Chapter 96: Five Hearts

The door to the 4-1 room was open.

Soft light shone on the mirror, reflecting the scene in the hallway.

When Wen Xishu was enveloped by that light, he first looked at the mirror.

Then he started looking at the owner of the crying; the owner of the crying was very young, only twenty-five years old, but looked about the same age as Wen Xishu.

The girl's arms had many scratches, and there were scars on her face. There were marks on her wrists from being locked by chains for a long time.

However, today, the girl didn't look at Wen Xishu, but was facing diagonally opposite to Wen Xishu. Wen Xishu noticed that the girl and the mirror presented an orientation.

"Airplane? You... why did you get out of bed?" The girl who was originally wailing, after seeing the man next door get up, was shocked and temporarily stopped crying.

Wen Xishu said:

"I'm better."

"What do you mean?" the girl asked.

"I no longer fantasize that I am an airplane now, and I also know that there is a problem with that. I have forgotten many things, but I remember the reason I came here; now... I'm better." Wen Xishu said.

The girl shook her head and said:

"You have had clear moments before, but not long after, you... no, this is not the most important thing; Airplane, hurry and notify everyone—"

Before the girl's words were finished, Wen Xishu heard the sound of a radio not far away.

【Mo Yuan is very sad in her heart; the stipulated time has arrived, but Ding Dong has not returned to the hospital. And the floor is completely blocked.】

As the sound of the radio fell, a voice of an old lady also came from the 4-8 room:

"Don't panic, don't panic, little Mo, don't be afraid; Ding Dong will definitely come back, Ding Dong will definitely come back!"

The old lady leaning on a cane, with a kind smile, walked out wearing somewhat loose hospital clothes.

"It's okay, it's okay..." The old person seemed unable to bear seeing the little girl suffer any grievances, her mouth constantly chanting words like "don't panic," "will come back," and "it's okay."

Mo Yuan, however, shook her head and said:

"Blocked... the floor is blocked, the words on the door have changed! Ding Dong has had an accident!"

There was a door in the stairwell. Originally, the words on the door were "Dang Gui" (Return). But now, the words on the door had changed to "Jin Xing" (No Entry).

This door clearly had some kind of special function, but the airplane man he was playing happened to only have memories of flying and fighting on the bed. He couldn't remember the specific function of this door.

However, judging from the experience in the Mysterious Tower, this door was ultimately opened. It was very likely that the people on the lower three floors opened it.

Wen Xishu seemed to understand something.

At this time, someone spoke again; this time the voice was a child's—a chubby little boy, drooling at the corner of his mouth, holding a pipe in his hand:

"Sister is telling the truth, Grandma is telling a lie, hehe, Sister is telling the truth, Grandma is telling a lie."

This was the child living in 4-18; because he was playing in the hallway, he happened to hear the conversation between Mo Yuan and the old lady.

The little boy started giggling foolishly, but as he laughed, he started wailing:

"Brother Ding Dong is dead, Brother Ding Dong can't come back, wuwu, he doesn't want me anymore."

The crying was sorrowful, attracting the resonance of the blindfolded girl, and she also started sobbing:

"I want to find him!! Let's go find him together! Qian Lele, don't cry; I don't believe he will die; how can he die?"

The old lady also panicked at this time:

"Ah ya... little Ding Dong died? It won't, it won't; he said he would come back. He must be... must be lost. Let's go find him; let's go pick him up and bring him home."

Wen Xishu didn't move the whole time, just listening to the conversation of these patients, pondering the whole story.

New characters soon appeared:

"Grandma Wu, little Mo, Qian Lele, I'll go with you... I know the places he loves to go."

"When Ding Dong was making shoes for me, we talked about the places we wanted to go most! I know where he wants to go!"

A middle-aged man wearing a rider's helmet appeared.

The shoes he was wearing were precisely the shoes with footprints that Wen Xishu had discovered. This was a resident from 4-12.

At the same time, the chef carrying a rice cooker and holding a dinner fork also walked out from 4-16:

"I'll go with you; it'll be good to have some support along the way. I can make food for you; let's take the mirror, and let's leave together. No matter what, we have to find him; dead or alive, we have to see him!"

The chef was tall and sturdy, with a face full of flesh, looking very fierce, but as soon as he appeared, everyone clearly felt a bit more at ease.

His name was Xiang Yang, and he could be considered the one with the mildest illness among this group.

That was everyone.

Wen Xishu looked at the chef, the rider, Grandma Wu, Qian Lele, and Mo Yuan; these five people corresponded to eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and feet...

And the mission of the Tower of Desire was as follows:

Perhaps, you can find something that can respond to those longings. Please make the patients in 4-1, 4-8, 4-12, 4-16, and 4-18 feel happy.

