Forbidden Land – CH 039

Around 9 PM, Zhang Chao and Chen Rong finished their self-study in the East Campus and returned to the School of Medicine building.

Chen Rong asked, “Aren’t you afraid to go up this time?”

Zhang Chao nodded. “I don’t talk about strange phenomena, physical feats, or supernatural beings. I don’t believe in them, so naturally I’m not afraid.”

“Haha, really?” Chen Rong laughed disbelievingly. “Then you can go up alone. Why did you call me?”

Zhang Chao frowned. “Since we are already here, it’ll be good to go together.”

Chen Rong’s face seemed to flush slightly. She didn’t say anything and went up with him.

This time, they didn’t hear any knocking on the door upstairs, nor did they see anything strange. They reached the sixth floor safely.

Zhang Chao stood outside the third storage room where the mummified corpses were kept. He looked around, but there was nothing there. It was empty, no different from daytime.

But as he stared intently at the room, a chill ran down his spine.

Chen Rong laughed. “Go ahead and knock on the door to hear the singing.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chao couldn’t help but shiver. “What kind of joke is this at a time like this!” he said.

Chen Rong said, “Didn’t you say that if you don’t believe, you won’t be afraid? Go ahead and knock! I want to see if knocking on the door makes someone sing. I wonder if I can request a song.”

Zhang Chao muttered “crazy” under his breath, but her joke seemed to have dispelled any remaining fear. He reached out and knocked on the door a few times.

“Knock, knock, knock.” After the knocking, there was complete silence. There was no sound of a woman singing.

Zhang Chao found it strange; why was it silent this time? He knocked a few more times, but still no sound.

Chen Rong laughed. “Looks like you aren’t afraid. The woman singing probably got bored and went home to sleep, hehe.”

But just then, a “tap, tap” sound slowly began to ring out.

It came from downstairs!

From the south-facing staircase right next to them!

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong couldn’t help but change their expressions.

Zhang Chao cautiously whispered, “You think… who… who could this be?”

Chen Rong, mustering her courage, quietly glanced towards the staircase. It was completely dark, except for the sound of footsteps, seemingly endless, slowly ascending.

Chen Rong turned back from the darkness, frowned, and silently shook her head.

Zhang Chao took a deep breath and whispered, “Should we wait here or go north?”

Chen Rong thought for a second or two and said, “Let’s go north first!”

Zhang Chao nodded, and the two were about to walk north down the corridor when suddenly, a voice rang out from the staircase: “Who’s up there? Stop!”

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong were startled; the voice was definitely human.

Haha, it was a person.

Zhang Chao immediately breathed a sigh of relief, stopped walking forward, and turned back to the staircase, looking down.

Just then, the beam of a flashlight shone from the stairs. A few seconds later, an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties, holding a flashlight, slowly walked up. Seeing them, he angrily asked, “Are you students or just young people from the streets?”

Zhang Chao replied, “We are students here.”

The old man walked up, stared at the two of them, and said, “What are you doing here so late?”

Zhang Chao said, “Heh, we are just taking a stroll.”

“Just taking a stroll?” The old man seemed somewhat angry. “What are you doing in front of this dead people’s room in the middle of the night?!”

Chen Rong quickly feigned surprise. “What! This is the School of Medicine’s morgue?!”

The old man said, “Then what do you think you’re doing? Coming here to have a date?!”

Chen Rong feigned fear, saying, “Then let’s hurry downstairs.” She pulled Zhang Chao, trying to leave.

Zhang Chao couldn’t help but ask, “Master, what are you doing here?”

The old man replied, “You’re asking me? I’m a School of Medicine professor! What do you think I’d be doing here? I just happened to be passing by down here and saw you two running up. These are all specimens, very valuable. What if you students mess around and damage them?”

Zhang Chao said sheepishly, “Professor, I’m sorry, we didn’t know. We’ll be going now.”

As he spoke, he pulled Chen Rong to leave. The old man added, “You aren’t allowed to come here at night anymore, understand?”

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong quickly agreed and ran downstairs.

Once outside the Teaching Building, Zhang Chao let out a long sigh and said, “That old man was really fierce, scarier than a ghost.”

Chen Rong smiled and said, “He certainly gave me a fright.”

Zhang Chao said, “A School of Medicine professor, why are you leaving work so late? Even if there’s training or something at night, it’s in the east or west campus buildings, not here.”

Chen Rong said, “Maybe he just finished teaching a class and went to get to his car parked here.”

Zhang Chao said, “By the way, do you remember what he said earlier? He said not to come here at night. Why didn’t he say not to come here during the day, but specifically mention nighttime? Do you think this professor knows something? Should we go and ask him?”

Chen Rong said, “Are you going to ask a professor from the School of Medicine if this place is haunted? Are you kidding me? He just said not to come here at night casually; ordinary people don’t interpret things that clearly.”

“Really?” Zhang Chao mused, glancing back at the Teaching Building. The flashlight beam had already reached the fifth-floor staircase and was slowly turning around. It seemed the old man would be coming down soon. He’d better leave quickly, lest the old man see him and give him another dressing down.

But then Zhang Chao suddenly thought he and Chen Rong had been down for five or six minutes, and the old man still hadn’t reached the fifth floor. That meant he’d been on the sixth floor for five or six minutes. What was he doing on the sixth floor for so long?

And that phrase, “Don’t come here at night anymore,” the emphasis on “night”—was it just a slip of the tongue?

Chen Rong, seeing him staring blankly, asked, “What’s wrong? What are you thinking about again?”

Zhang Chao pointed to the Teaching Building and said, “Look at that old man; he’s only coming down now. What do you think he was doing on the sixth floor for so long?”

Chen Rong laughed. “You’re overthinking things again. Can’t someone use the restroom up there?”

Zhang Chao said, “But there’s no restroom on the sixth floor.”

Chen Rong laughed. “He’s a teacher. He’s just checking to see if all the storage room doors are locked. It’s just a habit out of a sense of responsibility. What’s so strange about that?”

Zhang Chao could only nod, glancing somewhat reluctantly at the Teaching Building. Finally, he and Chen Rong went to get their bicycles and prepared to go back.