Arc 2: Internet Addiction Treatment Center

Chapter 25: Demons Dancing Wildly

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

The scene made people feel sick. Qin Dongwan couldn’t hold it. The food she ate at dinner almost came back up. She turned her head and patted her chest. After a while, she finally felt better. Her face was pale. She told herself in her heart that she had to get used to it. Then she looked at Xia Ying, who stood at the door and didn’t run far.

“She’s your roommate, right? I’ll help you drag her back. You better find something to wrap her up. If not, with this much blood, she won’t last long.”

“…Thanks.”

This little girl still had some heart. Her eyes already had a bunch of tears. But she held back her fear and came over. When she saw Luo Shu standing next to Qin Dongwan with no expression, Xia Ying’s steps shook. Like she saw a devil. She kept watching her from the corner of her eye while pulling the woman hard. She didn’t want to stay next to her even for a second.

“Don’t blame her. Just now, in that kind of moment, this was the only thing to do.”

Hearing the sound of water still dripping in the bathroom, Qin Dongwan felt a tightness in her chest. She didn’t want to stay here anymore. She went back and started putting on her clothes while saying,

“No one knows what’ll happen if you touch that thing’s hand. If we want to stay safe, letting her lose one hand is the best we could do. At least… it’s better than losing the whole person.”

Actually, that shout just now was a reflex. She only acted because she trusted someone strong. Qin Dongwan didn’t think the always moody Luo Shu would really listen to her and save someone. She glanced at the girl, whose face looked darker now, and quickly noticed the killing intent she didn’t even try to hide. She reached out and gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“A’Shu, don’t be mad. Let’s go back early and talk about clues.”

“Tch—” The anger deep in Luo Shu's heart couldn’t be calmed this time. Her cold purple eyes glared hard at Xia Ying, who was still trying to drag her roommate. The killing intent was sharp and clear. “Get out.”

“She’s not that heavy. You drag her yourself!”

Qin Dongwan, who just said she’d help, broke her promise in the next second. She could guess very well—if they didn’t leave fast, and Luo Shu really exploded, the result would be bad. The system already said that one big key to saving people was not letting Luo Shu get blood on her hands. So she had to help put out the fire.

….

All the way back, Qin Dongwan kept talking to calm her down. When they reached the dorm, she was the last to enter and gently closed the door behind her. As soon as she turned around, she saw the girl’s not-quite-smiling eyes resting on her face for a moment. That cold look in her eyes made Qin Dongwan’s skin crawl. She didn’t even know what she did wrong. She just leaned against the door and shut her mouth quickly.

“Did everyone think I did wrong before? Do you think I’m scary?”

Luo Shu’s voice still sounded really nice, like fruit wine with ice. But every word she said hit like a knife. Qin Dongwan quickly shook her head and looked down a bit. Her eyes had a soft, honest light in them.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. If you hadn’t helped just now, that woman wouldn’t have made it. You were trying to save someone. Why would I think you’re scary?”

“But your hands are shaking.”

Qin Dongwan: “…”

Fear’s one of those feelings that is really hard to hide.

It was the same for everyone else, and it was the same for Qin Dongwan. She clearly rushed forward faster than anyone, way braver than those who only cared about saving their own skin. But still, people treated her like a weirdo. Some even cursed her behind her back, pushed her out, and looked at her with hate.

She had teamed up with others before. The team had four people, but only the other three really clicked. It was like she never belonged. Every decision got made without her, like she was invisible.

After getting quietly abandoned in a survival mission out in the wild, something deep inside her snapped. That rage and killing urge hidden in her bones burst out like mushrooms after rain. She went after every beast in the game, killing on sight. From start to finish, she never laid a hand on a real person. Not once. But in the end, the rumors still spread—

A cold-blooded killer. Moody. A soulless devil girl named Luo Shu, with too many ghosts under her blade to count.

She had a pretty face, but it stood for danger. She was like a poppy—bright and beautiful, but full of poison. From Qin Dongwan’s angle, she looked down and saw moonlight softly spilling onto her face, making her look gentler. And in Luo Shu’s eyes, she saw a net of anger and unwillingness—mixed with a bit of grievances.

