The door to Room 4-1 was open.
Soft light shone on the mirror, reflecting the corridor’s scene.
When Wen Xishu was enveloped by that light, he first looked at the mirror.
Then he began to look at the source of the crying. The owner of the crying was very young, about twenty-five years old, but seemed to be about the same age as Wen Xishu.
The girl’s arms had many scratches, and there were scars on her face. Her wrists bore long-term chain marks.
However, today, the girl did not look at Wen Xishu but was instead slightly facing away from him. Wen Xishu noticed that her position and the mirror created a sort of alignment.
"Airplane? You... how did you get out of bed?" The girl, who had been crying hysterically, was startled when she saw the man from the next door get up, and she temporarily stopped crying.
Wen Xishu said:
"I’m better."
"What do you mean?" the girl asked.
"I no longer fantasize that I’m an airplane. I know that was a problem. I’ve forgotten many things, but I remember why I came here. Now... I’m better," Wen Xishu said.
The girl shook her head and said:
"You’ve had moments of clarity before, but soon after... No, that’s not the most important thing, Airplane, go notify everyone—"
Before the girl could finish speaking, Wen Xishu heard the sound of a radio nearby.
[Mo Yuan is feeling very sorrowful; the designated time has passed, but Ding Dong has not returned to the asylum. And the floor is completely blocked.]
As the radio’s sound faded, the voice of an old lady came from Room 4-8:
"Don’t worry, don’t worry, Xiaomo, don’t be afraid. Ding Dong will return. Ding Dong will return!"
Leaning on a cane, the old lady smiled kindly, wearing somewhat loose hospital clothes as she came out.
"It’s okay, it’s okay..." The old lady, as if she couldn’t bear to see the young girl upset, kept muttering, "Don’t worry," "He’ll be back," "It’s okay," and other such words.
But Mo Yuan shook her head and said:
"It’s blocked... The floor is blocked. The words on the door have changed! Something must have happened to Ding Dong!"
There is a door at the stairwell. The words on the door originally said "Return." But now, the words on the door had changed to "No Entry."
This door clearly had some special purpose, but the memory of playing the airplane guy only contained memories of flying battles on the bed. He couldn’t recall the specifics of the door’s function.
However, from his experiences in Deceit Tower, it seemed the door was eventually opened. It was most likely opened by people from the lower three floors.
Wen Xishu seemed to understand something.
At this moment, another voice spoke, this time a child’s—a chubby little boy with drool at the corner of his mouth, holding a pipe:
"Sister is telling the truth. Grandma is lying. Hehe, Sister tells the truth. Grandma lies."
This was the child living in Room 4-18. Since he was playing in the hallway, he happened to hear Mo Yuan and the old lady’s conversation.
The little boy started giggling foolishly, but as he laughed, he began to cry loudly:
"Brother Ding Dong is dead! Brother Ding Dong won’t come back! Waaah, he doesn’t want me anymore."
The cry was so sorrowful that it resonated with the blindfolded girl, who also began sobbing:
"I want to find him!! Let’s go find him together! Lele, don’t cry. I don’t believe he would die. He can’t die!"
The old lady also started to panic at this moment:
"Ah... Xiaodingdong is dead? Impossible, impossible. He said he would return. He must be... he must be lost. Let’s go find him. Let’s bring him back home."
Wen Xishu did not move throughout; he just listened to these patients’ conversations, mulling over the entire story.
New characters soon appeared:
"Granny Wu, Xiaomo, Lele, I’ll go with you... I know the places he likes to go."
"When Ding Dong was making shoes for me, we talked about the places we most wanted to go! I know where he wants to go!"
A middle-aged man with a rider’s helmet appeared.
He was wearing the shoes imprinted with footprints that Wen Xishu had discovered. He was the resident of Room 4-12.
At the same time, a chef carrying a rice cooker and holding a fork also walked out from Room 4-16:
"I’ll go with you. It’s good to have company along the way. I can cook for you. We’ll take the mirror with us. No matter what, we have to find him. We have to see him alive or dead!"
The chef was tall, burly, and had a fierce-looking face, but his appearance made everyone feel a bit more at ease.
His name was Xiangyang, arguably the one with the mildest condition among this group.
The gang was assembled.
Wen Xishu looked at the chef, the rider, Granny Wu, Lele, Mo Yuan. These five people corresponded to the senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch...
And the task from Desire Tower was this:
Perhaps you can find something that can respond to their longing. Please make the patients in Rooms 4-1, 4-8, 4-12, 4-16, and 4-18 feel happy.
With this, Wen Xishu had figured out part of their fate trajectory.
These patients all had deep feelings for the great inventor Ding Dong. And Ding Dong seemed to have died outside.
The closing of that door meant that an accident had happened to Ding Dong, triggering some kind of protective measure.
There were many ways to make these people happy. It’s possible that just some comforting words could complete the task.
But they weren’t yet certain that the great inventor Ding Dong had died. If they found out later... or if they were targeted by people from the lower three floors, they would probably die too.
The final degree of completion would definitely not be high.
Achieving their current heartfelt wish would be the greatest joy, and their joy was to find the great inventor, to see him alive or dead.
Or perhaps, to find other things that could respond to their longing.