Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Holding his phone, Hui River pushed open the dorm room door and walked out.

Normally, after eleven o'clock, the dorm supervisor auntie downstairs would urge them to turn off the lights. But today was a holiday, so Hui River wasn't in a hurry to do so.

However, right at that moment—

Click!

The entire dormitory went dark.

The fans and air conditioners stopped.

Only the laptop still emitted a faint ghostly glow.

W-what happened?

Hui River's first thought was that the dorm's electricity balance had run out.

He hurried back to his desk to look for his keys.

So dark.

He switched on his flashlight, fished the keys out of the drawer, grabbed the recharge card, and rushed out of the dorm.

The cold moonlight spilled across the corridor.

Looking down the hallway, all he could see was a pitch-black end with not a single light visible.

The dormitory tiles were bluish-green.

Under the beam of his phone's flashlight, they looked strangely eerie.

After leaving the room and reaching the second floor, Hui River realized something was wrong.

Not a single dorm room in the entire building had its lights on.

Even the corridor lights were dark.

No matter how broken they were, there was no reason for all of them to stop working at once.

It was only a little after eleven.

There was no way everyone in the building had already gone to sleep.

But why were all the other dorms so quiet?

Not a single sound could be heard.

Hui River swallowed and walked down to the first floor.

Even the auntie who usually stayed downstairs was nowhere to be seen.

He walked over to the power recharge machine and found its screen completely dark.

Was there really a power outage?

Unwilling to give up, he pressed it twice.

As expected, there was no response at all.

The dormitory lobby was silent.

Only the flashlight from his phone illuminated the area, far from enough to brighten the entire hall.

When he reached the main entrance, he discovered that the door was locked.

Hui River shoved it roughly twice, causing it to rattle loudly.

The noise only made the surrounding silence feel even more oppressive.

Frightened, he stopped pushing and turned to head back upstairs.

No matter what, he absolutely couldn't go wandering around recklessly.

Who knew what he might run into?

But at that moment, he suddenly felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

"Ah!"

Hui River screamed.

Successfully startling the person beside him as well.

What the hell?!

He immediately pointed his phone toward the side.

Unexpectedly, he saw a familiar face.

Mu Nan Zhi narrowed his eyes uncomfortably and raised a hand to block the bright light.

"It's me. Stop shining that thing."

"You nearly scared me to death."

Hui River let out a sigh of relief and moved the light away.

"The dorm lost power?"

"That's pretty obvious."

"Holy crap."

Hui River cursed.

"Losing power is one thing, but they locked the doors too."

Mu Nan Zhi replied indifferently,

"The curfew is a school rule. It has to be enforced no matter what."

Hui River looked him up and down.

Seeing that his hands were empty, he couldn't help feeling curious.

"How did you appear without making any sound? You came out without even bringing a flashlight."

"I live in Room 101. I only came out to check the situation."

Mu Nan Zhi pointed toward the door behind him.

"And I can see clearly."

Hui River was speechless.

"You're really something..."

"It looks like it's just an ordinary power outage. I'm going back to sleep."

"Hey, wait."

Hui River quickly stopped him.

"Don't you think this is creepy? Logically, it shouldn't be just the two of us coming out to investigate. It's so quiet everywhere. It's terrifying."

Thinking about the game poster for Campus Horror that he had seen earlier that night, a chill immediately ran through his feet.

Mu Nan Zhi looked at him thoughtfully.

"You do have a point. But it's a holiday. Maybe most of the students have gone out."

"Even then, there's no way the entire building only has the two of us left."

"Who said there are only the two of us? Do you even know how many people are still in the building?"

Mu Nan Zhi raised an eyebrow.

"Hui River, are you scared?"

"Why would I be scared?"

Hui River immediately denied it.

"I just think it's strange."

"Alright."

Mu Nan Zhi sighed.

"Then is anyone in your dorm room?"

"No."

He smiled.

"Coincidentally, no one is in my room either."

Mu Nan Zhi pulled out his phone from his pajama pants.

"I have a suspicion."

"A suspicion about what?"

Hui River leaned closer, trying to look.

Mu Nan Zhi glanced at him before lighting up the screen.

"This is?!"

Hui River's eyes widened.

To verify the message on Mu Nan Zhi's phone, he immediately opened WeChat and entered his class group chat.

【Power Outage Notice: Due to construction work, Dormitories Three, Four, Five, and Six will experience a power outage from approximately 11:00 PM until 10:00 AM the following morning. Students are requested to make arrangements to leave the dormitory in advance.】

When had this notice been posted?

Hui River scrolled upward and discovered it had been sent around five o'clock that afternoon.

He usually muted the class group chat and relied on his roommates to tell him important things.

"No wonder..."

Mu Nan Zhi put away his phone.

