Chapter 26: Never Give Up
A message from hell, from someone already deceased.
—”Feifei, did you kill me?”
Regardless of whether the sender could see or hear her, Qiaoqiao declared firmly: “No! Absolutely not!!”
The three of them had no doubt about this answer.
The question was, how could the deceased “Xiaoya” send them a photo?
“Someone’s playing tricks.” Min Zhi said. “AirDrop has a range of ten meters, this person must be in this building.”
“Mm-hmm.” Xi Leng said. “I think they’re helping us. I’ll reply first…”
With the other two’s consent, Xi Leng started typing.
“No.”
“Xiaoya, we were best friends.”
Xi Leng wasn’t sure who pushed Xiaoya off the building. Whoever it was, it definitely wasn’t Feifei. Even if Xiaoya jumped herself, it was a desperate choice to escape this hell.
So, Xi Leng added another sentence: “They killed you.”
He took a screenshot of the three lines and AirDropped it to the deceased “Xiaoya.”
A moment later, the phone vibrated again.
[AirDrop]
[“Xiaoya” wants to share 1 photo]
A simple sentence on the picture: “How will you prove your innocence?”
This question revealed the sender’s stance.
He was helping them.
Xi Leng seized the time and opened the computer again, using the phone to record the video evidence.
The entire video was over ten minutes long. He adjusted the recording angle and, not wanting to waste time waiting, opened the two girls’ exchange diary again.
He would read a few entries whenever he had the time, but the diary mostly contained trivial daily events and the two girls’ complaints and criticisms of each other.
“These complaints were definitely for the hospital staff to see.” Qiaoqiao analyzed logically. “Because of Xiaoya’s injury, they were separated and confined to single special wards. Unable to see each other, they could only communicate through other means. There might be a hidden code in the diary.”
From the diary entries, they learned that Xiaoya was an excellent student, while Feifei had exceptional drawing talent.
They brainstormed, going through various methods of hiding codes, but the diary entries seemed normal.
Flipping through a few random pages, he saw Feifei’s doodles, lively and vivid. Xi Leng studied them for a moment, then reached out to touch them, slowly sliding his fingers down, stopping between a diary entry and a doodle.
Qiaoqiao hurriedly asked: “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Xi Leng lowered his head, tilting the diary to find the right angle: “There are strange indentations here.”
Min Zhi immediately handed him a pencil.
Xi Leng understood, taking the pencil and quickly shading over the indented area.
Soon, hidden indented writing appeared amidst the gray pencil marks, dashes, dots, and separators, arranged seemingly randomly. Rather than “dots” and “dashes,” it was more like “short” and “long.”
Different combinations and arrangements of short and long could represent both text and sound. This was a classic code—
“This is… Morse code!” Qiaoqiao’s excitement was short-lived. “But I haven’t memorized the Morse code alphabet…”
“You definitely don’t need to memorize it, and neither do we.” Xi Leng said calmly. “Don’t forget, they’re just ordinary high school students. There’s probably a codebook hidden somewhere, we just haven’t found it yet.”
They still had one unused clue—Xiaoya’s treatment records, found in the locked drawer along with the phone.
Qiaoqiao flipped through it, comparing it with the diary, her pupils suddenly constricting. She rubbed her arms and said: “I found something… the dates of Xiaoya’s injuries and treatments are exactly the same as the dates Feifei left the Morse code messages.”
According to the treatment records, Feifei and Xiaoya fought frequently. There was even one instance where Xiaoya was thrown against the wall by Feifei, hitting her head and bleeding profusely, her life in danger, having to be sent to a Class A hospital for emergency treatment.
During those days after the incident, Feifei confessed and apologized in her diary entries, yet also left behind the mysterious code.
Xi Leng closed the diary: “We need to find the codebook now, to find out what really happened between them.”
“Mm-hmm, either on the bookshelf in the activity room downstairs,” Min Zhi agreed, “or in the special ward they stayed in upstairs. I think upstairs is more likely.”
They were currently on the fourth floor, just one floor away from the top floor, the fifth floor.
However, the last flight of stairs leading to the fifth floor was blocked by a locked metal gate.
The gaps between the bars were narrow. Although a finger could fit through, it couldn’t reach the latch inserted on the other side.
Fortunately, there were two ways to go upstairs and downstairs, and there was also the elevator, which Xi Leng hadn’t taken yet.
Xi Leng stubbornly tried to reach the latch, unwilling to give up, wanting to go back to the storage room downstairs to find tools.
“If we could just take the elevator up, it would be too easy.”
Qiaoqiao, trusting his words, thought for a moment, then had a sudden realization: “I remember pressing all the buttons in the elevator before I came up, only the buttons for the fifth floor and the basement level weren’t lit. There’s also a card reader below the buttons, you probably need a card to go to those floors.”
