Chapter 48: Dormitory Ghost Stories (6)

Chapter 48: Dormitory Ghost Stories (6)

◎Photo Sticker◎

Reaching the staircase, Ye Jing suddenly halted.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but he thought he heard the tune of "Jasmine Flower."

Unaware of the dorm supervisor's stop on the third-floor corridor, Ye Jing couldn't tell if the person below was the one who meant to harm him. Regardless, he couldn’t go down now. If he did, and ended up walking with that person, he would violate the rules.

Violation of the rules! He suddenly looked at his hands, which were empty.

In his panic, he had forgotten about the paper ball!

Only one minute and thirty-five seconds left...

With life and death hanging in the balance, Ye Jing felt light-headed and lost all coherent thought.

He rushed back to the shower area as fast as he had ever moved in his life.

The staircase wasn’t far from the shower area. Having already checked the other cubicles before, he darted straight to the last one. His flashlight beam quickly found the white paper ball on the metal rack!

Grabbing the paper ball, Ye Jing turned and ran.

Passing by the sink, he suddenly stopped again.

Less than a minute remained until the task ended.

On the water-stained floor lay a photo sticker, still and silent.

It was Lu Mingliang, only his sinister eyes visible, his expression chilling to the bone.

With trembling hands, Ye Jing picked up the half-dampened photo sticker.

By the time he reached the staircase again, the melody of "Jasmine Flower" had vanished.

He descended in a daze, gasping for breath as he burst into dorm 306, where only Hu Lei awaited him.

Glancing at his stopwatch, Hu Lei turned with a smile, “Not bad, you would’ve lost if you were three seconds later.”

“Where... where are they?” Ye Jing’s voice seemed to float.

“After you guys left for the dare, the dorm supervisor showed up…” Hu Lei sighed, “Last week we lit candles for the dare game, and the dorm supervisor found our lighters after we left school. He must have remembered just now and called us to the first-floor dorm to write a thousand-word reflection. I finished writing first, so I came back early. Did you get the paper ball?”

Ye Jing, still shaken, handed over the wrinkled, damp paper ball.

His hands were so sweaty from nervousness they had half-soaked the paper.

Hu Lei remarked, “Aren’t you exaggerating? It's just the fourth floor, not an empty place… Look how scared you got.”

“Haha... I’m just a coward…” Stiffly moving to his bed, Ye Jing finally started to recover after several deep breaths.

The room fell into complete silence.

Realizing he had narrowly escaped death, Ye Jing’s mind first conjured up the image of Shi Youqing’s smiling face. Suddenly overwhelmed by emotions, tears welled up in his eyes, and he collapsed onto his bed like a wilted flower…

*

In dorm 304.

Besides Hu Lei, who had returned first, the other NPCs hadn’t yet come back. Bo Huai watched coldly from behind the door.

Yu Ze and Zongzhu Yuan had returned almost immediately after the dorm supervisor left, likely having found the paper ball earlier but waiting for the humming in the corridor to cease before moving.

Ye Jing had barely made it back in time.

Bo Huai turned to look at Shi Youqing, “He must have encountered something unexpected.”

This was the White World, where no ghosts or spirits would appear. The area to search for the paper ball wasn't large. Unless one encountered a clue or an accident, it was unlikely for one to be on the verge of being erased. Had Ye Jing been a few seconds later, he would have died.

Shi Youqing nodded in agreement.

Hu Lei had already returned, making it inconvenient for them to communicate with Ye Jing at the moment.

Before Zongzhu Yuan's return, they had searched the NPCs' beds and found no significant clues, mostly personal and study items. The only odd thing was Lu Mingliang's photo stickers under his pillow and bed board in Chen Zheng's upper bunk.

In the photo stickers, Lu Mingliang either looked arrogant, fierce, or deeply sullen, a stark contrast to his timid, thin, yet cheerful demeanor in real life.

"It’s just non-mainstream style," Li Da had commented, "This might be a red herring from the system. Besides, what can a photo prove? Would a murderer really capture their murderous side in a photo? The more it is like this, the less I suspect him. For now, I still find Yu Xiaohui the most suspicious."

Li Da's reasoning made sense, especially since photo stickers were popular at the time. Being passionate about them and taking quirky shots wasn’t unusual.

Yet, Shi Youqing felt something indescribably off, particularly when he saw one sticker:

Against a dark, non-mainstream background marked with bloodstains and Martian language, Lu Mingliang was strangling himself, smiling at the camera.

*

Soon, all NPCs returned.

Lu Mingliang, swinging his arms, sighed, “That was the longest reflection I’ve ever written. It exhausted me...”

“Just be glad the class teacher doesn’t know, and count your blessings,” Chen Zheng said, approaching his bed. He paused, noticing Zongzhu Yuan sitting there.

Since his return, Zongzhu Yuan had been wearing black gloves. He smiled at Chen Zheng, “Dorm leader, I destroyed your ‘handwriting’. Hope that’s alright?”

