Sima Xiao’er’s spirits lifted, "Find the trigger point for the instance."
"Since we can’t escape, we have no choice but to go head-to-head with the instance. I don’t believe that so many of us can’t break through an instance!"
Xu Huo nodded in agreement, "That’s a good plan. Tell your companions to stop mulling over it blindly. Just search in the hospital, perhaps the entry point to the instance is right before our eyes."
Sima Xiao’er laughed, "Brother Xu, you’re really impressive. I was almost dumbfounded when I first came here. I’ve never heard of an instance that you can’t start the game in before."
Xu Huo patted his shoulder and stood up to return to the hospital building, to chat with Tang Guangbo.
After the two sat down, Tang Guangbo, as usual, first adjusted his glasses and then took a sip of water, before smoothing out the corners of the medical record book, "You seem to be in a good mood today."
"The sun is nice today, it feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve basked in the sun ," Xu Huo said.
"Noticing the beauty in life is good," Tang Guangbo said, "A big reason why people suffer is that they focus on what makes them suffer and overlook the beauty right in front of them."
"If life were a progress bar, with the length of suffering increased, happiness would naturally decrease. Conversely, extending happiness would reduce suffering."
"I don’t agree with this view," Xu Huo said, "Suffering and happiness are not lengths, but depths. Whose depth is greater, lasts longer."
Tang Guangbo’s expression was gentle, "This depends on personal perspective. Taking suffering lightly can be a kind of solution."
"Most people don’t analyze or reflect deeply on happiness, that’s why happiness remains superficial. Suffering, on the other hand, is a passive experience from which people can learn lessons, leading them to contemplate more."
"However, I believe that for most people, there really isn’t a need to think so much. People are like a bucket; if even one plank is resolute, no matter how high the others are, you can only watch the water pour out."
"Those who notice this waste and can fix the bucket both harness their minds and bodies. Those who notice the waste but can’t fix the bucket can only harness their minds, not their bodies."
"The height of human thought is limitless, but one’s intelligence, capacity, and educational environment are limited. The collision of the two is actually the root of most people’s suffering."
"Therefore, when you can’t change the latter, you can change the former."
"Give up on thinking?" Xu Huo asked.
"Of course that’s not what I mean," Tang Guangbo said with a chuckle, "Even those who are completely unaware that the water in their bucket is leaking have their own thoughts. It’s just that they haven’t broken through mental barriers, so they don’t have as much to think about, which can make them happier."
"Sometimes thinking too much doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness. Finding happiness in the mundane can also be a good way and can help with your condition. Just watching the sun or looking at flowers isn’t bad."
After finishing his words, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and handed them to Xu Huo, pointing towards a small door beside the office, "Open the door and see for yourself."
Xu Huo did as instructed, and at his prompting, looked up; a two-meter-high step connected to an exit. From his position, he could see the sunlight, hear laughter, and people were calling his name.
"Just walk out," Tang Guangbo reminded him from behind.
"What’s below?" Xu Huo looked down, the ground in front of his feet suddenly sank, black steps emerged one after another, curving and twisting downward, extending into the darkness.
Everything around him peeled away and split like paper skins – the exit above, the office, and Tang Guangbo behind him all vanished, replaced by pure blackness. The space beneath his feet rapidly expanded. The narrow, well-like spiral staircase suddenly enlarged tenfold, dozens of times over, turning into a huge abyss leading into the depths of the earth.
Without hesitation, Xu Huo walked down the uneven stone steps.
There were no railings along the edge of the steps; looking down, there was only darkness, completely devoid of sound and airflow, eerily silent as if even air dared not intrude.
After walking for about five minutes, when he looked up, he could no longer see the steps above. At this point, there was little difference between above and below, only the steps under his feet were the clearest.
Gradually, there was the sound of shoe soles scraping against the stone surface.
Then came the prolonged sound of breathing and the slow heartbeat.
Ten minutes later, Xu Huo felt his leg strength return. As he was about to continue downward, he heard another set of footsteps.
Coming from behind him.
He looked back and saw a shadow standing on the edge of the step above, also looking down.
Xu Huo couldn’t see the person’s face. He turned his gaze forward and continued to walk, with the footsteps from behind following suit.
The almost overlapping footsteps maintained a constant speed for ten minutes, and then a third set of footsteps joined in.
Xu Huo stopped at the edge of the step and looked up; the person above him also looked upwards—in the staircase intervals three rounds up, a third person was looking down.
The three people’s movements were synchronized, so when Xu Huo went back to his original route and continued downward, the other two sets of footsteps followed.
Then Xu Huo’s breathing and heartbeat sounds disappeared again from his ears. On the massive, rotating staircase, only the overlapping footsteps remained.
However, this balance didn’t last long before a fourth person appeared on the staircase, standing above the highest person.
The person at the top, just like the two before him, looked down, and upon noticing the person below, suddenly sped up and ran downwards.
After he started running, the third person below also began to run down, followed by the second person who quickened his pace.
Hearing the footsteps of the three people behind him gradually overlapping, Xu Huo placed his right hand on the wall and sprinted down the steps.
The four of them seemed to be racing on the spiral staircase, going round and round towards the deeper abyss. Before long, the footsteps of the four were reduced to three, then to two, until the pursuing shadow behind Xu Huo lasted the longest but eventually also disappeared.
After they vanished, Xu Huo slowed down, adjusted his breathing, and continued walking on the steps.
This process didn’t last very long; soon, new shadows appeared behind him, one after the other, and again, four people began to race downward, ending with three, then two, until Xu Huo was walking alone.
The same event was repeated ten times over. Xu Huo had been descending this rotating staircase for twelve hours, completely unable to sense anything around him, as if his own body had become diluted, with only his feet remaining to touch the stone steps below.
The steps had become smooth.
When Xu Huo suddenly realized this, the area in front of the spiral staircase began to form a floor, light expanding from beneath his feet, and a large room unfolded with the light, passing through the spiral staircase and rising quickly. In a moment, it extended hundreds of meters to the limits of his field of view, forming a grand Underground Round Tower!