The Sleepwalking Killer

Chapter 1

Our roommate was sleepwalking one night. When she woke up, we asked her what she had dreamed about.

She said she dreamed she wanted to cut a watermelon, but the watermelon wasn't ripe.

We all burst out laughing.

But we never expected that the next night, I woke with a start to see my sleepwalking roommate standing over me, holding a knife in one hand while stroking my head with the other, muttering to herself:

"This watermelon is finally ripe."

My whole body tensed up as I screamed.

"Ahhh!"

My scream instantly woke up our other two roommates.

The small reading lamp on Su Jingjing's upper bunk flicked on, illuminating the scene before me.

There stood Wang Tiane, her eyes open but vacant, one hand resting on my head while the other held a kitchen knife raised high above me.

"Fuck!"

Luo Meng, who slept in the lower bunk across from me, reacted quickly. As the athlete among us, she sprang forward and grabbed Wang Tiane from behind in a tight grip.

I snapped back to my senses, grabbed the remaining water from the cup on my bedside table, and threw it directly in Wang Tiane's face.

Wang Tiane jolted as if shocked, her dazed eyes finally focusing. When she saw the knife in her hand, she jumped in surprise and it clattered to the floor.

"What... what's going on!"

My face was grim.

"I was about to ask you the same thing! Do you have any idea what you were doing?"

Wang Tiane's face turned deathly pale as she stammered:

"I... I had a dream. I dreamed I was back in my grandfather's watermelon patch from my childhood village. I finally found a ripe watermelon and wanted to cut it open..."

All of our faces went pale.

Wang Tiane had always been a sleepwalker. When we first discovered this at the beginning of the semester, we were all frightened. But later we found that her sleepwalking consisted only of standing by the window in a daze, and since we got along well during the day, we didn't pay much attention to it.

As our relationship grew closer, we would even tease her about it, asking what dreams she'd had.

Recently, every time we asked, she would say she dreamed of returning to her grandfather's watermelon patch from childhood. She said she wanted to pick out a big, sweet watermelon to cut open and eat, but somehow the watermelons were never ripe.

When we heard this back then, we all laughed heartily.

But now, none of us could laugh.

Because when I thought about Wang Tiane stroking my head, it was obvious—the "ripe watermelon" she mentioned was my head!

I looked down at the large kitchen knife on the floor—the same one Luo Meng usually used to cut fruit in our dorm room.

It was big and sharp.

If I hadn't woken up in time, Wang Tiane might have actually split my head open like a watermelon!

The thought made me break out in a cold sweat. I jumped to my feet.

"I need to see the dorm supervisor. I want to change rooms!"

Chapter 2

The dorm supervisor had been woken up in the middle of the night and was initially annoyed, but after hearing our description, goosebumps rose on her arms.

"Wang Tiane, I'll contact your counselor and talk to your parents about whether you can see a doctor or something. Until then, you'll have to move to the empty room upstairs."

Wang Tiane was terrified herself, her eyes red as she went back to pack her things.

She finished packing quickly and even posted a photo in our group chat of her new dorm room.

In the photo, she had piled numerous items against the door, writing:

【I've locked the door and blocked it with many things. I've also gotten rid of all sharp objects. Don't worry, I won't hurt anyone.】

Seeing this message, we all felt a bit guilty.

Su Jingjing couldn't help but speak up: "Aren't we being too harsh?"

But Luo Meng immediately retorted: "Too harsh? Wait until she splits your head open and see if you still think it's too harsh!"

Despite her soft-sounding name, Luo Meng had a fiery personality that immediately dispelled any guilt I felt.

The four of us in our dorm room weren't even in the same major, and after Wang Tiane moved out, we lost touch with her. We didn't see her for several days.

Until three days later, just before dawn, a blood-curdling scream echoed through our dormitory building.

We all woke up.

"Screaming bloody murder at this hour!" Luo Meng climbed down angrily, clearly annoyed at being woken up.

Su Jingjing was also rubbing her sleepy eyes, reaching for her phone as she muttered.

"It's not even six o'clock yet, what in the world..."

"Ahhh!" She suddenly screamed again, startling me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Su Jingjing nearly fell as she climbed down from her upper bunk.

"I... I just saw a post in our dorm management group saying someone died in our building!"

"What?!"

My face and Luo Meng's both changed.

Luo Meng immediately pressed: "Which dorm? How did they die?"

