Welcome to Nightmare Game III

Anna told the story in her beautiful and delicate words:

"It was early summer two and a half years ago. Mr. Qi fell ill. He had a low-grade fever at first, but it became serious after several days. Mr. Lin assigned me, who had just joined the job for a month, to Mr. Qi's side..."

That year, Anna was 19 years old and had just graduated from a church school. Because of her excellent grades and memory, she was recommended by her teacher to work as a clerical worker in the court.Mr. Si Lin's secretary picked her out of the new recruits, and she became a secretary assistant.

Anna, who has just joined the job, is wearing a church school-style women's school uniform, a dignified and conservative black and white one-piece dress with a stand-up collar, and long sleeves even in summer. Her long flaxen hair is braided and tied on top of her head. It was the dress she was accustomed to in the church school. Until a long time later, she was not used to the dressing style of foreigners, nor was she used to their free speech.

No inquiry, no undue questioning, rules and silence, that was what she had learned in missionary school.

After joining the company, she was quickly appreciated by the chief executive, Si Lin, because of her serious work attitude and careful nature. He named her twice and praised her twice, and threatened his secretary who was about to go bald at an early age. fire him.As a result, Anna took over part of the secretary's work, especially in terms of written materials.

Originally, she should have continued to work in Mr. Si Lin's secretarial team. If she was lucky enough, she might officially take over the post of secretary in a few years.But all that changed forever on the first day of July.

"How is Qi Le?" In the evening of this day, Anna, who followed the secretary to Mr. Si Lin's office, stood aside with her head bowed, listening to the two discuss Mr. Qi's condition.

The secretary replied: "The pastor of the church has come to see him, and the situation is not very good. He is not an ordinary illness. The erosion of the devil's power is in conflict with the sacred power in his body, causing him to have a high fever. I can consider sending him to Neverland overnight. But you also said that you should not take the risk of letting him leave the Land of Twilight unless it is absolutely necessary, so..."

Anna stood silently behind the secretary. She was not familiar with the Mr. Qi they mentioned.She had only met him twice in the first month of employment, but both times left a deep impression on her.

For the first time in the corridor of the office hall of the court, she saw him basking in the sun in the garden downstairs through the glass window. A colleague who was walking with her at the time told her that that was Mr. Qi, the CEO, and he His wife seemed to have died in the Twilight Battle half a year ago, and he was also seriously injured. In the past six months, he has been repeatedly ill and depressed.

He was too far away, and Anna who was standing in the corridor didn't have such good eyesight. She didn't see his face clearly, but she just vaguely felt that he was not illuminated by the bright sunshine while sitting on the garden bench quietly reading a book.

His perception was unexpectedly sharp, even though they were so far apart, he raised his head while concentrating on reading, and looked at her from a distance.Anna was taken aback in surprise, and saluted him dignifiedly through the glass window in the corridor.

Colleagues joked that she didn't have to be so serious, Mr. Qi probably didn't see them from such a long distance.As soon as the words fell, Mr. Qi in the garden stood up from the bench and saluted them from a distance.

So on the way back, the wailing of colleagues never stopped: "The little sisters in our entire department peeked at him reading in the garden all day long, thinking he didn't notice it, so he could feel it at all! Is Mr. Qi complaining in his heart? How many times have we? Our image..."

Anna didn't speak. Growing up in a missionary school, she was always used to keeping silent. She couldn't discuss a stranger as frankly as they did. This stranger was also the executive director of the court.

The second meeting came quickly, and she was assigned by Mr. Si Lin's secretary to deliver a bunch of documents that needed to be signed to Mr. Qi.Anna came to the Inquisition Chamber with the documents in her arms, and found Mr. Qi's office after a polite inquiry.

She knocked on the door, and a slightly hoarse voice came from behind the heavy wooden door: "Please come in."

Anna pushed the door open.This is a simple and sloppy office. In the huge space, there is only a set of solid wood desks by the window. Apart from the necessary office supplies, there is only an ashtray full of cigarette butts on it. More than half of it was empty, and the remaining few grids were filled with documents.

