Han He reminded the two who were eating melons.
Shi Yu’s roommates also began to return to the dormitory one after another.
Hu Zihao nodded, took out the amulet Han He had given him from his pocket, and firmly tied it to his wrist with a string.
He looked at the two and said, “I’ll go to the bathroom and then return to the dorm.
I won’t go out again tonight.”
Shi Yu couldn’t do much, thought for a moment, and said, “Let’s go with you.
Just in case, it won’t take much more time.”
Han He also agreed.
Hu Zihao thanked them again, and the three of them walked out of the dormitory together.
The bathroom was not far from the dormitory.
Hu Zihao walked in front, chatting idly with the two behind him.
“Thank you two so much, I really don’t know what to say… I’ve never been so… helpless as I am today… If it weren’t for you, I might have just muddled through.”
The washroom was connected to the bathroom outside.
Hu Zihao walked in and found it eerily quiet inside.
“No one’s here.
It’s a bit late for an all-nighter.
Luckily, you two are with me, otherwise, I really don’t know what I’d do.
I’d probably have to take care of business in the dorm.”
Hu Zihao walked into the bathroom.
He didn’t go to the innermost squat toilet but chose the outermost one.
“Normally, I hate using this toilet the most.
I don’t know how it was designed, but this squat toilet can even be seen from outside, making me feel uncomfortable when I’m using it.”
Perhaps it was late at night, perhaps it was fear of what was said during the day, or perhaps he truly considered Shi Yu and Han He friends, but Hu Zihao’s chatterbox inexplicably opened, and he talked a lot.
“Normally, Liu Zunfu and I come to the bathroom together.
If other stalls are too dirty, we play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses goes to the dirty stall, haha… Now I don’t know how Liu Zunfu is doing… Do you think he really just skipped school?
Maybe he really found a way to avoid the surveillance, and the class teacher really had an emergency leave, and everything was just that coincidental?”
Hu Zihao suddenly realized that saying this might be offensive to Shi Yu and Han He, and quickly changed his words.
“I’m not saying you two are bad; after all, I was the first to suspect something happened to Liu Zunfu.
Talking nonsense inevitably makes people overthink.
Thank you for understanding me… Oh, my mouth is clumsy, the more I talk, the worse it sounds, Shi Yu, don’t take it to heart.”
Hu Zihao felt like he couldn’t smooth over what he had said and wanted Shi Yu to help him out, as Shi Yu seemed to have a much better temper than Han He.
But there was no response.
“Shi Yu… Are you angry?”
Silence, terrifying silence.
Wait.
Wait.
Since when did Shi Yu and Han He stop responding?
No.
No no no no!!!!
What’s going on?!!!
Where are Shi Yu and Han He?!!!
Hu Zihao quickly pulled up his pants, stood up from the squat toilet, and frantically looked around.
No one! Not a single person!
Shi Yu and Han He were not there! He was the only one in the bathroom!
“Zzz--------- zzz -- zzz - crackle crackle --”
The fluorescent light tube in the bathroom flickered.
Hu Zihao suddenly noticed that all the lights on the sports field were off.
Hu Zihao didn’t have a watch, but he knew clearly.
The evening self-study for second-year high school students ended at 9:30 PM, and dorm lock-up was at 10:15 PM.
The evening self-study for third-year high school students ended at 10:00 PM, and dorm lock-up was at 10:45 PM.
The lights on the sports field would only turn off after the patrolling teachers and security guards finished their post-school rounds, which was 11:10 PM.
At this moment, the pitch-black sports field, outlined by the window frame, resembled a square, monstrous mouth.
The bathroom window was open, and the wind passed through the frame, cruelly cut, making a horrifying, wailing sound.
The current time was at least after 11:15 PM.
How could he have been in the bathroom since 10:15 PM until now?
He remembered Shi Yu’s words.
“Can this ‘Evil’ alter people’s memories?”
Hu Zihao’s cold sweat ran down his temples.
What happened during this time?
When did he actually arrive?
Did anyone know he was here?
Hu Zihao looked at his left wrist.
Thankfully, the amulet Han He had given him was still tightly wrapped there.
But this amulet hadn’t worked before, and Hu Zihao couldn’t fully trust it.
The flickering frequency of the fluorescent light overhead slightly decreased, but the quiet and lifeless white surroundings made the entire bathroom exceptionally eerie.
“I can’t just sit here and wait to die.”
