Chapter 10: Digging It Out Won’t Make It Work Well

Whether the woman was saved or not, the story didn’t say; it wasn’t the point of the story anyway.

But after Xu Xiye’s interruption, at least that lingering haunting feeling faded, though the image of a blood-soaked woman crawling from the women’s restroom to the men’s, then tiptoeing in to knock, was still not a pleasant one.

The elevator to the fourth floor rumbled open on the first floor. Every operation sounded like a machine about to malfunction.

They might fall from a height and be crushed into meat pancakes in the elevator shaft, or be trapped in that narrow, sealed space until death.

If in the anomalous world you feel something terrifying is about to happen, it probably will.

This was a lesson Li Qing had learned.

So, when the elevator opened its giant maw to her, she stopped. Facing an elevator, she felt fear.

But the people around her seemed completely unaware. First in was Xu Xiye, then Brother Zhang and Sharp Head. These three were anomalies; they wouldn’t be killed by a mere elevator. It was normal for them to ignore anomalies and see nothing unusual. But Jiang Wuning, Lu Neng, Wang Xiaodian—none of them noticed either, including that Little Li.

Little Li’s mind was near collapse. His Sanity Value might be down to 100 or 50, and they hadn’t even passed the third day. Once Sanity Value dropped to negative, he couldn’t be pulled back.

If they did a self-introduction now, Little Li wouldn’t be Little Li. He’d be Liu Lingling.

“Li Qing, Li Qing!”

Li Qing heard someone call her name. At the same moment, a slight sting came from her wrist—the stimulation the bracelet gave when Sanity Value dropped by over 30 in an instant.

Li Qing glanced at the number on it: 198.

An ordinary person’s Sanity Value was usually 200, but her stable value was 400. Now it was 198.

It looked only two points below the maximum for ordinary people, but from another perspective, she had already lost 202.

The fluctuation was too great. The number clearly told her that.

Three days. In these three days, she hadn’t even encountered any danger. That’s the Inner World; the danger is silent.

Li Qing’s face was long and grim. Combined with her sharp, aggressive features, she looked especially unapproachable.

She pressed her lips tightly, holding back what she was about to say. No matter what, her tone would not be good right now.

She shook her head at the others and entered the elevator.

The moment she came to her senses, the elevator turned back to its usual form—not new, but not so old it would collapse at any moment.

A drop in Sanity Value was normal, Li Qing told herself. Only by dropping could you see more things that were normally invisible.

In this place, relying solely on the “normal” world, through “normal” Liu Lingling, finding the pollution source would be very difficult.

Liu Lingling hanging in the office, the pregnant woman dead in the restroom, and now the elevator.

Li Qing stepped inside. The elevator doors closed. In the oppressive atmosphere, Xu Xiye stared at Li Qing’s bracelet and asked, “Your watches seem to be the same. Where did you buy them?”

Li Qing’s fingers twitched slightly, and she didn’t answer. Jiang Wuning smiled and replied, “We bought them together in our hometown.”

“Was there a discount for buying three?” He thought for a moment and said, “Could you buy one for me as a proxy?”

“…”

Wang Xiaodian actually understood his Shifu. The thing was a black metallic piece with a techy feel, very cool, and could monitor Sanity Value. Wang Xiaodian wanted one too.

He looked at Jiang Wuning.

Jiang Wuning: “…”

Jiang Wuning: “Sorry, that’s not possible. This bracelet is limited to one per person, requires identity registration, and would be quite troublesome to get.”

Xu Xiye was a bit disappointed. He was actually thinking of the man at the hotel. The man had a similar one, though he hadn’t looked closely. Up close, it was so beautiful.

He wanted the eyes and he wanted the bracelet. The man had so many things he wanted, but lately, for some reason, he couldn’t get what he wanted.

He furrowed his brow with worry.

Wang Xiaodian quickly said, “Shifu, next time I’ll bring you one. It can’t be exactly the same, but I’ll definitely find something in a similar style.”

“Mm? Okay, thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

Jiang Wuning glanced at Wang Xiaodian. It was a calm look, but for some reason it felt strange. When they exited the elevator on the fourth floor, Jiang Wuning whispered something in Wang Xiaodian’s ear. Wang Xiaodian’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes suddenly widened.

She said, “Words have power, especially in the Inner World. Don’t make promises lightly.”

