Chapter 6 - Footsteps (1/2)

Although Lin Xiao Yan and Lin Yiri had the same surnames, they were not relatives.

Su Min gestured for them to be silent and whispered, “Go up and see.”

This time, he came prepared, bringing along a very dangerous weapon, i.e., an ordinary fruit knife. He even brought two, just in case anything unexpected happens.

After all, not all enemies were the supernatural.

In the past, the government had prohibited the appearances of ghosts in movies, resulting in countless of bad and rotten horror films. Due to the angry protests of netizens throughout the years, the law finally relented and revoked the ban.

That still didn’t stop all the rotten films that were released afterwards, though.

When Su Min went up the stairs, he saw that the situation of the second floor was identical to the first.

The office building had a total of two flights of stairs, each located on their respective ends of the corridor with the elevator not being too far away.

On the second floor, all the offices were locked up. There was only the ice-cold moonlight, casting down in a way that made it seemed like a ghost could pop out at any second.

The washrooms were right next to the staircase and could be reached in less than three steps.

Su Min leaned against the wall to listen for any kind of noise, but the rustling from before was gone. Somehow, the silence was more frightening than any sound he could’ve heard.

“Is there anybody there?” Lin Xiao Yan asked.

Su Min shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Since Zhang Yuan was a female, she would naturally be in the ladies washroom, so they went to check there. Still, it was Su Min’s first time entering such a place.

Passed the sink and further back were five open stalls. Opposite of them was a tightly sealed window.

Su Min pursed his lips, preparing his heart as he examined the stalls one by one.

The doors were wide open, but there was no trace of Zhang Yuan anywhere inside.

Was she not on this floor?

Afraid that he had missed something, Su Min went to the boy’s restroom. Seeing that no one was there, he circled back to the ladies washroom.

Lin Yiri stood upright in the middle, sighing ruefully. “Wow, so the girl’s bathroom looks like this, huh.”

In this whole entire building, they seemed to be the only three there.

Su Min stood rooted in place, face deep in thought. “Let’s go to the sixth floor.”

An incident had happened on the seventh floor, and since the sixth floor was the closest to it, Zhang Yuan might in one of the toilet cubicles there.

However, just to be safe, Su Min still checked every washroom each floor up. Like he had expected, Zhang Yuan wasn’t in any one of them.

Once they were on the fifth floor, a sound rattled from upstairs.

All three people heard it this time.

“Is that Zhang Yuan?” asked Lin Xiao Yan.

Su Min, “It should be.”

He silenced his footsteps, leading the way up. As they got closer, the sound grew more distinct, resembling running water.

Su Min subconsciously thought back to the thin blood that flowed out of the running faucet this morning.

It was unlikely that “Thriller University” will have this kind of soft and rotten plot, right…?

–was his thought when Su Min reached the sixth floor.

Next to the stairs, the sound of running water gradually became more clear. As they approached the washroom, the sound picked up in speed.

Lin Yiri and Lin Xiao Yan were nervous enough to faint.

The two had experienced a paranormal event in this very building just hours before. Coming across this situation now, how could they not be afraid?

Su Min hadn’t anticipated the scene before him.

Zhang Yuan’s entire head was submerged in the sink. The faucet was twisted to the max and water ran out nonstop, flowing across the marble surface and dripping onto the floor.

Her hands hung lifelessly beneath her, no longer able to move.

It was as if an invisible hand had exerted all its strength to force her head underwater.

Reckoning that Zhang Yuan was already dead, Su Min reminded, “Don’t touch her. First, turn on the lights.”

“Why can’t we touch?” Lin Yiri asked.

Lin Xiao Yan knew the answer. She had learned from her prior experience with Lin Yiri, not taking a step toward Zhang Yuan for the fear that she would be grabbed and dragged into the sink.

The lights were not yet turned on when they heard the faint sound of footsteps outside. It was coming closer and closer. Whoever it was was heading towards them.

“Hide,” Su Min sharply commanded.

He didn’t know if it was a person or a ghost, but avoidance was better than confrontation.

Because they were close to each other, when Lin Yiri and Lin Xiao Yan heard this, they immediately went straight into one of the stalls together, shutting the door behind them.

Su Min, who was left standing outside, could only go into the stall next door. He turned the lock; these doors could only be opened from the inside.

In the narrow space, his breathing gradually quickened.

It was easy for people to feel fear in this kind of environment. All senses were concentrated in one place.

Su Min was afraid that, like in the movies, when he looked up, he would see a ghoul on its stomach, and when he looked down, he would see a face hiding in-between a crack on the floor.

Just the thought scared him senseless.

Unwittingly, there was a change outside the stalls. The ground was drenched with water, and the walls, sink, tiles–everywhere, was scorched black, like it was hit by an inferno.

Hiding in the stalls, without any rhyme or reason, Su Min felt his heart beat irregularly.

He withdrew his hand from the door, closed the toilet cover and sat on it, preparing himself for the events of next.

The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, stopping when it reached the women’s restroom.

Inside, the three people didn’t dare breathe too loudly, scared to make any sounds.

One minute later, the footsteps rang again. It entered the washroom, passed the sinks, and came to a halt at the stalls.

Su Min could almost picture the other party staring at the stalls.

Something flashed in his mind.

If the doors to the stalls were closed, isn’t that clearly telling people that someone was inside?

As long as they were not a fool, they would be able to make that connection.

Who is it in the end?

Su Min couldn’t control his chaotic thoughts. He wanted to look up, to see what was under the doors, but he ultimately chose to suppress his impulses.