Куры и собаки летают в хаосе и возрождении

Глава 2

If you're sick, you should listen to the doctor, not those who pretend to know everything and spout nonsense. They won't be responsible if anything goes wrong.

Xia Chen snorted and left the infirmary without looking back.

After watching Xia Chen walk away, Luo Shimin's eyes flashed with a fierce light. She said sternly to the doctor and nurse, "You two better watch your mouths. It'll be too late to regret it if you cause any accidents that day." Faced with Luo Shimin, a figure known to everyone in the school, Dr. Wu and Nurse Luo could only obediently nod, not daring to utter a single word.

Hu Rongrong walked over and said, "Qi Xiaoke is much better. I'll stay and keep her company. You should go back to class. Our handsome Xia is still waiting for you."

Luo Shimin exclaimed, "Handsome brother, I'm here!" and ran out of the infirmary. Hu Rongrong stood at the door of the infirmary and called out, "Lady, don't forget!" Luo Shimin immediately changed from running long strides to small, quick steps, but her speed did not decrease at all. Once she was out of sight, Hu Rongrong turned around and gave Wu and Luo an apologetic smile, "That's just how she is, please don't mind her. She was just talking nonsense, don't take it to heart."

Dr. Wu snorted and pulled Nurse Luo aside to continue drinking coffee and chatting. Hu Rongrong sat next to Qi Xiaoke, muttering to herself, "Get well soon. I'll tell you a secret: I've always been afraid of hospitals and similar places. I get a creepy feeling whenever I'm in one, I can't explain why. This infirmary at the academy gives me a particularly strong feeling, like a terrifying monster lurking in the darkness. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't want to stay here a second longer. Get well soon, let's leave." Qi Xiaoke didn't move, and Hu Rongrong knew she hadn't heard her. After sitting for a while, drowsiness overcame her, and she fell asleep by the bedside.

Luo Shimin ran back to the classroom along the same route, but didn't see Xia Chen when she entered. Thinking he had gone to the restroom, she sat down and waited for him, but he didn't appear until the end of the afternoon. No one knew what he had been doing.

003 Medical Room Murder Case

As dusk settled, Luo Shimin walked along the street after dinner, with a full moon hanging in the night sky above her.

She muttered to herself, "Where did Xia Chen go? I didn't see him in the restaurant either." A gust of cold wind blew by, and Luo Shimin shivered. Only then did she realize that she had unknowingly walked into the old building area. In front of her was the oldest building in the school, standing silently in the darkness, without a single light. The pale moonlight only added to the eerie atmosphere. The old European-style building was like a haunted building, which could swallow the lives of the living at any moment.

Luo Shimin felt a chill run down her spine. Even though she was braver than most people, she was still a girl after all. She turned around and quickened her pace, wanting to leave this terrifying place as soon as possible.

Snap...

Strange noises emanated from the old building, sounding like thunder in the silent night. Luo Shimin stopped in her tracks, her heart churning with inner turmoil. Curiosity compelled her to go back and investigate, while reason relentlessly warned her: Don't look back, don't look back, looking back will mean certain death.

Just as Luo Shimin was hesitating, the old building's door was suddenly flung open with a loud bang. A dark figure rushed towards her.

"It's over, it's over, disaster is imminent." Luo Shimin wanted to run away, but her legs wouldn't obey her commands; even taking a single step was difficult. The footsteps behind her grew closer and closer, and overwhelming fear made her forget to breathe. Four steps... three steps... two steps... one step... Luo Shimin tightly closed her eyes; she heard the terrifying panting of the dark figure.

At the critical moment of life and death, the situation took an unbelievable turn. The shadowy figure didn't even touch Luo Shimin, treating her as if she didn't exist, and continued striding forward.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Luo Shimin slowly opened her eyes. She was puzzled; who would be so bold as to venture into an old building alone at night? Suddenly, she remembered someone—the shadowy figure was none other than Xia Chen, the handsome transfer student from earlier that day!

"What was he doing alone in that old building?" Luo Shimin took two deep breaths, her fear gradually subsiding as she regained control of her body. She didn't dare linger in front of the old building, and strode away as if running. Her mind was a little overwhelmed; she desperately needed someone to think about this with her. The first person she naturally thought of was her best friend, Hu Rongrong.

After Luo Shimin left, another person emerged from the old building. He glanced around furtively to make sure no one was watching, then ran out of the old building at an extraordinary speed and disappeared into the darkness.

