The girls giggled and chatted as they walked towards the bathroom.

Someone pulled the light cord, and the dim light quietly enveloped a small area of marble floor in front, while the rest was covered by the cold moonlight.

Seigetsu Zhu and a companion entered the bathroom, while another stood in front of the sink, fixing her hair in the mirror. Sun Xiaofang was pouring hot water into a cup.

"Ouch...!"

The girl with braided hair burned her hand with the hot water and quickly blew on it several times. The water in the cup dripped onto the floor.

"Squad leader, what were you talking about with Sunny Xu just now? You seemed very happy."

The person in front of the mirror put down her hand and asked, with a teasing tone in her voice.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the girls pricked up their ears and listened carefully. The girl with braided hair suddenly felt that even her previously burned hand didn't hurt anymore.

"It's about what we were just talking about."

The gentle voice of the squad leader came from the bathroom.

"You mean someone playing a prank outside our class?"

"Yes. He was a bit worried, so he came to discuss with me what to do. Xu should be at the guard room by now, right?"

"...Isn't this person too nosy?"

Someone wasn't very interested in this.

"But this is indeed strange. Who would be so bored? The students from other classes have already left."

"Could it be someone from outside the school? Xiaofang, I heard you say before that a lunatic escaped from the mental hospital and ran into the school... Is that true?"

The girl with braided hair hesitated for a moment and replied:

"I just heard about it."

"Tell us about it."

"Yes, yes."

"...Alright, I'll just tell you casually." Sun Xiaofang coughed, "I heard that this happened a few years ago. There was a school, a high school with dormitories, so there were evening self-study sessions every day. That day was a weekend, and the self-study classroom was full of people. Everyone was quietly doing their homework when suddenly the classroom door was kicked open, and a person stumbled in..."

"This beginning is a bit scary," the girl shivered, "We also have evening self-study."

"That's right, so it's not impossible."

"The person who came in was the lunatic who escaped from the mental hospital? What did he look like?"

"Um... I heard that he was tall and thin, wearing a dark, tattered coat. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked crazy. He was also holding a shiny kitchen knife..."

As Sun Xiaofang spoke, she intentionally lowered her voice, creating a creepy atmosphere.

At that time, Sun Xiaofang didn't really know about such things. The so-called "heard" was just from those third-rate magazines that specialized in attracting attention with horror and erotic stories. About ninety percent of the content was fake, so it couldn't be taken seriously.

But this kind of story was enough to scare little girls, and because it was not about monsters and demons, but about real people, it added a touch of realism to the story.

The girl in front of the mirror hugged herself and shivered.

"Alright, forget it, don't tell me anymore. I'm getting goosebumps all over."

"I'm not making it up. It's a true story, and it happened at a nearby high school..."

Sun Xiaofang became more and more excited as she spoke.

"You... hey?!"

The girl suddenly noticed that the light above her head had gone out, and she was startled.

"Who pulled the light? Don't scare me, okay?!"

The light cord was near the exit of the bathroom, and neither she nor Sun Xiaofang could have touched it.

"It was you, wasn't it, Xiaowen?" the girl complained, "Can't you be less boring..."

But Xiaowen, who was fixing her skirt, walked out at this moment. When she heard this, she looked up at her with a confused expression.

"It wasn't you? Then who was it..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes suddenly widened.

At this moment, the girl was standing in front of the dressing table, and from her position, she could see everything behind her, including Sun Xiaofang pouring water; and, behind her...

"...Xiaofang..."

She couldn't even finish her sentence, she kept gasping for breath, intermittently calling out her friend's name.- Behind the girl with braided hair, there stood a tall and thin figure. He stood still, wearing an old dark coat, like a weathered sculpture.

The dim light couldn't illuminate his face, only his bloodshot eyes protruded from his face, filled with a crazy and eerie atmosphere, not at all like a living person!

"What's wrong?"

Sun Xiaofang's words were interrupted halfway, and she was a little impatient. She didn't even notice the person standing behind her.

"Ah!"

But at this moment, the girl who had just come out of the bathroom also saw the tall and thin figure standing behind Sun Xiaofang. She immediately let out a scream that pierced the silent night sky.

Startled by the scream, the girl in front of the mirror finally came to her senses and shouted:

"Xiaofang, run! There's someone behind you!"

Leaving these words behind, she quickly turned around and ran towards the direction of the laboratory building, not daring to look at the figure. The girl who ran out of the restroom was even faster than her.

No one would be foolish enough to ask, "Who are you, sir? What are you doing here?" Especially after hearing the terrifying story Sun Xiaofang had just shared.

A few seconds later, Sun Xiaofang, who had been reminded, covered her head and pale-facedly caught up with her companions.

They came to the bathroom in groups, and soon they ran away in groups, not daring to return to the classroom. They ran directly towards the school gate.

*

"...Hoo."

Sunny Xu opened his eyes.

The last scene he saw in his mental perception was the girl named Sun Xiaofang being grabbed by the hair by the tall and thin figure behind her.

Her stronger-than-average physique finally came in handy. Sun Xiaofang instinctively tilted her head, not getting caught by the entire braid, but only by a strand of hair. She screamed in pain but managed to escape.

Sunny Xu threw the strand of hair aside and quickly shone his flashlight around, but he didn't find the tall and thin figure.

