Room 404

Everyone was startled by the sudden turn of events. The Fatty instantly jumped back a step, remembering to pull Jiang Cheng along with him. The girl in dinosaur pajamas stumbled, her legs giving way, and nearly fell to the ground.

Only Suit Man pushed past the stunned young man in the hat and walked up to the woman, his face beaming with a warm smile. "We just wanted to ask. The equipment is rather delicate, after all. If it's damaged while being stored or moved, it could cause unnecessary trouble for our shoot."

The man certainly looked good, and he was a smooth talker, too. The woman, whose face had been as pale as a corpse's, seemed to be infected by his manner and gradually regained some color. She even looked a little embarrassed. "Don't misunderstand. I just meant that it's late today, and the equipment-room teacher should have gone home."

Suit Man nodded understandingly. "I see. Then we can go when it's convenient."

Jiang Cheng watched the man's performance from a distance, his face expressionless. Suit Man's smile never wavered, as if he had no idea how dangerous the world could be.

The Fatty sidled over and whispered, "Don't you think that guy seems like a real piece of work?"

Jiang Cheng glanced at him. "I don't know if he's a bad guy, but he's definitely not simple."

"So should we watch out for him?"

After the previous mission, the Fatty understood that danger in a mission didn't come only from vicious ghosts. Sometimes, teammates couldn't be trusted, either.

To his surprise, Jiang Cheng seemed unconcerned. He waved a hand and said, "Just treat him normally. Someone who stands out as soon as the mission begins is at most not simple, but that doesn't make him scary. Real danger is usually hidden in the places you'd least expect, like a venomous snake that strikes to kill."

The Fatty blinked his beady eyes and scanned everyone in the crowd. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn't trust anyone. He took a step toward the Doctor, until the two of them were almost touching.

The campus was a little bigger than they had imagined, and the scenery was nice, too. Trees lined the road in a neat, sparse arrangement, and there were even flowers in bloom in a small garden they passed.

If they hadn't been in a mission, it would have made for a pleasant stroll.

The woman leading the way didn't say much, but she answered every question, so everyone got a general idea of the school from her.

The school was called Yuying Music Academy. Just as its name suggested, it followed an elite model.

Despite the campus's size, there weren't many students. Each class had fewer than twenty.

When they passed the main teaching building, the woman stopped for a moment. But when she realized Jiang Cheng and the others had no intention of taking pictures, she led them away again.

It wasn't time for classes to end yet, but the entire campus was deserted. There wasn't a single student in sight.

This time, the woman brought them to an old dormitory building.

It was a very old-fashioned dormitory block, built according to a design from decades ago. It looked out of place on the otherwise modern campus.

The old hinges let out a grating squeal that made everyone's heart tighten.

"You'll be staying here," the middle-aged woman said expressionlessly, pointing toward the dark depths of the hallway. "If you want to eat, go to the cafeteria. You have staff cards, so you can eat in either the student or staff cafeteria. But it's best to avoid peak meal times."

The woman in the qipao folded her arms and abruptly spoke up. "This place isn't fit to live in. It's so run-down." She looked at the wall in front of her with disgust. It was covered in some kind of mold. She waved a hand in front of her nose and said, "And it's filthy."

"You should be grateful you have a place to stay. Don't be so picky," the man in the hat, whom the woman had rebuffed earlier, scoffed.

Unexpectedly, the woman leading them came to the Qipao Woman's defense this time. "Don't worry. It may look run-down on the outside, but we've already tidied up the rooms you'll be staying in. They're perfectly livable."

Since the woman had said so, there wasn't much else they could do. It was clear that most of them weren't happy about staying here. Of course, their concern wasn't just about cleanliness. It was the oppressive feeling the building itself gave off.

Standing in front of the building, everyone felt the eerie atmosphere.

The feeling was hard to describe. It was as if the building were alive, silently watching the living who approached it.

The woman handed Suit Man four keys. Jiang Cheng saw that they were brass keys for old-fashioned locks, the kind that had long since gone out of use and were now rarely seen.

A piece of white tape was stuck to the end of each key, with a number written on it in blue ballpoint pen.

404, 405, 406, 407.

Four rooms.

After collecting the keys, Suit Man slipped them into his pocket and casually started talking to distract everyone.

Jiang Cheng, who was still in the first-floor lobby, walked over to the nearest room and pushed the door open. The moment it swung open, a wave of stale air poured out. He quickly stepped back. Once the air had cleared, the interior gradually came into view.

There were two beds in the dorm, one against each wall. Celebrity posters hung on the walls, though they were now impossible to make out.

There were also two small desks. The dorm looked as if it hadn't been occupied for a long time. The desks were stacked on top of each other in the corner.

Trash littered the room, along with empty mineral-water bottles coated in dust.

The only window had been left with just half its panes. The other half had apparently been smashed by something, leaving a gaping hole.

The rooms on each floor were probably laid out the same way. In other words, the rooms they were about to move into—404, 405, and the rest—were all double dorms.

Jiang Cheng didn't enter the unfamiliar room. He stepped back and looked at the woman. "There are only eight beds in the four rooms, but there are nine of us."

"Exactly," the Fatty chimed in. "If there aren't enough beds, where are we supposed to sleep?"

He had meant to get the woman to find them somewhere else to stay. They could even sleep on the floor in a classroom. This place was far too sinister, and it made him feel uncomfortable all over.

To his surprise, the woman gave an inscrutable smile. "Just make do for tonight. Maybe there'll be enough beds tomorrow."

The Fatty's expression froze.

"Fine," Jiang Cheng said. "We'll stay here tonight." He changed the subject. "When does the celebration start? We should get ready in advance."

"Seven days from now."

Jiang Cheng nodded to show he understood.

"We can walk around campus when we have time, right?" Suit Man continued. "The scenery here is really beautiful. We'd like to take a look around. We don't get an opportunity like this very often."

The woman considered it for a few seconds before reluctantly replying, "You can, but keep an eye on the time. As soon as it gets dark, go straight back to your rooms."