Forbidden Land – CH 026

Lin Yi’ang kicked the door a few times, but nothing happened. He laughed triumphantly, but Zhang Chao was unwilling to give up.

He was certain he hadn’t misheard or misseen.

The woman’s opera singing was definitely there.

The figure that had walked past in the toilet mirror was also there.

Zhang Chao swallowed hard, steeled his resolve, and said, “You don’t believe me? Then I’ll prove it to you. I don’t believe that person can really fly away. You guys stay here and keep an eye on the plaza on the first floor. If you see anyone running out downstairs, call me quickly to chase after them.”

After saying that, he ran up to the fifth floor alone. He looked down the corridor; no one was there. He turned into the toilet, turned on the light, looked around, and then opened each door one by one. After using the men’s toilet, he ran into the women’s toilet and opened each door one by one. However, there were only four doors in the men’s toilet, while there were eight in the women’s.

Anyway, it was the middle of the night; he wouldn’t run into any women using the toilets. If he really bumped into someone, then “Congratulations on your fortune!”

He went down to the fourth floor and checked the corridor again; no one was there. He then went into the men’s restroom, pulling all four doors—no one.

He went into the women’s restroom, turned on the light, and first pulled open all four doors on the right—all empty. He went to the left and pulled three doors—still no one.

The last door was against the east wall, and it seemed quite tightly closed. He didn’t think much of it and pulled it shut. The next second, he stopped abruptly.

He was shocked to find that the door was locked.

A chill ran down his spine. How could this be? Restroom doors could only be locked inwards. Could someone really be inside?

His heart clenched.

Zhang Chao took a deep breath, slowly walked to a spot two meters from the door, and slowly bent down to look inside.

Empty. No one!

Then why was the door locked? Was it broken?

But this thought lasted less than a second.

Because then, as he bent even lower, something familiar came into view.

Black cloth shoes!

They were still those brand-new black cloth shoes! Leaning against the wall, motionless.

The black cloth shoes that had been thrown away and disappeared in the blink of an eye—how could they be here!

He paused to think, then bent even lower, and the next second, he was so startled that he fell backward onto the ground. What he saw made his teeth chatter uncontrollably.

This time, the cloth shoes weren’t empty; this time, there was clearly a pair of feet inside!

What kind of feet?

Wearing muddy cloth socks and a similarly muddy cloth skirt hanging down at the ankles.

Those feet remained pressed against the wall, completely still.

The air seemed to stagnate; in the absolute silence, only the faint hiss of the energy-saving light above and the audible thumping of his heart could be heard.

Should he open the door?

The next second, Zhang Chao quickly dismissed the thought.

Get out first.

Zhang Chao silently climbed to his feet, then, holding his breath, ran quickly towards the restroom door. Reaching the outside, he stood at the doorway and called out in a trembling voice, “Lin Yi’ang, come down quickly! Fourth floor, a… a woman in ancient costume!”

A surprised exclamation came from above, followed by the thud of running on the stairs. In a few seconds, Lin Yi’ang rushed down the stairs, three steps at a time, and ran to Zhang Chao’s side. “A woman in ancient costume? Really?” he asked.

Zhang Chao pointed to the women’s restroom: “She’s inside, in the stall against the wall. Let’s go in together.”

Lin Yi’ang nodded: “Okay, hurry, don’t let her get away!”

At this moment, Chen Rong also arrived, surprised: “Really in there?”

Zhang Chao said, “Let’s go in. You stay away; in case we miss her, and she runs out, you’ll have time to react.”

The two slowly went inside, their footsteps barely audible. Once inside, the door remained closed. Lin Yi’ang and Zhang Chao exchanged a glance and nodded.

Lin Yi’ang lunged forward and grabbed the door.

With a bang, the door was flung open, revealing an empty room.

Lin Yi’ang turned around angrily, yelling, “You fucking messed with me!”

Zhang Chao looked equally bewildered. How could she be gone?

He suddenly pointed and exclaimed, “Look, the window’s open! She must have jumped out!”

There was a row of windows, one of which was open.

He rushed to the window and looked down. This was the east side of the Teaching Building, below which was a plaza. In the distance stood a spherical building with a metal roof, gleaming in the night light.

But the plaza below was empty; there wasn’t a soul in sight, not even the woman in ancient costume.

Lin Yi’ang shouted, “This is the fourth floor, brother! Is she a god? She could jump down like that. Besides, look at this window; could she really jump down?”

It wasn’t entirely unreasonable. These were the typical sliding windows found in modern office buildings, opening outwards but only about 60 degrees, unlike the traditional sliding windows in corridors that opened much wider. Moreover, each window here was less than a person’s shoulder width, and the window was at least half a meter off the ground; jumping out from here would be extremely difficult.

But he’d been waiting by the restroom door; if the woman in ancient costume hadn’t gone out the window, where else could she have gone?

He immediately realized this and reopened the other seven doors, but no one was there.

At this moment, Chen Rong walked in, looked at them, and asked suspiciously, “Found it?”

Lin Yi’ang said, “Found my ass!”

Zhang Chao pointed to the open window and said, “I guess she jumped out of the window.”

Lin Yi’ang scoffed, “You’re just kidding. Even Jordan couldn’t jump that low.”

Chen Rong looked carefully at the window, then looked down, her face showing some worry, but she quickly replaced it with a smile and said, “It’s already 2:30; let’s go back early. You have a training session tomorrow morning.”

The training she was referring to was a student safety lecture organized by the college after Li Weihao’s “suicide,” which was mandatory.

Zhang Chao nodded helplessly, looking somewhat dejected, and could only leave the Teaching Building with the two of them.

Back in the dormitory, it was almost 3 AM, but his mind was still racing with so many things that had happened that night, and he couldn’t fall asleep.

Lying in bed, he tossed and turned, unable to let go of too many questions.

Where did the voice that had spoken to him several times in the middle of the night come from? Who knocked on the toilet window in the middle of the night and left the small coffin?

Who knocked on the toilet window in the middle of the night and hung Li Weihao’s clothes in the toilet?

Who left the black cloth shoes in the School of Medicine library toilet?

Why were the black cloth shoes picked up so quickly after being thrown away, leaving behind a terrifying pair of old cloth shoes?

Who was knocking on the sixth-floor door? Why were there strange noises coming from that room on the sixth floor? What was hidden in that room?

And the figure that walked past in the toilet mirror tonight—was someone hiding in the toilet?

Did the woman in ancient costume really exist? Was she human or a ghost?

A series of questions occupied his entire mind. Some things were things humans could do. But how could someone who wanted to harm him do some things?

Endless thoughts tormented his sleep. Finally, he got up and took the sleeping pills Chen Rong gave him. Less than ten minutes later, a heavy drowsiness washed over him, and he drifted off to sleep.