don't open your eyes [unlimited]

"That's it."

Ling Su stood behind the two of them: "We kept looking for a way out, but it turned out that we had already been put into a grid."

Before the bald-headed consultant could recover, he was startled by this elusive and silent guy again: "When did you come here?!"

"Just came here." Ling Su folded the paper full of words with one hand, carefully put it in his pocket, "while you were looking at the hole."

After receiving the salary and treatment reference provided by Yan Xun’s friendship, he spent a little extra time and made a plan to go back to the deputy captain with Zhuang Die in partnership. He put away the calculator with satisfaction, and led Xiao Curly back together. Room 207.

Because the bald consultant and his partner were too attentive, Ling Su thoughtfully did not interrupt, and stood by the side with Zhuang Die and waited for a while.

"When we explored this broken corner, the puppet probably heard the sound."

Ling Su walked over, half squatted down to inspect his work, and trimmed the shape a bit more round: "But he doesn't seem to want to stop it."

The bald consultant was stunned: "How do you know?"

"When I dug this hole just now, the last layer was ripped off from the outside."

Ling Su thought for a while: "I vaguely saw a finger made of wood, but the light was too dark, so I took a closer look... In the darkness, I happened to find the puppet's eyeballs right in front of my eyes."

He murmured as he spoke: "Looking back now, our limit distance at that time was only about ten centimeters. But he didn't sanction me on behalf of the hotel, and he didn't suddenly shoot and poke my eyes..."

"..." The bald consultant was full of regrets, and quickly interrupted: "It's okay, it's okay, needless to say."

"It's really a bit weird, isn't it?" Ling Su looked back at his face carefully, and felt relieved, "I was also taken aback, I didn't recover for three seconds, and I was worried that my ability to accept it had deteriorated. "

The bald consultant wished he had never asked: "This is not a weird level anymore!"

What I saw through the hole just now is actually quite scary.Even for people like them who often dreamed and were used to seeing all kinds of weird scenes in their dreams, the SAN value fluctuated violently for a few seconds uncontrollably.

But Ling Su was squatting alone in the room just now, digging a hole in the dark corner.

When he looked at the opposite side through the gap, the puppet, which was huge to them, just happened to move up, stiffly turning the eyeballs that were close at hand, and at the same time looking in through the hole...

The bald-headed consultant didn't even dare to let this scene stay in his mind, so he slapped his forehead hard twice, trying his best to imagine the commonly used relaxation picture.

"Are you okay?" The partner's face was not very good, and he reminded in a low voice, "Recite a few sets of random numbers, and divert your attention."

The bald consultant nodded, adjusted his state, and looked at Ling Su differently.

After all, those turmoil was just heard, and the bald consultant's impression of Ling Su was still in the category of normal people based on the short-term relationship.

After all, after that incident, although Ling Su himself was banned from engaging in psychology-related work, he was not arrested as a dangerous person.

When they talked in private, most of their guesses were that Ling Su did have some psychological problems, but they were not as outrageous as the test results.On the contrary, the first-generation personality model was abruptly and completely abolished after that incident, maybe something serious went wrong...

The bald-headed consultant observed Ling Su, his original thoughts had been vaguely shaken: "After going through this kind of thing, is your whole reaction just to be stunned for three seconds?"

"of course not."

Ling Su raised his right hand as a matter of course, and he still held Xiao Curly's hand and didn't let go: "I'm terrified, I have no master, thanks to my partner for comforting me."

Only then did Zhuang Die realize the danger Ling Su had experienced in just a few seconds, and he held the other's hand back and raised his eyes.

"The effect is very good, and I am not afraid at all."

Ling Su enthusiastically suggested: "It is very helpful to stabilize the SAN value, you can also try it."

He generously shared his experience, took the opportunity to hold his hand a little more firmly, and naturally circled the little curly hair around him again.

The middle-aged partner was a little dazed: "Huh?"

The bald consultant was silent for a few seconds.

Pressing his forehead with both hands, he walked to the corner, took a deep breath, and read ten more sets of random numbers.

……

Knowing that there was a new change in the situation, Yan Xun and the hypnotist also rushed back as quickly as possible.