She was also the only one among the three who had used the elevator.
Xi Leng understood: “So that’s why the nurses took the stairs, they don’t have access either.”
“Ah…” Qiaoqiao sighed, gently shaking the gate. “It’s not locked from the inside, if someone could just open it for us!”
So many nurses had rushed to the fifth floor, saying the girl in the special ward needed urgent surgery, yet the entrance to the fifth floor was eerily quiet. They didn’t know if those people were waiting in ambush on the fifth floor, or had moved to the operating room elsewhere.
“…Jiayan.” Xi Leng suddenly thought of something. “It’s been a while, they should have found the clues and come upstairs by now, right?”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone, attracted by their voices, walked over lightly.
The footsteps were so light that just as the three of them became alert, a familiar figure appeared behind the metal gate.
“Ah Zhao!”
Luo Jiayan was overjoyed, momentarily forgetting to control his volume.
Following behind Luo Jiayan, with a sullen face and red hair, was Jiang Songnan.
“Don’t worry, there’s no one upstairs, we latched the door…” Luo Jiayan came to open the door, explaining as he did so.
Several hearts collectively dropped back into their chests.
After numerous trials and tribulations, the five guests were reunited. Luo Jiayan and Qiaoqiao were the happiest, excitedly sharing their thrilling experiences.
Luo Jiayan said: “…The basement level is like a prison, bloodstains and torture instruments everywhere. We were separated and locked in rooms opposite each other, we had to find the password to get out. We also found some records of organ trafficking, and there’s a monitor in the hall showing the inside of the operating room.”
Xi Leng only reacted after hearing the last part, showing him the video on his phone: “Is it this operating room?”
Luo Jiayan’s throat tightened at the horrifying scene: “Yes, exactly the same…”
“This is a video of Xiaoya before her death. We suspect she committed suicide because she couldn’t bear the torture, Feifei is innocent.” Xi Leng said. “Did you find any clues about Feifei? She should still be alive, and her biological father hasn’t given up on finding her…”
“Ah, here!” Luo Jiayan stopped, pointing. “This is Feifei’s ward.”
The five of them entered the empty special ward.
The layout of the special ward was similar to the ordinary ward on the second floor, with one less bed, replaced by the tall wooden chair they had seen in the storage room.
A coil of rope lay scattered around the legs of the chair.
A trail of what looked like blood droplets stretched from the door to the chair. Xi Leng touched it, the sticky texture surprisingly realistic, making him gasp, a chill running down his spine like a snake coiling around him.
He unconsciously loosened his collar and touched the intact concealer patch on his neck.
The current situation was enough to indicate that not long ago, someone was tied to the chair and injured. But the person was now missing.
The girl the nurses said needed surgery was presumably Feifei, who had suffered inhumane abuse. However, rather than saying she was critically ill and needing emergency treatment, it was more likely that someone powerful and influential desperately needed a fresh organ…
There weren’t many things in the room, Luo Jiayan and Jiang Songnan had already checked everywhere visible. Xi Leng went over and flipped the blanket, a book falling out from under the mattress.
“The Complete Book of Codes”
He flipped to the page on Morse code according to the table of contents.
Qiaoqiao brought paper and pen from the office, squatted down beside the bedside table, and started deciphering the code.
Everyone tacitly remained quiet.
The first diary entry with a code was from when Xiaoya injured her wrist and the two were separated.
-../-. /— /- /-.- /.. /.-.. /.-.. /-.– /— /..-/.-. /… /. /.-.. /..-. /
“D, O, N, T…” Qiaoqiao, completely focused, translated the code into letters one by one. “K, I, L, L, Y, O, U, R, S, E, L, F.”
All the letters were on the paper, clear at a glance.
“Don’t kill yourself.”
“Feifei told Xiaoya not to commit suicide… She was trying to save Xiaoya.”
Min Zhi and Xi Leng said simultaneously, then exchanged glances.
Qiaoqiao nodded solemnly, continuing to translate: “Live on.”
Someone echoed: “Live on.”
Hidden beneath the complaints and dissatisfaction, this was what Feifei truly wanted to say to Xiaoya.
Qiaoqiao sniffed, continuing to write on the paper.
I felt hurt, too.
You are my spiritual support.
Qiaoqiao finally couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, sobbing: “She was trying to save her, she was trying to save her… They were such good friends, how could they, how could they wrongly accuse Feifei like that?”
The young girl’s IQ was far above average, a 20-year-old Mensa member, a math major at a top university, but beneath those accolades, she was just a young, kind, and sentimental girl.
And the day after Xiaoya was admitted with a severe head injury, Feifei complained in her diary, saying that Xiaoya in the hospital was acting like she was possessed, throwing a tantrum and demanding that she personally apologize!
