Lu Mian immediately pulled out a tissue to wipe the table, but the white tissue was soon stained red by the tea.
Lu Mian looked at the colour of the milk tea, then stirred the toppings with a straw, revealing the bright red blood glutinous rice.
Wait, is this what milk tea looks like these days? What happened to the old-fashioned colour?
With all the talk of ‘chicken blood’ lately, she’d developed a bit of an aversion to the colour red. She wasn’t really in the mood for milk tea, but this had been a gift from Wang Ying.
But wasn’t that blood glutinous rice a bit too vividly red? Normal blood glutinous rice wasn’t supposed to be this colour, was it?
Lu Mian felt a bit torn and couldn’t resist sending a message to her trio of flatmates.
[Lu Mian: Have you all had your bubble tea? Does it taste off or anything?]
[Chen Jiaqi: I’ve had mine, and it doesn’t taste strange at all.]
[Xu Xia: We all think it’s fine. Has yours gone off?]
Lu Mian took a photo and sent it over.
The bright red tea base and the vivid blood-red glutinous rice stood out starkly against the white milk tea cup. It didn’t look like a cup of milk tea at all; it looked more like sacrificial blood.
A long silence fell over the dorm group chat.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Lu Mian glanced at the milk tea logo and went online to check if the brand had released any new products like this.
She found there wasn’t. So the milk tea had gone off. Selling spoiled milk tea? What a rip-off!
Filled with righteous indignation, Lu Mian messaged Wang Ying again.
[Lu Mian: @Wang Ying, you’d better claim compensation from the shop. I’ve checked—they don’t currently stock this variety. They’re selling us spoiled milk tea! Where did you order yours from? Claim compensation straight away.]
In the Dorm 504 group chat, after the three of them had looked at the photo, there was a brief silence before they all frantically tore open their own bubble tea cups.
Inside the opaque white cups, the tea had been drained clean, leaving the sticky red glutinous rice—which was difficult to suck up—lying quietly at the bottom, looking vividly eerie.
The moment the plastic seal was removed from the rim, a strong, fishy stench hit the trio’s noses.
“Ah!!!”
“Wang Ying, where did you order this bubble tea? Are you trying to kill us?!”
Overcome by sheer panic, the other two immediately began to blame their dormmate.
Wang Ying stared in horror at the tea at the bottom of the cup. She fumbled for her mobile, her hand trembling several times before she managed to unlock the screen. “Look, it’s from…” the place we usually order from.
Wang Ying’s last few words caught in her throat; her order history showed no record of this milk tea order—the most recent one was from a week ago.
“Ah!!!”
Wang Ying broke down. She’d been up all night, and after finally managing to catch a nap at midday, she’d been woken by a suffocating sensation. Now, discovering that the milk tea she’d drunk was abnormal, the fragile psychological defences she’d just managed to build crumbled completely.
Her phone fell to the floor, still displaying the order screen. Wang Ying crouched down, burying her face in her arms, and shook her head frantically. “Don’t come after me, don’t hurt me, I don’t know anything!”
Xu Xia and Chen Jiaqi stared at the phone screen, their own moods no better.
Xu Xia was the one who’d actually faced the female ghost; she understood that sense of despair and terror better than anyone else. She took out her own phone and, in tears, called her family. She wanted to drop out; she didn’t want to stay at this haunted school any longer!
Her roommates either went mad or fled; Chen Jiaqi, standing where she was, appeared to be the calmest of them all.
She grabbed her phone and the bubble tea from the desk and ran straight for the classroom. Lu Mian was in the classroom; she just had to follow Lu Mian!
Upon reaching the classroom, Chen Jiaqi grabbed the bubble tea and sat down next to Lu Mian. Still reeling from the shock, she handed the drink to Lu Mian. “Lu Mian, what should I do with this bubble tea?”
Lu Mian, who had already thrown hers in the bin, looked at her roommate in puzzlement. “Take a photo as evidence, then chuck it in the bin.”
“But I’ve already had a sip! ” Finding someone she could rely on, Chen Jiaqi gave free rein to her fear.