Luo Shimin dialed Hu Rongrong's cell phone, but no one answered. She then called Qi Xiaoke, but still no one answered.

"Rongrong and Qi Xiaoke are still in the infirmary, they probably haven't eaten yet." Luo Shimin changed direction and went to the restaurant. After buying the two's favorite food, she skipped and hopped towards the infirmary.

Luo Shimin stopped at the entrance of the infirmary. The infirmary was dark, but the streetlights outside flickered, casting an inconspicuous light.

"They must have gone back." Although she said that, Luo Shimin still walked to the door of the infirmary and gently pushed the door open.

With a creak, the door opened!

Luo Shimin called into the door, "Rongrong, Qi Xiaoke, are you there?" There was no answer. A strange hissing sound came from the darkness, sounding like a snake flicking its tongue. "Dr. Wu, Nurse Luo, are you there?" Still no answer.

It's strange, no matter what happens, there's always one person on duty in the infirmary. This is a rule that Yishi Academy has had since its founding.

A thought flashed into Luo Shimin's mind: Something's happened! Something really bad has happened! Luo Shimin dialed Hu Rongrong's cell phone again, and the melodious ringtone came from the infirmary.

"Rongrong, stop playing, I'm scared." The only response was deathly silence.

Luo Shimin took a deep breath at the door and mustered her courage to step into the infirmary. She switched on the fluorescent light, but it was no use. The darkness inside the infirmary was like an indelible blot of ink; she felt as if she were in a giant tomb, surrounded by the stench of death. Fear flowed through her like a sharp needle, threatening to pierce her heart at any moment. She tentatively took a step forward, her right hand pressed tightly against her chest, afraid that her violently beating heart would leap out of her chest.

Taking two more steps forward, a foul yet familiar smell assaulted her nostrils. The smell intensified as she went further in, becoming almost pungent. She held her breath, covering her mouth, her stomach churning. She struggled to stay refrained from vomiting; the familiar smell was that of blood.

A hissing sound came from the darkness.

An intense sense of danger shot through her spine like an electric current to her brain; her intuition told her that something in the darkness was lurking and threatening her.

She stood motionless, afraid that any rash move would provoke a terrifying attack. Time seemed to stand still; the surroundings were so quiet that she could hear her own breathing and heartbeat.

Tick-tock!

The sound of a drop of liquid falling.

Although she couldn't see it, she was certain that what was dripping was a drop of blood, most likely a drop of human blood.

Luo Shimin's phone suddenly rang, the melodious ringtone startling her like a thunderclap, almost stopping her heart. A whoosh came from the darkness, and the extreme sense of danger vanished. A wave of relief washed over her, and Luo Shimin nearly collapsed to the ground, a single belief sustaining her: "I can't give up. I have to find Rongrong and Qi Xiaoke."

The phone gave her a helpful clue; she used it as a flashlight, illuminating a small area in front of her. The ground was the same as before, nothing unusual. Luo Shimin slowly moved the phone to illuminate the area. As the phone moved, a pool of dark red blood appeared in her vision. Moving the phone upwards further, a piercing scream shattered the night. Luo Shimin saw the most horrifying scene of her life: Qi Xiaoke lay face up on the hospital bed, her face contorted in pain, her fingers bent and embedded in the mattress. A large hole had been torn in her abdomen, her organs spilling out, some parts falling to the ground. The blood she had seen earlier had come from Qi Xiaoke's body.

Luo Shimin's hand trembled, and she lost her grip on the phone. With two thuds, the phone bounced twice on the floor and landed in the corner. The faint glow illuminated a lifeless face—the same face Luo Shimin had spoken to not long ago—the nurse from the infirmary. She had been dead for some time; her face was a purplish-red, her tongue drooping limply like a dead snake, and her eyes were almost bulging out, their grayish-white pupils staring at Luo Shimin.

"Ah..." Luo Shimin screamed in agony. She couldn't take it anymore and turned to run outside. In her panic, she knocked over many things. Reaching the door, she bumped into someone's arms. Looking up, she saw Xia Chen, the handsome man she had been longing for. "Why are you here?" Before Xia Chen could answer, everything went black, and she fainted.

Hiss...

004 Mystery

The night was cool and thin, like the fragrance of lilies falling.

Hu Rongrong walked alone down the road. There were no streetlights, and no pedestrians on the path. The houses around her were so dimly lit that they stingily withdrew even a sliver of light. The moonlight from the full moon cast a long, long shadow of her. A gust of cold wind swept by, and Hu Rongrong instinctively pulled her coat tighter. Unable to explain why it had suddenly become so cold in the summer, she exhaled, her breath dissipating in the moonlight like pale, fragmented ghosts.