With this, Wen Xishu was clear about a part of the trajectory of fate.

These patients all had deep feelings for the great inventor—Ding Dong. And Ding Dong seemed to have died outside.

The closing of that door meant that Ding Dong had an accident, activating some kind of protective measure.

There were many ways for these people to obtain happiness; it was hard to say if his comforting them a bit would complete the mission.

But they hadn't determined that the great inventor Ding Dong was dead yet; if they found out later... or were targeted by people on the lower three floors, they would likely die too.

The final completion rate would definitely not be high.

Achieving the current longing wish was the greatest happiness, and their happiness was to find the great inventor—dead or alive, they had to see him.

Or, find other things sufficient to respond to their longings.

Wen Xishu said:

"Why did you determine that he had an accident?"

The other few people were all shocked, because in their impression, the patient at 4-2 would only make "fufu" sounds, fantasizing that he was an airplane.

Sometimes it was a bird of prey, sometimes an F-22, sometimes a Boeing 747, and sometimes a helicopter.

Wen Xishu saw everyone's gaze looking at him, and he explained patiently:

"Hello everyone, I am... Wen Xishu; um, given that everyone is already used to calling me Airplane, you can call me A-Fei."

"I'm better; my brain is no longer full of airplanes. I know you might suddenly not believe it, but that's not important; you can just treat it as me being temporarily sober. Before everyone leaves this building and prepares to find Ding Dong, I want to ask, why did you determine that Ding Dong is dead?"

Based on the initial favorability of the character, Wen Xishu chose to ask directly; they were all patients on this floor, and everyone had nothing to hide.

Although surprised that Airplane's style suddenly changed, Mo Yuan still said:

"Airplane, that door... any one of us on this floor leaving this floor, the door would write 'Dang Gui' (Return). If everyone returned to this building, or if the person who left the building encountered an accident outside... the words on the door would change to 'Jin Xing' (No Entry)."

Mo Yuan's fingernails were a bit long; she hugged her arms lonely, her fingernails sinking into her flesh, and she tilted her head and said with a bit of a crying tone:

"I point the mirror at the door every day, just to see the change in the words on the door."

Now Wen Xishu knew that the desk lamp could also bring the field of view in the mirror.

Wen Xishu said:

"The door changed to No Entry. So the person outside can't come in, right?"

The one speaking at this time was the rider, whose real name was Lei Yihong:

"Yes, Airplane; if this door writes No Entry, only Ding Dong can come in from the outside."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"Everyone, is it possible that the door also has a sensing range? Perhaps Ding Dong just left the door's sensing range. First, we cannot assume Ding Dong is dead."

"Secondly—"

Wen Xishu was actually already convinced that Ding Dong was dead, but he couldn't say it directly.

He arrived in front of the door at the stairwell: "Except for Ding Dong, everyone should not have left this floor, right? You should understand the significance of Ding Dong building this door."

Wen Xishu still had some of his own guesses.

"The world outside the door is very dangerous; many of Ding Dong's items are hidden here. If... I mean if, Ding Dong is really dead, then his wish must be to hope that we can live well."

"If the outside wasn't very dangerous... I'm afraid Ding Dong wouldn't have built this door, right?"

Wen Xishu stood horizontally in front of the door:

"I am the same as everyone; I long to find Ding Dong, but the premise is that we can all live. So, why don't we sort it out: what did Ding Dong leave for us? Are there any means to deal with danger?"

Now Wen Xishu's understanding of history was like this—

The great inventor Ding Dong awakened his ability very early and could make all kinds of magical items.

But these items were not favored—Wen Xishu had doubts here; according to the level Ding Dong showed now, this person was truly a Doraemon.

Why were his previous items not favored... why would so many people crazily pour into the hospital later?

And now, the whole building, except for this fourth floor, was quiet.

Later, Ding Dong moved into the psychiatric hospital; here, Ding Dong got to know a group of patients, became friends, and also had attachments.

Ding Dong also opened a museum on the fourth floor. But the museum was actually for the patients on the fourth floor to see and was not open to the public.

And Grandma Wu, Mo Yuan, Qian Lele, Lei Yihong, and that chef here all obtained special props with "body" elements.

Ding Dong should have cared about them very much, and they also loved Ding Dong.

Here, Ding Dong left the most valuable item in the Mysterious Tower mission introduction...

The current trajectory of fate was that Ding Dong didn't tell everyone how to open that item or where it was hidden, then suddenly left the hospital, and then died outside...

And Grandma Wu, Mo Yuan, Qian Lele, and others all learned that Ding Dong died outside through the change of the door, so they were very worried about Ding Dong.

They finally decided to go find Ding Dong, even if it was just to find Ding Dong's corpse.

The trajectory of fate for everyone was probably because of this decision that they stepped into death.

