Chapter 22 - Seafood

Someone was knocking from inside the wall. The fear brought along with the thought of this was comparable to the thought that someone was knocking from outside.

Zhao Mingya and them were only separated by a wall so, for both sides to hear the knocking, it must be coming from within the wall.

But there can’t be someone alive in the wall.

This is common sense. Even if they were alive, they would’ve already died.

Although Su Min felt scared, he had trained his heart with his earlier experiences in another horror movie. He said: “It’s coming from inside.”

Chen Xinzhou said: “I’ll see what’s inside.”

It was a scary thought.

Su Min stopped him and whispered: “There might be something inside, but I suggest not to worry about it for now. Let’s take a look at it tomorrow during the day.”

No matter what you do at night, it is dangerous. It will be safer to do it during the day.

The window curtains were pulled across and no one now dared to open it, fearing that there was something outside.

Chen Xinzhou nodded: “Okay then.”

In fact, he actually also didn’t dare do it. Seeing Su Min’s calm look, he felt a little reassured.

When one panics, it is easy to cause everyone else to panic.

After lying back on the bed, the knocking in the wall continued. Little by little, it was like it was knocking at their hearts.

Chen Xingzhou sent Zhao Mingya a message telling her to not to worry and to cover her ears and sleep.

Su Min laid in bed with his eyes closed but he was thinking about “University Thriller”. This time, it was indeed quite dangerous.

Last time he had the help of the Jing Xian who would appear almost every time he encountered something dangerous.

This time, he is alone.

Su Min couldn’t help but think back to the day when he left the horror movie. At the stairwell, Jing Xian had told him his name, but he didn’t know if it was his real name or not.

He went online and searched it, but other people came up in the searches.

Perhaps he was just a character created by the horror movie cinema. In the end, he only left him with the words “Chen Su”.

The knocking in the wall persisted. It knocked then stopped then knocked again. Despite feeling fearful at the beginning, after listening to it a little more, they learnt to ignore it.

If he really died, then the experience would end.

Su Min thought this as he fell asleep.

……….

In the morning, Su Min woke up naturally.

On the other beds, Chen Xingzhou and Jiang Yunhuo slept deeply. You couldn’t tell that they went through something scary last night.

He washed up and went over to the yard.

The rubbish from last night was still left outside, including the severed finger cut out from the fish’s belly. It was still where they had left it.

The blood stains had already dried and it looked even more disgusting. Su Min looked a it for a moment and then looked away.

From behind him, Zhao Mingya’s voice travelled over: “Su Min, last night…….”

Su Min made a quiet gesture. He looked around, “Let’s talk about it later. I’ll wake Chen Xingzhou and the others first.”

Zhao Mingya nodded.

She didn’t sleep well last night so there was a dark circle under her eyes. She should cover it with concealer.

As for Chen Yixin, she slept all the way until dawn and didn’t notice anything wrong.

Fortunately, they were safe.

As he was saying this, Chen Xingzhou opened the door.

Seeing Zhao Mingya standing in the yard, he quickly asked with concern: “Mingya, how was your sleep last night?”

Zhao Mingya replied: “It’s okay.”

Chen Xinzhou said: “It’s all my fault. You can blame me all you want when we’re back. I promise this won’t happen again.”

Zhao Mingya: “It’s nothing.”

Chen Xingzhou could tell that she wasn’t in a good mood. That’s true. After being persuaded into coming on a trip, she ended up encountering these terrible things. How happy could she be?

He came over to the yard and searched around eventually finding a metal tool. It appeared to be something used for farming.

Chen Xingzhou brought it to the room: “Want to open it up?”

He patted the ground. The tool was quite sturdy and could be used to knock it down. The main question was whether the wall was sturdy enough.

Jiang Yunhuo jumped up: “Open!”

He wanted to see if there was a dead person knocking inside and whether the sound from last night was real.

Su Min came in and stopped them: “Don’t. If we end up finding a body, what do we do next?”

Jiang Yunhuo was stunned: “Of course we call the police.”

Su Min asked back: “Will it be of help? It takes about half a day for the boat to reach the island so will we be safe until they’re here?”

Chen Xingzhou suddenly placed the tool down.

He said in a quiet voice: “I understand what you mean.”

If there was a murder, the murderer can only be the people living on this island. They didn’t know who the murderer was and if they discovered something, the murderer might go after them.

The island is separated from the rest of the world by the vast sea so, even if they tried to hurry over, they would long be dead.

Thinking this, Chen Xingzhou felt chills through his bones.

Su Min said: “We should act like nothing had happened. After the boat arrives and we leave, we can call the police.”

That was the safest option.

But it was also the least likely scenario to happen in a horror movie. Su Min had no choice. What could he do after discovering a body inside the wall?

What should he do if Uncle He came and found out?

Su Min couldn’t rule out the possibility of him having a role in murdering someone.

Chen Xingzhou also decided: “We will pretend to be having fun but we must always be vigilant until the boat is here.”

Like this, the others would think that they didn’t notice anything, and the murderer probably won’t attack them.

Su Min nodded, “Today, let’s bury the severed finger. Don’t let them see it. We’ll go out to play later.”

Staying here was too dangerous.