In the original book, Luo Shu's real change started after she got sent back to the beginner level. That’s when she stopped holding back. She went even further, not caring at all about what others thought, and started truly killing without mercy. The sad part? It all came from others not trusting her. A “teammate” who’s too strong always ends up being the odd one out.

“…You’re so strong. It’s impossible to say I’m not scared at all.” After a short silence, Qin Dongwan looked at Luo Shu’s face and spoke slowly, “I am scared of you, but I know you won’t hurt me. That’s why I’ll never betray you, or curse you behind your back. The things you’re worried about, they’re not going to happen. I’ll show you with my actions.”

From Qin Dongwan’s view, Luo Shu—without her heels—looked really short. That tiny figure only reached her chin. Her cold, pretty eyes didn’t show much, and her tight lips showed she wasn’t in a good mood.

Luo Shu always had that blank face. Compared to normal people, she really didn’t have many expressions. But her body always acted before her mind. Suddenly, Qin Dongwan reached out, gently cupped her chin, and slowly lifted that small face like she was touching a soft flower.

“I won’t.”

….

The dark sky slowly swallowed the last bit of sunset. Night fell and wrapped tightly over every inch of the Internet Addiction Treatment Center. Qi Sheng leaned against the wall, lazily picking at a torn-up newspaper, making some sharp, scratchy noise on purpose. But the guy on the bed kept snoring like a pig, totally not noticing a thing.

That newspaper was from the bars on the window. He had already ripped it all off as soon as he got back to the dorm, afraid he couldn’t see clearly at night and mess up his defense. Tang Zihang was a big idiot. When Qi Sheng was pulling the newspaper down, he didn’t help at all. Worse, he even seriously said tearing it off might be dangerous.

Qi Sheng was already sick of Tang Zihang. He looked at the sleeping guy and just wanted to shove the paper right onto his face and smother him. But the two of them had agreed to take turns for night watch. If this roommate didn’t still have a little bit of use left, Qi Sheng would've already taken care of him.

There was a guy just like this in his last beginner level. At the key moment, Qi Sheng had sold him out without blinking. Used the guy’s life to block a ghost, and that’s how he survived. His eyes scanned Tang Zihang’s body spread out on the bed, full of raw, ugly hate. He just needed to—

Wait, what’s that?

His nerves were stretched so tight that even the smallest change made him alert. He saw a pair of red high heels suddenly appear by the door. But he was sure—no way should something like that be in the boys' dormitory.

He and Tang Zihang had already checked everything here before. Doors and windows were all shut tight. So how could something like this slip in?

A weird kind of fear, like a snake, crawled slowly up Qi Sheng’s spine. He stared at those high heels without blinking, and he felt like they were slowly moving toward him.

His muscles were so tense they started to go stiff. Every nerve in his body stretched tight. Even his breathing and movements slowed down. The hair on his arms stood up one by one. With every breath, he was afraid something would suddenly rush at him. His heart pounded like a drum. Only then did he remember Tang Zihang still lying in bed.

Let Tang Zihang take the hit!

Qi Sheng put both hands on the floor and quietly moved back little by little, hiding himself under the window. His palms were sweaty and sticky, now full of dust, but he didn’t even notice. The high heels clicked on the floor step by step, making a crisp "tap, tap" sound, like a girl learning how to walk in heels for the first time. But he had no time to think about how creepy and strangely cute that was. His whole back pressed tight against the wall.

The heels stopped under the bed.

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Seeing it didn't move anymore, Qi Sheng got a little bit braver. His eyes darted back and forth between the bright red heels and Tang Zihang. He held his breath, trying to make himself invisible, hoping the "high heels" would notice the guy sleeping on the bed—totally defenseless—and let him go instead.

But he didn’t notice the pair of pale hands slowly reaching through the rusty window bars behind him, creeping toward his neck.

Qi Sheng would never notice again.