Looking at the scene outside through the damage, the expressions of the two of them were completely ugly, they exchanged glances silently, and frowned at the same time.

"In this way, there are two possibilities."

The bald consultant pushed the two of them back, then moved the chair and temporarily blocked the hole.

He has accepted the status quo for a while, and although his SAN value is still unavoidably fluctuating, it has finally calmed down compared to before: "The first one, what we see is actually not real, it's just some kind of dislocation in the subconscious mind in the dream... ..."

"This possibility is very small." Yan Xun shook his head, "Dreams don't appear completely gratuitous."

"Forcibly interpreting it as a misplacement, I can't think of any sense."

Yan Xun frowned: "And..."

The bald consultant asked, "And what?"

"I've been looking, but I haven't found any subconscious metaphors and emotional tendencies in this dream." Yan Xun looked at the others, "Have you found any?"

Hearing this question, several people looked at each other, but they couldn't help but startled.

They all came for their clients, and they paid more attention to the psychological state of the clients, and did not pay much attention to the nature of the hotel as a dreamland as a whole.

But as long as you think about it a little bit, you will find that Yan Xun is indeed right.

……

When I first entered the hotel, because of the many incomprehensible situations I encountered, it was indeed easy to suspect that this was a black shop.

However, with more and more information being investigated, these situations also have reasonable explanations.You will find that the hotel does not seem to have any subjective tendencies, but continues to operate according to certain fixed rules.

There is no requirement to check in and you can leave at any time.

The hotel will not voluntarily evict residents.Those who left were either constantly entangled with their other half of consciousness and wanted to become the main body in reality; or they collected enough [-] complaints and their room cards were confiscated according to regulations.

As for that weird door, if I had to say it, it only fulfilled the desire of that part of the consciousness that "I don't want to go out". It's just that the selection was too rigid and the method was too simple and blunt, so all kinds of things appeared. question……

"Exactly, then there is only the second possibility."

The bald consultant touched his head and sighed heavily: "As Captain Ling said, the rules of the hotel are fair and clear. After we checked in, there was only one missing, and everything was put into the grid."

Yan Xun was about to ask this, so he searched around the house: "Where are those two people?"

"Captain Ling claimed to have lingering fears and said he wanted to suppress the panic. He took a screwdriver and a hammer and pulled his team members away."

The bald consultant was halfway through speaking, when he suddenly remembered: "By the way, the other party accepted your invitation letter, very happy..."

Yan Xun didn't have time to worry about this for the time being, rubbed his forehead, turned around and was about to go out to find someone.

He walked to the door, and the half-hidden door happened to be pulled open from the outside.

Holding tools in one hand and leading Zhuang Die in the other, Ling Su came in from the door.

Wu Li's shadow also floated into the door.

Several people originally thought that Wu Li's consciousness had begun to weaken, and their expressions could not help but freeze slightly.But when he looked carefully, he found that the reason why he looked erratic was because his feet were weak, and he could only move in small steps while supporting the wall.

Wu Li's face looked as if he had just ridden ten roller coasters. As soon as he entered the door, he slid along the wall and sat on the ground, hugging the table legs tightly, refusing to go out no matter what.

The black shadow of the middle-aged man in charge of Yan Xun seems to have identified Zhuang Die, and after being taken out by these two people toss around, he still sluggishly follows around, even helping those who can't help him. Ling Su opened the door.

Yan Xun stopped in his tracks: "Where did you go?"

Ling Su didn't seem to care about the previous dispute, and raised the small hammer and screwdriver in his hand: "I ruled out all possibilities."

Before Yan Xun could ask what the possibility was, the bald consultant on the side had already interrupted in time: "Don't ask!"

Yan Xun was startled: "Why?"

"It's good for the mentality." The bald consultant shook his head, "Just copy the answer."

His scare value is already high enough today, if he continues like this, he will leave some psychological shadows to some extent.

Not to mention that among these, there is actually a considerable part of the fluctuation of the SAN value, which does not necessarily come from this weird dream itself...

The bald consultant and his partner have weighed the pros and cons, and decided to give up struggling completely: "What new conclusion?"

Zhuang Die raised his hand and took out the Rubik's Cube made of lines of light from his pocket.