“Are you feeling unwell right now?”
Perhaps because Lu Mian was so composed, Chen Jiaqi calmed down a little and shook her head honestly, “No.”
“Then let’s wait and see? If you’re really worried, go to the hospital and get checked out.” Lu Mian thought for a few seconds before offering some sound advice.
“Right, I’ll keep a close eye on how I’m feeling. Um…” Chen Jiaqi pushed the bubble tea a little closer to Lu Mian. “Could you throw this away for me?”
Although she’d witnessed Lu Mian dealing with ghosts and monsters, and though she’d occasionally felt a surge of courage whenever she cowered behind Lu Mian, she was still terrified when it actually came to doing it herself.
Lu Mian didn’t quite understand, but considering her roommates had been acting a bit odd of late, she agreed to throw the milk tea away for her.
There were four lessons in the afternoon, and for the rest of the time, Chen Jiaqi clung to Lu Mian like a piece of string, even going to the toilet together.
As for Xu Xia and Wang Ying, they never showed up.
As soon as the lesson ended, Lu Mian started messaging the blue-haired boy.
…………
Tian Shenglai had had a nap, yet he felt he’d slept terribly; it was as if something had been lying on top of him, so heavy it left his back and waist aching.
He sat up slowly and rubbed his shoulders and back. Why did he feel more exhausted the longer he slept?
The moment he turned his head, he thought he saw a pair of greyish-white hands resting on his shoulder.
Tian Shenglai gave a start and quickly turned to look, but there was no one behind him; it was as if the scene had been a figment of his imagination.
Tian Shenglai stood up. There was a mirror in his room, directly opposite his computer desk. He was about to walk over to it to take a look when a sudden text message interrupted him—
[Hello, guest. Our haunted house is about to close. Please come out as soon as possible.]
Hadn’t he already come out? He was right here at home. Why on earth had the haunted house suddenly sent him such a message? Was it a prank?
Tian Shenglai was startled and instinctively messaged his friends to ask if they’d received the same text.
Moments later, his friends replied one after another, and their answers were all the same: none of them had received any text.
Why had only he received it? Was it targeted specifically at him?
Tian Shenglai couldn’t help but reply to the Haunted House—
[I’ve already come out.]
But there was no reply.
Tian Shenglai ran his fingers through his hair in frustration; everything today was getting on his nerves.
Just as he raised his hand, a yellow piece of paper fell out of his pocket, bearing two neatly written characters: ‘Bell’.
For some inexplicable reason, Tian Shenglai broke out in a cold sweat. Wasn’t this a prop from the Haunted House? Why was it still on him? He’d left the Haunted House and handed it straight to the NPC!
He messaged his companions again, asking if they had any yellow paper on them; without exception, the answer was no.
So was he really still in the Haunted House?
Tian Shenglai couldn’t help but walk to the door and pull it open. The living room was filled with familiar furnishings; he was clearly at home.
“Phew—”
Tian Shenglai exhaled, tossing the yellow slip of paper into the bin. Perhaps he’d misremembered; his mind had been foggy today, and he’d been on edge. He decided to go for a walk downstairs.
Tian Shenglai’s hand was already on the door handle, but before he could turn it, a knock sounded.
The knocking was very rhythmic, with consistent intervals and a steady tone—three knocks, neither too soft nor too loud.
Tian Shenglai froze. It was nearly dark; who could be coming to his house?
He pressed his eye to the peephole to look out, but it was pitch black outside.
Strange. The light outside his door was motion-activated; if someone had knocked, it would have come on by now. Why was it still dark?
“Who’s there?”
Tian Shenglai called out, waiting for a reply.
But a long while passed, and it was unnaturally quiet outside; no one answered him.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Just as Tian Shenglai was about to open the door to investigate, the knocking sounded again—still three steady, measured knocks, neither too soft nor too loud.
Before he could make sense of the knocking outside, another text message arrived on his mobile.
[Guest, where are you hiding? We’ve sent staff in to look for you.]