Mr. Qi was standing by the window smoking a cigarette. The beautiful copper carved glass window was hung with rough wooden venetian blinds. In the gaps between the curtains, the setting sun at sunset shone on his handsome profile. It looks so melancholy and haggard, as if it will disappear in the twilight at any time, disappearing in the twilight.

The strong smell of smoke came oncoming, Anna's nose itched, she immediately covered her mouth with the handkerchief she carried with her, and then coughed lightly twice.

"I'm sorry, I smoked you." Mr. Qi immediately pinched his cigarette and opened the window, fresh air from outside poured in, and the evening wind brought a bit of coolness, but now it was him who coughed.

He coughed much worse than her, and seemed to die at any moment, but he finally recovered his normal breathing.After he stopped coughing, Mr. Qi began to look for water to drink—the cup on the desk was already empty, and he put down the cup awkwardly to get the kettle, which was also empty, and finally he gave up and said nothing. After taking the document from Anna, he sat on the desk and approved it.

Anna took the kettle away in silence, and when Mr. Qi looked up at her, she bowed while holding the kettle, and quietly exited his office.

She installed hot water in the boiling water room, and went back to Mr. Qi's office to pour him a cup of hot water. As a result, some conspicuous ash floated up with the water. Apparently, Mr. Qi was flicking ash into the ashtray. Sometimes, there are always some "fish that slipped through the net" and come to places that shouldn't come.But Mr. Qi didn't notice at all, he was signing with his right hand, and his left hand was already going to get the cup.

Anna could not keep silent any longer.

"Please wait a little longer." She politely and firmly took the cup away, and under Mr. Qi's blank eyes, she took away the ashtray that was the neighbor of the cup.A few minutes later, she came back with a clean cup and ashtray, and poured water for Mr. Qi again—she added some cold water to make the water temperature suitable for drinking.

Mr. Qi, who drank the whole glass of water in one go, thanked her for being careful, and he asked again: "Did I see you when I was reading in the garden a few days ago?"

Anna nodded, and she returned to her silent state, only answering concisely when Mr. Qi asked her questions.She didn't ask any questions until she left this office.But she still found a suitable opportunity and asked Si Lin's secretary who Mr. Qi's secretary was, and she wanted to tactfully suggest a new one.

"He's a foreigner, a bit careless young man, but he died in a compulsory mission recently. Mr. Qi said that he hoped that an aborigine would be the secretary, and you, Anna, are also on the candidate list," the secretary said.

Anna was taken aback for a moment, she didn't express any wishes, she just nodded silently.

This brief recollection stopped in Mr. Si Lin's voice: "Let's see the situation again. But it's not an option to let him recuperate at home alone. When he's sick, he'll throw a temper tantrum. If he doesn't care about him, he won't even eat. None of them taste good."

The secretary smiled wryly: "Then I'll send someone to take care of him, and I can report any situation in time."

Si Lin said casually, "Let Anna go."

Anna who was suddenly called by name was taken aback for a moment.

Si Lin said: "Anna, you put down the work at hand and go there now. Don't let him smoke, don't let him stay up late, let him eat on time, and if he doesn't obey, you can reprimand him loudly, understand?"

Anna was silent, but this time, her silence was not due to her personality, but because she felt embarrassed.

It's not her thing to yell at a stranger.At such a big age, the only one she has ever reprimanded loudly is the stray cat who repeatedly jumped onto the cupboard to steal all the dried fish. The stray cat who had a full meal was not convinced, and ran away cursing.

Perhaps sensing her uneasiness, Si Lin told her: "You have to do this. You have to be very angry, your voice must be loud, your attitude must be firm, and your tone must be severe. As long as you are very angry, you will When it comes to issues of principle, he understands the importance."

Mr. Secretary also said: "Don't be afraid, Mr. Qi will not get angry with you. He has always been very good towards girls."

During their chorus, Anna, who got the key and address of Mr. Qi's house, got into the carriage anxiously.

