My legs felt weak, but I still managed to turn and stagger out, bracing myself. Xiao Xuan called after me, but I couldn't hear a thing; all I could think about was that face.

Li Yalian. The woman downstairs—that was definitely Li Yalian. I would never mistake that face.

I bolted down to the ground floor, but I didn't see her figure standing by the entrance of the building. I simply stepped over the electric gate and ran to the exact spot where she had been standing, even feeling the chill rising from the pavement wrapping itself around my body.

But as I stood there, looking all around, I couldn't find a trace of her.

Xiao Xuan, Zhang Jiewei, and Huang Yang all rushed down after me. When I couldn't find anyone, I started walking back and happened to see the three of them standing side-by-side in front of that sapphire-blue mirror—a chance arrangement, yet strangely symmetrical.

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting so strange all day," Xiao Xuan walked over, looking at me with concern.

"Nothing, I thought I saw an acquaintance just now. Let's go back; I guess my head isn't quite right today," I casually explained to Xiao Xuan, while giving Zhang Jiewei a meaningful glance.

It wasn't until we were completely out of Jiada that I could finally breathe freely, and my heart stopped its frantic beating. Xiao Xuan and I sat in the car, but in my mind, the image of that figure kept echoing—that face that had haunted me from last night until now—and the sight of that black dahlia, blooming with lurid, solitary beauty.

"What is Zhang Jiewei doing? Why has going to the restroom taken him so long?" Xiao Xuan grew impatient in the car, constantly craning her neck to look out the window toward the Jiada entrance, but Zhang Jiewei never emerged.

"Just a little longer," I soothed Xiao Xuan, staring toward the main gate with her.

Noticing my preoccupied look, Xiao Xuan suddenly caught on: "Did you secretly send Zhang Jiewei off to do something for you? Are you two hiding something from me?"

Faced with Xiao Xuan's questioning, I only offered her an enigmatic smile before returning my gaze to the activity at the Jiada gate.

Seeing that I wasn't paying much attention, Xiao Xuan gave me a slight, dissatisfied glare before resting her chin back on the windowsill.

Before long, Zhang Jiewei emerged from the Jiada entrance and walked straight toward our parked car.

Zhang Jiewei’s expression was as placid as ever, making it hard to guess his true thoughts. This composure allowed him to conceal himself perfectly, revealing not a single crack.

Zhang Jiewei got straight into the car. Before I could speak, he handed me a photograph. "Here, this is yours."

I took the photograph. The man in it was rather refined-looking, as handsome as Zhang Jiewei. When I'd first slipped this picture out from under Li Yalian’s pillow, I hadn't had time to look closely, so I secretly gave it to Zhang Jiewei.

"What's the situation?" I asked, tucking the photo securely into the inner pocket of my jacket.

"I asked around a bit. This man is a celebrity at Jiada, the head of the Arts and Culture Department in the junior class student union. Most of the girls in school know him," Zhang Jiewei glanced at both Xiao Xuan and me before continuing, "The girl in the hallway, Shi Yingjie, is in Li Yalian’s neighboring class. Their relationship isn't good."

"If their relationship isn't good, why did she react so intensely?" Xiao Xuan murmured from the side, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"That's why it’s problematic. As for Huang Yang, she has plenty of issues herself," I said, feeling the phantom touch of those cold fingers again, causing my own hand to tremble involuntarily.

"She did give me a strange feeling, too," Xiao Xuan agreed.

"What exactly felt strange about her?" I asked, meeting Xiao Xuan's eyes. If my feeling wasn't unique, there must be something truly amiss here.

"She’s just too gloomy, but that’s not the strange part. What’s bizarre is how much she dislikes us getting too close to her students. Especially toward you, Senior Brother, her hostility was excessive," Xiao Xuan suddenly stopped, turning her head to fix me with a strange look. "Don't tell me you two knew each other before, and you did something to offend her that she still hasn't gotten over!"