Su Jingjing looked at her phone again, trembling, and her face grew even paler.

"It's on the floor above us," she looked up, her voice shaking. "Someone's head was split clean in half. They're saying... saying it was cut open just like a watermelon."

The entire dorm fell into deathly silence.

Because we all thought of Wang Tiane.

After a long moment, I spoke with a trembling voice.

"It... it couldn't be Wang Tiane, right? Didn't she say she locked the door and blocked it with many things?"

Luo Meng said coldly: "But I've seen in movies that sleepwalkers can not only open doors themselves, they can even go out riding bicycles!"

The dorm fell silent again.

Finally, Su Jingjing spoke up, her face pale: "Alright, let's not scare ourselves. The police will determine who the killer is. Let's not think about it anymore."

Luo Meng and I nodded silently, got up to wash up, and didn't continue the topic.

All day, the entire campus was buzzing with discussion about the murder in our dorm building.

The victim was a freshman girl from the Chinese Department. Her head had been split clean in half, and when her roommates woke up and saw it, they were terrified.

Police cars were parked outside the girls' dorm, and the room where the murder occurred was sealed off.

The rumors grew increasingly exaggerated.

From being split in half, to stories about the brain being missing altogether.

Everyone was terrified.

That evening, Luo Meng, Su Jingjing, and I were eating in the cafeteria when—

Clang.

A plate was suddenly slammed on our table. I looked up to see Wang Tiane's beaming face.

"Jingjing, Meng ge, Xiaoyu! Long time no see."

The three of us froze.

Wang Tiane didn't seem to notice our reactions, eating heartily while chattering away.

"It's all because the Foreign Languages building is so far from all of you. After I moved out, I haven't seen any of you. How have you all been?"

Wang Tiane spoke cheerfully, but none of us responded.

Finally, I couldn't help but interrupt: "Tiane, have you been dreaming about cutting watermelons these past few days?"

Wang Tiane froze: "No, I've been dreaming about eating rice noodle rolls these past few days. Why do you ask?"

Suddenly, I didn't know how to answer.

Just then, the conversation from the next table drifted over to our ears—

"Hey, did you hear about the murder in the girls' dorm? They say the killer was incredibly strong—actually managed to split someone's head clean open! Just like cutting a watermelon!"

Wang Tiane heard their conversation too and finally understood, looking at us with a pale face.

"You... you think I killed that Chinese Department girl?"

None of us spoke, but Wang Tiane started to cry.

"In your eyes, am I really like this? I already told you! There are no sharp objects in my room, and I lock my door tight every night and check it in the morning. Don't you trust me at all?"

Su Jingjing's heart softened: "Tiane, we don't mean..."

But Wang Tiane didn't want to hear more, getting up and running away crying.

The three of us had lost our appetite. Just as we returned to our dorm, a girl from next door came over and spoke to us mysteriously.

"Did you hear? There's been a development in that murder case upstairs! The police checked all the hallway cameras in our dorm building and didn't see anyone entering or leaving the room where the murder occurred."

"So now the three roommates of the deceased are the prime suspects. They've already been taken to the police station for questioning!"

The three of us were stunned when we heard this.

Since no one entered or left, the killer was most likely one of the roommates.

This probably had nothing to do with Wang Tiane after all.

Su Jingjing looked guilty and couldn't help but say: "Shouldn't we apologize to Tiane? Being accused of being a murderer when you're innocent, I'd be angry too."

"Why apologize?" Luo Meng retorted gruffly. "We never said it was her. We just asked what she dreamed about. She's the one who's so sensitive. Apologizing would only make things more awkward."

Luo萌 had a point, so we dropped the subject and went about our nightly routine.

I drifted off to sleep without knowing how much time had passed when suddenly—

Thump, thump, thump.

I was awakened by knocking sounds.

I picked up my phone by my bed and looked.

Two in the morning.

I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Who could be knocking on our dorm door at this hour?

At the same time, Su Jingjing had already turned on her reading lamp in her upper bunk, and I saw Luo Meng across from me get up too.

Su Jingjing's trembling voice came from the darkness.

"Who... who is it..."

The next moment, we heard a familiar voice from outside the door—

"It's me, Wang Tiane."

In the dim light, I saw Luo Meng's face turn completely pale.

I knew we all had the same thought—

Was the Wang Tiane outside the door sleepwalking, or awake?

