PTYS Chapter 46

Thinking back to the cafeteria, where Shen Qingqiu had helped Xiao Muyu finish her meat and Zhang Yangfeng had helped Yang Rui, and now seeing them sharing a room, everyone realized that there were two pairs of acquaintances in this instance. They wondered what kind of luck this was.

The room allocation was quickly settled: Hu Shun and Huang Junfeng in one room, Hou Liang and Jia Wenlong in another. For safety, all four rooms were on the right side, next to each other.

The dormitory had no clocks, and their real-world watches couldn’t be brought in, so they had to roughly estimate the time.

Once inside the room, Xiao Muyu closed the door and looked at Shen Qingqiu before nonchalantly asking, “Do you feel any discomfort?”

Shen Qingqiu glanced at her hand, about to say something, then realized Xiao Muyu was asking about how she felt after eating the meat. She smiled and shook her head, “I don’t feel anything. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried. I need to know what might happen tonight,” Xiao Muyu said, taking a deep breath.

“I’m just telling you not to worry about that. I’ll keep an eye out,” Shen Qingqiu said, smiling without exposing her.

Xiao Muyu didn’t say anything else. After a moment’s thought, she walked to the door and opened it.

“What’s up? Do we have something to do?” It was almost seven o’clock. The overcast weather made it dark outside.

The orphanage had only one dim streetlight at the main entrance, barely illuminating a small area. The rest of the place was shrouded in darkness. This was not a good time or place to act alone.

“Go get our clothes. We’ll be here for many days. It’s better to wear our own clothes.”

Xiao Muyu’s words left Shen Qingqiu feeling somewhat speechless. But she knew Xiao Muyu was particular and somehow felt that Xiao Muyu wasn’t such a sentimental person. She said, “I’ll go too. I don’t know where my clothes went.” Thinking about it made her feel uneasy.

So the two daring women went downstairs. They discovered that Old Sang hadn’t lied; he did sleep on the first floor, with his room light on.

Shen Qingqiu knocked on the door. When Old Sang saw the two of them, his expression changed slightly, and he sternly said, “Didn’t I tell you not to wander around?”

Xiao Muyu pursed her lips and softly said, “It’s almost time to wash up. We want to wash our clothes. Could you please take us to get them?”

Old Sang’s expression froze for a moment, but he didn’t say much. He went inside and took a key. His living area was very tidy, with just a bed and a small table. On the table was an old-fashioned flashlight and something that looked like a baton, which must have been for his patrols.

While he fetched the key, Xiao Muyu noticed many keys hanging on the wall, varying in size and number. Among them, two sets of keys were prominently displayed, much like those used by school dorm supervisors, each set holding several keys. She counted ten keys on one of the sets.

With her sharp eyesight, Xiao Muyu noticed that one set had a label with the number “2” and the other with “3.” From this, she quickly deduced where those keys belonged.

She glanced over the row of hooks holding the keys and saw that one hook was empty, indicating a missing key.

Old Sang took one of the key sets and walked closer. Xiao Muyu noticed that each key had a label, though the text was somewhat faded from age.

When Old Sang used the key to unlock the laundry room door, they could barely make out the characters for “laundry room” on the label.

With their dirty clothes in hand, Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu returned to the second floor under Old Sang’s repeated warnings.

“I increasingly feel that teaming up with you was the smartest decision. Your mind is probably unmatched in the Tianwang world,” Shen Qingqiu remarked.

Xiao Muyu had initially thought it strange that she wanted to get their clothes now, but after the trip, she understood.

“It’s just getting clothes. What does that have to do with intelligence?” Xiao Muyu remained calm, acting as if she didn’t understand Shen Qingqiu’s compliment.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t press further. As they passed the locked washroom on the second floor, she smiled and mimicked Xiao Muyu’s earlier gesture of looking up, then shrugged. “We don’t have watches, so we can’t tell if they’re done yet. We can’t hear anything from here. Should we go up and check?”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her without speaking and directly opened the door to the second room on the right. Once Shen Qingqiu was inside, she held up a stopwatch.

“Timing started when we left the cafeteria. It’s been twenty-eight minutes now. Almost time,” Xiao Muyu said concisely.

Shen Qingqiu gave her a thumbs-up.

With the door closed, they could faintly hear Hou Liang and Jia Wenlong talking next door. The old building had poor sound insulation, making closing doors and coughing easily audible.

Shen Qingqiu noticed this problem as well. Her expression turned cool, and she lowered her voice, “Looks like we’ll have to whisper to avoid being overheard.”

Xiao Muyu didn’t comment. She knew Shen Qingqiu understood her point. After a few minutes, when it seemed the time was right, they headed upstairs with their dirty clothes. Yang Rui soon joined them.

The three women didn’t rush in but stopped at the entrance to observe the layout.

At the entrance, a cement platform about thirty centimeters high served as a shoe-changing bench. The shower area immediately inside had two showerheads, old rusty pipes without partitions, offering no privacy.

To the right was the washbasin area with five faucets, and to the left were the toilets, with three stalls. The wooden doors of the stalls were water-stained, suggesting recent use.

“Someone upstairs,” Yang Rui stated the obvious, glancing at the two unexpectedly calm women beside her.

Neither of them reacted to her comment. Shen Qingqiu fixed her gaze on the showerheads and then asked, “Want to shower?”

