Having finished reading the diary, Han Fei found that although it contained delayed confessions, those confessions resembled crocodile tears.
In the dormitory, aside from girl number four, the other three girls only started to think of kindness when they faced despair and death.
On the last page of the diary, there even was a photo of the four girls from Dormitory 304 taken when they first enrolled, but that photo now seemed so ridiculous.
Putting down the diary, Han Fei picked up the photo. On the back of it, the names of the four girls were written.
The girl who lived in bed number four was named Shu Mengting, and she had the gentlest smile in the photo.
"Such a good child was forcibly turned into a monster," said Han Fei as he placed the group photo into his pocket, feeling a trace of dark energy emanating from it.
"The environment really can have a big impact on a person," Zhang Guanxing remarked as he looked at the character for ’hatred’ tattooed on his hand; he felt some sympathy for Shu Mengting’s plight.
"Indeed, a long time ago, I too was a simple, kind-hearted boy," Han Fei said, placing the jar containing the corpse near the door. If the Fierce Ghost entered through the main door, he would try to use the jar to control it.
He had no intention of hurting the Fierce Ghost and frankly, did not have the ability to do so. Thus, Han Fei’s initial plan was to hold out for thirty minutes and then immediately flee.
At this moment, fifteen minutes had already passed since the task began, and nothing unusual had occurred.
Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing had also turned Dormitory 304 topsy-turvy, but they hadn’t found any other useful clues.
"Teacher, does that mean we just need to stay in this room now?" Zhang Guanxing recalled the contents of the diary, "Those three girls ran into trouble mostly because the dorm supervisor came, and they had no choice but to open the door, allowing Shu Mengting to enter. As long as we keep the door closed, we should be fine, right?"
"You’re being too naive if you think that," Han Fei shook his head, "The last part of the diary was torn out. The girl who wrote the diary must have met with misfortune, which shows that Shu Mengting did enter the dormitory then."
"Right, that’s how it is."
"What if she came in and never left?" Han Fei’s remark stunned Zhang Guanxing.
"You mean, the ghost has been in the dormitory all along? Then... why are there still footsteps outside?" Zhang Guanxing broke out in a cold sweat.
"Have you noticed something odd about that footstep sound? It sounds as if it’s being dragged back and forth by something," Han Fei pointed out the crux of the problem, "The ghost outside might simply be trying to force us into the room."
Han Fei looked at the task description for the hidden mission which stated that under no circumstances should the door be opened, just hold out for half an hour.
The system’s tasks were often like knowingly walking into a tiger’s den. The system instructed him not to open the door, not because there were ghosts outside and opening it would lead to death, but to alert him that there was a ghost inside, and he needed to survive half an hour without dying inside.
Once the half hour was up, he could naturally open the door and leave, assuming, of course, that he survived until the end of the task.
The system always managed to issue the most horrific assignments in the most healing, mundane words.
"There are ghosts both inside and outside the room; the difference lies in which kind we want to face," Han Fei sat on the bed, having been tempered to the point of being able to think counterintuitively.
"Both have ghosts..." Zhang Guanxing obediently sat next to Han Fei, this unruly young man turning into a child who absolutely obeyed his teacher’s commands and even clung to him a bit in the Healing-type Game.
"Don’t be afraid, just hold out for half an hour and we’ll be fine," Han Fei had just finished speaking when footsteps echoed through the corridor once more.
The strange sound approached bit by bit, this time stopping at the door of Room 304.
The key was slowly inserted into the keyhole, the old lock producing a creepy crackling sound. As the force applied increased, the entire lock trembled as if it was about to fall off.
Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing both shut their mouths, staring intently at the door, hardly daring to breathe too heavily.
A few minutes later, silence returned outside the door.
Before Zhang Guanxing could finish speaking, the door of Dormitory 304 was knocked.
This sudden knock startled Zhang Guanxing; he stood up so fast his head nearly hit the bunk bed above him.
The scenario recorded in the diary happened again, with the knocking on the corridor door occurring at fixed intervals, striking fear into the hearts of those inside with each knock.
If a ghost and monster suddenly appeared, it might only scare them for a moment, but Room 304 was entirely different.
The knocking sounded as if it was intentionally tormenting those inside, with her returning here time and again, carrying grudge energy, resentment, and pain.
