What was overflowing from the bathroom wasn't water, but blood, or at least water laden with blood.
Wherever the faint light from her phone shone, a crimson hue spread throughout the dark dormitory.
Wen Qiu stepped on blood, and her hands were stained with it, the stench of blood lingering in her nose.
Why was there so much blood?
What was Meng Qing doing in the bathroom in the middle of the night?
"Ding Dong!"
The phone's message alert suddenly rang out in the quiet dormitory, just as Wen Qiu, panicking, was about to peek through the crack in the door again.
Hua Haoming: [There's a problem with the morgue, be careful Meng Qing.]
To get the latest messages from the class group, Wen Qiu had her phone on full volume, always on silent. Even from the shower, she should have heard it.
Wen Qiu stared at the message, crouching outside the bathroom door, her mouth tightly covered.
The blood from her hands stained her mouth and face, the stench of blood lingering in her nose. She was so nervous she could barely breathe, her whole body straining.
There were no terrorist incidents for two consecutive days, and Wen Dong and Meng Tianyou fell into a deep sleep with peace of mind. Only Xia Bai held up his heavy eyelids, waiting for Song Mingliang.
At nearly two o'clock in the morning, the person in bed number three really moved.
Xia Bai slightly closed his eyes, revealing a glint of his gaze to observe him.
Song Mingliang sat on the bed for more than ten minutes, probably observing the three people in the dormitory. He got up from the bed more than ten minutes later. Tonight he did not continue to climb into bed, but left the dormitory.
The dormitory was very quiet late at night, and the sound of him walking in the corridor was very clear.
He wandered in the corridor, not knowing where to go.
Xia Bai immediately got up from the bed, quietly walked to the door of the dormitory and looked out.
There was no voice-controlled light in the dormitory corridor, but there was a window at the end of the corridor, and a layer of faint moonlight shone from the outside, and his figure could barely be seen.
He walked through the long, dark corridors, his eyes pressed against the cracks, or he crouched on the floor, peering through the cracks beneath. The faint light in his eyes was like two tiny lightbulbs hanging in his sockets in the darkness. To see clearly, he twisted his body into various positions, some of which were impossible for a human being.
He entered one of the dorms, and it was unclear whether the door was unlocked or his twisted fingers had unlocked it.
Xia Bai texted Lin Xiang: "Song Mingliang has left the dorm."
Lin Xiang immediately replied: "We saw it."
Hua Haoming and Lin Xiang hadn't planned to sleep, so they lay in bed and waited. When a noise came from the corridor, Hua Haoming, who was leaning against the door, immediately came to observe. Lin Xiang, seeing what was happening, followed suit.
In the dark corridor, the dark figure, with its gleaming eyes, twisted its body into various positions, almost frantically peering through the cracks in the dorm doors.
He had only heard Xia Bai talk about it during the day, but seeing it with his own eyes tonight, Lin Xiang realized it was far more bizarre and terrifying than he had imagined.
Seeing Song Mingliang's expression, Hua Haoming realized it wasn't that simple.
He'd heard from Xia Bai that Song Mingliang hadn't done any real harm last night, and knowing Wen Qiu was a seasoned player, he hadn't specifically warned her on his way home. Seeing Song Mingliang's strange behavior, he immediately sent a message to Wen Qiu via the class chat, warning her to be careful.
Before Wen Qiu could reply, Song Mingliang emerged from the dormitory.
The two watched the black figure approach. He possessed some of Song Mingliang's characteristics, such as a slow walk, his feet seemingly glued to the ground, his head slightly lowered, his neck tilted forward, and his heavy bangs obscuring his eyes, but now unable to hide the dim yellow light in them.
He inched closer, ever so slightly, to their room 304.
Realizing he was headed for 304, the two hurriedly closed the door.
The Heping Medical College dormitory in the game was old, its doors still using primitive latches. As Lin Xiang frantically inserted the latch rod into the hole, two bloody fingers suddenly reached through the crack in the door and pressed down on the rod.
