Chapter 16 The TV

Wang Qi reached out and opened the door a crack, confirming it was indeed the bedroom.

A red TV was on, and a lone chair sat in front of it, occupied by a figure with their back to them.

From the back, it was unmistakably the doorman.

However, the doorman was soaking wet, as if he had just been fished out of the water, water dripping from his clothes and hair.

The sound of rushing water came from the TV, the screen flickering with a pale cyan light.

More eerily, each flicker of the TV screen caused water to spill out.

It flowed down the table corners in streams, giving everyone the feeling that it wasn't water, but blood.

As the TV picture gradually stabilized, Jiang Cheng slowly held his breath. It was a recording... a black and white recording, with a time stamp in the lower left corner.

The picture quality wasn't clear, but it was recognizable as a swimming pool. The background was dark, suggesting it was filmed at night.

A woman was swimming in the pool, alone in the vast expanse.

Her movements were simple and graceful, like a proud swan.

The anomaly occurred in an instant. The woman's graceful movements were disrupted as her body contorted in the middle of the pool. She struggled painfully, creating a flurry of splashes.

Jiang Cheng immediately realized that this woman was the high school girl who had drowned.

This was the scene of her death.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, no more than ten, several other girls appeared at the edge of the pool. Jiang Cheng counted them one by one, a total of five.

One of the girls immediately wanted to jump in to save her, but was stopped by another girl, who then spoke to the remaining girls in hushed tones.

They seemed to be arguing, but in the end, the girl who had stopped the rescue controlled the situation and persuaded the others.

The girl who had initially wanted to help also began to watch coldly.

The group stood at the edge of the pool, watching the girl struggle helplessly, gradually lose strength, and finally become a corpse floating on the surface.

...

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel a chill at the callousness of these girls.

Yuan Xiaoyi had lied to him.

This wasn't just a so-called punishment; they had never intended to save her!

And Jiang Cheng had a feeling that the first girl to stand up and prevent the rescue was Jiang Yanran!

"Doctor," Fatty's voice changed, "look... look in the pool."

His gaze drifted over, and Jiang Cheng suddenly noticed that in the time he had been thinking, the corpse floating in the recording... was gone.

"Let's go, let's get out of here," Jiang Cheng said, and the group retreated quickly.

Taking one last look at the doorman, who had been facing away from them the entire time, it was clear that he was dead, and appeared to have drowned.

Jiang Cheng boldly guessed that the doorman had entered the recording and drowned in the pool.

The air here was filled with the smell of disinfectant.

If they stayed any longer, they might suffer the same fate.

Stepping through the puddles on the floor, everyone was on guard, afraid that a hand would suddenly reach out from under the water and drag them to the bottom.

But fortunately, they managed to leave the doorman's room.

Outside the door was the familiar hallway.

The group stood outside, gasping for breath. Wang Qi patted Fatty on the shoulder. "Hurry up, we still need to get to the swimming pool before 12 o'clock."

The moment the group pushed open the dormitory door, they were stunned.

The dilapidated cement road outside was gone, the streetlights on both sides, and the crooked-necked tree in the distance, had all disappeared.

Before them was a spacious lobby, with a frosted floor, a sky-blue reception desk, and a waiting area not far away...

On the wall in a prominent position was a poster with the words Jiangtan University Swimming Pool written on it.

The poster featured a girl in a swimsuit, standing by the pool, with a sweet smile and youthful energy.

"This is the school swimming pool?" Fatty looked around, as if he hadn't yet accepted the reality. "Is this an illusion, or is it real?"

He turned his head and looked behind him. The narrow dormitory hallway behind them had also disappeared, replaced by the main entrance of the swimming pool.

They were already inside, standing in the reception lobby.

Jiang Cheng didn't answer, but turned to look at Wang Qi.

"It should be real," Wang Qi nodded.

"Then let's go in, everyone be careful," Jiang Cheng said in a low voice.

"Which entrance do we use?" Huai Yi asked in a low voice. The swimming pool had separate entrances for men and women.

After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Cheng replied, "Let's go through the men's entrance."

The group headed towards the men's entrance, but as they passed the waiting area, Wang Qi suddenly stopped.

"Is there a problem?" Jiang Cheng asked with a frown. He followed Wang Qi's gaze and saw that the waiting area was very quiet, furnished with some sofas, but mostly rows of chairs.

Like the sculpture hall and other haunted places, there were no lights here, only a faint gray halo.

Like an old photo that had been sealed away for many years.

Wang Qi's face also had an inexplicable expression. The feeling of palpitations had come suddenly and without warning, and he couldn't explain why.

"If there's no problem, let's go, it's... it's so cold here," Huai Yi said, hugging his arms and shivering slightly.

But soon after they left, a strange scraping sound came from a corner near a sofa. Then, the indentation on the sofa slowly rose, as if someone sitting there had stood up.

The girl in the poster they had seen earlier was also gone, leaving only an empty swimming pool in the background.

...

"Creak—"

Jiang Cheng reached out and pushed open the door. They passed through the men's changing room, then through a corridor, and finally arrived inside the swimming pool.

The pool was not far away.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the pool was much larger than the average swimming pool, and it was dark inside.

The light was very poor. Looking across, it was impossible to distinguish the edge of the pool. The other side seemed to be swallowed by darkness.

Standing by the pool, they even had the illusion that this wasn't a swimming pool, but a bottomless lake.

Fatty stared into the pool. After looking for a long time, he felt dizzy, and his body began to sway. If Wang Qi hadn't woken him up in time, he might have fallen in headfirst.

"There's something strange about this pool, avoid it if you can. Let's look for clues first," Wang Qi reminded them.

With Wang Qi around, he could indeed share some of Jiang Cheng's burden. He could focus more on finding clues without constantly worrying that Fatty would be dragged away by a ghost if he turned his back.

"Huh?" Fatty's ears twitched. "Did you guys hear anything?"

"No," Huai Yi replied.

Jiang Cheng and Wang Qi also calmed down and listened carefully. The surroundings were quiet.