by <unknown>
After 11 o'clock at night every day, the four of them would only keep one computer connected to the Internet and everyone would sit in front of this computer to watch a movie, which was also considered team-building.
In terms of film selection, everyone in the dormitory had proclaimed the "three no's" principle — no watching romantic dramas, no watching idol dramas, and no watching literary movies. After all, a group of grown men sitting together, watching those sort of sentimental, long-winded movies — well, if something happened, no one could bear the blame.
Apart from those, they could watch anything else. Nonetheless, Chen Chen preferred science fiction and disaster movies while dorm leader Wang Wei preferred horror and slasher movies. Zhou Jie's taste was similar to Wang Wei's while Li Bo prefers Hong Kong movies from the last century.
Still, fortunately, the four of them had a common movie category that they liked, that was, the X-rated genre.
However, this genre was more suitable for viewing alone. It was inevitable that one would lose the mood if they watched it together. Therefore, when they were together, they still watched Hollywood blockbusters most of the time.
At this time, Li Bo, who was more afraid of ghosts, said with a guilty conscience, "No way, Nostril, do you want everyone to watch these four movies?"
"Of course."
Zhou Jie smugly put the USB flash drive on the table. "Now, we even have a shared USB flash drive. In the future, you can upload any movies you want to play for 'Night Cinema' so that we can even save the last bit of campus network time!"
"Not bad. That's more like it."
Wang Wei was also extremely excited. "These films are much better than European and American slasher films. Europe and the United States don't understand horror. They either scare people using jump scares or fill the screen with blood and gore or make some furniture fly around. It's getting so old. For real horror, you still need to go for Japanese horror!"
Everyone immediately started talking in full swing.
However, the enthusiastic group did not notice Chen Chen, who was sitting opposite, had turned pale at this time. He stared at the USB flash drive on the table but suddenly felt an inexplicable throbbing in his heart.
He felt like after moving the horror movies into this USB flash drive, something bad would happen…
This ominous premonition was getting heavier. Dorm leader Wang Wei finally noticed that something was wrong. He asked with concern, "Lil Chen, are you feeling sick?"
"I'm fine…"
Chen Chen shook his head. He was about to take the USB flash drive and throw it away but Zhou Jie, who was opposite him, picked up the USB flash drive again and started fighting with Li Bo.
Seeing this, Chen Chen had to give up.
Soon, it was noon and four of them went to the cafeteria to have lunch. Then, they returned to the dormitory, laughing and talking, and lay down in bed.
In this dormitory, Chen Chen and Wang Wei had always had the habit of taking a lunch break but Li Bo and Zhou Jie did not have this habit. However, during their lunch break, they would also tacitly lower the sound of the computer, so as not to affect the other two.
After having lunch, the foreboding in Chen Chen's heart had gradually disappeared. Finally, he looked at Zhou Jie and the USB flash drive next to the computer. He gave up on thinking anymore and just closed his eyes.
Soon, Chen Chen fell asleep.
In the beginning, Chen Chen slept extremely comfortably because he found that today's dormitory was exceptionally quiet as if he was the only one in the entire dormitory.
However, for some reason, after falling asleep, Chen Chen only felt that his whole body was getting colder. He had already covered himself with the quilt but there was still an inexplicable chill in the dormitory.
Not only that but as he drifted between sleep and wakefulness, Chen Chen seemed to see something stretching over the upper bunk and approaching his face bit by bit. However, when the thing was about to reach Chen Chen's head, the dormitory's broadcaster suddenly blared.
It was the wake-up call at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Chen Chen opened his eyes quickly but saw a flash of something white suddenly retracting into the upper bunk. It looked to be a hand. Chen Chen just sat up, yawned heavily, and subconsciously looked at the opposite side.
What Chen Chen saw was that on the opposite table, Zhou Jie was sitting in front of the computer with a slack expression. His face white as if he had been attacked by something…
"What's wrong, Nostril?"
