The Voice

After taking the four keys from the woman, Jiang Cheng put them in his left pocket. He kept his left hand in his pocket the whole time, doing something unknown, while continuously talking to distract us.

Fatty felt his brain struggling again. He asked warily, "Did he do something to the keys?"

"Not clear yet," Jiang Cheng replied. "I checked the keys just now and found nothing strange."

Fatty nodded, muttering to himself, "So, Doctor, you had the woman in pajamas go over there to interrupt his little tricks?"

Fatty gritted his teeth, indignant. "Doctor, this Suit Man looked alright, but I didn't expect him to be so rotten underneath. He even retaliated by assigning us to Room 404."

"I'm going to nap for a bit," Jiang Cheng ignored him, rolling over. "Wake me up in an hour."

"Okay." Fatty took the watch Jiang Cheng tossed over.

The watchband wasn't long enough for him to wear, so he just held it in his palm.

Though not very sleepy, he sat up and wrapped himself in the blanket to prevent himself from dozing off unintentionally.

The night was quiet; the entire campus seemed dead.

Fatty thought there probably weren't any students living nearby, or it wouldn't be this quiet.

An hour later, Fatty got out of bed and woke Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng slept lightly. He had already woken up when Fatty got out of bed, but he waited until Fatty nudged him a few times before groggily opening his eyes.

He sat up and stretched his neck and shoulders. The pillow here wasn't comfortable. He was used to the buckwheat pillows at home and couldn't get used to the soft cotton ones.

"Has anything strange happened during this time?"

"No," Fatty said. "Don't worry, Doctor. I would wake you even if I found a cockroach. You know my vigilance is very high."

Jiang Cheng stood up and walked to the door. He didn't get too close, just listened to the sounds in the corridor from a distance.

After a while, he returned to his bed, lay on it, and listened to the sounds next door for a bit.

"Doctor," Fatty said, "they should all be asleep. It's very quiet around here."

Jiang Cheng glanced at him without speaking, took the watch back from Fatty, and put it on his wrist.

Although Fatty wasn't hungry after eating chocolate, he felt very thirsty.

Another half hour passed. Jiang Cheng estimated in his mind that it was about time and prepared to act. He first warned Fatty to act completely clueless no matter what happened.

Fatty was full of questions but agreed wholeheartedly out of trust in Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng then dug out an old ten-cent coin from a corner on the floor. He picked up the coin and returned to the wall next to his bed, gently scraping the wall plaster with the edge of the coin.

"Scrape--"

"Scrape--"

Again and again.

The force was just right; the sound wasn't loud, but it was very clear in the silent night.

"What are you doing?"

The faint scraping sound gave Fatty goosebumps. Many people have a physiological aversion to such friction sounds.

Jiang Cheng didn't answer, continuing the scraping motion.

Gradually, sounds began to come from next door. Though not loud, the disorganized noises indicated the panic of the people next door.

Next door was Room 405.

The room of the Suit Man and the Hat Man.

After a while, the sound of a door being pushed open echoed from the corridor, followed by rapid, disorganized footsteps.

Hearing the footsteps, Jiang Cheng immediately stopped scraping the wall with the coin, carefully wiped off any plaster debris from the coin, and then tossed it into an inconspicuous corner on the floor.

However, the footsteps moved away from Jiang Cheng's Room 404, stopped, and were followed by messy knocking and the voices of the Suit Man and the Hat Man.

Soon, the corridor became lively again.

Jiang Cheng feigned waking up, slowly pushed open his door, and seemed surprised to see everyone outside. His expression instantly turned fearful. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing Jiang Cheng emerge, the Suit Man at the front seemed to pause. After a moment, he asked in a strange tone, "Did you hear a strange noise?"

"A strange noise?" Jiang Cheng scratched his head. "No, I just fell asleep. It's very quiet around here."

"No?" The Suit Man's expression turned grim. He suddenly seemed to recall something and hurriedly asked, "Where's that Fatty in your room?"

"I'm here," Fatty said, poking his head out of the room. His hair was messy, as if he had just woken up. "Brother, what do you need me for?"

The situation was urgent, so the Suit Man asked directly, "Did you hear a very strange noise?" He paused and described it, "Like something being scraped with a spoon?"

Fatty widened his eyes and asked in confusion, "No, I haven't slept at all. I didn't hear anything."

Hearing Jiang Cheng's and Fatty's answers, the people from the other two rooms, except for the Suit Man and the Hat Man, showed expressions of immense relief.

At the same time, their gazes towards the Suit Man were filled with contemplation.

Only the people in Room 405 had heard the strange noise. Did that mean... they would encounter those things first?

In other words, they would die first.

"We're going back," the woman in the qipao said first.

Then she walked straight back into her room, the woman in the dinosaur pajamas following behind like a little tail, afraid of being left behind.

Seeing that everyone in 407 had been so decisive, the three people in 406 didn't linger either. After a few polite words, they also scurried back to their rooms.

They slammed their doors shut with a "boom," as if afraid something would follow them in.

Now, only Suit Man and Hat Man, whose expressions were so dark they could drip water, were left.

Jiang Cheng leaned against the doorframe, a puzzled look on his face. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he blurted out, "Could hearing a strange scraping sound be the trigger for a vengeful spirit to kill? That's too terrifying!"

"Fatty," Jiang Cheng turned his head, his voice filled with panic. "Did you really not hear anything?"

Fatty replied with perfect cooperation, "My good brother, I really didn't. How about you?"

"I was the same as everyone else, asleep. I didn't hear a thing," Jiang Cheng spread his hands, putting on an innocent and pitiable expression.

"That's great," Fatty said. "Then we don't have to die."

With that, the two of them closed their doors, leaving Suit Man and Hat Man alone in the dimly lit corridor.