Ghost Wall.

　　If before, even though I had subconsciously followed Xiaoran's reasoning, I still held onto the idea of 'she's talking nonsense'.

　　But at this moment, I truly realized that I wasn't scaring myself.

　　I had indeed encountered something inexplicable by science.

　　On the screen of my phone, thepop-up from netizens began to appear one after another.

　　They could be divided into two factions.

　　One faction, just like me, was frightened.

　　[Nguyen Nguyen, it's true that you've run down two floors.] [This is the Ghost Wall.

　　She can't leave this floor! Xiaoran was right!] The other faction, however, still couldn't accept the idea of ghosts and spirits and began to doubt me instead.

　　[Ruan Ruan, is this you and your accomplice's scheme for getting more views? Combining forces for a hoax of Ghost Wall, simply using the number 3 on both floors, it's a clumsy illusion.] [But the acting skills of the anchor are truly commendable.

　　Look at the paleness of this face, just like a ghost, hahaha.] Most of the later comments were from new netizens who had just entered the livestream.

　　They didn't know me, so they audaciously made fun of me, and some even started to abuse me, accusing me of resorting to any means necessary for views.

　　But I couldn't care about any of this.

　　I looked at the screen of my phone, my voice trembling: 'Xiaoran, Xiaoran are you still there?' No response.

　　Xiaoran didn't send any morepop-up comments.

　　The despair in my heart grew stronger as I stood in the empty and silent stairwell, calling upon the heavens and the earth, but receiving no answer.

　　I couldn't run out of this dormitory building, nor did I want to return to that eerie room, facing a roommate who was neither human nor ghost.

　　Just then, footsteps suddenly came from downstairs.

　　One step, then another, the sound of heels striking the ground slowly and steadily.

　　In the midst of silence, these footsteps seemed to possess a rhythmic and aesthetic quality, like the beat of a drum.

　　They were approaching from below, getting closer and closer to me.

　　I stood frozen in place, my legs as if frozen, unable to even run.

　　In the darkness, a figure gradually appeared.

　　Black long hair, white dress.

　　I watched helplessly as she walked up to me.

　　'Ruan Ruan,' the other person softly said, 'what are you doing standing here?' I snapped out of it, finally able to see the person clearly in the dim light.

　　It was Wu Lan.

　　'Lan sister...' I cleared my throat.

　　Among my roommates, I had the closest relationship with Wu Lan.

　　Although we hadn't known each other for long, we were already very close friends.

　　When I first entered school, I was cheated out of a large sum of money by a scummy senior.

　　It was Lan sister who came to my door and helped me recover the money.

　　And when I had acute appendicitis and needed surgery, it was Lan Jie who stayed by my side in the hospital."

　　"Lan sister, I sent you messages and called you, why didn't you reply to me?" I grabbed Wu Lan.

　　She looked at me surprised, then took out her phone and checked: "I was on the way, it was raining heavily outside and I didn't hear my phone ring—what's wrong with you?" I couldn't speak, feeling both despair and relief in my heart.

　　Despair because the last sacrifice had returned.

　　Relief because in this desperate situation, I finally had a companion to rely on.

　　My brain was completely unable to function in fear, and I couldn't contact Xiao Ran, but Wu Lan has always been smart and calm.

　　She could surely face everything with more composure and rationality than me.

　　Sure enough, after hearing everything I said, Wu Lan's face, though extremely shocked, soon calmed down.

　　"Everything was normal when I entered the building just now," she pondered, "don't panic, let's try again." So Wu Lan and I walked in the stairwell a few more times.

　　Soon, Wu Lan's face also turned pale.

　　She had been asking me if I had a nightmare, but now, seeing that no matter if we went up or down, no matter how many floors we walked, we would only end up back on the third floor, she finally began to believe that what I said was true.

　　Wu Lan frowned and fell into thought.

　　Just then, we both received a notification sound from WeChat on our phones.

　　It was from the dormitory group chat.

　　It was a message from Qin Xiao, who had tagged both Wu Lan and me in the message, asking, 'Why haven't you two come back yet?' Just an ordinary sentence.

　　But it gave me goosebumps.

　　"What should we do, Lan sister?" I whispered, "Should we jump out the window?" Wu Lan shook her head, "It won't work, the windows are sealed shut." A chill ran down my spine as I remembered.

　　Last month, it seemed that a student had jumped off the building to commit suicide.