The schematic diagram that he kept in miniature was re-enlarged and floated in the air in front of several people: "We determined the position of the counter and corrected the schematic diagram based on the original."

"Is there no major change?" Yan Xun came over, "If I remember correctly, the wooden grids in the counter are not stacked in this shape."

The shape of those single wooden lattices is similar to the seven-star chest for traditional Chinese medicine, but the arrangement method is still different, which completely deviates from the convenient principle of "raise your hand and lower your head to take it", and pile up three layers inside and outside.

These stacked wooden boxes are distributed on all sides, almost covering the entire counter, leaving only a very narrow window.

It was because the window was too narrow and the light inside was dark, so when they checked in, they couldn't see the whole picture of the wooden man at the counter...

While recalling, Yan Xun watched Zhuang Die's adjustments on the schematic diagram, and suddenly seemed to realize something, and stopped talking on his own.

... He vaguely understood what Zhuang Die meant.

"There is one more thing that I have always cared about."

Zhuang Die asked suddenly: "Do you think this place is too clean?"

"It will definitely feel like this." The bald consultant nodded, "The cleanliness here can no longer be classified as normal."

Consultants with a little bit of professional sensitivity come to this kind of place, and they will clearly realize within a short period of time that the "cleanliness" of this hotel has gotten out of control.

If it is just that every corner has been carefully cleaned, it can be considered that the service attitude of the hotel is very correct.

But even the bottom of the bed and the cracks in the walls are completely spotless, the corners of the wooden beams are clean, the ceiling looks like it has just been wiped by water, and there is no dust in the cracks in the floor...

The degree to which a fly like this flies up will slip on the soles of its feet and chop a fork on the spot, which is no longer explained by a simple obsession with cleanliness.

It is precisely because he noticed this excessive cleanliness that Yan Xun tried to find any subconscious metaphors in the hotel, or the emotions and complexes hidden in certain details.

"From this point of view... it can also be deduced in reverse. The puppet stays in the inner space of the counter and should be able to clean each room at any time." Yan Xun pondered.

Zhuang Die nodded: "This is one of the daily tasks."

In order to cooperate with the daily work of the puppet, the interior space of the counter needs to meet at least several requirements at the same time.

The "stairs" leading to the wooden grid can be built as quickly as possible, and the new guests can be sent to the corresponding wooden grid for installation.

The situation in each wooden grid can be checked at any time, and the room card of the empty room can be recovered in time so that new guests can check in.

It is the most convenient way to thoroughly clean all the corners of each wooden box, wipe all the corners clean, without leaving any dust...

"There is a most suitable position."

Zhuang Die adjusted the lines of the diagram. Combining these clues, the answer is actually very obvious: "The puppet in the counter is also the 'resident' of this hotel."

It is the tenant of the invisible room 314.

If they hadn't taken a detour at the time, but had chosen to go to Wu Li's room first, and then directly cross into room 314 through the wall... The visual effect observed from the outside would probably have been floating directly from the wooden lattice and falling into the counter.

This kind of eye-catching dust will most likely be wiped off by this puppet with a serious cleanliness in the next second.

"I'm not going to lie to you."

Wu Li finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the shape of his body stabilized again: "I was almost wiped clean just now..."

He stayed in room 315, and by the time he realized it, he was the only one left in the room.

Wu Li originally planned to return to his room the same way, to try to wake up his lost mind outside, but because of the wrong direction, he accidentally passed through the wall adjacent to Room 314.

As soon as he came out of the wall, he met the rag and cleaning brush that could destroy the world in the puppet's hand. He was so frightened that he froze in place and couldn't move.

At the moment of life and death, he was pulled back by the collar with a hand that was familiar with the road, and he was lucky to escape the catastrophe.

"so……"

A cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the bald consultant: "Did you dig a hole in every room when you went out just now?"

The bald consultant really wanted to control his thoughts, but combined with Wu Li's experience and seeing the crime tools in Ling Su's hands, he instantly thought of the most likely answer.

If it wasn't like this, these two people wouldn't have appeared so well, just in time to fish out Wu Li who was stupefied with fright.