They didn't find the item "sufficient to respond to their longings." So not long after leaving, everyone died outside one after another.

Or...

After they opened the door, they would instantly face a crisis, so much so that many items were still left in the museum.

And in the Mysterious Tower world, the reason why he always had a sense of crisis from the lower three floors... was probably because of this.

What Wen Xishu didn't understand was why Ding Dong didn't tell them what that most powerful item was before leaving in a hurry.

In this mission, why was the cut-in node of the invitation letter after Ding Dong died, instead of before death? Ding Dong was undoubtedly more valuable than everyone here, but Ding Dong died.

Therefore, Wen Xishu had to figure out these doubts, and he blocked the door and said:

"What awaits us after opening the door is a danger that even Ding Dong might not be able to handle. I understand everyone's longing to find him, but we cannot recklessly open the door."

Everyone was surprised; today's Airplane was actually so calm, his speech was clear, and his thinking was even more logical than before.

"There are many miracles in this world... sometimes before we do stupid things, fate has many means to hint to us."

"I don't know what happened to Ding Dong, but I suddenly woke up today, no longer crazy, and I think I have a mission. You can just treat it as Ding Dong's arrangement."

Everyone here believed that Ding Dong was a miracle; Wen Xishu's words also made everyone calm down.

Mo Yuan said:

"What do you want to know?"

Wen Xishu said: "I want to know everyone's past. Ding Dong's help to everyone."

"I always feel that Ding Dong should have left something; with this thing, he could rest assured to go out. This is something that can protect us."

At this time, Qian Lele suddenly said:

"Brother Airplane is telling the truth, hehehe, it's the truth."

Qian Lele was a bit foolish, with drool always hanging from the corner of his mouth; he couldn't judge whether a person was telling the truth or a lie, only relying on the pipe to judge.

That pipe was like Pinocchio's nose; the difference was that it wasn't that Qian Lele told a lie and the nose would grow long; Qian Lele wouldn't tell a lie, only when others told a lie would the pipe grow long.

"Qian Lele, can you move a few stools over?"

"Okay, okay." Qian Lele ran to move stools in each room.

Before long, several people had stools, and everyone sat in a circle, quite a bit like a mutual aid society.

Wen Xishu said:

"Let's start from... Mo Yuan, you."

Thanks to the extremely high initial favorability, Mo Yuan, Grandma Wu, Qian Lele, Chef Xiang Yang, and Rider Lei Hongyi finally decided to listen to "Airplane" and tell their stories, and also told about Ding Dong's influence on them.

Wen Xishu was also about to understand what kind of person the great inventor was.

Mo Yuan started her story.

When she was a child, Mo Yuan's parents worked in other places and rarely gave her company; all along, Mo Yuan lived with her grandmother.

Parents could basically only be seen during the New Year. And after entering junior high school, Mo Yuan had the ability to take care of herself and started helping her grandmother do things.

She was very sensible and also very grateful for her grandmother's company; her grandmother would also tell her those love stories from their era when horses and carriages were slow.

Mo Yuan listened and felt very envious; a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl actually had many beautiful fantasies about these things.

Her grandmother died in Mo Yuan's third year of junior high school. Her parents came back, attended the funeral, and then let Mo Yuan study as a boarding student. They were really busy; Mo Yuan actually didn't blame her parents, because many families were like this, with parents busy working outside to earn money.

She was a sensible good girl, knowing that it wasn't easy for her parents to earn money, and also knowing that being able to study and learn was in itself a manifestation of her parents' love.

But she wasn't good at studying.

Her academic performance had never been very good, the kind that wasn't very good even if she tried. If a person was always doing things they weren't good at in an environment, and couldn't get positive feedback, and was in a suppressed or even somewhat suppressed atmosphere—their mentality would change.

It was also at this time that Mo Yuan fell in love with a senior outside the school.

The process of this love affair wasn't really worth caring about. For Mo Yuan, in her life, there had never been a love affair that wasn't heartfelt.

Puppy love was bound to be terminated, plus Mo Yuan hoped to get encouragement and company, while studying only gave her pressure...

So she loved passionately and crazily; she was always thinking that it would be fine if she only fell in love once in her life, just like the stories her grandmother told.

But the more this was the case, the more serious her academic decline became; her parents finally had to come back because of the teacher's phone call.

Her father and mother were very disappointed in Mo Yuan; they talked about their hardship outside, talked about how it wasn't easy to support Mo Yuan's studies...

This relationship naturally wouldn't have a result. It wasn't because Mo Yuan gave up, but because that boy gave up, the reason being that he still wanted to study well.

Mo Yuan silently accepted it.

Later, Mo Yuan went to college, a very ordinary private college; in school, Mo Yuan fell in love again, and the object and process of the love affair were nothing to talk about. The final ending was that Mo Yuan treated love seriously, but the man was in another school and had another girlfriend.

