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Join the ServerA scent of aged water stains and faint rust permeated the darkness beyond the wooden door.
The moment Xue Li’s figure was completely swallowed by the darkness, Su Mian’s heart nearly ceased to beat.
She stood frozen, her fingertips icy, her throat tight, listening intently to the frantic thump of her own heart and the faint, almost imperceptible sobs emanating from within the door.
Should she flee?
It seemed utterly unnecessary.
As Xiao Moyuan had said, she was now his Shikigami; he would sense any danger she encountered.
But what about Xue Li?
The girl, who appeared aloof but seemed harmless, was her companion for the night and a member of Qin Xuan’s club.
Could she really leave her to face the unknown ‘thing’ inside alone?
No.
She was now… perhaps also ‘non-human’?
Though only a half-baked practitioner, she was still better than an ordinary person.
If an ordinary girl wasn’t afraid, what did she have to fear?
Su Mian took a deep breath.
She touched the necklace pendant nestled between her collarbones.
‘I’ll risk it!’
Gritting her teeth, she emulated Xue Li, extended her hand, and abruptly pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door.
“Creak—”
The grating sound was magnified infinitely in the silent corridor.
The scene beyond the door was even dimmer than she had imagined.
It was an old-fashioned restroom with walls tiled in long-since yellowed and bubbling porcelain. Most of the fluorescent light tubes on the ceiling were broken, casting a pale, flickering glow that rendered everything indistinct and shadowy.
Xue Li stood before the washbasin, her back to the doorway.
She seemed to be staring motionlessly at the mirror in front of her, which was covered in grime and water stains.
“Xue… Xue Li?”
Su Mian called out softly, her voice echoing in the empty restroom, making it unnervingly clear.
Xue Li slowly turned around.
Her expression remained unchanged, but her eyes sparkled, appearing brighter than usual.
She gently shook her head at Su Mian, then raised her index finger to her lips, making a ‘shush’ gesture.
Su Mian immediately clamped a hand over her mouth, nodding repeatedly, holding her breath, and vigilantly surveying her surroundings.
Several cubicle doors stood half-open, revealing dark, indistinct interiors.
Beyond the damp, musty smell, a faint, almost imperceptible fishy odor permeated the air. It wasn’t obvious, yet it made her uneasy.
“*Wuwuwu*—”
The intermittent sound of a woman weeping began again.
This time, it seemed clearer, as if coming from one of the cubicles, yet also permeating from the walls, the pipes, and all directions.
Su Mian instinctively leaned closer to Xue Li.
The coolness emanating from Xue Li’s body, at this moment, became a strange form of comfort.
Xue Li tilted her head slightly, as if carefully discerning the source of the sound.
Her gaze swept over each cubicle, finally settling on the innermost one against the wall.
That cubicle door was closed.
Unlike the other half-open cubicles, this one was tightly shut.
On its green painted surface, there appeared to be some… dark, smeared marks.
“*Whoosh—!*”
Just as their gazes converged, a distinct toilet flush echoed from inside the tightly closed cubicle once more!
The water flow was heavy, and the sound rumbled through the pipes, standing out starkly.
Su Mian was startled, nearly jumping out of her skin, and clutched Xue Li’s arm tightly.
It was a rare instance of her initiating physical contact with someone.
And with Xue Li, whom she had only just met.
However, she felt no discomfort.
Xue Li’s arm was icy but steady, and she did not pull away.
After the flushing stopped, the weeping also eerily ceased.
The restroom plunged into a deathly silence, broken only by the *sizzling* electrical hum from the faulty light tube.
Xue Li suddenly moved.
She took a step, walking directly towards the closed cubicle.
Her pace was unhurried, as if she were merely checking a common malfunction.
“Xue Li!” Su Mian gasped in a low voice, trying to pull her back, but her fingers only brushed the fabric of Xue Li’s school uniform skirt.
Xue Li reached the cubicle door and stopped.
She extended her hand, her slender fingers gently resting on the door panel.
Su Mian’s heart was in her throat; she even forgot to breathe.
She saw a faint, almost invisible, ice-blue halo of light seem to shimmer around Xue Li’s fingertips, but it vanished in a flash, so quickly that she wondered if her eyes had deceived her.
Knock, knock.
Xue Li bent her fingers and lightly tapped twice on the door panel.
The knocking sound was exceptionally clear in the silence.
“Is anyone there?” Her voice was cool and calm.
There was no response.
