Gu Ming discovered some clues in the bathroom, and Zhou Chuan separated from Tang Ning downstairs, preparing to investigate the bathroom with Gu Ming.
Before leaving, Zhou Chuan instructed Tang Ning to act according to the character's design and advised him to look through the diary for more useful information.
Anxiously, Tang Ning arrived at the dormitory door.
Peering through the small window, he caught a glimpse of Qi Yun's figure in the cramped dorm room. Qi Yun seemed to be lying on the bed, revealing only intertwined long legs. A black umbrella rested by his feet.
Tang Ning cautiously opened the door, silently sitting on his own bed.
He heard the sound of Qi Yun drinking water, and afterward, the half-empty mineral water bottle was placed at the foot of the bed.
The location of the mineral water was close to Tang Ning; he could reach it with a simple stretch.
This was the water Qi Yun had drunk.
Tang Ning licked his lips, took out the diary hidden in the mattress, and continued flipping through it, attempting to find reasons for the bullying he faced under the name "Tang Ning."
February 29th, Saturday, overcast.
So painful, why force me to smoke? The smoke choked me; tears streamed down. They laughed even harder when they saw me cry. Xu Yunxi took the cigarette from my mouth, made a disgusting face, took a hard puff, and blew smoke rings in my face. I really hate the smell of smoke.
February 20th, Sunday, overcast.
The math teacher was furious, accused me of not doing homework, and punished me to stand in the corridor. I did it, but they threw my homework away, tore it into pieces, and flushed it down the toilet!
Tang Ning's gaze couldn't help but shift from the diary to the mineral water bottle. His lips became even drier, and a voice in his head said, "Take a small sip secretly; you won't be thirsty anymore."
Yes, take Qi Yun's water bottle without him noticing.
Tang Ning involuntarily reached out; his fingertips trembled as they approached the standing water bottle. In that moment, another hand picked up the bottle before him.
"Do you also want some water?" Qi Yun handed the bottle to Tang Ning.
Tang Ning was dumbfounded, mouth slightly open, completely caught off guard.
Qi Yun unscrewed the bottle cap, directed the moist opening towards Tang Ning's reddened lips, and poured the clear liquid. A segment of soft red quivered slightly as Tang Ning choked, more liquid spilling onto his shirt.
Qi Yun looked at Tang Ning's moist lips; he naturally took a sip from the same bottle. His adam's apple moved up and down, displaying a drinking manner that didn't resemble someone with cleanliness issues.
"Why is your face so red?" Qi Yun put down the water bottle. "Are you running a fever?"
Embarrassed, Tang Ning couldn't find words to reply. Qi Yun reached out, touched Tang Ning's forehead, and said, "Maybe it's too hot outside; remember to use an umbrella next time you go out."
"Got it?" Qi Yun locked eyes with Tang Ning's moist gaze.
Tang Ning nodded immediately.
Qi Yun returned to his bed to read, while Tang Ning was still in a daze. He had intended to touch Qi Yun's umbrella, but now he had lost all courage.
As darkness fell, Tang Ning took out his phone to check the messages about Gu Ming's exploration. Gu Ming mentioned it was getting late, and for safety, they needed to return to the dormitory.
Gu Ming also advised Tang Ning to be cautious about his proximity to Qi Yun, speculating that the more protection Tang Ning received from Qi Yun, the more significant Qi Yun's influence on him would become.
With Song Linsu no longer in the dormitory, indicating that there wouldn't be any noises attracting monsters at night, Gu Ming suggested that Tang Ning should try not sharing a bed with Qi Yun tonight and see if he could navigate through the night relying on his own strength.
As the clock approached eight in the evening, Tang Ning got into bed early, and unsurprisingly, he couldn't fall asleep again.
Tang Ning huddled in his blanket, asking Gu Ming about the situation. Gu Ming mentioned that only he and Zhou Chuan were in the dormitory; the deceased Li Cheng'an and Du Fei didn't return.
Initially concerned that Li Cheng'an and Du Fei might pull something, Zhou Chuan had prepared ropes and tape, intending to securely bind them at night. However, when everything was ready, the two individuals were nowhere to be found.
Li Cheng'an and Du Fei, like the first day with Song Linsu, disappeared completely.
Where did these people go?
Can someone who has already died once die again?
What did Qi Yun do to him? Why couldn't Tang Ning control the growing fondness for Qi Yun?