　　When we woke up and went to class, the body had already been taken away, and it seemed as if nothing had happened.

　　But soon after, school staff came and welded shut all the doors above the second floor.

　　"If this situation is real, then the owner of the grave must have sealed off all our escape routes in these few months.

　　It's useless for us to find loopholes, we can only confront it head-on." Wu Lan held my hand, "If we find the grave owner tonight, as that person called Xiao Ran said, then we still have hope, right?" "Don't be afraid, with Lan sister here, I will protect you." Wu Lan held my hand and we walked towards the dormitory.

　　With her by my side, this empty corridor didn't seem as scary anymore.

　　Pushing open the door, the lights in the bedroom were already off.

　　The only source of light was a small night light on Qin Xiao's desk.

　　When she saw us come back, she turned her head, and the light reflected off her glasses.

　　"You're back," she said in a very soft voice.

　　Her voice was particularly eerie in the darkness.

　　My hands and feet grew even colder, and I heard Wu Lan ask next to me, "Where's Li'er?" "Li'er is already asleep, let's speak softly," Qin Xiao raised her index finger to her lips and made a shushing gesture.

　　I looked up and indeed saw that Meng Li'er's curtain was tightly closed.

　　"Lan sister, you came back too late.

　　It's raining so heavily, if you two didn't come back soon, I would have been worried sick," Qin Xiao said softly.

　　"Why are you two just standing at the door? The ginger tea that I just bought has arrived, come and taste it."

　　"Qin Xiaozhi used to often buy delicious food online and distribute it to the other people in our dormitory.

　　I usually enjoyed eating it, but at this moment, as I looked at the cup of turbid liquid emitting hot steam, I inexplicably felt nauseous.

　　Wu Lan glanced at me and shook her head gently.

　　I understood what she meant, which was for me not to alert Qin Xiao.

　　'You know, Ruan Ruan is on a diet.' Wu Lan said in her usual tone, walking towards Qin Xiao.

　　'Let me taste it.' Taking advantage of this moment, I lowered my head and tried to find Xiaoran in thepop-up of comments on my phone.

　　Damn Xiaoran, why don't you come out? You were so enthusiastic before, and now you've disappeared.

　　As if the heavens had heard my prayer, a few seconds later, Xiaoran finally reappeared.

　　'I just went out—how is it? Can't get out?' She sent.

　　I was so angry that I felt like spitting blood, so I typed on another phone's memo pad and held it up to the camera.

　　'You said you wanted to find the owner of the tomb, and then what?' Xiaoran: 'Don't let the owner of the tomb touch you, and don't eat anything given by the owner of the tomb.' My heart grew cold, and I suddenly looked up.

　　' Lan sister...' Wu Lan had already picked up the cup of hot ginger tea.

　　In that instant of eye contact between us, as if by telepathy, she deliberately loosened her grip and the paper cup fell to the ground.

　　Wu Lan probably didn't intend to drink it in the first place, but now she took the opportunity to spill all the hot ginger tea.

　　'Sorry, sorry, I'll get a mop.' Wu Lan immediately brought a mop from the corner of the wall.

　　Qin Xiao had her back to me, so I couldn't see her expression.

　　On my phone, Xiaoran continues to post pop-ups.

　　'But these methods can only be temporarily effective.

　　The energy of the midnight tomb owner will become stronger and stronger.

　　You should hide and avoid being found by the tomb owner.' I almost fainted.

　　The female dormitory was only this small, and I was such a big living person, where could I hide? I was about to continue typing in the memo when, on the screen, XiaoRan's pop-up reappeared.

　　The blood-red line of words was particularly eye-catching.

　　'Wait, look at the shoes of your new roommate who just came back.' The new roommate who just came back? Was she referring to Lan sister? I turned my head and lowered my gaze.

　　 Lan sister was holding the mop, bending down to mop the floor.

　　Feeling my gaze, she silently glanced at me, giving me a familiar comforting look, telling me not to panic.

　　But I felt like I had been poured a bucket of cold water, from head to toe.

　　 Lan sister was wearing a pair of canvas shoes, with snow-white shoe uppers and laces.

　　The most important thing was that her shoes were dry.

　　It was pouring rain outside, and she had come all the way back from the self-study room, yet her shoes were dry.

　　She had lied to me.

　　She didn't come back from outside at all!