sunk in yesterday

The elevator bears a lot of weight, but for safety reasons, the five people went down to the first floor in two.

The moment he landed, Xia Zhuo received reward points for escaping after meeting the enraged conditions for a long time.

The kitchen lights sizzled twice, and then struggled to return to normal. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee, and the grinder beside it was humming.

Although Xia Zhuo doesn't like the smell of coffee, she likes to smell the aroma.He moved his nose, and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach subsided a little, only then did he realize that the clothes on his back were already soaked in sweat, and it felt cool against his skin.

Their bodies were dusty and sweaty, and their hair was messed up. One or two looked like refugees.

"What are you looking for?"

At this moment, a tepid inquiry sounded from outside the kitchen.

The assistant quietly appeared at the door, and the shadow cast by the low door just blocked his face, making it difficult to see his expression clearly.

His sudden arrival made everyone's nerves tense again, and Xia Zhuo noticed vigilantly that there were four identical glasses on the tray in his hand, and these glasses were stained with brown coffee stains, obviously Someone has already used it.

The assistant's smile remained the same. Standing in the shadows, he asked politely as usual: "Is there anything I need?"

Guan Yuzhou looked straight over, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

The cold incandescent lamp in the kitchen accurately divided the bright side and dark side of his face, making his face clean and sharp.

After a while, he took the initiative to ask: "The people who went up just now will also attend Mr. Xia's birthday party?"

The assistant replied: "No, they are just ordinary doctors."

"Is someone in the family injured?"

"The old man has always been in poor health, and it is common for doctors to come in and out of the summer house."

"Are you really here to see a doctor for the old man? Then why did they pass by the third floor? As far as I know, the old man is on the second floor, right?" Guan Yuzhou's tone was never in a hurry, deliberately weakening the aggressive posture.

The fact that the Xia family had found a psychiatrist for Xia Zhuo was concealed for a long time. If he hadn't met Dr. Qin later, he probably wouldn't have known about it.

Therefore, as an assistant dedicated to the Xia family, it is not surprising that she hides everything she knows.

There was no crack in the expression on the assistant's face, and even the apology in his tone was just right: "Maybe I misremembered the floor, I will remind them later."

Guan Yuzhou nodded: "This is the best."

"I'm sorry...have you disturbed everyone's rest?"

Chu Jin interjected: "Isn't it? Tell them not to come upstairs again."

The assistant didn't look at him, but slowly glanced behind Guan Yuzhou, and there seemed to be a chuckle in midair.

"It's only natural that they won't go wrong again."

Xia Zhuo's heart jumped, and a strange ominous feeling surged up like a tide.

He had to think carefully about the meaning of this sentence. The monster composed of four aborigines did not go to the second floor. If he took the assistant's words as a reminder, then next time—maybe it won't be so easy. Ran away.

After no one spoke for a long time, the assistant stepped into the kitchen from the shadows, and the glasses on the bridge of the nose reflected a light under the light, "Do you need coffee? Guests."

"No need."

"Okay. So I hope you have a good day today."

Ending with a blessing, the assistant took the initiative to end the conversation.

He put the glass in his hand into the dishwasher to disinfect and clean it, but the original brand new glass cabinet door made a slight creaking sound in his hand, which was particularly harsh in the quiet closed space.

It is obviously unrealistic to say it from him. After confirming this, Guan Yuzhou turned and left.

The portraits on the first and second floors reflected cold light under the illumination of the overhead light, and when they reached the stairs belonging to the third floor, a messy scene appeared in front of them.

Dense footprints covered every step, and the slime in the shape of large and small palms on the handrails was still flowing down.The originally distorted wall and floor have been restored to their original state, but the dark blood stains left on them have not been cleaned up, and are floating conspicuously and glaringly on the opposite white wall.

There was a big hole in the door of the restaurant and it was almost scrapped.However, after not catching anyone, the monster returned to the stairs the same way, and continued up the stairs to the fourth floor.

