Chapter 61 Old Campus If he wasn't mistaken, it was a...
The video club resembled a vintage photo studio, with white walls covered in dark blue photo frames. The photos from the club's monthly activities were arranged chronologically. The previous day was dedicated to the students' preparations and decorations, with booths numbered and set up on the playground like a small market. The last day was for wrapping up and cleaning, with students throwing their collected trash into the large trash can in front of the girls' restroom.
The images are consecutive, but the dates jump by one day, and there are no images from the second-to-last day.
Xue Chao occupied the instructor's soft chair and rummaged through the old film reels in the drawer: "Quite a few antiques—did you find that camera?"
The president and Deng Dayun worked together to pull open the display case, but were stumped by the four cameras. The president complained, "The others are all members' cameras, right? Putting them together with the haunted camera... is incredibly relaxing."
Deng Dayun's mouth moved slightly, and Xue Chao added for him, "Just like your story club."
President: "...Hehe."
Each of them checked two cameras. The club president turned on the camera, squinting with one eye and opening the other, and after confirming there was no ghost, he felt both regretful and relieved. In an instant, he got playful and approached Xue Chao like an interviewer, pointing the camera at him: "Excuse me, student, have you figured anything out?"
"It would be strange if there wasn't one." Xue Chao unfolded the film. "What does this look like to you?"
Every roll of film was a blank white. The editor-in-chief couldn't figure it out, but Deng Dayun took a look and said, "...It looks like something was pasted on it when it was shot."
If you take a close-up shot and zoom in too much on a specific area, you won't be able to see the true shape.
He put down the camera: "These two cameras of mine don't have anything on them."
The club president, after checking the other station, weakly raised his hand: "Same as above, no video recording... So, is Ghost Story 2 disproven? Or are we looking at it the wrong way?"
Xue Chao casually picked up a camera and pointed it at the film: "This is it."
Under the camera lens, fine lines appear on the white film, like the veins of a leaf that let the light pass through, and the thin membranes that stretch the film. Frame by frame, the film gradually becomes clearer, the white fades, and some brown and black appear.
"...Is this a ghost?" The club president pointed to several black and yellow circles. "They look like eyes."
Xue Chao looked at Deng Dayun: "What do you think?"
"Like something hidden inside a living organism, draining the mother's nutrients... a ghost baby in the womb?" Deng Dayun's ideas are niche in the real world, but just right in the infinite world.
“But the background color is white, not the reddish-pink of flesh and blood, and the pattern that appears is also very strange.” Xue Chao frowned. “It feels a bit familiar… The film reel is probably incomplete. Let’s keep it for now; maybe it will provide clues later.”
He held up the camera and carefully surveyed the area; everything seemed normal.
The company president tested all the remaining cameras, but none of them showed the same change: "That's it, that's half confirmation. Next..."
A scream that echoed throughout the building interrupted him—it was Minmin! The group's expressions changed, and they grabbed their cameras and film, rushing to the women's restroom on the third floor.
On the way, Xue Chao ran while raising the camera, almost falling over – in the camera's view, the corridor was flat, the stairs were tiered, it was a "normal" world.
The camera pans to the next scene, and in front of him is another ascending corridor. The door to the women's restroom on the upper left is open, and Minmin falls on the steps, staring at the door with a look of horror on her face.
The club president rushed over and hugged her: "Don't be afraid, Minmin, what's wrong?"
"He...he disappeared!" Minmin broke down in tears, only managing to speak incoherently after the club president's continued reassurance. "We...we were searching one by one...the third cubicle, we went in, and saw writing on the wall, lots of things, cheat sheets, and who confessed to whom...I was still studying what it said when we heard the toilet in the fourth cubicle next door...the innermost one...flush by itself...Ugh, we were all startled. There was no sound from next door for a while, so we mustered our courage to go and check. I followed behind him...and when we opened the door, the mop hanging on it fell down, we quickly backed away, I fell to the ground, and the door slammed shut...and then,and when I looked up, he was gone! I thought he was locked inside, and I called out several times but no one answered! I...I knocked on the door again, but still no one answered. I was so scared that I was about to run out when...and then the flushing sound came from inside again..."
