Chapter 81: A Dangerous Child
This side quest was described in the first person, telling the story of someone who hid in the fifth stall of the restroom to catch the red shadow that always appeared at midnight.
What happened next wasn’t detailed in the quest introduction, leaving plenty of room for Chen Ge’s imagination.
He turned off his flashlight, a hint of confusion in his mind. “The quest says a red shadow appears in the restroom at midnight, but from the footsteps, it sounds like two people walking side by side. Could it be that in the years since the school was abandoned, the red shadow has made a new friend?”
The footsteps were slowly approaching the second-floor restroom. According to the quest requirements, Chen Ge should now hide in the fifth stall of the restroom, but he felt this was too passive. If he encountered something truly terrifying, he wouldn’t even have a chance to escape.
“Maybe I should be more proactive.”
Chen Ge gripped his tool hammer and ambushed himself behind the restroom door. No matter who came in, he planned to strike first with the hammer.
Taking a breath, Chen Ge held it and raised his tool hammer.
The footsteps grew clearer, as if two people were running side by side. They were very close to the second-floor restroom now.
The waiting process was torture for Chen Ge. He had no idea what was outside, nor what it intended to do. He could only eavesdrop while trying not to make a sound.
After a few seconds, the footsteps finally stopped at the restroom door.
“They’re here!”
The hand holding the tool hammer began to sweat, and his heartbeat quickened.
Outside the restroom, wind and rain raged, with more raindrops blowing into the building, wetting the floor.
“Where are they?” Chen Ge glanced behind him and above the door, but nothing like a human face suddenly appeared. His patience slowly wore thin. Grabbing the door panel, he prepared to step out and see for himself.
But before he could emerge from behind the door, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky. In that brief light, Chen Ge saw two shadows on the restroom floor.
“Someone’s at the door!”
His body froze in place. The flashlight was already off, and the restroom was pitch black, revealing nothing.
“The shadows are short, like two children.” He didn’t dare relax. After waiting a few more seconds, footsteps sounded again at the door.
But unlike what he had imagined, the owners of the footsteps didn’t enter the restroom. Instead, they went into the nearby stairwell, seemingly heading to the first floor.
“They’re leaving just like that?”
Chen Ge slowly moved his steps, looking toward the restroom door. There was nothing there.
“Those standing at the door seemed to be two children. This doesn’t match the red shadow described in the black phone’s quest. Is it because too much time has passed and some unknown change has occurred, or has my arrival on campus awakened some strange things ahead of time?”
Chen Ge couldn’t find an answer, nor did he have the energy to investigate further.
Turning on his flashlight, he walked to the fifth stall of the restroom. Whether or not this was the black phone’s quest target, he had to check it.
Pushing the door panel, the old stall behind it was still empty.
“Given the current situation, the stall I’m looking for should be in the third-floor restroom. Those two kids just ran to the first floor—this is the perfect opportunity.” Chen Ge hurried out, but before he could leave the restroom, his phone suddenly vibrated. An unfamiliar number was calling.
“Whose number is this?” Chen Ge had few friends, and the ones he had rarely contacted him.
He hesitated, crouched in a corner, exited the livestream, and answered the call. “Hello?”
“Are you a classmate of Gao Ruxue? I heard you encountered a child today with unusual behavior who might have a psychological disorder?” The voice on the other end was mature and steady, inspiring trust.
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“I’m her father, also a lecturer at Jiang Medical University.”
Heshan had told Chen Ge earlier that he’d given his number to Gao Ruxue. It seemed that “senior” with her cooling aura was quite reliable.
“Can you tell me more about that child’s situation? Psychological disorders are like poisonous weeds rooted in the body—if not removed early, they can ruin a person’s future.” Gao Ruxue’s father clearly understood the dangers of psychological disorders, even considering them more dangerous than some physical illnesses.
“It’s like this: there’s a seven- or eight-year-old child who’s physically normal but seems somewhat autistic, unwilling to communicate and afraid of sunlight.”
“Any other symptoms? Please be as detailed as possible.”
“I met this child at the entrance of my haunted house. His aunt told me he loves playing in the haunted house. He doesn’t have the normal fear or dread that ordinary people feel there. Unlike in sunlight, he becomes much more active. It seems he only feels safe in places where sunlight doesn’t reach.” Chen Ge poured out his confusion in one go. If he hadn’t seen it himself, he wouldn’t have believed such a child existed.
“A seven- or eight-year-old who likes playing in a haunted house and isn’t afraid?”
“Yes, the child was even curious about the actors in death makeup.”
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end. “If it’s just a lack of fear, it could be Urbach-Wiethe disease, which damages part of the amygdala in the brain.”
“Sorry, I don’t quite understand.”
“Simply put, the amygdala is the neural center for fear memory and also controls the generation of emotions like fear and anger. If there’s a problem there, a person wouldn’t feel fear even touching high-voltage wires, approaching wild beasts or venomous snakes, let alone entering a haunted house.”
Gao Ruxue’s father made a good point, but Chen Ge felt this didn’t match Fan Yu’s situation. “Professor Gao, the child isn’t afraid of everything—he fears sunlight and hates walking in it. Also, it’s not just that he isn’t afraid of the haunted house; he actually loves the atmosphere there. He’s completely different inside the haunted house compared to outside.”
Chen Ge thought for a moment and added, “Outside the haunted house, he doesn’t say a word and avoids contact with others. Once inside, he gets excited. If you try to drag him out, he’ll attack people. I saw him claw his own aunt’s arm.”
“From your description, it sounds a bit like bipolar disorder. During manic episodes, there’s a destructive urge, loss of reason, and even harm to loved ones; during depressive episodes, there’s loneliness, sadness, refusal to communicate, and withdrawal into one’s own world.” Professor Gao analyzed seriously for Chen Ge. “But one thing I don’t understand: bipolar disorder episodes are random. There’s no pattern like changing personality upon entering a haunted house. Personally, I think since his personality changes in the haunted house, the cause must be related to it. Was he scared in a haunted house as a child? Or do his parents work in one?”
Hearing Gao Ruxue’s father’s words, Chen Ge had a vague guess.
The boy’s personality change was linked to the haunted house, and the biggest difference between his haunted house and the outside world was that his haunted house really had ghosts.