I instinctively pulled my covers tighter and blurted out: "What do you want?"

Outside fell silent for a moment, then I heard light laughter from behind the door.

"I just cut open a nice ripe watermelon. Do you want to taste some?"

Chapter 3

Silence.

The entire dorm fell into dead silence.

In the dim light, I saw the last trace of color drain from Luo Meng's face, while Su Jingjing scrambled down from her upper bunk and threw herself into my arms, trembling uncontrollably.

I forced myself to remain calm with what little reason I had left.

"Don't... don't be afraid. The police already determined it had nothing to do with Wang Tiane. She must just be sleepwalking..."

I didn't know whether I was trying to convince Su Jingjing or myself.

"Besides, our door is locked..."

But before I could finish, Su Jingjing suddenly shuddered violently.

I looked down at her: "What's wrong?"

Su Jingjing's face was completely drained of color, her voice trembling.

"I... I just remembered, I was the last one to bed tonight, and I forgot to lock the door..."

My hands and feet went ice cold in an instant.

At the same time, I heard Wang Tiane's cheerful voice from outside the door.

"Oh, so you didn't lock the door. Then I'm coming in."

Click.

The door was slowly opened from the outside.

"Ahhh!"

Su Jingjing couldn't take it anymore and threw herself into my arms.

Luo Meng, however, jumped up trying to grab Wang Tiane, but the next moment, her movements froze.

At that moment, I could see clearly by the small nightlight who had entered our room.

Wang Tiane stood there holding a half-cut watermelon, her eyes perfectly clear, smiling brightly at us.

My tense nerves immediately relaxed.

Luo Meng recovered enough to slap Wang Tiane playfully.

"Wang Tiane! You scared the hell out of us!"

"Ouch!"

Wang Tiane rubbed her arm in pain but kept smiling.

"Who told you to suspect me this morning? I just wanted to scare you as punishment! Besides, I wasn't lying—I really did bring watermelon for you to eat."

The atmosphere immediately eased, and Su Jingjing calmed down, walking over to take Wang Tiane's hand.

"Tiane, I'm really sorry about this morning. We didn't really suspect you, it's just..."

"I know." Wang Tiane interrupted with a smile. "You were just worried I might do something terrible while sleepwalking, since I can't control myself."

"But don't worry, I've taken many precautions. My parents said they'll take me to see a doctor next week too. I won't hurt anyone."

"Alright, enough about that. Let's eat the watermelon!"

As she spoke, Wang Tiane put down the watermelon and said helplessly.

"Do you know how hard this was? I didn't dare keep knives in my room, so I had to split it open with my bare hands. It got all over me!"

We finally looked down at the watermelon—it was indeed unevenly broken, and Wang Tiane was covered in watermelon juice.

We all burst out laughing, too lazy to cut it properly, and finished it off with spoons.

After eating the watermelon, Wang Tiane went back to her room to rest.

We all went to bed too.

The next morning, we were all exhausted from last night's excitement.

But our moods were much better.

"It's still early," Su Jingjing volunteered. "Should we go invite Tiane to breakfast with us?"

I was about to agree when Luo Meng suddenly spoke.

"Wait, there's something I didn't have time to tell you all last night..."

Luo Meng looked hesitant, but before she could continue, a commotion erupted outside our dorm.

We opened our door to see a girl from the neighboring dorm running toward us.

"What's going on?"

The girl's face was pale as she spoke with a trembling voice.

"Someone died! Someone died in the dorm again!"

This time, it was in the men's dormitory.

The deceased was a junior from the Computer Science Department. When his roommates woke up that morning, they smelled blood in the room.

They searched everywhere for the source of the smell, and finally, when they pulled back the curtains, they saw their roommate lying on the bed, his stomach cut open.

"I heard that—" The neighboring dorm girl swallowed hard and continued with a trembling voice.

"Not only was his stomach cut open, but... but his intestines were gone!"

The three of us turned pale.

With two consecutive deaths, the school had no choice but to take it seriously.

Police cars were soon parked outside the men's dorm, and in this internet age, news spread like wildfire.

Soon, someone online discovered that the first victim, the girl from the Chinese Department, and this boy from the Computer Science Department were actually a couple.

A couple dying one after another—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed to be the work of one person.

But strangely, surveillance cameras around both dorms had captured nothing, leaving everyone clueless.