Chen Xingzhou heard this and proceeded to go outside to bury the bloody severed finger. He even made an inconspicuous mark.

The mark was evidence that he could use later when he reports it to the police.

Su Min stood at the door: “Don’t think too much. I’ll go shower first.”

The sun outside was bright, giving everyone a strong sense of security. After all, it is generally safer during the day.

Chen Xingzhou nodded: “Okay, I’ll go over later too.”

Su Min grabbed his clothes and went straight over to the bathroom. When he reached the bathroom entrance, his speed slowed down. He carefully examined the bathroom.

This bathroom was of a square structure. It looked normal from the outside apart from the word “Bathroom” that was written with red paint.

The door wasn’t locked. Su Min pushed the door open.

“Who is it?”

A middle-aged man’s voice was suddenly heard.

Su Min didn’t expect to see someone else inside. He looked at the two men in there. They were almost the same age and their faces were unshaven.

He answered: “I’m here on a trip.”

The man opposite him assessed him: “Staying at Uncle He’s place?”

Su Min nodded: “Yes.”

The other man pushed the man who asked the question earlier and said, “Since he needs to use it, we’ll leave first. Don’t disturb him.”

He then said something else, but Su Min couldn’t make out his words.

The two men were not amongst the men that he saw last night. He didn’t know what they were doing here.

Su Min moved aside and watched them leave the bathroom.

He continued to watch them, and he didn’t expect the other parties to look back. Three sets of eyes just happened to meet.

Su Min revealed a harmless smile.

The two men turned around and gradually disappeared in the distance. The stimulation from earlier still lingered in Su Min’s heart.

Undeniably, he was nervous when their eyes met.

It can be said that he had never once let down his guard after coming to this island. Even minute and every second, he felt that he may die. He was almost about develop anxiety from this.

Su Min sighed and entered the bathroom.

Inside was an empty bathhouse. There were about five shower heads on the wall and ditch that led to a hole at the very end.

Because of its very basic design, there weren’t any tiles, and everything was cement.

The bathroom was not very big and there weren’t any private cubicles. Seeing that there wasn’t anything strange in one glance, Su Min let out a sigh of relief.

He didn’t know what the two men earlier were doing.

Su Min carefully walked around the bathroom and felt more reassured after not finding any hidden cameras.

He placed his clothes on the opposite bench and prepared to take a shower.

He chose the showerhead that was closest to him and saw that there was a hot water and cold water sign attached to the faucet. He twisted it open.

Clean water rushed out.

Su Min had not yet taken off his clothes. He looked around the room again and saw that everything was still normal.

Why did he have to worry about so many things while showering? He really couldn’t understand why horror movies would always include something happening in a bathroom setting.

And the scene can’t be broadcasted anyway so what’s the point?

Su Min thought this as he washed up very quickly.

When the holographic technology first came out, New Century Cinema declared that these scenes will not be seen.

Because it involved the use of brainwaves and technology, they would either automatically delete or mosaic the scene. This was also a technological advancement. Otherwise, no one would dare experience the movie. In some movies, they needed to stay there for several years. It was impossible for them to go that long without taking a shower or going to the bathroom.

The water got smaller and smaller, and it eventually only trickled out.

Su Min finally noticed this change and he subconsciously looked up at the showerhead. Fortunately, it was still water that was coming out of it.

It’s just that the water had turned a little murky, like it was mixed together with mud.

“Uncle He, why are you here?”

Outside, he heard Chen Xingzhou’s voice.

Su Min heard “Uncle He” and subconsciously furrowed his brows. He didn’t want to interact with any of the island residents.

Uncle He outside said: “I’m here to see if you guys need anything. If you need something, just let me know.”

Su Min didn’t delay things any further. He immediately turned off the showerhead and randomly dried himself up with his towel. He put on his clothes and got ready to leave.

When he left the bathroom, he subconsciously glanced at the showerhead that was still dripping with fluid.

The reason why it is described as fluid is because it looked like bloody water.

Su Ming felt his scalp go numb.

That showerhead was like a neck that was cut open. It slowly dripped out blood and you didn’t know when it would stop.

He didn’t dare look at it any longer and left the bathroom.

Outside, Chen Xingzhou was standing together with Uncle He. The two of there were only a few metres away from the bathroom.

Chen Xingzhou suppressed the fear inside him and answered: “It’s okay, we don’t need anything. We have brought everything with us.”

He must be steady.

Chen Xingzhou didn’t think that he would run into Uncle He on his way to the bathroom.

Uncle He nodded. He then smiled and asked: “…………How was the fish last night? Delicious?”

Chen Xingzhou balled his fists: “Delicious.”

Uncle He was very pleased: “We have lots of seafood. I’ll get you more today. Since you’re new here, you probably don’t know much about how to get it.”

He again looked at Su Min who had just walked out.

Su Min smiled: “The fish is pretty good.”

Uncle He also smiled, “I’m glad it’s good. I was worried that you wouldn’t like it.”

Su Min didn’t want to talk about this. He changed the topic: “That’s right Uncle He, why is the shower water murky?”

Uncle He narrowed his eyes, “About that………It’s because setting up water services here isn’t convenient so the amount of freshwater available is limited. They were all brought over from the sea.”

Su Min was stunned. Brought over from the sea?