Chen Xiaoxiao couldn't hold it in any longer.
She needed to pee. She had needed to ever since coming out of the dormitory building, but in the rush to escape, she hadn't dared say anything. Now that things had calmed down, she truly couldn't hold it anymore.
Yet she didn't dare go to the restroom alone.
There was an uncanny vibe to this classroom building, and she was terrified.
Knowing Yi Lin would definitely ignore her, Chen Xiaoxiao went straight to Fang Wen.
Fang Wen had always gotten along well with her, and unable to resist her persistent pleading, she soon agreed.
And so, the two slipped away from the group and took the staircase in the inner corner up to the second floor.
There were restrooms on the second through sixth floors of the classroom building, but the boys' and girls' facilities were on separate floors: the second, fourth, and sixth floors had girls' restrooms, while the third and fifth floors had boys'.
The restroom was the very last room on the right side of the building, meaning Chen Xiaoxiao and Fang Wen had to traverse the entire hallway to reach it.
There was only a single light on in the center of the hallway, casting limited illumination. Both ends remained relatively dim, and the stairwells beyond the light's reach looked particularly eerie and chilling.
Clutching Fang Wen's arm, Chen Xiaoxiao pressed close to her. Heads lowered, the two hurried anxiously down the hallway, not daring to cast even a single glance toward the empty classrooms along the side, as if sinister ghosts inside were cackling and watching them.
A dead silence hung all around, broken only by the sound of their footsteps echoing down the hallway—“pat-pat, pat-pat”—unnerving anyone who heard it.
After what felt like an eternity, they reached the restroom. The door was shut.
Steeling her courage, Fang Wen nudged the door open with the toe of her shoe. Inside, it was completely dark, with only the rushing sound of water echoing out; there didn't seem to be anything unusual.
Holding their breath, the two edged closer. Chen Xiaoxiao quickly felt along the wall beside the door and, with a “click,” flipped the light switch.
Fortunately, the light turned on!
The restroom was completely empty; there was nothing inside.
Only then did the two girls breathe a sigh of relief. They hurried into the restroom and carefully closed the door behind them.
The school had old-fashioned trough-style squat toilets. Blue partitions divided the space into six separate cubicles, connected underneath by a single continuous trough. A cistern was mounted high at the far end, with water running into it constantly. Once full, it would automatically dump its contents to flush the trough.
The two pushed open cubicle doors and went in, one in each...
After hurriedly relieving herself, Chen Xiaoxiao couldn't help but let out a long breath, feeling an immense sense of relief wash over her.
Just as she stood up and straightened her skirt, she suddenly heard a sound coming from the cubicle ahead of hers—“knock, knock”—as if someone were rapping their knuckles against the partition.
Assuming Fang Wen was rushing her, she reflexively called out, “I’m almost done.”
Yet the instant the words left her mouth, Chen Xiaoxiao realized something was wrong...
Fang Wen had clearly entered the cubicle behind hers. Why had the knocking come from the one in front?
That realization instantly sent goosebumps erupting across her back, her anxious heart thumping wildly against her chest.
And only then did she notice that the cubicle behind her had been completely silent the entire time, as though Fang Wen had vanished into thin air.
Chen Xiaoxiao didn't dare overthink it, nor did she dare make another sound. With trembling hands, she reached out to unlatch the door.
Yet the very moment her fingers brushed the latch, the voice of an unfamiliar girl suddenly came from the cubicle ahead.
“Excuse me, my door is stuck. Could you help me open it?”
The voice was soft and weak, tinged with a pleading tone.
Chen Xiaoxiao's pupils constricted sharply. Her face drained of all color, and bean-sized beads of cold sweat rolled down her forehead in an instant.
She hurriedly threw open the latch to escape, but the flimsy partition door felt as if it had been welded shut. No matter how hard she pulled, shoved, and slammed against it, it refused to budge.
“Excuse me? Hello? Are you still there?” The partition in front was tapped again—“knock, knock”—as the frail female voice asked once more.
Chen Xiaoxiao was petrified with fear!
Clenching her teeth tightly, she didn't dare make the slightest sound. Scalding tears rolled down one after another as her entire body trembled as if she had plummeted into an icehouse, her very blood turning to frost.
She didn't know who this “person” appearing out of nowhere was!
Or whether it was even human!
Yet instinctively, she knew she must never respond.
“Knock, knock, knock... Knock, knock, knock...”
“Hello? Why aren't you saying anything...? Please, open the door for me... Help me...”
Perhaps because there was no reply, the knocking continued relentlessly, and the voice grew increasingly frantic.
Eventually, the entire partition was being slammed with loud “bangs,” shaking violently as though it could collapse at any second.
The voice warped from its initial gentle pleading into something shrill and hideous, howling like a screeching night wind: “...Help me! Why won't you help me?! Why won't you help...?!”
Terror pressed down on her chest like a thousand-pound boulder. Chen Xiaoxiao curled up helplessly in the corner, her head buried tightly against her knees and her hands clamped over her ears, able to do nothing but pray desperately in her heart.
Don't, don't come for me. Someone save me, save me...
She didn't know how long had passed—perhaps a century, or perhaps merely an instant...
Everything suddenly fell silent.
The frenzied banging ceased, and the shrill accusations vanished. Only the sound of running water in the cistern continued to trickle.
Chen Xiaoxiao froze for a moment. Unable to endure the suspense any longer, she finally raised her head and slowly opened her eyes.
Before her, the light remained on, and there was nothing there.
It was as though everything that had just occurred was nothing more than an illusion.
A sudden wave of relief from having survived washed over her. Both grateful and shaken to the core, Chen Xiaoxiao watched her tears gush forth like a burst dam.
Bracing herself against the partition, she struggled to her feet, desperate to flee this place.
Yet right at that moment, a massive rushing sound suddenly surged, scaring Chen Xiaoxiao so badly she jolted and fell right back to the floor.
Quickly, though, she realized it was just the sound of the cistern dumping its water to flush the trough after filling up.
Sure enough, water came flooding through the adjacent trough.
Before Chen Xiaoxiao could breathe a sigh of relief, however, she realized with mounting horror that the water pouring from the front of the trough was bright red.
It was as if what had poured from the cistern wasn't water, but blood.
At this moment, Chen Xiaoxiao finally suffered a complete breakdown, letting out a wailing, shrieking cry.
She struggled desperately to open the door, but it still didn't budge.
The drainage at the lower end of the trough seemed to be blocked, causing the bloody water to accumulate faster and faster. Soon, it spilled over the edges and kept rising until it submerged Chen Xiaoxiao's knees.
At last, the bloody water stopped rising.
Silence enveloped the room once more. This time, not even the trickling water in the cistern could be heard.
Her eyes bloodshot, Chen Xiaoxiao pressed herself tightly against the door behind her like a startled bird.
All of a sudden, something yanked at her feet. Losing her balance completely, she fell backward into the bloody water.
Immediately after, a pair of withered, pale hands surged from the pool of blood, grabbing Chen Xiaoxiao's head and dragging her headfirst into the liquid.
Amidst the violent splashing, her body lay prone in the bloody water, her hands and feet flailing in a desperate struggle, churning up loud splashes...
Finally, as a muffled “crack” sounded from beneath the water, Chen Xiaoxiao's body went abruptly rigid, then went completely limp in the blood, stirring no more.
Thick plumes of crimson blood welled up from beneath the surface, quickly blending into the surrounding sea of blood...
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