At this time, the rest also got up one after another, and suddenly noticed Zhou Jie who was slumped in front of the computer, so they started to inquire with concern.
Even so, Zhou Jie was like a wooden man. Even if he heard everyone's inquiries, he did not respond.
"Nostril, Nostril!"
Wang Wei quickly got out of bed, walked in front of Zhou Jie, and waved his hand before Zhou Jie's eyes. At this point, Zhou Jie opened a pair of dull eyes and slowly turned his head to look at Wang Wei.
"Nostril, what's wrong with you?"
Chen Chen also got out of bed. He subconsciously walked around Zhou Jie, only to see that the computer in front of Zhou Jie was turned on and the computer was displaying a "Program Error" window. On the right side of the computer, the black USB flash drive was plugged in…
"Did you watch these movies?"
Chen Chen's heart sank. He immediately grabbed the mouse and crossed out the program error window. Then, he selected all four movies on the USB drive and pressed Ctrl+D at the same time.
With a "swoosh", all four movies were deleted!
After doing all this, Chen Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he did not understand where his inner anxiety came from, for some reason, this USB flash drive always felt evil to him.
"I'm fine!"
Just then, Zhou Jie also stood up suddenly, smiled stiffly at everyone, then turned around and walked outside the dormitory.
After he had left the dormitory, Chen Chen, Wang Wei, and Li Bo looked at each other.
"What happened to Nostril?"
"Maybe he's sick or is he just scared by those four horror films?"
"It shouldn't be that. Nostril isn't so timid…"
The three of them exchanged a few words casually without much thought. After that, they packed their things, left the dormitory, and walked toward the teaching building.
When the three of them entered the classroom and saw Zhou Jie sitting in his seat as usual, everyone felt completely relieved.
Soon, the class teacher hurried in and the class began.
Chen Chen listened to the class as usually did, but for some reason, as he sat in class, Chen Chen felt a tingling sensation at his back.
It was as if someone was staring at him…
Chen Chen looked back subconsciously but was immediately met with a pair of clear and deep pupils.
Was that the girl he saw in the morning?
At this time, the little girl was sitting alone in the back row of the classroom, in the same column as Chen Chen. As Chen Chen turned his head abruptly, the two looked at each other by coincidence.
Chen Chen saw a stunned look on the girl's face before she widened her eyes and smiled at him.
Chen Chen reluctantly squeezed out an awkward smile and quickly turned his head back.
In the next class, Chen Chen distinctly felt that the cold tingle on his back had lessened significantly. This was because his head was filled with the girl's smile. He did not know why, but her eyes seemed to have seared deeply into his heart.
It was nothing like a crush, but a feeling of pity.
Chen Chen did not know why he had to pity her. He just forced himself to finish the class. After the teacher had left, he stood up and started to pack his textbooks.
However, Zhou Jie in front of him moved faster. He picked up the textbooks and left the classroom right after class.
"Lil Chen, I feel something is wrong wi
th Nostril. I'll go take a look. Help me take my books back."
The dorm leader Wang Wei quickly patted Chen Chen on the shoulder. Before Chen Chen could agree, he also walked off.
"I'll go take a look too." Li Bo also waved to Chen Chen, then turned and left.
Chen Chen thought nothing much of this. He took the notebooks and textbooks of the two of them and put them together with his own.
However, just as Chen Chen bowed his head to pack up the books, a burst of unknown fragrance came to him.
"Hello there!"
There was a clear voice by his ear. Chen Chen raised his head subconsciously, only to see the girl standing directly in front of him. She was looking at him with a smile on her face.
"Hey there…"
Chen Chen replied instinctively, "What's up, classmate?"
"I'm a new transfer student. Can I be friends with you?" the girl asked enthusiastically.
"Be friends?"
Chen Chen was astounded. As a member of the loser gang, he knew his place in the social hierarchy. He was one of those who would become invisible in a crowd of people. In other words, he had a very common face. Thus, ever since a young age, he had never encountered a situation where a girl took the initiative to strike up a conversation with him.
