3: Chapter 3: We must kill Chen Qing!

Through the monster's various actions, Chu Xuan had already deduced that it possessed a certain level of intelligence, and even if it didn't catch anyone, it would still tear apart whatever was on the bed.

What should he do?!

Racking his brains, Chu Xuan's wits suddenly sparked when he saw the water cup on the table, and he quickly sent a short message: [I'll throw the cup, you get off the bed.]

The moment it was sent successfully, another thought suddenly popped into Chu Xuan's mind. Why not sneak away while the monster was tearing into Tang Zheng?

However, as soon as this notion arose, Chu Xuan quickly stamped it out, silently cursing himself that after a few years of taking beatings from society, his heart had actually turned so dark.

Leaving aside the fact that Tang Zheng and he were good brothers who grew up sharing a pair of trousers since childhood, just the fact that if the other party hadn't sent a message reminding him not to make a sound, he probably wouldn't have lived long enough to get off the bed.

At that exact moment, a message from Tang Zheng also arrived:

[Find a way to make a sound to attract the monster, then take the opportunity to turn on the light! It's daytime now, as long as the light is turned on, the monster will disappear.]

Daytime?

But right now it was clearly night!

Also, why would the monster disappear once the light was turned on?

Although he had doubts in his heart, Chu Xuan knew that at this critical juncture, he couldn't afford to doubt. Without a shred of hesitation, he grabbed the water cup and threw it straight out.

Crack!

The sound of the glass shattering was exceptionally piercing in the silent dormitory. Chu Xuan didn't look at the monster's reaction and instead rushed straight to the door, raising his hand to press the light switch.

"What are you making a fuss about? Can't people even sleep!"

A slightly irritated voice rang out in the pitch black.

This sounded like... Tang Zheng's voice?

How could that be?

A trace of shock and doubt flashed through Chu Xuan's mind, but his movements didn't pause in the slightest as he pressed the switch.

Click!

The lights suddenly turned on, and the blinding light illuminated the entire dormitory.

Chu Xuan squinted his eyes, experiencing a momentary disorientation. Once his vision recovered, he looked around and found that the monster had indeed disappeared.

However, the scene inside the dormitory sent a chill down his spine.

Wang Hua's bed was covered in blood stains, severed limbs, and broken arms. Even his head was missing, and an eyeball seemed to be vaguely visible amidst some bone fragments.

Crimson liquid dripped down the edge of the bed, a shocking sight.

What made Chu Xuan's heart crawl with even greater horror was that the person who had just made a sound was actually Tang Zheng?!

At this moment, Tang Zheng sat halfway up, wearing only a pair of large boxer shorts, blocking his eyes with one arm as he muttered, "Why did you turn on the light? What's with this strong smell..."

Tang Zheng's voice abruptly stopped.

The next second.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!!!"

Tang Zheng bounced straight off the bed, his eyes wide with shock and terror.

Chu Xuan asked in alarm, "Tang Zheng! You've been sleeping the whole time?!"

"Nonsense! Of course I was sleeping! What else could I be doing?"

Tang Zheng pointed at Wang Hua's bed, incomparably shocked, "What the hell is going on here? Don't tell me this pile of stuff is Wang Hua?!"

Hearing this, Chu Xuan felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

If Tang Zheng had been sleeping all along, then who was the person texting him just now?

Chu Xuan's entire body went numb.

He rapidly swiped his phone to check the chat history with [Tang Zheng]. The earliest message was sent by the other party at 2:30 AM, telling him not to make any sound.

Scrolling further up, however, there was no historical Record whatsoever.

Chu Xuan's eyelids twitched wildly as a bad notion arose in his heart.

He hurriedly returned to the main page of the chat app and sure enough found another chat account named "Tang Zheng". After tapping it open, the past chat history was clearly visible.

The most recent message was from yesterday noon: [Little Xuan, bring me a meal back to the dorm. I'd call you Godfather (smiling face).]

Chu Xuan understood in an instant.

