The bright red blood spread through the newspaper, turning the articles red. When his boss was mentioned, Doctor Ce’s eyes and attitude changed. His cavalier expression became coloured with danger. Even though he often badmouthed his boss behind his back, he sincerely thought highly of his boss.
“Then, we have to be careful.” Gao Ming answered seriously. When he heard Doctor Ce mention the words Blood City, his eyes narrowed subconsciously like the words meant something to him.
“As a newbie, you probably still have no idea how powerful our boss is. I’ve been with him for a long time already.” Doctor Ce said with fanaticism. “Because of our trust, Boss was willing to give such an important task to me.”
Gao Ming didn’t tell Doctor Ce the truth. Saving him was merely part of his interview. His boss had probably forgotten about him. “Have you managed to capture any information?”
“The founder of Shanghai Mental Asylum once worked at Immortal Pharma. He was there when the taboo incident happened. He handed in his resignation. Our boss suspected he had taken something from the company. Reality proved that our Boss wasn’t wrong.” Doctor Ce put his smile away. “After people had forgotten about the taboo game, the boss of Shanghai Mental Asylum started this business in Xin Lu Intelligent City. Their boss hid something here and used the haunted house as a front to select qualified candidates.”
“Qualified candidates?”
“Yes. He needs to find people who can face fear and dare to enter the nightmare. However, I have no idea why he wants people like that.” Doctor Ce sounded professional, but the information he had was limited.
“Is that all? What have you been doing here for so long?” Gao Ming was shocked. He thought he could get the whole truth from Doctor Ce.
“I was trapped here. Shanghai Mental Asylum is only looking for living candidates… And I don’t exactly fit that criteria.” Doctor Ce regarded Gao Ming with suspicion. “I’ve already given you many hints. You have to do the rest yourself.”
Gao Ming left the toilet. He was chewing on what Doctor Ce said, “The dream inside Shanghai Mental Asylum is also based on a hospital. Is the founder of this dream the founder of the haunted house, or is it someone else?” He walked down the corridor. The walls around him changed. The deeper he went, the scarier it was. The walls took on the colour of human skin. Hairs grew out of the ceiling. Bent fingers turned around the corners. New bones poked out of the ground.
“I’ve heard the visitors split the haunted house into two zones: the body and the soul. Am I still in the body zone? How do I enter the soul zone?” Gao Ming paused and pressed his hand over his heart. “When I entered the dream, I was in a room that resembled a human brain. Is the soul inside one’s brain or one’s heart?”
Gao Ming saw many horrid scenes and he was chased by mutated creatures. He didn’t retreat but used his physique and constitution that was trained in the nightmare to keep on pushing forward. Eventually, he reached a surgical room that looked like a heart. Gao Ming was startled as he pushed the door open. This room didn’t have any medical devices. It was instead decorated like a classroom. There were thirty-one tables and chairs placed inside.
“I’ve been here before.” Gao Ming had been to a place in real life. He didn’t expect to encounter a similar room in the dream.
“Yes. You’ve been here before.” A voice came out of the drawer of Table Two. Gao Ming entered the classroom and pulled out an old walkie-talkie from the drawer.
“Hello. Can you hear me?” Gao Ming held the walkie-talkie. He realised the device was missing the batteries and the batteries slot was covered in blood.
“After so many years, you’re the second person who managed to enter my heart.” The voice from the walkie-talkie was clear. He sounded young but experienced.
“How can I refer to you? What happened here?” Gao Ming asked.
The voice was silent for a long time. It was not until the connection was breaking that the voice resumed, “A long time ago, they called me the supercomputer at the centre of the intelligent city. Even earlier than that, they called me No. 2.”
“I’m sorry. I just woke up from a coma. I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Gao Ming put the device beside his ear. “Are you a human or a machine?”
“I… was a student from this class. My brain was dug out to become a part of the photon supercomputer. What do you think I am now?” The voice was very calm. He was similar to Gao Ming in the sense that he was not affected by emotions.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I want to know what happened so many years ago in Xin Lu.”
“Hasn’t the kid from the toilet told you? Xin Lu’s Unmentionable entered the deeper world. Those who were rescued by him ruined everything he had left behind after he left.” The voice said mockingly, “My brain is permanently sealed in the dark. If not for a lab tester who betrayed Immortal Pharma and brought part of my consciousness out, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you now.”
“Is the tester the founder of Shanghai Mental Asylum? The purpose of you building this haunted house is to select someone who has enough despair to inherit the black box?!” Gao Ming had his own hypothesis.
“The black box is not at Xin Lu. Immortal Pharma will never find the real black box.” The voice smiled. “Even though the channel to the deeper world has been destroyed, the deepest part of one’s darkest nightmare is still connected to that place. I’m doing this to cultivate more people who can traverse in the nightmare. I need to figure out what has happened to the deeper world!”
“Immortal Pharma is also exploring the deep layer dream. They even created a new game for this.” Gao Ming raised his left hand, but the band didn’t show up in the dream.
“Immortal Pharma?” The voice scoffed. “They are scared of the night’s arrival and return of the taboo. They are scared that the horror stories in the sealed files might come true.”
“Then, is there anything I can help you with?” Gao Ming was sincere. “To be honest, I’m interested in the deeper world that you mentioned. Some time ago, I was in a coma due to a car accident. I believe I had gone to another world when I was unconscious.”