He knocked on the empty spot again. Judging from the echo, the door was made of a wooden board.
However, there was no lock.
Or rather, it seemed it wasn't locked at all.
He pressed on the edge of the door, and there was indeed a slight wobble.
"Step back a bit." Lu Qinglian was also staring intently at the door.
Zhang Shutong did as he was told. He held his breath and just took one step back. The next moment, Lu Qinglian suddenly used her strength. She twisted her waist, pushed off with one leg, and with a bang, a powerful side kick sent the door board crashing to the floor.
In an instant, more dust flew up. The two of them quickly turned to the side. When the white dust settled, a secret room was revealed.
Zhang Shutong turned on his phone's flashlight. He leaned in and shone the light, and what appeared in his sight was—
A narrow staircase.
"There really was something hidden here..."
Zhang Shutong murmured.
But this staircase did not extend upwards. In other words, it was not the entrance to the rooftop.
Instead, it led underground.
A basement?
But this was clearly on the second floor.
Building a passage leading to the basement on the second floor was completely illogical. Just then, Lu Qinglian reached out her hand. Zhang Shutong understood what she meant and placed his phone in her hand:
"Don't go in yet. It's best to wait a bit. The air in a place like this has been stagnant for a long time. Something bad could happen."
Lu Qinglian nodded. They waited for about two minutes, then bent down and entered the secret room one after another.
Lu Qinglian led the way.
Zhang Shutong followed behind her, looking at the passage from side to side.
A faint smell of mildew emanated from the surroundings.
The width was very narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time. The depth of this hidden space was only two meters, so the staircase did not go down in a straight line. It turned a corner after a few steps.
Zhang Shutong's heart was beating faster and faster. He reminded Lu Qinglian to be careful as they rounded the corner. But when his eyes saw the scene in front of him, Zhang Shutong was completely stunned.
At the end of the staircase was another door.
This time, the door was not made of wood, but of heavy iron, with a circular valve handle in the middle.
He saw a keyhole below the valve. Zhang Shutong subconsciously looked at the key to the dorm door. The keyhole on the iron door was much larger than that key. It was impossible for it to fit.
Zhang Shutong went past Lu Qinglian. He twisted the handle, unwilling to give up. The circular disk let out a squeak, but it didn't move at all.
Lu Qinglian also went up and tried, but there was still no way to open it.
It was impossible to turn this kind of iron door with brute force.
But where was the key?
Where did this door lead to?
Why would someone go to such lengths to hide a basement in a dilapidated dorm?
He turned around and calculated the length of the staircase. He estimated that they were now underground.
For a moment, they were at a loss.
The air below was also very stuffy. He couldn't help but cough just from breathing. Zhang Shutong was about to tell Lu Qinglian to go up and discuss their next move when a cheerful tune rang out in the narrow space.
—His phone suddenly rang.
Lu Qinglian handed the phone back to him. Zhang Shutong glanced at it. It was from Teacher Song. At this moment, his heart started beating uncontrollably fast.
What was the relationship between this secret room and Teacher Song?
What other secrets was the other person hiding?
He turned and went up the stairs, took a deep breath, and pressed the answer button.
"Hello, Shutong, did you call me? I took a nap at noon and just woke up..." A man's voice, yawning, came from the other end.
Zhang Shutong asked him if he had seen the text message he sent.
"Text message?" Teacher Song asked subconsciously. "I haven't had time to look yet. I saw a missed call and was afraid something was wrong on your end, so I called back first."
Zhang Shutong then told him about the figure and asked if he had any idea. Teacher Song said, confused:
"No, I haven't noticed anyone coming around here, and I haven't heard of any lunatics. There was a cleaning lady who used to live in the westernmost room on the first floor, but she quit a long time ago."
After saying this, he habitually advised:
"You just got out of the hospital, kid. Take a rest. Don't run around..."
"I'm in the dorm right now."
"Oh, you went to get the notebook, right?" Teacher Song fell silent after saying this.
Zhang Shutong looked at the room:
"I just came in. I see the conditions are pretty bad. There's not a single window on that wall."
"That's true. It's a bit stifling, but you get used to it after living here for a while."
"Do you need me to help you put away your clothes?"
"Just leave them there," Teacher Song said indifferently. "I won't be wearing them for a while anyway."
"I drank a can of your Red Bull. I forgot to mention it."
Teacher Song couldn't help but laugh:
"Go ahead, drink it. I have lollipops in my office desk at school. Don't forget to share them when you get back."
"Oh, right, the poster by the bed seems to be torn."
Zhang Shutong said on purpose.
But Teacher Song was stunned:
"What poster? Oh, the Andy Lau one, right? I didn't put that up. I like Chow Yun-fat." Teacher Song was even in the mood to make a joke. "If it's torn, it's torn. If I hadn't thought the room was too empty and wanted it as a decoration, I would have torn it down a long time ago."