In the women's restroom, except for the innermost stall, all the other doors were open. The walls were covered with cheat sheets, confessions, phone numbers, pranks, and profanities, written in different colors and handwriting, all haphazardly draped over the walls, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere under the flickering lights.
Deng Dayun turned the handle and knocked on the door, but there was no response. The door was stuck and couldn't be opened. Xue Chao handed him the camera, climbed onto the toilet in the third stall and looked down. He then gestured for Deng Dayun to lie down and look into the gap below—there was no one there.
The two exchanged a glance. Xue Chao nimbly jumped into the fourth cubicle, opened the door, and headed out. Deng Dayun slowly approached with a camera in hand—but there was no one in the camera.
The camera didn't miss any corner, but everything was normal. Xue Chao lifted the cover to check: "It must be broken. It's loose here—the camera isn't responding. Either there's no ghost here, or we've got the wrong camera."
Minmin nestled in the president's arms: "But he just vanished into thin air!"
The scene froze slightly.
Xue Chao took back the camera and laughed: "It's possible that the ghosts here don't like us. Let's go out first."
As they walked out, passing the long mirror above the sink, Xue Chao, who was at the back, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. As he turned to close the door, he raised his camera and pointed it at the mirror.
In the camera's mirror, a ghastly white head suddenly fell from the fourth cubicle, wedged perfectly in the gap below. A scarlet wound on its left cheek was bleeding. Sensing the gaze, the whites of its eyes, devoid of pupils, abruptly turned to the mirror, meeting Xue Chao's gaze behind the camera.
The door slammed shut, and the camera nearly slipped from his grasp. He quickly regained his composure, grabbed it with his other hand, but his expression was extremely grim.
If he wasn't mistaken, it was a... human head.
It's not just a mannequin head with facial features, nor is it a plastic doll's head; it's a real, human head... with bones, flesh, and hair, with warmth, softness, and the ability to feel pain.
Throughout the game, all sorts of heads have been incongruously grafted onto human bodies, bizarre and terrifying. But having seen so many unusual heads, the sudden appearance of a real human head is even more horrifying. In that instant, his blood seemed to run cold.
Deng Dayun noticed something was wrong with him: "What's wrong?"
Xue Chao: "The second and third ghost stories have been confirmed."
The president realized what was happening: "You saw it through the camera just now?"
Xue Chao: "A ghost's head. If it's not your missing companion, it can only be a ghost."
There really is a ghost in the women's restroom, and the boys' chances of survival are even lower. Minmin sobbed softly again, clinging to the club president and refusing to let go. Deng Dayun remained silent, but pursed his lips. On the contrary, Xue Chao, who was facing the ghost directly, quickly relaxed. It was like being startled in a horror movie. Once this part was over, the fear would also be over. Like a cold NPC cueing the process: "The fourth ghost story?"
"...The sculptures in the art society are said to leave the studio at night and wander around the teaching building to the music of the radio station."
These words were like a switch, and suddenly a melodious piano piece, the familiar "Für Elise," began to play on the radios everywhere. But the feeling was different. When the piece was played in a concert hall, it was classical and artistic, sharing the same grand atmosphere as the concert hall, on the same level. Now, played through the not-so-sensitive old broadcasting equipment, it echoed in the quiet midnight campus, beautifully out of place.
The club president swallowed hard: "Shall we go to the art club? Who can carry Minmin on their back?"
When Minmin stumbled out the door, she twisted her ankle and couldn't stand. She curled up and leaned against the club president, muttering to herself in a nervous manner. Suddenly, she let go of the club president's hand. Her tightrope-walking nerves were finally pushed off the cliff by the strange piano music. She let out a scream as if she had stepped into thin air, even more piercing and shrill than before.
