Forbidden Land – CH 031

The knocking stopped, but slow footsteps began, one step at a time, approaching them.

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong both looked surprised. Chen Rong clung tightly to Zhang Chao’s arm, while Zhang Chao’s lips moved slightly, but he remained fixed on the scene.

Another step.

A foot emerged from behind the wall.

High heels? Black stockings?

Then came a miniskirt and a white padded jacket.

Zhu Xiaoyu!

Zhang Chao couldn’t help but shout, “Zhu Xiaoyu, you’re trying to scare us to death with this ghostly act!”

But Zhu Xiaoyu didn’t turn her head towards them, as if she hadn’t heard him. Her gaze remained fixed ahead as she walked, step by step.

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong exchanged a strange look.

Zhu Xiaoyu reached the last window, turned her back to them, and opened it.

Zhang Chao’s heart skipped a beat. Was she possessed and about to jump?!

Zhang Chao called out several times, “Zhu Xiaoyu! Zhu Xiaoyu!”

At this moment, Zhu Xiaoyu slowly turned her head, her eyes lifeless, seemingly giving them a blank look. Suddenly, a wicked smile appeared on her lips as she turned away, placing her hands on the windowsill as if to climb up.

Zhang Chao didn’t care anymore. He put the stun gun in his pocket, ran over, grabbed Zhu Xiaoyu, turned her face towards him, and slapped her twice.

“Slap!” The third slap came from Zhu Xiaoyu striking Zhang Chao’s face.

Two bright red handprints were visible on Zhu Xiaoyu’s face from Zhang Chao’s blows. Tears welled in her eyes from the pain, and her face was filled with rage. After slapping Zhang Chao back, she yelled, “Zhang Chao, are you crazy? Why did you hit me—” Suddenly, her voice trailed off. “I…how did I get here?”

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong looked at the shocked expression on Zhu Xiaoyu’s face. Clearly, this expression couldn’t be faked. The two exchanged bewildered glances.

Zhu Xiaoyu looked around the hallway. Seeing only the three of them, she became even more panicked. “What happened? Why am I here? Why did you hit me?” she cried.

Zhang Chao asked, “Do you remember where you were before?”

Zhu Xiaoyu stammered, “I was downstairs getting my bicycle. I heard a woman singing opera upstairs. After that…I can’t remember anything after that.” Tears streamed down her face.

“A woman singing opera!” Zhang Chao exclaimed in shock. Another woman singing opera. It seemed he really hadn’t misheard!

He glanced at Chen Rong, whose lips were slightly pursed, seemingly deep in thought.

Zhang Chao asked again, “Why did you come to the School of Medicine?”

“I…” Zhu Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment. “I…I heard the feng shui here is bad, so I wanted to see…just how bad.”

Chen Rong smiled, “You’re quite bold, being a girl.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Why was your phone off?”

Zhu Xiaoyu was a little embarrassed. “I found your calls annoying, so I turned it off.”

Zhang Chao could only offer a wry smile.

Zhu Xiaoyu, still crying, asked, “What happened? How did I get here?”

Zhang Chao said, “You really don’t remember?”

Zhu Xiaoyu cried even harder, “Of course, I don’t know.”

Zhang Chao opened his mouth, unsure whether to tell her anything else. After thinking for a moment, he decided against it. Even he, a man, was afraid of these things, let alone Zhu Xiaoyu. He said, “Don’t think about it too much. Just don’t come here at night anymore.”

Zhu Xiaoyu nodded quickly, clearly not wanting to investigate what had happened. She was certain she would never come here at night again. She slowly stopped crying and asked again, “How did you know I was here?”

Chen Rong was about to pull Zhang Chao back to stop him from talking nonsense, but Zhang Chao blurted out, “Bai Qiu knew you went to the School of Medicine and said you were in danger, so she told me to come find you quickly.”

“Bai Qiu said I was in danger?” Zhu Xiaoyu’s face turned pale instantly.

Chen Rong quickly said, “Don’t listen to his nonsense; he’s just trying to scare you. We just happened to be passing by and looked up at the window upstairs; the person there looked like you, so we came up for a moment.”

