Ewige Nacht

Kapitel 7

“However…” Xu Xian looked serious.

"But what?" the other five asked in unison.

"Well... everyone knows that cows don't cry, Liu Quan, where did you get this?" Xu Xian winked playfully at Liu Bin.

“Hehe~~~~~, I know, it must be that our Quanzi caught the cow’s eye, and the cow wanted to repay him with her body, but our Quanzi thought she was too ‘robust’ and didn’t like her, so the cow cried heartbrokenly, and our Quanzi followed…” Liu Bin said with a strange expression, but before he could finish the last sentence, Liu Quan grabbed him by the neck.

After some playful banter, Liu Quan confessed.

"Actually, I just put some garlic juice around the cow's eyes."

Then everyone looked at him with knowing expressions, as if to say, "You've got some experience too."

Unable to bear everyone's stares, Liu Quan fled in panic, "I...I'm going to the toilet, please don't disturb me."

Then came a burst of laughter...

While everyone in the dormitory was still laughing at Liu Quan's prank, Liu Bin was carefully examining the small bottle of water.

Suddenly, Xu Xian shouted "Oh no!" and rushed out of the dormitory. The others, unsure what had happened, exchanged glances and followed him out.

When they rushed out of the dormitory, they saw Xu Xian had already run into the restroom at the other end of the corridor. The four of them immediately realized that something must have happened to Liu Quan.

At this moment, the light in the hallway seemed to dim, filled with a pale yellowish, smoky substance. When the four of them rushed to the restroom, they were surprised to find Xu Xian carefully examining something in one of the toilet stalls.

Everyone crowded around to take a look, and saw that the toilet was filled with a dark yellow liquid, but Liu Quan was not there. Everyone stared at Xu Xian with inquiring eyes, waiting for him to give them a reasonable explanation.

"Where is Liu Quan?" Liu Bin asked in a trembling voice.

Xu Xian remained silent, deep in thought.

Li Ke suddenly realized that Wu Xi was also missing. This added to the tension. Xu Xian remained silent, staring at the pool of dark yellow liquid.

"I understand..." Liu Bin suddenly shouted, turned around and rushed outside. Zhang Xiaodi followed closely behind.

Li Ke looked at Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi rushing out, then at Xu Xian who was still deep in thought, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.

Xu Xian suddenly turned around and shouted to Li Ke, "Hurry up and stop them!"

Seeing Xu Xian's serious and tense expression, Li Ke didn't ask any more questions and immediately turned around to chase after Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi.

When Li Ke ran into the stairwell, he found the surrounding light even dimmer, and the ground felt slippery, as if it were covered with a layer of water. When he rushed out of the bathroom, he could vaguely see Zhang Xiaodi's figure running towards the stairwell, but when he reached the turn of the stairs, he could no longer see either of them.

"Liu Bin, Xiao Di..." Only Li Ke's voice echoed in the empty hallway. The entire dormitory building was shrouded in a thin, eerie mist, making it difficult to see clearly. Xu Xian was still in the toilet, not yet out.

Li Ke stood at the top of the stairs, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and rushed downstairs.

Xu Xian remained standing in the restroom. The door to the next stall creaked open, and a faint white shadow drifted out. Xu Xian turned around and looked at her.

Did they go there?

She nodded.

Is this the only way to get the answer?

The shadow trembled.

"I understand, I know what to do," Xu Xian turned around and walked into the stairwell.

When Li Ke rushed out of the dormitory building, he finally saw Liu Bin and Zhang Xiaodi running towards the library one after the other in the distance. Li Ke chased after them as fast as he could.

When Li Ke arrived at the library, panting, he found Zhang Xiaodi standing quietly in front of an open window on the side of the building, but Liu Bin was nowhere to be seen.

Li Ke walked up to Zhang Xiaodi.

“He went in!” Zhang Xiaodi said, but she didn’t look at him; she just stared intently at the open window.

The window leads to a corridor on the first floor of the library, at the end of which is a small door leading to the basement.

"Did he go into the basement?" Li Ke asked.

Zhang Xiaodi didn't answer, still staring intently at the window. Li Ke noticed the fear and sorrow on his face.

Xu Xian walked over from behind and quietly stood in front of Zhang Xiaodi. "Tell me, where did you two go the day the female corpse was found in the wall? What exactly happened?"

Li Ke also turned around and stared at Xiao Di.