The president quickly helped her up and comforted her, but Xue Chao, who was usually the most reliable person, said at that moment, "I need to go to the restroom."
Deng Dayun: "...Is he still inside?"
Xue Chao touched his nose: "No, it's just a simple physiological need."
The overwhelmed club president finally heard what they were saying: "It's too dangerous, and the men's restroom has been sealed off for a week due to a leak. If you want to go, you can only go upstairs or downstairs. Let's go upstairs first..."
“She can’t leave in this state, I couldn’t hold back any longer, I’ll be quick.” Xue Chao turned and went back into the women’s restroom before she could finish speaking.
The company president, worried about him, said, "Hey, you...why don't you open the door?"
"Isn't this inappropriate? I'm shy," Xue Chao said with a smile.
He wasn't really shy, but the president had forced himself to ask the question out of safety concerns. Now that he was being asked that question, he was overwhelmed with embarrassment and had no choice but to continue comforting Minmin.
Deng Dayun frowned slightly: "Why are you staring at me like that?"
The club president, caught sneaking a peek, gave an awkward laugh: "Aren't you going to go check?"
Deng Dayun pursed his lips: "...I don't have that hobby."
President: "..."
The club president continued to pretend to be busy, and Deng Dayun continued to be a quiet, unassuming person, but she didn't forget her companion, asking questions every now and then. Xue Chao answered every question. After a while, the club president asked again, but there was no response. She suddenly became nervous: "Could something really have happened...?"
"...You should worry more about yourself." Deng Dayun thought Xue Chao was quite shrewd and didn't need their concern, but as soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a toilet flushing came from the women's restroom.
After an eerie silence, the club president asked again, but there was still no response. His heart sank once more. Deng Dayun also sensed something was wrong and cautiously pushed open the door. The door to the fourth cubicle was closed again, but this time he didn't need to jump in to unlock it. As soon as he approached, the door creaked open, and there was no one inside.
Xue Chao disappeared.
"【Deng Dayun】Damn, where is the person? Could they have been killed by a ghost...?"
"【Deng Dayun】Ahhh, why did you have to do this to die? You're just throwing your life away!"
The club president outside the door cast an inquiring glance. Deng Dayun shook his head with a grim expression. Minmin, who was in a daze, suddenly noticed their strangeness and screamed again. The club president was so frightened that he let go of her. Minmin stumbled and ran out, twisting her ankle like a zombie, and fell directly down the corridor that had turned into a staircase. She then tumbled and crawled into the corner to go down to the next floor.
"Minmin!" The president wanted to chase after her, but then looked back at Deng Dayun with concern. Deng Dayun had already quickly left the house. They followed her, and they were not slow either, but when they reached the staircase-like corridor on the next floor, Minmin had already disappeared.
Just as the club president was about to ask Deng Dayun what to do, Deng Dayun gently nudged his back. This reclusive mushroom seemed to have been forced to show his "manly spirit." Even though he looked reluctant, he pointed forward and said, "You go up and look, I'll go down and look. Hurry up!"
"That blue-eyed one..."
"Instead of worrying about those who are courting death, we should look for those who are alive. She didn't deliberately come into contact with ghost stories, so she should be alright. She couldn't have gone far!" Deng Dayun ran off without looking for anyone. After getting out of the president's sight, he immediately hid in a classroom.
He opened the cabinet and glanced around, but couldn't find anyone hiding there. Looking around, he simply opened the window and jumped onto the platform extending from the second floor. The platform faced the playground, the place where the flag-raising ceremony and speech were held on Mondays.
Sure enough, the classroom door was pushed open a moment later. The club president, who was supposed to go upstairs, returned. Her footsteps were slow. She moved the desks and chairs, opened the cabinets, and went to the podium—she was looking for him.
The footsteps turned and headed towards the window. Deng Dayun held his breath and pressed himself against the wall, moving away like a crab and approaching the left side of the platform.
