The Coffin’s Secret and the Dormitory’s New Resident

Inside the elevator.

The moment the elevator doors slammed shut, the tiny coffin finally expanded to its normal size.

Then, the coffin lid suddenly slid open, and from the gap, dense black mist surged forth.

The gushing black mist abruptly shifted direction in the air, hurtling towards the elevator doors.

The elevator doors trembled violently, slowly parting to reveal a sliver of a gap, through which some of the black mist seeped.

However, the doors quickly sealed shut once more, blocking the majority of the mist outside.

The black mist continued to batter against the doors for a while, but the elevator remained unresponsive.

Eventually, as if resigned yet unwilling, the black mist slowly retreated back into the coffin.

The lid closed, and the coffin once again shrunk, reverting to its miniature form, before transforming into a pink bento box.

Chuanbei Police Station.

Zhao Yunzhong had just finished discussing the structure of the Anomalous Affairs Team with Director Zhao. Moving forward, the team would require not only Anomaly Investigators but also regular police officers for logistical support.

No sooner had he returned to his office than Zhao Yunzhong saw Wang Decheng rushing in.

“Chen Jinquan has returned to the estate.”

Wang Decheng cut straight to the point, relaying the report he had just received from the officers stationed at the estate.

“Oh? He returned so soon?”

Zhao Yunzhong inquired, but then spoke calmly:

“Just have them continue to keep an eye on the estate. They shouldn’t take any other actions, and absolutely must not enter the premises.”

“Right, he also sent me a text message, hoping we could help him collect his body, if possible.”

“Ignore him.”

Zhao Yunzhong’s words were utterly devoid of warmth.

“…Alright.”

Wang Decheng remained silent for a moment before nodding. He didn’t leave immediately, clearly having more to say, but ultimately chose not to speak further, departing the office in silence.

Zhao Yunzhong understood Wang Decheng’s thoughts. Chen Jinquan’s early return to the estate and his ‘last will’ message to Wang Decheng suggested that he was likely conscious and perhaps still salvageable.

However, that estate was also tied to an anomalous incident of A-rank or higher, and the lockdown of the eighth floor had undoubtedly been implemented by the Department of Anomalies.

He had already applied to the Department of Anomalies for personnel of A-rank or above. Now, all that was left was to wait patiently.

Before their arrival, any superfluous actions might only escalate the situation to a far worse state.

Zhao Yunzhong remained quietly in his office.

After approximately five or six minutes, he eventually rose and departed.

Chuanbei Middle School, Boys’ Dormitory Building.

Inside Ming Zhong’s dorm room, a female ghost was currently ‘holding’ a smartphone.

Whose phone was it, you ask?

Why, it belonged to their chubby classmate, Wang Dongdong, of course.

Before they left, Fu Ziqing had taken note of where they hid their phones.

Ming Zhong’s phone was an antique, which she immediately disregarded. The other three, however, all had smartphones, placing them within her consideration.

However, Zhang Qiang and Wu Daqing’s phones were stashed in locked drawers.

While Fu Ziqing could phase into the drawers, it felt too demeaning. It simply wasn’t worth the effort just to play on a phone.

Wang Dongdong, on the other hand, had been playing on his phone before his midday nap. When sleep finally overtook him, he casually tucked it under his pillow. After waking, he’d rushed off, forgetting to retrieve and re-hide it.

Thus, his phone ended up in the hands of a female ghost.

Yet, Fu Ziqing, her hand loosely grasping the phone, found herself in a predicament.

Wang Dongdong had set a fingerprint lock on the device.

As a ghost, where would I get fingerprints?

Even if she could bypass the fingerprint verification, there was still a nine-point pattern lock.

“Drat it!”

Fu Ziqing attempted the pattern lock six times. After the sixth failed attempt, the phone locked, displaying the message, ‘Please try to unlock again in 15 minutes!’

Fu Ziqing waited patiently for fifteen minutes.

Then, the next waiting period became half an hour.

After another thirty minutes, the waiting time doubled again.

“Hmph!”

Fu Ziqing was now locked in a battle of wills with the phone.

I’ve been dead for twenty years anyway; the one thing I’m not short on is time!

Consequently, an hour later, the next waiting period extended to two hours.

“How boring!”

Fu Ziqing placed the phone back under the pillow.

While she certainly wasn’t short on time, upon calming down, she realized there was no need to obsess over this single phone.

Fu Ziqing’s gaze drifted towards Zhang Qiang and Wu Daqing’s locked drawers.

She hesitated for a few seconds.

She phased into one of the drawers.

What’s worth it or not? I’m not even human anymore, why bother caring so much?

Two minutes later, Fu Ziqing phased out of the drawer, only to phase into the other.

Another two minutes passed, and Fu Ziqing emerged, looking disappointed.

Their phones were all password-protected.

“Sigh, times have really changed,”

Fu Ziqing sighed, beginning to feel nostalgic for the girls from a few years ago.