Looking into the eyes of her two close friends, who were watching her intently, Zhang Xiaodi tried to calm herself down and began her story:

That day, due to a sudden change in circumstances, Zhang Xiaodi and Liu Bin were running out with everyone else when they suddenly heard a voice calling their names. They turned around to look, but there was nothing there except for half a female corpse in the wall. It was truly terrifying, and they wanted to rush out even faster, but they found that they could no longer move their feet. It turned out that they had separated from their original bodies.

Just then, a figure appeared from the side of the door—it was Wu Xi…

Wu Xi stared at the two unconscious bodies, his expression eerie and sinister. He slowly walked over, picked them up, and placed them in the wardrobe by the door, arranging them in a very strange position. Then, after carefully admiring his handiwork, he smiled mysteriously, closed the wardrobe door, and left.

Li Ke abruptly interrupted Xiao Di: "You mean, Wu Xi put you in the closet?"

Zhang Xiaodi was still immersed in the immense fear she had felt at the time, and nodded blankly.

"But when we ran downstairs, we clearly saw Wu Xi coming down with us."

Xiao Di shook her head and did not answer.

Xu Xian also found this strange. He knew that Wu Xi must have played a crucial role in the whole incident. It wasn't that people hadn't noticed it before, but they simply hadn't thought about it carefully, or they simply didn't want to suspect it.

"Is this why you and Zheng Bin have been unwilling to tell everyone about this experience?" Xu Xian asked.

Xiao Di nodded.

"But how did you eventually return to your own bodies?" Li Ke was still puzzled. All those who had heard that voice were no longer alive, so how did Zhang Xiaodi and Zheng Bin return?

Zhang Xiaodi's face showed extreme pain, which must have been an extreme experience that she did not want to recall.

Zhang Xiaodi and Zheng Bin stared blankly as Wu Xi manipulated his body, suddenly feeling an immense pressure, as if a huge energy was emanating from their strangely posed bodies, making them feel a painful sensation of being squeezed and kneaded.

Then, the voice appeared again, softly and gently calling their names. Xiao Di felt an indescribable joy in his spirit, as if a gentle breeze was blowing. He felt as if his soul was being dispersed by this breeze, merging into the warm sunlight, and gently drifting.

They followed the sound, drifting through the campus. Ahead was the library; they entered the basement and passed through the iron door that had always been locked.

The empty space seemed to be empty, the light was dim, and it was cold... the kind of cold that stung the very soul! But the voice seemed to be right in front of them, and they were about to get closer to her.

What was beneath their feet? They seemed to hear the sound of water, but couldn't see it clearly.

Suddenly, two withered arms emerged from the water, waving frantically, as if in the final struggle of a drowning person. Then, another pair... countless arms emerged from the water, making all sorts of bizarre movements in the air.

Xiao Di felt a tearing pain, as if their souls were about to fall into the filthy, churning water and sink into eternal damnation.

With countless arms waving incessantly, the water beneath their feet seemed to boil, churning and churning.

Xiao Di felt himself getting closer and closer to the water's surface. Pale, withered arms stretched upwards with all their might, as if trying not only to grab their bodies but also to completely seize their souls.

This was a kind of pain and fear that ordinary people could not imagine; it was a tremor from the deepest part of the soul. Xiao Di felt that she had no chance of struggling to break free; she was just falling downwards involuntarily.

Xiao Di could almost feel a hungry arm grabbing his ankle. He didn't know what awaited him next, but he felt a deep-seated fear and despair.

Suddenly, the small door leading to the basement was pushed open forcefully, and sunlight poured in through the open door. Xiao Di vaguely saw a gray-haired figure flash by the door, and then she could feel nothing more.

When they woke up, they felt surrounded by darkness, and their bodies felt as if they had been taken apart and put back together, and they felt excruciating pain.

Then, he heard the familiar three long and two short knocks and Li Ke's voice. Xiao Di realized that he was back in the dormitory. He nudged Liu Bin, struggled to climb out of the closet, responded to the two long and three short knocks, and laboriously uttered the answer they already knew.

"So what should we do now?" Li Ke asked Xu Xian.

“Liu Bin must be in the basement now; all the strange things might be happening here.” Zhang Xiaodi’s words clearly revealed anxiety and urgency.

“We should go in immediately,” Li Ke said firmly.

Xu Xian looked at his two good friends beside him and remained silent for a long time.

“You all stay here, I’ll go in first,” Xu Xian continued before Li Ke and Zhang Xiaodi could protest. “We can’t be sure what the situation is down there yet. There might be nothing there. I mean, I’ll go down and see what the situation is first, and then we can discuss it further.”

