Translator: CinderTL
"I need to go back to the Activity Center tomorrow," Jiang Cheng said.
Realizing the gravity of the situation and worried about Jiang Cheng going alone, Fatty spoke up, "Doctor, let's go together tomorrow."
That night, Fatty volunteered to keep watch.
The night passed uneventfully.
When Fatty quietly woke him, Jiang Cheng opened his eyes to find it still pitch black outside—not the hazy darkness of dawn, but a deep, impenetrable blackness, as if it were the dead of night.
"Doctor," Fatty said, noticing Jiang Cheng's gaze, his voice strained, "look at the time."
Jiang Cheng pulled out the phone Professor Wu had given him and lit up the screen. It was almost 8 AM—morning.
"Doctor, I've been peering out the window for ages," Fatty swallowed nervously. "It's still completely dark, and it doesn't even look like it's going to rain. Everything's eerily quiet, like no one's awake."
"The daylight hours are shrinking, and the nights are growing longer," Jiang Cheng stated.
Fatty nodded vigorously. "You're right, Doctor. It started yesterday, but it was so subtle I didn't think much of it."
Huai Yi was still asleep on the other bed, apparently having taken the night watch in shifts with Fatty without waking Jiang Cheng.
Fatty noticed Jiang Cheng staring at Huai Yi and asked, "Should we wake him up too?"
Jiang Cheng shook his head and stood up. "No, let him sleep a little longer."
The energy expenditure in the mission world was far more exaggerated than in reality. Even Jiang Cheng felt his mental reserves beginning to fray.
"Doctor," Fatty said, peering out the window with a strange expression. "There's no one outside. The students, teachers, and staff—it seems they've all tacitly accepted the shortened daylight hours and adjusted their schedules accordingly."
Fatty's words sparked an idea in Jiang Cheng's mind. After a moment's hesitation, he instructed Fatty, "You and Huai Yi stay here. I'm going out for a while. Don't call me. I'll contact you when I'm done."
With that, Jiang Cheng headed for the door.
Fatty blinked in surprise, then suddenly realized what Jiang Cheng was planning. "You're going to the Activity Center while no one's around, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"But we should go together. It's too dangerous to go alone—" Fatty started to protest, but Jiang Cheng cut him off.
"I'll go alone and be back quickly," Jiang Cheng said, adding, "Don't worry."
Fatty considered that bringing Huai Yi along might only burden the doctor. He didn't press the issue. "Then, Doctor, please be careful."
Jiang Cheng had already grasped the doorknob when he seemed to remember something. He paused, turned back, and said, "Fatty, if I don't return, contact Wang Qi if anything comes up."
Fatty blinked, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Doctor, what did you say?"
Jiang Cheng didn't elaborate immediately. After a moment of silence, he continued, "Wang Qi is no ordinary person. Though he seems eccentric, I sense no malice from him. His problem lies in his attitude—he's poor at communicating and fundamentally arrogant."
"I see," Fatty replied, habitually accepting Jiang Cheng's assessment. "I thought you were more favorably inclined toward Shen Mengyun."
"Shen Mengyun is decent enough, but she's not particularly sharp and her emotions easily cloud her judgment," Jiang Cheng countered. "Remember this: continue gathering information from Yuan Xiaoyi, but don't blindly trust everything she says anymore."
"She's got problems, right, Doctor?" Fatty whispered, lowering his voice.
"Yeah, there's definitely something wrong. The question is, how serious is it?" Jiang Cheng peeled off the poster of the Black man and peered through the glass window into the hallway.
"Don't open the gate for anyone before dawn. Be extra careful." With these final words, Jiang Cheng opened the gate, scanned the corridor for any signs of danger, and only stepped out when he saw nothing amiss.
Fatty sat alone in the chair, pondering Jiang Cheng's words.
The hallway was eerily quiet. Since they had moved in, they hadn't heard a single sound from any other residents, as if they were the only living souls in the entire building.
Even more terrifying was the realization that among these "living souls," only Fatty, Huai Yi, and Jiang Cheng might be truly alive.
Tiptoeing down the stairs, Jiang Cheng muffled his footsteps. Upon reaching the ground floor, he found the corridor dimly lit by a few flickering light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, casting a sickly yellow glow.
He had barely taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped. In the dim light, he noticed faint patches of water on the floor.
The intermittent water stains stretched all the way to the dormitory gate.
Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the dormitory gate.
He had been the last one to enter after they returned from the abandoned sports field, so he clearly remembered the wooden stick that had been propped against the door from the inside.
But now the stick was gone.
Someone had passed through the gate after their return.
Connecting the dots with the intermittent water stains on the floor, Jiang Cheng quickly pieced together the truth. A ghost wouldn't bother moving a wooden stick, so it must have been one of them who had secretly slipped out again after returning to the dormitory.
And Jiang Cheng already had a strong suspicion about who it was: Wang Qi.
His motive for sneaking out was likely the same as his own—to go to the Activity Center and verify something.
If this confirmation held true, it would overturn all their previous assumptions. Perhaps... no one had actually gone missing from Jiangtan University.
With this realization, he quickened his pace, carefully avoiding the water stains on the floor.
But just as Jiang Cheng was focusing on his footing, a door beside him suddenly swung open. The room was dark, but Shen Mengyun's face materialized in the doorway.
This wasn't her room!
Jiang Cheng's breath hitched.
"Mr. Jiang," Shen Mengyun said quickly, not reaching out to touch him, perhaps fearing a misunderstanding. "I'm human, not one of those things. Don't be afraid."
Jiang Cheng's face clearly betrayed his fear and disbelief.
If you're really Shen Mengyun, why aren't you in your own room? Why come here and not even turn on the lights? Do you have a death wish? Jiang Cheng clamped his mouth shut, refusing to speak aloud, communicating entirely with his eyes.
Shen Mengyun whispered an explanation. After listening for a while, Jiang Cheng pieced together the story. She had been perfectly fine in her room when she suddenly heard the sound of dripping water.
At first, the sound was faint, as if coming from a great distance.
But gradually, the source of the dripping grew closer and closer. It seemed to start at the end of the hallway, then moved to outside her door.
Finally... finally, the dripping sound began to emanate from the closet inside her own room.
The three of them had encountered a similar phenomenon at the Activity Center before, so Shen Mengyun knew instantly that the ghost had targeted her.
She also knew she shouldn't leave her room rashly, so she kept reassuring herself that it was all an auditory hallucination, a trick of the mind. She mustn't believe it.
Until the dripping sound started coming from beneath her bed.
(End of the Chapter)
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