There was no better option, so Yu Wen stepped in and found the woman in charge of coordinating things.
The woman looked a little awkward, then tactfully told them that the men's bathroom on this floor was out of service for some reason. If they didn't mind—
By now, Long Tao's expression had grown even worse. The sudden, excruciating pain made his stomach feel as if a knife were twisting inside it.
He probably wouldn't mind.
The woman started to lead Long Tao to the bathroom.
Yu Wen asked Zhou Taifu and Zhang Yinyin, who was hiding off to the side, to go with them.
Zhou Taifu was a thousand times unwilling, but he didn't dare offend Yu Wen, so he could only follow along reluctantly, his face so grim it looked ready to drip.
Zhang Yinyin still looked timid, trailing behind them like a little shadow.
A short while later.
The final choir performance began.
The girls from the three classes had been mixed up and arranged in alternating positions on the choir platform.
Their singing was sometimes gentle and graceful, sometimes soaring and powerful. Guided by the conductor, the performance gradually reached its climax.
"Click! Click! Click!"
Sharp high heels struck the marble floor, sending out a series of ringing sounds.
The woman walked quickly. She was worried about Long Tao, but she also had to get back to supervise the rehearsal.
After all, she would be held responsible if anything went wrong.
After turning a corner, the woman stopped and pointed ahead, speaking quickly. "The bathroom is straight ahead. This area is rather remote, so few people come here."
She turned back to Long Tao and said, "Your friends will keep watch outside, so you can relax."
"Th-thank you."
"I still have things to do, so I can't wait for you." After saying goodbye, the woman turned and headed back.
As she walked, she checked her phone, as if she had something urgent to deal with.
Once the woman had left, the hallway fell abruptly quiet. Zhou Taifu had already been a thousand times unwilling to come, and now he kept urging Long Tao to hurry up.
"Okay, I'll go in first." Long Tao had only run a couple of steps when he suddenly stopped. He turned around, his expression pleading. "You have to wait for me to come out. Don't leave without me."
"Yeah, yeah, got it." Zhou Taifu waved impatiently.
Only then did Long Tao continue running.
The bathroom was even farther away than he had expected, at the end of the corridor on the left.
He turned around and called toward Zhou Taifu and Zhang Yinyin. "Come a little closer and wait for me outside the door!"
"Got it. Hurry up!"
A somewhat muffled voice came from the other end of the corridor. It sounded like Zhou Taifu's, and was full of impatience.
Only after hearing their reply did Long Tao's tense nerves relax a little.
The women's bathroom was on the left.
It was also his destination.
He took a deep breath.
"Anyone in there?"
There was no answer after a moment. The place was so quiet, it seemed completely dead.
Just as he was about to step into the bathroom, his right eyelid suddenly twitched. The unexpected jolt made him stop dead.
A horror movie he'd watched many years ago suddenly came to mind.
He had long since forgotten its name, but one scene from it had stayed with him.
The heroine had listened to one of her companions and entered a bathroom, where a female ghost with no lower body, crawling on her front limbs, had gouged out her eyes while she was still alive.
It had been a horrifying death.
In his mind, what else was a nightmare but a horror movie, with them as the chosen protagonists?
So.
He slowly backed away and turned around.
The men's bathroom was across from him.
It clearly hadn't been used in a long time. Its pale-blue iron door hung ajar, its surface mottled, with patches of rust showing through.
He turned around again. By comparison, the women's bathroom was in far better shape. Its door stood wide open, and its interior was lined with milky-white tiles.
From where he stood, he could even catch a glimpse of the relatively clean sinks if he leaned to one side.
A bottle of pump hand soap sat thoughtfully in the corner on the right.
Soft light reflected off the large mirror.
The scene was so harmonious that it made him uncomfortable.
After thinking it over, Long Tao turned and pushed open the iron door to the men's bathroom.
The hinges let out a long, somewhat grating squeal. Once inside, he quickly found a stall and crouched down.
After taking care of business, he felt much lighter. He pulled up his pants and prepared to leave.
But before he could open the stall door, he heard a strange sound.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The sound wasn't loud, nor did it seem very close. Long Tao looked up in confusion at the slightly yellowed ceiling.
It must have come from upstairs. He listened intently for a few seconds and realized the sound wasn't random. It seemed to follow a distinct rhythm.
The rhythm was strange, as if it had a mesmerizing, awe-inspiring power. Without realizing it, Long Tao's legs began tapping along.
Drumbeats?
No, Long Tao thought quickly.
The sound was heavier than drumbeats, but he knew little about musical instruments, so he couldn't tell what had made it.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
The rhythm grew faster and faster, each beat seeming to fall right on Long Tao's heart.
He swallowed unconsciously.
The brisk rhythm grew clearer and more forceful, until finally there came one last "knock."
That sound jolted Long Tao fully awake.
Because it was unlike all the sounds before it. This one had come from across the hall.
The women's bathroom!!
The performer... No, who would play music in a bathroom? Could it be that thing?!
Was that thing in the women's bathroom?
He couldn't even bring himself to say the word.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The brisk rhythm began again.
It soon stopped right outside the men's bathroom.
Long Tao was already trembling like a leaf when his body suddenly went rigid. He realized something with a jolt.
C Block only had four floors.
Where had the thing outside come down from?
And where were Zhou Taifu and Zhang Yinyin, who were supposed to be waiting outside the bathroom for him?
Happy New Year!!