157 Knocking at Midnight

 

Opening the closet door, Han Fei pretended to place the can inside it but actually he was trying to see if he could keep the can inside his inventory. He eventually surrendered after failing several times. “Zhang Guanxing, do you know about other strange events that have happened here?” Han Fei hugged the black can and turned to Zhang Guanxing.

The ruffian had no idea why Han Fei would ask that question. He did not dare to answer willy-nilly. He thought about it before saying, “I hear from my girlfriend that someone has died in Room 304 on the 3rd floor. After midnight, the girls in Room 304 would hear footsteps from outside their door like someone was pacing in the 3rd floor corridor. Perhaps it was the dead girl looking for the way back to her room.”

“Your girlfriend? Aren’t you a bit young to be in a relationship?”

“Sir, is that the problem here? The dead have risen again!”

“Even so, that’s no excuse to be in a relationship so soon. Anyway, please continue the story.” Through what he said, Han Fei then realized Zhang Guanxing did not know what happened to Chuxia so he was not the one who hid inside the gym.

“Rumours said that the girl died because her roommates in Room 304 bullied and ostracized her. The dead girl was beautiful but she came from a poor family. She was shy and always appeared so friendly. She would not get angry no matter the things which were done to her, so everyone was surprised when she did what did.”

“Perhaps she was merely holding it all in and did not know to express what she really felt.” Han Fei had Zhang Guanxing carry the can. “We’ll look around this bedroom first, if we fail to find anything, then we’ll move onto the 3rd floor to take a look.”

“3rd floor? But that’s the girl hostel!”

“Male or female, they are all my students.”

After spending about 3 hours pretending to be busy, Han Fei left Room 201 with Zhang Guanxing. By then Xu Qin’s pet had grown from a small snake to a twisting python. It had consumed the negative energy on the school uniform, library book and video tape as well as the lingering curses on the notes of wishes. It was growing rapidly. Using the left staircase, they sneaked their way to the 3rd floor. Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing hid behind the door as they stared down the deserted corridor.

“When I came here in the past, this place used to be very lively. Some students would be up chatting or playing in their rooms through the night, others would even escape from the hostel to find their entertainment outside of school. But recently, this building feels like it has been hollowed out, it is eerily quiet.”

“Shush.” Han Fei stared at the landlord’s ring, there was no chill from his finger. “Something’s not right.” Yesterday night, the hostel manager patrolled the building and 3 children ghosts murdered a roomful of girls but tonight they were not seen anywhere. Not even their footsteps could be heard. ‘Have the hostel manager and the 3 ghosts eliminated each other?’ Yesterday night, Han Fei threw the ghosts’ schoolbag into the hostel manager’s office and then he logged off when he was hiding inside the toilet. If the 3 children ghosts could not find him, they might seek trouble with the hostel manager.

But the hostel manager was not a pushover either. She once admitted that she had murdered someone. Furthermore, she still managed her patrols in a building that was filled with murderers and ghosts, so she had to be quite powerful herself.

“We better be careful.” Han Fei tapped Zhang Guanxing on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go back to Room 104 to hide for now. After I’m done here, I’ll go get you. Don’t go anywhere else.” If they ran into danger, Han Fei could log off anytime but that would expose Zhang Guanxing to extreme danger.

“Sir, I think I prefer to stick with you. It feels safer being around you than to be in the room alone.” Without realizing it, Zhang Guanxing started to trust Han Fei, believing the latter was really a teacher at Yi Ming Private Academy.

“Then I need you to listen to my orders. Do not question them.”

It won’t do for them to stay at the staircase door forever so Han Fei decided to take a closer examination. Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing walked down the dark corridor and stopped before Room 304. When he placed his hand on the door handle, he felt something sticky in his palm. He lowered his head to look and noticed the handle was covered in a layer of blackened blood stain. It suggested a pair of bleeding hands use this door often.

Creak… Han Fei did not push but the door opened on its own. Pungent perfume and the smell of decomposition mixed together to form a very disgusting aroma. Pushing his nose into the crook of his elbow, Han Fei glanced into the room. At that moment, the robotic voice sang, “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered Grade G Hidden Mission—Knocking at Midnight.

“Mission Requirement: Enter Room 304, do not open the door no matter what happens. Stay inside the room for half an hour.

“Time-limited Mission: The Mission will automatically end one hour after it is triggered. If you have not completed the mission by then, the mission will be considered a failure.”

Han Fei triggered yet another hidden mission, this was unimaginable in the normal version of Perfect Life. ‘It’s another time-limited mission.’ Grade G Mission was difficult even for Han Fei. He did not want Zhang Guanxing to become collateral damage, he was about to order the man to leave when strange footsteps echoed in the corridor. The sound was hard to describe. It sounded like someone’s feet were dragging on the ground. Instead of moving on their own, said person was being dragged along by something else.

“Someone is coming?” Unable to confirm the source of the sound, Zhang Guanxing zipped into Room 304, “We better hide for now!”

It was too late to make the escape now so Han Fei had to follow him in. When the door closed, the hidden mission was activated. Han Fei ensured the door was locked and as an extra measure, moved the broom over to create another block. The ruffian who dropped out and an actor who was not the teacher stood inside the dark bedroom together. There was no light. The two held their breath and listened to the sound from outside the room. The nails scratched against the floor. The thing was coming closer to Room 304 and Han Fei’s heart raced. The air became moister and the horrible smell inside the room thickened. When the two thought it was over, the strange sound moved away from Room 304.

“It has left?” Zhang Guanxing’s voice was quivering.

“Don’t let your guard down, it’ll probably return.” Han Fei took several steps back. “Now is the time to search through this room for clues. We need to find useful information.”

Like a professional detective, Han Fei scanned the room and through the items left behind, started to reconstruct what had happened inside Room 304. The 4 girls who stayed in Room 304 came from less than stellar family backgrounds. Other than Girl 4, the other girls looked unassuming on their student Id. Girl 4 had fair skin and enviable body proportions. Of the 4 cupboards, only Girl 4’s drawers had cosmetics in them. However, they were not famous brands, in fact most of them were sample packs given at promotional events. Based on the worn state of most of the cosmetics, the girl did not use them that often. However, she did cherish them because she even had a special box to store them.

Han Fei picked up a small bottle of lotion. Han Fei tried to squeeze some out but it wouldn’t work. He studied it for a long time before he realized someone had glued the mouth shut. Putting down the bottle, Han Fei found a pack of contact lenses inside the trash can next to Bed No. 4. The lens also had traces of glue on them. ‘If she had put these on, she’d be blind.’ Han Fei stood beside Bed No. 4 and as more details surfaced, the tragedy that had befallen Girl 4 slowly formed in his mind.