If he guessed correctly, this guy was the monster lurking on the second-floor corridor.

The hair grabbed by "him" still had a lingering aura in a short period of time, which could indeed be used as a medium.

But a doubt arose in his mind: why didn't he sense any abnormalities in the school until now?

No, more importantly... Sunny Xu thought, there were indeed ordinary people who saw "him" in the mirror.

At certain times, humans could indeed see the invisible anomalies with their naked eyes, as Shi Hui and others proved. They watched the insect-like creatures enter their mouths before being possessed. But this was obviously different from the situation just now.

So, there was only one possibility left: the guy invading the campus was not a ghost monster like Little An, but a person.

Just... a "possessed" person.

"Sunny, what are you doing squatting there?"

Curious voices came from behind Sunny Xu.

"By the way, it's really quiet nearby, and why aren't the lights on? Could it be that someone is hiding in the dark to scare us, as Guo Zixuan said? Or did they all go somewhere else... Hey, Sunny, should we go in and take a look?"

"You want to go into the girls' restroom?"

Sunny Xu asked without turning his head.

"Well, there's no other way." Wang Yue scratched his head awkwardly. "In an emergency, we have to do what we have to do."

Suddenly, he looked back.

"Why do I feel like I hear something downstairs?"

Muttering to himself, he walked to the edge of the building, looking down.

-"Run!"

An anxious voice came from afar, but Wang Yue didn't hear it clearly. He saw the few girls they were looking for downstairs, so he shouted at them:

"What are you saying?"

"Run! Get downstairs quickly!"

"There's a lunatic! A murderer has entered the school!"

"What?!"

Wang Yue was startled, but this time he heard it clearly. He saw the girls below dancing and panicking, and suddenly he understood that they were not lying.

There was really something wrong!

He quickly turned around and shouted at Sunny Xu:

"Sunny, did you hear that? It seems like a dangerous person has broken in. Let's go!"

Sunny Xu nodded but didn't move, just replied softly.

"You go first."

"Why?!"

Sunny Xu pointed in the direction of the restroom.

"Because someone hasn't come out yet."

Wang Yue looked anxious. Seeing that Sunny Xu was only talking and not moving, he gritted his teeth and decided to leave as soon as possible.

"Who is it?"

"I think it should be..."Before Sunny Xu could respond, the other man turned around and dashed towards the stairs, shouting loudly, "I'll go downstairs to check the situation first!"

——He must be your class representative.

Sunny Xu watched his retreating figure, swallowing the rest of his sentence.

He wasn't sure, only suspecting because he hadn't seen Seigetsu Zhu leave the restroom in his psychic vision. There was no other evidence.

Still, he had to go where he needed to go.

Sunny Xu lifted his head, looking at the restroom door, feeling a bit apprehensive.

…Even if the path ahead led to the women's restroom.

*

When Sunny Xu stepped into the entrance with a flashlight, he was thinking that this was his first time entering a women's restroom in his life.

He really hoped there wouldn't be a next time.

There was a low sink at the entrance, usually used by the duty student to wash mops; further inside were two rows of stalls.

Ah, so the difference between the men's and women's restrooms is the lack of urinals, Sunny Xu thought. Also, it seemed to smell a bit better.

The beam of the flashlight hit the opposite wall, the circular light spot slowly moving in the pitch-black, cramped space. He noticed that one of the stall doors was slightly ajar.

Without hesitation, Sunny Xu strode towards it.

He pulled open the stall door and shone the flashlight inside.

Find the original at "pawread dot com".

"Ah!"

A soft gasp came from inside.

Sunny Xu moved the flashlight away, and Seigetsu Zhu, holding a notebook in one hand, lowered the arm that had been shielding her eyes. The girl stood in the narrow stall, her dress neat. She was squinting, looking at him in surprise.

Sunny Xu suddenly wanted to laugh.

"…You bring your homework to the restroom?"

"To make the most of my time," the class representative replied helplessly. "I didn't really want to go… But Xu, remember to knock next time you call someone. What if I was actually using the restroom?"

Even though she probably wouldn't take it to heart, Seigetsu Zhu couldn't help but imagine if she had been squatting when he suddenly barged in… No, she couldn't think about it anymore. She wisely stopped that line of thought.

"If you were really using the restroom, wouldn't you close the door?" Sunny Xu said. "Also, I probably won't have a second chance to barge into the women's restroom to call someone."

"Sigh, never mind."

The class representative shook her head, seemingly trying to shake off the blush that had unconsciously crept onto her cheeks. Then, her expression turned serious, and she asked in a low voice, "Is everything okay outside? I heard someone scream, so I didn't go out."

"There is indeed a dangerous person who broke in, and he was just outside. He should be chasing someone else now. You should come out, we need to leave this…"

"——Thud!"

Sunny Xu froze, and the girl in front of him shrank her shoulders in fright.

A very intense and abrupt noise, and it wasn't far from the two of them.

…More accurately, it was on the corridor not far from the restroom.

"Thud, thud, thud."

Familiar footsteps.

Sunny Xu instinctively looked towards the door, immediately turning off the flashlight in his hand.

"Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!"

The footsteps merged into a continuous sound.

Seigetsu Zhu's reaction was even faster than his. The moment the footsteps sounded, she grabbed Sunny Xu's wrist and pulled him into the stall.