“Could it be…” Qiaoqiao speculated, “Xiaoya deliberately injured herself to get out of the hospital and create an opportunity for Feifei to escape?”
Whether Feifei went to the hospital or not was unknown, but she was clearly still trapped in the hospital. This day’s diary entry also contained Morse code.
I won’t leave you alone.
The truth surfaced. Feifei’s answer was firm and resolute, she refused to abandon her friend and escape alone, refusing to walk a path paved with her friend’s sacrifice.
The diary wasn’t over yet.
Feifei’s true feelings, hidden within the code, were translated one by one, brought into the light.
Let’s get out of here.
Never give up.
Never give up.
From this page onwards, all the following codes in the diary translated to the same sentence.
Never give up.
Feifei, using a code only her intelligent friend could understand, told her again and again, never give up.
Never give up.
But the diary still ended with Xiaoya’s death.
A long and heavy silence fell over the ward, even breathing felt difficult.
The sound of flipping pages broke the silence. Xi Leng, his eyes lowered, suspected that this “Complete Book of Codes” might contain other clues. He casually flipped through it, letting the book fall open to the most frequently read page.
Besides the page on Morse code, which was the most worn, there was a blank page.
The blank page was filled with familiar handwriting.
It was Feifei’s writing, even messier than her diary entries to Xiaoya, as if this was the real her, equally pained and fragile, beneath the mask of forced calmness.
The silent words jumped out at him, yet it was as if a desperate and helpless girl’s voice was echoing in his ears, calling out “Baba.”
[Translator’s Note:“Baba” is the Chinese word for “dad.”]
—Baba, I didn’t kill anyone.
—Baba, save me.
—Baba, I’m so scared.
—Baba, I miss you so much.
—Baba, Xiaoya is dead, will I die too?
—Baba…
This was a little girl’s helpless and painful cry for help to the person she trusted most.
Finally, at this moment, someone saw it, heard it.
Qiaoqiao’s heart ached. She wiped her eyes and said: “I knew it, Feifei is also innocent. There must be more to the story of her killing her stepfather, but the rumors spread, and no one believed her anymore. She was blamed for Xiaoya’s death, which led to her being placed under special management, even her biological father couldn’t visit her…”
Xi Leng silently opened his phone, suddenly pointing it at the plea on the page and taking a photo.
Then, he AirDropped it to “Xiaoya.”
Min Zhi and Qiaoqiao frowned, seemingly not understanding his actions. Luo Jiayan, who had less information than them, was startled by the deceased’s name on the screen.
Xi Leng kept his head lowered, waiting for a reply, saying calmly: “I think I know who he is.”
A parent’s selfless devotion to their child, their desperate protection and rescue, this was an emotion Xi Leng had never experienced.
But it didn’t prevent him from logically and rationally understanding it.
“This should be Feifei’s father, Zhu Gongping, who filed the complaint against Ren’ai Mental Hospital.”
A moment later, the phone vibrated slightly.
[AirDrop]
[“Xiaoya” wants to share 1 photo]
The other party didn’t confirm their identity, but the clue they gave was straightforward—”Hurry to the staff lounge, find the elevator access card, go to the operating room in the basement and save Feifei, I’ll help you get out of here.”
This was undoubtedly Feifei’s father, Zhu Gongping.
Jiang Songnan, for once, proved useful. He flaunted his red hair, taking credit: “We already searched the staff lounge, I have the access card.”
That saved them a lot of trouble.
Luo Jiayan, however, wasn’t very enthusiastic. He leaned close to Xi Leng and whispered: “Ah Zhao, are you going down in the elevator too?”
His eyes were filled with concern, while Xi Leng’s expression remained unchanged: “Yes, I have nowhere else to go.”
“Okay.” Luo Jiayan was still slightly worried. “It’s good that there are so many of us…”
“Mm-hmm.”
The two walked ahead, chatting, mostly Luo Jiayan eagerly asking, and Xi Leng briefly answering.
Min Zhi listened to their conversation, the confusion in his heart growing.
Clearly, for some reason, Xi Leng was very reluctant to use the elevator.
He was puzzled by this, but Luo Jiayan, who had known Xi Leng for over a decade, understood perfectly.
They entered the elevator, swiped the card, and pressed the B1 button.
The elevator smoothly descended.
Min Zhi’s gaze drifted towards Xi Leng, glancing at him curiously again and again. His face was pale and calm.
Until the elevator reached the bottom.
Xi Leng subtly crossed his arms, a typical defensive posture he had learned on the bus not long ago.
With a ding, everyone’s gazes turned to the slowly opening elevator doors, wary of potential danger.
Min Zhi looked at Xi Leng again.