Not only that, but because of his relatively introverted personality, although Chen Chen could be said to be experienced, it was all in theory. He had never touched a girl's hand.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen glanced around subconsciously but saw several people also looking over in astonishment, seemingly wondering why he would be favored by the girl. He quickly lowered his head and smiled dryly. "Classmate, shouldn't you first make friends with those of the same sex?"
"It's all the same."
The girl giggled and then bounced out of the classroom.
Seeing this, Chen Chen felt completely relieved. He was truly a little lost in the face of the girl's sudden enthusiasm.
Holding a thick stack of books back to the dormitory building, Chen Chen panted and walked up to the fourth floor. When he opened the door of Dorm 404 with the key, Chen Chen suddenly froze.
He should have felt completely relieved but for some reason, when he stepped into the dormitory he was familiar with, his hairs suddenly stood up all over his body and he got goosebumps without warning!
He had never felt this way.
"What's up with that?"
Chen Chen frowned and could only bite the bullet and walked into the dormitory. He threw the books directly on everyone's beds and then sat back on his own bed.
He had gradually realized that ever since today or strictly speaking, since he picked up the black USB flash drive, he had been feeling rather peculiar.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen subconsciously looked at the location of Zhou Jie's computer. Sure enough, the USB flash drive was still plugged into Zhou Jie's laptop.
Could it be that something was wrong with this USB drive?
Chen Chen could not figure this out. He simply took advantage of the fact that everyone in the dormitory had not come back and walked directly to Zhou Jie's computer, moving as if he was about to unplug the USB flash drive.
However, the instant Chen Chen touched the USB flash drive, a pale arm suddenly stretched out from beyond Chen Chen's line of sight and grabbed Chen Chen's hand…
Chen Chen's pupils contracted quickly!
Chapter 364: Ghostly Encounter |
The moment that hand touched Chen Chen, he withdrew his hand as if he had gotten an electric shock. He raised his head, flabbergasted, but there was no one in front of him.
Even so, Chen Chen still felt numb all over because at the moment that hand touched him, a bone-piercing cold swept across his body. The muscles of his entire hand were still constantly trembling.
That was not a human hand!
Chen Chen was full of shock. While holding his right hand, he moved back step by step. By now, even the biggest idiot would understand that there was something wrong with this dormitory…
However, when he retreated to the door, he suddenly felt himself bumping against a person. Chen Chen's heart was seized again. He jumped nervously and at the same time turned quickly, only to see Zhou Jie standing at the door of the dormitory.
"Ah, so it's Chen Chen?"
Zhou Jie's face was stupefied like a dead man's expression with only one pair of eyes staring at Chen Chen. He asked mechanically, "Chen Chen, when did you come back?"
Chen Chen narrowed his eyes, still guarding against Zhou Jie, but then he suddenly thought of everything that happened before. His heart leaped and he moved directly back to Zhou Jie's desk, then tried to pick up the USB flash drive again.
This time, Zhou Jie still maintained a sluggish expression. He just watched Chen Chen unplug the USB flash drive, but still did not move.
"Phew, my gamble paid off…"
Chen Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief only when he had the USB flash drive firmly in his grasp.
"Chen Chen, when did you come back?"
At this moment, Zhou Jie asked again, still in the same tone as before.
It was already time for classes to end and Zhou Jie stood at the door of the dormitory, blocking the way. However, Chen Chen saw that behind Zhou Jie, there were other students in the dormitory passing by, talking and laughing. Thus, without hesitating, Chen Chen raised one leg suddenly and kicked Zhou Jie in the gut!
"Go ask your grandmother!"
In one move, Chen Chen had kicked Zhou Jie to the ground.
With this opportunity, Chen Chen fled from the dormitory and ran down the stairs.