A sharp scream suddenly rang out, stabbing into the ears from not far away. It came from somewhere in this building, no more than a hundred meters away. Qin Dongwan, who was dozing off at the edge of her bed, shot up as if someone stabbed her with a needle, completely wide awake in a second.

The scream seemed to come from a guy. It even sounded a little familiar, but she just couldn’t remember who. That sharp, miserable cry made Qin Dongwan break out in goosebumps. On a night like this, who knew how many people wouldn’t be able to sleep? But Luo Shu was still fast asleep, and she didn’t want to wake her up for no reason.

The newspaper covering the window—it was hard to tell if it was a disguise or just an eyesore. She didn’t dare touch it. All she could do was listen carefully, trying to tell the direction by sound alone. Scratch, scratch—it sounded like something was being dragged out by force not too far away. She looked at the newspaper flapping in the wind and then saw it—somehow, there was a hole in the paper now. And it was getting bigger.

The night grew heavier, damp mist settling on Qin Dongwan’s lashes and eyebrows. Water droplets slid down slowly from her lashes. Her throat suddenly felt like it was on fire. Swallowing burned like crazy, and even her skin started to feel warm.

She quickly clutched her throat, wanting to warn Luo Shu, who was still resting with her eyes closed. But then she realized—she couldn’t speak. Shocked, she reached out and shook the girl on the bed. Only when Luo Shu groggily opened her eyes did Qin Dongwan finally let out a silent sigh of relief. She pointed at the window, at the hole that was getting bigger and bigger, her face full of panic and surprise.

“This?”

Luo Shu always slept light. After a moment, she shook off the sleepiness and focused. Her eyes landed on the window and caught the strange sight right away. The newspaper that had covered the window now had a hole in it. The tear was growing fast, big enough to see with the naked eye. The air wasn’t just full of the usual dirty, musty stink anymore—now it carried something strange.

That smell couldn’t be simply called nice or gross. It was more like some kind of incense or drug. Just breathing in a little of it made a person feel dizzy and heavy-headed. Luo Shu quickly covered her nose and mouth and jumped off the bed. She had just taken a few steps toward the window when she suddenly dodged backward!

A thin, long needle shot past her hair that had been lifted by the breeze. If she had moved just a second slower, it would've stabbed her heart. Before it could get pulled back, the girl suddenly grabbed the needle and yanked it hard. The thing outside froze, and the next second, the newspaper got torn off in a big piece. The view that showed up was clear, direct, and scary as hell.

It was a face, all soaked and rotting, like it had been left in water too long. Its features looked like they had been shoved back onto it with force, making the whole face look creepy and twisted. Blood-red eyes were full of water, the eyeballs wobbling inside like they might fall out any second.

It was hard to tell if it was a man or woman, but they were holding a long knitting needle. Right now, they were in a tug-of-war with Luo Shu. Before Qin Dongwan could even work up the nerve to help, the thing gave a loud angry shriek and suddenly let go. Luo Shu stumbled backward and got caught by Qin Dongwan. Her brows pulled together.

Blood soaked her palm, but Luo Shu acted like nothing had happened. She clenched her fist again, not even flinching at the pain, and stared hard at the monster that turned and quickly ran off.

"It didn’t get what it wanted. You think it will really leave that easy?"

That burning feeling in her throat was finally gone. Qin Dongwan could speak again now. The way the monster ran off so quickly was weird. She had expected a long fight. She didn’t think it would give up so fast. That was not normal at all.

Normally, the kind of ghost you meet depends on the kind of level you’re in. And the one they saw just now matched exactly with what Qin Dongwan had heard about earlier in the afternoon.  

There were rumors that at the Internet Addiction Treatment Center, some students had hurt or even killed themselves. One girl was said to have filled a whole basin with water, then pushed her head in and drowned herself. Strangely, no one found her until days later.

They also said that before that girl died, the teachers at the center would often do twisted stuff to students. Like stabbing knitting needles under their fingernails or clipping their noses with nail scissors. All in places hard to see. It scared people half to death.

“They’ve lost control now and started attacking anyone. Looks like tonight won’t be easy to get through.”

