Translator: CinderTL
"They weren't there at the time. It was already late, and the other girls had gone to the showers to rinse off. They planned to change and say goodbye to the coach when he returned before leaving."
"Because this girl was particularly diligent, she stayed behind in the pool to practice alone."
"But even after the other girls finished showering and emerged from the locker room, the girl still hadn't come to find them."
"So they went together to the pool to look for her. As they approached, they saw her body already floating on the surface of the water."
"The girls had never witnessed such a scene before. They were stunned. Soon after, the coach rushed back."
After a moment of thought, Jiang Cheng frowned and asked, "Drowning from cramps wouldn't have been a quiet affair. Didn't the other girls hear anything at all?"
Yuan Xiaoyi shook her head. "They all said they didn't. Their statements were consistent. Some mentioned that the women's locker room was around a corner and down a hallway from the pool. Plus, the girls were young and were chatting and laughing loudly while showering."
"The incident had a particularly negative impact at the time, especially since the swimming pool had only recently been built."
"The school felt incredibly wronged. It was just a simple convenience, who could have predicted such a disaster?"
"Later, I heard the school went to great lengths to suppress the incident. Not to shirk responsibility, but because this kind of thing, if it got out, would be... well, you know."
"What happened next?" Jiang Cheng was more interested in the aftermath.
Yuan Xiaoyi hesitated for a moment, her expression turning strange. "Even though someone had died, the competition had to continue. The remaining girls all participated."
"But what no one expected was that another girl had an accident right there at the competition site." Yuan Xiaoyi pursed her lips and whispered, "She also drowned."
"It happened suddenly. It wasn't even their turn to compete yet. There were about seven or eight of them, adjusting to the water temperature and getting ready."
"But without warning, she suddenly shuddered and sank beneath the surface."
"The person closest to her recalled that she didn't dive down intentionally. Her entry into the water was wrong—it looked more like... more like someone had been lurking underwater all along, waiting to suddenly grab her foot and pull her down."
"She was dragged underwater!"
"Though it happened suddenly, everyone nearby was a strong swimmer. As soon as they realized what was happening, they immediately swam over to help."
"But strangely, no matter how hard they pulled, they couldn't budge the girl. Even three or four people working together couldn't move her, and she was struggling desperately herself."
"Not only that, but they were actually being pulled deeper down by an incredibly strong force!"
"In the end, they had no choice but to let go."
"One of the girls later recalled that the scene was incredibly strange. The girl kept sinking lower and lower, and she noticed that the water below was black—not just dark, but pitch black, like an endless abyss!"
"It was definitely not the feeling of a normal swimming pool, and the depth they had to dive to in order to try and save her was already pushing their limits."
"Yet the deepest part of the pool where they were was only three meters. How could that be possible?"
"What happened to the girl in the end?" Though he already suspected the worst, Jiang Cheng still wanted to confirm.
"She's dead," Yuan Xiaoyi said. "The body floated up on its own. After she stopped struggling, it slowly, bit by bit, rose to the surface."
"Face down, completely still."
Jiang Cheng imagined the scene, understanding the horror.
"The competition was suspended because of this," Yuan Xiaoyi explained. "The participants were all students from nearby schools, accompanied by their parents. The impact was devastating. Many people sought psychological counseling."
"Later, after they pulled the body out and flipped it over, the male teacher who turned her over nearly fell into the pool behind him. He just sat down on the ground, stunned, the moment he saw the drowned girl's face."
"Her eyes were wide open, her pupils bulging out like a frog's. Her eyelids were torn at the corners," Yuan Xiaoyi said, swallowing nervously. Even describing the scene seemed to terrify her.
"She was terrified," Jiang Cheng said.
"Yes, Senior, you're right!" Yuan Xiaoyi nodded emphatically, breathing heavily. "That's what people at the scene said at the time."
"But that wasn't the worst part. They found a strange mark on the left ankle of the drowned girl," Yuan Xiaoyi said, her voice dropping slightly. "It was a handprint, a dark purplish bruise, with all five fingers clearly visible, as if pressed deep into the skin."
Jiang Cheng inhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing. It seemed the Ghost Hand had indeed reached out from the water to drag the girl down and drown her.
"Was it the high school girl who drowned earlier?" Jiang Cheng asked, looking at Yuan Xiaoyi.
A strange expression crossed Yuan Xiaoyi's face. "Senior, don't jump to conclusions. Let me finish."
"This was just the beginning. Less than a week later, another girl—one of the swimmers who used to train with us at the swimming pool—also met with an accident."
"Her family was well-off. They had a huge, magnificent fish tank in their living room. One night, her parents went out for a business dinner and drank quite a bit. They didn't return home until late."
"When they finally got back, they searched everywhere for their daughter but couldn't find her. Just as they were about to call the police, the girl's mother, who was slightly less drunk, glanced at the fish tank and nearly died of shock."
"There's a face pressed against the aquarium glass!"
"It's that girl! She's sunk to the bottom of the tank!"
"Those... those fish they kept as pets... they're still frantically biting at the girl's corpse. They're tearing at her face, hands, feet... everything. It's like they've gone mad!"
"When the police finally pulled the body out, her entire face was destroyed. One of her eyeballs was missing."
"There were no signs of forced entry into the house, and the living room had surveillance cameras. According to the footage, the girl only appeared on camera at 11:53 PM. But her movements were incredibly strange. She walked with her head bowed, like she was sleepwalking, her posture stiff and unnatural, her knees locked straight."
"She walked directly to the aquarium, stood there for a moment, then slowly climbed onto a wooden chair placed near the tank. A few seconds later, she plunged headfirst into the water." Yuan Xiaoyi paused, looking at Jiang Cheng. "It happened at midnight."
As if anticipating Jiang Cheng's question, Yuan Xiaoyi continued, "After this incident, everyone realized something was terribly wrong. When they heard about the deaths of the two girls, the remaining girls all simultaneously requested leave of absence and withdrew from school."
(End of the Chapter)
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