The iron door of girls' dormitory 441 was massive and heavy. How could it have slammed against the wall for no apparent reason?
It couldn't have been the wind!
Across from the iron door was another iron door, flanked by dark, narrow corridors. With this structure, there was no air circulation, so it was impossible for a strong wind to blow in. Even if there was wind, it couldn't have had the force to push the iron door so violently against the wall. Unless—unless someone deliberately slammed the iron door against the wall.
But who could be so bored? Ever since they entered girls' dormitory 441, the girls' dormitory across the way, 442, had already shut its door, acting as if they would never see each other again. The girls on the fifth floor passed by hurriedly, not daring to even glance, let alone linger for more than a second.
The three girls stood there frozen, unable to advance or retreat, not daring to breathe, their eyes fixed fixed on the iron door. Outside the iron gate, light and shadow mingled, the darkness was hazy and blurry, and there was no sound of footsteps. In fact, there was no sound at all; it was eerily quiet.
For a long moment, still no movement, not even from the bedroom. Could it all be an illusion?
If it were just one person's hallucination, it would be fine, but three girls experiencing the same hallucination? This was too incredible.
Fang Yuan's lips went dry, and her nervous heart slowly relaxed. She let out a long breath, and then heard the other two girls around her do the same. In the silence of dormitory 441, the three girls' breathing was clearly audible.
The three girls looked at each other, each a little embarrassed.
Fang Yuan said with deliberate certainty, "It must be some bored girl who passed by our dormitory and deliberately bumped into the iron gate to scare us!"
Her speculation was not entirely unreasonable. The terrifying legend of Girls' Dormitory 441 had been circulating throughout the medical school. The resentment of the girls in the neighboring dormitories over their arrival was understandable.
Xu Zhaodi was also somewhat indignant: "They're so boring! If I saw them, I wouldn't let them off so easily!"
The two of them encouraged each other, and the atmosphere in the dormitory began to liven up. Qin Yanping, also inspired by them, asked Xu Zhaodi, "What would you do if you saw her? Would you rush over and hit her, or yell at her?"
Xu Zhaodi felt a little embarrassed: "You too, I was just saying that out of anger! Of course we can't hit or yell at people. Who are we? We're well-mannered, well-mannered future female doctors! But if I can see who it is, I'll find a way to scare her one day. It's called tit-for-tat."
"But..." Qin Yanping glanced timidly into the bedroom. "There's really some noise going on in there!"
In theory, the key to Girls' Dormitory 441 was only held by the four women staying there and the building manager, Sister Zhang. With three of them now in the hall, it was practically impossible for Sister Zhang to remain in the bedroom without making a sound. The only person who met the criteria was Suya.
Xu Zhaodi curled her lips. "That person in the bedroom must be that Suya girl. She's just like that—secretive, arrogant, and indifferent. Fang Yuan, don't you agree?"
Fang Yuan also hoped it was Suya. "It must be her. She has a bit of a strange personality. But she wouldn't give us such a cold shoulder. After all, we haven't offended her, and we still have to live together for five years. Didn't she hear us calling her?"
Xu Zhaodi called out, "Suya, are you in there? If you heard her, answer her!"
Her voice was already quite loud, and this time she deliberately raised it. If Suya was in the bedroom, she would definitely have heard it.
But still, no one responded.
Could it be that there was no one in the bedroom?
At that moment, a strange sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor: "Tap, tap, tap." The slow, steady pace had a moving, lightness that seemed especially clear in the silent night.
Who was coming?
They stopped talking, listening quietly to the mysterious footsteps.
The person's footsteps were strange. Their heels were high, and the rhythm was steady: "Tap, tap, tap." Her steps revealed nothing of her mood: neither hurried nor leisurely, neither panic nor steady. Instead, they were monotonous and mechanical, like the second hand of a quartz clock, stubbornly repeating each movement.
Who was this person?
From the source of the sound, the footsteps suggested they were coming from the fourth floor. She was ascending. Was she heading to girls' dormitory 441?
The footsteps grew closer, closer, almost there. Then, suddenly, they vanished.
Girls' dormitory 441 was once again in complete silence.
It was as if the footsteps had never occurred before.
There was no one in the bright light outside the door.
Where's the person?
Fang Yuan noticed a figure standing in the shadows outside the door, gazing at them coldly. With flowing long hair and a black dress, she was shrouded in shadow, her entire body shrouded in shadow, save for a pair of eyes, a faint glint.
The figure noticed Fang Yuan's gaze and ducked away. Why didn't she want to meet Fang Yuan's gaze?
A voice rang from the shadows: "What do you want me to do?"
It was Su Ya.
Su Ya, dressed in black, was like a moving shadow, cold and resolute. Her expression conveyed a simple message: Stay away!
Since Su Ya was here, who was in the bedroom?
"Nothing. We thought you were sleeping alone in the bedroom," Fang Yuan explained quietly.
Su Ya walked in, her footsteps still monotonous and mechanical. From her steps, you had no idea what she was thinking. She didn't even look at the other three girls, acting like a stranger.
She walked straight to the bedroom door, opened it, went in, and returned to her bed.
The three girls followed her in.
The bedroom was empty.
Strangely, bed number 5 was already made, with signs of being disturbed, as if someone had slept there.
"Come out! What's so fun?" Su Ya's tone was tinged with sarcasm.
A cute girl flashed out from behind the bedroom door and gave Qin Yanping a strange cry, startling her so much that she almost fell.
This girl was also petite, with a figure similar to Qin Yanping's. She had a sweet face and a penchant for pursed smiles, revealing two shallow dimples, giving her a quirky, eerie look. Her clothes were simple: a pink-yellow top and a light blue skirt, looking very refreshing.
"You're such a coward! It's not fun at all."
The cute girl, with a playful smile, reached out and took Qin Yanping's hand, her face devoid of any guilt, as if this was a perfectly normal thing for her.
After chatting, Fang Yuan and the others learned that the cute girl's name was Tao Bing'er. She had come to girls' dormitory 441 while they were seeing Qin Yanping's family off. Tired, she made up bed number 5 and lay down to rest. Fang Yuan and the other three girls returned, having spent a long time tinkering with their computers outside, refusing to enter the bedroom. Tao Bing'er, playful by nature and fond of pranks, deliberately made a noise inside to scare them. Her prank, though minor, made the three girls, already frightened by the terrifying legends surrounding girls' dormitory 441 and the photos of corpses posted on the BBS, suspicious. The timid Qin Yanping was even more frightened by her little trick.