Back in our room, Luo Meng and Su Jingjing were unusually silent.

Finally, Su Jingjing broke the silence.

"I actually knew the guy who died this time."

I looked up to see her face slightly pale.

"He... he's the guy Tiane liked."

At this, Luo Meng and I were completely stunned.

Among the four of us in our dorm, Su Jingjing had the best personality. Everyone got along well with her because she was introverted and kept secrets to herself, so we all tended to confide in her.

"What a coincidence," I couldn't help saying. "Then won't Tiane be heartbroken? Should we go check on her?"

As I spoke, I reached for my phone to contact Wang Tiane, but Luo Meng stopped me.

"Don't rush to contact her yet." Luo Meng's face was also pale. "There's something I haven't told you yet. Do you remember seeing some red on Wang Tiane's clothes yesterday?"

I froze: "I remember. Didn't she say it was watermelon juice?"

"Impossible." Luo Meng blurted out. "Later when she was standing under the lamp, I saw clearly. That red was too dark—how could it be watermelon juice!"

I had a sudden bad feeling: "Luo Meng, what are you trying to say?"

Luo Meng's face was pale.

"I didn't want to mention this before, but when I heard how that boy died this morning... if I remember correctly, the boy was missing his intestines when he died, right?"

I frowned: "So what? What does that have to do with Tiane?"

Luo Meng swallowed hard.

"Do you remember when we asked Wang Tiane in the cafeteria yesterday if she'd been dreaming about cutting watermelons? What did she say?"

"I remember she said she hadn't dreamed about cutting watermelons lately, that she'd been dreaming about eating rice noodle rolls instead."

The entire dorm fell silent once again, and finally I couldn't help but laugh, breaking the silence.

My laugh was sharp, sounding particularly jarring in the quiet.

"Luo Meng, have you lost your mind?"

When I spoke, I found it even more ridiculous.

"Are you saying that boy who was missing his intestines last night was killed by Wang Tiane? But wasn't he the boy she liked? Why would she do that?"

At that moment, Su Jingjing chimed in: "Although Tiane liked him, he didn't like her back. Tiane had confessed to him before and been rejected."

I looked at Su Jingjing, even more shocked: "So Jingjing, you're saying Tiane killed him out of unrequited love? And even ate..."

I couldn't bring myself to say the final words, frowning as I continued: "Listen to yourselves! Do you even hear what you're saying? Jingjing, I know Luo Meng watches too many horror movies and has all kinds of nonsense in her head, but are you going to follow along with her crazy talk?"

I had expected Su Jingjing to join me in scolding Luo Meng for her absurd ideas—after all, she had always been closest to Wang Tiane.

But unexpectedly, Su Jingjing swallowed hard and said in a low voice: "Xiaoyu, now that Luo Meng mentions it, I do remember seeing something red between Wang Tiane's teeth last night. I thought it was watermelon pulp at the time, but now that I think about it, that color was too red..."

I looked at Su Jingjing, even more shocked that not only Luo Meng thought this way, but Su Jingjing did too.

"Don't tell me," I suddenly thought of something and said, "you think the girl from the Chinese Department who was killed in our dorm building was also Wang Tiane's doing? You think she couldn't have the boy she liked, so she killed that couple?"

The dorm was silent, no one speaking.

But clearly, the silence from Su Jingjing and Luo Meng meant they were thinking exactly what I suspected. I was truly exasperated.

"Fine, since you think so, let's not waste time talking. We should call the police."

I took out my phone, my face expressionless.

"Let's tell the police everything we know and let them determine if it's possible."

As I actually started to dial, unexpectedly—

Clang.

Something fell behind me.

I turned around and my face immediately changed.

"Wang Tiane?"

Chapter 4

While we had been talking, we hadn't closed our dorm door completely, leaving it slightly ajar.

And now, through that crack in the door, I could see Wang Tiane standing outside at some point.

In her hands were some snacks she had bought from outside the school, and what had fallen on the ground were those snacks.

They were now scattered all over the floor, soup flowing everywhere, but she didn't even notice.

"Tiane!" Su Jingjing also stood up, her face deathly pale. "You... you heard everything?"

Wang Tiane's pale face already answered our question.

"You... you still suspect me?" Only then did Wang Tiane speak, her voice trembling. "Didn't I already tell you? I've been very careful, it's really not possible it was me. Why don't you believe me?"

