Room No

Chapter 6

Under the moonlight, the school buildings were far away, hidden among the trees, dark and desolate. My own student dormitory was faintly visible, with a few lights flickering on and off—those were the toilet lights. Qilan had a power outage at night, except for the toilets.

From a distance, the light looked like an eye, hidden in the darkness, blinking and staring at anyone who wanted to enter it...

The fat man then realized that the surroundings were completely silent and dark, and the area within a hundred miles was shrouded in darkness.

"Hey Fatty, are you coming down or not? It's getting late, I'm starving!" The shout from another boy below the wall interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh? Boss! Sorry! I'm coming down right now!" Releasing his brow, the fat man lightly leaped down, intending to land gracefully, but instead fell comically. His companions were amused and quickly made a shushing gesture, and the three boys swiftly left.

This is actually a violation of school rules. These three are used to breaking school rules. The first rule of Qi Lan's student code is that students are not allowed to leave school without permission, and secondly, students are not allowed to wear cell phones. These three have violated both rules. Basically, once or twice a week, the three of them will climb over the wall to go off-campus to have some fun.

Walking south from the dormitory, there was a grove of trees. At the end of the grove was a wall. It was the shortest wall in the entire Qilan area. Actually, it wasn't that the wall was short, but rather that the land here was slightly higher and had the trees as cover. So, ever since they discovered this place, the three of them would go out there from time to time.

After you go out, you'll have to walk for a while. The road is very dark, but luckily there's only one road, so you won't get lost. After walking for a while, you'll encounter a vehicle—a minibus. For a little money, it can take you to a faraway place, and then you can take the subway... Have a good time, eat some good food, and get back before dawn. Nothing will happen.

Their roommates were all afraid of their fists and dared not say a word, so in the past two years, they had gone out countless times but had never been caught. This time was no exception. They hadn't been out for too long, and today the school was in a mess because of the upcoming joint exams, so they were already incredibly bored. When Ade suggested that they go out for a walk and buy some cigarettes, the other two agreed without hesitation.

"I haven't been out for too long this time, and the school seems to have increased security. Damn it! I haven't had a cigarette in two weeks!" The boy who cursed all the way was Ade. He was from the South, but his physique was not as thin as people imagined Southerners to be. Ade was not tall but muscular and quick in his moves. It seemed that he was forcibly sent to Qilan because he was too bad at fighting in junior high school.

"I want a lollipop. I heard that XX has released a new flavor of lollipop, garlic flavor. I wonder if it's good. Boss, how about I treat you to a lollipop later?" The fat man chuckled a few times and looked ingratiatingly at the tall boy next to him who hadn't said a word from beginning to end—Xi Yuan, who was also the leader of the three.

The tall and strong Xi Yuan was the one who gave Ade a hard time at the beginning of the semester, when Ade wanted to intimidate him. At the time, Ade hated him to death, but later when he was surrounded by enemies from another school, only Xi Yuan was willing to help him. He helped and left without saying anything, but from then on, Ade was completely convinced of Xi Yuan's abilities.

Although Xi Yuan was a bit harsh and rude, they found that they got along very well after spending time together, and the three of them lived together like this for three years.

"Pah! You fatso, all you know is eating! You think the boss would even look at your weird garlic-flavored lollipop? Boss, I'll treat you to drinks later!" Ade spat, laughing as he patted Xi Yuan's shoulder. Xi Yuan just pursed his lips, pulled at his constantly twitching eyelids, and yawned boredly.

Almost as soon as they got off the bus, the three of them started having a blast. After buying fast food and playing a massive arcade game, they got hungry again and realized it was already past midnight when they went outside. Deciding to have one last big meal before leaving, the boys started looking for restaurants that offered late-night snacks.

All three of them were people who liked to try new things, so when they discovered a newly opened restaurant nearby, they went in without hesitation. Because it was newly opened and it was the middle of the night, there wasn't a single customer, only a few waitresses chatting and joking around. The restaurant looked like it was about to close. When they saw Xi Yuan and his group come in, the waitresses perked up.

"Sir, please order." The waiter politely handed over a menu.

She was a very pretty girl, but the lighting in the house was bad. The harsh white light shone on her face, making her skin look unhealthy and pale.

Xi Yuan stared at the girl until the menu touched his hand. After hurriedly ordering, Xi Yuan frowned and watched the girl bow and leave.

"Boss, you're so engrossed in watching? What... have you fallen for him?" Ade teased, nudging Xi Yuan's shoulder with his elbow and receiving a flick on the head in return.

"Drink your wine!" Xi Yuan cursed.

Under the bright white light, listening to the back and forth between the boss and Ade, the fat man chuckled as he ate a lollipop, taking a bite of candy and then a sip of beer. Iced beer was always his summer favorite, but today it felt a bit chilly.

The fat man put down his cup.

Suddenly, a wind chime rang out...