Chu Jin was very disgusted by this, he pinched his nose and asked, "Is it supposed to go upstairs?"

Xia Zhuo frowned indistinctly, "It should be coming for me."

"Oh, that's true." Chu Jin expressed his understanding, after all, this was Xia Mingming's dream. "What's upstairs?"

Xia Zhuo looked at Guan Yuzhou.

Guan Yuzhou said: "Xia Mingming's room is upstairs. In addition, there is a spacious banquet hall on the fourth floor. If there is no accident, the birthday party on the third day should also be held on the fourth floor."

Chu Jin thought about it: "Doesn't that mean that you have to go up sooner or later?"

But now they haven't gone up yet, the monster went up first, and the second confrontation is inevitable.

Xia Zhuo remembered what the assistant meant just now, and frowned even tighter.

After chatting in the corridor for a while, it was time for dinner.But the group had no appetite, so they disbanded on the spot.

"You stay."

Watching Yu Ziang and the two go back to the room, Guan Yuzhou stopped Tan Nian.

Tan Nian's eyes were still red, he looked in a bad mood, his little face was pale, and he didn't dare to look up.

"What's the matter, Blackie?"

It seemed that he had expected what Guan Yuzhou would ask, and Tan Nian was not surprised by it.

His eyes flickered, he hesitated for a long time, "He's fine, just, just, it's my problem... I didn't let him out."

"reason?"

Tan Nian bit her lip, as if frightened.

Guan Yuzhou tapped his fingertips on his arm, waiting for him to finish speaking.

"Because, because he said, after this time is over, Mr. will no longer need us. I, I... I don't know why, it's just a little, a little..."

Tan Nian's hand holding the clothes on his chest trembled slightly, and his voice became softer, "I'm a little sad... I think that for so long, I have relied on Xiao Hei's ability to stay by my husband's side, and I have not done anything for him at all. However, my husband still treats me very well. So I thought, anyway, this is the last time, and I want to prove to you that I have been improving for such a long time..."

"Xiao Hei just allows you to mess around like this?" Guan Yuzhou frowned at him, "When did you start being able to suppress the secondary personality?"

Tan Nian didn't dare to hide it from him, "...since I came back from dreaming with my husband last time."

Guan Yuzhou didn't speak, but Xia Zhuo noticed that he was a little angry, and went up and gently tugged on his sleeve.

Tan Nian lowered his head, "I'm sorry, sir."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to." Guan Yuzhou rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. He was silent for a moment, then raised his legs and went upstairs, "Take out the mirror and let Xiao Hei go up to the fourth floor to see the situation."

Xia Zhuo was not at ease: "Is he all right?"

"Nothing will happen." After a slight pause, Guan Yuzhou added: "The angle of the mirror is limited, which limits the range of movement of Xiao Hei, but at least he can know whether the stairs are safe."

It is not the first time Xia Zhuo sees Tan Nian using a mirror, no matter how many times he finds it strange.

Tan Nian turned his back to the stairs leading to the fourth floor and straightened the mirror body. The other self reflected in the center had a cold expression, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife.He took a deep look at Tan Nian until the master's personality trembled involuntarily, then he turned and walked up the steps.

The dense darkness was churning, and the unknown and fear spread silently like mist, as if inviting them to enter.

Tan Xiaohei took a flashlight and walked in step by step. The cold and humid air on the fourth floor immediately enveloped him. No matter what angle he was, he couldn't see his fingers. Even the light of the flashlight couldn't drive out the darkness.

The three people outside could not know what was going on inside, so they could only wait patiently outside.

Seeing that Tan Nian was still dazed in a daze, Guan Yuzhou told Xia Zhuo something that he hadn't mentioned before.

The main and sub-personalities live together in the same body, and it is not easy to maintain a delicate balance. Just like Tan Nian always wanted to get rid of the sub-personality at the beginning, the sub-personality will also be controlled by instinct to snatch the right to use the body .When one of the personalities is completely at a disadvantage, it will slowly die out, and it also means that the symptoms of split personality are getting better.

