Will I die here?
Is this my fate?
Fang Yuan finally experienced despair.
She had never despaired before, not even when her father died.
In her brief eighteen years of growth, she had endured pain unseen by ordinary people. Her heart was once scarred and bloodstained, but she persevered, matured, and became independent. Like a blade of grass growing in a crack in a rock, no matter how arduous it was, she persevered through the sunless haze with her own efforts, removing the heavy stone weighing on her heart and beginning to enjoy the exhilaration of youth like her peers. She had naively believed herself to be strong enough, strong enough to face any setbacks in the world with equanimity. This was why she preferred to investigate the strange happenings in Girls' Dormitory 441 rather than feign indifference. She didn't want to deceive herself.
How could someone who wasn't honest with herself demand honesty from others?
At this moment, Fang Yuan finally realized that she wasn't as strong as she had imagined. Perhaps, from the very beginning, this had been a mistake. If she had chosen to feign deafness and change dorms, perhaps she could still be as peaceful and happy as the other girls.
The agonized moans of Tang Tianyu and Li Rong pierced her eardrums, a constant reminder of impending death.
And all this was because of her!
No, she couldn't give up!
Fang Yuan's subcortex began to work rapidly, determined to find a way to change her current predicament.
The basement was dark, so dark that she couldn't see anything clearly. She could only rely on touch to understand her surroundings.
Chairs, tables, test tubes, containers...
She didn't find what she needed.
In fact, she had no idea what she could find; she was groping completely subconsciously.
After a few minutes, she stopped, abandoning this meaningless activity.
She needed to calm down and clear her mind.
Suddenly, the feeling of being watched returned.
Is there someone else in the basement?
The person who locked the door is still in the basement?
Impossible. He wouldn't be so foolish as to lock himself in there too.
If not a human, then what?
There must be something watching her!
Fang Yuan felt a chill on her back, and she inexplicably thought of ghosts.
If someone died there and became a ghost, would they still like to linger where they died?
Xu Yan's ghost?
Or the ghosts of those strange mummies?
Fang Yuan seemed to hear many strange creatures silently sneering.
They were laughing!
Fang Yuan whispered, "Who is it? Who is hiding here?"
No one answered.
The feeling of being watched didn't diminish, but instead intensified.
Fang Yuan changed her tone, saying, "Come out! Don't be afraid. I'm here too."
She heard a strange voice that sounded like human speech, but also seemed different, because she couldn't make out what it was saying.
This sound was familiar to her.
Fang Yuan remembered; she'd heard it in girls' dormitory 441 before!
It was the black cat!
That night, she'd been woken by the same noise, leading her to the bathroom, where she'd found the black cat with its leg bitten off.
"Meow, is that you?" Fang Yuan meowed, mimicking a cat's meow. She'd called out to the black cat that way before.
This time, there was a response. A meow echoed from a dark corner, and then two eerie blue eyes appeared beside her.
Fang Yuan was ecstatic!
The black cat could squeeze through the bars of the back door; it could help her pass a message to the girls in girls' dormitory 441.
"Meow, come here!"
Fang Yuan found a pen, tore off a corner of her clothing, and wrote in large letters: Save me, Red Building basement, Fang Yuan.
But the black cat didn't come over, keeping a distance. Its eyes were strange and ambiguous, as if it was wary of her.
Did it hold a grudge? Did it still remember how the girls in the dorm had beaten and chased it away? Did it blame herself for not helping it?
Fang Yuan was practically in tears. "Please, meow, I know you're smart. You know what I'm talking about. Please help me, okay?"
Now, the black cat was her only hope.
It finally came over, lowered its head, licked Fang Yuan's hand, and meowed, as if agreeing.
Fang Yuan tied the written strip of cloth around the black cat's leg and said softly, "Good girl, meow, go back! Go home! Go back to our home!"
The black cat's eyes met Fang Yuan's for a few seconds.
Fang Yuan carefully sensed the black cat's gaze; she believed it could sense her sincere emotions.
The black cat opened its mouth and made that strange sound again—as if it was trying to imitate human speech, but it couldn't. Although it sounded like human speech, it lacked logic, and Fang Yuan couldn't understand it at all.
It didn't matter that Fang Yuan didn't understand the black cat's strange cry; what mattered was that it understood Fang Yuan's words.
Fang Yuan placed all her hopes on it.
It seemed as if the black cat truly understood Fang Yuan's meaning. After the strange cry, it nuzzled Fang Yuan affectionately, then silently darted into the darkness, disappearing in a flash.
Will it bring its own distress letter to girls' dormitory 441? Will the girls in 441 find the distress letter on the black cat's body? Although the hope was slim, there was always hope. It was like a lottery winner who, knowing the odds of winning were one in millions, still kept on trying.
Fang Yuan tried hard to believe that the black cat's plan to deliver the message would work. Even if it was self-deception, it at least gave her peace of mind and strength—the Ah Q spirit did have its roots.
Strangely, even after the black cat disappeared, the feeling of being spied on remained intense.
Could it be that the black cat hadn't left the basement, but was instead hiding in the shadows, watching her?
No way! Fang Yuan called out "meow" a few times, but there was no response. The black cat must have left the basement.
She seemed to hear a faint panting sound, and it definitely wasn't coming from Tang Tianyu and Li Rong. Tang Tianyu and Li Rong were too far away from her for a panting sound to carry that far.
Could it be her own?
Fang Yuan intentionally changed the rhythm of her breathing.
It wasn't hers! Fang Yuan's mind suddenly lit up, and she finally figured it out.
Fang Yuan shouted through the crack in the iron door, "Come out! I know you're here! You've set this trap, your plan's already worked, so why are you still sneaking around and not daring to come out?"
"You're so clever!" a cruel, cold voice rang out from near the basement's iron door. "If I hadn't had to, I wouldn't have the heart to do this!"
Fang Yuan opened her eyes wide, but could only see a gray shadow pressed against the iron door.
Who was he?
He'd been watching her!
Fang Yuan: "Who are you? Why are you doing this?!"
The voice was cold and strange, as if it had drifted from the eighteenth level of hell: "You're so naive! You thought I'd tell you? But you're also cute. You actually trusted a cat!"
It turned out that he had seen everything.
Fang Yuan, finding no courage, shouted, "Why can't I trust a cat? The least trustworthy people on earth are humans. Cats are far more honest than most people."
The shadow in the darkness was speechless. After a long silence, he sighed, "Yes, you're quite right. You're a very smart girl. If I could choose, I would choose to be your friend. But unfortunately, your fate has already been sealed."
Fang Yuan sneered, "I wouldn't choose a cold-blooded murderer as my friend. No matter how good his excuses, he has no right to take another's life." "
Shadow's tone was tinged with sadness. "Do you think I'm willing to do this? Forget it. These things can't be explained anyway. Remember, if you become a ghost and your spirit lingers, come find me again and I'll tell you the whole truth."
Fang Yuan gritted her teeth and screamed, "Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go!"
Shadow laughed instead. "I didn't expect you'd use such a clichéd line to threaten me. Okay, thank you for reminding me. Although I don't trust that black cat, I still don't want to take the risk. I'll give you two more minutes. Pray."
Pray? He's really going to kill her!
How would he deal with her? Would he open the door and come in? No, he wouldn't resort to such a foolish method.
Suddenly, a familiar smell wafted through the air—the smell of gasoline!
Fang Yuan finally understood. He was actually planning to cruelly burn her to death!
Two minutes! Fang Yuan only had two minutes left to live. How many people could endure such a cruel reality?
Even if Black Cat could successfully help her deliver the distress letter to the girls in Dormitory 441, it was too late now.
What should she do?