Xiao Di and Li Ke knew that Xu Xian meant he was afraid there might be great danger below, so he didn't want them to go on the risk. But at such a critical moment, how could they let them abandon their closest friends and only care about their own safety?

“I should go down alone. After all, I’ve been in there before,” Xiao Di said eagerly. The fear that had been filling her heart just moments before had completely vanished.

"Forget it, everyone stop arguing. The six of us in the dorm have always been best friends. At such a crucial moment, no one should back down. We should all go together," Li Ke said firmly.

Xu Xian looked at Li Ke and Xiao Di's determined eyes and said, "Okay, let's all go in together. But everyone must be extra careful. No matter what happens, don't panic. We will definitely uncover all the mysteries."

The three good friends held hands tightly.

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaodi took a small bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Xu Xian, saying, "Would this be of any use?"

It turned out to be the small bottle of cow's tears that Liu Quan had brought from home. Because of the sudden change of events, Zhang Xiaodi had casually put it in his pocket and only remembered it now.

Xu Xian took the bottle, a hint of joy on his face: "I've been thinking about how to let you two see some things you should see. With this, things will be much easier. However, its effect only lasts for half an hour, so you can only use it when it's crucial."

Xu Xian returned the bottle to Xiao Di. "Okay, whatever awaits us next, let's face it together."

Since Liu Quan had already been inside for quite some time, the three of them dared not delay any longer. So, Xu Xian took the lead, followed by Li Ke, and Zhang Xiaodi followed at the back. The three of them entered the corridor on the first floor of the library through the open window next to them.

Since it was a holiday, there was no one inside, and the small door leading to the basement was at the end of the corridor.

They had been here before, and Xu Xian had always found it strange because the entrance to the basement of a building is usually under the stairs, but here the entrance is at the end of a corridor outside on the first floor. He wondered if it was due to the original design or some other special purpose.

They reached the end of the corridor, where a small door leading to the basement was open. The light inside was dim, and things were blurry and indistinct.

Li Ke suddenly blurted out, "Oh no..."

Xu Xian turned around and looked at him strangely. Li Ke explained, "I should have brought two flashlights. It seems like we can't see anything down there."

Zhang Xiaodi peeked down and clicked her tongue, saying, "Yeah, it's so dark here."

Xu Xian also felt that going down rashly was too risky, but going back to get a flashlight was definitely out of the question. Besides, even if there really was something strange down there, having a flashlight wouldn't help; it would only give him courage. So he said to his two friends, "Since we're already here, let's go down and take a look first. If necessary, we'll think of other solutions."

Zhang Xiaodi was still a little scared, but after thinking about it, she realized that backing down was impossible. Now that things had come to this, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and move forward.

Li Ke and Zhang Xiaodi nodded firmly when they saw Xu Xian's questioning expression.

Because all three of them had been here before, they carefully descended into the corridor below, even though the light was dim.

Although it was only one floor above the ground, it felt like another world. All around was quiet; not even the usual summer noise of insects and birdsong could be heard. The entire space was a desolate stillness, broken only by the soft footsteps and breathing of three people. A musty, musty smell lingered in the air.

Li Ke noticed that the door to the front archives was also open. It was here that he had met the professor and obtained the data last time. But why was it open now? Had it been left open all along, or had it just been opened?

Is there anyone inside?

As they neared the door, Xu Xian, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. Li Ke followed suit, and Zhang Xiaodi, who was looking around, bumped into Li Ke without noticing, almost crying out. Only then did they realize Xu Xian was standing motionless in front of them. They stared blankly at Xu Xian. He was completely focused on the open door, wondering what was inside. They noticed his hands were clenched into fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, as if he were preparing for a duel.

Suddenly, a loud "bang" was heard coming from Xu Xian. Xu Xian turned around abruptly, grabbed Li Ke and Zhang Xiaodi, and shouted, "Run!" Without thinking, Li Ke and Zhang Xiaodi ran out.

Fortunately, the sun was shining brightly outside the library, but the lingering fear from just moments before still haunted the three of them.

Li Ke leaned closer to Xu Xian and asked, "What did you just see?"

Xu Xian touched the broken jade on his chest and said, "It's nothing. I'll go find something before I go in."

Although Xu Xian didn't say anything, his tightly furrowed brows revealed that something must have just happened. Why was he unwilling to talk about it? What was he looking for? Li Ke felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but shiver.