Forbidden Land – CH 020

The two went up to the Teaching Building again. The scene was the same, the moonlight the same, the silence the same. But this time, as they slowly climbed, they heard no knocking.

They reached the fifth floor, just one step away. But a sense of foreboding lingered in Zhang Chao’s heart as he approached the sixth floor, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Standing at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor, Zhang Chao hesitated. Chen Rong said, “Weren’t you going up? Why are you stopping?”

Zhang Chao took a soft breath, trying to pinpoint the subtle emotion lurking deep within him.

What was it?

What was he afraid of?

Chen Rong looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong?”

Zhang Chao slowly turned his head. “Don’t you feel anything strange?”

Chen Rong looked at Zhang Chao with suspicion, then suddenly shivered, shrugging her shoulders, “It feels…it feels a little cold.”

Yes, cold.

It wasn’t so cold before, so why did they suddenly feel a draft?

Zhang Chao paused for a moment, then said, “I want to knock on the classroom on the sixth floor.”

“This…” Chen Rong felt a chill run down her spine at his calm voice. Finally, she said, “Alright, go ahead and knock.”

Zhang Chao nodded and quietly went up to the sixth floor with Chen Rong.

At the top of the stairs, he took a deep breath, jumped forward, and switched on his flashlight, illuminating the corridor.

This time, there was no one there. The corridor was empty. He looked especially closely at the other end; the walls were blank, and no one had passed by.

Behind him, Chen Rong laughed, “Your jump out just now was really funny, like something out of a cop movie. It’s a pity everyone else had a gun, and you had a flashlight. And you were even carrying a pair of cloth shoes in your other hand. Isn’t that strange? Hehe.”

Zhang Chao wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He said seriously, “Then I’ll go knock on the door. Want to come with me?”

Chen Rong laughed. “Sure, let’s go together. Protecting our junior, you know.”

The two walked together, about 20 meters, to the iron door of the first classroom. Zhang Chao reached out and knocked three times, then there was silence again.

Zhang Chao said, “This sound seems different from the knocking I heard last time. Last time it sounded quite dull, but this time it’s so crisp. Looks like this iron door is pretty thin.”

Chen Rong said, “I told you, last time it definitely wasn’t the knocking from upstairs. It must have been from outside. You must have misheard.”

Zhang Chao didn’t deny it. He continued walking about 20 meters to the second classroom, where he stopped again and knocked three times. The sound, like the one from the first classroom door, was crisper. Then, silence returned.

Just as they were about to walk towards the third classroom, suddenly, a faint voice called out behind them, “Who’s there…?”

Zhang Chao jumped in fright.

He turned around, glaring angrily at Chen Rong. Chen Rong chuckled and quickly ran ahead.

Zhang Chao cursed, “You’d really play that kind of joke!” He angrily threw the black cloth shoes at Chen Rong’s head.

Chen Rong quickly dodged, and the shoes flew a distance.

Zhang Chao sighed, “Alright, alright, I won’t throw it at you anymore. Come back.”

Chen Rong smiled playfully. “Junior Zhang, did I scare you just now?”

Zhang Chao said, “You have the nerve to say that!”

Chen Rong shook her head smugly.

Zhang Chao said helplessly, “Hey, please, Big Sister, don’t scare me with that last classroom. It feels a bit special.”

Chen Rong smiled and said, “Okay, go knock on the last one.”

Zhang Chao nodded and walked over, but after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

Chen Rong asked curiously, “Why did you stop?”

Zhang Chao pointed tremblingly ahead, “Where are the shoes…?”

“Didn’t you throw them away?” Chen Rong blurted out but immediately shut her mouth.

The corridor was empty; there were no shoes anywhere. An unsettling atmosphere enveloped the entire school building; a chill, like a spider, slowly, slowly crept up.

Zhang Chao swallowed hard. “I…did I throw the shoes at you?” he asked.

Chen Rong’s mouth was dry. “Yes…you threw the shoes at me, clearly…it landed behind me.”

Zhang Chao took a deep breath. “It seems…it seems like it landed right at the classroom door.”

But the space in front of the door to that last classroom was empty.

Chen Rong tugged at Zhang Chao’s sleeve. “Shall we…go?”

Zhang Chao exhaled lightly, forcing a light laugh. “I didn’t know you could be scared, haha!”

Chen Rong rolled her eyes. “If you’re so capable, go find the shoes.”

“Go find it?” Zhang Chao looked at the dark stairwell about 20 meters ahead, feeling a pang of fear.

Chen Rong said, “You don’t dare?”

Zhang Chao said, “Don’t provoke me. That kind of low-level tactic won’t work on me. I have an idea. Let’s call Lin Yi’ang over and have him come up from downstairs. If there really is someone who took the shoes, three people can catch them.”

Chen Rong said, “Are you stupid? The stairs downstairs lead all the way to the underground parking garage, and the underground parking garage connects to several other buildings to the east. If someone really took the shoes, they can just walk that way. How can we catch them then?”

Zhang Chao thought about it, and this was indeed a problem. They were only in the western part of the School of Medicine’s Teaching Building; there were several north-south-facing Teaching Buildings and other buildings nearby, and the underground parking garages were all connected. If someone really picked up the shoes and tried to escape, unless hundreds of people formed a dragnet, how could they possibly catch the thief?

But who picked up the shoes? Was it a person, a ghost, or could it be that woman in ancient costume again?

Chen Rong tugged at his clothes and said, “Don’t think about it anymore; let’s go quickly.”

Zhang Chao nodded and asked, “Who do you think took the shoes?”

They had both been thinking about this question, but when he actually asked it, both of them couldn’t help but turn pale.

Chen Rong looked slightly displeased and said, “Let’s go back first. Don’t think about it anymore.”

Zhang Chao frowned and nodded helplessly. He shone his flashlight forward and said, “How about we go down these stairs today?”

Chen Rong said, “Whatever. I’m not as timid as you.”

Zhang Chao chuckled, “It seems you weren’t very brave just now either.”

“Hmph!” Chen Rong pouted and took the lead.

“Wait for me; it’s always the man who protects the woman!” Zhang Chao quickly followed, walking ahead of her.

Chen Rong couldn’t help but smile sweetly.