Dissection Room, Hiding Beneath the Desks

I was barefoot, and my footsteps were light.

There was almost no sound at all.

I had come to this building many times over my three years of college, so I knew it well.

Before long, I reached the second floor.

But the moment I stepped out of the stairwell, I felt how cold this floor was—a bone-piercing chill.

This must have been yin energy. I had felt plenty of it these past few days.

I shivered involuntarily and decided to head into an Anatomy Room nearby.

It was an Anatomy Room used for large classes.

It could hold one or two hundred people.

At the very bottom stood a dissection table covered with a white sheet, along with a blackboard and podium.

Behind them were rows of seats slanting upward, tier after tier.

As long as someone lay prone in the middle, anyone entering from the front door would not be able to see them.

My plan was simple.

In a moment, I would place the Substitute Rabbit by the aisle.

Then I would take the Fish Bone Sword and hide beneath these seats.

Once the filthy thing came over, bit the rabbit to death, and drank its blood—

the talisman water the rabbit had consumed would take effect.

At that point, I would only need to ambush it.

It was a pretty underhanded tactic, but as long as it kept me alive, it was no big deal.

I quickly entered the Anatomy Room.

It was pitch-black. I could only make out the rough outline of the place through the moonlight shining in from outside.

I carried the rabbit toward the back.

Before long, I reached the middle of the desks and seats.

After choosing my hiding spot, I loudly coughed a few times toward the outside of the classroom.

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough..."

The sound was loud, echoing sharply through the silent building.

That filthy thing would definitely hear it.

Without hesitation, after coughing,

I quickly placed the rabbit in the aisle.

The Substitute Rabbit half-closed its eyes, lying there motionless as though it had lost its soul.

I swiftly ran into the middle of the desks and seats, gripped the Fish Bone Sword, and lay flat on the floor.

From my position, I could observe both the door by the podium and the Substitute Rabbit lying motionless not far away.

Next, I did not need to do anything but lie there and wait.

Time passed second by second as I quietly listened to the sounds around me.

Silence. The entire building was silent.

According to my master, as long as I made some noise,

the filthy thing in the building should appear soon.

But I lay on the floor, waiting and waiting.

It felt like thirty or forty minutes had passed, yet I had not heard the slightest movement, much less seen that filthy thing.

I wondered whether the noise I had made earlier had been too quiet.

Should I shout a couple more times?

But the moment that thought appeared, I rejected it.

Ghosts were not like us humans.

In such a silent environment, even my coughing just now

should have been audible up on the fifth or sixth floors, let alone to a ghost.

If I made more noise carelessly, there was a strong chance I would expose myself.

So I continued lying on the floor and waiting.

After another twenty minutes or so,

I suddenly noticed that a layer of fog seemed to be rising in the classroom.

It was very thin.

It would make sense outdoors, but this was a sealed Anatomy Room. How could fog suddenly appear?

The surroundings had also become much colder.

I did not know what was happening, but I knew one thing: I had to stay on guard.

Then, I vaguely heard footsteps outside—tap, tap, tap.

But the footsteps sounded strange, unlike the sound of a normal person walking.

They sounded more like an animal's claws stepping on tile.

I widened my eyes and stared toward the Anatomy Room door.

A yellow light from an exit sign shone over there, barely illuminating the area.

I kept my eyes wide open without blinking.

After waiting for around ten seconds, the tap, tap, tap footsteps drew closer and closer.

Suddenly, a black shadow appeared in the doorway.

The instant that shadow appeared, my heart leaped into my throat.

I tightly gripped the Fish Bone Sword.

But the next second, surprise filled my face as I stared at the doorway in disbelief.

Because as that shadow continued stepping forward,

I realized it was not some filthy thing, nor was it a person.

It was a chicken!

A chicken, strutting forward with its head held high and its tail curved behind it.

Even though I could not see it clearly, I could tell that the chicken was unusual.

It was definitely a Big Rooster.

I was puzzled. Why would a chicken suddenly run out in this building?

The chicken had only just appeared at the door when it suddenly clucked twice, then turned and walked into the Anatomy Room where I was hiding.

Each step went tap, tap, tap—the sound of chicken claws against the tiles.

No wonder it had sounded so strange. It was the footsteps of a chicken.

Watching the Big Rooster, I did not dare move rashly.

Could that filthy thing be a damn chicken?

I thought to myself.

I glanced at the rabbit not far away. There was still no movement. It remained sprawled in the same spot.

The Big Rooster took a few steps into the Anatomy Room before finally reaching the dissection table.

That spot happened to be lit by the moonlight outside.

At that moment, I could clearly see the Big Rooster.

It had a red-feathered comb and a glossy greenish-yellow rooster tail.

It looked imposing, and somehow familiar.

It resembled the rooster I had given up to that cold-looking man at the market today.

But chickens probably all looked more or less alike. I could not be sure; it just seemed familiar.

More importantly, I noticed that the rooster seemed to have a red string tied around its neck.

It was too far away to make out clearly.

There was definitely something abnormal about this rooster suddenly appearing here.

But I could not say exactly what was abnormal.

All I could do was remain lying where I was.

Standing below the podium, the rooster suddenly clucked several times at the dissection table.

It felt as though it was talking to the dissection table.

The sight was chilling.

But that was not all. What was even more terrifying was this—

after the Big Rooster clucked several times at the dissection table,

I noticed that the white sheet covering it seemed to move.

Then a human face pushed directly against the sheet,

as though it were about to sit up from the dissection table.

The moment I saw that, my expression changed dramatically.

What the hell was going on?

Why was someone lying on that dissection table?

No, it definitely was not a person.

If something was lying there, it was probably a ghost.

I had been inside for so long without noticing it at all. The thought sent chills down my spine.

And this ghost had been awakened by a chicken.

I swallowed, fear filling my heart.

I did not move, and neither did the Substitute Rabbit not far away.

I simply lay there on the floor, silently watching everything unfold.

After sitting up, the face beneath the sheet suddenly stopped moving.

It just sat there on the dissection table.

The Big Rooster continued clucking at the thing on the dissection table.

It was as if it were speaking to that ghost.

After another ten or so seconds, there was finally some movement.

The white sheet was slowly lifted.

And at last, I clearly saw the ghostly figure beneath it...