Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Where are we going?" She felt as though she had asked before, yet perhaps she had not; Xiaoya Xian was always dizzy, her mind never quite clear.

"We're going to the suburbs to look at houses," her younger brother Xiaohua told her.

"Why are we looking at houses?"

"Sis, are you alright? We agreed that today the whole family would come to see the public rental housing—the one we applied for through the government. Don't you remember?"

Xiaoya Xian shook her head, still feeling dizzy, her vision blurred.

She rubbed her eyes and saw at last that Mrs. Lin was driving, her father in the passenger seat. They both seemed quite pleased—perhaps because they finally had a new place to move into.

"We've finally waited for this day," Shiqiang Xian sighed.

"Here it is. The new estate is really nice, even though it's in the suburbs. Transportation is convenient and the rent is especially cheap," Mrs. Lin said with a smile.

Xiaohua nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! It's great!"

"Look, wow, it's huge inside—the landscaping is really good," Xiaohua pointed out the greenery. "Sis, look, isn't it nice?"

"Mm," Xiaoya Xian replied absent-mindedly. She felt as though she had been here before, and as if she had forgotten something very important, something that always slipped her mind.

"You all get out first; I'll park the car over there in the lot," Mrs. Lin said. The three of them got out and walked toward the property management hall.

"Why is Mrs. Lin bringing us to see the house?" Xiaoya Xian whispered to Xiaohua.

"She's very helpful. She happened to be nearby for other business today, so she brought us along—it saves us from figuring out the bus," Xiaohua explained. By then, they were already inside the property management hall. The staff summoned a man to lead them around; he was their guide, responsible for showing them the house.

He looked somewhat familiar. Xiaoya Xian followed, wanting to see his face clearly.

He walked particularly fast, and Xiaoya Xian felt an uncanny familiarity—everything seemed as if she had experienced it before. Who was this person? She had an impression, but couldn't recall.

"Aren't we taking the elevator up?" Xiaoya Xian asked the guide, seeing him lead them toward the stairwell, which seemed odd.

"The elevator's broken. We have to walk to the thirteenth floor, then there's an elevator," he replied impatiently.

"So which floor are we going to now?" Xiaoya Xian asked again.

"Some floors above thirteen," the guide said, vague as ever.

"How many floors exactly?" she pressed.

"Why do you ask so much? There are three apartments, all on different floors, none below thirteen," he said, sounding irritated.

"Which three? On what floors?"

"I don't know. The keys are with my colleague. We'll have to go up and find him—once we get the keys, you'll know. You can pick one of the three," the guide explained, as if he would say nothing unless pushed.

"Why ask so many questions? The young man will show us around—why would he lie?" Shiqiang Xian couldn't help scolding Xiaoya Xian, then smiled apologetically at the guide. "Sorry to trouble you. We'll just follow you."

The guide glanced at the three with contempt, as though he thought they were paupers; otherwise, how could they qualify for such cheap housing? His gaze betrayed his disdain.

Xiaoya Xian felt uncomfortable, disliking the man.

In her vision, the guide was no longer Jason, but Boss Zhong—the owner of the restaurant where Xiaoya Xian worked.

He led them up the stairs, gruffly, and the three had no choice but to follow. Dizzy, Xiaoya Xian walked on, soon losing sight of her brother, father, and the guide—they climbed so fast?

At last, she reached the thirteenth floor, breathless, but saw no sign of the other three. How strange. Where was the elevator? She didn't know. She decided to peer into the fire escape door; inside was a corridor. She had a feeling she would pass eight apartments facing different directions. When she reached the seventh, a voice whispered in her ear.

"Come in, this room can be opened! Hurry!"

Led by the voice, she opened the door to the apartment—indeed, it opened without a key. She entered, and the voice guided her again:

"The last room, go inside! Quickly!"

She hurried into the innermost room. The door seemed to be waiting for her to open it. She did so without hesitation—

Inside, it was pitch black; she could see nothing, her already blurred vision lost in darkness.

Could she turn on the light? She couldn't find the switch... Suddenly, something ahead flickered with a faint glow. She slowly approached the source—it lay on the floor. She hurriedly picked it up—

What was this? She touched it and found it was a necklace. In the center was a pendant, perhaps crystal or gemstone, engraved with a letter. The object felt familiar, though she couldn't recall where she'd seen it.

Just then, there was a bang—the door seemed to slam shut! Panic rose; inside was utter darkness, nothing visible. The room was strange, without windows—how could daylight not penetrate at all? But she had to get out...

Thinking this, she cried out, "Who closed the door? Someone's inside—open up!"

As soon as she spoke, she heard the sound of the door opening from outside. Light filtered in…

After a moment, footsteps approached.

As the footsteps drew closer, Xiaoya Xian's heart began to race.

"What are you doing here?" The person entered with a flashlight, its beam blinding her. It was Jason again. But Xiaoya Xian couldn't recall who he was—his appearance seemed to portend something about to happen. What was it? The harder she tried to remember, the more her head ached.

"What's wrong? How did you get in?" He seemed to wonder how she entered without a key.

"I... I just walked in."

"This isn't the apartment you're looking for; this one is already taken. The one you need is on an upper floor. Come with me," he said, turning to leave. Xiaoya Xian hurried after him.

Now, Xiaoya Xian could not remember Jason's identity. He brought her by elevator to an upper floor.

"Which floor is this?" Xiaoya Xian asked urgently.

Jason remained silent. When the elevator doors opened, he strode ahead without answering; Xiaoya Xian couldn't see the floor number—so strange, she tried to look but could never see clearly.

She caught up quickly. Jason opened the door to one of the apartments and said, "This is one of them—take a look, see if you like it."

"Alright." She hesitated a few seconds, uneasy, but entered.

"The balcony is over there—the view is nice, and the light is good. Go and see," Jason directed her toward the balcony.

Balcony? She hesitated again—an ominous feeling...

"I'm not lying—the balcony is perfectly oriented," he encouraged.

Hearing this, she walked slowly toward the balcony...

"Look down—it isn't high, the view is just right. Look down and you'll see," he said.

Xiaoya Xian, still dazed, thought this floor was quite high—how could it not be? Suddenly, someone grabbed her legs from behind, lifted her, and hurled her over the edge—

She had no time to react; she only heard herself scream, "Ah—"

Then her vision went black, everything vanished.

Once more, a ray of sunlight fell across her cheek through the glass, warming her skin...

Her brother Xiaohua's voice came again: "Sis, wake up, we're almost there!"

"Damn! Just missed it!" Even now, Aiwen had failed again! This was the second attempt! She was caught in an endless cycle of death! The door Xiaoya Xian was drawn through was the entrance to the dream space, but this dream space was not the previous entry point in the consciousness database—it was another mysterious portal, altered later by someone.

Now, Xiaoya Xian was trapped in a constant nightmare loop; if she could not escape, she would never awaken. Aiwen's personal consciousness, quantified and transformed into particles, moved incessantly through the H-code system, searching and probing for the hidden portal within the system. Through her meticulous consciousness, she discovered that once the sudden portal appeared and she was drawn in, her own consciousness would be locked, unable to withdraw, and she would be doomed to an endless cycle of death in the nightmare space!