The crack in the dormitory door was wide enough, but originally, it couldn't fit two fingers.
But when those two bloody fingers were stripped of flesh, it was a different story.
Perhaps the flesh had been rubbed off by forcing them through when entering the other dormitory, or perhaps something had happened there, but those two fingers had become blood-red bones, like two ghost fingers.
The owner of those fingers seemed insensitive to the pain, straining to push against the latch.
Song Mingliang looked no taller than 175cm and thin, while Lin Xiang, at 187cm tall, possessed immense strength. Yet, he couldn't move the latch; it was even moving backwards.
Staring at those two bloody, strangely strong bones, Lin Xiang exerted all his strength, sweat breaking out on his forehead. He instinctively sensed danger if Song Mingliang entered.
But it was no use. He watched helplessly and panicked as the latch slid further and further back, on the verge of leaving the crack.
"Click!"
The bolt rod slid securely into the latch hole, the entire bolt tightly wrapped around by a flexible sword that appeared out of thin air. Simultaneously, a finger bone buckled.
Lin Xiang glanced at the silk-soft sword, then at Hua Haoming, and immediately recalled what Hua Haoming had told him and Xia Bai about the game rewards and weapons in the restaurant that day.
The thought flashed through his mind, and he couldn't think of anything else. He focused solely on the two finger bones.
Even after one of the fingers buckled, he continued to pull and twist the bolt, growing increasingly frantic. Blood dripped down, spilling onto the floor.
He finally stopped when he realized he couldn't get in.
At first, he didn't leave, but panted, one eye unwillingly peeking through the crack in the door.
The dim yellow light in his eye surged even more frantically, stained by the blood at the crack. The black and white eye, the yellow light, the red blood—every movement was enough to send a shudder through your heart.
Eventually, he left.
Panting heavily, Lin Xiang sent a message to Xia Bai, whispering to Hua Haoming, "Brother, Song Mingliang is so scary right now, what should we do with Xia Bai?"
Hua Haoming said, "Let Xia Bai lie back on the bed. No matter what happens, don't make a sound. If there's any danger, send us a message."
Lin Xiang hurriedly sent another text to Xia Bai, just as Hua Haoming had instructed.
Hua Haoming was also looking at his phone. Wen Qiu hadn't replied to him yet, so he wondered if she was asleep.
After receiving Lin Xiang's message, Xia Bai ran to the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and breathed, all in one breath.
When Song Mingliang returned, he keenly smelled the scent of blood. Under the quilt, he gently licked his lips and continued to breathe soundly in his sleep.
Song Mingliang came to his bed and looked at him for a moment, then ran to Meng Tianyou's bed and lay down beside him. The dormitory bed was very small, and the two boys lay almost touching. Meng Tianyou moved uncomfortably, but did not wake up.
That night, Song Mingliang lay next to Meng Tianyou.
That night, Hua Haoming did not receive a reply from Wen Qiu.
The next day, the dormitory building's morning began with a terrified scream.
Xia Bai immediately opened his eyes and turned to look at Meng Tianyou's bed, where Meng Tianyou was sitting up leisurely, and Song Mingliang had returned to his bed without knowing when.
The screams didn't come from their dormitory.
"Ah! Ahhhh!" Meng Tianyou nearly fell off his bed. "Why is there blood on me and on my bed? What's wrong with me?"
Xia Bai: "..."
Xia Bai's face was blank, trying not to look at Song Mingliang.
Wen Dong was the only one in the dormitory, frantically checking Meng Tianyou. "What's wrong? Why is there blood?"
Lin Xiang, who had rushed over and saw this, was eerily silent for a few seconds. Then he said, "Your situation is very similar to that of a boy in Room 307. That boy said he was molested by a ghost."
"..."
Lin Xiang explained, "When he woke up this morning, he found his clothes had been stripped off and there was a bloody handprint on his chest. He suspected he'd been molested by a ghost."
