What came out of the wooden door of the bathroom?
Fang Yuan couldn't see clearly.
Or rather, she didn't see it at all.
Could it be that she couldn't see it?
Fang Yuan thought of ghosts.
Silent and invisible ghosts.
Was it Cheng Li's ghost?
Or was it Xu Yan's ghost?
No, it couldn't be a ghost. Fang Yuan's scalp tingled, and her body began to stiffen again, her eyes still fixed on the wooden door.
Over there was deep darkness, and with her eyesight, she couldn't see clearly.
She heard a strange cry—the cry of a black cat.
Amid the cry, the black cat, like a flash of black lightning, darted into the darkness beyond the wooden door.
Then, Fang Yuan heard some very strange sounds.
The sounds were vague and eerie: "Squeak, squeak," rising and falling. The voice was hoarse and low, like a broken bell being struck, struggling and hissing.
Somehow, she thought of snakes, venomous snakes with scarlet tongues, slick bodies, and fierce eyes. Fang Yuan's skin broke out in goosebumps.
Like most girls, she was afraid of snakes.
Could it be a snake that emerged from the wooden door?
Logically, cats' preferred prey should be mice.
But Fang Yuan heard the black cat's cries of pain.
Last time, the black cat's leg was bitten off by something.
The time before that, Qin Yanping had also been bitten by something in the bathroom.
Could it be that thing fighting the black cat now?
What was that thing?
It couldn't be a mouse, could it?
It was impossible for a black cat to be bitten by a mouse.
Although she had heard of cat-eating mice, they only existed in a few African countries and could not possibly have come to China.
Legend has it that black cats are animals that ward off evil, while ghosts are considered evil in the eyes of humans!
Could it really be the ghost of Cheng Li or Xu Yan battling the black cat?
Fang Yuan's mind flashed back to the eerie smile Xu Yan had given her as she jumped from the building. That smile seemed joyful. She was about to die, so how could she be so happy?
Fang Yuan didn't dare to dwell on it, nor did she want to.
She chose action.
She flicked on the fluorescent lights in the hall.
School rules, points deductions, and fines didn't matter now. She had to see clearly what was battling the black cat!
The sudden, dazzling light made Fang Yuan, accustomed to darkness, squint.
Then, she finally saw the object clearly.
It was a rat!
A ferocious, enormous rat!
She had never seen such a giant rat before. It crawled on the ground, its body about the size of a volleyball, far larger than the black cat.
Fang Yuan had never imagined that such a massive rat could exist in the girls' dormitory 441.
The rat and the black cat were engaged in a fierce battle. The black cat's advantage lay in its agility and sharp claws, but its strength seemed inferior to the rat's. It circled the rat rather than attacking it head-on, slashing at it wherever it could find it.
The rat wasn't stupid either. Knowing it couldn't match the black cat's agility, it curled up on the ground, its eyes darting around, waiting for its chance to strike. Sometimes, when the black cat approached, it would open its jaws and bite furiously, its fangs sharp and powerful. Last time, it had bitten off the black cat's leg.
Fang Yuan felt a little nauseous. The sight of rats reminded her of garbage dumps, rotting animal carcasses, and deadly infectious diseases. In the 14th century, rats spread a great plague across Europe, killing a quarter of the population. More than half of the British population died, a death toll four times that of World War I.
No one knew what this giant rat would bring to the girls' dormitory in 441. Its enormous size was a terrifying factor in itself.
The black cat's sharp claws had scratched the rat in places, revealing bloody wounds beneath its brown-black fur. Sticky blood flowed out and dripped onto the ground, a foul odor. The polyps on its nose were still opening and closing, and it glared at the black cat angrily, shrieking from time to time as if in protest.
The black cat, having scratched the rat several times, felt a sense of pride and let down its guard. Just as it responded to a few meows, it was caught off guard and pounced upon by the rat.
The two animals huddled together, rolling and biting, leaving a trail of torn rat and cat fur everywhere.
The black cat was going to suffer!
Fang Yuan knew that the black cat was no match for the rat in close combat. The strength of the two could be seen from the black cat's body alone. In close combat, there was no room for tricks; it relied on sheer strength and teeth.
Fang Yuan still had feelings for the black cat; after all, she had kept it for a few days. Moreover, she had a strange feeling that the black cat was trying to tell her something, that it was protecting her, treating her like its master.
Fang Yuan looked around and saw a long broom in the corner. She hurried over, holding the broom upside down, and used the handle to hit the giant rat.
The rat was so large and round that it was hard for Fang Yuan to miss. She initially tried to push the two apart, but the rat had finally entangled the black cat and refused to let go, clinging to it tightly. Its gray-yellow teeth tore and bit, causing the black cat to meow in pain.
Fang Yuan hardened her heart, not caring about anything else. With a "snap," she struck the rat with a powerful blow.
The stick struck the rat like a ball, its bulging body actually bouncing the stick off.
But the giant rat's movements were clearly affected. Abandoning the black cat, it glared at Fang Yuan with its ferocious eyes, its claws bared, ready to attack her!
Fang Yuan felt a chill in her heart at the sight of the terrifying rat's eyes. She involuntarily took a step back, almost bumping into something.
She turned and saw Su Ya!
Su Ya had stood behind her at some point, dressed in pajamas, holding a cup of hot water, watching with rapt interest.
When had she arrived?
Fang Yuan had no idea when Su Ya had arrived, and she didn't have time to think about it. All she could think about was the giant rat and how to eliminate it.
"What should we do?" Fang Yuan asked Su Ya.
Su Ya, however, looked nonchalant and unconcerned. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you see? This rat..." Fang Yuan paused, unsure how to describe her disgust.
"Of course the cat will handle the rat issue. Why are you getting involved?"
Fang Yuan was speechless. She simply couldn't understand Su Ya. Her perspective and approach to life were truly baffling.
Su Ya was actually in the mood for tea. She pulled up a chair and sat down, seemingly hoping to sit back and watch the fight unfold.
The giant rat actually pounced!
Fang Yuan, desperate, picked up a chair and threw it.
The chair leg slammed hard into the rat's neck.
The rat screamed and retreated, seemingly trying to escape.
But the black cat leaped forward, pouncing on the rat and biting its wounded, bleeding neck.
The rat hopped around frantically, unable to shake off the cat's grip.
Ten minutes later, the rat was completely exhausted. The cat had bitten off a piece of its neck, rupturing its aorta, and its blood was gushing all over the floor. Perhaps from the excessive blood loss, it finally couldn't run. The black cat finally let go, not rushing to kill it, but rather toying with it with pride.
The black cat let the giant rat escape slowly, always standing in front of it.
"How boring, what a pity," Su Ya yawned, somewhat disinterested.
Fang Yuan ignored her.
Just then, there was another knock on the door.
"Click, click, click..."
Fang Yuan was startled. She listened carefully and saw it was indeed the dormitory door.
Who was knocking at this late hour?
Fang Yuan was still hesitating whether to go over and ask who was knocking, but the knocking stopped. Then, with the sound of a key turning, the iron door swung open.
A portly, sinister middle-aged woman walked in.
It was Sister Zhang, the girls' dormitory manager.
"Why aren't you sleeping so late? Why are you still leaving the lights on?" Sister Zhang, not noticing the black cat and the giant rat, confronted Fang Yuan and Su Ya with a sullen expression as she entered.
Su Ya ignored her, downing the last sip of her tea before returning to her bedroom.
Fang Yuan, realizing she had violated the school's lights-out rule, pointed at the dying giant rat.
Sister Zhang turned around, her expression instantly changing.