Found You

In Qin Feng's perception, countless wisps of gray-black resentment, finer than a strand of hair, seeped out from every crack in the walls, ceiling, and floor.

They were no longer disordered threads but were converging, rushing towards a source on the top floor.

He stepped onto the stairs, his pace steady.

"Creeeak... creeeak..."

The old voice-activated lights flickered on and off as he precisely controlled his steps.

The higher he went, the more potent the rusty, bloody smell and the stench of decay in the air became.

On the fifth floor, the resentment here had almost condensed into tangible ink, stretching long, despairing threads through the air.

Inside Dorm Room 502.

The curtains were drawn tightly, blocking out all light.

The door was barricaded by a desk, with two suitcases filled with books, weighing over a hundred pounds, pressed down on top of it.

Two pale-faced boys huddled in a corner of the room, their bodies trembling like sieves.

"Kai... the cops are gone... they're really gone! They forgot about us!" Zhang Wei, slightly overweight, hugged his knees, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, his voice distorted by extreme fear.

"When they went door-to-door checking on people, we... we were sleeping like dead pigs... It must have been that ghostly thing's doing!"

Liu Kai clutched his mobile phone tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Fear was the best plague, spreading exponentially in a confined, desperate environment.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing ring, like an old rotary phone, erupted without warning in the deathly silent room.

"Ring ring-- ring ring--!"

The source of the sound was the mobile phone clutched in Liu Kai's hand.

The two boys jolted violently.

Zhang Wei let out a short scream, as if his throat had been choked, then immediately clamped his hand over his mouth.

Liu Kai stared at the unknown number on the screen, its suffix being "0000," his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

He wanted to hang up, to throw the damned phone into the deepest hell, but his fingers felt welded in place by an invisible force, unable to move.

The call was forcibly connected.

"Zzz... zzzzzt..."

After a grating burst of static, a strange voice slowly flowed from the earpiece.

The voice was neither male nor female, like countless sharp steel needles scraping frantically across glass, each syllable carrying a bone-chilling, icy malice.

"Sharp... metal... will pierce... your body."

"You... will become a pool of rot..."

"Nailed to... the ground..."

As the words fell, the call abruptly ended.

In the room, the silence was so profound that one could hear their heart pounding like a drum in their chest.

"No... no! I don't want to die!" Liu Kai sprang up from the floor as if driven mad, frantically searching the dorm, his eyes bloodshot. "Scissors, throw them away! The fruit knife, throw it away too! And your pen holder, there's a utility knife in it, hurry!"

He acted like a madman, forcefully throwing everything with a sharp metal edge out the window. A clattering sound echoed from downstairs.

But even so, the police outside showed no reaction.

Zhang Wei, infected by his panic, shakily joined in the cleanup.

Soon, all items in the dorm that could be considered weapons were cleared out.

"There... there's nothing left..." Liu Kai gasped for air, leaning against the wall, his eyes vacant. "No more sharp metal, I won't die... right, I won't die..." he repeated to himself like a mantra, trying to dispel the clinging, parasitic fear.

Zhang Wei looked around the empty room and felt a slight sense of relief.

But at that moment, his gaze unconsciously swept over the old metal bunk bed in the dorm.

The next second, his face turned "whoosh," paler than the plaster on the wall.

"Kai... Kai..." he pointed at the bed with a trembling finger, his hand contorted. "The bed... the bed frame..."

Liu Kai followed his gaze and froze.

It was an iron bed that had seen countless years of use. The paint had long since peeled off, revealing the rusty metal beneath.

Due to disrepair, one of the square support bars connecting the upper and lower bunks had broken at the joint. The broken end had been torn open by years of pressure into an incredibly sharp, rust-colored, gleaming gap.

"No... impossible..." Liu Kai's lips trembled as he backed away step by step, as if the bed were some ancient beast.

His foot caught on a pen cap that had rolled out when he threw away the pen holder. He instantly lost his balance, stumbling backward.

Instinct for survival made him subconsciously reach out, grabbing the edge of the upper bunk, trying to steady himself.

"Crr-SNAP!"

The already fragile connection point of the bed frame couldn't withstand the sudden force of Liu Kai's grip. The last bit of metal snapped with a resounding crack!

The entire bed board of the upper bunk, along with the mattress and bedding on top, instantly lost all support. Like a giant guillotine, it crashed down with a roar towards the broken support rod directly below, which gleamed with a deadly cold light!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

In Liu Kai's pupils, only the rusty metal spike, growing closer and closer, remained.

Zhang Wei collapsed on the ground, his mouth agape in terror, but no sound came from his throat.

The prophecy was about to come true.

Not a ghost's push, not external interference, but the victim's own actions, driven by fear, had ultimately triggered the mechanism of death.

A perfect closed loop of rules.

"Bang--!"

At this critical juncture, the dormitory door, held shut by the desk, was violently kicked open from the outside with irresistible force!

Wood chips and torn paper flew everywhere as two heavy suitcases were overturned by the immense power.

A tall figure, silhouetted against the dim light of the corridor, descended like a god.

Without any pause, his right hand flashed out, drawing a handgun from his sports bag. It was entirely black, etched with fine silver patterns, his movements so fluid they seemed practiced a thousand times.

He didn't even take the time to aim, locking onto the target purely by instinct.

"Bang!"

A dull gunshot exploded in the cramped dormitory, making eardrums ring.

A spinning bullet, carrying a wave of heat and terrifying kinetic energy, struck the broken support rod that was about to pierce Liu Kai's body, precisely and without deviation!

"Clang!!"

The immense impact force sent the metal rod flying, narrowly missing Liu Kai's falling body!

"Thump!"

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Liu Kai and Zhang Wei were stunned, staring blankly at the stranger holding the gun, a wisp of smoke still rising from its muzzle, their minds completely blank.

Qin Feng slowly lowered the gun, flicked his wrist, and a scorching shell "dinged" as it popped out, landing in his outstretched palm.

Without even looking, he casually pocketed the shell, his gaze sweeping over the two shaken students, finally landing on the collapsed iron bed.

A playful curve formed on his lips as he spoke slowly.

"Classmates, haven't you read the school dormitory safety regulations?"

Before he finished speaking, the mobile phone that Liu Kai had dropped on the floor suddenly erupted with a blood-red light on its screen!

It was no longer a ringtone, but a piercing shriek that could tear the soul apart, filled with rage and malice. It transformed into a tangible mental shockwave that swept through the entire room!

"--Ahhhhhhh!!!"

Zhang Wei and Liu Kai instantly clutched their heads and screamed, feeling as if countless steel needles were piercing their brains.

Qin Feng merely frowned, his cold, sharp gaze immediately locking onto the mobile phone, which was vibrating frantically, its screen flickering.

He took a step forward, raised his foot, and stomped down decisively.

"Crack!"

The screen shattered, and the shrieking stopped abruptly.

There was no trace of amusement in Qin Feng's eyes, only the absolute coldness of a hunter locking onto its prey.

"Got you, little thing."