This is a good thing for anyone with a split personality.

But this kind of situation happened to Tan Nian, which indicated that the balance in his body was being broken, which was a bad sign instead.

"Generally speaking, after a period of investigation, it has been confirmed that he has no more aggressive behavior, so he can be taken out of the nursing home." Guan Yuzhou's voice was cold, "But he just ignored his own safety and forcibly suppressed the deputy. The emergence of a personality not only easily makes the sub-personality angry, but it is also a very stupid choice."

Tan Nian heard it from the side, but he didn't dare to say anything.

After a pause, Guan Yuzhou turned his head and said to him: "You are you, and the other personality is also you. You are no different in my eyes."

Tan Nian shrank his neck slowly, "Sir, I know I was wrong..."

"There will be no next time. Remember to apologize to Xiao Hei."

"Yes……"

Well.

It turned out that Guan Yuzhou scolded the child like this.

Xia Zhuo rubbed his chin, watching with relish.

In fact, he could sympathize with the "sadness" in Tan Nian's mouth.

He didn't remember anything when he became an orphan, but Tan Nian was already a teenager.When everyone said he was sick and a monster, only Guan Yuzhou rescued him from the hell-like mental hospital. Although this kind of care was purposeful, it was a kind of salvation for Tan Nian. Otherwise, he and Xiao Hei wouldn't be so obedient to Guan Yuzhou.

So the feeling of not being needed any longer inevitably brings him down, especially considering that this need is entirely due to his sub-personality.

As Guan Yuzhou said, although there are two personalities, they are both him, and there should be no difference in essence.

Fortunately, there was no catastrophe this time, I hope Tan Nian can understand this truth by himself.

Ten minutes later, when Tan Nian's hands were about to go stiff, Tan Xiaohei's figure finally reappeared in the mirror.His face was a few degrees paler than before he entered, even slightly blue, and he was clutching something tightly in his hand.

As soon as he arrived in front of him, he began to report the situation. Since the sound could not pass through the mirror, Tan Nian acted as an interpreter for him.

"Xiao Hei said that the temperature upstairs is extremely low. People who stay for a long time will not only lose their direction, but also lose consciousness in their limbs... and they couldn't find the light switch on the wall. They didn't know how to solve the dark problem, and they didn't hear the monster. The sound of... it's too quiet up there to be living, but, but he found this."

His hand touched Tan Xiaohei's through the cold mirror, and pulled out the items brought in the mirror.

Those are four square nameplates exactly the same as Feng Yongxin.

According to Xiao Hei, these nameplates were placed just a few steps away from the stairs, and he could smell the bloody smell left by the monster's injury all the way to the left side of the corridor.He even made some noise on purpose, but it was strange that the footsteps were all swallowed up, and he couldn't even hear it.Originally, he planned to stay for a while to see if he could meet a monster and take the key, but the ten minutes was already the limit of his patience, so he had to come out first.

"If the temperature is very low, can it be solved by adjusting the room temperature?" Xia Zhuo suggested: "Isn't there a HVAC room on the first floor? The temperature of every floor in the whole house should be controlled from there. You can go here to have a look tomorrow. "

Guan Yuzhou nodded, and took the name tag from Tan Nian.

In the eternal night mode, they cannot perceive the passage of time, and can only guess what time it is based on their hunger and sleepiness.

Thinking that Tan Nian and Xiao Hei needed some time to deal with the problem, Guan Yuzhou took Xia Zhuo back to the room first.

The faces of the four people on the name tags are all ordinary, their names are nothing special, and their occupations all say "psychotherapist".

"Strange. If I really have a psychological problem, shouldn't there be so many doctors at once?" Xia Zhuo showed a disgusted expression, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with him from the bottom of his heart.

"That's true. Except for the first meeting, there are very few cases of multiple ones." Guan Yuzhou understands this aspect better. Many ones will not only lead to the inability to reconcile the confidentiality process, but also easily lead to confusion for the treatment target.