Only an even colder aura seeped out in wisps from the crack in the door.
Xue Li waited for a few seconds, then applied a slight pressure with her hand—
Squeak…
The cubicle door was slowly pushed open.
The sight beyond the door made Su Mian’s pupils contract.
The cubicle was empty.
The old-fashioned squat toilet looked relatively clean, its tank covered, with no water stains indicating recent use.
The walls and floor were covered in thick dust, suggesting no one had entered for a long time.
However… the faint fishy smell in the air became more pronounced here.
Xue Li’s gaze fell on the wall behind the squat toilet, near the water tank.
There, in the cracks of the tiles, something dark red, dried, and blackened seemed to be embedded—like an ancient stain, or perhaps…
Su Mian’s demonic eyes unconsciously activated slightly under her tension and focus. She saw a trace of extremely thin, almost dissipated grey-black ‘qi’ wrapped around that stain.
It was of the same origin as the demonic energy she had sensed outside the teaching building.
“It’s not an evil spirit.”
Xue Li suddenly spoke, her voice still calm, but with a hint of certainty. “It’s a residual ‘thought,’ a very strong obsession, trapped here.”
She turned to Su Mian, her ice-blue eyes appearing translucent in the dim light:
“She seems… to be afraid of something, or perhaps, waiting for something.”
Su Mian swallowed.
Why couldn’t she understand Xue Li’s words?
And how did the other girl sound so knowledgeable about these things?
Xue Li did not answer but raised her hand, pointing to the corner of the wall inside the cubicle, near the floor.
There, a tile had fallen off, revealing the rough concrete wall behind it, and in that gap, the corner of something seemed to be wedged.
Su Mian squatted down, enduring her discomfort and the dust, carefully prying the object out.
It was a small, faded, yellowed student ID card holder, its edges severely damaged.
Inside, half of a black-and-white photo remained, blurred by water stains, but faintly discernible as a girl with delicate features and a faint smile.
The handwriting on the student ID was almost completely smudged, only barely legible as “…Juan” and the fuzzy words “History Department.”
‘…History Department… girl…’
The old newspaper headlines from thirty-four years ago instantly flashed in Su Mian’s mind.
‘A girl at school… turned into… a vengeful spirit?’
Could it be that this girl’s obsession had not dissipated, turning her into a ghost?
Just as Su Mian was lost in thought, a faint static crackled in her miniature walkie-talkie, followed by Qin Xuan’s usual calm, unruffled voice, though his speech was slightly faster than usual:
[Su Mian, Xue Li, respond if you hear me.]
[First-floor main entrance surveillance shows unidentified personnel entering the teaching building. Their target appears to be the third floor.]
[Lu Yang, Hua Liang, mind your directions. Su Mian, what’s your situation?]
Su Mian’s heart tightened. Just as she was about to press the talk button to reply, the restroom lights abruptly went out completely!
“Ah!” A short gasp was stifled by her own hand.
Darkness enveloped them like a tangible entity, with only the extremely faint moonlight from outside casting a blurry glow through the high, grimy transom window.
At the same time, the chilling aura intensified sharply!
The piercing wail rang out again, this time, so close, it felt right next to Su Mian’s ear!
“Be careful.” Xue Li’s cool voice sounded in the darkness.
Su Mian felt a slightly cool hand grasp her wrist; it was Xue Li. “We’re in the third-floor east restroom. We had a discovery just now, but now all the lights are out, and there’s an anomaly…”
Su Mian spoke into the walkie-talkie, trying to keep her voice as low as possible.
[Received. Stay alert, await backup, do not split up. Our—]
The walkie-talkie transmitted Lu Yang’s voice and Hua Liang’s still smiling reply:
[East staircase is clear.]
[West staircase… uh, I think a shadow just flickered past, I’m going to check it out!]
[Hua Liang! Don’t act alone! Wait for us to regroup!] Qin Xuan immediately interjected.
But from Hua Liang’s side, rapid footsteps and a light laugh were already heard moving away: “Don’t worry, President, I’ll be back soon~”
Su Mian’s heart leaped into her throat.
Just then, the old student ID card holder in her hand suddenly grew warm!
It wasn’t a physical heat, but a peculiar, resonant throb, as if it had connected with something.
The demonic energy that usually flowed steadily within her also rippled gently.
Immediately after, in Su Mian’s demonic vision, the scene in the restroom transformed.