The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed, the concealer patch moving slightly along with it. He unconsciously clenched his fingers, leaving distinct red marks on his pale arm.
However, as he relaxed his hand, his sleeve slid down, covering the red marks, and everything returned to normal.
“We’re here, let’s go, there’s no one outside.” Qiaoqiao called out, looking back.
The other four filed out of the elevator, Xi Leng still with his usual indifferent and calm demeanor.
Only that momentary loss of composure, unnoticed by anyone else.
Luo Jiayan and Jiang Songnan, who had been to the basement before, led the way, through the long corridor, past several prison-like cells, to a square space bathed in harsh white light.
Metal walls on all sides, giving off a cold and eerie feeling even in the summer heat.
Two rows of metal chairs lined the wall, like a waiting area outside a hospital department, but the screen facing the chairs displayed surveillance footage.
As Luo Jiayan said, the footage showed the operating room they had seen on the director’s computer, a group of people in white preparing for surgery around the operating table.
Luo Jiayan subconsciously held his breath, afraid of alerting the people in the operating room, his voice very low: “There was no one here before…”
Fortunately, the operating table was empty, Feifei wasn’t there.
Xi Leng went to check the screen, found a button, pressed it, and the surveillance footage switched to another small room.
The same cold metal walls, a single bed in the middle of the room, a comatose girl hooked up to various tubes, her limbs restrained by metal shackles.
Xi Leng matched this face with the photo on the phone: “This is Feifei.”
Qiaoqiao said hurriedly: “But where is she? How do we save her?”
They didn’t know Feifei’s location, they hadn’t even seen the door to the operating room.
The only areas they could access in the basement were the corridor connecting the elevator and the stairs, a few small prison cells, and the current area, which could be considered a hall.
Min Zhi suddenly said to Xi Leng: “There’s a painting over there.”
There was a metal shelf against the wall. Perhaps to add a touch of warmth to this cold and sterile space, an oil painting on canvas was embedded in the middle of the shelf.
This painting wasn’t the famous “The Starry Night,” so the four could only wait for Xi Leng, the art expert, to speak.
Xi Leng went over to examine it, finding that this painting, like “The Garden of Earthly Delights” in the hotel, was a full-size replica of the original, the textured brushstrokes of the oil paint clearly visible, not the thin, easily torn paper from before.
More concerned about Xi Leng’s thoughtful expression than rescuing someone, Min Zhi asked him: “What is this painting?”
Xi Leng murmured: “John Everett Millais’s, ‘Ophelia’…”
Min Zhi asked: “Ophelia from ‘Hamlet’?”
Xi Leng paused slightly, thinking for a moment before confirming: “Mm-hmm.”
Their conversation, as if no one else was present, left the others puzzled. Qiaoqiao took the initiative and asked: “What does this painting mean?”
Min Zhi said: “Ophelia is a character in ‘Hamlet’…”
He stopped mid-sentence, and Xi Leng, understanding his look, added: “This painting is also about her.”
Min Zhi, having received confirmation, continued: “Mm-hmm. Ophelia is a tragic character who, after suffering a great shock, goes mad and drowns.”
Qiaoqiao gasped, looking at the painting in disbelief: “But this painting is so beautiful.”
The beautiful girl in red, just before being submerged by the water, seemed to be floating, light and graceful.
Blue eyes, slightly parted red lips, a lace dress, surrounded by vibrant flowers.
Xi Leng, at this moment, was also in disbelief.
Min Zhi didn’t seem like someone who would read “Hamlet,” yet he spoke so casually and knowledgeably.
Qiaoqiao noticed a few lines of poetry in the bottom right corner of the painting and turned back to ask: “This poem is also beautiful, is it about Ophelia too?”
They all looked at the short poem.
This time, Min Zhi said directly: “This is a poem Arthur Rimbaud wrote for Ophelia, it’s called ‘Ophelia’.”
Xi Leng couldn’t contain his surprise any longer, ripples appearing in his usually calm, hazel eyes.
Min Zhi raised an eyebrow: “What?”
He wore a bunch of rebellious and flamboyant earrings, a complete rockstar look, yet he said something unbelievable: “I majored in Comparative Literature.”
“…”
This statement was as earth-shattering as overturning a scientific truth. By the time Xi Leng reacted, his expression had already revealed his true feelings.
He could only admit: “…I just found out.”
As a loyal fan of three years, actively participating in offline activities, yet, he didn’t even know Min Zhi’s major.
Such a contrasting major at that.
Min Zhi’s slightly furrowed brows reflected his suspicion.
Xi Leng pursed his lips, looking at him seriously, saying humbly: “I’m just a painter, I don’t really pay attention to these things.”
But not even caring about his idol’s major was still suspicious.
Xi Leng smiled shyly: “I’m just… a shallow fan of yours.”
