Chapter 936 - The Last to Turn the Tide (4) (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The loud crash and vibration caused by the fallen elevator was heard by almost everybody in the building. Everyone was holding their bright phone screens up as they came out of their dorm rooms. They looked at each other in fright along the dark corridors.

“What happened?”

“I think I heard a loud noise coming from the vicinity of the elevator.”

“I heard that, too. I thought it was an earthquake…”

They chattered on as they raised their phones and walked down the corridor in front of the elevator. The double leaf elevator doors remained shut, unable to open due to the power cut. If anyone wanted to get down, they would have to take the stairs instead.

The warden suddenly realized what had happened. “Ahhhhhh!” She let out a blood-curdling scream. Panicked, she started making phone calls. She called the School Security Division, the off-campus police, and even the elevator’s maintenance team.

Five minutes later, the blaring sound of police sirens was heard approaching the school. Members of the School Security Division were already there.

The electrician repaired the main switch, but the elevator… The elevator itself was wrecked beyond repair.

Blood was slowly seeping through the bottom of the elevator, bathing the front of the elevator on the first floor dark red.

“There are people in the elevator!”

It wasn’t clear who started shouting first, but everyone suddenly started screaming in fright and running off in different directions. Almost all of the students in the building ran out, some even without their coat on and were thus s.h.i.+vering from the cold in the frosty winter night.

Ma Qiqi had just returned from her study session and could not help but feel surprised when she saw her cla.s.smates surrounding the front of the dormitory building. She pulled aside a female student who lived on the same floor and asked, “What happened? Why is everybody running out? Is it a fire alarm?”

“No… That’s not it…” She looked terrified. “There was a problem with the circuit just now, and the elevator malfunctioned. It fell from a great height while there were still people inside…” As she spoke, she couldn’t hold herself together anymore, so she found a place to the side and started vomiting.

Having heard that, Ma Qiqi turned white and took a few steps back. “Were there really people inside?!”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard. I wouldn’t dare to go downstairs to see it.” Another female student approached, pinching her nose. “Qiqi, are you still going upstairs? I’m afraid to stay here. I want to go home…”

“It’s alright, it’s alright. The elevator probably malfunctioned. It’ll be fine once it’s been repaired,” Ma Qiqi persuaded the female student though she felt perturbed.

The police came in the blink of an eye and cordoned off the area on the first floor where the elevator had fallen with yellow barricade tape. There was only one working elevator left in the entire building, and the door to the other elevator was closed.

Everyone stood in a circle in the cold winter night and watched for more than an hour before the faulty elevator was completely cleaned up.

The people inside were carried out in body bags.

None of the students saw what happened. They only heard that of the two female students who died in the elevator, Gui Suyao, their cla.s.s counselor, was one of them. Gui Suyao was the counselor of this year’s first-year postgraduate students and had interacted with them fairly frequently. She even collaborated with the cla.s.s committee and initiated the recent Christmas ball at Bar Jinling on Christmas Eve. It was hard to swallow that she was no longer there with them when barely half a month had pa.s.sed.

Everybody felt a little uncomfortable.

At last, the students were all able to ride the elevator upstairs, but they all chose to take the stairs instead. Until the trauma of the elevator accident dissipated, all of them would probably avoid using it.

Ma Qiqi followed the rest of the students and returned to her dorm room. She suddenly felt a little scared as she looked around the empty room. She took out her mobile phone, swiped at it for a while, and then called Yin s.h.i.+xiong.

“Qiqi? It’s late. You’re not asleep yet?” Yin s.h.i.+xiong had been suspended from his duties for a month, so there was no work for him at the moment. He was making arrangements for his marriage proposal back home and intended to bring Ma Qiqi back to his hometown after her exams to meet his parents.

Trembling, Ma Qiqi sat up in her bed, pulled her quilt close, and said, “There was an elevator accident in our building today. Seems like there were two students inside… They didn’t survive.”

Yin s.h.i.+xiong froze momentarily, then stood up immediately. “What did you say? Say it again!”

Ma Qiqi felt terrible and was starting to get irritated. She pouted and said, “Didn’t you hear what I just said? I said that the elevator in our building broke down, but thankfully I was at the library studying and not in the dorm. If I had been there at the time…”

“Qiqi!” Yin s.h.i.+xiong interrupted her hastily. “Don’t say that!”

It was only then that Ma Qiqi started laughing. She felt better now. She held her cell phone close to her face, tilted her head, and said, “You’re worried about me.”

“Of course I’m worried about you!” Yin s.h.i.+xiong tut-tutted. “Duh! You stay well and pay attention to safety. Is the dorm still habitable? What about Nianzhi? Did she get a scare from this too?”

Ma Qiqi shook her head and said, “Nianzhi got lucky. She’s been staying at her apartment for the last two weeks, so she didn’t get a scare from this.”