Footsteps came from the darkness behind me.

Hu Rongrong turned to look, but she couldn't see anything; her vision couldn't penetrate the dense darkness. A cold wind swirled, stirring up withered leaves from the ground, and rushed towards her face. The cold wind howled through the gaps in the leaves, making a mournful sound, like a woman's plaintive weeping.

"Who's there? I see you! Come out quickly!" Hu Rongrong's voice trembled slightly; she couldn't control the fear in her heart.

Perhaps her trick had been used by too many people and was already worn out, so it didn't work. The footsteps in the darkness were getting closer and closer to her.

Hu Rongrong quickened her pace, and as she walked deeper into the darkness, the footsteps behind her grew faster and faster. Hu Rongrong ran with all her might, but she couldn't shake off the ever-present sound of footsteps.

In her panic, Hu Rongrong ran into a dead end. By the time she realized it, it was too late. She leaned against the cold wall, her eyes wide as she stared at the intersection, her beautiful face contorted with terror. A tall figure appeared at the intersection; the figure didn't seem human, emitting breaths like those of a wild beast.

The shadowy figure drew closer and closer to Hu Rongrong. Hu Rongrong's legs went weak, unable to support her weight, and she collapsed to the ground. The shadowy figure approached her and extended a claw covered in Mao Rongrong's gray fur. The tip of the claw was sharp as a blade, reflecting a cold light.

"Rongrong, run!" Luo Shimin cried out and sat up abruptly. Opening her eyes, she saw that Hu Rongrong and the shadowy figure were gone, replaced by familiar white walls and familiar furnishings. Dawn was breaking outside the window, and the morning sunlight streamed in, illuminating her face. This was her dormitory! The terrifying scene from the infirmary flashed before her eyes again; she seemed to have bumped into Xia Chen at the end. How did she get back to her dormitory?

"Did you have a nightmare?" Luo Shimin's roommate Zheng Yubing came over and took her hand.

"Wipe the sweat off your head first." Another roommate, Shui Lan, also came to sit down on the bed and gently handed over a tissue.

Luo Shimin wiped the sweat from her brow, feeling a little better. Her gaze fixed on Hu Rongrong's bed. Hu Rongrong's blankets were neatly folded and placed on the bed. A bad thought flashed through her mind, and she called out, "Where's Rongrong? Where is Rongrong? Why hasn't she come back yet?"

Shui Lan hugged Luo Shimin, gently patted her back, and said softly, "Director Wang from the Academic Affairs Office said Rongrong had to go home." Luo Shimin gradually calmed down, and Zheng Yubing added from the side, "She left with Qi Xiaoke. She has someone with her on the way, so nothing will happen to her. You don't need to worry."

Luo Shimin was taken aback, then said, "Isn't Qi Xiaoke dead?"

"Dead?!" Zheng and Shui exclaimed in unison. "He was perfectly fine yesterday afternoon, how could he suddenly be dead?"

Luo Shimin said blankly, "She really died. I saw it with my own eyes. Right there in the infirmary, there was a big hole in her stomach and her internal organs were spilling out all over the floor."

The two girls closed their eyes tightly, and Shui Lan covered her ears, unable to listen any longer. The room fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

After a while, Zheng Yubing chuckled and said, "Luo Shimin, you're not trying to scare us again, are you? We've been fooled by you so many times, we won't fall for it this time." Shui Lan also said, "You must have seen this in a dream, you acted so well. It would be a waste if you weren't an actress."

Luo Shimin's face turned deathly pale. She said in a low voice, "I really didn't lie to you. I can distinguish between dreams and reality. Right there on the bed in the infirmary, Qi Xiaoke died, Nurse Luo died, and, and..." Luo Shimin swallowed hard, tears silently sliding down her cheeks, "And... Rongrong... might... also..." Luo Shimin couldn't continue.

Zheng and Shui were stunned. Even the most skilled actor couldn't portray sadness so convincingly. Shui Lan's lips trembled.

She asked, "How...how could this be? Who...who...who...did this...?"

"I don't know either. It was already like that when I got there." Luo Shimin buried her head between her legs and cried silently. Zheng and Shui were stunned by the sudden change and didn't know what to do. They just sat there staring blankly at Hu Rongrong's bed.

Luo Shimin suddenly thought of a question, "How did I get back to the dormitory last night?"