Zhu Xiaoyu’s expression seemed to soften a little, and she pointed at Zhang Chao, saying, “Why are you carrying a flashlight?”

Chen Rong said, “He wanted to go fishing, right, Zhang Chao?” She quickly tugged at his clothes.

Zhang Chao could only say, “Yeah, we were planning to go fishing, and our gear is still over there.”

Zhu Xiaoyu looked at the two of them, nodded, and said, “Shall we go back together now?”

Zhang Chao said, “Okay, don’t worry about it. Go back and get a good night’s sleep.”

Zhu Xiaoyu nodded, eager to leave this awful place as quickly as possible. The three of them went downstairs together.

When they reached the first floor, a sudden gust of cold wind blew in. In Hangzhou in March, the nights were still quite cold, and strong winds were common.

As they descended the stairs, the glass door of the fire extinguisher box on the right wall wasn’t properly closed. The wind blew it shut with a bang, and then it slammed open again.

Zhang Chao glanced at it.

Just then, another gust of wind blew by.

As the glass door closed, it rotated to a certain angle, and suddenly, something less than a meter tall, appearing dark and upright, passed quickly across the glass.

What was that? It looked like a small bear.

Zhang Chao’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked into the distance, but the empty first-floor platform was completely deserted.

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

Zhang Chao smiled and said, “Nothing, let’s go.”

He didn’t want to tell Zhu Xiaoyu about it. After all, Zhu Xiaoyu must be terrified already; telling her anything else might break her.

The three of them took their bicycles and together escorted Zhu Xiaoyu back to her dormitory.

After watching Zhu Xiaoyu go inside, Zhang Chao and Chen Rong pushed their bikes and walked back around the path leading to the student activity center.

Zhang Chao cautiously asked, “Why didn’t you let me tell her just now?”

Chen Rong smiled. “Bai Qiu has a mental illness, and Zhu Xiaoyu knows that. If you tell Zhu Xiaoyu that Bai Qiu can predict the future, wouldn’t she be scared? She’s already been quite traumatized tonight; you don’t want to traumatize her further.”

Zhang Chao suddenly realized, “That’s right, it wouldn’t be good if Zhu Xiaoyu got sick from fright. But by the way, I read some information about dissociative identity disorder. It’s said that a very small number of people with dissociative identity disorder can foresee the future. Do you think that’s true?”

Chen Rong shook her head slightly and smiled, “To be honest, there are reports about this, but I personally don’t really believe it because I think it’s a matter of probability. Out of ten thousand people making predictions, a few will be accurate; you can’t just say they can foresee the future.”

Zhang Chao asked, “Then how do you think Bai Qiu knew this time?”

Chen Rong explained, “Bai Qiu’s illness might be due to some kind of fright she experienced at the School of Medicine, which is why she has such a strong impression of it. When she saw Zhu Xiaoyu heading west, her first reaction was that Zhu Xiaoyu went to the School of Medicine and that there was danger there, which is why she called you over.”

Zhang Chao asked, “But what exactly happened to Zhu Xiaoyu at the School of Medicine today? She also heard a woman singing opera.”

Chen Rong shook her head. “I don’t know either. Maybe there really is something unclean there. Hehe, anyway, I think the truth will come out eventually.”

Zhang Chao suddenly remembered and said, “By the way, when Bai Qiu called me over today, she insisted that I bring you along. I wonder why. Are you close to her?”

“She wanted you to bring me?” Chen Rong shook her head, puzzled. “I’m actually not that close to her. You can ask her next time. Remember to tell me.”

Zhang Chao nodded. Just then, “Achoo, achoo, achoo…” he sneezed more than ten times in a row. After sneezing, his throat and tonsils felt a little sore. He said, “I probably caught a cold today. I need to go back and get some sleep.”

After saying goodbye to Chen Rong and leaving, he returned to his dormitory, brewed some Banlangen ^{(a traditional Chinese medicine)}, drank it, and lay down on the bed wanting to sleep but could not. He then took out the sleeping pills Chen Rong had given him, and after taking them, he fell asleep peacefully not long after.