He withdrew his gaze and looked at Doctor Zhang, saying calmly, "Doctor Zhang, you are much more interesting than me."
Doctor Zhang started laughing again and began asking Wen Nan about the details of his recent relationships with those girls.
Wen Nan replied absentmindedly, glanced at the time, and said, "It’s so late, I’m a bit tired, can I rest first?"
Doctor Zhang agreed readily, checked Wen Nan’s physical condition once more, gave a few instructions, and turned to leave.
Only Wen Nan was left in the room. He tossed away the water bottle, raised his hand, and looked at his palm.
However, apart from a few deep lines, his palm was clean, with nothing in it...
Clenching his hand into a fist tightly, Wen Nan took a deep breath, got out of bed, rummaged through the bedside drawer, and took out an old phone with a shattered screen.
Kneeling on the floor by the bed, he plugged in the phone to charge, watching as the red battery icon on the screen blinked from 0% to 1%.
He pressed the power button hard, and the startup chime was audibly clear in the quiet hospital room.
Wen Nan looked up warily towards the door, making sure there was no movement outside the room, he breathed a sigh of relief and refocused on the screen.
Messages popped up one after another, freezing the phone like a stop-motion animation.
Once the back button finally responded and returned to the home screen, Wen Nan instinctively opened WeChat.
Messages from family and friends filled the screen; Wen Nan kept scrolling down until he finally saw an unfamiliar avatar at the bottom.
The avatar was a glowing sword, with a blank name.
Opening the chat, it was blank as well, showing no chat history between them.
Wen Nan paused slightly.
Hesitating for a moment, he still sent a message over—
The moment the message was sent successfully, Wen Nan did not feel the slightest relief.
In his mind, those warnings from not long ago echoed suddenly:
"——Don’t go near that forbidden room."
"——Behind that door is a point of no return."
"——Forcibly entering that door, the price you might pay could be more terrifying than death."
Taking a deep breath, Wen Nan’s finger landed on the message, long pressed, and clicked "recall."
He weakly threw the phone to the ground, sat in the corner, buried his hands deep into the roots of his hair, and rubbed his scalp hard.
With closed eyes, he tilted his head back, the back of his head knocking against the cold wall with a dull thud.
His lips moved silently, repeating a name—
"9527, 9527, 9527, 9527, 9527..."
Nothing was summoned.
No sound besides the increasingly loud beating of his own heart.
Outside the window, a shadow flashed by once again.
Wen Nan abruptly opened his eyes, looking warily towards the window.
After a moment, the figure left the window, walked to the door, and knocked lightly—dunk, dunk dunk, dunk dunk dunk.
Wen Nan squinted his eyes, blurting out, "...Baby?"
The door was pushed open, and a girl cautiously squeezed in, relocked the door, then hurried to the bedside, kneeling in front of Wen Nan. She raised her hands, hugged him tightly, and softly called out:
Wen Nan’s face was pressed into her chest, somewhat struggling to breathe. He raised his hand to push her back a bit.
The girl wore a hospital gown similar to Wen Nan’s, with sleeves a bit too large, covering her hands as she cupped Wen Nan’s face, kissing his cheeks, brows, nose tip, and lips...
"They said you’re not real, just my hallucination," the girl’s voice trembled slightly, "I knew it, they were lying to me, the whole world is lying to me...
"Even if everyone says you’re fake, I still believe you’re real, Nannan. I love you, at least, my feelings for you are genuine..."
Her tears smeared across Wen Nan’s face, wet and a bit salty.
Wen Nan tasted the bitterness in those tears, raised his hand, and wiped the tears off her cheek with his fingertip, "What’s wrong, baby, what happened?"
Upon hearing Wen Nan’s voice, her tears fell uncontrollably like beads from a broken string, dropping in large, heavy drops.
She hugged Wen Nan again, with a force as if trying to embed him into her own body.
Sobbing, she whispered, "They’re trying to process my transfer to another hospital; I tried to resist, but I have no power to make my own choice...
"I’m leaving here, Nannan, I’m sorry..."
Watching her purse her lips and cry into a mess, Wen Nan fell silent.
He should feel heartache, Wen Nan thought.
He still clearly remembered that stabbing sensation—like a knife twisted into his heart and swirling inside—
But at this moment, Wen Nan felt very calm, with no feelings at all.
Yet he missed the face in front of him dearly.
The longing in his heart made him say nothing more, only raising his hand, tracing the contours of her features with his fingertip.
The girl clasped Wen Nan’s hand forcefully, suddenly remembered something, wiped the tears from her face with her hand, and said hurriedly: "Nannan, did you find the Water Monkey? Did he help you, help you cut it off?"
Saying this, her cheeks flushed crimson, she lowered her eyes and continued: "It’s okay, two threads, even two aren’t impossible..."
"There’s no time, let’s do it now, okay?" Saying so, she suddenly stood up and reached to lift Wen Nan’s clothing, "I want you to leave a part of yourself in me, so I can take it with me when I leave; then, if those people try to deceive me, I won’t be afraid, I’ll have proof that you’re real, no one can fool me..."
Her cold hand pressed against the warm skin of Wen Nan’s waist and abdomen, causing his body to shiver, lifting a hand to hold her wrist.
She paused, "Oh right, I almost forgot," she withdrew her hand, took out a paper box from her pocket, opened it, and put what was inside into Wen Nan’s hand, "A gift for our anniversary."
Wen Nan opened his palm to see a simple bracelet.
A small silver dragon dangled from the slender chain.
The small dragon was only the size of a pinky fingernail, with a pair of red wings on its back, looking very chubby and cute.
She smiled shyly, "It’s LV’s latest model this year, a Year of the Dragon limited edition, unisex style. I made a little modification right here."
Saying this, she pointed at a spot between the dragon’s hind legs.
Wen Nan noticed the small details there, raising an eyebrow slightly.
The girl was already impatiently starting to pull at her own clothes, "We’re running out of time; they’ll come looking soon, Nannan, we must hurry."
Wen Nan didn’t move, nor did he refuse; he just watched the person before him with a hint of inquiry in his gaze.
The girl leaned forward, attempting to kiss Wen Nan’s lips once more.
At that moment, a streak of gold flashed at the window.
Seeing the golden light, Wen Nan’s heart stirred, and a torrent of emotions surged within him.
In a flash of lightning, he suppressed all those emotions.
Raising his hand, Wen Nan pinched the girl’s chin, lifting her head.
Looking directly into her eyes, Wen Nan spoke softly, "Baby, I have severed one head for you; this time, could you sacrifice one head for me?"
The girl looked at Wen Nan in bewilderment, paused briefly, and then laughed again, "Nannan, I don’t understand, what are you say—"
Before the girl could finish her sentence, a golden light pierced through the room behind her, sweeping horizontally towards her.
Unerringly, it struck her neck.
She opened her eyes wide in terror, "Wh-, y-..."
She couldn’t finish her final word, as her head was already severed from her body.
Blood gushed forth, quickly staining Wen Nan’s clothes a bright red.
Wen Nan paid no mind, lifting his head to look at the person standing outside the door, holding a sword by their side.
Unable to determine how he felt, Wen Nan’s face bore a smile, but his words said:
"You... shouldn’t have come in."