Chapter 28: Who’s Playing the Piano?

The reddish-brown sludge was mixed with tiny gravel, and the sensation on my fingertips didn’t feel like blood.

“That was a false alarm.” I turned off the faucet, and the gurgling sound in the pipes stopped.

“This place is eerie in every way, but there are no signs of anything supernatural.
It’s like something filthy is playing hide-and-seek with me on purpose.” I had been under tremendous pressure, and this live streaming mission was more torturous than waiting to die in that Peace of Mind Inn room.
It felt like an invisible hand was controlling my fate from the darkness, and it felt horrible.

As I pushed open the door to the restroom, a row of individual stalls came into view.

“Shen Meng, are you there?” There was no response, so I tried to push open the small door of one bathroom.

“Hold on.” Hideki appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my hand as I was trying to push the door.

“Mr.
Host, you should know the taboos in the restroom.
Opening a slightly ajar door at night might lead to being grabbed by a ghost doll trapped inside.”

“Ghost doll?”

“There was a girl named Hanako in this school who, at the young age of sixteen, got impregnated by someone who then disappeared.
Poor Hanako eventually committed suicide in this exact restroom.”

“If the man is already an adult, he could be sentenced to death by law.” I remained expressionless, shook off Hideki’s hand, and pushed open the door of the first stall.

Among the broken pieces of porcelain tiles covered in moss, the walls were patchy and dotted with something that I couldn’t identify.

“Don’t take these campus legends lightly.
They must have some basis in truth,” Hideki warned, running to the door of the second stall.
“Before opening the door, you should knock and ask if anyone is there.”

He raised his hand and knocked on the white-painted door.
“Is anyone there? Miss Hanako, I’m here to keep you company.”

His strange behavior, deep voice, along with this specific environment, all created an inexplicable sense of fear in me.
I took a deep breath and quickly lifted the camera to open the doors in quick sequence.

“Pa! Pa! Pa…Bang!”

I continued until I reached the last door, and the familiar sound of “bang bang” echoed out once again.

“Strange, this door is locked?” As everyone knew, bathroom doors could only be locked from the inside.
I signaled the three kids to step back and lightly tapped my right foot on the door.

“What are you going to do?”

“Bam!” A loud noise echoed through the laboratory building as I kicked the door open.

I aimed the camera at the toilet, and although there were no ghosts or evil spirit, I was still surprised by what I saw.

There was a stuffed toy with its head twisted off, sitting on the toilet.

I brushed off the dust from it and brought the camera closer.
“It looks like this toy has been here for a long time.”

The toy’s head had been cut off with scissors, exposing the tattered cotton inside.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there were two faint words written on the toy’s belly.

“Xue Fei?”

It had been too long, and the characters were blurry, so I could only guess, “Is it a person with the same name or…”

“Host, what did you see?” Xijumu and Xue Fei leaned in closer.

“It’s nothing, just a broken toy,” I casually tossed it away, not batting an eye.
“Shen Meng isn’t here; let’s keep searching.
The night is long, and we can’t waste any more time.”

We left the first floor restroom and made our way to the second floor.
Hideki even counted the steps as we ascended but was disappointed to find only twelve, not thirteen.

Most of the classrooms on the second floor were locked, except for the music room and the health center.

The two rooms were far apart, and I grabbed the camera and opened the door to the health center first.
The beds were separated by curtains, making it impossible to see any clinical details.

“Iodine, alcohol, reagents…” Various drugs were scattered about the cabinet by the door, and used, yellow-brown bandages were thrown on the ground.
Further in, there were scattered medical records.

I bent down to pick them up; most of them dated five years ago, with some pages chewed by rats and the writing blurred.
However, I could still make out the name “Guo Junjie” in the name column.

“It seems that this child used to be a frequent visitor here, suffering not only from mental abuse but also physical torment.” Surprisingly, all the photos on the medical records had been torn off, indicating that the boy’s looks seemed to be a secret that could not be disclosed at this school.

“Minor injuries such as a slight injury to the left ear, a mild finger bone fracture, multiple bruises on the thighs…” The records might not show severe injuries, but the fact that so many injuries were centered on one person and occurred frequently said a lot.