"That's a frame-up! Absolutely wrongly accused! A monumental injustice!" I cried out. This woman's imagination was truly beyond our comprehension. "I only met Huang Yang today! I'm more wronged than Dou E!"

Seeing my panicked expression, Xiao Xuan burst out laughing. "I was just teasing you; you actually took it seriously."

"What did you see that made you run downstairs just now?" Just as I let out a sigh of relief, Zhang Jiewei looked at me with extreme seriousness, as if interrogating a criminal.

Hearing the question, my expression instantly darkened. I wanted to speak, but hesitated. I wasn't sure if telling them the truth would be right or wrong. Xiao Xuan’s eyes mirrored Zhang Jiewei’s, filled with an urgent need for an answer. If Huang Yang hadn't been present then, they might have already asked me this.

"I saw Li Yalian standing downstairs, smiling at me," I slowly articulated the words, biting down hard on every syllable. Especially the name "Li Yalian"—each utterance felt like a violent blow striking my heart.

"How is that possible?" Xiao Xuan stared at me in astonishment, and Zhang Jiewei knitted his brow.

"Could Li Yalian still be alive? And the one who died wasn't Li Yalian at all?" Xiao Xuan's face went chalk-white, speaking as if debating with us, yet also murmuring to herself.

"I'm not sure," Even though I recognized the face, whether Li Yalian was actually alive remained a mystery, especially considering Gao Jianning...

Could Gao Jianning have pulled some strings to make us believe the deceased was Li Yalian? No, impossible. After all these years, I trusted Gao Jianning wouldn't joke with me about something like this, nor did he have any reason to.

The reappearance of someone long dead—this wasn't the first time I'd encountered something like this. The incident with Sun Xiaomeng during the hotel fire last time was the perfect example.

Or perhaps, the gates of life and death had swung open, and the dead had returned...

"So, you mean you didn't find her after you ran downstairs?" Zhang Jiewei reasoned.

"That's right, she was gone by the time I got down there." I thought back carefully. There were only dormitories around, no other places to hide. Within the two minutes it took me to sprint downstairs, she must have found a place to conceal herself. But the problem was, if Li Yalian was truly alive, why would she hide from me? Did my presence threaten her safety? If so, why choose this precise moment to appear in my sight?

While I was racking my brain in confusion, Xiao Xuan suddenly asked, "Senior Brother, are you under too much pressure from the case these past few days? Are you hallucinating?"

"Impossible, it can't be a hallucination. There’s one more thing I haven't told you." I then recounted everything to Xiao Xuan and Zhang Jiewei: the newspaper from last night, Li Yalian's photo, the eyes outside the peephole, chasing the elevator downstairs only to fall into an endless loop and waking up on a park path. Of course, I wisely omitted the short encounter with Feng Siyan upon waking up when speaking in front of Xiao Xuan.

After hearing my account, Xiao Xuan hadn't yet composed herself. Zhang Jiewei pondered for a moment before asking, "Where did you put those newspapers?"

"They are still at my place," I replied, somewhat puzzled. Could Zhang Jiewei possibly glean some clue from those papers?

"Good. Let's go there right now," Zhang Jiewei made up his mind. Before I could even nod, he was already driving the car with Xiao Xuan and me toward my apartment, naturally accompanied by my unsolicited commentary along the way.

I considered it and decided I should trust in Zhang Jiewei's capabilities; reconnaissance was, after all, his forte.

Driving back to my apartment complex, Zhang Jiewei parked the car downstairs. As we passed the mailboxes below, I deliberately glanced over. My mailbox was ajar...

I rushed over to check. I distinctly remembered locking the mailbox after taking out the papers yesterday, but how was it open now?

"What's wrong?" Xiao Xuan came closer when she noticed my expression change.

"This is my mailbox. I distinctly remember closing it securely yesterday," I said, examining the lock, but I found no signs of damage.

"It's this," Zhang Jiewei's voice sounded near my ear as he reached out and pinched a small piece of metal wedged in the slot of the mailbox. "It got stuck."

