Chapter 88 - White Figure

To be honest, the sound was very strange. It sounded like the bubbling of water while it boiled.

Su Min didn’t know what was happening in that room.

Despite someone disappearing from that room yesterday, not many people remember that incident anymore. Afterall, things like this happened often in this prison and the only thing that was different was how it happened.

More importantly, it happened while he was in the room. Every room here was of the same structure so very few prisoners were willing to believe in it.

Because this would signify the fact that they themselves could also vanish from their room at any point in time.

They were prisoners. Before the end of their sentence, they lived in their rooms every single day. Once they accepted that fact, it would mean that they would live everyday in fear so they naturally decided to ignore it.

It could also be said that they were deceiving themselves.

Fang Shu Juan listened carefully to the noise and said: “I think the sound seems to be coming from the back. Around somewhere here.”

He pointed that the same location in his room.

Su Min looked. It was the location of the bathroom. Because the beds and table were in the centre of the room and the door was at the front, the bathroom was naturally at the back.

Every room here had the same structure so it would be the same for the room diagonally opposite them.

Su Min suddenly thought of the hint from the cinema. The hint given usually applied to something that would happen that very day so was that what they were referring to?

He had originally thought that it would happen at night and didn’t expect it to happen so soon. It was only noon and he was about to get his answer.

Just as they watched on, someone from inside the room was already banging on the door.

A prison guard standing not far away angrily stomped over. “What is it, what is it? If you mess around, I’ll shock you!”

The prisoner inside said: “Bathroom! There’s a sound coming from the bathroom!”

The prison guard also heard it, “Who’s inside?”

The short man said: “No one is inside. There are only the two of us now and we’re both here. There’s no one inside!”

The prison guard also remembered what happened yesterday. Afterall, someone had disappeared and that was very problematic.

He called for another prison guard to come over. They both opened the door and entered the room

Su Min and the others were in their respective rooms so they couldn’t see what was happening inside. They could only speculate based on the sounds.

………

After entering, the prison guard went straight into the bathroom.

The bathroom in the prison rooms were very simple and there wasn’t a door so you would see everything by just pulling open the curtain.

The prison guard pulled away the curtain.

The sink was bubbling and water was leaking out. There was a puddle of water on the floor. Apart from that, there wasn’t anything else.

The prison guard turned back: “You probably didn’t do a good job when you washed up and now the sewer is blocked. I’ll get someone to fix it.”

It was useless getting the prisoners to fix it because they wouldn’t know how to do it.

The two inside waved their hands, “It broke by itself. We haven’t touched it at all since we came back. We didn’t do anything.”

If anything was broken, it would be recorded next to their names. They wouldn’t admit to it if they didn’t do it.

Just as the prison guard was speaking, the sound coming from the sink got louder, attracting everyone’s attention.

Then something shocking happened.

With a “bang” the sink burst open and a flood of water poured out. They couldn’t open their eyes from the force and ended up all soaked by the water.

A strange smell instantly permeated through the room.

The prison guard reacted quickly and looked over at the mess inside the bathroom. A vague figure of a corpse was seen lying on the ground.

It was called a corpse because it probably wouldn’t have survived through that. There was only himself and the two other prisoners in the room. It was impossible for there to be another person.

The short prisoner was startled, “There’s a ghost!”

The prison guard standing outside hurried in, “What’s going on? How did that corpse appear?”

The corpse was still wearing the prisoner’s clothes but the number on it was no longer visible. It was covered in dirt and grime, and you couldn’t even see his face.

The first prison guard took a deep breath, “I don’t know.”

The sink just suddenly burst open and then a corpse appeared. Right now, there was a dark hole leading down to the sewer.

But the hole was only the size of two handspans and it would be impossible having body inside.

The prison guard asked: “You didn’t notice anything wrong when you washed up this morning?”

The tall prisoner hid behind the prison guard and said: “No, it was normal when we used it. It just suddenly made those bubbling sounds just then and now this happened……”

In fact, they recognised that person. The corpse on the ground was the body of their roommate who had disappeared yesterday.

When that incident earlier happened, for a moment they weren’t able to register what was happening. When they reopened their eyes, they saw their roommate’s corpse on the ground.

The only possibility was that the body had come out from the sewer.

But despite that, the sewer didn’t look like it could hold a corpse. Everything was still a mystery.

The prison guard called people over and they carried the body away. They then transferred the two prisoners in the room to the room opposite which also just happened to be short two people.

Everyone watched on from their rooms.

……..

Everyone saw a corpse being carried out.

“Another dead. Why are there deaths every day?”

“Why did I have to get assigned to this prison? Isn’t anyone going to investigate it? How many people have died so far?”

“I have some suspicions, but I cannot say it.”

“……….”

Su Min continued to stare at the corpse. He watched it get carried out and disappear in the distance.

Yin Ze didn’t think too much about it, “Looks like he died after disappearing.”

Fang Shu Juan opposite them asked: “Hearing their words, it seems that people often go missing or die here?”