"Welcome!" the waiter called out loudly to Xi Yuan, announcing the arrival of a guest.

The fat man had his back to the door and didn't turn around. The new customer passed by, bringing in some fresh air from outside. Hmm, it was indeed a bit chilly...

suddenly……

"Huh? He's also Qi Lan's student!" Ade suddenly whispered.

"How dare you wear a school uniform!" Ade's words caught the fat man's attention. Taking a sip of beer, the fat man casually followed their gaze to his left and saw a new customer sitting there, a boy wearing Qi Lan's school uniform.

The fat man forgot to swallow the mouthful of beer in his mouth; it remained there, icy cold!

Cold sweat broke out on the fat man's forehead.

The fat man's eyes, which had been looking in that direction, suddenly darted away, and for a moment he didn't dare let the other person see him.

That person...that person is...

"Boss, that guy looks familiar, do you remember him?" Ade mumbled as he ate potato kernels.

"No, I never remember what irrelevant people look like," Xi Yuan said casually.

But even more sweat was seeping out of the fat man's pores.

They don't remember, but he remembers it very well.

That was my roommate who disappeared when school started!

No wonder Xi Yuan didn't remember; he wasn't there when school started, and Ade has a bad memory, but he himself...

Because that person told a very boring ghost story, which didn't scare anyone else, but made me think about it for a long time. Then the next day, that person disappeared.

Neither the eldest brother nor Ade believed in ghosts, and they themselves couldn't explain it in that way, so they gradually forgot about it. But today...

He used too much force, and the wine glass in the fat man's hand shattered. Instantly, everyone's eyes in the shop were drawn to his hand, including that other person's…

The man smiled at the fat man.

The fat man's lollipop fell to the ground. It really was him!

Why! Why would someone who has already disappeared reappear?

"Hey, Fatty, go easy on him! I know you've gotten stronger lately!" Ade chuckled, taking the tissues the waiter offered to Fatty.

That person also saw this scene and smiled at the fat man.

With a pale face, the fat man took a big gulp of wine.

"Let's just not go back. Believe me, tomorrow Chen Jiaming will be yelling, 'See! There really is a ghost!'"

Ade imitated his classmate's mannerisms quite well. The eldest brother was amused and burst into laughter, but the fat man couldn't laugh no matter what.

The food he ordered arrived. The waiter set the dishes out and went to serve it. Seeing the appealing appearance of the food improved his mood, and the fat man decided to eat something to calm himself down. He picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, about to put it in his mouth, when suddenly…

"I won't let you eat! You're not allowed to eat! Get out of here! Get out!" Suddenly, a strong force caused the fat man's chopsticks to fall to the ground with a clatter. Before he could even be surprised, he felt his wrist being grabbed tightly, followed by a violent dragging motion!

The fat man felt himself being pulled toward the door, and everyone in the restaurant was staring at his face. Suddenly, he felt a surge of fear and abruptly shook off the force that was holding him!

"Which nerve..." The word "illness" was left unsaid, frozen on the fat man's lips.

The person who grabbed him was an old man, tall and thin with a stern face, who was staring intently at the fat man.

After this commotion, the restaurant staff came out and shoved the old man away.

"Excuse me, sir, please continue your meal." The waiter smiled slightly and gently helped the fat man into his seat.

The fat man's face remained deathly pale.

"Wow! Fatty, your wrists are all bruised!" Ade exclaimed in surprise.

Staring at the fat man, Xi Yuan seemed lost in thought. "Fatty, what's wrong with you today? You've been acting strange..."

Resting his chin on his hand, Xi Yuan stared at the fat man, his face so pale... He had never seen such a face before, one that always wore a kind, smiling expression.

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted! It took them a while to realize that it was the fat man's voice. Seeing the fat man suddenly rush out, Ade and Xi Yuan looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, they couldn't help but throw a banknote on the table and hurriedly chased after him.

The fat man seemed to be chasing someone, or perhaps being chased by someone, running wildly without stopping.

Xi Yuan and Ade exchanged a glance and had no choice but to follow closely. Fortunately, the fat man finally couldn't run anymore and knelt on the ground in front of them, his body trembling slightly and panting heavily.

"Fatty, what's wrong with you?" Ade asked, frowning. But being the unserious person he always was, he soon joked, "I always fail the long-distance running test in PE, but I ran really well today, didn't I? Haha!"

The fat man was still breathing heavily, cold sweat dripping from his forehead into the soil and onto his wrists. His gaze fell on the bruises on his wrists.

“That old man is my grandfather,” the fat man said in a low voice without raising his head.

"Huh?" Ade's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown. He didn't understand, but Xi Yuan suddenly realized something and frowned slightly.

"Your grandfather? What happened to your grandfather?" Xi Yuan said calmly.

"...My grandfather passed away when I was two years old."

"Huh?!" Ade's expression suddenly turned strange. "Could it be... you mean..."

“I’ve only seen my grandfather in photos. The old man I just saw looks exactly like the old man in the photos.”

