It was as if he were playing an adventure game; he could review maps that were already illuminated from a fresh perspective but had no way to go to those places that had been dark from the beginning to end.
Without time to think further, he quickly followed the others into the stairwell.
After entering the stairwell, he didn’t rush downwards but looked up first.
The entire stairwell seemed to embody the Fibonacci sequence; when looking up, it was impossible to pinpoint his location—just a spiral extending endlessly into a pitch-black vortex above.
He then looked down and saw the same Fibonacci pattern, another pitch-black vortex.
Had it not been for his subconscious belief that the ground beneath his feet was "down" and above his head was "up," he would have been unable to distinguish between the concept of up and down.
He looked again at the location of the stairwell, only to find that the door had disappeared into thin air.
He was sure he hadn’t moved since he had stood still, but... suddenly, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
He felt a bit lost, his head suddenly swimming.
He gradually sensed some unpredictable distortion in the environment around him, as if the stairwell itself had come to life.
He was well aware that he was in a dream, but even so, at that moment, he uncontrollably felt an emotion known as fear.
He hurriedly rushed downward, gradually catching up with "yesterday’s self" and the others, following them out of the stairwell, traversing the door to the Teaching Building’s sub-first floor...
The chilly evening breeze brushed against his cheeks; Lin Yi inhaled the breath of air around him, with a sensation as if it were from yesterday.
"Maozi, next, you knock on the door while I cover our retreat with the timing," he said.
Suddenly, the voice of "yesterday’s self" echoed in his ears.
Initially, he didn’t respond, then he immediately realized something and subconsciously looked down...
First, he saw a loose-fitting yellow knitted sweater, then a pair of sneakers...
"I... have a form again?"
"Wait a minute?! Am I... Maozi?" Lin Yi was slightly stunned, then immediately felt a buzzing in his head and staggeringly moved toward the Teacher’s Office door.
From this position, he saw a door to an office.
But this door was incredibly illusory, a virtual image woven into the gap between light and shadow.
"He" hesitated to knock on the office door until "yesterday’s self" felt something was amiss and asked, "Maozi, what’s wrong?"
At the moment, Lin Yi could vividly sense a surge of fear and panic in "himself," just as he had previously felt Wei Shan’s anger and restlessness with utmost clarity.
The fear twisted around him like tendrils, seemingly ready to drag him into the boundless darkness.
The darkness warped, grinding all surrounding light into it like a millstone, devouring everything like the gaping maw of an abyss.
His breathing became more and more rapid, as if his spirit were on the verge of being extracted from his body.
Only after "yesterday’s self" gently patted his shoulder did the fear abruptly subside somewhat.
"Maozi... are you okay?" the voice of "yesterday’s self" sounded in his ears.
The scene was too eerie, as if he had swapped places with his past self.
The "script" that followed was just like yesterday; after a few words, "yesterday’s self" grabbed his hand, trying to press it on the door handle.
To Lin Yi’s eyes, there indeed was a phantom door handle, but just as "his" hand was about to touch it, the handle twisted into a pitch-black vortex...
From within the vortex came a soul-shattering intermittent wail of agony.
It was as if that fragmented voice came from the Wind Tunnel, the few obscure syllables alone making it difficult to breathe, akin to facing the abyss of hell.
The disjointed waves of sound, which should have been wholly indiscernible, arranged themselves next to his ear into a sharp, low, monotonous chant that formed a chilling prayer:
"I AvgruNnen av tåKe og jaGer forTapte Sjeler fanTome"
This horrific auditory hallucination, like a heavy hammer, threatened to shatter Lin Yi’s spirit; "he" felt "himself" erupt with an astonishing force, suddenly breaking free from "yesterday’s self’s" grip.
"Old Lin, no, this isn’t how it’s supposed to be!"
"He" shook his head frantically, accompanied by heavy panting.
"The notice board actually mentioned this situation!"
"I must have encountered that special circumstance!"
"The first rule of the notice board! If I see something else instead of the ’Teacher’s Office,’ I should go up the stairs until I encounter the Teacher’s Office!"
Words Mao Feiyang had spoken the day before uncontrollably poured out of Lin Yi’s mouth with perfect accuracy, even the tone was exactly the same.
As he spoke, an indistinguishable white mist emanated from the pitch-black vortex, a mist that seemed indistinguishable from the one permeating the Teaching Building’s corridors, yet to his eyes, the white particles within it were distinctly visible.
"White particles... they are those white powder particles!!"