Xiao Muyu checked the time—it was only about 7:20. A shower was feasible.

After asking, Shen Qingqiu walked over and turned on the faucet. Cold water initially poured out, but it soon warmed up. The temperature was acceptable.

“The water’s hot now. You usually like to be clean, so you should shower,” Shen Qingqiu remarked, glancing at the low door that barely covered the lower body, providing a view from the entrance.

Xiao Muyu noticed her gaze. The shower design was indeed impractical. If the door wasn’t properly closed or someone came in, the person showering would be completely visible.

“Miss Yang, do you want to shower?” Xiao Muyu turned to Yang Rui.

After considering it, Yang Rui nodded.

“You go ahead. I’ll wash the clothes first,” Shen Qingqiu said, locking the main door before starting the laundry.

Showering in an open environment with unfamiliar people was awkward and lacked security. However, after being drenched by rain and walking a lot, Xiao Muyu, who valued cleanliness, decided it was necessary.

Although the shower doors were short, the stalls themselves prevented any direct view of each other. Shen Qingqiu, squatting and facing away, washing clothes, seemed very proper. In such a setting, there was no need for pretenses. Xiao Muyu quickly undressed and started showering.

Soon, the sound of two showers running filled the room. Shen Qingqiu looked around, checking the door and surroundings for any abnormalities.

The warm water relaxed Xiao Muyu, easing her tension. During this mind-clearing moment, she found herself staring at Shen Qingqiu.

Despite wearing a wide, faded uniform, Shen Qingqiu’s figure was still discernible. Her posture, even when washing clothes, was steady and disciplined, like a soldier’s—precise and aesthetically pleasing.

In this tense and eerie place, taking a shower was quite nerve-wracking. After all, if an emergency occurred while undressed, it would really be chaotic. Apparently aware of this concern, Yang Rui next door quickly rinsed off and turned off the water.

Xiao Muyu snapped back to reality and realized she had let her guard down too much. The culprit for her relaxation was the woman squatting down to scrub clothes.

Recognizing this, Xiao Muyu frowned, but the next moment, she suddenly looked up.

This bathroom had a transom window above the door, and as Xiao Muyu looked up, a pale, stiff face suddenly appeared behind that window. The exposed eye was staring straight at the startled Xiao Muyu.

Shen Qingqiu, who was washing clothes, also saw the same eerie scene as earlier in the afternoon. She reacted swiftly, immediately standing up and grabbing Xiao Muyu’s clothes off the hook to cover her, disregarding that she saw Xiao Muyu’s upper body clearly.

Before Xiao Muyu could react, Shen Qingqiu had already darted to the door. She unlatched it and kicked it open, rushing out.

Amid the loud noise of the door, Xiao Muyu distinctly heard another thud, like something had fallen, but not heavily.

Not having time to think about anything else, Xiao Muyu quickly shouted, “Shen Qingqiu, don’t chase!”

Shen Qingqiu had almost reached the stairs. Hearing Xiao Muyu’s voice, she stopped, staring into the dark stairwell with eyes as sharp as swords. Then she let out a cold snort and turned back.

Yang Rui, who was about to get dressed, was startled by their actions. She hurriedly put on her clothes and asked in a panic, “What happened? What’s outside?”

Thinking of what had just occurred, Shen Qingqiu’s expression turned grim, “Don’t let me catch him, or I’ll gouge out his eyes.”

Yang Rui, late to grasp the situation, turned pale, “Was that thing trying to peep at us showering?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu both froze, then simultaneously looked at the bathroom door. They finally realized something was off, remembering the useless vestibule bench outside.

The showerhead facing the door was strange enough, let alone the transom window above the door being larger than those in the dormitory, and the door itself being shorter. With this thought, Xiao Muyu frowned again. Was she being too sensitive?

This fleeting thought was not voiced. Xiao Muyu nodded and briefly mentioned the face outside the window, quickly getting dressed.

After such an incident, continuing to shower was unrealistic. Shen Qingqiu fetched some water, quickly wiped her body, and finished washing the clothes.

The incident left Yang Rui terrified, yet seeing the two so calm, she was filled with admiration.

Originally, there were three men—Zhang Yangfeng, Hu Shun, and Huang Junfeng—who came upstairs with them. Men tended to be rougher with their washing, and Yang Rui noticed they had already gone downstairs. So despite the commotion, no one came out.

Though she didn’t witness it herself, the earlier eerie event was frightening enough. Yang Rui didn’t dare go downstairs alone, especially since she had passed two trials and was very cautious. So she waited by the side for the other two.

All three were quick, and it wasn’t yet eight o’clock. Though somewhat scared, Yang Rui calmly asked, “Did you see what it was?”

Xiao Muyu’s eyes flickered, not answering Yang Rui directly. Instead, she turned to Shen Qingqiu, “Did you see clearly?”

Understanding her meaning, Shen Qingqiu shook her head seriously, “Although it was just a moment, it wasn’t the same as before.”

Xiao Muyu took a deep breath, her tone somber, “Are there other men in this orphanage?”

Yang Rui’s face changed—was there a pervert here too?

Author’s Note: Need to speed things up. Went to an escape room today, it wasn’t challenging enough. It’s a pity, the script could have been designed better.