"It's not that we don't believe you," Su Jingjing couldn't help but say, her voice still tinged with fear. "It's just... you know yourself that you don't know what you're doing when you're sleepwalking. How can you be so certain you did nothing?"

"That's right," Luo Meng added gruffly beside her. "And it's all too coincidental. When you dreamed about cutting watermelons, a girl with her head split open died. Now you're dreaming about eating rice noodle rolls, and a boy missing his intestines dies. How can there be so many coincidences in this world?"

"You!"

Wang Tiane finally couldn't help but cry out.

"Fine, you don't believe me, do you? I'll show you proof right now!"

With that, she walked quickly toward us.

Watching Wang Tiane approach, even I instinctively stepped back in fear.

Let alone Su Jingjing, who screamed and hid behind Luo Meng.

But Wang Tiane didn't pull out any weapon. Instead, she took out her phone and thrust it directly in our faces.

"See! I already installed a camera in my room. I did absolutely nothing!"

Seeing the phone screen, we were all stunned.

The phone screen showed surveillance footage.

Only then did Luo Meng calm down somewhat, taking the phone.

Wang Tiane continued with a sobbing voice:

"I know I don't remember what I do when I'm sleepwalking, and I find it terrifying too. So after I almost cut your head, Xiaoyu, I immediately bought a camera and placed it in my new dorm room. This camera is always pointed at my dorm door. You can clearly see that I haven't left my room at all these past few nights!"

The camera in Wang Tiane's phone was indeed positioned to capture her entire dorm room doorway. Basically, as long as Wang Tiane got up and left the room, it would be caught on camera.

Luo Meng scrolled through the footage, going through almost the entire previous night.

Indeed, there was no sign of Wang Tiane leaving.

Wang Tiane continued choking back tears: "The boy was killed last night, and this camera footage is from last night too. Now do you believe me?"

Only then did Su Jingjing come back to her senses, looking at Wang Tiane with guilt.

"Tiane, I'm sorry, it was our fault for suspecting you again..." She couldn't help but take Wang Tiane's hand. "We didn't want to suspect you, it's just..."

"Wait."

Su Jingjing didn't know how to continue, but I suddenly interrupted her.

My face was pale, staring at the screen, trembling too much to speak.

Luo Meng beside me was also startled by my reaction, looking at me: "Gu Xiaoyu, what's wrong with you? What are you freaking out about?"

But I was looking at the video, my face growing paler by the second. Several seconds later, I finally managed to squeeze out words from between my teeth.

"You... look at the mirror in this surveillance footage."

In the video, the doorway was piled with many things—clearly Wang Tiane's precaution against herself walking out that door at night.

Among those things was a table with a makeup mirror on it.

And my focus was on that makeup mirror.

I snatched the surveillance phone from Luo Meng's hand and zoomed in on the mirror's reflection.

I could clearly see that this makeup mirror reflected the window of that dorm room.

And in the mirror, Wang Tiane could be seen climbing out through the window.

Everyone saw this scene, and not only did my face turn pale, but Luo Meng and Su Jingjing's faces went white too.

Even Wang Tiane's own face turned pale.

Yes, Wang Tiane hadn't stepped out through the door of her room even once, but she had climbed out through the window.

"Wait a minute..."

I heard Su Jingjing's trembling voice beside me.

"I just remembered, the police said they didn't capture anyone entering or leaving the victims' dorm rooms. But if the killer didn't go in through the main door but climbed in through the window from outside..."

I felt the hairs on my back stand up as I suddenly thought—

The first girl who died was in a dorm room directly below Wang Tiane's new room.

Coincidentally, the second boy who died was in a second-floor dorm room—not too high, and also accessible by climbing.

Meanwhile, Su Jingjing had already lost control, scrolling back to the night the first Chinese Department girl died.

Sure enough, that night too, the camera had captured Wang Tiane in the mirror's reflection climbing out the window.

And Luo Meng suddenly thought of something, asking with a trembling voice:

"Tiane, I remember... you love rock climbing, right?"

Wang Tiane had always been a rock climbing enthusiast, a member of the school's rock climbing club. When we went out before, she could handle even the most difficult climbing routes with ease.

Not only that, but there were many external air conditioning units and frames outside our dorm building that did make climbing convenient.

Not only did I think of all this, but everyone else, including Wang Tiane herself, realized it.