He understood immediately, and Ade's mouth dropped open.

Xi Yuan frowned slightly. "Hey! You're not saying we saw a ghost, are you? Hehe... Hey! What are you doing?!"

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden, strong force struck his arm. Xi Yuan stared in disbelief as the fat man, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly stood up, grabbed him and Ade by the arm, and pulled them forward.

Ignoring his companion's struggle, the fat man kept walking forward.

A string in his mind snapped… The boss was right, he'd been acting strangely all day. Actually… he'd been acting strangely for a long time. The night that person disappeared. The fat guy didn't tell anyone. That night, he was awake. He got hungry in the middle of the night, so he secretly ate some snacks outside, but suddenly heard a child's voice. The child was giggling, shouting, "Catch me!" "Catch me!"…

She peeked out secretly, only to find that the person outside was her new roommate. Looking completely bewildered, she fumbled around like a headless fly, as if she couldn't see anything...

The scene was so bizarre that for a moment, the fat man hesitated to chew the potato chips in his mouth. What was he doing? And that sound… The fat man suddenly felt very uneasy. Instinctively, he felt as if he had seen something he shouldn't have seen…

The fat guy watched his roommate walk around a corner and disappear, leaving only a long shadow on the ground... A shadow?!

As the other person walked away, the fat man watched his roommate's long shadow shrink continuously. In an instant, the fat man saw a small shadow next to his roommate's shadow! The small shadow pulled hard, and his roommate's shadow disappeared.

What happened that night remained a secret, or perhaps just a bizarre dream, etched into Fatty's heart. He didn't tell anyone; not only did he not speak of it, but he himself couldn't believe it.

However, the fact that my roommate, whom I never had a chance with, never came back after that day... was absolutely true. That... wasn't a dream!

"Anyway... we have to escape!" The usually gentle and kind face hardened with a fierce expression. The fat man turned around, his resolute gaze meeting his friend's. Suddenly... his face turned deathly pale. The fat man stared at his hand... following the arm his hand was gripping, his gaze slowly descended, meeting...

"Ah!" the fat man screamed.

"You fatso! What are you yelling about?!" A punch landed squarely on the fat man's face, and Ade's deliberately suppressed roar exploded above the fat man's head.

This is... a dormitory? The fat man looked around in confusion. The familiar surroundings were the school's simple dormitory... Was that just a dream?

"It's all your fault! We went out late today. We were supposed to leave at one o'clock, but it's already three o'clock. If it gets light, we won't be able to leave. Hurry up and get dressed! Hurry up!" Ade said in a low voice, pulling the fat man up.

Fatty then remembered that today was the weekend, a day for the three of them to go out and have fun, just like his dream just now... a dream... Thinking of this, Fatty shuddered again. He actually dreamed about going out. Was it because he had been thinking about it during the day?

The fat man thought for a moment, then didn't hesitate. After he finished dressing, the three of them tiptoed out the door. The fat man was responsible for closing the door, and when he turned around, he saw the only person left in the room—Chen Jiaming. The other man was still awake, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Do you...want to come out with us?" For the first time ever, the fat guy invited his completely antisocial roommate. The other person didn't agree, paused, said goodbye, and then the fat guy quietly closed the door and left.

The darkness, so familiar in his dream, frightened the fat man, making him sluggish as he tried to climb over the wall. Just then, the three of them suddenly heard a shout... it was a voice calling their names.

"Oh no! Did the school find out? If we get caught, we're done for! Fatty, hurry up!" Before Fatty could turn around, his friend pulled him down hard, and the three of them fled the school like the wind.

Only Fatty felt uneasy, and this unease lasted until he came out of the arcade the next day. Watching Ade stretching lazily beside him, and the boss leisurely watching the children playing games in front of him, Fatty hesitated whether he should tell them what he had been thinking about all day.

"Hey, when we escaped... it seemed like a woman was calling us..." In the end, his mouth was faster than his brain.

“Not surprising, is she one of the school’s old maids? Only women without men stay up so late.” Ade replied casually. The “old maid” he was referring to was the school’s dean of students, one of the few female teachers in the school.

But in that dark... wouldn't we be able to see who they are? Even a teacher couldn't remember their names, could they? The fat man frowned, glanced at his indifferent friend beside him, and ultimately said nothing.

Beside him, Xi Yuan's gaze remained fixed on the fountain in the center of the park. There, several children, oblivious to the time, were playing. The children, constantly shouting about where the last person was, seemed to be playing a game of tag. It was getting dark, and the children who couldn't find the last person were getting anxious.

He played this game when he was a kid, and it seems like everyone played it when they were young. He remembers being really good at it back then, always the one no one could find. There was even one time when he hid too well and ended up getting lost and unable to find his way back.

It seemed to be nighttime, in the pitch-black night, and no one found him... Thinking about his childhood, Xi Yuan's expression turned melancholic.