Chapter 39: The Haunting Rumors of the Old Dormitory

Anran endured the ache in her leg as she made her way out of the old dormitory. Night had fallen, and the dim yellow streetlights cast a faint glow over the campus. Under their light, Anran hurried toward the school gates. Had she been paying closer attention, she would have noticed the heavy iron chain, which had earlier locked her inside the building, now broken into several pieces and scattered on the grass nearby. The clean cuts on the chain hinted at a sharp tool capable of slicing through such thick metal with precision.

But Anran was in too much of a hurry to notice. She only slowed her pace when she finally saw the school gates, spotting a small figure leaning against one of them.

"Anran… over here!" Zhang Ning waved and called out to her.

Relief washed over Anran at the sight of Zhang Ning safe and sound. Though she still didn't fully understand the motives behind the incident, Anran knew the attackers had been targeting her, and Zhang Ning had been an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Anran asked with concern.

"I'm fine, just a bit of soreness in my shoulders," Zhang Ning replied nervously. "How about you? Did you see His Highness Maurice? Why didn't you come out together?"

"I'm fine. Thanks to him, I was able to get out. He told me to leave first," Anran replied, downplaying the injury on her calf.

"I knew His Highness Maurice would save you," Zhang Ning said, her voice tinged with awe and fear. "That old dormitory… is there really something… supernatural inside?"

Anran couldn't help but chuckle. Clearly, Zhang Ning believed the old dormitory was haunted. It seemed the girl who had lured her there hadn't been lying entirely. Who had instructed her to do such a thing, though?

Human schemes were far more terrifying than any ghost story!

To ease Zhang Ning's worries, Anran explained, "There's nothing like that. Someone tricked me into going in, locked the door behind me, and I was trapped inside. Later… he showed up and helped me get out. That's all."

"That's it? There's really nothing supernatural in there?" Zhang Ning asked, surprised.

"That's it," Anran assured her. "There's no such thing as ghosts. People just make up those stories. Have you ever seen one yourself?"

Zhang Ning shook her head. Like the other students at Saint Mary Academy, she had never dared to go near the old dormitory. The rumors surrounding it came in many versions, but one in particular stood out as the most horrifying.

According to the story, the old dormitory had once housed female students and had been peaceful for years. But one night, a murderer broke in, and the dormitory echoed with screams. Blood flowed everywhere, and witnesses claimed there had been so much of it that it couldn't be cleaned up in time. Much of it had seeped into the wooden floorboards…

Hearing Zhang Ning recount this tale, Anran felt a chill run down her spine. Though she didn't believe in ghosts, the thought that the room with the stained glass windows—the same room where her leg had been trapped—had been the site of such a gruesome event was unnerving.

Streetlights flickered to life as the two walked along the town's quiet roads. The houses on either side were lit warmly, contrasting with the darkening sky.

Anran suddenly remembered Ricardo's words and asked, "I heard you were locked in a storage room. What happened there?"