Chapter 26: The Girls' Dormitory

The Sakura in my arms was so light that I could carry her with one hand, as if she weighed nothing at all.

After she said that sentence, Sakura buried her head in my shoulder and said no more.

If it weren't for the lingering warmth of the girl by my ear, I might have doubted whether she had actually spoken those words.

Before we even reached the school gate, Xiumu caught up with us, holding a coiled vine stick. He gave me a look.

The meaning was clear: "Don't hesitate, act now!"

Both of them were trying to persuade me in their own ways. My steps slowed, and I put on a conflicted expression, as if torn between two opposing forces. "Who should I trust?"

I set Sakura down and looked at my phone. The comments in the Midnight Thriller Live Room offered every kind of perspective:

"Streamer, have you lost your mind? Xiumu is absolutely a ghost! From the very beginning, he's been leading you on. The Four Corners Game was just you playing with three ghosts!"

"Nonsense! That kid is at most mentally unstable, but definitely not a ghost. Sakura, on the other hand, is way too strange to be normal!"

"Agreed. Earlier, the camera was very close to Sakura's face. I observed for three minutes, and her expression didn't change at all during that time! She's definitely a resurrected corpse!"

"What kind of normal high schooler casually talks about killing someone? Xiumu is the ghost! If I'm wrong, I'll cut it off on livestream!"

"Are there any experts here? Is Qingcheng's Liu Banxian around? Calling Banxian, over."

"Call my foot! I'm betting 100 underworld coins that Xiumu is the ghost!"

"A hundred underworld coins? Is that all you're betting?" Tieling Escort tipped the live room 999 underworld coins: "I bet 999 coins that they're all ghosts!""Escort's bet is bold as always."

I couldn't help but smile. No matter how dangerous the situation, reading the comments always had a calming effect. Compared to my first livestream, the audience had grown fivefold, and there were far fewer doubts about me now.

Actually, I already knew who was human and who was a ghost. However, it wasn't time to reveal it yet. To avoid enraging any vengeful spirits and forcing them into desperate actions, the show needed to go on.

"I won't leave until I find Shen Meng. Xue Fei is likely doomed, but based on my observations, the experimental building doesn't seem to hold Shen Meng. She should be somewhere else."

I crouched in front of the two of them and said, "Don't doubt your companions. Don't give up hope. If we lose our composure, none of us will make it out alive."

After encouraging them, I grabbed the camera and prepared to head to the next building. "Xiumu, what do your parents do? They're never home. Are they that busy?"

"I'm not sure. I hardly see them all year."

"They must run a big business. What's your dad's name? Maybe I've heard of him."

"Wang Hai."

"Oh, Mr. Wang, huh."

Xiumu didn't seem interested in chatting, so I didn't push it. I'd already gotten the information I wanted.

Apart from the experimental building, the closest structure to the academic building was the girls' dormitory.

Walking around it, I found there was no front entrance—only two side doors on either side.

"This is the first time I've seen a dormitory built with its back to the sun. How do people live here?" The girls' dorm was already heavy with yin energy, and it was sandwiched between the boys' dormitory and the academic building, making it difficult for sunlight to reach it.

"Are you sure about going in?" After witnessing Xue Fei's death, Xiumu had become a different person, cautious at every turn.

I shook the dormitory side door. The chain on it was just for show, and the wooden door opened easily.

"If you want to go in, you go. I'm not stepping inside," Xiumu said, retreating a few steps. Only Sakura stayed by my side.

The pitch-black corridor occasionally emitted strange noises. Even just standing outside gave me chills.

"Don't blame me for not warning you. Once you go in, you might not be as lucky as last time."

Xiumu seemed very resistant to this place. I hesitated, raising the camera and taking a few steps inside.

Near the entrance was the dormitory manager's living quarters. The room wasn't locked. Inside, there were basic furnishings like a bed and wardrobe, as well as a large bulletin board leaning against the wall.

Several notices were pinned to the board, and perhaps because the room had preserved them well, the text on the paper was still clear.

"Regarding the death of Shen Mengting in bed 4118, the police have completed their investigation. The case has been classified as a suicide."

