Forbidden Land – CH 043

After Zhang Chao fell asleep, in the middle of the night, the black cat suddenly started meowing.

Zhang Chao immediately woke up and listened carefully. Damn it, someone was banging on the bathroom window again.

Was it crazy? It came knocking every few days.

This frequency was more than a woman’s period!

A woman at least had their period once a month. This knocking on the window was happening every two or three days.

Just then, it seemed to hear the black cat meowing outside, and the knocking stopped abruptly.

Zhang Chao quickly jumped out of bed, dressed as fast as he could, quietly opened the dormitory door, silently closed it behind him, and then ran out of the dormitory.

After getting through the security gate, he arrived at the small square in Baisha and ran towards the grass as fast as he could. When he reached the grass, he saw that no one was around. He angrily circled around but still couldn’t find a soul.

Damn it, the person got away again!

Then, he looked up at his dorm room and saw what appeared to be a rag doll hanging from the windowpane, on the lock handle. The doll swayed in the night breeze, occasionally turning its head to look at him.

He felt a chill and didn’t want to look at the doll.

Why put a small coffin there first, and now a rag doll? What was it trying to do?

The grass was more than two meters away from the bathroom window, and he couldn’t take the doll down immediately. He’d have to wait until he got back to his dorm to get it down.

When he reached the Baisha Square, someone else walked towards him—it was Lin Yi’ang!

Lin Yi’ang’s face seemed to panic for a moment when he saw Zhang Chao, but it was only for a fleeting moment before he regained his composure. Lin Yi’ang took out his phone, glanced at it, and spoke first, “It’s already 2 AM. Old Zhang, are you having another episode? What are you doing out in the middle of the night?”

Zhang Chao replied, “You’re out in the middle of the night, too.”

Lin Yi’ang wiped his mouth and said, “It’s because you didn’t bring me instant noodles. I was hungry, so I found a girl, and we went to eat barbecue outside Wangyue Apartments in the back.”

Wangyue Apartments was located north of Zijingang, a resettlement community for farmers from nearby areas. You could exit through the back gate of the school (near the school hospital, though it was closed at night, so you had to climb over). Barbecue stalls there often stayed open until the next morning. Some students who studied in the all-night classroom, played computer games late, or went out would run out to buy barbecue in the middle of the night.

Zhang Chao scoffed, “You can find a girl to go eat barbecue with?”

“Damn it!” Lin Yi’ang cursed, “You’re allowed to find my cousin, this beautiful Bai Qiu, but I’m not allowed to find girls? Even though I don’t have a girlfriend, I still get tons of beautiful girls coming to me when I pay for food.”

Zhang Chao said, “I’m not going to waste my breath on you anymore; I’m going back.”

Lin Yi’ang said, “You still haven’t told me what you were doing out in the middle of the night.”

Zhang Chao said dejectedly, “Which bastard knocked on my bathroom window again in the middle of the night? I ran out to catch him red-handed, but he still got away. Tomorrow I’m going to the electronics market to buy a security camera and keep an eye on him.”

Lin Yi’ang asked suspiciously, “Knocked on your window again? That’s really strange.”

Zhang Chao sighed angrily, “Sooner or later, I’ll skin that beast alive.”

With that, the two opened the door and went inside together. Lin Yi’ang went to Room 121, while Zhang Chao returned to his Room 123, closed the door, went into the bathroom, and brought in the hanging rag doll. After examining it closely, he suddenly realized something.

This rag doll also belonged to Bai Qiu!

It was something Bai Qiu liked when they went shopping on Yan’an Road, and he bought it on a whim.

The wind chime and the rag doll both belonged to Bai Qiu. Could something have happened to Bai Qiu?

But then he thought, Bai Qiu was with him when that person hung the wind chime, so she should be fine.

But what was this person’s intention? Why did this person keep playing this game with him like this?

Zhang Chao sighed helplessly, climbed into bed angrily, glanced at his phone—it was almost 3 AM—and felt sleepy. He cursed, “Damn it, every time I don’t have class the next day, that person comes knocking on my window in the middle of the night.”

Upon saying this, he suddenly sat up. Right, why did the knocking on the window always happen when he didn’t have class the next day or when he had the day off?

And a few days ago, when he was sick, he didn’t know if it was because he didn’t hear it or for some other reason; that beast actually had a change of heart and didn’t knock.

Was this just a coincidence, or was there another reason?

He couldn’t figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it, covered himself with the blanket, and went to sleep.

The next morning, as soon as he tried to get out of bed, he felt a headache and weakness all over his body, and his tonsils were burning hot again.

He touched his forehead; it was burning hot again. He definitely had a fever.

It had only been three days! Three days ago, he had just received an injection for a viral cold, and perhaps because of his good constitution, he miraculously recovered in just a day or two. But now, after just one day of recovery and one night’s sleep, he had a fever again.

“This illness is so bizarre!”

Helpless, Zhang Chao forced himself to get up and, just like three days ago, went to the school clinic, registered, waited in line, had tests done, waited in line again, and got an IV drip.

Later, it was Chen Rong who called him again, learned he was sick, came to the clinic to see him, and ate with him.

Zhang Chao told Chen Rong everything that had happened the night before. Chen Rong thought about it for him, but she didn’t know what the person hanging Bai Qiu’s wind chimes and doll was for. She could only advise Zhang Chao to relax and, if necessary, change dorm rooms.

Zhang Chao shook his head, at a loss. After returning to his dorm, he went online and found a local Hangzhou online store specializing in electronic products. He inquired in detail with the shop owner, who recommended a webcam costing a little over 200 yuan, which supposedly could clearly illuminate objects within 5 meters even in extremely low light at night.

After Zhang Chao bought the camera, the shop owner sent him some software, saying it was specifically for storing surveillance footage. The software would automatically find the moments when the footage changed, allowing users to see the changes without having to scroll through the entire recording.

Zhang Chao thought to himself, “This is really useful.” His laptop could last for six hours on battery. He could put the laptop in the bathroom, connected to the webcam, and secretly place the webcam in a corner of the bathroom window. Then, the next time that bastard came and knocked on the window in the middle of the night, it would be recorded. The next day, he could use the software to find the moment the footage changed and clearly see who the scoundrel was.