Starting with dissecting ghost stories

Chapter 185 Cement

The fifth period was English class. Shen Yuan sat in her seat, drawing circles on the blank space of her workbook with her right hand.

Every few minutes, she would reach into her pocket to check her phone. If there were no new calls or text messages, Wu Xiaoting never called again.

The sixth period was a self-study period. The sound of rain outside was gradually weakening, and it seemed to be about to stop.

Taking advantage of the noise during self-study, Shen Yuan took out her phone and sent a text message to Shen Xing.

"Brother, what time do you get off work today? I need to talk to you about something."

After sending it, she stared at her phone screen until it went dark.

Five minutes later, the phone vibrated.

[I'll pick you up after school, what's wrong?]

Seeing her brother's reply, Shen Yuan felt a little more at ease.

"Then I'll wait for you."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the last class. Shen Yuan packed her bag and stood up.

When I walked out of the teaching building, the rain had almost stopped, leaving only a fine mist on my face.

Shen Yuan stood under the eaves at the entrance of the teaching building, tiptoeing to look outside.

I spotted a familiar figure at the edge of the crowd.

He didn't mingle with the other parents. Instead, he stood quietly under the roadside trees opposite the school gate, holding a black folding umbrella. His white shirt sleeves were rolled up twice, and one hand was in his pocket.

Upon seeing Shen Yuan, he took his other hand out of his pocket and pulled out an umbrella.

I brought two umbrellas.

Shen Yuan jogged over, took the umbrella, and fiddled with it for a while before finally finding a button to press. The umbrella opened automatically, making quite a commotion.

"Why did you buy two?" Shen Yuan asked, standing next to Shen Xing.

"You couldn't open your old umbrella with one hand, so I bought a manual one." Shen Xing glanced down at her left hand, which was in a splint. "Does it still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore... Ouch, don't touch it!"

"oh."

The two walked side by side for a few steps, and Shen Xing slowed down to wait for Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan's lips moved as if she was about to speak, but Shen Xing stopped in his tracks first.

He turned to look in the direction of the school... not the teaching building, but the administration building, the direction of the former school clinic.

"Wait a minute," Shen Xing said to Shen Yuan, pointing in the direction of the school. "I'm going to the restroom."

The restroom? Shen Yuan frowned slightly as she watched Shen Xing turn and walk back towards the school gate.

The nearest public restroom in the school is on the first floor of the teaching building, but Shen was walking in the direction of the administration building.

Holding two umbrellas, Shen Yuan watched Shen Xing walk into the school gate, nod to the security guard at the security booth, and then head straight for the administration building.

He wasn't going to the restroom; he was going to the old school clinic... Shen Yuan immediately understood what Shen Xing wanted to do.

[Absolutely no one may enter the storage room on the first floor of the administration building at 5 PM...]

Remembering the note written by the boy in front of her, Shen Yuan gripped the umbrella handle tightly.

At this moment, Shen Xing had already reached the entrance of the administration building. He put away his umbrella, shook off some of the water droplets, and then walked towards the original school clinic.

The room in the corner on the first floor of the administration building is now blocked off with old desks and chairs. It was originally a corner, but now it's filled with clutter, and it's impossible to investigate without moving the items.

If we start moving now, it'll be too late before 5 PM... Climbing out the window?

Shen walked out of the administration building and circled around it to the lawn behind it.

The school clinic is just a wall away, but the street directly opposite the clinic's window has already drawn the attention of many curious students who are peering at it through the school fence.

When Shen Xing saw the window of the school clinic, he was completely stunned.

Water...cement?

He had considered that the window might be boarded up or sealed off, but he never expected it to be covered with cement.

Shen Xing stood there for a while, then reached out and touched the grayish-white cement surface.

The surface is rough, and it feels normal to the touch; it's just ordinary cement window sealing.

The cement was applied unevenly, and judging from the workmanship, it wasn't done by a professional bricklayer. It looked like the school's logistics staff did it themselves, and you could even see a few obvious handprints on the edges.

Why use cement to seal the windows?