The dorm's originally cool white lighting shone on her face, making her complexion appear even paler.

I saw her stagger backward.

"No! It's impossible!" She kept saying to herself, "I couldn't have killed anyone... absolutely not... and I certainly couldn't have eaten..."

Wang Tiane seemed to be trying to convince herself, but clearly she didn't believe her own words either.

After all, she never remembered what she did while sleepwalking.

Before she could get out the word after "eat," she couldn't bear it any longer, retching once before turning and running away.

"Tiane!"

Su Jingjing instinctively called out, seeming to want to chase after her, but fear kept her feet rooted to the spot.

After Wang Tiane left, I immediately took out my phone.

Luo Meng came back to her senses and grabbed my wrist: "Xiaoyu, what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" I said with a pale face. "Of course I'm calling the police. Now that we have such important evidence, we should report it to the police."

As I was about to call, Luo Meng stopped me again.

"Wait a minute!"

Luo Meng looked at me, speaking with a trembling voice.

"If we're the ones to report this, then Tiane will be completely treated as the criminal. She's our friend after all. Why not give her some time to let herself turn herself in?"

I frowned: "But..."

"No buts!" This time, Luo Meng was unusually firm. "Although she's the perpetrator, she didn't do it willingly. Let her turn herself in. After all, we were roommates!"

Luo Meng put in a lot of effort, and finally convinced me.

I held off on calling the police.

But over the next two days, we didn't see Wang Tiane at all.

We wanted to persuade her to turn herself in, but we never got the chance.

Later, we heard from some girls in the Foreign Languages Department that Wang Tiane had taken sick leave and had been shut in her room for days.

The next evening, I finally couldn't bear it any longer and said: "We can't wait like this any longer. We need to call the police immediately. What if Wang Tiane accidentally hurts someone else in her sleep over the next two days? Can you take that responsibility?"

But Luo Meng retorted: "Wang Tiane must know she's been climbing out windows, so she's probably taken precautions. She wouldn't just let herself commit more crimes, would she?"

"How do you know? What if..."

Thump, thump, thump!

Before we could finish our argument, we were suddenly interrupted by knocking sounds.

Our entire dorm fell silent.

I quickly glanced at my phone by the bed—we had argued for so long without realizing it was already midnight.

Su Jingjing in the upper bunk was already trembling with fear: "Is someone knocking on the door? Could... could it be Wang Tiane?"

We were obviously all worried about a repeat of last time.

Or rather, what was more terrifying was that this time the person knocking might not be the awake Wang Tiane, but the terrifying sleepwalking Wang Tiane.

"Don't be too scared." Luo Meng across from me immediately said, "I already made sure the door is locked, so..."

Thump, thump, thump!

Before Luo Meng could finish, the knocking sound came again.

I quickly realized something wasn't right.

And it wasn't just me.

Su Jingjing in the upper bunk also realized something was wrong. I heard her trembling voice say: "Is... is it just my imagination? Why do I feel like this knocking isn't coming from outside the door. It sounds like... like it's coming from the window."

Chapter 5

I felt as if I had fallen into an ice cellar, my hands and feet completely without warmth.

That's right.

If our suspicions were correct, when Wang Tiane sleepwalked and committed crimes, she didn't go through the main door but climbed the walls outside the dorm building, entering other rooms through the windows.

At this thought.

I mechanically turned my head. We had all drawn our curtains, and the moonlight outside shone in, casting a shadow on the window.

It was the shadow of a person lying prone outside the window.

"Ahhh!"

I finally couldn't help but scream, while Su Jingjing in the upper bunk had clearly also seen the shadow on the window, screaming as she scrambled down from her bunk to grab me.

With my last bit of reason, I pulled her off the bed and ran toward the door.

Meanwhile, Luo Meng, for some reason, remained on her bed. I thought she was frozen in fear and slapped her shoulder hard.

"Why are you still standing there dumbfounded? Let's go!"

As I spoke, I grabbed the door handle to leave, but unexpectedly, I froze as I pulled it.

The door wouldn't open. I pulled hard several more times, but it still wouldn't budge.

The door wasn't even locked. I looked down and realized something was wrong.

I saw that someone had somehow stuffed paper into the door frame. Not just under the door, but paper had been packed densely into the gaps on the sides of the door as well.

Don't underestimate a few pieces of paper—with enough of them, the friction becomes enormous, making it impossible for me to pull the door open immediately.