"That poster isn't yours?"
"No, it was here when I moved in." Teacher Song said in a casual tone.
That's right.
Zhang Shutong realized that his thinking had fallen into a trap. This block apartment was built in the last century. Teacher Song had only moved in a little over three years ago. In the context of the building's existence, that was a very short period of time.
Moreover, the other person was an outsider who came to the island alone. How could he have the means to build a basement?
This meant that the man himself had no idea about the existence of this secret room.
Zhang Shutong quickly asked:
"Then who was the previous tenant, which teacher?"
"I don't know either," Teacher Song recalled. "When I moved in, besides that cleaning lady I just mentioned, the entire building was basically empty. At that time, this room was a storage room. Do you remember me telling you that I came to the island in the winter and thought it was freezing here? I just saw that the southeast corner had the best lighting, so I cleaned this room up."
Zhang Shutong then asked:
"Then... is there a basement or anything like that here?"
"This kind of old building doesn't have a thing like that. The junk is all piled up in the hallway." Teacher Song laughed. He subconsciously understood "basement" as "storage room."
"Then has anyone come looking for you all these years? I mean, strangers you don't know?"
"Besides my parents, who would come looking for me in a place like this?" The man seemed to have secretly gone somewhere to light a cigarette. He took a hard puff and said earnestly: "Shutong, stop investigating that jumper. It was fine when you were concerned about Qiumian's matter, but you don't even know this person. If you're really worried, just call the police. Learn from me. Look at me, I'm..."
His voice became a little lower:
"I don't bother with things anymore."
There was another moment of silence.
"How about we talk when I get back?" After a while, Teacher Song's voice returned to normal. "I should be discharged in two days. I'll come to the island to see you guys. Before I leave for good, I have to meet the kids in the class. I'll treat you to a meal then. So you ungrateful brats won't forget your teacher..."
Zhang Shutong listened to him ramble for a few moments, and then reminded him to take care of his health before hanging up.
"How was it?" Lu Qinglian also came up from the stairs.
"It has nothing to do with Teacher Song." Zhang Shutong let out a sigh of relief. "But it would have been more troublesome if it did."
It was hard to describe his mood. Maybe he had just been overthinking?
Was this "hidden space" just a basement that came with the building when it was built?
Looking from the outside, there were no traces of subsequent additions to the building.
Now Zhang Shutong just wanted to figure out one thing: were there similar secret doors in the other rooms?
He called Lu Qinglian and they left the dorm door. Zhang Shutong went to the room next door and pushed the door. Of course, it was locked. He held onto a glimmer of hope and tried to put the key in, but of course, it didn't work.
"I can kick it open." Lu Qinglian gave him the lead.
Zhang Shutong thought for a moment and then sighed:
"Let's not."
He didn't want to make too much of a commotion. After Teacher Song left, the school would definitely send someone to clean up the room. It would be a hassle to make a mess of the place.
He wasn't sure what was hidden behind the door yet, and he wasn't in a hurry to tell others about its existence.
Zhang Shutong looked at the window, but there was no way to see through the glass.
The windows in these rooms were all covered with a layer of frosted plastic film. Even though no one lived here now, since it was here, it was likely that it was once full of people.
Zhang Shutong tried to push the window, but it didn't move.
He didn't give up and tried another room. The further west he went, the more junk was piled up.
There were some study materials, stacks of A4 paper, discarded workbooks, old flowerpots, and mops. There was even a pair of cloth shoes that had been there for who knows how long...
Zhang Shutong went past each one until he came to the westernmost room. He had already given up hope, but this time, he didn't even have to push. The window was already slightly ajar.
The window frame was covered in dust. He was stunned for a moment, and then he looked through the crack into the room.
There was no furniture.
It was a square room. Zhang Shutong looked at the wall opposite him. It was also just a blank space.
Just then, Lu Qinglian slightly bent down and put her face close. Zhang Shutong glanced at her and saw that she wasn't looking at the inside of the room, but at the window frame.
"Did you notice something?" she said thoughtfully. "The purpose of that figure."
Zhang Shutong was still trying to distinguish if there were any similar seams on the wall. He subconsciously replied:
"You know why he disappeared?"
"No." Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes. "But we can deduce some things. Move aside a bit."
Zhang Shutong had no choice but to step back. Lu Qinglian took his place. She pushed the window. Amidst the teeth-grinding squeaking, her clear voice rang out:
"Before I explain, let me tell you one thing: you're being a bit too obsessive."
"What do you mean?"
"You're taking everything in this building too seriously because Teacher Song's notebook is here, and there are clues about the clay figurine in the notebook. So you subconsciously think that any anomaly is pointing to the clay figurine."
Zhang Shutong subconsciously nodded.
Lu Qinglian then said calmly:
"But if you set aside Teacher Song's influence, these anomalies might not have anything to do with the clay figurine at all."