Zheng Yubing blurted out, "It was your deskmate, Xia Chen, the new transfer student, who brought you back. I asked him what happened, but he wouldn't say. He left an envelope and told me to give it to you when you woke up in the morning." Luo Shimin was shocked. It was him! He had noticed Qi Xiaoke as soon as he arrived in class, and then he had a conflict with the doctor and nurses in the infirmary. Could it be that he killed everyone in the infirmary in a fit of anger? Less than a second later, she dismissed the thought. She had seen Xia Chen in the old building area before going to the infirmary. Besides, if he were really the murderer, he would have killed her to cover it up. There was no reason for him to bring her back alive.

Luo Shimin wiped away her tears and asked, "Where's the envelope? Give it to me quickly!"

"I'll get it for you." Zheng Yubing turned around and searched the table, but the white envelope was gone. "How could it be gone?" Zheng Yubing was sweating profusely as she frantically searched for the white envelope.

"Didn't you put it on the table?" Shui Lan joined the search.

Zheng Yubing picked up all the magazines on the table and shook them. "What the hell! I helped Luo Shimin into the house last night and just put it on the table. How could it be gone?"

Luo Shimin's expression grew increasingly grim. "Here it is."

Just before she was about to explode, the observant Shui Lan found the white envelope in the gap between the two tables. Zheng Yubing breathed a sigh of relief; thank goodness she found it, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Give it to me quickly." Luo Shimin stretched out her arm.

Shui Lan handed the envelope to Luo Shimin, who tore it open without a word. A very simple note fell out: "Find me in room 104 on the first floor of the old building after you wake up." There was no heading, no signature, and not even a date, but the handwriting was as handsome as Xia Chen himself.

"What does it say?" Zheng Yubing asked curiously.

"See for yourself." Luo Shimin handed the note to Zheng Yubing and got up to change her clothes.

Zheng and Shui were shocked. "Are you crazy? Look outside, it's just getting light, and there's no one in the old building area. What if something happens to you in the old building area at this time?"

"I'll be fine," Luo Shimin said resolutely. "If anything happens to me, I'll have my brother avenge me."

Seeing that they couldn't stop her, Shui Lan gritted her teeth and said, "How about Yu Bing and I go with you?"

Luo Shimin looked up at the two girls, whose faces were pale, terrified by the series of sudden and frightening events. Luo Shimin smiled slightly at them, "You two should stay in the house. If I haven't returned by the time class starts, report it to the police or my family."

Shui Lan said weakly, "Then be careful and stay safe."

"Don't worry." Luo Shimin put on her shoes and walked out of the dormitory door.

As Luo Shimin walked toward the old building, a question lingered in her mind: Why did Director Wang lie to people? What was his relationship with Xia Chen?

005 Dr. Wu is not dead

Cold, bone-chilling cold.

Fog rolled in; a thick fog blanketed the area outside the dormitory building, making visibility limited to about three meters in front of you, with everything beyond that a white expanse. A damp breeze swept over her, quickly soaking Luo Shimin's clothes. Foggy weather was rare at Yishi Academy, and such dense fog was even more uncommon.

Luo Shimin walked nervously through the fog. The figures around her swayed, but she couldn't make out their faces. The trees on both sides of the road looked like the hands of a dying person, grabbing at something haphazardly in mid-air. After what happened last night, she felt that danger lurked everywhere, and that someone might rush out of the fog at any moment and drag her into the boundless darkness.

She was a little scared.

Hiss...

A strange sound came from the fog, emanating from right beside her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find its source. It seemed to be preventing Luo Shimin from getting close to the old building.

Luo Shimin quickened her pace. No matter how terrifying things might be on the road ahead, nothing could stop her from seeking the truth. Although her relationship with Qi Xiaoke was just so-so, she couldn't accept that her friend had died under mysterious circumstances, not to mention her best friend Rongrong, whose fate she didn't know.

Soon, Luo Shimin arrived at the old building area. The ancient buildings appeared and disappeared in the mist, exuding a mysterious atmosphere. The white European-style buildings stood like ghosts in the mist. The door on the first floor was wide open, but the mist seemed to be blocked by some unseen force at the door, and not a single wisp of mist could drift in.

Luo Shimin mustered her courage and stepped into the old building. The interior exuded an air of decay and was shrouded in shadow. The walls beside the door were covered in mottled green moss, its surface coated with a disgusting, viscous liquid. Only a few small windows lined the corridor, letting in no light and creating a gloomy atmosphere. She took a step forward, the crisp sound of her footsteps startling her.