Noticing that Luo Shu hadn’t said a word all this time, Qin Dongwan stayed alert while turning to check on her—only to see the girl’s steps go unsteady. Luo Shu took just a few more steps forward before suddenly falling face-first onto the bed.

“A’Shu?!”

Their strongest teammate suddenly collapsing sent Qin Dongwan into a panic. She rushed to help, but right then, that strange smell came in with the wind again, messing with her head like before.  

Her whole body started to feel weak and heavy. From head to toe, it was like something was pulling her down. She bit hard on the tip of her tongue, and the strong taste of blood filled her mouth, making her cough hard as the sting hit her throat.

“Give it back!”

There were supposed to be only two people in the room. But now, a third voice suddenly showed up. The scary part was, they didn’t know where that voice came from. Qin Dongwan’s body went soft, and she fell onto the hard iron bed. She used all her strength to scratch the bed with her nails, making loud sharp noises, trying to wake Luo Shu.

“Give it back!”

The girl voice got no answer, so it turned sharp like a knife. It cut through their ears and made the iron window shake like crazy. Qin Dongwan turned her head with great effort. She saw a swollen pale face sticking to the window in the dark.

That person almost pressed her whole face on the iron bars. Her skin was puffed up and stuck between the metal, and bloody water kept dripping down. Her arms were skinny, only a layer of skin covering the bones. She reached hard into the room but just grabbed air. She screamed in anger like tearing paper. It made Qin Dongwan’s ears hurt real bad.

Qin Dongwan guessed she wanted the long needle that was broken into two pieces earlier. After getting a bit of strength back, she sat up and pulled the half needle from Luo Shu’s hand. She tried her best to give it over.

But the second the other person’s hand touched the needle, it felt like something invisible pushed Qin Dongwan from behind. She only had time to move to the side before she hit the iron window hard. The pain was sharp like stabbing. But before she could recover, her eyes met with those red-red eyeballs. Cold fear rushed through her.

The ghost face was super close. Qin Dongwan’s legs almost gave out. She almost fainted right then.

“Hoo—”

Like playing a bad joke, the ghost blew out a stinky, rotten breath. It made Qin Dongwan dizzy again. But strangely, her weak feeling went away a bit. Her mouth was all numb. Even moving her tongue was hard. This ghost clearly was way too strong for her to fight. But still, before dying—it wanted to tease her…

She doesn't want to die like this.

A sharp laugh came from behind her. That meant—another ghost was watching her.

“Am I ugly?”  

The ghost’s voice box might’ve been badly broken before death. The sound it made was rough, like a knife being sharpened on stone. It slowly pulled up the corners of its lips, showing a smile that looked even worse than crying. The rotting mouth moved, and drool dripped down.

“Let me show you my good stuff.”

Qin Dongwan didn’t answer. She just stayed still by the iron window. The ghost suddenly stepped back two steps. Then, its skinny claw-like hand scratched hard across its big swollen belly.

Gulu gulu—blood poured all over the ground. A round piece of meat dropped down, rolling on the floor. In the dark, she couldn’t see it clearly. Thick bloody lumps dripped from between the ghost’s legs. It let out a sad, loud cry.

If the lights were on, if Qin Dongwan had been closer, she would’ve seen it clearly—that was a baby, almost fully formed, that had been growing inside the girl’s belly. But even now, she could guess the truth from the old rumors. In her head, the clues she had all came together. Her fear slowly faded, and her thinking came back.

“It was Zhu Jiancai. Zhu Jiancai!”

The swollen ghost looked crazy. But the name she screamed out was way too familiar. It was the full name of that Teacher Zhu in the treatment center. The ghost still seemed able to talk, so Qin Dongwan forced herself to stay calm. She carefully chose her words and said:

“Then why don’t you go take revenge on him?”

“I don’t dare. I don’t dare!”

The ghost’s screaming slowly dropped lower. Those blood-red eyeballs stared straight at Qin Dongwan, making her skin crawl. Before she could even move back, an invisible force pushed her forward again. Through the iron window, their faces were almost touching. Even though the night was dark, Qin Dongwan could still see the ghost’s face full of bruises and red blood veins.