"The school has initiated psychological intervention measures. To accommodate students on the same floor who are afraid to return to their dorms at night, arrangements have been made for temporary housing in Dormitory 1."

The announcement was dated April five years ago. I rubbed my chin, puzzled. The police had been involved in a student death at Xinhu High School, yet five years ago, I hadn't heard a word about it from my police academy instructors.

Let me explain: Most of the instructors overseeing internships at the police academy were active-duty detectives. They would use their teaching roles to share real-life cases, analyzing major and special cases in class.

For students with particular potential, the instructors would even engage in deeper discussions, encouraging diverse perspectives and multifaceted reasoning.

Five years ago, I encountered numerous homicide cases, but never once did I hear the name Xinhu High School mentioned by an instructor.

"Could it really have been a suicide?" Another possibility crossed my mind: the case might have been so sensitive that even active-duty detectives dared not reveal any details.

I tore off the notice and stuffed it into my pocket. In the manager's drawer, I found a large set of keys labeled with dormitory numbers.

"The notice provides two pieces of information: First, the deceased's name was Shen Mengting. Second, her dormitory was 4118."

"Shen Mengting and Shen Meng differ by only one character. Is this a hint of some kind?" I shook the keys as I left the room.

Xiumu and Sakura were standing outside. I waved to them. "I'm heading upstairs. If you don't want to come along, stay here and don't wander off."

"Wait, I'll go with you." Xiumu avoided Sakura as he stepped into the dormitory.

"Alright then, Sakura, be careful."

The little girl stood alone at the entrance. As I started climbing the stairs, I couldn't help but glance back at her.

She was staring straight at my back with eyes that seemed to regard me as a dead man.

The girls' dormitory had tiled floors, and the interior was exceptionally clean. There was nothing strewn about on the staircase. Compared to the crumbling steps of the academic building, this place was in much better shape.

I climbed all the way to the fourth floor in one go, counting the numbers on the doors: "4111, 4112… 4118. Here it is."

Using my phone as a flashlight, I painstakingly searched through the large set of keys.

In the pitch-black and enclosed environment, standing in front of the door of a deceased person, fear began to creep in within this eerie campus.

Xiumu, like a frightened monkey, darted his eyes around nervously and clung tightly to my clothes. "Hey, do you feel like something's following us?"

He stared blankly into the depths of the stairwell. "I keep feeling like something is coming upstairs."

"Damn it, don't scare me like that!" I focused on finding the key, but Xiumu's words still made me curse out loud.

Sweat dripped from my fingertips as unease gnawed at me.

"I'm not lying!" He hunched his shoulders. All the light was concentrated on the keys in my hand, while the surroundings were engulfed in pitch darkness.

"That thing seems to be getting closer. I think it's already on the third floor."

What Xiumu said sent a chill down my spine, and I began to have the same feeling.

"There really is something approaching." A thought flashed through my mind—not the sound of footsteps, not any noise at all, but an inexplicable sensation that something was drawing nearer.

Something was coming from downstairs, neither hurried nor slow, like a massive shadow devoid of life.

The darkness in the hallway deepened, pressing down until it felt suffocating.

"Haven't you found it yet? Hurry up! Or maybe we should just run!"

"Stop yelling! I'm looking!" My hands moved faster, but the more anxious I became, the harder it was to find the right key. "Damn it, why are there so many rooms in this building?"

Cold sweat dripped from my forehead. I could tangibly feel it now—right at the stairwell, hidden in the darkness behind me, something was closing in.

"Hurry, hurry!" Xiumu's voice trembled as he urged me. In the shadows, pale hands seemed to be stretching out toward us.

Finally, I found the key. Without even grabbing the camera, I clutched Xiumu and opened the door to Room 4118.

"Bang!" The door slammed shut. Xiumu and I leaned against it, listening intently for any sounds outside.

There was nothing. It was as if the chilling presence from moments ago had been nothing more than an illusion.

"That's impossible." The camera I left outside continued recording. I took out my Hell Show phone and opened the Midnight Thriller Live Room, which was broadcasting the scene in the hallway.

In the oppressive darkness, a faint blood-red hem of a dress swayed just outside the door.