Lu Qinglian hit the window with one hand. The glass vibrated slightly. The slender hand stopped in the scattered dust:
"Look here. Although this window is open, don't just focus on the things inside the room. Didn't you notice that this room shouldn't be so clean?"
Zhang Shutong moved his gaze. That was indeed true.
If no one had lived there for a long time, there should have been a thin layer of dust inside, but that amount of dust was nothing compared to what was piled up outside the window frame.
Zhang Shutong instantly understood what Lu Qinglian meant.
—Although this window was open, it hadn't been open for long.
He almost guessed the entire sequence of events. He then heard Lu Qinglian continue:
"The first time you went into Teacher Song's room, the window there also had a crack. You thought the window frame was rusty, but did you ever think...
She said slowly:
"That figure was doing the same thing we are doing now.
"He wasn't looking for the notebook, but..."
"Looking for the entrance to the basement?"
Zhang Shutong finished the second half of the sentence. Even though he had guessed this possibility, his heart still skipped a beat.
"That's right." Lu Qinglian nodded. "He didn't want to take anything away, so it was enough to just push open a crack in the window to see the situation inside the room."
"Wait, so if that's the case, is that why the other person went to the roof?"
Zhang Shutong had a sudden thought:
"That person either knew about the existence of the basement or saw that the wall was a strange thickness. He pushed open all the windows he could, but Teacher Song's room just happened to have a poster on the wall. He mistakenly thought the entrance wasn't in the room, so he decided to go to the roof to try his luck?"
Zhang Shutong's mind became clear:
"After all, this building has a tiled roof, not a flat concrete one. Since it's a tiled roof, maybe he thought he could find a hidden space by lifting the tiles from the top?"
Lu Qinglian nodded:
"That can at least explain his intention and why two windows were open."
"But how did he fall?" Zhang Shutong couldn't help but ask.
"It seems you didn't listen to a single thing I said earlier," Lu Qinglian had already turned around. She said coldly, "Don't be so obsessive. Sometimes you don't need to figure everything out."
Zhang Shutong was a bit helpless at her words. This woman's curiosity was really small. If curiosity killed the cat, then Lu Qinglian must be the coldest cat that lived the longest:
"Don't you think there must be something very important hidden behind that door?"
"But there are too many important things in this world, aren't there?" Lu Qinglian said carelessly. "Or do you have the key?"
Zhang Shutong was speechless.
He suddenly missed his three friends. If they were here, they wouldn't stop until they had torn the dorm apart.
But Lu Qinglian was right. The dorm was "important" because of Teacher Song and the notebook, but Teacher Song didn't even know about the secret room, and the other person wasn't here to look for the notebook.
If he really wanted to get to the bottom of it, he would have to ask the school administration. But that dorm had been empty for a long time, and Teacher Song had lived there for more than three years. It had been many years in total. It was hard to say if anyone would clearly remember "who lived in what room back then."
And whether the other person was still at school was another matter.
Thinking about this, Zhang Shutong didn't touch the window anymore.
Since there were no clues, it was better to maintain the scene as it was.
He and Lu Qinglian went back to Teacher Song's room. Just in case, they didn't leave right away. Instead, they put the wooden door back in place.
Zhang Shutong looked back and forth. He was lucky today. He found a glue stick in the pen holder. As expected of a teacher, they never lacked stationery.
He applied glue to the back of the poster and put it back on the wall, exactly as it was—
The paper of the poster was already brittle, and the glue stick was wet. Although he tried his best, the result was still a wrinkled mess.
Even Andy Lau's face was crooked.
Zhang Shutong also tilted his head to look at it. It wasn't the same as before, but if someone were to look at it from the window, they wouldn't notice anything wrong.
He stretched his neck and thought carefully. From seeing the falling figure on the rooftop, to calling the ambulance, to searching the dorm, to finally finding the secret room and deducing the figure's purpose, the matter had finally come to an end.
He let out a sigh. After all this, the two of them locked the doors and windows.
As soon as they walked out of the dorm building, a muffled thunder sounded above them.
The dark clouds hung low, and the wind grew stronger. The grass leaves rustled.
Zhang Shutong tightened his jacket. Just then, his phone rang again.
He thought Teacher Song had remembered some clue and quickly went to answer it, but his finger stopped above the screen.
Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment.
Because the call was from an unfamiliar number.
His phone number and QQ ID were the same. He basically didn't add strangers. And there were no delivery or courier calls right now, so a strange number shouldn't be calling.
Zhang Shutong subconsciously looked at the roof of the dorm. He hesitated for a moment, and then finally pressed the answer button.
"Zhang Shutong, where did you and Lu Qinglian go?"
But a middle-aged woman's angry and stern voice came from the phone, so loud that Zhang Shutong had to move the phone away from his ear:
"You have the guts to skip class together on the first day of school, do you? If you two don't give me a good explanation today, I'm calling your parents!"