"..."
Meng Tianyou immediately looked down. He hadn't changed into his pajamas since bedtime, only wearing elastic sweatpants, which were still intact.
Another silence fell in the dormitory, and in between, Meng Tianyou cursed, "What the hell!"
It was clear he wasn't so relieved. No matter what, he could have seen something bloody on his bed last night. Belatedly realizing it, he began to feel uneasy and hurried into the bathroom.
It was bustling outside the dormitory. Wen Dong saw Meng Tianyou go into the bathroom and curiously went to see the classmate who had been molested by the ghost.
"I'm telling you, it's that tall and strong one," Lin Xiang followed him out.
Only Xia Bai and Song Mingliang were left in the dormitory. Xia Bai sat on the bed playing with his phone, not even looking at Song Mingliang.
Lin Xiang: [I just sent a message to Wen Dong and Meng Tianyou, and Brother Hua also told Song Qiang.]
It's time to tell them. In fact, I should have told them last night.
Xia Bai looked at the bathroom with innocent eyes, but he didn't know what Meng Tianyou was feeling inside.
He took a long time to shower in there, and after coming out, he kept his head down to wipe his hair.
Time was running out, so Xia Bai and Wen Dong washed hurriedly, Xia Bai mainly washing, while Wen Dong washed his face and splashed water on his neck.
At the dormitory door, they saw Hua Haoming, Wen Qiu, and Meng Qing.
Meng Qing didn't seem to be unusual, but she came over as soon as she saw her son, but Meng Tianyou took a stiff step back.
When Meng Qing took out an alcohol wipe to wipe his hands, he ducked his head and dodged, "I just took a shower, no need."
Hua Haoming and Wen Qiu both looked unhappy, neither looking at the other, as if they had just had an argument.
They didn't know what happened until they were eating.
Wen Qiu took the dinner tray and sat down at the only empty seat at their table for four.
As soon as the tray was put on the table, she lowered her voice but didn't suppress her anger and said, "Hua Haoming, put yourself in my shoes. I was the only one in our dormitory at that time. Your message alert was so loud, Meng Qing might have heard it. I was facing such a strange scene alone, what's wrong with hiding?"
Xia Bai and Lin Xiang only then realized that Meng Qing had also behaved abnormally last night. Wen Qiu
heard the sound of running water in the bathroom in the middle of the night. When she approached the bathroom, she found that blood was flowing out. When she was terrified, Hua Haoming sent her a message, and her phone was not muted.
At that time, she covered her mouth and quickly returned to bed before the person inside came out.
"You have no idea how terrifying that was." Wen Qiu clenched her chopsticks, straining to suppress the urge to look at Meng Qing. "She's out."
Wen Qiu's fingers trembled subconsciously as she recalled it. She was lying in bed, tightly wrapped in the quilt, when she heard the bathroom door open.
A man emerged, a bloody figure, staring at her in the darkness.
"In the middle of the night, alone in the dorm, your only roommate was doing something strange in the bathroom. She came out covered in blood to look at her, and you blame her for not being brave enough to see what she was doing." Wen Qiu laughed angrily. "Why do you blame me? You were in the right, weren't you? Why didn't you tell me in advance
?" "Did you just tell us everything?" Hua Haoming asked.
"Wen Qiu, you're not a novice player. Don't you know this might be the key? What's a second of extra observation going to do? One more glance might reveal an unusual pattern."
Seeing Wen Qiu's face drooping, her lips nearly bitten, Hua Haoming apologized again.
"I'm anxious. This situation can't be anything but urgent. We might have someone acting strangely every day, and we haven't found any effective clues yet. I'm afraid we'll be boiling the frog in the boiling water."
In reality, the situation was even more dire than they'd anticipated. The counselor had chosen one player each day for the past two days, but this morning, after class, they chose two.
Counselor: [This afternoon, Meng Qing and Wen Dong, thank you for going to the lab building to prepare for class.]