Before Chen Zheng could respond, Yu Xiaohui burst into laughter, “Man, why’d you squash the dead cockroach inside? Isn’t that gross?”

“As disgusting as it is, it's meant to be shared, right?” Zongzhu Yuan paused, then stepped forward, slowly handing the paper ball from his glove to Chen Zheng.

Chen Zheng shuddered, quickly throwing the paper ball away, embarrassed, “No, sorry, I’ll just write next time!”

Yu Xiaohui, however, was displeased, “The dare game is for a scare! The dorm leader was just adding to the spooky atmosphere. Why'd you do that?”

Zongzhu Yuan glanced sideways at him, then stepped closer, flicking out his pencil sharpener blade, aiming it straight at Yu Xiaohui’s forehead…

Li Da, unable to hold back, shouted, “Damn!”

Yu Xiaohui was completely petrified, standing frozen in place.

The pencil sharpener blade whizzed past Yu Xiaohui's ear, embedding itself in a gecko on the wall behind him.

Zongzhu Yuan, with a smirk that wasn't quite a smile, plucked the gecko off the wall and tossed it to Yu Xiaohui: "Use this next time."

"Ah..." Yu Xiaohui screamed, flinging the gecko away and quickly retreating to Chen Zheng's side, "He's... he's crazy, right?"

Chen Zheng quietly consoled him, his own face looking quite pale.

Lu Mingliang had already burrowed into his covers, merely observing silently.

The atmosphere turned bizarre.

Zongzhu Yuan removed his gloves, nonchalantly turning to look at Shi Youqing.

The youth's long lashes were slightly lowered, his gaze never settling on Zongzhu Yuan, instead shifting continuously among the three NPCs.

Zongzhu Yuan, feeling slighted, was about to react when another gaze, heavy with murderous intent, locked onto him.

"Damn it..." He scowled and forcefully climbed up to his bunk.

The room fell into a prolonged silence; soon, everyone went to bed.

Shi Youqing lay in his bed, pondering over the murderer.

The night wind outside whistled ceaselessly.

With the day’s temperature drop, the night grew colder. Shi Youqing, who naturally lacked body heat, felt his feet go icy cold under the covers.

Then, someone got out of bed.

Focused on thoughts of the murderer, Shi Youqing was startled when the figure approached. It was only when a hot water bottle was tucked under his feet that he recognized who it was by the familiar sensation.

"Bo Huai..."

"Hmm."

"Where did you get the hot water bottle?"

"I borrowed it from someone before lights out." The other's voice was very low as he tucked in Shi Youqing's blanket. In the dim moonlight, the frail youth was wrapped up tightly, only his bright eyes visible, almost as if they were speaking to Bo Huai.

Bo Huai felt an impulse stirring within him—an inexplicable urge to bite him.

Shi Youqing watched him, his feet warmed comfortably by the hot water bottle, unaware of the storm of emotions that had just surged and then been suppressed in the other's heart in those few seconds. He mumbled, "It's not too hot, just right."

Bo Huai gazed at him, silent.

Shi Youqing, puzzled by his continued presence, then felt a large hand slip into the blanket, touching his foot.

He involuntarily shrank back.

The figure in the dark stiffened, then felt the temperature inside the blanket again, ensuring it was warm enough not to let Shi Youqing freeze. After adjusting the blanket, he left and returned to his own bed.

The night passed without incident.

……

The next day, the wake-up bell rang suddenly.

The students struggled with their blankets for a while before getting up reluctantly.

Shi Youqing, not required to do morning exercises, stood at the edge of the playground, watching the moving lines from afar.

In the crowd, Ye Jing looked unwell, with dark circles under his eyes, likely from a sleepless night.

After morning exercises, the students returned to their classrooms for early study. Ye Jing, glancing around, rushed over to Shi Youqing and handed him a photo booth picture from his pocket: "Someone was following me yesterday. They dropped this before they left..."

Ye Jing was about to continue when Hu Lei approached them with a chuckle, "What are you guys talking about?"

"He's asking me what to eat for breakfast," Shi Youqing replied, patting the nervous Ye Jing, "Let's talk in the canteen."

Ye Jing caught on and walked ahead.

During the early study, Ren Yi, who had been missing all night, returned. He hadn't gone to the dorm supervisor to write a reflection the night before. His absence had been noted, and the dorm supervisor had informed the teacher. Ren Yi was now standing outside the classroom being reprimanded and was soon called to the office.

Hu Lei whispered, "He's in trouble, they'll definitely inform his parents..."

A classmate in front commented, "He usually lives with relatives, his parents are away on business. They won't come back for this. In the end, he'll probably just end up being punished by standing and writing a reflection... Not a big deal."

Hu Lei, surprised, remarked, "No wonder he's so bold..."

Shi Youqing asked him, "Aren't you in the same dorm? Didn't he ever talk to you about his family?"

