Chapter 138: Eyes Meeting
"Pei Hu!!"
In the last classroom, as Chen Ge was attaching a head to a mannequin, he suddenly heard a man's roar from deep within the corridor.
The voice carried a complex mix of emotions that couldn't be easily summed up in a few words.
"This doesn't sound like it's from fear. It feels mixed with surprise, anger, and panic." Chen Ge finished attaching the final head and walked out of the classroom. "This batch of tourists sure has energy."
...
Pei Hu, who had rushed into Room 303, leaned against the door, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Damn it, Wenlong is still in the well!" Pei Hu's palms were slick with sweat. He looked at Wang Wenlong's phone in his hand: "And I took his phone too. It's so dark in that well, and it seems like there are a few fake bodies buried there."
Pei Hu didn't dare to think further. He glanced around the room.
Room 303 was mostly unchanged, with a pile of dirty clothes in the middle of the living room, though the stench was gone.
"Why is there a pile of clothes in here? This room gives me a really bad feeling. Better not go in, just stay by the door..."
As he muttered to himself, the door behind him suddenly made a "thump," "thump" sound.
It sounded like someone was knocking, but the noise came from the bottom of the door.
"A normal person wouldn't knock there, so it can't be Wenlong." After ruling out Wang Wenlong, the only thing moving in the hallway seemed to be one other thing.
Pei Hu's face turned pale. He stared at the door's base where the sound came from: "It's that head! That mannequin's head is knocking!"
Realizing this, Pei Hu felt his legs tremble. He wanted to lock the door, but unfortunately found the lock was just for show—a simple push could open it.
"This room must have windows, right? But if I go in to check, what if that head gets in?" Pei Hu scratched his head anxiously. Standing there wasn't a solution, so he gritted his teeth and stepped inside.
The thumping outside continued, like a death knell, each beat hitting Pei Hu's heart: "I need to find a way out."
Pei Hu started to help himself. He walked over the dirty clothes, circled the room, and saw nothing.
"Outside the window is a thick concrete wall—no way out. Am I stuck here?" Pei Hu stood in the middle of the living room: "We came to tour a haunted house, how did it suddenly turn into this? Mannequins blinking, bodies in a well, being chased by a head everywhere—is the owner of this haunted house a devil? How does he do it?"
"Bang!"
Before Pei Hu could think it through, the door was slammed hard.
"Such strength? Is that mannequin here? Is she looking for her head again?" Just imagining it was terrifying. Pei Hu looked around and, in a panic, decided to hide in the bedroom.
"Why doesn't this bedroom even have a door!" He regretted it as soon as he entered, but it was too late now. The only hiding spot in the bedroom was under the bed.
He first shone his phone light under the bed, and after confirming there was nothing strange, he crawled in.
"Please, just leave me alone!" He squeezed under the bed, put away his phone, and stared intently at the bedroom door.
In the dim room, it was dead silent, amplifying every faint sound.
A few seconds later, the living room door was fully pushed open.
After a brief silence, a strange noise came from the living room.
"Thump," "thump," "thump"...
"Sounds like something rolling?" This thought flashed through Pei Hu's mind. About a tenth of a second later, his legs suddenly went stiff, and a bone-chilling cold spread through him: "I think I forgot something!"
The thumping sound grew closer. As Pei Hu looked toward the bedroom door from under the bed, a head with a creepy smile rolled right to the doorway!
Eyes met, and time seemed to freeze.
...
Wang Hailong led Xia Meili and Dou Menglu to the girls' dormitory. Though Long Ge had shed a few tears today, he still acted calm in front of his girlfriend.
He walked at the front, checking each dorm room one by one, finally stopping at the room where the Ouija board game was set up.
"This room feels different."
Several chairs were arranged in the middle of the dorm, and a piece of white paper between them had a line of writing.
"The Ouija board knows the locations of three school badges." Wang Hailong picked up the paper and read it aloud.
"No wonder it looked familiar—it's the Ouija board game." Dou Menglu leaned in curiously: "I've seen it in movies so many times, never thought I'd see it in real life."
"It's all fake, just a gimmick." Wang Hailong tossed the paper onto a chair: "Three badges at once—can't pass that up. Either of you know the rules?"
"I do." Dou Menglu sat on one side of the chairs and gestured for Wang Hailong to sit opposite her: "Just follow my lead later."
"Take it easy, you two. Playing these weird games in a haunted house—be careful you don't actually summon something." Xia Meili stood at the door, watching Dou Menglu and Wang Hailong's sweet interaction, feeling a bit sour inside.
"It'd be even better if the Ouija board spirit shows up. I want to ask her if Long Ge's future wife is really me." Dou Menglu smirked, grabbed the pen wrapped in tape on the table, and placed it in the middle.
"Ask whatever you want." Wang Hailong acted completely at ease, not bothered by outsiders, and directly held Dou Menglu's hand along with the pen.
They flaunted their affection as if no one else was there. Xia Meili pursed her lips and walked out: "You two take your time. I'll go look around."
"Don't go too far, Meili."
"Alright, leave her be. Long Ge, listen—there are a few taboos in the Ouija board game: never ask about life or death, and never interrupt the process. As long as you follow these, there's no danger..."
Once Xia Meili left the room, she felt the air freshen up: "The stench of love in the air. I hope the Ouija board spirit gives them a good lesson."
She walked to the end of the corridor, where the atmosphere grew more eerie. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard Wang Wenlong's shouts from the other side of the passage.
"What's going on? Wenlong's voice doesn't sound scared—more like angry." Xia Meili retraced her steps and entered another passage.
"Where is everyone? Why are there two paths now? Which way should I go?" She stopped between the deep well and the Haiming Apartment rooms, uncertain: "Pei Hu lost his phone, so I'll call Wenlong to ask."
She dialed, and the ringtone faintly came from the Haiming Apartment rooms, but no one answered.
"They're in those rooms?" In the dead silence, the phone ring was a bit creepy. Xia Meili hung up and walked to the three doors.