Chapter 1 Leaving the Dormitory

After leaving the dormitory building, Yu Wen and her group headed towards the south side of the campus.

Zhang Yin Yin hung back at a distance, neither too close nor too far.

The area was relatively deserted, and they didn't encounter anyone else along the way, except for a few girls doing morning exercises.

The girls' gazes were very strange, skipping over Yu Wen and Zhang Yin Yin, and fixing on Zhou Taifu in the middle.

Their stares made the latter's skin crawl.

"What... what do they want to do to me?" Zhou Taifu clutched his only garment, a vest, his face as white as paper.

Fortunately, the girls just watched from afar and didn't do anything out of line, as Zhou Taifu feared.

This world is too scary, Zhou Taifu swallowed silently.

If he were to be alone, the consequences were unimaginable.

The road came to an end.

The group stopped.

In front of them was a tennis court, its tall fence covered in rust.

The court was empty.

The morning sun shone down, and a layer of fine particles floated in the air.

A damp smell permeated the air.

It was as if it had rained last night.

The court's surface was old concrete, with faint traces of white paint, now very blurred.

Most of the net was gone, leaving only the bare poles.

Along the side of the fence, there were rows of seats like steps.

Exposed to wind and sun, the plastic seats were now cracked and faded.

It was clear that this tennis court had long been abandoned.

Zhou Taifu looked at Yu Wen, who had brought them here, his eyes filled with confusion.

Zhang Yin Yin seemed to want to say something, but after noticing Yu Wen turn into a nearby side path, her expression gradually became strange.

It wasn't even a road, just a small path made of sand.

Barely wide enough for one person to pass.

After a while, the three of them looked up, and a building almost identical to their own dormitory building appeared before them.

Zhou Taifu stared at it, swallowing hard.

Unlike their dormitory building, this one hadn't been abandoned.

Some of the windows had flower pots with red clay on them, while others had clothes or even washbasins hanging out.

People still lived here.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The structure inside the building was exactly the same as their dormitory. Yu Wen easily found the room she was looking for and knocked on the door.

The sound was very hollow, a characteristic of that era.

"Creak—"

The old door hinges made a harsh grinding sound, like an old man on his deathbed.

The contrast with the young face that peered out from behind the door was striking.

The woman looked at them, momentarily stunned. "It's you?"

Yu Wen smiled and said, "Teacher Feng, sorry to bother you."

It was the woman in charge of the rehearsal.

After hesitating for a moment, the woman remained in the doorway, not moving, as if considering whether or not to let them in.

"Teacher Feng," Yu Wen pointed to the room and continued, "Would it be convenient for us to come in for a bit?"

"This..." The woman looked troubled.

"Thank you," Yu Wen said, nodding, and walked straight in.

The woman subconsciously moved aside.

Then came Zhang Yin Yin.

Zhou Taifu was the last to enter.

He looked around. The room's structure was the same as theirs, except that only the woman seemed to live here.

Because there was only one single bed.

The remaining space was filled with the woman's personal belongings. A clothes rack hung from the closet rod, with a few pieces of lingerie dangling from it.

It looked like it had just been washed, and there were obvious water stains on the dark cement floor.

The woman was now sitting on the bed, staring at the three of them. Just as Yu Wen was about to speak, the woman interrupted her, "I know what you want to ask."

Zhou Taifu was stunned.

Then, as if afraid of being overheard, she lowered her voice and asked, "You... did someone encounter that kind of thing?"

"Please continue," Yu Wen didn't admit or deny it, simply nodding.

Then, she took out the paper and pen she carried with her, ready to take notes.

But the woman seemed to hear something in her words and asked nervously, "Is that person alright?"

Yu Wen thought about it carefully. His chin was gone, so he probably wasn't doing too well, but to avoid alarming the woman, she nodded and said, "He's alright."

"Oh God, he's so lucky," the woman said, wrapping her arms around herself in fear.

After a long while, she stared at Yu Wen and said cautiously, "After yesterday's rehearsal, when I saw you all looking so flustered, I suspected you'd encountered that kind of thing."

"Actually, many teachers here have encountered this kind of thing..."

Her voice suddenly became softer.

Yu Wen raised her head, stopped writing, and said calmly, "Including you, Teacher Feng?"

The woman shivered at the words, but finally nodded. After a long time, she said, "Yes, that... was in my first year here."

"One day, like the other teachers, I left the office with them after work."

"Because my home isn't local, I applied for a dormitory at the school and ate in the cafeteria. But that day, after eating and returning to the dormitory, I realized I'd forgotten my keys in my office drawer."

"I was very anxious at the time because it was almost completely dark."

At this point, she paused and explained, "Our school has an unwritten rule: try not to wander around campus after dark, especially not near Teaching Building C."

"But..." The woman raised her head, her face turning ugly. "My office is in Building C."

Hearing this, Zhou Taifu's throat couldn't help but roll.

"I had just arrived here at that time," the woman said. "I had only heard of this rule, but I didn't know why."

"I was curious and asked the teachers who had been teaching here for a longer time, but everyone kept silent about it. They just told me that it was the school's rule and had to be obeyed."

"But you still went back to get your keys," Yu Wen said, looking into the woman's eyes calmly.

After all, the story had to move forward...

"That's right," the woman sighed. She turned her face away, looking out the window, as if she didn't want anyone to see her eyes.

"By the time I got to Teaching Building C, it was completely dark," she paused, then said softly, "That building was too."

"It was the kind of darkness where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. There was no light, and it wasn't blending in with the surrounding night. It felt like... it was devouring the night."

"Can you understand that feeling?"

The woman stared at Yu Wen's eyes, suddenly becoming agitated. "That building... that building was like it was alive! It had life, it was... waiting for me to walk right into its trap!"

"Please calm down," Yu Wen said, not letting the woman's emotions affect her. She looked at the woman and said slowly, "It's daytime now, and you're not in Building C. You're safe."

"Hoo—"

After a long time, the woman seemed to struggle out of her memories. She nodded, her lips pursed unnaturally.