Tang Ning closed his eyes, overwhelmed by these chaotic thoughts. No matter how much he tossed and turned, he couldn't fall asleep. When he checked his phone, it was already eleven fifty-nine, the time when that thing was supposed to come.
Tang Ning's heart skipped a beat; he quickly shut off his phone.
At the moment he reached to turn off the phone, in the fleeting light and shadow, Tang Ning saw his own face on the screen.
This should have been a normal occurrence.
When playing with a phone, everyone could vaguely see their face in the screen. But when you were directly facing the phone screen and saw your profile instead...
That wasn't quite normal.
In the darkness, Tang Ning remained motionless, his whole body stiff, with only one question lingering in his mind—
What was lying beside him?
"Classmates from Room 302, are you all asleep?" A sharp and thin voice echoed in the silent night, followed by a series of intense knocking on a door.
Due to last night's experience, Tang Ning's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the knocking. Even if it wasn't his dorm room door being knocked on, his chest still felt as if it were being hammered.
Even more suppressive was the possibility of something lying beside him.
Was the silhouette on the phone screen just a figment of his imagination, or did it truly exist?
If that thing really existed, would it deliberately make noises in the dormitory?!
"Classmates from Room 303," a peculiar voice sounded through the gap under Tang Ning's dorm room door, asking in a low tone while producing the sound of nails scratching against the door, "Are you asleep?"
A cold sweat broke out on Tang Ning's back. He suddenly realized that his blanket felt somewhat empty. Normally, when the blanket covered his body, there would only be a tiny gap around his body. Yet now, as Tang Ning slightly moved his fingers, he sensed a large empty space on his right side; the blanket was floating.
It felt like something had pushed it up.
"Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!!"
The urgent knocking echoed abruptly from Tang Ning's dorm room, and Tang Ning's fingers trembled.
Don't make a sound!
Whatever you are, don't make a sound!
Please.
"Boom, boom, boom!" The knocking grew louder and louder, like a heavy hammer continuously striking Tang Ning's chest. In that moment, Tang Ning felt like his heart was about to be pierced.
The incessant knocking suddenly stopped, as if whatever was outside decided to give up. The next moment, a creaking sound reached Tang Ning's ears, and he froze—
What had just happened?
"Classmates, let me in to see if you're asleep~" The sharp, thin voice couldn't contain its excitement, and Tang Ning heard the sound of a foot entering the room.
Tang Ning's mind went blank.
This time, no one made a sound! Why could it enter the room?!
Could it be that its strength was increasing day by day? Or was it that from the beginning, this monster could enter the room, but on the first day, it had been patient enough not to be discovered?!
Footsteps echoed in the silent dorm room.
No beam of flashlight.
Perhaps it was because Qi Yun had mentioned before that bright light disturbed his sleep.
Tang Ning's bed was closest to the door. He heard the footsteps lightly, as if someone was tiptoeing. Tang Ning closed his eyes, his whole body tense, as he tried to control the rhythm of his breathing.
Then he heard the footsteps suddenly stop.
Stopped very suddenly.
A long, eerie silence.
Under the anxious and tense emotions, Tang Ning's salivary glands were abnormal, and his abdomen began to ache subtly, causing cold sweat to form on his forehead.
Tang Ning desperately wanted to swallow saliva or curl up in a shrimp-like position to alleviate the pain. He was on the verge of collapsing, needing to use all his strength to clench his teeth and stifle the painful groans.
The blanket beside him was still suspended.
The eerie sense of being watched persisted.
And all Tang Ning could do was keep his eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep. He couldn't see anything, but he knew something was watching him, and the feeling was unbearable. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
In the midst of the anxious atmosphere, Tang Ning's only action was to keep his eyes closed, feigning sleep. Unable to bear the discomfort of being observed, he heard a faint and gentle inquiry by his ear: "Student from bed number one, are you asleep?"
Tang Ning's bed was number one.
Something was standing at the head of his bed!
Realizing this, Tang Ning's eyelashes trembled!
"Hehe." The thing joyfully laughed, "I saw it~"
Tang Ning's scalp tingled, feeling like he was in an icy cave.
As the cold hand touched his eyelashes, a chilling voice sounded, "He's asleep."
Delicate fingers continued to caress Tang Ning's trembling eyelids, and sharp nails seemed ready to poke into his eye sockets. "Some disobedient children pretend to sleep. If you open their eyelids and look at their eyeballs, you can tell if they're really asleep."
