48 Satchan

The vast grounds and school buildings only made up parts of the academy's larger public infrastructure. In addition to the school facilities, there were various public facilities, including libraries and cafeterias.

After finishing their meal, the four made their way towards the dilapidated school building, only to run into three other members. The three individuals seemed to have just formed a team. Upon catching sight of the four, they greeted them with a smile.

A man, who was seemingly the leader of the group, asked, "Are you all heading over to the old school building, too?"

"Yes." Lin Qiushi nodded. "You all, as well?"

"We're planning to check it out. Seeing that we're all headed in the same direction, we might as well stick together. As they say, the more the merrier." The man then presented himself, "I'm Liu Zhuangxiang."

Lin Qiushi also introduced himself in response, "Yu Linlin."

Thereupon, the group of seven walked towards the old school building, all the while engaging in small talk.

On the surface, everyone seemed to be chatting happily, but in truth, they were extremely wary of those they considered strangers and carefully watched their words, clearly more than reluctant to disclose the slightest information when speaking. After all, the door only had one clue; and that clue ultimately belonged to the first person who left the world.

That being so, even if they had joined forces for the time being, they were all potential competitors. Unless they were driven to a desperate strait where everyone had to cooperate with one another to survive, there would always be those who held other ideas.

That Liu Zhuangxiang seemed to be rather interested in Ruan Nanzhu. Although he feigned indifference, his gaze kept straying towards Ruan Nanzhu, lingering on the other's body.

They were originally going to go their own way after reaching their destination. Yet, despite arriving at the school building, the two teams seemed rather unwilling to part with each other.

Lin Qiushi had initially believed that the other discovered something, but he soon realized that Liu Zhuangxiang actually didn't find anything; he simply wanted to stay by the side of the beautiful Ruan Nanzhu, nothing more.

Frankly speaking, it wasn't the least bit surprising to see men falling for Ruan Nanzhu, given how he looked and conducted himself whenever he was in disguise.

A seal was pasted on the old school building, prohibiting students from entering.

Before departing, the teacher who received them gave them a few keys, mentioning that the keys also opened the entrance of the old school building. Lin Qiushi fished out the keys to unlock the doors, and soon after, the group filed into the premises of the derelict school building.

The school wanted them to renovate this entire building, from the walls and the floors, to the chairs and the desks. Considering the scope and complexity of this task, this could actually be considered a large-scale project.

"This building isn't old." Ruan Nanzhu concluded, after having observed the building for a good while. "It looks to have been built six to seven years ago, at most."

"It certainly isn't old." When Lin Qiushi first heard the other's description of the building, he assumed the facility would be in awful condition, having been neglected for decades. It was only after he arrived that he realized the school building wasn't as old as he had imagined. In fact, it was just an ordinary school building. This learning facility consisted of six floors, and its colour scheme was primarily comprised of red and white. When looking at it from the playground, this school building slightly resembled a large slab of fresh pork belly.

"Let's go, and have a look," said Ruan Nanzhu.

After entering the building, the group of three didn't stick with them for long; they stated that they wanted to observe the situation upstairs first.

Lin Qiushi and the others began inspecting the first floor.

As of now, the school building was utterly bereft of life, completely abandoned by teachers and students alike. Not a single sound could be heard within the still corridors. Countless chairs and desks were neatly lined up in every classroom, and the black curtains shrouding the windows were drawn up, as well.

Next to the classrooms was the faculty office. Aside from a few scattered chairs and desks, the entire office had been emptied out.

There seemed to be nothing particularly special or eye-catching to any of these identical-looking rooms. Furthermore, this building contained six floors. To painstakingly search through each and every room without ascertaining the situation first, was tedious and time-consuming.

They soon made their way up to the third floor. As they were preparing to examine the area, a loud thump abruptly sounded from the upper floor, startling them.

"What in the world are they doing upstairs?" wondered a puzzled Xia Rubei.

No one spoke; they simply lifted their heads and looked at the ceiling above.

As of now, the individuals who had parted ways with them at the doorway should've been upstairs. God knew what that group was up to though. Louds irregular thuds continued to echo from the floor above. The knocking sounds were constantly moving from one end of the corridor to the other. The more they listened to these ceaseless noises, the more disturbed they grew.

"How annoying." Xia Rubei exasperatedly huffed, clearly frustrated by the ruckus. "Are they crazy, or what?"

Just when they were about to go upstairs to see what Liu Zhuangxiang and the others were doing, Ruan Nanzhu suddenly held out his hand in a stop gesture and said, "Don't go. Something isn't right."

"What?" Xia Rubei had been at odds with Ruan Nanzhu since the very beginning. Needless to say, she wasn't the least bit pleased at being stopped by Ruan Nanzhu just now. "Don't tell me you're scared?"

Without saying a word, Ruan Nanzhu pointed downstairs.

They all looked in the direction Ruan Nanzhu was indicating, only to see Liu Zhuangxiang and the other two, who had entered the building with them, standing in the open area downstairs, chatting amongst themselves. Having caught sight of Ruan Nanzhu and the others looking at them, the group of three offered a friendly wave back—it was obvious that these individuals weren't the cause of the commotion upstairs.

Penetrating shivers travelled down Xiao Rubei's spine at the sight of this. She then slowly turned her gaze up to floor above, her eyes widening in pure horror. Her voice was shaky, and she stammered, "T-then what is that?"

"What do you think it is?" Ruan Nanzhu didn't respond to her question but, instead, turned his gaze towards Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi remained silent for a long while, before answering Ruan Nanzhu, "It sounds like a one-legged person trying to move around."

As soon as he uttered this statement, Xia Rubei nearly crumpled to the floor in tears.

Truthfully, the moment Lin Qiushi heard these sounds, a haunting suspicion nagged the back of his mind, warning him that something was dreadfully awry. Although those noises were but mere knocking sounds, somehow, the hairs on his body instantly stood on end and every nerve in his body screamed at him to avoid going upstairs at any cost.

"Oh." Ruan Nanzhu wasn't perturbed in the least. "No doubt it's that very Satchan, who was written on the note, hopping around."

Xia Rubei: "…"

At the sight of Ruan Nanzhu's ever so calm appearance, Li Dongyuan cracked a smile, "You're not afraid?"

Ruan Nanzhu had been asked this question several times before, so Lin Qiushi thought he'd respond as coldly as before. But the drama queen just hugged Lin Qiushi's arm and replied, "Of course, I'm afraid. Big brother Linlin, I'm so, so scared."

Lin Qiushi: "…" Isn't it too late for you to put up an act?

"I'm so scared that I can't move. I need a kiss from big brother Linlin to go on," whined Ruan Nanzhu.

Xiao Rubei's face turned extremely ugly at his words. Lin Qiushi had a feeling that if she had a weapon in her hand right now, she would've long ferociously lunged at Ruan Nanzhu. Unfortunately, she didn't, so the only thing she could do was grimace in hatred and forcibly endure it.

"Oh, I'm only joking." Perhaps it was because the expression on Xia Rubei's face was twisted beyond the point of recognition that Ruan Nanzhu decided not to drag out his act any longer; he spread his palms out wide in surrender and gave a shrug. "It's best if we do not go upstairs until we've identified the situation we're dealing with. Let's first go to the library and browse through issues of old newspapers to figure out what happened at this school."

"Aren't you curious though?" Li Dongyuan raised his brows in question.

Ruan Nanzhu calmly replied, "Curiosity killed the cat. Haven't you noticed all those characters who died early on in horror films were a bit too curious for their own good?"

Li Dongyuan didn't respond. Although he was grinning, he obviously wasn't convinced by Ruan Nanzhu's statement. However, he didn't bother to refute the other, and simply agreed to Ruan Nanzhu's suggestion.

And so, the four of them no longer concerned themselves with those unsettling noises, and exited the old school building.

This old school building was quite distant from the other school buildings. A large playground was randomly situated in the center of the academy grounds, creating a greater divide between the facilities. Who knew what the education department was thinking when they first decided to build the school here. No matter how on looked at it, a school being designed as such was an utter inconvenience for everyone coming and going from the academy grounds.

The library was located east of the old school building. Because classes were presently still in progress, no students were seen roaming about the library.

Lin Qiushi had originally expected the library to be rather large, but he certainly couldn't have imagined it would only have one floor. It appeared that the difference between school libraries and academic libraries was rather large. Then again, many high school students spent majority of their time studying and taking exams; it was only natural they wouldn't be in the mood to read even more books on their free time.

The librarian was an older female teacher. The moment Lin Qiushi and the others stepped foot into the library, she took out a book and asked them to fill out their names, before letting them off, not bothering to waste any more time on them.

It wasn't long before they found the library's newspaper collection. The stacks of newspapers were arranged quite neatly and sorted chronologically.

"Search for it." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Given that we were just brought here, something must've happened very recently. Check the past records carefully."

Lin Qiushi nodded, and began flipping through the pages.

Sure enough, it was as Ruan Nanzhu had suspected. An accident did occur in the school quite recently, and the site of the accident was the old school building.

According to the statements, three third-year students from Class 2 had died. All three students had died tragically inside the classroom, but the cause of their deaths was unknown. The only striking similarity between each of them was that one of their legs had been completely severed from their body. And to this day, none of the missing limbs have been recovered.

"Class 2 of Third Years. That isn't on the fourth floor but the fifth floor." Ruan Nanzhu remarked. "It's possible that the sounds we heard were from them."

As he continued reading through the newspaper articles, Lin Qiushi discovered that the school was plagued by great misfortunes during this period. Accidents occurred rather frequently, and almost all of these tragedies took place inside the old school building. It was no wonder the school wished to renovate that entire facility. After all, even though the old school building was considered "old", in reality, a full decade hadn't even passed since it was been built. And yet, it was already abandoned and neglected. To say it was a great waste and loss for the school would be a complete understatement.

"What year was the facility officially built?" Ruan Nanzhu rifled through the pages of the newspapers to find the answer to his own question. "Seven years ago…but it seems these accidents have only started recently."

Li Dongyuan asked, "Have you found any articles concerning any car accidents?"

Lin Qiushi shook his head, thinking it wasn't particularly feasible, "The range is too broad."

"I'll go ask." Ruan Nanzhu stood up and walked out, seemingly wanting to inquire about this with the librarian. As soon as he left, Xia Rubei fearfully whispered to Li Dongyuan, "Big brother Li, I'm so scared. What in the world is Satchan? Could it be they're still going to go to the old school building?"

"Taking into account all previous circumstances, a crucial location such as that will either hold the key or be our only way out of here. And, naturally, you will eventually have to go whether you like it or not." Li Dongyuan showed no pity for the feeble, teary-eyed Xia Rubei. "However, if you're that afraid, then you can stay inside the dormitory."

As she thought back on the rundown dormitory, Xia Rubei grew silent; she didn't utter another word after that.

At long last, Ruan Nanzhu returned with some vital clues.

"A car accident did, in fact, occur at this school three years ago." Ruan Nanzhu revealed. "The accident happened during winter, and a high school student died as a result of it. Although I don't know the student's name, I do know the student was female."

Li Dongyuan: "Which class was she from?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Considering the dead students were all seniors from Class 2, we can assume it has something to do with this class. Moreover, didn't all of those third-year students enter this school three years ago?" He tapped his finger on the table. "It would be nice if we could get a roster of the class."

"The class roster should be in the school's archives." Li Dongyuan said. "Getting it is the problem, however."

Given Ruan Nanzhu's character, Lin Qiushi expected the other to propose to steal the records at night. But to think the other would simply turn his head around and gaze out the window, saying, "It's getting late. With that said, let's go back to our rooms to rest, after eating dinner."

Li Dongyuan surprisingly expressed his assent.

Thereupon, the team of four headed over to the cafeteria, once again. After filling their stomachs with some food, they then returned to their dormitory.

A veil of darkness blanketed the entire area; there wasn't a single outside light source in sight. The only source of brightness that existed in the caliginous blackness of their dormitory were the lights from the three rooms they were currently occupying; all other places were devoured by shadows.

Lin Qiushi fished out his mobile phone to use as lighting.

After a quick wash, they all crawled into their respective bunk-beds. Lin Qiushi had taken the lower bunk, while Ruan Nanzhu had taken the upper one; as for the other two, Xia Rubei was on the top bunk, and Li Dongyuan was on the bottom.

"Do you suppose someone will die tonight?" Ruan Nanzhu seemed rather bored.

"Yes." Li Dongyuan didn't even hesitate in his reply.

"Same." Ruan Nanzhu continued, "How many do you think will die?"

Li Dongyuan: "Two."

Ruan Nanzhu: "What do you think, Linlin?"

As of right now, Lin Qiushi was quietly playing a memory game on his mobile phone; he was so absorbed in gameplay, that he didn't pay attention to what Ruan Nanzhu said. Caught off guard, he let out a "Huh?"

Ruan Nanzhu poked his head out from the upper bunk to look at the other, and sourly pouted, "You know, you're always playing those memory games. You really don't care about me at all."

Lin Qiushi: "…I'm not. I wasn't playing. That's not it."

Ruan Nanzhu: "Then what were we talking about?"

Lin Qiushi: "…"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Hah, men."

Lin Qiushi didn't know whether to cry or laugh in that moment.

Of course, Ruan Nanzhu was merely joking around; he had zero intentions to actually attack or blame Lin Qiushi. They chatted for a while longer, before turning off the lights and going to sleep.

Before falling into unconsciousness, Lin Qiushi inwardly prayed that he wouldn't wake up to strange sounds in the middle of night; he truly did not wish to open his eyes to any godawful sights.

*******

Wu Xuelin was lying down in bed, wide-awake and a tad disgruntled. Each time he thought back on what happened earlier that day, his blood began to boil.

He had formed a team with two other individuals, and planned to share a dorm room with them for the time being. Yet, within a few seconds of living with each other, he discovered countless red talismans hidden around the room. The talismans were attached to the innermost parts of cabinets and even the surface underneath their mattresses. The disturbing sight of those papers was enough to make their skin crawl.

Wu Xuelin's first reaction to seeing those talismans was to tear all of them apart and leave none intact.

However, his actions were met with sheer disapproval and objection from his teammates.

"What if these talismans are meant to ward off ghosts?" A man protested. "Won't we be done for if you ripped them all apart?"

Expressing utter contempt at the other's statement, Wu Xuelin sneered nastily, "What if they summon ghosts, huh?" And with that, he fiercely stripped all the talismans from the bed board and chucked the scraps into the trashcan.

Nevertheless, the other man remained stubborn and unwilling; no matter what, he doggedly refused to tear off the talismans.

Wu Xuelin grew completely enraged when he saw the other's defiance. He then told the quivering female, who had been frightened by their shouting, to head over to the room next door. He was certain that these talismans would only bring harm to them, that they would definitely attract ghosts. And so, the very first thing he did upon stepping into their new living quarters was gather all talismans scattered about the room and throw them into the trash.

The girl who stayed with him went by the name Xiao Qin. As of right now, she was lying on the upper bunk. He wasn't entirely sure if she was still awake or if she had already fallen asleep.

Wu Xuelin was rather agitated, unsettled. Night had long descended, but here he was, constantly tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. To add, inexplicable shivers had suddenly begun to assail his body.

"Xiao Qin, are you sleeping?" Wu Xuelin wondered in a hushed voice.

The person on the upper bunk didn't respond. It appeared that Xiao Qin was asleep.

Turning his body over, Wu Xuelin faced the wall. The weather was far from cold, and the blanket covering his body wasn't thin in the slightest, yet Wu Xuelin felt as though the air around him was growing icier by the second, as he was currently experiencing the harshness of a bitter winter night. He wrapped the blanket even tighter around his figure, and stared at the wall in a daze, hoping to fall asleep eventually, but it was all futile; restlessness wouldn't stop tormenting him for some reason.

Wu Xuelin was becoming increasingly anxious, when he suddenly spotted an object wedged in the crevice between the wall and bed. Wu Xuelin reached out with a hand and gingerly tugged on the object caught between the narrow gap.

The object turned out to be a small note with several lines scrawled in black ink.

Wu Xuelin took out his phone and shined the light on the slip of paper to see what was written. He then softly read the contents of the note aloud, "Satchan's name is actually Sachiko. But she's called herself Satchan ever since she was little. Oh, how funny. Satchan really loves bananas. But she can only eat half of her favourite bananas. Oh, how pitiful. Satchan has left for a faraway place. And she'll soon forget about me. Oh, how lonely, Satchan…"

"What the hell is this thing?" Wu Xuelin was more than disturbed after reading that note. He felt that the lines written on the piece of paper resembled a poem, or perhaps lyrics to a song. For a moment, his blood ran cold. Seconds later, he disgustedly crumpled the note into a ball and tossed it aside.

"It's freezing." After a while, Wu Xuelin couldn't bear it anymore. He promptly sat up in his bed and asked, "Xiao Qin, aren't you cold?"

There was no response.

Wu Xuelin glanced towards the upper bunk. There was only a mattress separating the two of them, so he could clearly hear whatever was going on in the bed above him. Xiao Qin didn't answer his question, but he could hear a rather odd sound coming from the above. It was as if…someone was jumping on the bed.

"Xiao Qin?" Wu Xuelin was genuinely afraid by now. He swallowed hard on his thick saliva, before tentatively calling out for a second time, "Xiao Qin?"

"What's the final line?" Xiao Qin's voice suddenly echoed within the cold, dark room.

Wu Xuelin was slightly taken aback. "The final line?"

Xiao Qin once again demanded, "What is the final line of those lyrics?"

Wu Xuelin: "…What?"

Xiao Qin: "The lyrics you just read."

Wu Xuelin momentarily didn't know how to react; that was until he registered what Xiao Qin was referring to. He then stooped down to pick up the crumpled note beside him, "The final line?" He turned the slip of paper in his hands for a while, before finding a single sentence written on the back of the note, "My legs are gone, so won't you give me yours?"

It was only after Wu Xuelin read this final line that he realized something was terribly wrong. How exactly did Xiao Qin know these were lyrics? It wasn't explicitly stated that these lines were lyrics; they could've been anything else for all they knew. Furthermore, he was reading those sentences in such a soft voice. How could she have possibly heard him—unless, it wasn't Xiao Qin who asked him this question but something else…

The expression on Wu Xuelin's face froze. The sounds of jumping grew louder and louder; the bed appeared to be seconds away from collapsing under all that shaking.

Wu Xuelin was overcome with insufferable terror. In a frenzied panic, he scrambled down from his bed, but as soon as he did, he stumbled upon an appalling sight on the floor. Xiao Qin, who was supposed to be lying in the upper bunk, was sprawled across the ground, utterlylimp. Even though she was no longer breathing, her wide eyes and paralyzed expression, fraught with terror, couldn't be any more of an indication of the horrors she witnessed. But the most frightening of all was what remained of her left leg—or rather, what didn't remain of the limb that had been neatly hacked off.

The sounds coming from the bed above Wu Xuelin's grew deafening. With Xiao Qin's voice, the creature tittered in sinister delight, its piercing trills grating against his ears. Like a broken record, it began chanting the final line to the song, "My legs are gone, so won't you give me yours. My legs are gone, so won't you give me yours. My legs are gone, so won't you give me yours—"

"Ahhhhhh!!!!" Wu Xuelin let out a raw howl, filled with horror and anguish, before desperately racing towards the door. But upon reaching the door, he discovered, to his greatest dismay, that he couldn't unlock it; he couldn't escape.

"Help! Help me!!!" Having long succumbed to fear, Wu Xuelin trembled violently. The sounds of thumping were gradually approaching him, growing louder and nearer. A pair of icy hands suddenly gripped his shoulders, and no sooner, excruciating pain seared through his left leg. Wu Xuelin crashed to the ground, hard. He looked back at the dark floor, only to see a gory leg standing upright, severed from its owner.

Blackness began dancing at the edges of his blurring vision. The mocking final lyrics to the song replayed in his mind, over and over again, "My legs are gone, so won't you give me yours?"

Everything soon came to a standstill. At last, Wu Xuelin surrendered to the lifeless darkness.

*******

The night was ever tranquil.

Lin Qiushi slept peacefully until dawn. With a yawn, Lin Qiushi opened his eyes, only to be met with the sight of Ruan Nanzhu, who had awoken at some point in time, sitting on his bedside, gazing at him with twinkling eyes filled with tenderness.

"Good morning." Ruan Nanzhu flashed him a lovely smile.

"Good morning." Although Lin Qiushi couldn't be any more aware of Ruan Nanzhu's true gender, he still couldn't help but blush red. He had to admit that waking up to stunning beauty greeting him with a warm, breathtaking smile was a wonderful blessing.

Li Dongyuan immediately came over to their side and chirpily said, "Mengmeng, you haven't said 'good morning' to me yet."

Ruan Nanzhu shot him an indifferent glance, "Good."

Li Dongyuan: "…" Is it really that difficult to finish the rest of that sentence?

Xia Rubei: "Good morning, big brother Li."

Li Dongyuan: "Good."

Xia Rubei: "…"

Lin Qiushi honestly had never wanted to burst into laughter any more than now; he simply couldn't contain himself. These three were literally the prime example of the pecking order, the epitome of dog-eat-dog.

But just then, a shrill cry tore through the halls. "Ahhhhhhhh!! Somebody died!!!"

Several people hurried out to see what the commotion was about.

There was already a group of individuals crowding the entrance to the neighboring room. Some people were trying to open the door, while others were on standby, whispering to each other.

Lin Qiushi took a peek, only to see thick, crimson blood spilling from the crack between the closed door and ground, trickling along the floors of the corridor and forming into puddles. Judging from the vast amount of blood flowing from the room, it was evident that the people inside had been met with tragedy.

The one who screamed bloody murder was the female newcomer who had just arrived to this world. At the sight of the gory puddles, her face paled with fright. She scurried off to the back of the crowd, cowering and not daring to take another look at the grisly scene.

Li Dongyuan and a few other men found a tool to smash the door open. Fortunately, the doors in this dormitory were quite old and worn out, so it didn't take much force or time to break it down. After a few hits, the door gave way, revealing the situation inside.

In the center of the room were a male and a female, both of whom were lying lifeless in a congealing pool of their own blood. But what stood out in particular about this situation was the victims' missing limbs—both individuals had lost their left leg.

"Isn't this the person who decided to tear off those talismans yesterday?" Someone in the crowd recognized the victim. "Could it be that the talismans really ward against ghosts?"

"Seems to be so." Murmurs ran through the crowd. "Why else would they die?"

"Wuwuwu, I want to go home. I want to go home." A faint-hearted newcomer began to weep. The disturbance at the scene grew even more chaotic with the addition of hysterical sobbing and mournful cries.

Ruan Nanzhu avoided the panic-stricken crowd and cautiously stepped into the room. He began scanning his surroundings, trying to find any possible leads and hints. Lin Qiushi followed him in and walked over to the corpses.

Both victims must've witnessed something absolutely horrifying before they died, for their eyes were still wide open, and indescribable panic and terror were still etched onto their faces even in death.

Viscous blood oozed endlessly from their severed legs, splattering the ground and laying in pools around the corpses and across the entire floor.

Ruan Nanzhu seemed to have spotted something. He bent over at his waist and picked up a small slip of paper from the corner of the room. The note was balled up and stained with blood. He could barely make out any words written on it.

Having noticed he found something, the others came over to have a look, "What does it say?"

Ruan Nanzhu handed the slip of paper to the others and replied, "I don't know."

"Bananas…Lonely…What the hell is this mess?" The man couldn't understand what these incoherent words could possibly signify. "Does anyone understand or have an idea?"

No one seemed to have a clue. Then again, maybe some did, in fact, understand its contents, but they simply didn't want to reveal it.

On the other hand, Lin Qiushi and the other three were now certain of the two's cause of death after witnessing this scene; no doubt they had both fallen victim to Satchan. It's just they weren't entirely sure whether tearing off the talismans was the condition for death, or if the notes containing the lyrics were…perhaps, it could've been both?

Author's Comment:

Ruan Nanzhu: I need a kiss from my Linlin to get up.

Lin Qiushi gives him a kiss.

Lin Qiushi: Aren't you going to get up? Why are you still sitting?

Ruan Nanzhu: My lower half is already up and ready.

Lin Qiushi: …