Saying “next time” was practically saying he’d enter the Inner World again next time.

He admitted his Shifu was a good person, but he didn’t want to come back here either…

Wang Xiaodian shut his mouth. Then, from the chaos in his mind, he recalled that he’d previously said, “I’ll work hard.” He thought about how to do his job well and make the company’s products sell big. He seemed to be growing a sense of belonging, which was truly a terrifying thought upon closer inspection.

Xu Xiye must have heard. He stood nearby and hadn’t left. Now he came to comfort him: “Little Wang, don’t worry. We’re just ordinary people. Even if words have power, it’s very small. Don’t worry, next time if you don’t bring me a bracelet, I won’t be angry.”

Wang Xiaodian wanted to cry. “Shifu… I just want to get back home safely, ugh…”

“Of course. Do you want to buy a train ticket?”

Wang Xiaodian didn’t know what to say, just shook his head gloomily.

Brother Zhang and Sharp Head had already returned to the office. In the corner, only Xu Xiye and these outsiders remained. Remembering what Wang Xiaodian had mentioned before, Jiang Wuning interrupted the master-disciple pull.

“Xu Xiye, I heard you’re looking for that crazy person?”

Jiang Wuning was very surprised to learn this. It was the first time she knew that the Inner World was aware of pollution sources.

In colloquial terms, it was “going crazy.”

There was even a psychiatric hospital.

They still understood too little about the Inner World.

Xu Xiye paused, abandoning Wang Xiaodian to talk to Jiang Wuning. “Yeah, mental patients always say they’re not sick. Handing out cards for them to see isn’t enough. Best to find the person and persuade them.”

Jiang Wuning: “Have you thought of a way?”

What good ideas did Xu Xiye have? He sighed. “Just watch more and ask more.”

Jiang Wuning wasn’t disappointed. It was like an NPC in a game, one that comes to you must have a quest, even if he looks like a mere bystander.

The kind who just come to work.

And Brother Zhang beside him gave the same feeling.

“If you get any leads, could you tell us?” she said.

“Sure. You all haven’t even passed probation and you’re already busy with this. So enthusiastic.” So many colleagues just chatted about it and moved on.

Jiang Wuning smiled. “After all, our bodies are weaker and we get infected easily.”

“True. Then you should keep the psychiatric hospital’s promo card with you. You might need it someday.”

“We’ll keep it.”

During the afternoon work, Xu Xiye couldn’t help constantly staring at Little Li. To talk to “ta,” you first had to see “ta.” Aside from going crazy yourself, the only way to see “ta” was to use someone else’s eyes.

But what exactly should he do?

Ideally, even when Little Li wasn’t looking, he could still see whenever he wanted.

How?

Xu Xiye was lost in thought, and a voice seemed to arise in his mind: 【If you want to do it, just do it.】

【I don’t know how.】

【You want it, so you can.】

【Don’t I need to ask?】

【You can ask too.】

The voice that seemed to be talking to himself in his head—at least that’s what Xu Xiye thought. When thinking about problems, many people do that.

He stood up and approached Little Li. “Hello, Little Li.”

Little Li tilted his head up, a smile on his lips. “Hello.”

Then he added, “But I’m not called Little Li. My name is Liu Lingling.”

Wang Xiaodian, eavesdropping behind: “!” Little Li was at it again!

Xu Xiye looked at him disapprovingly. “It’s not good to steal someone else’s identity, is it? Oh, right, you’re crazy. Crazy people may often believe they’re someone else.”

Little Li stopped smiling. He turned his face slightly away and glared at Xu Xiye. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m Liu Lingling. I’m not crazy.”

The peeking Wang Xiaodian: “…” Oh, that expression!

He didn’t know what that expression would be like on the real Liu Lingling, but on Little Li’s face it was truly indescribable.

Little Li was a year younger than Wang Xiaodian, just starting his senior year, over 170 cm, with very fair skin, a delicate-looking boy. But he was too timid; the slightest disturbance could make him tremble with fear.

This timidity was different from Wang Xiaodian’s. Once Wang Xiaodian was sure someone meant no harm, he gradually relaxed. Little Li, however, would think deeply, growing more and more frightened.

In just a few days, his cheeks had become gaunt, face pale and bloodless, his eyes especially large.

At this rate, he would really die.

