Li Yiqian had already entered, and Chu Feifan and the others followed closely behind. They held flashlights and scanned the surroundings, but saw nothing suspicious.
"Why don't we go check the second floor?" Li Yiqian suggested.
"Why is it that we can't hear anything after entering this building?" Lin Yuan asked.
Su Jin'er thought for a moment and said, "Maybe someone deliberately lured us here. Let's go upstairs and take a look."
They carefully approached the staircase. The beam from their flashlights made the shadows around them flicker, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
No one knew why the school had used wooden flooring for the lab building. After years of wear, every step produced creaking sounds like squeaking rats.
"Do you smell something?" Su Jin'er asked.
"What smell?"
She sniffed again. "Something rotten. Like decay."
Though faint, the smell was enough to make her uncomfortable. At the same time, the air seemed colder than before.
"It does feel like the temperature just dropped," Lin Yuan said, rubbing his shoulders.
"It has, but don't you feel it's coming from upstairs?" Chu Feifan added.
"Could there really be something strange upstairs?" Du Xiaonan whispered, glancing up nervously.
"I've been here many times. I don't think there's anything unusual, and I still feel my sister is here," Li Yiqian said.
"Stop! We'd rather not have your sister here," Lin Yuan said awkwardly.
"Oh! Sorry," Li Yiqian replied with a sheepish smile.
By now, they had reached the second floor. The hallway was pitch black. They looked around but found nothing out of place.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
"You didn't find what you were looking for, did you?" Zuo Yi asked.
"What do you mean, what we were looking for?" Lin Yuan said loudly, her voice amplifying the silence.
"Why are we only checking the second floor? There must be more levels above," Su Jin'er said quietly.
Her words made everyone gasp.
Bang!
Just as they debated going up, a heavy thud came from above.
Everyone jumped and stared at the ceiling in shock.
"W-what was that?" Du Xiaonan stammered.
"Yiqian, have you ever been upstairs?" Su Jin'er asked.
Li Yiqian shook her head.
"Maybe it was just something falling over. Let's go see," Chu Feifan said as he took the lead up to the third floor.
Even though the sound wasn't loud, it was muffled and disturbing in the silent night.
"Can't we just not go up? I'm scared. This place is creepy!" Du Xiaonan clung tightly to Su Jin'er.
Everyone felt afraid. None of them wanted to be here at night, exploring a creepy place.
"No, what if it's a thief? As students, it's our duty to protect the school's property," Chu Feifan insisted. As the student council president on duty that night, he felt a sense of responsibility.
He walked upstairs, with Zuo Yi following behind. Su Jin'er and Lin Yuan joined them, and Li Yiqian hurried to catch up. Du Xiaonan had no choice but to follow.
The old lab building had three floors. The third floor was originally for experiments too, but had become a storage space after the new lab building was built.
"So it really is just a storage area," Zuo Yi said, shining his light around. "President, we still don't know much about the school. You should explore more sometime and learn about our history."
"The dust in here is choking," Lin Yuan fanned the air.
Su Jin'er shone her flashlight around. Besides dust, she smelled something metallic—like blood. But why would there be a blood smell?
Her light suddenly fell on a dark heap. As she approached, the smell grew stronger. Could it be...
"No way..." she murmured, almost gasping aloud.
Hearing her, the others slowly approached.
"Ah!" Du Xiaonan and Lin Yuan screamed, only to have their mouths covered.
They stared wide-eyed at the scene before them.
On the floor was a corpse, mouth agape, eyes wide open, a knife lodged in its neck. Blood slowly trickled out.
Fear gripped everyone, rendering them breathless.
"How could this happen?" Zuo Yi muttered, staring at the body. He could almost feel the warmth of the blood.
Su Jin'er inhaled deeply, the cold air stinging her lungs.
Was this premeditated? Or a repeat of something from five years ago? No one had an answer.
"Should we call the police?" Li Yiqian asked, clearly terrified.
"But it's the middle of the night. How do we explain being here?" Lin Yuan said.
"Call them," Su Jin'er said quietly, her face deathly pale. "I think this is just the beginning."
Her words sent chills down their spines.
Suddenly, a police siren shattered the midnight silence. In their beds, people cursed, but few got up in the cold autumn night.
As expected, the six were taken to the station for questioning. After an hour, they were finally released.
Back in their dorm, it was already past 3 a.m. None of them could sleep. They sat silently, staring.
"What do you make of all this?" Su Jin'er asked.
Du Xiaonan, still trembling, said, "I'm too scared to think."
"I think it has something to do with my sister's death. I'm sure of it," Li Yiqian said firmly, twirling her flashlight.
"Jin'er, if you know something, please say it. We're terrified," Lin Yuan added.
"I want you to answer honestly. Did you dream that night we got lost during military training?"
Everyone froze. Those dreams had been horrifying.
"It was terrifying," Du Xiaonan whispered.
"In my dream, Zhang Junsheng ran away in fear, then you disappeared, and we saw Zhang get killed in a strange village," Lin Yuan said.
"Yes, mine was the same. Why did we all dream the same thing?" Du Xiaonan asked.
"Chu Feifan and I had the same dream," Su Jin'er said, then looked at Li Yiqian, who had been silent.
"My dream was different," she said softly.
"What?"
"In my dream, it was Xu Mengguang who ran first, and Xu Lingling who disappeared, not me."
Everyone gasped.
Was her dream unique? Or were there others like hers? Su Jin'er pondered.
From military training onwards, strange things had been happening—a woman burning bones, curses, ghostly cries, identical dreams. But why was Li Yiqian's dream different? Was she hiding something? And what did Zhang Junsheng really know?
After thinking for a long time, she found no answers. Eventually, the room filled with the sound of steady breathing.
She smiled faintly. As long as they could still sleep, that was enough.
It was past five. Dawn would come soon. She closed her eyes. Tomorrow, there was work to do.
She didn't know how long she had slept when she awoke, groggy and aching. Her head throbbed.
"Jin'er, are you okay?" Lin Yuan ran to her side.
"I'm fine. Probably just a cold. My head hurts."
"Then lie down and rest. It's Saturday. No class."
"But I have to find someone," she said, struggling to sit.
"For what happened last night?"
She nodded. "This isn't over. Two people are already dead. I have a feeling more will follow. We have to stop it."