I took the small piece of metal and scrutinized it carefully. This object couldn't have appeared in the slot of my mailbox for no reason. A prank by neighborhood kids? But my mailbox was placed at a height that an average child couldn't reach.

Suddenly remembering that eerie newspaper, I started rummaging in the mailbox again. Besides the stack of flyers that seemed to have only increased, I found two more newspapers—one from yesterday and one from today.

I opened both papers and examined them closely. There were no strange photographs, nor any abnormal print dates.

"Maybe I'm worrying too much. Let's go upstairs quickly," I said to Zhang Jiewei and Xiao Xuan, though my heart still felt uneasy.

This sensation intensified the moment I followed them into the elevator. It was silent inside. For some reason, both Zhang Jiewei and Xiao Xuan maintained a quiet stillness. The increasingly oppressive atmosphere made my heart pound unconsciously. The elevator doors opened slowly, revealing the door to my apartment, shut tight.

Walking down the corridor, there was a suffocating sense of stillness.

I stopped before the door, took a deep breath, and took out my key as usual to open it. The room wasn't large; everything was visible at a glance. No one was inside, and I immediately let out a sigh of relief.

"It's on the computer desk," I said, turning back to inform Zhang Jiewei and Xiao Xuan, and started walking toward the desk. But when I turned my head to look at the desk, I found nothing there.

My mind went instantly blank, just like that empty desk. Apart from the computer and mouse, everything was gone. That newspaper had vanished mysteriously, as if it had never existed.

"How is this possible?" I clearly remember placing it right here and never moving it again!" I stared at the spot where the paper had been, disbelief coloring my voice.

I turned back to look at Xiao Xuan and Zhang Jiewei. Xiao Xuan was equally bewildered, while Zhang Jiewei seemed to be searching around my room for something, ignoring my astonishment.

"Senior Brother, think harder if you might have put it somewhere else, like a drawer or the bookshelf," Xiao Xuan prompted me, but I only confirmed my certainty with a look.

"I am certain I put them all on the computer desk."

"Wang Lei, look here." Zhang Jiewei’s voice drew both my and Xiao Xuan’s attention. We saw him staring motionlessly at the wall clock.

We followed his gaze. The hour and minute hands were both stopped at the twelve mark. The second hand was trembling mechanically and rhythmically between the twelve and the one, but no matter how it jittered, it could not advance.

"Is it broken?" Xiao Xuan stated naturally, but the words struck my nerves with unusual heaviness. I was about to break...

A thought struck me, and I quickly turned back to switch on the computer. The sound of the tower booting up made me exceptionally irritable. The usually short startup time now felt as agonizing as waiting for a verdict, tormenting my nerves, perhaps even... consuming me.

Finally, the startup finished, and when the desktop appeared, the first thing I did was check the time displayed on the computer: 3:45 PM. I then looked down at my wristwatch; it was the same, normal. But when my gaze swept across the desktop searching for that photo of Li Yalian I had downloaded last night, I came up empty again.

Default download location: Desktop. I couldn't possibly forget a habit of so many years, but that photo had disappeared from my computer, just like the newspaper featuring Li Yalian's picture.

I quickly opened my email client. Unsurprisingly, even the emails inside were nowhere to be found, including the two anonymous ones I'd received before.

"They're all gone." Disappointed and somewhat frustrated, I turned back to tell Zhang Jiewei and Xiao Xuan, only to meet Zhang Jiewei's complicated gaze.

"Wang Lei, I think there is something I need to tell you," Zhang Jiewei began slowly, his brow still tightly furrowed.

"What is it?" I felt bewildered, unsure what plan Zhang Jiewei was hatching.

"You said you received a newspaper with Li Yalian’s photo, and emails with Li Yalian’s photo, but we haven't seen any of them. The clock clearly malfunctioned earlier, and your nerves were highly strung last night; it's quite possible you misread the time on the computer as well. Furthermore, you claimed someone was outside the door, but after chasing them, you were trapped in an infinite loop in the hallway. We all know clearly that such a thing is completely impossible, at least in three-dimensional space." It was rare for Zhang Jiewei to speak so much, but it made me extremely uncomfortable.