Anna was restless along the way. She tried to imagine herself berating Mr. Qi loudly, but she couldn't imagine it anyway.

The carriage passed a busy street, and Anna stopped the carriage. She remembered that there was a grocery store here, which occasionally sold some flowers, and she wanted to buy some to visit patients.There are also some of her selfishness here, she likes flowers very much, but the flowers in Twilight Township are expensive, she will not waste money on her hobbies.But today is different, Mr. Secretary approved her a fund for visiting patients, and she decided to add flowers to the sympathy gift.

There were not many kinds of flowers in the grocery store, and none of them were suitable for visiting patients. Anna finally picked white roses and bought the only seven left in the vase.

Anna knocked on the door of Mr. Qi's house. This small two-story building looked old and had an aboriginal style.She waited for a while, but no one came to open the door, so she had to take out the key Mr. Si Lin gave her, and opened the door lightly.

Maybe Mr. Qi is resting, she thought, sick people really need more rest.

The decoration inside the house was very simple, and it was cleaned very clean. Anna was holding flowers and carrying ingredients, looking for the location of the kitchen.When she just walked to the edge of the stairs, she inadvertently looked up——

At this moment, her heart almost stopped beating.

Mr. Qi appeared at the top of the stairs like a ghost, looking at her expressionlessly.

In the dark room, he was pale and thin, and for a moment it was impossible to tell whether he was a seriously ill person or a lonely wandering soul wandering in the world.

Seeing the person clearly, his cold eyes softened, and the gloomy coldness disappeared. He looked at the white rose in her arms quietly, and said softly: "It's you. I remember You, Si Lin sent you here?"

Anna saluted him and explained why she had come.

"The roses are beautiful," he said after listening.

Anna recalled what she said just now, and she didn't mention roses in a single word. She didn't know why Mr. Qi said it suddenly, but she said understandingly: "Please wait a moment, I will deal with the flowers now."

With that said, she found the kitchen, found an empty vase, shaved off the thorns with scissors, trimmed the flower branches, and placed a vase of inserted white roses on the dining table a few minutes later.

During the whole process, Mr. Qi stood silently outside the kitchen and watched. The baggy pajamas didn't fit him well, and he was barefoot, without the consciousness of being a patient.It wasn't until the flowers were placed on the dining table that he sat down at the dining table and stared blankly at the white roses.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Anna asked.

He shook his head.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Anna asked again.

Anna knew he didn't—the kitchen was clean, and there wasn't even anything in the trash can, it didn't look like it had been eaten.

"I can go without food for a few days," he said.

This was a very unconscious and uncooperative patient. Anna realized the source of Mr. Si Lin's worry.

"Please go to the bedroom and sleep for a while now. I'm sick and need more rest. I'll make something to eat. I'll eat it when you wake up." Anna said, and she had already figured out what to do with the ingredients she brought.

Mr. Qi with a tired face said softly: "I can't sleep."

Anna took a deep breath—she now understood why Mr. Si Lin wanted her to reprimand him loudly. Strictness is necessary in front of a disobedient patient.

Although she had never tried to speak so loudly, she had to try.

"Go and lie down, go now!" Anna stood up and raised her voice.

Mr. Qi was stunned, and Anna, who had been speaking softly, suddenly spoke loudly to him. This sudden change made him look confused.The illness made him more sluggish than usual, he seemed unable to understand why he was being scolded, and his expression was even a little aggrieved.

Anna's hands were trembling slightly, and she couldn't continue acting. Just when she was hesitating to apologize, Mr. Qi suddenly said "Oh", stood up silently, and after walking a few steps, he turned back again, Hold the vase of inserted roses in your arms, as if you are holding some precious treasure.

Anna followed him, watched him walk into the bedroom, put the flowers on the bedside cabinet, and got under the quilt without saying a word.

He really listened, Anna thought incredulously.

The next thing went smoothly, Anna ventilated the room, and took his temperature—an astonishing forty degrees, so scared that she immediately went to the refrigerator to find some ice cubes to give him a cold compress, and let him sleep for a while .