Hu Zihao gritted his teeth, aimed his distance, and suddenly rushed out of the bathroom!
Hu Zihao was not short, and he was using the outermost stall, very close to the door.
With Hu Zihao’s leg length, he could rush out in two steps.
One step!
It was very smooth, without any obstruction.
Hu Zihao directly crossed more than half the distance.
Second step!
Hu Zihao unleashed all his strength; he could rush out of the bathroom directly with his second step!
“Crack—crunch!!”
A snapping sound rang out, sounding like a bird flapping its wings and breaking a dead branch as it flew away.
Hu Zihao felt the scene before his eyes suddenly change.
The bathroom doorway, which was just within reach, suddenly vanished, replaced by a gaping black window.
Outside the window, a pale face was pressed tightly against the glass.
That pale face only had a human shape, but all the facial features were enormous black holes.
The black holes barely formed something resembling facial features, and they wriggled irregularly on the dough-like face.
The body had completely lost any human characteristics, like a giant spider.
A massive, fat sac was directly connected below that pale head, and several fleshy legs were chaotically linked to that plump sac, completely asymmetrical, like a meatball with elongated maggots growing out of it.
At this moment, those fleshy legs were gently twitching and turning, as if manipulating something.
“Evil.”
This word instantly flashed in Hu Zihao’s mind.
At this instant, a surge of power suddenly transmitted from his wrist to his heart, as if someone had abruptly clutched Hu Zihao’s heart.
Hu Zihao seemed to hear the roars of forest creatures.
A strong desire to survive surged, overriding his fear.
Hu Zihao forcibly pulled back the foot he had stepped forward and turned around, rushing towards the door!
He glimpsed his wrist out of the corner of his eye; the amulet there was already shattered, and the sound of the dead branch earlier had come from it.
And the Evil outside the window, realizing that the human had escaped its control, its dark, wriggling “facial features” all stopped turning and stared at Hu Zihao, then let out a strange hiss.
Its slimy, disgusting fleshy legs crawled rapidly, actually squeezing through the window, which was narrow for it!
At the same time, the bathroom door and the washroom door tried to close, intending to trap Hu Zihao inside.
Hu Zihao’s adrenaline surged, and he rushed straight for the door.
He had never imagined he could run so fast.
Just before the bathroom door closed, he dodged and slipped out.
And the bathroom door reopened the moment Hu Zihao got out.
But the washroom door was still too far away, and it was too late.
Hu Zihao watched helplessly as the gap in the door was about to close completely.
Hu Zihao, using his momentum, suddenly jumped up and kicked the washroom door with a flying kick.
“Bang!!”
That dilapidated door didn’t budge, and pain spread from Hu Zihao’s foot.
He fell to the ground in a sorry state.
“Rustle… rustle…”
In the washroom mirror, Hu Zihao saw the Evil calmly crawl out.
And the amulet’s effect was rapidly weakening.
Hu Zihao watched helplessly as the Evil’s form faded again.
If it disappeared again, Hu Zihao, unable to discern truth from illusion or remember, would completely become its plaything.
Hu Zihao quickly got up, hitting the door with his fists, shouting as he hit, hoping someone would hear him.
The door didn’t budge, and Hu Zihao felt sharp pain radiating from his hand.
He heard his knuckles make a “crack” sound.
He had broken his finger bones.
But it was useless.
The unmoving door cut off Hu Zihao’s only escape route.
In the surrounding mirrors, Hu Zihao frantically pounded on the door.
Despair rose from the depths of Hu Zihao’s heart.
He looked back; there was no longer any trace of the Evil in the washroom.
The amulet had completely lost its effect, and the Evil had hidden itself again.
“Gulp.”
Hu Zihao suddenly heard a sound.
It was very familiar.
He followed the sound.
It was the washbasin in the washroom making the sound.
Hu Zihao remembered; it was the sound of air bubbles gurgling out when the drain was blocked.
“Gulp gulp gulp”
As the water gurgled, Hu Zihao saw the washbasin begin to gush out liquid upwards.
The liquid was murky and reeked.
Indiscernible fibrous debris floated up as the liquid sprayed out.
Soon the washbasin was filled, and then the liquid flowed down with a gurgling sound.
The impurities in the water became more and more numerous, and larger and larger.
Hu Zihao saw pieces of flesh beginning to appear in the gushing water, then fingers that were pale from being soaked, rotten ears, and ruptured or intact eyeballs.