I pulled hard several times, but finally gave up, turning to look at Luo Meng.

"Luo Meng, give me a hand!"

After all, Luo Meng was the athlete among us, originally the strongest of our group.

Only then did she turn around and pull on the door with all her might.

Bang!

After several strong pulls, the door finally opened. We were about to rush out when suddenly I realized something was wrong and looked back.

I froze.

Where was the shadow outside the window?

While we had been struggling with the door, the shadow outside the window had somehow disappeared.

Before I could react, Su Jingjing beside me suddenly screamed. I whipped my head around to see the sight before me and nearly fainted.

What we had expected to see standing outside the window—Wang Tiane's shadow—was now somehow standing at our dormitory entrance.

She stood there with vacant eyes, holding a blood-stained knife, giving us a strange smile.

"Hello, would you like some braised pork ribs?"

"Ahhhh!"

Su Jingjing beside me also saw Wang Tiane before us and screamed, continuously backing away.

Luo Meng and I were also terrified, backing away.

Wang Tiane walked directly into our dorm room.

Bang!

The dorm door closed again, and Wang Tiane stood at the doorway, trapping the three of us in the room.

"Wang Tiane, calm down!" I shouted loudly, trying to awaken Wang Tiane's reason. "Don't do anything crazy!"

But Wang Tiane was clearly sleepwalking, her eyes vacant, completely unable to hear my words.

She just raised the knife in her hand, muttering to herself.

"Cutting ribs, cutting ribs, I need to cut ribs."

With that, she actually approached us, waving the knife.

Only then did Su Jingjing come back to her senses, shouting toward the window: "Help! Somebody help us, help—ah!"

But before she could finish, Wang Tiane had already walked forward without hesitation and stabbed the knife straight into her chest.

Su Jingjing's eyes widened as she fell down, blood splattering across Wang Tiane's face.

But Wang Tiane still said blankly: "Hmm, these ribs can't be cut, only stabbed. How strange."

Seeing Su Jingjing fall, my face also turned pale.

"Luo Meng, quick, help me restrain her!"

I desperately pulled on Luo Meng beside me, wanting to join forces with her to subdue the Wang Tiane before us.

But Luo Meng, for some reason, just stared blankly at Wang Tiane, muttering to herself: "How could this be? Could it be... impossible!"

Seeing her like this, I gave up and turned to dodge Wang Tiane's attack.

But sleepwalking Wang Tiane was exceptionally agile, grabbing me and without another word, stabbing the knife into my stomach.

Blood splattered everywhere, and I too slowly collapsed to the ground.

Only Wang Tiane and Luo Meng remained in the dorm room.

Wang Tiane slowly walked over to Luo Meng, who only then seemed to awaken as if from a dream.

"Stop!" she shouted. "I told you to stop! Wang Tiane! Wake up!"

As she spoke, she grabbed the water beside her and threw it hard in Wang Tiane's face.

But this time, Wang Tiane didn't wake up, continuing to hold the knife as she approached Luo Meng, muttering: "The last rib..."

Just as she was about to raise the knife, Luo Meng suddenly pulled something from her pocket, shouting: "Look here! Look at this!"

What Luo Meng pulled out was a silver pendant, with a large circular pocket watch at the bottom—just like the kind hypnotists use in TV shows.

Luo Meng seemed to use all her strength to calm herself, continuously swinging the pendant as she spoke: "Come on, listen to my commands. Put down the knife immediately. Put the knife down first, okay?"

Wang Tiane's steps stopped, but she still didn't put down the knife in her hand.

Luo Meng suddenly became angry: "I told you to put down the knife! Did you hear me? Why won't you follow my commands?"

In the air around us, my voice suddenly echoed—

"Of course she won't follow your commands, because she's not sleepwalking at all right now."

Luo Meng's body jerked violently as she turned her head and saw a shocking sight.

Su Jingjing and I, who should have been stabbed to death, slowly stood up. We were covered in "blood," but our expressions were perfectly calm.

Luo Meng suddenly realized something: "This blood..."

I wiped the "blood" off myself.

"It's just paint." I took the knife from Wang Tiane's hand. "This knife is fake too."

I poked the knife—it was retractable.

Luo Meng understood, looking at Wang Tiane beside her with even more anger: "You weren't sleepwalking at all!"