This time, Mr. Qi didn't say anything about being unable to sleep. He lay down obediently, closed his eyes, and finally looked a little sick.

Anna heaved a sigh of relief, closed the door for him and went to the kitchen to make porridge.But she didn't feel relieved for too long. When she returned to Mr. Qi's bedroom with the porridge, she immediately smelled the smell of smoke in the room.

Mr. Qi was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and his forehead was well covered with a towel, as if he really fell asleep obediently just now.

Anna changed a cold towel for him, and then asked softly: "Have you smoked?"

Mr. Qi didn't speak, he was pretending to sleep.

Anna took another deep breath. The smell of smoke could not be fooled.

So she pretended to be angry and said loudly: "Please give me the cigarettes, now, right now!"

Mr. Qi's eyelashes moved, the quilt also moved, and a pack of cigarettes was pushed out from the gap in the quilt.

Anna took away the cigarettes: "Is there only one pack?"

Mr. Qi still had his eyes closed, and another pack of cigarettes came out from the gap between the quilt and the bed sheet.

Anna took the cigarettes away again: "Is this the last pack?"

Mr. Qi didn't say anything, he reached under the pillow and fiddled with it, and another pack of cigarettes came out.

Anna, holding three packs of cigarettes, continued to ask, "Is there really no more?"

She really wanted to pick up this patient who was not resting well and shake it, to see if she could shake out more stock.

This time, Mr. Qi finally stopped pretending to be asleep. He opened his eyes, and his gentle brown eyes were filled with helpless grievances: "It's really gone."

Anna smiled solemnly: "Okay, then please give me the lighter too."

Mr. Qi: "..."

Finally, Anna returned to the kitchen with three packs of cigarettes, five lighters, two boxes of matches and a used dinner plate. He ate cooperatively and thanked her when he put down the spoon, which was more polite than the wild cat.

He fell asleep and woke up intermittently, woke up and slept again, and sometimes muttered in his sleep, unable to make out what he was saying.After nightfall, Si Lin and the illusionist came to visit him. They almost had a fight over whether to send him to Neverland for medical treatment. Finally, Si Lin persuaded the illusionist to wait another night.Before leaving, Si Lin told her that the aircraft heading to Neverland is on standby at any time, and if the fever does not subside tomorrow morning, they will be secretly sent to the Holy See to ask His Holiness the Pope for help.

As a devout believer, Anna really wants to go on a pilgrimage to Neverland, but she doesn't want to go to Neverland because of such an opportunity. She hopes that Mr. Qi will get well soon.

It was late at night, and Anna made a big pot of black coffee in the kitchen, took it back to Mr. Qi's bedroom and drank it slowly, she got up regularly to change towels for the comatose patients, and in the rest of the time, she sat on the wooden chair in the corner I looked at the book I had brought with me.

The arrival of foreigners brought something that was not there before, and she liked the change.A few months ago, a foreigner brought a large amount of information stored in his mobile phone, including countless e-books. The court printed some of them and began to sell them in bookstores in Twilight Land.

Anna borrowed it from the library of the court. It is an ordinary love story, but she likes a sentence in it: "In this world, only love and coughing can't hide."

Mr. Qi coughed, and Anna quickly put down the book and came to the bedside to check on his condition.He had a bad fever and coughed badly, the towel covering his forehead fell off, and he was talking in his sleep while coughing.

This time, Anna heard him clearly.

He is begging the one he loves not to go.

Among all the "don't go" "wait for me" and "I love you", there was a name she had heard of.

The name of a dead saint.

In the church school, there was even a mourning ceremony for him.

Anna suddenly understood who Mr. Qi's "wife" who died in the twilight battle was.Having grown up with the scriptures, she knows exactly what this means.

This is an untouchable taboo, this is not allowed love.

At this moment, all the severe warnings in the scriptures appeared in her mind, and this rebellious love was destined not to be blessed by God.

However, when Anna looked at Mr. Qi who was ill and struggling to keep her lover, her good memory suddenly lost its effect, and she could no longer remember those words.

She just remembers:

Love never stops.