Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Time slipped by, minute by minute.

We hid in the pitch-black room, listening as Dormitory Auntie’s footsteps drew closer and closer.

During that time, we went over every one of Chen Ling’s rules we could remember.

“You have to attend your 8 a.m. class on time. You can’t skip it. But if the classroom for your 8 a.m. class is Room 404, go in, curse out the teacher for ten minutes, then immediately run to the third stall in the bathroom.”

“After you go to bed at night, you cannot get up. If you absolutely must get up, then once you’re out of bed, don’t listen to anything any outsider says.”

“Five minutes after a snack has been opened, it has already expired. You must not eat it under any circumstances.”

“If someone dies, don’t make a scene. But that night, you cannot sleep, and you cannot touch the bed.”

“Your phone is safe. If necessary, use your phone immediately.”

“If you encounter something that can’t be explained, treat it as normal. But be careful. Don’t let it know that it’s abnormal.”

Time was limited. That was about all we could remember.

The sound of Dormitory Auntie’s slippers was already almost at our door.

“What do we do? I think the next room is the one beside us, and then… it’s our turn.”

Huang Xuexue nervously clutched at the hem of my shirt.

“Don’t worry. If Dormitory Auntie finds out, she’ll definitely call the police for us. Then we’ll be safe.”

“As long as we get through tonight, tomorrow we can take a leave of absence, drop out-anything.”

As I spoke, I walked to the door.

Through the peephole, I checked the hallway outside.

But with just one glance, I immediately clamped both hands over my mouth and stumbled backward.

“What did you see?”

Wan Yue asked me nervously.

“A hand…”

I forced down the urge to scream and tried to string my words together.

“No-quick, find something to block the door. We can’t let Dormitory Auntie in!”

As I spoke, I started dragging things over to the door.

“The thing outside isn’t Dormitory Auntie at all. It’s a monster!”

“There’s a hand growing out of its leg!”

Huang Xuexue burst into tears on the spot.

Wan Yue, who was a little braver, heard what I said and immediately looked outside as well. A second later, her face went deathly pale, and she joined me in barricading the door.

“Xuexue, Ah Yao’s telling the truth. Just now, it happened to push open a door and go in. I saw it too…”

It took the three of us quite a bit of effort before we finally piled everything movable against the door.

Only then did it sink in.

It was past three in the morning. What dorm supervisor would be checking rooms at this hour?

And we were already college students. Whether we slept or not was none of the dorm supervisor’s business!

The whole thing was strange in and of itself. Maybe this was what Chen Ling had meant by “abnormal.”

Click.

Step. Step. Step.

Even though we prayed again and again that Dormitory Auntie would just go to sleep, she finally knocked on our door.

Maybe it was because I was terrified, but her voice sounded cold and sinister.

“Open the door. It’s your turn.”