Reminiscent of the information that cannot be found later...

Guan Yuzhou's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and his dark eyes slowly scanned the two-inch photos. After thinking for a moment, a short sneer suddenly came out of his throat: "Maybe they are just fakes."

Xia Zhuo was taken aback, "You mean...they are not doctors?"

"Hmm. When I met Xia Hong downstairs, didn't he mention 'remuneration'? Since it is a sum that ordinary people cannot get for a lifetime, it will naturally attract the attention of many criminals."

In this way, it can also explain why he can't find any trace of those people in the profession of psychiatrist.

Xia Zhuo looked back and forth at the faces on the name tag, his brain ached, those normal iconic smiles became more and more hypocritical in his eyes, but he couldn't remember anything.After doing futile work, he faced the bathroom where the accident happened, and pestered Guan Yuzhou to go in and take a shower together.

The ashes on the body were washed away by the clear water, and the heat flowed on the tired body, soothing every pore.

When he came out wrapped in a bathrobe, he was also hungry.

Guan Yuzhou finished blowing his hair, "Do you want to go to the restaurant?"

"No." Xia Zhuo shook his head, hurriedly ate some biscuits and fell asleep.

As soon as he touched the pillow, his eyelids stuck together heavily, and he quickly lost consciousness.

When I woke up the next day, it was still pitch black outside the window.

Xia Zhuo didn't dream all night, and Xia Zhuo was in a good mood. After washing and drying clothes with Guan Yuzhou, he went to wake the others up.

Tan Nian seemed to be short of sleep, but her mood was not as low as yesterday.Xia Zhuo secretly asked him a few words, and Tan Nian also replied in a stumbling manner: "Well... last night, I chatted with Xiao Hei."

"Have we chatted?"

"Yeah!" Tan Nian felt embarrassed, thinking of his behavior yesterday, it was like a five or six-year-old child throwing a tantrum.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Xia, for causing you trouble..."

"It's okay~" Xia Zhuo patted his head with a smile, "Let's go, I'll take you to dinner."

Chu Jin didn't get enough sleep, so he rubbed his eyes reluctantly and got up.

Yu Ziang asked him to wash his face with cold water, but he still couldn't stop yawning one after another, and asked inarticulately, "What am I going to do today?"

Guan Yuzhou said lightly: "You go to the second floor to chat with Xia Hong."

"... still have to chat with him?!" Chu Jin was shocked, "Didn't you say it yesterday, I can't talk to him at all, and his assistant will definitely stare at me."

"Yu Ziang will go with you, what are you afraid of." Xia Zhuo picked out his ears and stood a little far away from him, thinking he was noisy.

Chu Jin also came to his senses after a while, "You just want the assistant to watch us?"

"It's okay, Chu Jinjin, you still have a brain!" Xia Zhuo clapped his hands.

Chu Jin chewed the words stiffly: "...Thank you, don't praise me next time." He was not happy at all, and even his fists were hardened.

They are going to visit the basement today, so the assistant must stay away from the first floor.

Originally planned to go to the restaurant to drink some porridge to warm his stomach, but when passing the stairs, Xia Zhuo suddenly felt something was wrong.

The others also slowed down keenly, and turned their heads to look up——on the wall of the stairs between the third and fourth floors, there was a third portrait.

The tone of the portrait is very depressing, there is no special distinction between the characters and the background, and a woman with long hair is facing away from it.

Xia Zhuo gasped, this scene was too familiar.

He and Guan Yuzhou looked at each other, then quickly turned on the light watch.

When doing laundry yesterday, he put all the knives and photos in his pockets into the warehouse to avoid losing them.

But when I checked it again now, the old photo found in Xia Youjiang's room was gone, and the grid where the props were originally stored was empty, with nothing there.

That photo...became a portrait.

The author says:

Xia Zhuo: Raising Tan Nian is equivalent to spending a share of money to raise two children, earning with blood!