"What are you implying then?" I questioned Zhang Jiewei, feeling a pang of guilt.

"Today at Jiada, you said you saw Li Yalian on the upper balcony, but when you chased her down, you found nothing. I'm actually wondering if you might be having hallucinations." Zhang Jiewei uttered something quite similar to what Xiao Xuan had suggested earlier. Hallucinations? I couldn't help but give a bitter smile; I was starting to feel confused myself. Didn't I doubt I was hallucinating in Huang Yang's office at Jiada today?

Before I could rebut, Zhang Jiewei continued, "Perhaps the recent stress has really caused you to have hallucinations. But hallucinations are a precursor to delusional disorder. I think you should pay more attention to it and find a psychiatrist for some adjustment when you have time; these things shouldn't happen again."

I always thought I was a very strong person and would never believe I could have hallucinations due to stress, but the string of bizarre events lately had made me doubt myself.

The person one trusts most should be oneself, and the fact that I doubted myself was inherently abnormal.

I asked Xiao Xuan and Zhang Jiewei to leave first; I just wanted some quiet time alone. But after an internal struggle, I decided to investigate to dispel the doubts in my heart. Deep down, I truly hoped it was a hallucination, because if reality was truly like this, it would be terrifying. Perhaps I would break down before this case was solved.

The police system has its own dedicated psychiatrists, but I didn't want to bother them, as I didn't want too many people to know. After all, a person with a mental illness is considered unhealthy, and if those guys like Xiao Cuo found out, I might never be able to hold my head up in front of them again.

Just then, I suddenly recalled the person who saved me last time. I was ambushed while tailing Sun Xiaomeng, and he appeared just in time to rescue me. Yes, his name was Chen Yujia—a psychiatrist who looked quite scholarly.

I remembered he had given me a business card last time, so I habitually opened the drawer and rummaged through the card case. I have a habit of keeping all my business cards in a black box for easy access. But this time, I couldn't find it. I tried hard to recall if I had put the card in there, then searched through all my clothes, pants pockets, and the desk again, but still no luck. Where on earth had it gone?

When I turned around, I saw a pale yellow card lying next to the keyboard on the computer desk. So it was there. But I couldn't remember when I had placed it there. Sleepwalking? It seemed my condition was quite serious; it was time to pay a visit to this doctor.

Following the address on the card, I arrived at West Fourth Street, a busy and relatively bustling thoroughfare. Ahead was a small glass door with several signs hanging on either side. One of them read: "Yujia Psychological Consultation Office."

Inside was a staircase, steep and narrow. It opened up slightly wider upstairs. Counting along the hallway, there were about seven or eight small offices, pitifully tiny, almost like shell corporations.

I began to doubt if I had the right person. Perhaps that scholarly-looking psychiatrist was just a fraud. Psychology, unlike other illnesses, isn't something that simply appears or disappears; it relies entirely on the psychologist's words. Considering the man looked refined and mild-mannered, perhaps he occasionally engaged in scams involving seduction.

But since I was already here, I decided to check it out. If I discovered this young man was indeed doing anything wrong, given that he saved my life once, I would issue him a warning first.

I walked to the very end of the corridor before finally seeing the sign for the "Yujia Psychological Consultation Office," which only deepened my suspicion.

Knock, knock. I tapped on the door, hoping no one was inside so I could leave.

The door creaked open, and the scholarly-looking man appeared before me. He was as gentle and polite as before. "Sir, please come in!"

I stepped inside and found the interior quite elegantly arranged. The tables and chairs were spotless, and several potted bamboo plants on the windowsill gave the room a fresh feeling.

I observed Chen Yujia closely, and he was watching me too. His gaze was deep as the ocean, inscrutable, leaving even me, a criminal investigator, feeling helpless—as if this man could see right through me, while I knew nothing about him.