Someone was impersonating Tang Zheng and chatting with him!!

Right at this moment, another message was sent over.

[Tang Zheng: After you turn on the light, you must be careful to hide it. Don't let anyone know that I am the one messaging you.]

Chu Xuan only felt a chill run down his spine, as if a pair of eyes was staring right at him from behind. When he abruptly turned around to look, he found nothing.

Swallowing hard, Chu Xuan still mustered the courage to send an inquiry: [Who are you?]

At this time, Chen Qing, who was on the bed adjacent to Wang Hua, also climbed up. Bare-chested and with a face full of terror, he asked, "Chu Xuan, Tang Zheng, have you guys been awake for a while? What is this situation, what happened?"

"How the hell should I know? I just woke up too!" Tang Zheng glared at Chu Xuan and asked, "Do you know what's going on?"

Chu Xuan did not answer, staring fixedly at his mobile phone while monstrous waves surged in his heart.

On the phone, messages from [Tang Zheng] kept popping out:

[I am Tang Zheng, I come from the future.]

[The time between us is exactly three years apart. In the original timeline, you were eaten by the monster on this very day.]

[Since you've begun to doubt my identity, it seems you have already turned on the light and discovered that it wasn't the past me messaging you.]

[However, I didn't mean to hide it from you; the situation was just too urgent! If I had told you from the start that I was the future Tang Zheng, with your lingering doubts, you might not have followed my instructions completely.]

[Don't lower your guard, the monster's disappearance is only temporary!]

["Daytime" and "Nighttime" alternate every thirty minutes. At night, the monster comes out to hunt, while in the daytime it reverts to human form. However, under insufficient lighting conditions, even during "Daytime", the monster will appear.]

[The current time is 2:35. When it hits 3:00 AM, "Nighttime" begins, and the monster will appear once again. Before that happens, you must kill Chen Qing.]

[Because Chen Qing is the monster!]

Chu Xuan's mind shook as he continued reading downwards.

[To be precise, the real Chen Qing is already dead. His body was parasitized and replaced by the monster, becoming the vessel for the monster's existence in this world.]

[Remember, you must kill Chen Qing before 3:00! Because when the real "Nighttime" arrives, all light will disappear, and having lost your vision, you will have nowhere to run! Meanwhile, the monster will have enough time to find you, and its sense of smell will also recover. It can even confirm the location of living people through breathing, and you can't hold your breath forever.]

[This is the killing rule of daytime and nighttime! The dormitory is already sealed; before a verdict of life and death is decided, no one can leave!]

"Hey! Chu Xuan, what's wrong with you? Say something, will you!" Tang Zheng in reality urged anxiously.

Chu Xuan, however, had no mind to reply. When he saw the last sentence sent by [Tang Zheng] on his phone, a bad feeling arose in his heart, and he hurriedly tried to open the door.

The door did not move an inch.

"Huh?" Seeing this, Tang Zheng strode over and pulled the doorknob. Immediately afterward, his expression changed drastically, "Why won't the door open?"

"What?" Chen Qing's expression also changed as he quickly got out of bed and ran over.

The two of them slammed and kicked against the door.

Although Chen Qing was a bit frail, Tang Zheng had a robust physique. Normally, an ordinary dormitory wooden door like this would have long been kicked to pieces, but now, even with the two of them combining forces, it only produced muffled thumping sounds without a single trace of damage.

"The window!" Chen Qing shouted.

The two of them rushed to the window again, pushing and pulling hard, or even smashing it with a stool, but there was not the slightest reaction, not even a scratch, as if it were bulletproof glass.

Both of them panicked.

"Why don't we call the police first!" Chen Qing's face was filled with fear.

"No good, I've already tried. The phone has no signal, no network, and even emergency calls won't go through." Tang Zheng's expression was incomparably ugly.

The two tried calling for help again, but got no response, as if this dormitory had been completely cut off from the world.

Chu Xuan stood to the side, staring intently at the reactions and expressions of Tang Zheng and Chen Qing.