Chapter 37: The Haunted Training Room
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It's five o'clock. I'm off duty. Dai Li glanced at the clock, then rose from his chair. He stretched out his body, then began to pack his stuff.
Ring, ring, ring… The telephone rang right as Dai Li was preparing to leave. He frowned with boredom. Who would want to receive extra work when it was time to go back home?
"Hello, this is the duty room," Li answered the phone.
"Is that Dai Li? I'm Lao Zhang from the general department. I checked the duty roster, today is your turn," the person said from the other side.
"Mr. Zhang, this is Dai Li speaking. What can I do for you?" Dai Li recognized the voice, as he had been borrowing training equipment from its owner.
"Well, Lao Qian, who is in charge of the training room on the third floor in our laboratory building, has food poisoning. He was sent to the hospital an hour ago, but he didn't lock the door. You know we have a lot of expensive equipment in that room. Could you clean up the room and lock the door? I will find someone to bring the keys to you. He will be there in around twenty minutes. You can keep the keys with you," Mr. Zhang instructed.
"OK. I will go," Dai Li said. He packed his stuff then moved towards the gate keeper's.
It actually took Dai Li more than half an hour to finally get the keys. The man apologized for being late, and explained that it was due to a traffic jam.
Daytime was short in the winter. In addition, Qingcheng City was an east coast city, so it was already dark. Dai Li had to walk towards the laboratory building under dim street lights.
Burr. So cold today. Dai Li shivered as a cold wind blew. In reality, the coldness he felt was more psychological than physical . Since there were no students on campus, walking alone in an empty school led to an illusion of chilliness.
The building was hiding in the dark, so Dai Li couldn't see much. He used flashlight on his phone as he entered the building. It was quiet and spooky, and Dail Li felt nervous. He fumbled in the dark and finally got to the light switch. However, after pressing on it, Dai Li found that it did not light up.
Which one is broken? The switch or the light? The property department should come and fix it. Dai Li could do nothing but complain. He kept holding his phone and headed to the third floor.
The biggest room over there must be the training room. I heard that that room was remade from a conference room. He moved closer and found that the door was unlocked.
This is my first time here. Where is the switch? Dai Li shined his phone on the wall, hoping to find the switch for the room.
"Wuwuwuwu…" Suddenly, a sound kind of like crying was heard.
What's that? Is someone weeping? Dai Li was taken aback by the sound. He had goosebumps all over.
"Wuwuwuwu…"The sound rose again.
I heard before that this place used to be a mass grave. Is it haunted now? Or perhaps there was once a girl who committed suicide by hanging herself in this room? Dai Li's mind was full of ghost stories.
Come on, don't be afraid. Forget about that! Darn, if I know I would be here tonight, I wouldn't have read those ghost stories lately. Why didn't I read novels that were full of positive energy like "Almighty Coach"? Dai Li tried his best not to thinking about the horror stories, but his thoughts inevitably flashed back to some of the most spooky scenes from those books.
I gotta go. Wait, let me lock the door first! he thought. But he was frozen on the ground. His legs began to shake.
Lock the door, lock the—Where is the lock? Ah, right here! Dai Li grabbed the anti-theft lock in his hand and was about to close the door.
"Stop!" A female voice suddenly rang. Dai Li looked towards where the sound came from and saw a figure of a young lady.
"Banshee!" Dai Li dared not to take a closer look. He ran away.
...
Dai Li escaped from the building. He ran all the way to a street light and finally stopped. After a while, he gradually calmed down.
Did I overreact? Was that a real person? But it is the winter break, nobody should be here right now. Li looked back nervously.
At the same time, his phone rang. It was a strange number.
"Hello!" Dai Li immediately answered.
"Is this Dai Li? I'm Lao Qian from the third floor training room!" The person on the other end used a low voice. He sounded like he was weak.
But such a voice made Dai Li delirious with joy. For someone who was seriously scared a minute ago, the voice of a human being was like the sound of heaven.
The caller continued, "I have got food poisoning, and now I'm still lying in bed having an intravenous drip. I can't go back to school tonight. Have you received the keys yet? By the way, I forgot to tell you before that Feifei Yu has been training in that training room recently."
"Feifei Yu? She has the same name as that world champion," said Dai Li.
"It is her," said Lao Qian.
"What? Are you serious? That Feifei Yu? The one who broke the world record, who got the career Grand Slam?" Dai Li immediately asked.
"Yes, that is her," Lao Qian answered.
"How come she is here? She is the world champion!" Dai Li said in a doubtful voice.
"Don't you forget that Feifei is on our provincial team. She has an affiliation with the provincial department of sports," Lao Qian told Li, gathering breath. "The provincial sports team arranged this. They sent her alone here for some physical fitness training, and made us keep it as a secret. Therefore, few people know about this. I guess they do so to avoid external interruptions. As a world champion she does have some privileges. Moreover, our training equipment is comparable with the ones they have in the department of sports."
"No way! Feifei Yu is here!" Dai Li suddenly recalled that the banshee he had just met looked similar to Feifei Yu.