"No wonder what?"

"Nothing."

Hui River's expression darkened.

Back in the afternoon, Hao Road had suddenly announced that he was going out.

He had definitely seen this notice.

"I don't pay attention to messages in the class group, so I missed it this afternoon... Were you the same?"

"Mm. I was in the lab all afternoon and forgot about it."

Mu Nan Zhi was, as always, a top student.

Exactly the same type as Hao Road.

Handsome and capable.

Hui River felt a little envious.

Ever since entering university, he had become a member of the salted-fish army.

Thankfully, H University had such a strong academic atmosphere.

Otherwise, he would have completely drifted off course long ago.

"Now it makes sense. The students in the other dorms must have seen the notice and prepared ahead of time."

Hui River looked up.

"Why don't we figure out a way to leave the dorm? With the power out, it'll definitely be too hot to sleep tonight."

"So?"

"Let's go rent a room together."

Mu Nan Zhi's smile froze.

"..."

Hui River immediately realized his wording sounded ambiguous and quickly corrected himself.

"I spoke too fast. That's not what I meant."

"Mm."

Mu Nan Zhi smiled gently.

His refusal was equally decisive.

"Sorry. My athletic ability isn't that good. I'll just return to my dorm and endure one night."

"..."

Brother, it's just climbing through a window.

Even if you wanted to refuse, did you really have to come up with such a flimsy excuse?

"Alright then. Goodbye."

Hui River awkwardly waved at him.

Mu Nanzhi's expression instantly changed. He gritted his teeth and was just about to lecture him.

"You—"

"Mu Nanzhi!"

Hui Jiang grabbed his pajama sleeve as if he had found a lifesaving straw. His entire body was shaking. His usually clear black eyes were covered with a layer of mist. He looked utterly terrified.

"Save me!"

Mu Nanzhi paused.

The words he had prepared to scold him with got stuck in his throat.

"What happened?"

Hui Jiang's lips trembled.

"There... there's something in my dorm."

Mu Nanzhi frowned.

"Something?"

"A ghost!"

The moment the word left his mouth, Hui Jiang felt a chill run through his body again. He instinctively moved closer to Mu Nanzhi.

"I heard crying."

"And laughter."

"The power went out, and the system also malfunctioned."

The more he spoke, the more frightened he became.

His voice gradually turned hoarse.

"It was definitely not a normal thing."

Mu Nanzhi looked at him silently.

His hair was messy.

His pajamas were wrinkled.

His slippers were even on the wrong feet.

Clearly, he had run out in a panic.

"..."

For a moment, Mu Nanzhi did not know whether he should first mock Hui Jiang's courage or ask what this "system" was.

"Calm down."

He raised a hand and pulled Hui Jiang's hand off his sleeve.

"Tell me carefully."

Hui Jiang immediately recounted everything from beginning to end.

The power outage.

The strange crying.

The laughter by his ear.

The system suddenly speaking halfway before becoming garbled.

After listening, Mu Nanzhi fell silent.

"You don't believe me?"

Hui Jiang's heart immediately sank.

"I didn't say that."

Mu Nanzhi rubbed his forehead.

"Let's go take a look."

"What?!"

Hui Jiang nearly jumped up.

"Go back?"

Mu Nanzhi looked at him.

"If there really is a problem, shouldn't we confirm it first?"

"No!"

Hui Jiang shook his head desperately.

"You don't understand."

"What if it's really a ghost?"

Mu Nanzhi asked calmly,

"Then what do you plan to do?"

Hui Jiang froze.

"...Call the police?"

Mu Nanzhi looked at the screen of his phone.

The number 110 was indeed already entered.

"..."

He suddenly felt a headache.

"You were really going to call?"

"Of course!"

Hui Jiang said seriously,

"What if I die?"

Mu Nanzhi was speechless.

After a few seconds, he sighed.

"Let's go."

"No."

"Let's go."

"No."

Mu Nanzhi looked at him quietly.

Hui Jiang immediately shrank back.

"...Can I not go?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're the witness."

Hui Jiang looked devastated.

"Can't you just go by yourself?"

Mu Nanzhi replied,

"You think there's a ghost."

"Exactly!"

"Then why would I go alone?"

"..."

Hui Jiang was rendered speechless.

For some reason, that sounded perfectly reasonable.

"Come."

Mu Nanzhi turned around and walked toward the stairs.

Hui Jiang stood frozen in place.

The corridor was dark.

Cold wind continuously blew through.

The thought of returning to that dormitory made his scalp tingle.

But if Mu Nanzhi left and he stayed here alone...

After only two seconds of hesitation, Hui Jiang immediately chased after him.

"Wait for me!"

He practically glued himself to Mu Nanzhi's side.