The swollen skin hung down, wet and sticky. The heavy stench of blood and rot filled the air, and Qin Dongwan had to hold her breath. Maybe the ghost noticed her disgust—she backed up a little and gave some space.

“She wasn’t like this before. I’m sorry.”

A voice as soft as a thread of silk came from behind. It sounded a little raspy, but much calmer than the first one. Before Qin Dongwan could even turn around from her surprise, the hand that had been pushing on the back of her head slowly let go.

Even after all the levels that came later, Qin Dongwan never forgot this:  

In this first special stage, a strange ghost told her a story.

Yang Chunyan and Zhao Yuju were just like the others. They were brought here because of “internet addiction treatment.” They were told it would be a few months of science-based help. But what they got instead was a nightmare that ruined their short lives.

As soon as they entered the center, the two of them were made roommates. In that broken, tiny room, they could only rely on each other. At first, the locked-in rules were boring but still bearable. But not long after, the center’s true face showed. Purple bruises started showing up on the new students one by one. Everyone was having a hard time, and as the pressure got worse and they kept making mistakes, an even bigger nightmare began for the girls.

Teacher Zhu from the electric shock treatment room was a man with a beast’s heart in a human face. He picked on pretty and easy-to-bully girl students. At first, he only touched them during "treatment." But soon, he got worse. He even promised that using their bodies could help them skip the shock punishments—then broke his word.

One time, Yang Chunyan was late because she overslept. That alone got her sent into the cold treatment room. She fought back but was treated cruelly by Teacher Zhu. Not long after, Yang Chunyan found out she was pregnant. She lost all hope. She reported it to the professor, but instead of help, she got dragged to the front of the class and made an example.

Even now, after death, turned into a wandering ghost, she still couldn’t forget the feeling of standing on that platform while people pointed at her forehead and cursed. The old professor yelled at her with his finger poking like a knife. The students below looked at her with pity or with mocking smiles. Each glance was like a blade, cutting deep, drinking blood, and eating flesh.

A young girl couldn’t take that kind of shame. She forced herself to live through each minute until class ended. Then she heard someone had been caught stealing a phone and was sent to the treatment room too. She gave up all hope. She filled a big basin with water and carried it back to her room.

And she drowned herself—just like that.

Yang Chunyan and Zhao Yuju had always gotten along well. Losing her roommate hit Zhao Yuju hard. She didn’t want to stay, and she couldn’t stand to go on alone in a place like this. One night, she followed Yang Chunyan’s footsteps.

And in the end, every girl student in the Internet Addiction Center shared the same target in their heart— Teacher Zhu Jiancai.

No one knew what kind of ties that disgusting man had with the people above. Even after all the evil he did, no one noticed a thing. When a reporter came down to do an interview, Zhu Jiancai actually got called an “Outstanding Teacher.”  

The moment that news came out, both the living and the dead were furious.  

The Internet Addiction Treatment Center exploded with angry gossip during the day. At night, all the ghosts gathered their hate in one place. Only after they ripped Zhu Jiancai’s skin off and broke his bones did they feel a bit of peace.  

But the ghosts in each level didn’t always follow fixed rules. The teachers here were already born as evil spirits. The students were just regular people. For them to become real vengeful ghosts, they needed to have deep, strong hate.  

Zhu Jiancai “died.” Most of the ghosts' hate faded away. The center’s nights quieted down.  

Only Yang Chunyan and Zhao Yuju, whose souls still held on to hate, knew the truth—  

Zhu Jiancai, that sly old devil, wasn’t dead at all.

The nights before had been pure chaos. There were only a few teacher-ghosts, but too many student-ghosts. Every night, the teachers couldn’t fight them all. They could only run and hide like rats. But the moment the rumor of Teacher Zhu’s death spread, many ghost students calmed down.  

What was left were just confused ghosts causing random messes, only a handful were still fully awake.  

And those few clear-headed ones—  

They saw with their own eyes…  

Zhu Jiancai, who got torn to shreds, was alive again.  

He kept living his nice, easy life.  