Chen Yujia didn't recognize me, treating me as a regular patient. He said kindly, "How may I assist you?"

I replied, "You saved me last time. Don't you remember?"

Chen Yujia’s eyes flickered slightly, and immediately he said, "Oh, you are that police officer." He then added, "Is there something you need my assistance with?"—the demeanor of a model citizen.

I shook my head. "No, I am just a patient."

Chen Yujia’s expression instantly shifted from citizen back to doctor, his gaze regaining its previous depth. He looked at me and then said in a low voice, "Do you often experience hallucinations?"

My heart jolted. How had he seen through me? All my previous doubts about him vanished, replaced by a new question: with skill like his, why would he be holed up in this noisy, unremarkable office instead of making a name for himself at the City General Hospital?

"How did you know?"

Chen Yujia pursed his lips, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on the corners, because he knew that whenever a patient asked this, it confirmed his diagnosis was spot on.

"Because from the moment you entered until now, your gaze has shifted seven times, your attention has been fragmented, and your ten fingers have been trembling slightly. While these symptoms can occur in healthy people, given that you came here, it’s enough to draw a conclusion."

Every secret feels profound and unknowable until it is revealed; once the truth surfaces, it often seems mundane. However, this confirmed for me that Chen Yujia was certainly no charlatan preying on the sick and lonely; what he had just demonstrated was enough for him to live comfortably on his own merits.

"Detective, please tell me, what symptoms have you been experiencing?" Chen Yujia’s eyes held a certain eagerness. Perhaps it was rare to have a police officer as a patient, and he was deeply curious about a detective’s inner world, recognizing that hallucinations are often a reflection of one's perception of reality.

I recounted the series of bizarre events that had recently unfolded. Chen Yujia listened intently, occasionally interjecting with questions.

After I finished detailing the strange occurrences, I desperately wanted an answer from him. But this time, Chen Yujia didn't rush to reply. He furrowed his brow, resembling someone contemplating a complex case, trying to sift through confusion and contradiction to find the true culprit.

After a long pause, Chen Yujia finally said slowly, "Everything you've described is related to the case. This could be stress-induced, but the frequency of these occurrences is quite peculiar."

Peculiar—that was exactly what I needed to hear. It validated that I wasn't hallucinating; everything I had seen and experienced had genuinely happened, and this would be immensely helpful in solving the case.

Chen Yujia continued, "If all of this were hallucination, at such a high frequency, you would be critically ill. But clearly, you haven't reached that stage."

"So you're saying what I saw was real?"

Chen Yujia shook his head. "Not necessarily, because right now, we can't be certain which parts are hallucinations and which are real, so we can't determine the exact frequency." He paused briefly, then added, "I wonder if you would mind if I used hypnosis on you? I might be able to learn more that way."

Hypnosis is an exceedingly mysterious therapy. While widely practiced across the globe, it remains controversial. Some claim it can truly penetrate the deepest recesses of the human psyche, while others denounce it as the world's greatest hoax. The reality is likely known only to those who have truly undergone it, and how many of those are merely accomplices in the deception, no one can say.

I understood the implication behind Chen Yujia’s question. Due to the confidential nature of my profession, if my consciousness were fully overridden, many secrets that could never be made public might be exposed to him. This was a gamble, with the stakes resting entirely on my trust in him.

Could I really trust this man, who possessed such an overwhelmingly scholarly aura?

"Take your time to consider your answer; there's no need to decide right now," Chen Yujia’s tone was gentle, entirely lacking coercion, yet this very quality made him more likely to earn trust.

"Alright, I agree."

That nearly imperceptible smile reappeared on Chen Yujia’s face, as if he had already known I would consent. But I was already ensnared in his net, utterly unable to pull myself free.

At this moment, Chen Yujia seemed like a being from an unknown realm. His eyes held none of the typical human spark; they were vast, deep, giving the impression of stepping into a distant darkness where secrets eternally hidden resided.

"You are very thirsty!"

Chen Yujia slowly uttered these three words. Instantly, my throat grew parched, as if a handful of sand had been stuffed inside, instantly wicking away all moisture.

