating before it was all settled. About five minutes later, Captain Jiang personally led Xiao Wang and Xiao Chen from the criminal investigation team to release Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi, who were locked inside the dormitory. Then they went to the dormitory on the second floor and found Xu Xian, Wu Xi, and Liu Quan, who was still unconscious.

After taking Liu Quan to the school hospital, Captain Jiang, fearing further complications, left Xiao Chen to take care of him while she and Xiao Wang led the other four back to the dormitory to find out what was going on. Everyone was silent on the way until Zhang Xiaodi's stomach growled loudly, followed by Liu Bin's. Everyone looked at them, making them quite embarrassed. "Ugh~ Sorry, we haven't eaten all day, ugh~ so our stomachs are growling," Zhang Xiaodi explained, blushing. "Yeah, yeah... we're so hungry now," Liu Bin chimed in.

"Alright, food is the most important thing. I'll take you to eat first, and then I'll 'interrogate' you." Captain Jiang looked at them and guessed that they must have been very frightened, so he didn't make things too difficult for them and took the two of them and the others to eat.

"Please, slow down your eating, okay? Look at the mess you've made of food everywhere. Zhang Xiaodi, aren't you supposed to be the most image-conscious? Today you look like a starving ghost." Li Ke teased the two people who were fighting over the poor plate of shredded potatoes.

"Sigh, as long as there's food, who cares about appearances these days?" Zhang Xiaodi retorted, her mouth full.

After the two had finished their meal, Xu Xian asked the question that everyone had been wondering about.

"Where did you all go this morning? How did you end up locked in your dorm room?"

The question startled the two men, and their expressions immediately turned serious. They exchanged a glance, and Zhang Xiaodi spoke first:

"Actually, we don't know what happened. We only know that we woke up in the closet. It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon. We tried to open the door, but we couldn't. We were scared when we thought about the female ghost, and we knew that the building wasn't well soundproofed, so we desperately shouted for help, hoping that someone could hear us. But for some reason, no one responded. Just when we were starting to despair, we heard the code, but we were afraid that we had misheard it, so we tried to respond. Do you know what happened next?"

"Then how did you end up in the closet?" Li Ke asked.

"I don't know," they both answered in unison.

"Beep beep." Just then, Captain Jiang's phone rang. "Hello~ This is Jiang Yu! Oh~ Okay, where are you? We'll be right there." After hanging up, Captain Jiang said to the others, "Liu Quan is awake. Looks like none of us will get any sleep tonight. Let's go to the hospital again. There are many things you talked about that I don't understand. You must have encountered something incredible. I think I need to find out more. We'll talk about it when we get to the hospital."