Grey-black ‘qi’ seeped from the walls, floor, and pipes, slowly converging. At the entrance of the open cubicle before them, it condensed into an extremely blurry, almost transparent female silhouette.
The outline was faint, her features unclear, only showing her dressed in decades-old clothing with long hair draped over her shoulders.
She ‘stood’ there silently, facing Su Mian, or more precisely, facing the student ID card holder in her hand.
Su Mian’s heart was pounding in her throat.
The entity seemed to have no intention of attacking, but she was still terrified!
And for some reason,
She seemed to sense sorrow, fear, and a hint of a plea for help in the ‘qi’ emanating from the entity.
Su Mian instinctively raised the card holder towards the blurry silhouette, asking in a voice she hadn’t realized could be so gentle:
“Do you… want this back?”
The blurry silhouette seemed to shift slightly.
“What… what do you want to tell us?”
The weeping stopped.
Only the faint sound of dripping water deep within the pipes remained in the restroom, along with footsteps that seemed to be gradually approaching from afar—more than one person!
Xue Li’s grip on Su Mian’s wrist tightened, pulling her back a step. Her ice-blue eyes vigilantly swept the darkness. The blurry female silhouette in the restroom, after Su Mian’s question, began to destabilize and gradually faded.
However, her final ‘gaze’ towards Su Mian seemed to fall behind her…
Or rather, on the extremely faint fox demon aura that Su Mian was subtly leaking due to her tension and the use of her demonic eyes?
The silhouette completely dissipated.
With a *snap*, the restroom lights flickered back on.
Though still dim and flickering, the light dispelled much of the unsettling darkness.
Su Mian stared blankly at the empty cubicle entrance, still clutching the student ID card holder that had quickly cooled after being warm.
‘This world actually has ghosts?’
“It’s gone.”
Xue Li released her hand, as if nothing had happened.
“*Thump, thump, thump…*”
Footsteps echoed from the corridor, approaching rapidly, sounding like more than one person.
“Su Mian! Xue Li!”
Lu Yang’s breathless voice was the first to ring out at the doorway. He held a powerful flashlight, its beam sweeping erratically. “Are you two alright? Hua Liang ran off somewhere!”
Qin Xuan followed closely, his sharp eyes behind his glasses scanning the restroom’s interior before settling on Su Mian and Xue Li, pausing for a moment on the old card holder in Su Mian’s hand.
“Did you find anything?” he asked.
Su Mian composed herself and briefly recounted what had happened, including the blurry female silhouette, then handed the card holder to Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan took the card holder, examined it carefully, then pulled out his small notebook to jot down a few notes, pushing up his glasses. “A strong residual obsession, materialized?”
Lu Yang asked, puzzled, “Then why didn’t the security guard earlier see these things?”
He looked at Su Mian, his gaze inquisitive. “It might be related to the ‘contactee’s’ constitution. Some people are naturally more spiritually sensitive.”
Lu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder, a hint of lingering fear in his voice:
“Damn, I never thought ghosts were actually real…”
Before he finished speaking, a light whistle echoed from the other end of the corridor.
Hua Liang sauntered over, hands in his pockets, his flaxen hair a bit disheveled in the dim light, his face still bearing that cheerful grin.
“Yo, everyone’s gathered here?”
“I just went to the fifth floor… well, probably the fifth floor, and found nothing.”
He glanced at everyone, his gaze lingering on Xue Li for an extra second. Xue Li subtly shook her head at him.
Qin Xuan put away his notebook and the card holder, then cast another look at the now calm but still dilapidated restroom. “The initial investigation objective has been met. Let’s leave first. As for Hua Liang, that was your unauthorized action. Explain your reasons clearly when we get back.”
“Alright, alright, my great President Qin~” Hua Liang raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, utterly lacking sincerity.
The group quickly left the old teaching building.
Stepping out of the building and breathing in the cool night air, Su Mian finally felt her taut nerves relax slightly.
She looked back at the old building hidden in the darkness; the window on the third floor, east side, was pitch black.
‘Had the ghost of the girl who died thirty or forty years ago truly dissipated?’
Su Mian still felt an inexplicable sense of unease, but she couldn’t pinpoint the problem.
And Xue Li’s performance today also didn’t seem like that of an ordinary person.
‘This world, it really seems to have completely changed since that night she and Xiao Moyuan…’
It had become somewhat unfamiliar to her…
However, this novelty wasn’t something she disliked.
You’ve got to see this next! Not Me, The Fans will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : Not Me, The Fans
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