What Chen Chen did not know was that, after he left, several students in the next class saw Zhou Jie being knocked down, and immediately took the initiative to help him up. They brought Zhou Jie, who still wore a slack expression, back into Dorm 404.
After they entered, there seemed to be a gust of wind blowing past the corridors and then with a "blam", the door of Dorm 404 was slowly closed by the wind…
Chen Chen ran out of the dormitory building, out of breath. Only then did he look back while panting heavily.
Fortunately, Zhou Jie did not run after him.
Chen Chen tightly gripped the USB flash drive in his hand, barely aware of how disordered and forlorn he looked. This attracted the attention of students who were moving in and out of the dormitory.
"Lil Chen, what's wrong?"
Still, after a while, Chen Chen heard the voices of Wang Wei and Li Bo. He looked up at this sound and saw that they were standing before him. "Lil Chen, have you seen Zhou Jie?"
"He… Went back to the dormitory."
Chen Chen opened his mouth but the words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed abruptly, and then he said again, "Wang Wei, Li Bo, I have something very important to tell you. Come here."
With that, Chen Chen turned and walked toward the school cafeteria.
"If he has something to say, can't he say it in the dormitory? Why so mysterious?"
Wang Wei was a little curious. He and Li Bo looked at each other. After hesitating, the two followed Chen Chen.
Chen Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were willing to follow. He finally glanced toward the fourth floor, but he immediately stiffened. A chill surged directly to the top of his head and his entire scalp almost flew off the top…
This was because, in the glance just now, he saw that on the window of his dormitory, a woman with a pale body and disheveled hair was sprawled across the window, staring in his direction.
From that angle, Chen Chen knew, without even thinking about it, that she was staring at him!
What in the world was that thing? Was it the legendary…
Chen Chen took a deep breath, said nothing, but went straight to the cafeteria and sat down.
"Lil Chen, why do you look so agitated?"
Wang Wei asked with concern. He took out his campus card and handed it to Li Bo, who was aside. "Lil Bo, go buy some spicy rolls
for Lil Chen to perk up his spirits."
"…"
Chen Chen waved his hand, indicating that he did not need it. He walked to the shop on the side and bought three bottles of Sprite, then placed it before the two of them. He opened one of them before he said, "Didn't you hunt down Zhou Jie after class? Why'd you let him come back alone?"
"As soon as we ran out, we found that Nostril had vanished without a trace."
Speaking of this, Wang Wei was also a little depressed. "God knows how that guy could run so fast, but we thought about it again — since he can run so fast, it means nothing is wrong. So we just ignored him and went to the cafeteria to eat, before heading back."
"Then we bumped into you downstairs."
Li Bo added.
After listening, Chen Chen shook his head. He did not know where to start for a moment. He simply took out the USB flash drive and placed it in front of the two of them. "I'm going to say something that I know might be difficult for you to believe. You might even think that I'm crazy, but I hope that no matter how outrageous or absurd I sound, you'll finish listening to what I said."
Hearing this, Wang Wei and Li Bo turned slightly solemn. They solemnly looked at the USB drive on the table, only to observe that the USB flash drive had become extremely old-looking since some unknown time as if it was picked up from the trash. There was none of its noontime luster.
However, their attention was not on this matter at this time, so Wang Wei just said, "Say anything you want. We're all brothers, of course, we trust you."
Chen Chen nodded. He looked around and checked that no one was paying attention to them. Then he whispered, "Brother Wei, Lil Bo, there's a problem with the USB drive I picked up today…"
The two did not speak but looked fixedly at Chen Chen.
"Did you feel something was off when you fell asleep at noon today?"
Chen Chen asked, "For example, did you feel that the air in the dormitory was getting cold?"
"Hmm?"
Both of them were taken aback. After that, Wang Wei said immediately, "Now that you've mentioned it, I did feel that. I was sleeping at the time, but it seemed to be getting colder in the dormitory. Although it's now November, it shouldn't be so cold. I even thought someone had turned on the air conditioner."
