"What is that?" I stared at the door in confusion. Xiumu had already curled up into a trembling ball, muttering something under his breath.
On the phone screen, the figure in the red dress hovered outside the door, making no move to leave.
I took a deep breath, sifting through all the rumors I'd heard about this school. Oddly enough, none of them mentioned a red dress.
"Stay calm. At least for now, we're safe."
The door was blocked—no way out. I might as well search the room. "Shen Mengting slept in Bed #1. For boarders, a dorm is where all their secrets are hidden. I should find something here."
I wasn't being brave. I just had the Netherworld Live Show phone, and besides the terrifying figure on screen, danmu from the chat were lighting up nonstop:
"Damn, our coward streamer ran off again, huh?"
"Where's the bro now? Does he even care about his stream?"
"What the hell is that floating outside?! I'm convulsing over here!"
"Oh Buddha above, Amitabha, let danmu protect me!"
"Wait, what's this 'danmu shield' meme even mean?"
The constant banter from the audience made the red dress outside feel just a bit less terrifying.
Dorm 4118 had four beds, all upper bunks. Desks and wardrobes were on the lower level.
"Shen Mengting was Bed #1."
I opened her wardrobe. Most of her things were gone—just a couple old shirts left behind.
I searched the pockets. Nothing. My eyes landed on her desk. I opened the drawer and, beneath a stack of discarded worksheets, found a book: A Monologue Disguised as Love.
"Love is unbearable to look at. Loneliness is the only truth. You're dangerous, cunning. All you leave me is despair and sadness."
I raised an eyebrow. Not exactly a book you'd expect a high school girl to enjoy.
Inside the cover was a delicate bookmark. On the front, it read:
"To my one and only princess. —Guo Junjie"
But on the back, written in smaller, elegant handwriting:
"My adorable slave."
The book was pristine. The bookmark had never been moved. Clearly, she never read it.
As I flipped through, a few letters slipped out.
Each envelope had a date and a name. These were Guo Junjie's love letters to Shen Mengting.
They were all unopened—perfect condition. Shen Mengting had never once read them. Poor Guo Junjie wasn't even a backup plan to her. He was a pawn—a "slave" she used at will.
I laid them out in order by date. The first was from six years ago.
It was exactly what you'd expect: a clumsy, heartfelt confession from a teenage boy summoning all his courage.
The next two were more of the same. But by the fourth letter, something shifted:
"Why did you give the gift I gave you to him? Why did you make me run errands for him? Why did you make me hide in the closet while you... while you two made out? You flaunted your body in front of him like I wasn't even there. Do you know how much that hurt?"
I stroked my chin.
"To destroy someone, you must first drive them mad. Shen Mengting was slowly unraveling his sanity."
I opened the fifth letter. It was dated five years ago:
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. Please don't ignore me. I'd do anything for you—I'd even be your dog. This school is full of monsters. Only you are different. I can't live without you. I'll be good. I'll do whatever you say!"
It was a desperate plea. I could imagine Shen Mengting had already moved on to someone else by then. She was probably growing annoyed with her obedient 'slave.'
"Your words were heartfelt, but she never even read them."
The letter had been buried beneath discarded paper, unread.
"Poor stubborn kid. Clinging to something that never existed."
I had a feeling this was going to end in tragedy.
The sixth letter:
"Enough! I've had it! Shen Mengting, if you keep seeing him, don't blame me for what happens next. I swear—I'll destroy you both!"
"The mad are always one step from the edge."
What would Guo Junjie do?
I opened the seventh letter:
"You saw it, didn't you? The blood. It soaked the desk. The cops came, but who would suspect me? The weak, invisible loser—me! Ha! Shen Mengting, I'll make you regret everything. I'll kill the bastard you're with! I'm your knight. You are my perfect princess!"
The page was filled with madness. I could almost see a scrawny boy standing there, screaming, holding a knife.
Then I opened the eighth letter:
"You asked what I'd give up for you? My life. The gift inside proves it."
I shook the envelope. Something small dropped onto the desk under my flashlight.
Wrapped in layers of plastic: a severed fingertip.
"He's possessed, isn't he?"
It was a pinky, shriveled and rotting—but definitely human.
The eighth letter was short, but I guessed by that point Shen Mengting still wanted nothing to do with him. This envelope, like the others, was never opened.
I placed the book aside and picked up the ninth and final "love letter."
"Shen Mengting, I know you never liked me. I finally get it. I don't expect anything anymore. You're worse than all of them."
Guo Junjie had finally seen the truth. Not even mutilating himself earned her sympathy. The world had nothing but cruelty for him.
"Take my final gift—not just for you, but for everyone who ever hurt me. I drank the antidote gifted to me by the Buddha. I'll drown myself in the school's purification tank. I curse all of you. I'll wait in hell. And I'll watch each of you suffer."
All nine letters read, I felt a chill—and a deep, bitter pity.
If just one person at that school had shown Guo Junjie a little kindness, maybe things would've turned out differently. If Shen Mengting had opened even one letter...
But there's no "if" in real life.
I reread the final letter and paused.
"The antidote gifted by the Buddha?"
"The Buddha? Since when does a true Buddhist deity condone mass murder and eternal wandering as a spirit trapped on school grounds?"
"Wait… could he mean the Two-Faced Buddha?"
If it was the same twisted being from the Anxin Motel, then it all made sense. But what was the connection between Anxin Motel and Xinhu High?
These letters gave answers, but also more questions.
"Unbelievable. What kind of idiot wants to be a girl's dog?"
Xiumu scoffed beside me, mocking Guo Junjie like it was the most natural reaction in the world.
"He was pathetic, but I still feel sorry for him."
I don't judge criminals. That's my principle. Behind every monstrous act is a twisted life.
"But how did one kid take revenge on the whole school?"
Xiumu poked at the severed finger, gagging. "God, that's disgusting."
"It's all in the letters. He drank some kind of poison, then jumped into the water tank. Anyone who drank from the school's water that day got 'infected'—went mad. Those people in the infirmary probably drank it and ended up jumping to their deaths."
I tucked the ninth letter away. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"
Xiumu nodded seriously. "How did I not think of that?"
I gave a little laugh. "If you had thought of it, you wouldn't have drunk the water yourself, would you?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right…"
The room fell silent. So quiet, I could hear a pin drop.