"In the world of darkness, there is no light, no warmth—only silence and cold..."

Chen Yujia’s voice drifted from afar, and my body began to float along with his words, rising into the black, silent world he had conjured.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes and saw a pitch-black building. It was strange that I could see in the darkness, but I didn't question it then; I moved unconsciously toward the black structure.

The building was tall. All the windows were tightly shut, but the main door stood open, like the mouth of a monstrous beast awaiting a victim to walk into the trap. My feet moved without my conscious command, and I vanished into the darkness of the doorway.

The staircase was long and steep, just like the one I’d climbed to get here. In the silent night, I heard my own footsteps echoing in the air, soaring upward until they reached the very top floor, then spiraling down again with a fainter sound, landing softly on my head.

I felt terror, a fear that originated deep in my bones, yet my feet kept carrying me upward, as if some mysterious force were summoning me from the deepest part of the structure.

I reached the second floor. All the doors were closed, and the hallway was dim, but I could still see.

Not here. I kept climbing.

The third floor—still nothing happened.

It wasn't until the ninth floor that I finally spotted an open door. The doorway was narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. I even doubted whether I could squeeze back out after forcing myself in, fearing I might get stuck, allowing some grotesque thing to emerge...

I walked to the door and peered inside, but this time I could see nothing—it was an absolute void, darker than a moonless night.

Don't go in, don't go in!

I screamed this inwardly, but my feet were no longer my slaves; they dragged me, the captive, toward that infinite black hole like a conquering army.

Every hair on my body trembled, my blood felt as if it were ceasing to flow, utterly devoid of warmth like a corpse—only my two feet moved relentlessly forward.

The tight squeeze of the doorway made me feel like I was being flattened into a thin sheet of paper, yet my body inexplicably managed to stretch and contort in unexpected ways. I finally managed to squeeze through the narrow opening.

It was impossible to see anything inside the room. I continued to move forward reluctantly, fumbling in the darkness. Strangely, since entering this black room, I could no longer hear my own footsteps. The floor felt soft and yielding, like human flesh. This thought nearly made me cry out, but I dared not bend down to touch it—what if it were true?

Suddenly, my vision returned slightly, and I vaguely saw a small, dark silhouette ahead. I slowly moved toward it. Perhaps this was what I was looking for; perhaps finding it would allow me to wake from this nightmare.

The shadow grew slowly, becoming more and more like a person!

Finally, I reached the shadow, and a skeletal figure materialized before me, staring at me with two sockets devoid of flesh!

I finally couldn't hold back a scream, but my throat felt packed with sand, and no sound emerged.

Then, my hand betrayed me as well. It lifted, reaching out to touch the terrifying skeleton.

My hand gently made contact, but it wasn't the bone-chilling texture I expected. Instead, I felt something smooth. Though I couldn't identify what it was, I was certain it was definitely not a skeleton!

Yet the skeleton was plainly before my eyes, and I couldn't feel it—surely that was an even more horrifying prospect!

My pupils dilated rapidly. When they shrank to the size of a cat's eye, I finally saw clearly: before me was a smooth mirror, and the skeleton was merely an illusion within the glass.

Just as I breathed a silent sigh of relief, a far more terrifying thought struck me!

Why would a skeleton appear in the mirror?

Was it behind me?

The movement of air could be felt by every strand of hair; my skin felt icy, like pork just pulled from the refrigerator. I whipped my head around in horror, but there was nothing there.

However, when I turned back to the mirror, the skeleton was still standing inside the glass.

I reached out and touched the mirror again. This time, I realized the skeleton in the reflection was slowly raising its hand to touch me as well...

Whoosh. The sand in my throat was finally washed away by a downpour. I took a long, deep breath, gulping in the fresh air, my eyes wide with astonishment and terror.

"How did you do that? What was I seeing?..."

A barrage of questions erupted from my mouth. Though I tried to regain my composure, I couldn't control my sudden impulse.