Xu Xiye didn’t find Little Li’s expression strange. He even apologized: “Alright, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I have something to ask you.”

“Liu Lingling” was satisfied. “What is it? I’ll help if I can.”

Xu Xiye awkwardly said, “Well, could I borrow your eyes?”

“Borrow my eyes?”

“Yeah, I want to see the world through your eyes.”

“Liu Lingling’s” eyes lit up, looking pleased. “Of course, I’ll give them to you right now.”

With that, he hooked his fingers as if to dig his eyes right out of their sockets.

Wang Xiaodian’s pupils shook with fright. He lunged forward and grabbed his wrist. “Are you crazy! Eyes dug out—can you still use them?”

He had shouted too loudly. For a moment, the office fell silent.

Wang Xiaodian shrank back. Fortunately, his Shifu was there. Xu Xiye gave an apologetic smile to those who looked over, and no one pursued it. Everyone returned to their work.

Xu Xiye was still shaken. Slacking off was one thing, but slacking off so openly and brazenly was bad. Luckily, he had good relationships; probably no one would report him to the leaders.

Once he was over that shock, Xu Xiye started scolding his apprentice, lowering his voice. “Little Wang, didn’t you already know he’s crazy? Why shout so loud? Fine, I admit you’re right—digging out the eyes won’t work. They’d lose their luster and eyesight would be affected. But next time, don’t shout so loud.”

The only person he knew whose eyes dug out had no effect at all was the uncle living downstairs.

He pressed Wang Xiaodian back and said to the dazed Little Li, “Alright, he’s right. Digging them out won’t do any good.”

He looked into Little Li’s dark, black eyes. He hadn’t yet figured out what to do, but somehow it seemed to come naturally.

He had already borrowed Little Li’s eyes.

Not just the eyes, but part of his perception as well.

A shadow loomed over his head. Without looking, Xu Xiye knew it was the woman hanging from the ceiling fan.

Xu Xiye quickly stepped back, giving her some space. Her feet nearly kicked him.

The woman was suspended in midair by a red leather strap, thick long hair covering both front and back. Her skin was stiff and pale, limbs dangling limply, like a human-head mop freshly used, hung to dry.

Wang Xiaodian and the others said the woman was Liu Lingling, but Xu Xiye had never seen her face. He wanted to see it.

He wondered if now he could touch and communicate.

Xu Xiye planned to take her down and have a look. Just as he was about to act, Wang Xiaodian interrupted him with a horrified expression. “Shifu, what are you doing?”

Wang Xiaodian saw nothing, but he knew what was there. That motion—was he going to embrace the corpse?

Xu Xiye didn’t answer and sat back down, but Little Li smiled and answered for him: “He wants to take me down.”

Wang Xiaodian: “…”

Wang Xiaodian clenched and unclenched his fists, clenched and unclenched. Finally, steeling himself, he gave Little Li a hard kick under the desk. “What do you mean taking you down! You’re Little Li, Li Weiyan. My Shifu is not going to hold you. Wake up! Do you not want your life anymore?!”

The pain jolted Little Li a little awake. Fearful and aggrieved, his eyes turned red.

Xu Xiye reminded them, “Manager Hao is coming.”

Wang Xiaodian started and quickly pretended to work diligently. Little Li also straightened up.

Everyone knew that whenever this big-bellied, thin-necked Manager Hao showed up, there would be shoulder-perching “stealth observation,” and three out of five times he’d demand overtime.

What misfortune.

Sure enough, Manager Hao said, “Overtime tonight, everyone. Try to finish your work before leaving. No overtime now, no job next year. Work competition is fierce; you have to work hard.”

Today he didn’t even leave right after. Like a proctor patrolling an exam room, he strolled through this office, then that.

Xu Xiye looked at the female corpse and sighed regretfully. He’d wait until after work.

The sky darkened, quickly turning night. As some people packed up to leave, Wang Xiaodian saw his Shifu tidying up and planned to leave too. But first, a trip to the restroom.

“Pitter-patter,” rain hit the windows. It was raining.

Remembering something, Wang Xiaodian’s steps suddenly froze, but the sound of rain pouring down made his urge even more urgent.

Xu Xiye was also drawn by the rain. Originally, after work he’d planned to chat with the female corpse, but now, looking at the heavy rain outside, he was conflicted.

Opportunities to crawl in the rain at night didn’t come often.