Goosebumps formed where Tang Ning was touched. He felt helpless, letting out a stifled cry, only to hear Qi Yun's increasingly cold voice, "I said, he's asleep."
The hand, unwillingly, continued to stroke Tang Ning's face, from eyebrows to nose bridge, cheekbones to jawline, covering every inch with reluctance.
"Alright."
The departing footsteps resonated loudly, each step expressing profound force, as if venting frustration.
The suspended blanket gradually descended, adhering to Tang Ning's body.
Qi Yun approached Tang Ning's bed, lifted the blanket, and, like the previous night, joined Tang Ning on the bed. His slender hands embraced Tang Ning, bringing the continually trembling Tang Ning into the broad chest, enveloping him in Qi Yun's unique fragrance.
Tang Ning felt like he was leaning on a tangled tree of flowers, his trembling body rapidly relaxing and softening, turning into a pool of water ready to nourish the roots and stems of the flower tree.
Once, this uncontrolled infatuation with his body made Tang Ning fearful, but at this moment, the dizzy Tang Ning only wanted to nestle in this person's embrace, intimately connecting with their skin, drawing the sense of security vital to his existence.
This time, Tang Ning couldn't resist this temptation again.
He nestled in Qi Yun's arms like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, allowing his own will to collapse and disintegrate.
Until he heard the creaking sound again.
It was the sound of 302 dormitory's door being pushed open!
"I know some of you haven't slept." The sharp voice was full of resentment, and the footsteps became unnaturally heavy.
Tang Ning shivered!
That thing was angry! It could lift someone's eyelids to check if they were pretending to sleep! If, if Gu Ming and Zhou Chuan weren't asleep, then 302 would be in trouble!!!
No.
With such loud knocking, Gu Ming and Zhou Chuan must not be asleep!
The heavy footsteps echoed clearly from the adjacent dormitory. The sharp voice sneered, "Student from bed number one—"
Tang Ning's heart screamed.
He had to do something! What should he do?! What to do, what to do, what to do?!
"—I guess you must not be sleeping."
Tang Ning grabbed Qi Yun's shoulders and said with a trembling voice, "Qi Yun, can you tell that person? Tell it that everyone in 302 is asleep."
Yes, the only method he could think of was to seek help from Qi Yun.
To prevent one monster from harming his friends, he had to turn to another, perhaps even more dangerous monster for help.
How ridiculous.
But this was the only solution he could think of.
The footsteps grew louder, and Tang Ning's heart raced faster. He clutched Qi Yun's shoulders tightly, as if a desperate believer praying to his deity—
Save me.
I'm willing—I'm willing to give everything.
But, I have nothing of value, and everything I possess is so insignificant.
Tears streamed down his widened eyes. Tang Ning seemed to lose strength as he stared blankly, not understanding why he had made such an unrealistic request.
Even the original "Tang Ning" had an attitude toward Qi Yun that was as low as dust.
The reason Qi Yun protected him was likely mere compassion for someone who secretly admired him, a weakling, a loser. The reason he got angry when Tang Ning approached Gu Ming and Zhou Chuan was probably because he felt that something belonging to him was being encroached upon by others.
He actually thought of asking Qi Yun to save Gu Ming and Zhou Chuan.
When Tang Ning reached the lowest point of despair, he heard Qi Yun's calm voice: "Sure."
Like celestial music.
Yet, it also resembled the response of a true devil.
Qi Yun's slender fingers pinched Tang Ning's jaw, gently but irresistibly forcing him to raise his head. "But before that, answer me a question."
The skin touched by Qi Yun had a strange tingling sensation. Tang Ning, bewildered yet compliant, raised his eyes. In his moist, black eyes, a hint of unhideable fear appeared.
What question?
"On February 29th, Tuesday, clear skies." Qi Yun, with his chillingly captivating voice, recited each word as if they were sacred: "Today, Qi Yun played basketball on the court. When everyone left—"
Tang Ning's mind went blank, as if his most intimate place had been forcibly stripped away by Qi Yun in the crudest way, bit by bit.
"I picked up the mineral water bottle he drank from."
Bit by bit.
"Am I insane? Why did I drink from the mineral water bottle he used?"
Peeling away.
Despite the pitch-black darkness where Tang Ning couldn't see his own hand, Qi Yun's handsome and indifferent face was outlined before him. Qi Yun slowly asked, "So, why did you drink from the mineral water bottle I used?"