The 19th level of Hell

Chapter 3

Xu Wenya, who was in the lower bunk opposite, also woke up. She had just stuck her head out of the covers when she almost bumped into Qingyou.

Xu Wenya immediately screamed in fright, curling up on the bed and trembling, saying, "Qingyou, are you possessed?" "Don't talk nonsense!"

Chunyu had already climbed down from the top bunk and waved her hand a few times in front of Qingyou, but Qingyou seemed not to see her and continued to spin around. Chunyu finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood in front of Qingyou, blocking her path.

Qingyou bumped into Chunyu and finally stopped in her tracks.

Her white nightgown trembled slightly, and Qingyou lowered her head, letting her black hair cover her face, making her look just like—Sadako.

Although Chunyu thought of the most terrifying things, she still hugged Qingyou tightly and shook her vigorously to wake her up.

Nan Xiaoqin and Xu Wenya also came to the side and helped call out to Qingyou.

Suddenly, Qingyou slowly raised her head, and through the gap in her black hair that covered half her face, a black eye appeared. That eye stared coldly at Chunyu, a terrifying gaze she had never seen before. But what happened next was even more frightening.

Qingyou's lips moved a few times before she finally uttered a sentence—"Do you know what the 19th level of hell is?"

Instantly, the girls' dormitory fell silent.

Because this is a fatal problem that no one can escape.

On this cold winter night, Chunyu felt as if a line of words had been uttered from Qingyou's lips and was deeply imprinted in her mind.

Nan Xiaoqin and Xu Wenya were also stunned. They stared blankly at Qingyou, unable to utter a single word. Qingyou pursed her lips, her gaze gradually softening, as if something had flown away from her. Chunyu immediately supported her, feeling that Qingyou's entire body was ice-cold.

Qingyou's gaze returned to normal, and she looked blankly at the three girls around her, her expression completely innocent. She smoothed her hair and said, "What's wrong with you? Why are you looking at me like I'm a ghost?" "You're asking us? You almost scared me to death just now."

It was Xu Wenya who spoke, her elfin eyes filled with confusion. "What just happened to me?" Qingyou seemed genuinely frightened.

The tall and slender Nan Xiaoqin took her hand and said, "Don't you know? You were spinning around in circles just now and said something very strange. You looked like a witch." "A witch?" Qingyou shook her head and went back to her bed. "No, I don't remember anything." At this moment, Chunyu spoke up: "Qingyou, go to sleep. Maybe you're just too tired from the day."

Qingyou nodded and, like a docile child, burrowed into the quilt.

Chunyu turned to the other two girls and said, "You two should go to sleep too. Don't take what happened earlier to heart." "But this is so strange," Xu Wenya said, clicking her tongue. "How could you not remember?"

"Was she sleepwalking just now?" "Don't talk nonsense, Qingyou has never had a sleepwalking problem."

Chunyu immediately stopped them from talking. They had been roommates for more than three years, and she knew Qingyou very well. Apart from going to the bathroom once in the middle of the night, Qingyou's sleep was always normal.

Nan Xiaoqin tugged at Xu Wenya's sleeve, and they both went back to bed.

A chill seeped in through the window, and Chunyu realized she was still in her pajamas. She quickly climbed back to the top bunk, covered herself up tightly, and prayed to fall asleep quickly.

Chunyu didn't sleep well all night, constantly worried about the person in the lower bunk. But Qingyou seemed to be fast asleep, making no sound at all, leaving Chunyu to suffer through the night in vain.

Actually, she was thinking about Qingyou's last question.

The 19th level of hell?

The next day, Qingyou seemed to have returned to normal, as if she had forgotten everything that happened the night before, and Chunyu didn't bring it up again. But in Chunyu's ears, the question Qingyou had asked the night before kept echoing, repeating itself like a curse, making her restless all day. In the afternoon, they had an exam, and when Chunyu arrived at the exam hall, she couldn't find Qingyou anywhere. She hurriedly called Qingyou's cell phone, but couldn't get through, and by then the exam papers had already been handed out.

These exam questions were easy for Chunyu, but might be difficult for others. Chunyu noticed the boy in front of her was secretly taking out his phone and frantically sending and receiving text messages. Chunyu chuckled inwardly; although cell phones were prohibited in the exam room, it was an unspoken rule. Remembering the constant ringing of cell phones in class, the exam room was relatively quiet today.

Chunyu was the first to hand in her test paper.

