"Do you have any ideas?"

On the third floor of the Asylum, Lu Li and the leader advanced along the quiet corridor. All the wards had two doors. However, the iron gate was bolted from outside, strictly speaking, there was just one door. As long as the inner door wasn’t locked, they could enter.

Lu Li’s attention was on the nurses’ station. Yet from his exploration of the third floor days ago until now, he hadn’t seen the nurses or the head nurse on this floor.

"Who is the head nurse of the third floor?"

"There is no head nurse."

The leader seemed a bit nervous, leaning her head close to Lu Li, unlike her loud shouting downstairs.

"Why?"

"No reason."

The leader didn’t know more than Lu Li did.

"But when I ran up here before, someone talked to me in the nurses’ station."

"Perhaps it was just a nurse."

First, visit the Guardian Spirit they had encountered. The door remained closed as it had been when Lu Li last came. Squeezing sideways into the ward, Lu Li closed the door.

The stone named "Headless Spirit" was still on the bed. Lu Li asked if it needed any help, waiting for the leader to translate.

"It didn’t speak," the leader said.

"But it looks like you need help." Lu Li continued, also pondering what the reality beyond delusions was. Was the Guardian Spirit autistic? A psychiatric patient tied to a bed?

"Still no response."

Lu Li tried many methods, like having the leader talk, mentioning the Rotten Boy, but none yielded results. It seemed like just a stubborn rock.

After temporarily giving up on the Guardian Spirit, Lu Li moved to the adjacent room 302, opened the gate door, and found the inner door locked.

Room 301’s door was open, revealing another bizarre figure: Its head was charred, desolate black, with no body, just a shadow collapsed on the bed like ashes. Keeping a distance, it looked like a scepter formed by a black staff and a scorched head.

Lu Li noticed its slender black claw holding an oil lamp.

"Do you need help?" Lu Li asked.

After a while, the leader said dejectedly, "Don’t bother trying, they’re all mute on the third floor."

The "Shadow Thief of Fire" was silent too.

The challenges weren’t just these. When Lu Li exited, he encountered three figures dressed in nurse outfits approaching.

One was tall and skinny, another short and stout, only the figure in front was of normal teenage girl size—but she seemed not yet mature.

"Are you new patients?"

"I—"

Lu Li covered the leader’s mouth who wanted to speak: "We’re patients from the second floor, just curious to come up and see, did we disturb you?"

"No, but it’s best not to disturb the patients."

"Understood."

Compared to the second-floor nurses, their friendliness was touching.

Moreover, this tone seemed familiar to Lu Li—as if he’d heard the voice from behind the nurses’ station curtain before.

Lu Li didn’t intend to explore their limits; anyway, he could sneak up at night, continuing with the leader to the fourth floor.

The serene fourth floor carpeted in red, with rooms spaced like in top-tier suites of a luxury hotel. The leader was more nervous here, clutching Lu Li’s hair and ears tightly.

Lu Li didn’t disturb the head nurse behind the curtain, silently walking on the carpet, arriving at room 401.

Click—

As he pushed open the door, he felt the eeriness of being watched, and upon entering the ward, he found the reason.

A rotten eyeball covered in fine hairs quietly observed the intruder. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"It asks why you didn’t knock..." The leader buried her head into Lu Li’s neck.

"Sorry, I didn’t know someone was here."

Lu Li worried that the knocking would alert the head nurse, but it seemed he was careless.

The leader relaxed a bit, whispered, "It says it’s okay, asking if we’re here for something."

"Do you need help?"

"It says it doesn’t need help..."

Looking at the ward’s luxurious decor and the timid leader, Lu Li said nothing.

Maybe it indeed didn’t need help, or maybe it didn’t think Lu Li could help.

Leaving the room, Lu Li went to the adjacent room 402, the door locked. Room 403’s door wasn’t, he pushed it open, noticing even a newspaper rack by the entrance.

On the bed, Lu Li saw an ordinary middle-aged man, but his eyes gave Lu Li a peculiar feeling of being weathered.

"Master of Dreams," Lu Li recalled the name on the list, asking if he needed help.

"Do you want to help me, or yourself?"

"Both."

"Then, please continue..."

The Master of Dreams didn’t mind talking to Lu Li, but offered no useful information.

As the biological clock in Lu Li’s mind neared dusk, he said goodbye to the Master of Dreams.

"Remember to knock next time you visit."

"It says to knock next time," the leader diligently showed her presence.

"I will."

As Lu Li opened the door, his eyes caught the headline on the newspaper rack: "Rumor-Harassed Girl Commits Suicide."

"May I borrow a newspaper?" Lu Li suddenly asked.

His memory began at the hospital, and the newspaper might remind him of something—at the very least, learn about the outside world.

"Sure."

Lu Li politely thanked him, took the top newspaper, closed the door, and returned downstairs.

He anticipated correctly; upon returning to the second floor, the outside light turned orange-yellow, and the leader reverted to her territorial arrogance.

This expedition seemed to yield little.

After sending the leader shouting about continuing tomorrow back to her room, Lu Li took the wheelchair-bound girl back to her ward and found the Gatekeeper, hoping to visit the activity room again tonight.

"I only promised to let you in once." The Gatekeeper was impatient with Lu Li’s repeated requests.

"I can keep watch for you again."

"...No need,"

The Gatekeeper reluctantly agreed to let him in once more.

Lu Li returned to the ward. While waiting for the night, he unfolded the newspaper taken from the fourth floor.

"Flower Season Girl Dies Amidst Gossip, Fault Lying in Her Fragility or the Accusing Crowd?"

The whole newspaper page was devoted to this news. Apparently, a girl faced rumors, then under the teacher’s, classmates’, and the public’s criticism, she couldn’t endure the shame and ended her own life. The news interviewed many involved, including the innocent-seeming boyfriend.

From the newspaper, Lu Li saw a key name: Mishelia.

At this moment, the wall lamp lit up faintly. Lu Li folded the newspaper and left the ward.

Arriving at room 205, Lu Li pushed open the ajar door, picked up the heavy and cold Andrea, and walked through the echoing corridor.

The journey to the activity zone was uneventful. Upon entering, Lu Li placed Andrea into a pool, then followed Kate’s instructions to find the hidden door in the corner.

Click—

Mist seeped into the activity room, Lu Li noticed the drop below.

He needed a rope to slide down.

Next, Lu Li quietly stepped into room 211 as planned, quietly took away the plastic baby.

Returning to room 204. Lu Li waited patiently, then rushed out the room in the instant the wall lamp went out.

Who knows what insane actions a mother who lost her "child" might take.