Chapter 2

Summer Qi had often come to buy books at the Xinhua Grand Bookstore, so he was quite familiar with the place. He quickly made his way to the second floor.

Once he got there, he found a nearby rest room and went in, not sure if it was the one Zhang Xiaoshun had mentioned. He had his phone charger with him and just wanted to find a power strip to plug it in.

As the name suggests, the rest room was specifically provided for the bookstore staff to rest. Despite its small size, it was well-equipped.

To Summer Qi's pleasant surprise, there was even a single bed, and the power strip was right next to it, allowing him to lie down and play with his phone.

Summer Qi didn't think much of it and, after plugging in his phone charger, he lay down on the bed.

He tried to turn on his phone, but it still wouldn't start, unsure if it was because the battery was completely drained or if it was broken.

Summer Qi had wanted to call his parents to tell them the good news about finding a job, to put their minds at ease. Since he graduated from his third year, his parents had been very worried about his job prospects, which had put a lot of pressure on him.

After all, the employment rate for college graduates and the unemployment rate were there for all to see. Even top students from prestigious universities had trouble finding jobs, let alone someone from an ordinary university like him.

Of course, he had also made the worst-case scenario plan. If he couldn't find a job, he would learn to be a geomancer from his grandfather.

Whether it was a scam or not, at least he could earn at least 500 to 600 yuan from a funeral, and people would treat him like a lord. His grandfather had always praised him for his potential in this field. If his parents hadn't strongly opposed it, he might already be well-known.

Fortunately, this terrible situation didn't happen. Not only did it not happen, but he found a satisfactory job.

When he drove his Audi home in a few days, his parents would surely be amazed.

"Just thinking about it makes me feel great. I can't tell them yet; I'll save it as a surprise for them."

A sly smile appeared on Summer Qi's face, and he resolved to work hard and strive for a permanent position.

However, there was one thing he had to admit: this company was quite mysterious.

There was no information about the company online. Upon reflection, he didn't remember sending them a resume. (If there was no information online, he couldn't have sent a resume.)

Moreover, the middle-aged man who interviewed him showed no professionalism at all. Besides, no company would be crazy enough to pay 20,000 yuan a month just to have someone work the night shift at a bookstore.

"Could there be some sinister plot behind this?"

Thinking about this, Summer Qi shook his head forcefully, thinking that he should face any challenges head-on. If he didn't have the courage to take risks, he might end up like this for the rest of his life.

This society was so realistic; the bold would thrive, and the timid would starve.

"Stop thinking, time to sleep!"

Summer Qi decided to take a nap and then go down to relieve Zhang Xiaoshun. After all, he was the one required to work the night shift, and the middle-aged man hadn't forbidden him from sleeping.

He locked the door of the rest room and curled up on the bed, quickly falling asleep.

He didn't know how long he had slept when a strong urge to urinate woke him up. He instinctively reached for his phone to check the time but then realized something.

His head suddenly turned toward the door!

The door of the rest room... had been opened at some point!

A gap of about seven to eight centimeters was visible, through which the darkness from outside was seeping in.

Summer Qi thought that Zhang Xiaoshun must have turned off the lights in the hall, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Zhang Xiaoshun? Is that you?"

Summer Qi suddenly felt as if he was being watched, which made him very uncomfortable.

He held his breath for a moment and found that there was no sound coming from outside the door, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. He got out of bed, intending to go to the bathroom.

However, the feeling of being watched didn't go away.

Summer Qi didn't pay much attention and continued toward the door. Just as he was about to reach it, the door slammed shut!

Then, a series of footsteps gradually faded away from outside the door.

Summer Qi was sure that someone had been watching him through the door gap!

"Zhang Xiaoshun, you bastard!"

Summer Qi was startled by the sudden closing of the door, which also thoroughly enraged him. To be honest, his temper wasn't that good.

There were only two people in the entire bookstore: him and Zhang Xiaoshun. Since he was sleeping inside, the person who had been hiding behind the door and peeping must have been Zhang Xiaoshun.

As for why the door was open, it was likely that Zhang Xiaoshun had used a key to open it from the outside. After all, he had been there for a long time and having keys to all the rest rooms wasn't unusual.

"This bastard must have been annoyed by me lying here comfortably, so he decided to scare me with this ghost act!"

Summer Qi spat on the ground and then yanked open the door of the rest room, storming out.

The environment outside was as dark as he had seen through the door gap.

Since his phone wouldn't turn on, Summer Qi didn't even know what time it was. Seeing how dark it was outside, he hesitated for a moment and then returned to the rest room, intending to find a flashlight.

