Translator: CinderTL
"This cup... this cup is..." Senior Sister stared at the straw, its surface marked with teeth marks. Her throat involuntarily tightened; she certainly didn't have such a habit.
"Senior Sister, you drank my milk tea," Jiang Cheng said, his face flushing slightly.
Jiang Cheng's words only deepened Senior Sister's embarrassment. But she never could have anticipated what happened next. Before her eyes, Jiang Cheng picked up her milk tea and, with a petulant air, declared, "I don't care! I want to try Senior Sister's milk tea too!"
The previously awkward atmosphere dissolved in just a few words. Even more remarkably, the way Senior Sister looked at Jiang Cheng had completely changed.
As Jiang Cheng chatted casually with Senior Sister, teasing her and gossiping about their classmates, he meticulously helped her with her research.
Senior Sister sat beside him, cradling her milk tea in both hands, taking tiny sips as she gazed at his profile, listening to his amusing anecdotes.
Jiang Cheng glanced at his phone.
Time was running out. He needed to hurry to his next appointment; Yuan Xiaoyi was still waiting for him.
He set down his pen, shook his wrist, and in Senior Sister's eyes, it seemed that this junior who had willingly skipped class to keep her company was showing signs of fatigue.
He didn't look at Senior Sister, instead glancing out the window.
At that moment, Senior Sister sensed a sudden melancholy emanating from the man before her. She couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about?"
"I..." Jiang Cheng paused, then admitted, "I'm worried about my friends. They still don't believe what you said, Senior Sister. I'm afraid they'll do something foolish."
Senior Sister's expression immediately changed, her breathing becoming rapid. "They... why won't they listen? The warehouse isn't a joke!"
"I've tried to warn them, but they refuse to listen. They call it nonsense and even mock me, saying I'm just bewitched by you, Senior Sister, and that's why I believe you." Jiang Cheng's face showed no hint of flattery, as if every word came from the depths of his heart.
"I... I would never deceive you, Junior Brother," Senior Sister insisted urgently, clearly deeply concerned about this.
Jiang Cheng nodded. "I know you care about me, Senior Sister, but..." He glanced up at her before sighing. "But I have no proof. I can't convince them."
"You want proof?" Senior Sister said. "I have it!"
"Oh?"
After saying that, Senior Sister seemed to regret her words, but she didn't want Jiang Cheng to be misunderstood because of her, nor did she want to see the tragedy of the past repeat itself.
Seeing the timid yet hopeful look in Jiang Cheng's eyes, Senior Sister steeled her resolve. "Wait here for me," she said, and left.
In less than five minutes, she returned.
The first thing she did was lock the door and cover the observation window with a dark piece of clothing. Jiang Cheng's eyes lit up with anticipation.
After securing the room, Senior Sister walked over and placed a dark brown file folder on the table.
Jiang Cheng noticed a name written on the folder: Chen Zeqing. He had never heard of this person before.
Visibly nervous, Senior Sister opened the folder and hastily dumped out the papers inside. She then pulled out several photographs from between the sheets.
"Look at these," she whispered, sliding the photos across the table to Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng's gaze froze on the first photo.
The door was half-open, and a girl lay sprawled across the threshold, her hair disheveled and obscuring half her face.
Her upper body was outside the door, while her lower body remained inside. The background was the warehouse of the Activity Center.
Even with only half her profile visible, Jiang Cheng immediately recognized the girl as Yuan Xiaoyi.
She appeared to be fleeing from something, her face contorted in panic as she bolted from the warehouse. In her haste, she tripped over the threshold and collapsed unconscious.
"These photos were taken long ago by the School Security Department," Senior Sister explained beside him. "Your friend was found in the same state—his upper body outside the gate, his lower body inside."
Jiang Cheng knew she was referring to Gao Yan.
When Gao Yan regained consciousness, he claimed to have been hunted by a Stalker Ghost. It seemed Yuan Xiaoyi had suffered a similar fate.
The second photo was a close-up of the warehouse gate, showing knife marks that had later been covered with paper.
The third photo revealed the interior of the warehouse, focusing on the area they had searched earlier.
A shattered mirror hung on the wall, clearly smashed with force, surrounded by several chairs.
The layout closely matched Curator Zhou's description of the secret room.
But what truly caught Jiang Cheng's attention were the objects placed on each chair.
Each chair held a corresponding item.
Jiang Cheng carefully examined each chair. On the first chair lay a white lab coat, on the second a swimsuit with goggles draped over the back, and on the third a tracksuit with running shoes beneath it.
"All these photos were taken by the School Security Department at the scene," the senior sister explained. "Partly for record-keeping, in case any students went missing, to clarify responsibility. And partly to give to the student's attending physician—the Old Professor I mentioned."
"Professor Chen Zeqing," the senior sister said, her voice tinged with undeniable respect and... regret.
Jiang Cheng immediately sensed it.
"Attending physician?" Jiang Cheng pressed, following up on the term.
"Exactly," the senior sister sighed. "You've probably heard of Yuan Xiaoyi, the student everyone says has mental issues."
"I've heard a little," Jiang Cheng replied. "She keeps claiming five of her friends went missing, but no one can find any record of them."
The senior sister nodded, her tone suddenly turning conspiratorial as she looked at Jiang Cheng. "They're not wrong. Yuan Xiaoyi does have mental issues. Professor Chen Zeqing is fascinated by her case and has been actively trying to find ways to treat her."
"She suffers from a very rare form of Dissociative Identity Disorder," Senior Sister explained rapidly, as if something were chasing her. "It's not just a simple split personality; it's multiple personalities."
"The five 'missing friends' are actually all her—alter personalities that emerged after her host personality's sense of self fractured."
"Look here," Senior Sister whispered, pointing to the chairs in the photos. "According to Professor Chen Zeqing's theory, each chair represents a manifestation of one of her alter personalities."
"For example, when she sits in the first chair, she sheds her original clothes and dons a white coat, identifying as a medical student."
"In the second chair, she embodies her identity as a swimming champion. Similarly, in the third chair, she becomes a long-distance runner from the Physical Education Institute."
As she explained to Jiang Cheng, Senior Sister couldn't help but tremble. Every time she saw these photos, a chill ran down her spine, as if she were glimpsing a world beyond human comprehension.
(End of the Chapter)
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