“The weak are bullied, and if they don’t resist and silently endure, their tormenters will become even more ruthless.”

Pulling back the curtains by the bedside, the sight of multiple bloodstains on the old, worn-out health center bed was truly shocking.

Although a long time had passed, the bloodstains and sheets had solidified together; the colors were no longer vibrant, but the sense of horror was still palpable.

“What happened? Why was there so much bloodshed?” I rummaged through the cabinet, finally finding the most recent medical record dating closest to this day.

“Falling from height, shattered pelvic bones, extensive internal bleeding, a skull fracture…” These symptoms made me think of a rumor I heard online about the New Shanghai High School, where multiple students had jumped off the building and died before the school was completely shut down.

The medical records stored in the cabinet indirectly proved that the suicide incidents were not just rumors.
However, looking at the bloodstained beds, I was a little confused.

A normal school’s response to a student jumping off the building would be to isolate the scene, call 110 and 120, and never move the body without authorization, let alone move it to the health room.
I looked through several medical records, and my face grew solemn.

“The deaths are not an isolated case.” Before the school was shut down, there had already been five recorded jumping incidents.
Considering the deliberately hidden cases, I estimated that there might be much more suicide attempts.

“Is it due to academic pressure or relationship problems?” I shook my head.
“The collective deaths seem to follow a certain pattern, as if it were predetermined.”

“What happened to these students?” Five years had been enough to erase the truth, and the medical records were incomplete, with most names illegible and only black-and-white printed photos remaining.

“The cause of death is key to solving this mystery.
We may have to stay in this health center a bit longer.” I lifted the curtain next to the second bed and saw the crumpled black sheets stained with fresh blood.

With one hand holding the heavily decaying bedsheet, I shook it open and found a school uniform inside.

Enduring the putrid smell, I spread the uniform on the bed.
“Wang Xiu?”

The school badge on the chest of the uniform bore a name consisting of three characters, but the last one was too blurry to read.

I opened several more curtains and found similar scenes.
As I approached the last bed, my hand grabbed the curtain when suddenly, someone touched me from inside the curtain.

“Shen Meng?” I took two steps back, the touch from earlier suggesting that there was definitely someone or something inside.

I turned my phone’s flashlight to the maximum, and the edge of the curtain continued to bounce up and down, as if there was a live, recently caught fish on a fishing line inside.

“Is it you? Say something!” No one responded, so I approached again, grabbing the edge of the curtain with my hand.

“Ding, ding, ding!”

Suddenly, urgent piano music sounded from the other end of the hallway.
I was so scared that my hand trembled, and I ultimately didn’t open the curtain.

I picked up my camera and quickly headed towards the classroom where the sound was coming from.
After I left, the health center fell into a deathly silence.
Everything remained as it was, except for the slow emergence of a plastic model’s arm from the last bed.

“What’s going on?” I ran to the end of the hallway, panting.
The three youngsters were gathered around the piano, and I asked, “Was it you guys playing just now?”

“Ask him.
It’s all this guy’s doing!” Xue Fei pushed Hideki in front of me.

Hideki felt wronged: “You guys are really framing me this time.
I didn’t even touch the piano.”

“I was with Sakurako in the hallway.
At that time, you were the only one in this room.
You didn’t play it? Was it playing by itself?” Xue Fei grabbed Hideki’s collar.

Hideki’s feet left the ground, but his voice was very stubborn: “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me! There must be something else in this room!”

“Bullsh*t! Let me tell you, if we don’t find Shen Meng today, don’t even think about going back!”

“Stop arguing.
Maybe it really wasn’t him playing just now.” I tightened my grip on the camera, my palms sweating profusely.
“All four of us are in this room now, but listen carefully,and hold your breaths…”

From the far end of the hallway, the sound of footsteps gradually became clearer as someone continued to approach.

“It’s Shen Meng!” Xue Fei let go of Hideki’s collar and quickly ran towards the door.

I reached out to stop him, but I didn’t catch him in time.

“Shen Meng, you’re back?” The footsteps stopped at the door, and Xue Fei looked up with hope, only to see a dull plastic face twisted and leaning into the room!