They flowed out with the water, floated, and then, along with the putrid water, tumbled over the edge of the washbasin, splattering onto the ground with a splash, breaking into one bloodstain after another.
The smell of decay was splattered everywhere, and the stench engulfed the entire washroom.
Hu Zihao’s stomach churned, and he felt like he was going to vomit from the fumes.
Undoubtedly, that was definitely not a good thing.
Only a fool would think that the Evil was doing this just to scare him at this moment.
But at this moment, the door behind Hu Zihao remained motionless, and sharp pain emanated from his hand.
His finger bones were broken, and his knees also experienced severe pain from the violent impact earlier.
Blood dripped from his torn fingernails onto the ground, mixing with the corpse water flowing at his feet.
He looked at the countless pieces of flesh and foul-smelling liquid before him.
He gritted his teeth, and even so, the sound of his teeth clashing together clearly reached his ears.
Hu Zihao didn’t want to die.
He felt like a taut string; once overstretched, he would go mad.
The corpse water mixed with bits of flesh piled higher and higher, as if the washroom had become a swimming pool being filled with water, quickly reaching Hu Zihao’s thighs.
He didn’t know what was in that disgusting water; everywhere it touched began to itch, an maddening itch that made Hu Zihao want to tear at his own skin.
At the same time, as the murky water rose, strange ripples began to undulate within it, as if something was swimming inside.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Hu Zihao knew he absolutely couldn’t stay submerged here.
The itching in his calves had now turned to numbness, and his feet were starting to prickle—the longer he soaked, the worse the symptoms became.
“Is there anywhere I can climb…?”
Hu Zihao looked around and found there was nowhere higher for him to stand.
The washbasin was definitely out of the question; it was currently like a fountain, spattering foul corpse water upwards, and the liquid’s color had already begun to turn red.
Then he could only…
Hu Zihao looked at his waist, which was about to be submerged in the corpse water, and then up at the door in front of him.
The doorknob was fairly high, and there was a small protrusion near the top, close to the doorframe.
Making a quick decision, Hu Zihao gritted his teeth and stepped onto the doorknob behind him, fully gripping the slightly protruding edge of the door with his hands.
Finally, Hu Zihao stepped onto the doorknob, barely clinging to the protrusion on the side of the door with his fingertips, which were already split open and bleeding profusely.
A chilling, piercing pain shot through his tender fingertips under the pressure.
Only this way could he temporarily avoid being completely submerged.
He really didn’t want to die; he didn’t want to give up.
But that was just a matter of time.
The Evil seemed to have a unique malicious pleasure; it didn’t directly kill Hu Zihao but did its best to torment Hu Zihao’s mind.
Just as Hu Zihao was about to give up and fall into the corpse water.
He suddenly heard some subtle sounds, like someone muttering to themselves.
Immediately following, a swaying sensation came from beneath his feet.
Hu Zihao looked down in astonishment; the doorknob he was stepping on was being turned!
Creak----
Bang!!!
With the sound of a spring breaking and his feet losing purchase, the door suddenly swung open violently from the outside.
Hu Zihao, who was hanging on the door, immediately fell to the ground outside due to inertia.
Hu Zihao felt like his waist was about to break.
This fall was not light.
He gasped, and the part of his body that contacted the ground was excruciatingly painful.
Hu Zihao barely managed to lift his arm and found it wasn’t broken, so he used it to prop himself up.
Hu Zihao barely endured the intense pain and lifted his head, looking around.
He found himself having fallen right beside Han He’s leg.
Several branches and some indiscernible stones were scattered around.
Han He was drenched in sweat, his arm muscles bulging.
He had completely pulled off the doorknob and was clutching it in his hand, his hand bleeding from the metal doorknob.
Fresh blood, following the trajectory of the opening door, was flung out, drawing a graceful line.
And the inside of the washroom door was empty, as if nothing had happened.
No foul smell, no blood or body parts splattered everywhere.
Hu Zihao looked down at his soaked legs and found his pants were still dry, without any traces of being submerged.
He trembling pulled up one of his pant legs with his hand; his exposed leg showed no abnormalities.
The itching and numbness from before felt like an illusion.
A little further away, Shi Yu was unconscious on the ground for some reason.
His face was as white as paper, and his pajamas were soaked, as if he had just been pulled out of water.
And the other dormitories were as quiet as death, as if it were a normal night, with no one awake, everyone waiting for the next day’s sun in their dreams.
The current time was 3 AM.