He couldn't help looking at Ling Su: "You said just now that you were terrified! Are you going to demolish other people's hotels?!"

"It's okay, turn fear into motivation, and I got the hang of it pretty quickly."

Ling Su explained: "I can guarantee that the hole is small enough and concealed enough, and the gaps in the wooden boards are used, so that it will not affect the overall structure of the hotel. The whole construction process is also very quiet, there is basically no noise, and it will not disturb the residents... "

"It's not about these things!" The brain of the bald consultant was already aching.

He thought Zhuang Die was very calm at first, but he couldn't figure out how the other party would be led by Ling Su to mess around together: "If that puppet notices, just move your fingers, and you two will be crushed to pieces!"

Zhuang Die nodded: "Yes."

Bald consultant: "..."

"It's like those extra rooms used to cover up." Zhuang Die continued to explain, "If you just walk back and forth through the corridors and go back to the front desk along the stairwell-no active exploration at all, no suspicion, and always follow the puppet From the beginning of the planned route to move, everything you see is completely normal."

Wu Li, who had no exploration or doubt at all, felt a pain in his knee, and sniffed while hugging the table leg.

"But as long as you are brave enough and flexible enough to think of observing from an unallowed angle like the captain, you will be able to see the truth of the 'hotel'."

Zhuang Die didn't mean to call names, and nodded apologetically at him: "We explored all angles, and while confirming the position of the puppet, we also made some new discoveries..."

His words suddenly changed: "How long ago did the earliest residents of this hotel come here?"

"It should be the visitor I am in charge of."

Yan Xun looked at the black shadow in the corner, confirmed a few words with the hypnotist in a low voice, raised his head and said, "29 days have passed since that abnormal hypnosis."

After they came to the hotel, they also conducted some investigations, and they were basically sure that there were no other earlier residents.

Zhuang Die asked, "Why?"

"What?" Yan Xun was startled, "What's the matter—"

His expression suddenly changed slightly.

...which is indeed unreasonable.

They didn't have doubts about this before because the time flow rate here and outside is one to one.If someone stays here for a long time, no matter what, they will definitely attract the attention of their family members and seek help from the dream processing agency.

But now it seems that staying here does not mean not being able to wake up.

If there are really fragments of consciousness that do not want to go out, and guarantee that they will not violate the regulations or be complained about, and have reached a reconciliation with the outside consciousness, it stands to reason that they can actually live here forever.

Why are there no residents older than 30 days?

Is this just a coincidence, or is there some other reason?

"Did you come here specially to ask this? Did you find relevant clues at the front desk?" Yan Xun frowned and looked at Zhuang Die: "You mean—"

"We found page two of What Residents Need to Know."

Zhuang Die nodded: "It's actually the original piece of paper. As long as you carry it and violate the rules, the content on it will disappear and become the structural diagram of the wooden grids at the front desk."

Zhuang Die said: "We found all the observation angles according to the drawings. After putting the pictures together, we found a form recording the time and frequency of general cleaning, and saw various tools prepared."

Zhuang Die turned his head: "When was your hypnosis?"

The hypnotist's face turned pale: "One o'clock in the afternoon, there is still an hour from now..."

He also understood what Zhuang Die meant.

Logically speaking, if this hotel continues to operate, it will only accumulate more and more shadows with nowhere to go.

These black shadows were abandoned by the main body, and gradually forgot all their memories. In the end, they would not even remember who they were, and turned into dark monsters that wandered around and devoured their emotions.

But the hotel didn't have any similar traces at all, instead it was unbelievably clean.

The only reasonable explanation is that the hotel has other methods of keeping the interior tidy than the caretaker who handles complaints.

Like... a big cleaning.

In this big cleaning, the conscientious puppet will take out all the inner boxes in the wooden lattice, empty them meticulously, wipe them spotless, and then put all the furniture back into place.

"If possible, leave the six rooms directly connected to Room 314 as soon as possible-I will always report the safe room number and give the fastest passage."

Zhuang Die snapped his fingers.

The three-dimensional model in front of him slowly rotated, the light intertwined and changed, and countless green and red dots shuttled and moved in it.

"It has been 29 days since the last cleaning."