And he kept hurting girl students like nothing ever happened.

They only existed during the night.  

And since others thought they already “got revenge,” their minds began to blur.  

Sooner or later, they’d fade away into nothing.

“So what you mean is… you want me to help kill Teacher Zhu?”

It took a lot of effort for Qin Dongwan to digest all that heavy information. Her head still felt dizzy, but she finally relaxed a bit. She didn’t expect there were NPCs in this level that could actually talk. It was the strong hate that kept them alive until now, just to find someone who could help them.

"I believe you. Guo Li said you’re a good person. You saved her from the treatment room. She told me to say sorry to you. She didn’t want to live anymore, but still, thank you."

The swollen face of the girl squeezed out a little voice from her rotting lips. Even though the night was too dark to see her face clearly, Qin Dongwan could still hear the deep pleading in her tone. The girl held onto the iron window, and this time, she didn’t try to scare Qin Dongwan again. The red eyes filled with water were probably soaked from when she was still alive. Ghosts can’t cry.

But she still felt Yang Chunyan was crying.

Guo Li was the NPC Qin Dongwan saved from the treatment room. Thinking about it now, everything matched up. Guo Li said Wei Zi and Xiao Qin went to steal a phone. Xiao Qin was found dead outside the dorm, and Wei Zi died in the old classroom. So many innocent souls had died in this internet addiction center. When the old ones left, new ones came. It had already turned into a ghost lair.

The real ghosts in this level were the teachers. Their hearts were full of evil, like soul catchers from hell. The students, who were hurt and filled with hate, turned into ghosts and fought back. But after a long time, they still lost. In the end, they could only ask players for help.

This level could be used again and again. Before they came in, many players had also come to this bloody place. No one knew if those players helped the students in their timeline finish their wishes. Qin Dongwan clenched her fists, blinked hard, and wiped away the tears before they could fall:

"I’ll help you."

She heard the hidden ghost behind her, Zhao Yuju, let out a sigh of relief.

"Right, after we lose our own will, some of us might start attacking everyone. They don’t want to do that either. Since you’re helping kill Teacher Zhu, we’ll do our best to keep them under control. Yuju, spread the sleeping scent away first."

Yang Chunyan tried to make her voice sound soft, but it still came out rough and scratchy. Her voice box must be badly damaged. Qin Dongwan wasn’t scared anymore. She didn’t even feel weird about being this close to her, so she asked:

"Do you know how to kill Teacher Zhu? If you couldn’t do it, how could a normal person like me even try?"

"Zhu Jiancai’s body should’ve rotted away already. But he lives off drinking blood. He’s just a ghost with no peace! During the day he finds people to suck blood from, so please try to stop him when you can. Zhou Hongzhi, that old professor, and his son… they’re bad people too… Morning is coming. This is the only time we can help you. Please, save us. Really, thank you."

Yang Chunyan bent down and bowed. A light wind brushed past, and it seemed like Zhao Yuju behind her also bowed. Qin Dongwan wanted to ask why they couldn’t come back tomorrow night, but then she remembered the rules of the level. NPCs aren’t allowed to tell too much to players. That was already proven with Wei Zi.

After both of them vanished, Qin Dongwan looked at the mess on the ground, feeling all kinds of emotions. A moment later, Luo Shu, who had been lying on the bed, slowly opened her eyes. As soon as she woke up, her killing intent flared up and she sat up fast:

"Where’s that ghost just now?"

"Gone."

Luo Shu looked half shocked and half confused. She blurted out, "How come you are still alive?"

Qin Dongwan: "…"

Sister, that question was way too blunt.

Even though she just heard a heavy story, Qin Dongwan felt a bit more relaxed now that things were safe for a while. So she started joking around, making up how she scared the ghost off with some wild moves after Luo Shu fainted. While talking, she reached out to poke that sleepy little face.

"Go away!"

Luo Shu slapped her hand off and was a lot more awake now. Right away she mocked, "No wonder it’s shining bright in the middle of the night—someone’s busy slapping gold on her own face*."

*talking highly about oneself/showing off

"…Let’s get down to business."