He rummaged through a cabinet and, to his surprise, found a flashlight. He tested it and found that it worked, though it wasn't very bright. In this environment, however, it was better than nothing. Without it, he probably wouldn't even find the bathroom.

With the flashlight in hand, Summer Qi finally left the rest room. It was not only dark outside but also very cold.

"Zhang Xiaoshun, you bastard, must have deliberately set the air conditioning to a very low temperature!"

Summer Qi became angrier the more he thought about it. He put off going to the bathroom and went down the stairs to the first floor.

"Zhang Xiaoshun! Are you there?"

The first floor was also pitch black. Summer Qi called out to Zhang Xiaoshun in an unfriendly tone while shining the flashlight around.

"Zhang Xiaoshun! I know you're down there. Don't play this ghost act with me. Come out and explain yourself!"

Summer Qi searched the entire first-floor hall with the flashlight but found no one.

It was clear that Zhang Xiaoshun wasn't on the first floor.

"Could he be upstairs?"

Although he didn't find Zhang Xiaoshun on the first floor, Summer Qi didn't give up. He was the type of person who would see things through to the end.

He went back to the second floor and began searching each rest room, but still found nothing.

After searching two floors, Summer Qi was quite exhausted. No matter how loudly he called out, there was no response from Zhang Xiaoshun.

It was as if Zhang Xiaoshun... wasn't there at all!

Breathless, he went up to the third floor. To his surprise, the flashlight in his hand began to flicker.

"Bro, don't run out of power now!"

He shook the flashlight hard, but it continued to flicker, making the environment ahead of him appear and disappear.

Summer Qi hadn't found the switch, so if the flashlight stopped working, he would be blind. Therefore, he had to compromise and quickly go to the bathroom to relieve himself, then return to the rest room on the second floor.

He would settle accounts with Zhang Xiaoshun tomorrow.

With this in mind, Summer Qi walked into the bathroom on the third floor and, somewhat sneakily, entered the women's restroom.

As everyone knows, there are no urinals in the women's restroom, so Zhang Xiaoshun had to push open a door to enter. However, as soon as he stepped in, a flushing sound came from the adjacent stall!

"Whoa...!"

Hearing the flushing sound, Summer Qi's face turned green, as it indicated that someone was in the women's restroom!

He quickly closed the door and crouched down, covering his mouth to remain silent, trying to use the flashlight to see if the person in the adjacent stall was a woman (by looking at the shoes).

The flushing sound continued, and Summer Qi, extremely nervous, crouched on the ground, looking through the gap at the adjacent stall.

Then! He saw... a face looking back at him!

"Ahh—!"

Summer Qi screamed, not only because the face appeared suddenly but more because... he had never seen this face before!

It was a man's face!

After the scream, when Summer Qi shone the flashlight again, the face was gone, but the flushing sound continued.

"Who the hell is in there!"

Summer Qi punched the door of the stall, clearly frightened. However, there was no response from the adjacent stall.

After quickly relieving himself and pulling up his pants, Summer Qi came out of the stall. He wanted to leave and go downstairs, but his body inexplicably led him to the door of the adjacent stall.

At this moment, the flushing sound had stopped, and the women's restroom, enveloped in darkness, was filled with silence.

Summer Qi was certain that the man inside hadn't left. His attention had been focused on the adjacent stall, and he hadn't heard the sound of the door opening and closing.

But it was strange; if the man was still in the stall, there should have been some sound, but there wasn't.

Summer Qi gripped the flashlight tightly. Although he wasn't as strong as some big shots, he was confident in his fighting skills, with years of practical experience from elementary school to now.

Swallowing hard, Summer Qi didn't care whether there was someone in the stall or who it was; he kicked the door open.

Then... he saw a man lying inside.

The man's body was strangely stuck in the toilet, with only his head visible. The smooth floor was covered with fresh blood.

"Dead... dead...!"

Summer Qi instinctively wanted to scream, but his rationality forced him to keep quiet.

He remembered clearly that the flushing sound started after he entered, and the blood on the floor was still fresh, indicating that the murderer had just left. In other words, the murderer was still in the building!

Thinking that the murderer was in the same building and possibly on the same floor as him, Summer Qi was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

"Could Zhang Xiaoshun have been killed too?"

Thinking about not finding Zhang Xiaoshun, Summer Qi began to speculate wildly.

During this process, he made an even more shocking discovery.

He found a large blood handprint on each door of the bathroom stalls!

Some of the blood handprints were still dripping, clearly having been made recently.

Summer Qi ran to one of the stall doors, pushed it open, and was shocked to see another body inside.

This time, it was a woman's body.

Then, Summer Qi opened the doors of the other stalls one by one and found... a bloody body in each one!

(Collect, click, recommend, and support the new book.)

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