At that moment, Wang Tiane's eyes also cleared up.

She looked at Luo Meng before her, her lips pale as she muttered to herself: "So it really was you, Luo Meng? Were you controlling everything?"

And Luo Meng finally understood, turning to look at me coldly: "Neither Su Jingjing nor Wang Tiane has the brains for this. Gu Xiaoyu, you figured it out, didn't you?"

I nodded calmly. Luo Meng's hands clenched into fists: "When did you realize something was wrong?"

I spoke: "From the moment you wouldn't let me call the police."

That's right, from the moment Luo Meng strongly opposed me calling the police two days ago, I realized something was wrong.

Because Luo Meng wasn't particularly close to Wang Tiane, and she had always been someone who hated injustice—there was no way she would deliberately stop me from calling the police, and so forcefully.

So I pretended to agree while secretly investigating behind the scenes.

I continued:

"Actually, many things feel wrong when you think about them carefully.

"Although some people can push their physical limits while sleepwalking, I've observed Wang Tiane when she sleepwalks—she simply wouldn't be capable of performing such difficult actions as climbing windows and killing people. So I was already somewhat suspicious.

"So I looked up some books about sleepwalking and discovered that while sleepwalking can be guided to some extent by a qualified hypnotist, this control is very limited and unlikely to be complex enough to make someone kill.

"So I suspected someone wanted to frame Wang Tiane, and you were the most likely suspect. After all, you could get closest to her, and when I thought back, you were the one always leading us to suspect her."

I looked at Luo Meng, my voice tinged with coldness.

"I also investigated this. Luo Meng, you were quite close to that girl who died, weren't you?"

We had always known Luo Meng didn't like boys, but that was her private business, so we hadn't paid much attention.

But now, I investigated and discovered that Luo Meng and that girl had been in the same group and had gone out together many times.

But that relationship hadn't lasted long, as the girl got together with the boy from the Computer Science Department.

So out of the four of us in our dorm, two had connections to the deceased couple—

Tiane liked the boy, but she had already given up on him long ago.

But Luo Meng liked the girl, and it seemed she hadn't let go.

So a crime of passion arising from unrequited love wasn't just possible with Tiane—it was possible with Luo Meng too.

But I hadn't been certain of any of this.

I spoke: "So Su Jingjing and I found Tiane and staged tonight's little drama."

Tiane had never actually climbed in and out of windows. I had asked someone from the dorm upstairs to cooperate with me, hanging a weighted human-like doll outside the window that could make bumping sounds.

Then we had Wang Tiane pretend to "kill" us, leading Luo Meng to reveal the truth.

I looked at the hypnotic pendant in Luo Meng's hand and spoke:

"And now I've confirmed it."

Luo Meng smiled bitterly again: "That's right, it's exactly as you said."

She spoke slowly:

"Actually, my mother is a hypnotist. I learned hypnosis from a young age and can control people's dreams or some unconscious activities during sleepwalking. After I discovered Tiane's sleepwalking ability, I secretly experimented a few times and found I could indeed control the content of her dreams and some simple sleepwalking behaviors.

"So when Xiaoqin betrayed me, I immediately wanted to kill Xiaoqin and that bastard. The first person I thought of was having Tiane help me take revenge."

Xiaoqin was the name of the girl who died.

Luo Meng smiled coldly:

"Unfortunately, just as you said, although Wang Tiane was sleepwalking, she couldn't accomplish something as difficult as murder. So I had to settle for killing them myself while making her think she had done it.

"I climbed out the window at night and killed Xiaoqin, then climbed to the men's dorm and killed that bastard. Each time, I would hypnotize Tiane to climb outside her window and stand there for a while before climbing back. That way, as long as the camera captured part of it, it could serve as evidence.

"I had originally planned to let Tiane turn herself in, or perhaps feel guilty enough to commit suicide. I never expected you would see through it."

I looked at Wang Tiane beside me, who had already collapsed crying: "Why did you use me like this?"

Hearing this, Luo Meng also shouted angrily: "I had no choice! Who asked Xiaoqin to betray me! I had to make her pay!"

"If you wanted her to pay, you should have borne the consequences yourself," I said coldly. "What kind of person uses someone else to do their dirty work?"

Luo Meng's face turned pale, unable to speak.

Finally, we called the police, and they took Luo Meng away. This entire drama had finally come to an end.

(The End)