Qin Dongwan had the skills to talk back, but didn’t dare go against Luo Shu just now. Or else she might just "die before even starting her mission." One reason why people hated Luo Shu later on, especially when reading from the female lead Ji Yun’s point of view, was 'cause she never gave Ji Yun any face. She said whatever sharp and nasty words she could.

Qin Dongwan, not even the female lead, got a taste of "Luo Shu’s poison tongue" first. She really didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

After quickly telling her everything that happened, Qin Dongwan added her own guess like usual:

"Looks like most of the teachers here are ghosts. That’s how the level is set up. But because so many students died from the abuse and held deep grudges, they all turned into ghosts too. Student ghosts can’t show up during the day, so they can’t go after Teacher Zhu."

"Sucks blood in the day? Then let’s go check it out tomorrow."

Even though running away was the most important thing, the level already gave a warning at the start. Running away is only the main mission. If you want to get better rewards, then you need to go do side missions. After Qin Dongwan saved the NPC Guo Li, the story kept moving forward. If she doesn’t do it now, then when?

The sky was almost bright. The thick darkness was slowly going away. The scary screams at night started to stop after Yang Chunyan and Zhao Yuju left. Now they were all gone. Before the time was up, the two of them quickly slept for a bit. It felt like they just closed their eyes when they were woken up again. Still sleepy and confused, they carried their cups and went to wash up.

The boys and girls brushed their teeth near the same sinks. That place was near the public bathroom. Qin Dongwan held her cup while brushing her teeth and looked around. Soon, she saw Tang Zihang, who looked like a wilted plant. It looked like he didn’t sleep at all last night. There were two big black circles under his eyes. He looked tired and didn’t have any energy.

“Shit, did you guys hear that noise last night? That was scary as hell. I saw some ghost all swollen like a water balloon, carrying a ball of meat. I almost peed myself.”

Boys always finish washing fast. After brushing his teeth in just a few seconds, a boy next to him spit out the foam and started talking about what happened last night:

“I even saw someone holding a leg and eating it while walking. Gross, right? And the window near me was broken. I called the dorm teacher, and she just said it’s fine—ugh, why didn’t she come try it herself? I was so scared I nearly wet the bed. My roommate fainted from fear. I’ll let him sleep a few more minutes. Never mind, I’ll go call him.”

After the boy walked away, Hua Qingjiu stepped forward without showing any expression. He started brushing his teeth and washing his face. His white fingers pushed up his frameless glasses. He didn’t look like he cared about what the others were saying. When Qin Dongwan saw that both he and Tang Zihang were fine, she felt a bit better and didn’t worry as much anymore.

Today’s breakfast was a mess. The lunch lady looked pissed. She threw the big spoon to the side and didn’t even bother serving the porridge. Everyone had to get it themselves. It was called breakfast porridge, but it was just watery soup with a few rice grains floating. The tray had some leftover vegetable dishes from last night. They were all mushy and looked super disgusting.

“Ugh—”

“Don’t disgust me!”

When she saw Tang Zihang coming with a tray and looking like he was about to puke, Qin Dongwan quickly raised her voice to warn him. His hair was all messy like a chicken’s nest from scratching too much. After hearing her, he tried to scratch it again, but stopped right away when Luo Shu shot him a sharp look.

“Too disgusting…”

Just thinking about what happened last night, Tang Zihang wished he could take a memory-erasing shot. That bloody nightmare happened right next to him. Qi Sheng died a horrible death, and he got knocked out cold by some force. When he woke up, the whole room was covered with guts and organs all over the floor, soaking in blood—it almost made him puke.

Even though he’s not a picky eater, seeing the mushy mess on his tray made him lose all appetite. He just sat there, barely sipping the watery porridge.

Qi Sheng wasn’t around today. Tang Zihang didn’t even need to say it—anyone could tell something bad happened to him. Otherwise, Tang Zihang wouldn’t look half-dead like this. Qin Dongwan turned to look at Hua Qingjiu:

“Brother Hua, did anything weird happen on your side?”

Author's Note:

The ending is in progress, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone555