**Chapter 21: How Could an Urban Legend Have Body Temperature?**
Who should I trust?
Yun Meng’s gaze seemed uncontrollable, wandering back and forth, her heart filled with uncertainty.
After Liangyue spoke a single sentence, she fell silent, her back pressed tightly against the wall, not uttering a word, like a corpse nailed to the wall.
The Pharaoh had already reached the landing between the third and fourth floors.
Seeing that Yun Meng and Liangyue had not caught up, he stopped, leaned over the staircase railing, extending half his body out, urging anxiously.
The staircase railing was weathered and severely rusted for an unknown reason, twisted and deformed, swaying precariously, making a whispering “creak” sound as if ready to play a sinister joke on the person leaning upon it, causing them to fall from a height.
The staircase leading to the second floor was swallowed by darkness just two or three meters ahead, and the strange muffled sound had ceased after the Brazilian Warrior God had suddenly disappeared, the abnormal tranquility only adding to the eeriness.
It seemed that something was lurking in the darkness, licking its sharply bl**d-stained teeth, eagerly awaiting the arrival of its next prey.
Yun Meng hesitated, and at that moment, a familiar white porcelain plate suddenly jumped out from around the corner.
“Clink—!”
Accompanied by the light sound of the porcelain plate hitting the ground, the darkness in the corridor deepened further, as if the light emitted from the flashlight feared the crazily growing shadows, shrinking its illuminated radius at a visible speed, until only a circle of light less than a meter in radius remained beside her.
As if suspecting the appearance of an illusion, Yun Meng blinked hard. After confirming that the flashlight’s glow had indeed weakened, her pupils constricted, and her hands trembled as she searched for the figures of her companions.
As if frightened of disturbing the lurking urban legend in the darkness, Yun Meng weakly said, “A-are you still there?”
“I’m upstairs, hurry up!” the Pharaoh urged from above.
“Do you remember what I just said? Don’t go to the fourth floor,” Liangyue reminded quietly.
After the two spoke, they fell silent for a few seconds, and suddenly a third person responded from the darkness.
“Hmm, I’m here.”
The voice was muffled, sounding as if it contained something in its mouth, leading Yun Meng to think she might be having hallucinations until…
“I’ve always been by your side…”
The voice echoed again. Following the direction the voice came from, a bizarre silhouette began to take shape in the darkness.
It was a shadow that was extremely emaciated, crouching in the corner of the wall, something viscous dripping continuously from its body, its long, inhuman fingers fiddling with the white porcelain plate, making a series of light sounds.
When Yun Meng noticed its presence, it stopped fiddling with the porcelain plate and slowly raised its head to look at her.
In the pitch-blackness, Yun Meng could not see its face but could feel the gaze of a maggot like eye piercing into her, and the crazed, evil smile.
Her face turned pale, and her head felt as if something exploded inside, buzzing loudly. After swallowing hard, she uncontrollably shouted.
“Zhao Ming! Liangyue! D-do you see it? Run! That thing is coming after us!”
However, after hearing her companions’ responses, Yun Meng stood frozen in place.
“What thing? Yun Meng, did you see something?”
“Hmm? I didn’t see anything. Maybe your nerves are too sensitive?”
“I didn’t see…” Yun Meng mumbled in a daze, only to shout loudly right after, “How could you not see it! It’s clearly right there! In the corner, it’s…”
Yun Meng’s voice abruptly stopped as the strange figure suddenly stood up, its head almost touching the ceiling.
It quickly walked towards her, stepping on the viscous bl**d, letting out an echoing laughter as if a mischievous child had succeeded in pulling off a prank.
“Ehehe… ehehehe…”
A strong stench of bl**d surrounded her. The urban legend’s face suddenly became clearer in the dark.
The bl**d had dried up on a face that was almost completely skinned.
White teeth were exposed, muscles pulling away from the flesh but stiff like a puppet.
Exhibiting a bizarre, insane posture, the figure gradually enlarged in Yun Meng’s view.
A putrid odor rushed at her, making Yun Meng feel dizzy and breathless.
Her lips parted slightly, yet no sound came out, she could only internally scream in despair.
Why can’t you see it?!
It’s clearly right here!
It’s coming closer, who could save me!?
In the blink of an eye, the urban legend was upon her, its grotesque face less than an inch from her nose.
At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded from the staircase leading to the second floor, followed by a figure rushing over at high speed, accompanying a loud shout, piercing the head of the urban legend with a broken, sharp steel rod.
“Thud—clang—!”
The newcomer seemed to use all their strength; after the strike, they stumbled a bit, but their attack had worked—the urban legend collapsed silently to the ground, like a thin feather.
It fell to the ground, its body exploding into a large mass of bl**d, which flowed like a pile of living tendrils, continuously expanding and growing, as if it could condense back into shape at any moment.
Yun Meng’s anxious gaze shifted from the fallen urban legend to the figure that suddenly rushed up from below, momentarily stunned.
“Brazilian Warrior God… what happened to you?” Liangyue, who was watching, spoke with a note of confusion.
Though he looked as if he had just wrestled with a ferocious beast, with an unruly braid like a soccer star’s scattered about, bl**d soaked and plastered against his forehead and face, his entire body was injured, and his ragged jersey was almost turned into a bl**d-stained garment.
But from his voice and facial contours, it was still recognizable that he was the Brazilian Warrior God.
He wasn’t…
How did he come back? Given his appearance, was he fighting the urban legend?
Could a human defeat an urban legend? Is he even human or a ghost?
“Run, quickly! Everyone up the stairs!” the Brazilian Warrior God shouted, “The downstairs is full of urban legends; I barely escaped!”
“……” The Pharaoh slightly furrowed his brow upon hearing this, after pondering silently for a few seconds, he agreed with the Brazilian Warrior God, “That’s right, let’s head upstairs first, find a place to hide, and leave when it gets light.”
“Yeah, hurry! I feel that thing is about to regenerate!” The Brazilian Warrior God glanced at the writhing bl**d on the ground.
Humans are highly susceptible to group behavior; of the three companions, two decided to head upstairs, and Yun Meng was swayed as well.
She looked at Liangyue, who was leaning against the wall, casting an inquiring gaze, “Liangyue, you…”
“……” After a moment of silence, Liangyue sighed, “Since you’ve made your decision, let’s go then. Just hope…”
Hope you won’t regret it, Liangyue silently affirmed in her heart.
The group finally reached a temporary consensus and hurriedly made their way up the stairs.
However, the real nightmare truly began here.
……
Shihhekou Middle School, like other high schools, only had three grades, and the entire teaching building near the main entrance housed the students’ classrooms.
However, according to the arrangement of one grade per floor, the classrooms only occupied three floors.
Before reaching the fourth floor, the group had speculated extensively about its purpose – activity room, piano room, office for teachers – but they hadn’t anticipated that the fourth floor actually housed the psychological counseling room and venting room.
Should we say, it’s fitting for a prestigious school to have such facilities?
Or should we say, do all the students in this school have psychological issues? Why is an entire floor dedicated to such purposes? Yun Meng pondered while surveying the signs on the iron doors on both sides.
The lengthy corridor was divided into three sections by two iron doors. A small area before the staircase, the venting room to the left, and the psychological counseling room to the right.
The door to the psychological counseling room appeared as though it had been violently hit from the inside, bulging outward at alarming angles, twisted into an unsettling shape.
“Which way should we go?” the Brazilian Warrior God asked.
Liangyue lagged a few paces behind, cautiously leaning against the wall, “If you’re determined to stay here, I suggest we go right…”
“Shut up!” the Pharaoh interrupted. Afterward, he glanced left and right in the corridor and turned toward the venting room.
The door to the psychological counseling room had obviously been struck by something. If it were just former students, that would be fine, but what if it were an urban legend, and that urban legend was lying in the psychological counseling room?
He tentatively pushed on the iron door, only to find that it opened with a slight effort.
The lock was broken; it was unclear whether the lock cylinder had rusted from long disuse or was forcibly opened and the spring shattered, a small piece of metal falling to the ground with a clang.
Accompanied by a harsh creak, the door to the venting room swung open, a wave of musty odor mingled with dust hit them, and in a daze, Yun Meng heard a low, deep sigh.
“Did you hear something?” Yun Meng quietly asked.
The others remained silent and shook their heads.
Why is it always like this? Am I the only one who can see and hear?
No, rather than seeing and hearing, was it more accurate to say I sensed something that ordinary people cannot perceive?
This is just too strange!
Yun Meng felt she was going insane, since they left that classroom at the end of the corridor, within just a short span of ten minutes, her originally amiable companions had suddenly become untrustworthy.
Liangyue was always making mysterious comments, seeming to know something.
Someone in the discussion group had claimed that humans cannot defeat urban legends, yet the Brazilian Warrior God had mysteriously returned after disappearing for a few minutes, claiming to have defeated the urban legend.
Even her boyfriend was filled with doubts, as if he was hiding some secret.
She felt like she had fallen into the Labyrinth of the Minotaur, unable to find her way out, with terrifying monsters chasing behind her.
……
The Pharaoh shone his flashlight ahead, revealing scattered torn pieces of paper littering the empty corridor.
Rows of white soft-pack material doors aligned neatly on both sides of the corridor, like silent, watching ghostly shadows.
As he twitched his nostrils, he caught a faint whiff of something foul; taking a few steps forward, it felt like he stepped on something, looking down he discovered a large number of dried-up cockroach corpses hidden among the scraps of paper.
Yun Meng walked second to last, trailing behind the Brazilian Warrior God. The moment she entered the venting room’s area, she instinctively felt something very wrong.
Her back felt cold, like a terrifying monster was fixating on her.
What if we unwittingly release some long-imprisoned monster by barging in here? A thought arose in Yun Meng’s mind.
Apprehensively, she glanced around at her surroundings, when she noticed the door beside her was not locked, she peeked through the gap to gaze inside.
Behind the door was a space covered in gray-white soft walls, several overweight figures were piled up together like corpses.
Before she could clearly see the faces of those people, Yun Meng erupted in a terrified scream, her flashlight falling to the ground with a clang.
“Ah—! There are—there are people! Someone is in that room!”
Yun Meng’s words startled everyone, causing their steps to freeze.
Liangyue retreated a few steps cautiously, distancing herself from the front group, as if ready to flee at any moment.
The Brazilian Warrior God tightened his grip on the sharp steel rod.
The Pharaoh stepped back, positioning himself in front of Yun Meng, inching closer to the slightly ajar door.
Shining the flashlight beam into the room, he carefully assessed through the gap for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief.
Turning around, he hugged Yun Meng, running his fingers through her long hair, gently ruffling her head, “Alright, alright, don’t be scared, that’s not a person, just a few punching bags.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” the Pharaoh replied softly.
“Hahaha, it’s nothing, nothing!” the Brazilian Warrior God chimed in, “If I suddenly saw a few dolls in this place, I would definitely be scared as well.”
Is it really just that simple? Yun Meng thought, but why are all the dolls facing toward the door? As if they’re secretly watching us.
Her unease stemming from the dolls hadn’t fully dissipated; it merely lay dormant, as if waiting for an opportunity to erupt more violently.
After the brief commotion, the group quieted down again, and a faint sound of the porcelain plate bouncing was heard from downstairs again.
“Clink—clink—!”
The urban legend that appeared alongside the white porcelain plate seemed to have returned to its original form and resumed moving.
Though it hadn’t reached the fourth floor, it continued to wander in the downstairs corridor, like a sorrowful ghost forever trapped in an empty floor.
Just as those people in the discussion group had once said, humans cannot defeat urban legends.
Everything that had just occurred confirmed this. Yun Meng thought.
As she pondered, the Brazilian Warrior God suddenly said, “Uh, everyone… can we stop and rest for a moment? I-I can’t really go on.”
As the fear stimulus faded, the taut nerves began to relax, and the Brazilian Warrior God, covered in injuries, also began to feel that he could no longer hold on.
The Pharaoh directed the flashlight’s beam onto the Brazilian Warrior God, assessing him from head to toe.
His gaze seemed unfocused, his pale face smeared with bl**d, his throat moving violently with each breath, and his legs appeared weakened, trembling slightly.
After a long moment, the Pharaoh nodded slightly, turning to consult Yun Meng and Liangyue, “Shall we rest in that room for a bit?”
Though they could not leave this school filled with danger for the time being, and the Brazilian Warrior God’s wounds wouldn’t be treated well, he really needed a break.
Perhaps we should go check the psychological counseling room? There might be something like bandages there.
But…
What if this is an urban legend intentionally creating the current situation, trying to lure us there? The Pharaoh thought.
Although he had temporarily accepted the return of the Brazilian Warrior God, he still harbored doubts about his identity.
“I don’t mind if you all want to go in, but I won’t go in. I’ll be fine out here in the corridor,” Liangyue suddenly spoke, then went to the venting room door and sat against the wall.
Seeing this, the Pharaoh furrowed his brow but did not intervene in Liangyue’s personal choice; instead, he turned his gaze toward Yun Meng.
“I…I also…” Yun Meng hesitated for a moment before giving a vague answer, “Let’s go in and take a look first. It’s been so long; who knows if there’s a place to settle inside.”
The Pharaoh knew his girlfriend had a slight cleanliness obsession, he didn’t say more and nodded, helping the swaying Brazilian Warrior God to push open the door to the venting room.
The venting room was not very spacious; it was a small room of about ten square meters, completely sealed with walls padded to prevent injuries when students vent.
Standing in such a room wrapped in leather, Yun Meng suddenly felt a very peculiar sensation. She felt as though she were standing in the abdominal cavity of some enormous creature, making her feel very uncomfortable.
She looked around the room, and when her gaze landed on the punching bag dolls, her pupils constricted sharply, chills running down her spine.
They moved!
When I looked through the door gap earlier, their heads were all facing outside!
Now, for some unknown reason, they had all turned their backs toward the depths of the room.
Thinking about it, Yun Meng’s face filled with terror, her voice edged with a whimper, “Don’t go in! Those dolls moved! We have to leave here quickly!”
The Pharaoh, walking in front, paused for a moment, opened his mouth to say something, but the Brazilian Warrior God, who was being supported, suddenly shouted out loud.
“Enough! Can’t you let someone rest properly? I’ve been looking at you unfavorably for a long time, clearly uninterested in urban legends yet insisting on coming here, and then, when you come, you act all jumpy and scary! When I was dragged away by the urban legend, why didn’t I see you so agitated?”
As he spoke, the Brazilian Warrior God kicked one of the dolls beside him hard, “It moved? Why didn’t you say it would jump up and k*ll someone? You…”
“Watch it!” the Pharaoh said in a low voice, and the Brazilian Warrior God fell silent.
“Che!” the Brazilian Warrior God spat, breaking free from the Pharaoh’s support and directly lying down on the doll in the center of the room.
“Whatever, I can’t move; I just want to lie down here for a bit.”
The Pharaoh squatted down to examine the dolls, then walked over to Yun Meng and pulled her into his arms.
“Don’t be afraid, baby. You might have been mistaken in your panic; they are just ordinary dolls. If you’re scared of those dolls, we can stay by the door.”
Mistaken? Perhaps! Yun Meng wanted to say something but hesitated, nonetheless nodding and following the Pharaoh out of the room and back into the corridor, sitting across from Liangyue.
The Pharaoh sat beside Yun Meng, taking her small hand in his, their fingers intertwined, softly saying, “Don’t be afraid; we are temporarily safe now. As long as we endure until dawn and leave here, everything will be over.”
“Yeah, I hope so.” Yun Meng replied, leaning her head on the Pharaoh’s shoulder, feeling his warm body temperature, alleviating much of her earlier panic.
She glanced across at Liangyue, her eyes filled with resentment.
Really unsure of her motive for saying those things; was it to destroy our relationship? Or was there some other purpose? Yun Meng thought.
Time flowed quietly in the room filled with a faint moldy smell.
A wave of drowsiness hit her; although she kept telling herself she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t help but drift off after hearing her lover’s gentle voice.
“Sleep, I’m here!”
“Mm.” Yun Meng replied with a nasal sound, her head drooping as she fell asleep.
If anyone among us has a problem, then Liangyue is the most suspicious one!
How could an urban legend possibly have body temperature? In the moment before she fell asleep, Yun Meng groggily thought.