Hu Lei shook his head, "I'm not that close to him, and I don't like to pry into personal matters."

Shi Youqing responded with an "Oh."

Ren Yi seemed to have a good relationship with Lu Mingliang, as they could arrange to go out together, while Hu Lei had conflicts with Lu Mingliang, so it made sense that his relationship with dorm mate Ren Yi was just average.

After morning reading, apart from Zhang Yongbo who had to eat with NPCs, the rest of the players unanimously headed to the rooftop.

Ye Jing seemed to have been holding back a lot, and as soon as they arrived, he started talking nonstop:

"I saw a ghost last night!"

"No, this is the White World, it can't be a ghost! But it really looked like one!" He gesticulated wildly, "No head! Really, no head! It was standing by the fourth-floor water fountain!"

"It was even walking towards me. I remembered what Brother Qingqing said, so I pretended to see the dorm supervisor and shouted. That scared him off..."

Shi Youqing, seeing him almost incoherent, interrupted, "What was that 'ghost' wearing?"

"School uniform!"

Everyone frowned in unison.

All students at the school wore the same uniform.

"Were there any distinctive features?"

"I don't know... It was too dark, and all I could see was a headless figure in a school uniform... I was too far away and too scared to look closely... Oh right, didn't I give you a sticker portrait after running? That's what I found near the sink when I went back to look for the paper ball!"

"I checked both the toilet and the sink area before heading to the shower. That sticker portrait is much more noticeable than a paper ball. It couldn't have been missed. It must have been accidentally dropped by that headless person!" Ye Jing's face reddened with excitement.

"Sticker portrait?" Li Da exclaimed, "Quick, let me see it."

Shi Youqing took out the sticker portrait of Lu Mingliang.

Li Da was stunned upon seeing it: "Damn, why is it him?"

Feng Bin glanced at the photo but commented, “It doesn’t necessarily implicate Lu Mingliang. Several NPCs in our dorm have photos of Lu Mingliang, mixed with others, pinned in albums.”

Zhang Yu immediately supported this, “In junior high, we used to distribute photo booth pictures among classmates!”

Li Da was unconvinced, “You didn’t see how many photos Lu Mingliang had! If we consider every NPC with his photo as a suspect, doesn’t it bring us back to square one? The suspects would still be students from those three dorms.”

Shi Youqing’s face remained expressionless. He didn’t dwell on the photo booth pictures, instead glancing towards the distant dormitory and turning to Ye Jing, “Detail everything that happened before and after your encounter with the headless figure.”

Ten minutes later.

Ye Jing stopped speaking, his throat dry.

Silence fell over the rooftop.

Zhuang Yuan, who had been sitting on the edge of the rooftop, involuntarily shifted his gaze to Shi Youqing upon hearing how Ye Jing escaped danger.

Shi Youqing noticed his look but remained indifferent, his mind occupied with Ye Jing’s account. He concluded, “We can rule out the dorm supervisor; he was humming in the hallway all night and didn’t leave. As for those NPCs called down and Ren Yi, who went out, they’re all possible suspects.”

Bo Hua suggested, “We should question them separately.”

Feng Bin nodded, “Whoever left alone is the murderer. As for Ren Yi, just ask the freshman who went out with him.”

“Let’s do that!” Li Da, eager to act, said, “I’ll find Lu Mingliang in the cafeteria. The rest are up to you guys! Don’t miss anyone!”

Ye Jing hesitantly said, “I, I… but…”

After his terrifying experience last night, the thought of confronting NPCs, one of whom could be the headless figure trying to kill him, seemed daunting.

Shi Youqing saw his reluctance and firmly instructed, “Hu Lei is your responsibility.”

“What?” Ye Jing was taken aback.

Without further explanation, Shi Youqing and Bo Hua left downstairs.

The rest had no further discussions and proceeded with their tasks.

On the rooftop, only Zhuang Yuan and a pale Ye Jing remained.

Ye Jing crouched down, thinking of the young man’s prior kindness, feeling stifled. He muttered, “There are so many others… it wouldn’t matter without me…”

Meanwhile, the man at the edge of the rooftop jumped down, scoffing, “So many have died, one idiot less won’t matter. He’s got problems in his head, thinking about training you… Damn! He doesn’t hit me but spares you, what’s his deal? Got a thing for idiots?”

“Ah?” Ye Jing looked up, then understanding dawned on him as his eyes widened slowly.

[Author's Note]

Special thanks to the angels who fired rockets: Yuan, --Waiting for the Aurora-- 1 each;

Thanks to the angels who threw grenades: zbht (Loving the Petite Version) 1;

Thank you to the angels who watered with nutrient solutions: Luo Shui Fu Deng 10 bottles; Grilled Skewers are the Best 4 bottles; Silver Light Star 3 bottles;

"I greatly appreciate everyone's support and will continue to work hard!"