The stench in the room grew stronger, and the air felt damp even though all doors and windows were firmly shut, but occasionally there was a draft of cold air.
With just a door separating them, Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing had no idea what exactly was on the other side, and that unknown fear was the most torturous.
With veins protruding on his hands, Zhang Guanxing picked up a pen and paper from the table and wrote a sentence before handing it to Han Fei.
"Teacher, I’ll open the door, and you hold that jar. When I open the door, throw the jar out!"
Zhang Guanxing had a good idea, but he overlooked one problem. The black jar, being one of the few "weapons" on Han Fei, how would they deal with the ghost inside the room after throwing the jar out?
Moreover, half an hour had not yet passed, and Han Fei definitely wouldn’t disrupt his own strategy; thus, he wrote seven characters on the paper—follow my instructions later.
The ghost in dorm room 304 wanted to drag out the time, which perfectly aligned with Han Fei’s intentions. He and Zhang Guanxing just silently stared at the door.
Gradually, the door of room 304 started to tremble slightly, and the room became increasingly damp.
Having focused all his attention on the door, Zhang Guanxing suddenly felt a chill on his neck and shrank it in fright.
Reaching his hand to the back of his neck, he found it wet.
"Is it leaking? But isn’t there a bed board above me rather than a ceiling?"
Zhang Guanxing looked up puzzledly; he peered through the gap of the bunk bed above him and discovered a disfigured face right above his head.
"Tea-tea-teacher..." Zhang Guanxing said, trembling as he tapped Han Fei.
"She-she’s right above our heads!" Having said this, Zhang Guanxing grabbed Han Fei and they both moved away from the bed, standing in the middle of the room, looking towards the bed.
There was no ghost face, but the bed was damp with an indistinct human-shaped stain visible.
"I saw it! I really did see it!"
"Don’t panic, I believe you," Han Fei signaled Zhang Guanxing to back off, and he extended his hand to the bedding, using his own ability.
As his fingers touched the human-shaped stain, a girl’s miserable cry echoed through the room and Han Fei felt despair and regret from the stain.
"You drove her to death, and now she’s come for you. That seems like fair retribution." Han Fei did not think of rescuing the other party; first, he did not have the ability, and second, he felt that if you did something wrong, you deserved to be punished.
The rotting smell in the room quickly became suffocating; Han Fei’s clothes became damp without him knowing when, and the dormitory seemed to be slowly sinking into an underground river.
The atmosphere grew more humid and cold, swallowing all the light.
There was not a single safe spot around, and Han Fei opened the task panel; there were still six minutes until the task ended.
Picking up the black jar from the ground, Han Fei vigilantly watched his surroundings, knowing that the adversary was about to appear.
The knocking from outside grew more urgent, and Han Fei and Zhang Guanxing stood in the room, highly alert.
Just when there were three minutes left to complete the task, the knocking suddenly stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps, as if the creature outside was preparing to leave.
When the dragging footsteps began, Han Fei’s heart slowly settled back in his chest, but as he listened, he suddenly felt something was off!
"It seems like there are two sets of footsteps!"
He abruptly turned around!
A drenched girl stood next to Zhang Guanxing, her clothes clinging to her body, her skin deathly pale and bloodless!
The floor’s wet stains had already climbed up Zhang Guanxing’s body, the disfigured face filled with pain and resentment, and her body was still swelling.
Grabbing Zhang Guanxing’s arm, Han Fei dragged Zhang alongside him, opening the black jar towards the girl.
It was unclear if it was because the Wish Jar had been severely damaged or because the girl’s power was terrifying, but upon seeing the jar, she only paused for a few seconds.
Using those few seconds, Han Fei pulled Zhang Guanxing to his side.
At this moment, the girl’s body was almost fused with all the water traces in the room, emitting a tremendous grudge energy.
The jar gave a crisp sound, a new crack appeared on it, and Han Fei knew he couldn’t delay any longer.
"Point the mouth of the jar at her,"
Han Fei handed the black jar to Zhang Guanxing, then he took out the Blood-colored Paperman from the item bar.
In the critical situation, Han Fei didn’t bother to communicate; he slit his palm, allowing blood to drip onto the Blood-colored Paperman.
As the Paperman drank the blood, its eyes slowly opened, and it looked at Han Fei with a sick longing.