Perhaps because the students had all heard about the abandoned village, when Chunyu was the first to hand in her paper, everyone gave her strange looks. Some of the girls even whispered among themselves, as if she no longer belonged to this world.

Fortunately, Chunyu had gotten used to the way others looked at her over the past six months, and she simply lowered her head and walked out of the examination room.

Chunyu rushed back to her dorm, only to find Qingyou still on the lower bunk, engrossed in typing a text message on her phone. She looked so focused, as if she were taking another exam. Chunyu asked her why she wasn't taking the exam, and Qingyou casually replied that she wasn't feeling well and would retake it in a few days. Chunyu finally couldn't hold back any longer. She sat down next to Qingyou and asked, "What's wrong with you these past few days?"

"You seem like a completely different person." "I don't think I've changed." Qingyou casually hung her phone around her neck. "No, you've completely changed." Chunyu recalled everything that had happened in the past few days, including the agonizing text message ringtone that rang in the middle of the night, all of which still made her shudder. "Since ten days ago, you've been sending and receiving text messages day and night. I initially thought you had a new boyfriend, but now it seems I was wrong." "I don't care what you say." Qingyou coldly pushed Chunyu's hand away and ran straight out of the dormitory.

At this moment, Chunyu was all alone in the dormitory. She thought she might have lost her last friend. She sat blankly in her room, looking out at the campus until night fell. But after dinner, Qingyou still hadn't returned. Chunyu called her several times, but either the call couldn't be connected, or no one answered. Chunyu wanted to run out to look for Qingyou, but in such a large campus, where could she possibly find her? Maybe Qingyou had already gone outside the school, or maybe she really did have a boyfriend? Chunyu paced back and forth in the dormitory, even unconsciously spinning in circles, just like Qingyou had done in the middle of the night the previous night. Startled by her own thoughts, Chunyu quickly sat back down in her chair.

At 10 p.m., Nan Xiaoqin and Xu Wenya finally returned. They said they went to see the nighttime art exhibition, but it seems they were still there for that legendary handsome teacher.

However, Nan Xiaoqin wasn't surprised by Qingyou's departure, as she herself often didn't return to her dorm at night. Nan Xiaoqin even said with a slightly mischievous smile, "Could Qingyou already have someone else outside?"

Then let's not disturb her good time.

Chunyu glared at Nan Xiaoqin, but she really wasn't in the mood to talk to them, so she went to bed early, before 11 p.m.

But she still couldn't sleep.

Before she knew it, it was past midnight, and the pitch-black dormitory was eerily quiet. Chunyu curled up in bed, her ears constantly listening for any sound from inside. How she longed to hear Qingyou enter, her rabbit-like footsteps, the slight tremor of the lower bunk and the bed frame…

At three in the morning, Qingyou still hadn't returned.

Chunyu gradually couldn't hold on any longer. Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, she suddenly heard her phone ringing with a text message.

Her phone is a Samsung with a camera, which Chunyu bought with the money she saved from three months of part-time work.

When she first bought it, her classmates were quite envious. Chunyu picked up her phone from the bedside table and discovered it was a text message from Qingyou.

The text message Qingyou sent was a genuine message, containing only three words—"Save me." Instantly, Chunyu felt a sharp pang in her chest. She immediately sat up in bed, staring at the three words displayed on her phone screen. "Save me?"

Spring Rain silently repeated it in her heart again, and she seemed to really hear a clear and familiar voice in her ears...

Could something have happened to Qingyou?

She immediately called Qingyou again. But Qingyou's phone kept ringing, and no one answered. "Qingyou, I'm coming to save you," Chunyu said silently to herself. She hurriedly climbed down from the top bunk, turned on the dormitory light, and woke up Nan Xiaoqin and Xu Wenya.

Two girls, sound asleep, were woken up, both looking bewildered. Chunyu showed them the text message she had just received, and Nan Xiaoqin finally understood. She blinked and said, "Don't make a fuss, is she just joking?" "No, Qingyou isn't that kind of person, she wouldn't lie to me." "But didn't you say she's changed these past few days?" "What if she really is asking me for help? She might encounter some bad people in the middle of the night, how can a girl protect herself?"

As Xu Wenya dressed, she said, "But it's the middle of the night, where can you find her?" But Chunyu was determined. She quickly finished dressing and ran out of the dormitory.

A biting wind swept through the stairwell. Even in her thick coat, Chunyu shivered in the eerie winter night. After the incident in the deserted village, she had become terrified of the dark and never dared to walk alone at night. But now she was fearless, for she knew Qingyou was calling to her.