Mu Nanzhi glanced sideways at him.

"Afraid?"

"No."

Hui Jiang answered instantly.

Then he grabbed Mu Nanzhi's sleeve even tighter.

"..."

Mu Nanzhi looked at the hand clutching his sleeve and chose not to expose him.

The two walked toward the upper floors together.

The corridor was silent.

Only their footsteps echoed softly.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The deeper they went, the more nervous Hui Jiang became.

His palms were already covered in sweat.

He kept glancing around.

Every dark corner looked suspicious.

Every gust of wind sounded strange.

The closer they got to the dormitory, the louder his heartbeat became.

Finally.

They arrived at the door of Hui Jiang's dorm.

The door was still half-open.

Pitch-black darkness filled the room.

Hui Jiang swallowed hard.

"That's it."

Mu Nanzhi looked inside.

Nothing unusual could be seen.

"Stay here."

Hui Jiang instantly grabbed him.

"No!"

Mu Nanzhi lowered his head.

"What now?"

"You can't leave my sight."

"..."

Mu Nanzhi was silent for a moment.

Then he said,

"Then come in together."

"I don't want to."

"You insisted there was something inside."

"I know!"

"Then we have to investigate."

Hui Jiang nearly cried.

Why did investigating a haunted dorm sound so natural when it came from Mu Nanzhi's mouth?

In the end, he gritted his teeth.

"...Fine."

The flashlight beam slowly swept into the dormitory.

The white light cut through the darkness.

The desks.

The chairs.

The beds.

Everything looked normal.

Hui Jiang hid behind Mu Nanzhi and carefully peeked inside.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Mu Nanzhi stepped into the room.

Hui Jiang immediately followed.

The two slowly moved forward.

The room was completely silent.

Only the wind blowing through the balcony caused the curtains to sway gently.

Suddenly—

"Wuuu..."

A faint sound appeared again.

Hui Jiang's face instantly turned pale.

"There!"

He almost climbed onto Mu Nanzhi.

"I heard it again!"

Mu Nanzhi also heard it.

He turned toward the balcony.

The sound came from there.

The two approached slowly.

The wind became stronger.

The curtain fluttered continuously.

"Wuuu..."

"Wuuu..."

The sound became clearer.

Mu Nanzhi stared for two seconds.

Then he walked over and lifted the curtain.

A plastic bag hanging on the balcony railing was being blown by the wind.

"..."

The strange crying sound instantly stopped.

Hui Jiang stared blankly.

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Mu Nanzhi looked back at him.

"A ghost?"

Hui Jiang's face turned red.

"Wait."

"There was also laughter."

Mu Nanzhi raised an eyebrow.

"Then where did the laughter come from?"

"I..."

Hui Jiang suddenly lost confidence.

Just then—

A phone notification sound suddenly rang from somewhere.

The abrupt noise startled Hui Jiang so badly that he almost jumped.

Mu Nanzhi followed the sound.

Then he picked up a pair of wireless earphones lying beside the bed.

The earphones had not been disconnected.

A short video app was still playing automatically.

Strange laughter continuously emerged from the earphones.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Hehehe..."

"..."

"..."

The dormitory fell completely silent.

Hui Jiang stood frozen.

His entire face gradually turned crimson.

Mu Nanzhi looked at him.

Then at the earphones.

Then at him again.

After a long pause, the corners of his mouth slowly lifted.

"You mean..."

"The ghost was a plastic bag."

"And the supernatural laughter was your own earphones?"

Hui Jiang wished he could dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.

"Mm..."

Mu Nanzhi had not expected that Hui Jiang would not only refuse to let go of him, but would instead throw himself at him even harder. The impact knocked him back several steps, and then he watched as Hui Jiang hurriedly locked the door in a panic.

Mu Nanzhi had been abruptly awakened, and his mood was not very good. He was a little tempted to curse.

"Hey! What are you—"

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared in surprise at the tears falling down.

Hui Jiang had rushed downstairs in such a hurry that he had not even brought his glasses.

Perhaps it was the relief of surviving a disaster.

Or perhaps it was because he had been frightened too badly.

At this moment, it was as if all the strength had been drained from his body. He no longer had the energy to control his emotions or his expression.

He did not like crying.

He hated crying even more.

To him, shedding tears was more like something associated with girls.

But this time, he could not hold it back.

His smile looked even worse than crying.

"I'm fine."

Mu Nanzhi said nothing.

Frowning, he stared at him.

When he noticed the emergency call screen on the phone, he pressed his lips together.

What exactly had happened that scared this guy enough to call the police?

He sighed.

Pulling Hui Jiang inside, he settled him into his own chair.

"Calm down first. Have some water."

He turned around, poured a cup of warm water, and placed it in front of the young man.