Tomorrow is Saturday, and there will be no students at school.

Shen Xing went through the process in his mind.

Tomorrow, just bring your work ID and the search authorization letter from Lu Lingyun, register with the security guard, and go in openly. Then just say that your superiors have ordered a safety hazard inspection of the abandoned room and move the things blocking the way.

He organized his thoughts and circled back to the school gate along the administration building.

From afar, Shen Yuan came into view.

She stood alone under the roadside trees outside the school gate, her left hand resting on her umbrella, her right hand holding her phone, looking down at something. She leaned slightly forward, not like she was playing on her phone, but rather like she was preparing something to say.

"Let's go." Shen Xing walked to her side.

"Mm." Shen Yuan followed Shen Xing's steps.

The two walked along the sidewalk for about twenty meters without saying a word.

Shen Xing stopped and looked at Shen Yuan.

She opened her mouth several times, her tongue touching her lips, and then closed it again.

"Did you have something to say?" Shen Xing asked.

"Um...

"...Tell me first, what were you doing just now?" Shen Yuan kicked away the pebbles at her feet.

"I went to check on the old school clinic; the windows were sealed with cement. I'll come back tomorrow," Shen Xing said.

"So, you really are investigating the school's ghost stories?" Shen Yuan exhaled, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

"I guess so." Shen Xing nodded, his gaze falling on Shen Yuan. "Your turn."

Shen Yuan lowered her head and took a few steps, stopping beside a lamppost.

"Wu Xiaoting called me."

"Who?"

"Wu Xiaoting, the one who sits next to the podium... her mother owns a music and video store." Shen Yuan took half a step closer to Shen Xing. "This morning she was sent to a mental hospital, and then this afternoon... she secretly made a phone call to me from inside."

Shen Xing turned his head to look at Shen Yuan. He didn't remember Shen Yuan mentioning the other person a few times.

"What did she say?"

"She said she wasn't crazy and asked me to save her..." Shen Yuan paused for two seconds, "Also, she had stitches on her neck. The hospital said it was self-harm, but she said it wasn't."

sutures?

"What kind of sutures? Did she describe them?" Shen Xing continued walking.

"I didn't have time to explain in detail before the call ended... but I think I can trust her." Shen Yuan looked up at Shen Xing.

"Why?" Shen Xing wouldn't trust someone without a reason, let alone a friend of his sister who had only stayed at his house with his sister for one day.

"I don't know either..." Shen Yuan turned to face Shen Xing, "Brother, she's my friend..."

Shen Xing stood still for a few seconds.

A "mentally ill patient" secretly making a phone call to a classmate in a mental hospital, accurately conveying the location, floor, and the person being requested in less than three minutes, is certainly not something a mentally deranged person could do.

Shen Xing wasn't concerned with the details.

What he was concerned about was why a middle school student would have a ring of sutures around their neck, and why the mental hospital's explanation was "self-harm."

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Normal self-harm usually involves things like cutting one's wrists. Shen Xing had never seen anyone so amazing as to cut around their own neck and sew it back up without damaging any trachea or blood vessels, all without any help from anyone.

This can indeed be considered a strange and unusual event.

Xing cut off his thoughts, and all the information was relayed by Shen Yuan, which was severely lacking in detail and insufficient to make a judgment.

"Which hospital is she in?" Shen Xing asked.

"Anning Mental Rehabilitation Center, third floor," Shen Yuan blurted out.

Anning... Shen Xing knew the location; it was in the old city, not far from the direction of the funeral home.

He took out his phone and dialed with one hand.

"Who should I call?" Shen Yuan took a half step closer.

"Chen Liming, ask him to check the recent admission records at the Anning Mental Rehabilitation Center." Shen Xing held the phone to his ear, waited a few seconds, and then answered, "Brother Chen, it's me, Xing. I need your help with something..."

""

He spoke very quickly, explaining his needs in less than thirty seconds, and the other party only asked one question before hanging up.

Two minutes later, my phone vibrated; Chen Liming had sent me a text message.

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