The club president wanted to peek out, but the length and width of the student ID's head blocked the window. She seemed unwilling to roll her head up, hesitated for a moment, then regretfully retreated and turned to leave.
The classroom door closed, and Deng Dayun tilted his head slightly to the right, pricking up his ears. After a while, when the other party did not return, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
But being cautious, he didn't plan to go back the way he came. He wanted to return to the building from the classroom to the left of the broadcasting station. When he turned his head, he saw the president's student ID card with its head spread out and pasted on the glass of the classroom to the left. The person in the blue background ID photo stared blankly at him, less than half a meter away.
When did you get to the other side?! Deng Dayun's heart stopped for a second, and he almost fell off the platform.
The swear words struggled to get back into his throat. He couldn't go back to the classroom on the right either. If he waited until he crawled back into the classroom and opened the door, he would definitely be caught red-handed. He grabbed the open window, bypassed the classroom, followed the pipe back to the first floor, entered through the main door, and ran all the way into the stairwell on the east side of the first floor.
Xue Chao was leaning against the armrest, fiddling with the camera. His hair and clothes were messy, and he looked a bit disheveled. Next to him lay the missing boy, bound hand and foot with sunflower roots: "You're here?"
"How do you know they're all ghosts?" Deng Dayun asked bluntly.
He opened the fourth cubicle and saw a line of chalk writing on the wall: "They are ghosts." He then left the first floor east side, in the stairwell.
"I wandered around before going to the library. The door to the art club was unlocked at the time, and there were no sculptures inside."
“…They are the sculptures that escaped.” Deng Dayun paused for a moment. “She’s chasing me. Where does she run now?”
"Don't run away." Xue Chao tossed him a pink plastic butterfly lock that flashed with colorful light and even sang a song. The lyrics were the spells from children's fantasy dramas, and the sound echoed in the dim stairwell. "The first floor is for entry only, the second floor is for exit only, and all other floors are locked. Just lock the first floor."
With a gloomy face, Deng Dayun hung the overly childlike prop on the doorknob, and the butterfly lock automatically flew up and caught the entire door.
Just then, the doorknob began to turn repeatedly—someone was pulling on the door from the outside.
When that didn't work, they tried knocking on the door. The club president's worried voice rang out: "It's me! Are you two inside? I found Minmin! Why aren't you saying anything? How are you? Are you hurt?... Why won't you open the door?"
There was no answer in the hallway. The knocking stopped abruptly, then suddenly became violent, the door trembling: "—Open the door! There seems to be something else in the building, something is chasing me! Open the door!!"
Deng Dayun couldn't help but back away, fearing that the host's props were inferior, unlicensed products, and that he would face the ghosts who broke in.
"Ignore her, she'll leave when she gets tired of filming."
Upon hearing Xue Chao's voice, the knocking intensified, accompanied by the crisp sound of plaster cracking.
When Minmin broke down, the club president was secretly watching them. Deng Dayun became suspicious at that time. When Xue Chao took the opportunity to escape, he saw the note left in the cubicle and confirmed his suspicions. Looking back, since the club president, Minmin, and the missing boy were all escaped sculptures, they should all be able to see the "sixth person." Or the "sixth person" was a hoax they had planned. If such a person did exist, the club president was just pretending not to know in order to follow and watch them.
"So how exactly did you get away?" Deng Dayun couldn't understand.
"I was taken away by a ghost. She kept staring at me, so it wasn't convenient to just run away."
"What..." Deng Dayun hadn't expected it to actually be like this. His chin, which had been hovering over his collarbone, finally lifted. "...Aren't you afraid of really dying?"
"She thought so too, so she let her guard down and I managed to escape." Xue Chao flipped over the camera and pulled up the footage from the women's restroom. "As for whether she died or not, there was definitely a risk, but I bet she didn't—do you know who the ghost in the women's restroom is?"
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