Back then, few students carried phones, but they were ‘naive’ and never set passwords.

Now, almost every student carries a phone, but they’ve all become ‘cunning,’ knowing to lock their devices.

They must have something inappropriate on their phones!

Fu Ziqing thought, finding modern children impure, and simultaneously abandoned the idea of scavenging phones from other dorm rooms.

Without a phone to play with, Fu Ziqing quickly grew bored and couldn’t bear to stay in the dorm any longer.

Just as she was about to leave the dorm to wander outside, she suddenly sensed something.

“This is…”

She paused, momentarily stunned, then sensed it more carefully.

A smile of surprise slowly bloomed on Fu Ziqing’s face.

The next instant, Fu Ziqing’s form abruptly vanished.

Before her eyes, a vast expanse of white stretched endlessly.

Fu Ziqing knew she had entered that peculiar space.

Everywhere she looked within this realm was an absolute, blinding white. Direction and time seemed utterly meaningless here.

This was a conclusion she had drawn from years of aimless drifting whenever she felt bored in this very space.

Now, however, amidst her renewed delight at entering this space, Fu Ziqing noticed a subtle shift.

No, ‘subtle shift’ felt like an understatement.

For suspended within the boundless white was a massive sphere, emanating dark mist.

It stood out starkly, like a single drop of concentrated ink on a pristine white page.

To Fu Ziqing, who had spent countless years in this ethereal, pallid void, this was an earth-shattering transformation.

“What in the world is that?”

Driven by this curious thought, Fu Ziqing drifted towards the black sphere.

As she drew nearer, Fu Ziqing’s expression slowly transformed.

“This… this is too massive!”

Fu Ziqing’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell slightly agape.

By a rough estimate, the sphere’s diameter was at least a hundred meters, if not more!

From a distance, Fu Ziqing, positioned before the enormous orb, appeared as nothing more than a tiny, human-shaped speck.

Before such a colossal entity, the pressure intensified, though it was purely visual. Fu Ziqing felt no sense of danger or psychological oppression.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, Fu Ziqing observed that the sphere’s surface was not smooth but riddled with ravines and wrinkles. Its texture seemed neither like stone nor metal.

To describe it precisely, it was much like an elephant’s hide.

“Skin?”

Fu Ziqing was somewhat surprised by her own thought, yet she drifted even closer to the sphere.

She was so close now that she could no longer take in the entire sphere at once, but she could discern far more intricate details.

Fu Ziqing noticed vein-like protrusions nestled between the ravines and wrinkles. Within them, something resembling blood seemed to flow, causing these protrusions to pulsate rhythmically.

“It’s… it’s alive!”

This revelation genuinely astonished Fu Ziqing.

Then, with a mix of fright and revulsion, she recoiled from the massive sphere.

From a distance, she stared at the black-mist-shrouded sphere, her mouth agape, utterly speechless.

A moment later, Fu Ziqing’s tumultuous feelings gradually settled.

What in the world is this thing!?

Why is it in my “home”!?

Or was it always here, and I simply never noticed it before?

If so, then I’m the one who intruded on its territory?

“Am I merely a tenant? Are you the true landlord!?”

Fu Ziqing pointed a finger at the colossal sphere, voicing her question loudly.

She waited quietly, curious to see if the entity would respond.

Unfortunately, after a long wait, the massive sphere merely continued to emit its black mist, offering no reaction.

“Not talking?”

Fu Ziqing shouted towards the immense sphere:

“Could it be you’re feeling guilty?!”

In truth, it was she who felt guilty.

The giant sphere remained unresponsive, causing a flutter of panic in Fu Ziqing’s heart.

She began to entertain some rather strange associations.

Her mind drifted to A Chinese Ghost Story.

This repulsive, terrifying sphere was practically identical to the Tree Demoness from the movie.

All the ghostly energy she had absorbed from Li Yu was consumed by this space. So, if this giant sphere was the true master of this realm…

The more Fu Ziqing pondered, the more a sense of dread gnawed at her.

If that were truly the case, wouldn’t she become the delicate and beautiful ‘Nie Xiaoqian,’ trapped under the Tree Demoness’s control!?

“No way… no way!”

Fu Ziqing cried out in a panicked frenzy.

She absolutely refused to seduce men!

Can I escape? Can I escape!?

If only I could, I’d gladly give up my “etherealization” life-saving ability and never return to this space again!

With that thought, Fu Ziqing’s form vanished from the space.

Within the dorm room, Fu Ziqing’s form reappeared.

She swiveled her head, surveying her surroundings.

“Phew~”

“I’m back! I’m back!”

Fu Ziqing patted her chest.

Then, her expression instantly soured.

“I didn’t escape…”

She pouted.

She could still sense the connection between herself and that space.

In the empty dorm room, a female ghost floated listlessly.

I thought I’d be free once I left that nightmare place, Huai Xiang Yuan…

I thought that space was my “home,” a sanctuary where I could protect myself…

So, in the end, am I truly inescapable from its grasp?