Translator: CinderTL
"From below, you could see a pair of bare feet. They weren't wearing slippers, and whether it was the lighting or not, they looked bluish, as if frozen."
"Water kept dripping down the feet, while the woman behind the curtain remained motionless."
"The man hesitated no longer. He reached out to yank the curtain open, but for some reason, his body began trembling violently as he entered. His arms felt weak, and he could only pull the curtain open by a third."
"But that was enough to see what was behind it!"
Yuan Xiaoyi took a deep breath and looked at Jiang Cheng, speaking slowly. "There was no one inside. The shower was running, and a key hung on the hook used to hold toiletries."
"A key?" This caught Jiang Cheng off guard.
"Yes," Yuan Xiaoyi said, without elaborating on the key. She continued, "The next morning, when the swimming pool staff came to open the doors, they found the Gate ajar. The man's bag lay on the floor behind the door, but after searching everywhere, they couldn't find him."
"They called his phone, and it rang inside the bag."
"Finally, someone heard a rustling sound coming from the women's shower room—like something rubbing against the wall. Several people mustered their courage and entered. In the last stall, they found him."
At the time, the man was huddled in the innermost stall, soaked to the bone. He seemed possessed, his eyes vacant, muttering incessantly to himself.
Everyone noticed his peculiar posture. His hands were clenched tightly together, clasped between his legs, his entire body curled up like a hedgehog.
Someone reached out to pull him out and see what he was clutching. But to their surprise, the man reacted violently, biting the person who tried to help him.
Finally, several more people arrived. Together, they managed to restrain him, pry open his hands, and a key clattered to the floor.
It was a key to the swimming pool locker room, complete with a numbered tag.
Later, the school administrators arrived. They reportedly turned pale when they saw the key. Yuan Xiaoyi paused, then whispered, "That locker... it was the one the girl who drowned first used. No one has touched it since her death."
"What happened to the man you mentioned?" Jiang Cheng asked.
At this, a flicker of relief finally eased the tension in Yuan Xiaoyi's face. "He... he's okay. It wasn't as serious as it seemed."
"The doctor diagnosed him with shock and temporary mental confusion."
As if worried Jiang Cheng wouldn't understand, Yuan Xiaoyi explained, "To put it simply, his brain couldn't process everything at once and crashed. They said he just needed his family to spend more time with him and rest for a while."
"He seemed fine when he came back to school later, but then he was transferred. I heard his new position is quite good."
Jiang Cheng nodded. It was obvious the school had intervened to smooth things over and contain the damage.
But then he thought, this university was truly cursed. It was either losing money or on the verge of losing money.
How could an ordinary university like this possibly possess five Urban Legends, all of them particularly vicious?
If you took just one of them and posted it on the Night Watcher website, it would easily qualify as a Class B or C-Class mission.
Yuan Xiaoyi pursed her lips, recalling, "Later, the man's wife came to the school a few times with their child, demanding compensation for emotional distress. They threatened to leak the story to the newspapers and TV stations, making the school famous."
"Everyone knew they were just trying to extort more money. I don't know how it was resolved in the end, but they managed to settle it."
The situation was now clear: the Ghost that had appeared in the swimming pool at night was the female high school student who had drowned there.
But Jiang Cheng couldn't understand why she was still lingering in the swimming pool at Jiangtan University, refusing to leave, even after killing all her classmates who had stood by and watched her die. Logically, her obsession should have faded by now.
What was she waiting for?
Moreover, she didn't seem like the malevolent Ghost of the half-body statue type. Otherwise, there was no reason for the man to have survived, let alone emerged unscathed.
In Jiang Cheng's view, she was more like someone who had come to deliver a key.
Following this line of thought...
Before Jiang Cheng could delve further into his reasoning, commotion erupted outside. He looked up to see Fatty Huai Yi and Wang Qi's group at the center of the disturbance.
"What's going on out there?" Yuan Xiaoyi peeked out as well. "It looks like... a lot of people have arrived."
"Xiaoyi, stay here and wait for me. Don't wander off," Jiang Cheng instructed her. After settling her, he immediately headed outside. As he emerged from the Small Woods, he ran into a group of men.
They were of various ages, all wearing School Security Department uniforms. Jiang Cheng recognized two of them from the School Doctor's Office, where they had been interrogating Gao Yan earlier.
"That's him!" A man who had seen Jiang Cheng before recognized him and pointed.
Leading the group was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose, thin lips, and a lean build. His face was stern, and his eyes were sharp, setting him apart from the others in demeanor.
If Jiang Cheng had to guess, the man had probably served in the military.
The Middle-Aged Man turned to Jiang Cheng, sizing him up from head to toe. "You're Jiang Cheng?"
"That's right." Jiang Cheng glanced at the three men—including Fatty—surrounded by the group and asked, "What do you want?"
"Did you go to the Activity Center's warehouse?" the Middle-Aged Man asked.
"No," Jiang Cheng replied curtly.
"You're lying!" the tall, thin man who had interrogated Gao Yan earlier said. "Your companions already told us that the three of you went together, but one of them hit the gate and passed out, while the two of you ran away."
Jiang Cheng sneered, not even bothering to dignify the man with a response. "Stop trying to trick me. I don't remember any of that. And if one of my companions reported me, bring him here so we can confront him face-to-face!"
Gao Yan had died in the library, his death heroic. There was no chance of finding him now, only his ashes.
But ashes couldn't speak.
The Middle-Aged Man seemed familiar with Jiang Cheng's tactics. He didn't press Gao Yan, but instead pointed towards the Small Woods behind them. "There's someone else in there, isn't there?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"A friend," Jiang Cheng replied without blinking.
The Middle-Aged Man's lips tightened. He lowered his hand and stared at Jiang Cheng. "It's Yuan Xiaoyi, isn't it? What do you want with her?"
"Heh," Wang Qi raised an eyebrow. "Since you ask, I'd like to ask you: what do you want with us?"
"Wait a minute," Wang Qi said with a playful tone. "This seems to go beyond just 'looking for us.' Are you trying to... arrest us?"
"You're not the police," Huai Yi chimed in. "What right do you have to restrict our freedom? Watch out, or I'll sue you for illegal detention!"
"That's right, illegal detention!" Fatty glared, his eyes wide, as if daring them to provoke his wrath.
(End of the Chapter)
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