“Yes. There are deaths every day.” Yin Ze revealed a smile, “Maybe it’ll be you next.”

Fang Shu Juan raised an eyebrow and didn’t answer him.

Yin Ze snorted and returned to his bed.

Su Min looked back and forth between the two. He felt that Yin Ze must hate Fang Shu Juan a lot for him to curse him like that.

Seeing Su Min look at him, Fang Shu Juan said: “He’s just sharp-tongued.”

Su Min thought about it and said honestly, “It’s okay. Before you came, he spoke quite normally.”

Fang Shu Juan asked: “Is that right?”

Before Su Min could answer, Yin Ze shouted out: “Su Min, why are you still talking to him? He’s someone who likes to inquire about other people’s private matters.”

Fang Shu Juan naturally also heard his voice. He shrugged, smiled and didn’t continue asking. Instead, he changed the topic to the incident that occurred next door.

Su Min mentioned to him the events from yesterday.

Fang Shu Juan obviously held some suspicions.

This afternoon, not many people managed to have a proper nap. The smell from the room diagonally across them was bad. Although it was already cleaned up, there were still residual smells.

It was too disgusting to smell for a long time. All kinds of strange smells were mixed together.

In fact, there was a small window in every room. It just couldn’t be opened too far but the smell still lingered.

When dinner time came, all the prisoners were excited. They could finally be able to breathe fresh air.

“Fuck, I finally feel alive again.”

“I’m fed up with that smell. I’m going to apply for a room change. Laozi’s right next to it and I was about to suffocate to death.”

“You won’t be able to change. Stop dreaming.”

When Su Min and Yin Ze came out, Fang Shu Juan also just happened to come out from his room. Because they had to line up, the three of them stood together.

Fang Shu Juan was very calm but Yin Ze on the other hand took the initiative to stand in front of Su Min so that they weren’t standing together.

Fang Shu Juan asked: “Do you do this every day?”

Su Min said: “Yes.”

Fang Shu Juan nodded, “I thought it would be something special. Looks like going to prison is no big deal.”

“If it’s no big deal, why did you come in?” Yin Ze suddenly turned back and asked, “Was it because you had nothing better to do?”

Su Min patted his shoulder, “You’re in a bad mood today?”

It was as if he had just eaten dog shit. Was it because he was irritated seeing his enemy before him?

Fang Shu Juan remained calm: “I did it willingly.”

Fang Yin Ze didn’t speak and just turned around again.

The food tonight was a little more abundant. Because of the smell in their rooms, many people had lost their appetite. Su Min was also one of them.

Yin Ze however ate more than usual.

After eating, they all lined up again.

When they passed the room where the incident happened, Su Min paused and looked in. He saw that the windows and ground were still covered in water stains.

Fang Shu Juan spoke up: “The smell has faded a little.”

Su Min said: “The smell was because of the sewer. That corpse probably came out from it but we still don’t know how he got in.”

Fang Shu Juan also didn’t know.

Su Min could only vaguely guess that it was something done by a ghost but he didn’t personally see a ghost appear, so he wasn’t completely certain.

As they entered their room, Yin Ze again spoke a few harsh words to Fang Shu Juan.

Su Min had grown used to it. He felt that it was also good to have a roommate so suddenly filled with energy.

Yin Ze warned him: “Don’t talk to him too much.”

Su Min was curious: “Why?”

Yin Ze just shook his head and wasn’t willing to reveal anything else, “Just ignore him.”

When he was done, he went to the bathroom to wash up.

Su Min sat in bed and pondered over the incident involving the room diagonally opposite theirs. More and more, he felt that there probably was a ghost in the sever who had killed the prisoner.

But he didn’t know why the corpse would appear again.

At nine o’clock in the evening, the prisoners in all the rooms were already done with washing up. The lights were turned off.

Su Min laid quietly in bed and waited until midnight.

Because normally nothing would happen. Ghosts would usually appear in the middle of the night.

It was only eleven o’clock. He suddenly felt a strange cold sensation.

Su Min had keen senses for ghosts. He immediately got off the bed and looked out the window.

Soon, he found the source.

Just in front of room 3 and standing a few metres away from him, stood a white figure. It wasn’t completely clear.

It looked like those ghosts you often would see in ghost movies.

The white figure stood there for a long time. Su Min watched on for a while when the figure suddenly turned its head and looked at him.

He couldn’t see that white figure’s face and could only see a white blur. Only the hair was black.

That white figure suddenly waved at him.

Su Min felt that it was greeting him.

Chen Su appeared next to him and asked: “Aren’t you afraid?”

Su Min looked ahead. The ghostly figure had already turned back. It continued to stand outside room 3 and it had its head lowered as it looked in through the window.

Ordinary people would be afraid when they saw something like this.

Su Min didn’t react. Seeing that Chen Su was staring at him, he said pretentiously: “Ah, I’m so scared.”

Chen Su used this chance to embrace him, “Don’t be afraid.”

Although it was just a very normal sentence, Su Min had the urge to laugh. He however didn’t show it externally.