After learning the truth, Mo Yuan was naturally very sad, but she had always been a girl who dared to love and hate; in this situation, Mo Yuan decisively broke it off cleanly with the second boyfriend.

Mo Yuan missed her grandmother very much and wanted to ask her grandmother how she could have someone who was always willing to accompany her and stay together for a lifetime, just like her and her grandfather.

When she was twenty-two, Mo Yuan went out to work and started her third relationship.

This time, Mo Yuan's love object was a civil servant. This civil servant was indeed not handsome, but Mo Yuan's parents liked him very much.

Because he was seven years older than Mo Yuan, the man took good care of Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan's requirements had actually always been very low; it was just fine if he was good to her.

This civil servant finally didn't give up on Mo Yuan, nor did he flirt or leave feelings anywhere; he looked very honest and did things very seriously. Every single thing Mo Yuan ordered, he did very well.

Working within the system also made him more excellent in human relationships than his peers, and Mo Yuan's parents also received many preferential treatments.

They once reached the stage of talking about marriage, and the boyfriend was successfully upgraded to a fiancé.

But it happened to be at this time that Mo Yuan's eyes... couldn't see. She went to several hospitals and couldn't check out the results. Mo Yuan only felt that her eyes were very painful, as if they would be very painful when shone by the sun.

Even at night, Mo Yuan felt that even the moonlight was stinging; she had to wear an eye patch.

This change had a great impact on Mo Yuan, because finally, after spending tens of thousands of yuan on treatment to no avail, the fiancé became an ex-boyfriend.

"I am grateful to God for giving me such a young and beautiful girl... I have always felt that your appearance brought me a lot of happiness; I never thought that a person like me could have such a beautiful girlfriend, and even reached the stage of talking about marriage... but I'm sorry, I cannot accept that she will be unable to take care of herself in the future."

At the darkest moment of life, the love she thought she had also dimmed.

This incident made Mo Yuan mentally inferior; she couldn't help but wonder if she didn't deserve love, and if there was no such thing as love that could stay together for a lifetime at all?

Interestingly, Mo Yuan felt that it was right for the other party to leave her; it was the correct thing to do. She shouldn't delay a person's life.

But she really hoped that the man would be willing to stay, at least try, or persist a little longer...

Being unable to see the light made Mo Yuan start to have some other special changes.

She felt that she was incredibly eager for light, but she was also afraid of the stinging pain when opening her eyes. She didn't dare to lift the eye patch, but in her heart, there was a kind of inexplicable restlessness.

By chance, because she couldn't see, Mo Yuan was injured while walking on the road; the wound was like a flower blooming in clean soil.

In this process, Mo Yuan actually felt a trace of peace. The pain made that impulse to tear off the eye patch completely fade away.

When blood gushed out from her skin, she finally wouldn't produce that sense of inferiority, nor would she feel her eyes stinging anymore.

To verify this, Mo Yuan started self-harming.

This scared her family, and because of this, Mo Yuan moved into a psychiatric hospital, and it was the fourth floor of the Jiangcheng Psychiatric Hospital.

Here, to prevent Mo Yuan from self-harming, doctors and nurses locked Mo Yuan with chains.

When the restlessness couldn't be calmed... Mo Yuan started to become hysterical; she roared like a crazy woman.

Several times, in order not to let Mo Yuan roar, the hospital staff would forcibly inject Mo Yuan with sedatives.

As time went on, Mo Yuan became more and more restless inside, looking more and more like a... lunatic.

This was Mo Yuan's story.

After listening to Mo Yuan's story, Wen Xishu had a strange feeling. It was as if the first half was a girl's youth, and the second half suddenly became strange.

Looking from Wen Xishu's perspective... Mo Yuan suddenly went blind, perhaps not because of a disease? But some kind of strange power.

Mo Yuan continued to tell:

"At that time, I felt that I was suffering inside and out, as if something was crawling in my body... I longed for light, but I was afraid of light."

"I wanted to self-harm to obtain peace, but I couldn't obtain peace."

"I was very lonely; I wanted someone to accompany me..."

Mo Yuan was very lonely; if someone accompanied her, it would be good to distract her a bit.

At this time, Ding Dong appeared. When talking about Ding Dong, Mo Yuan was clearly much gentler:

"Ding Dong's arrival was simply a miracle; you might not believe it, but the first sentence Ding Dong said when he came here was—"

"The compass of fate tells me... here I can find the meaning of my existence; hello, my name is Ding Dong; thank you fate for letting us meet; perhaps I can help you."

Luo Pan of fate?

Was it also something made by Ding Dong? Wen Xishu discovered some blind spots.

"Ding Dong came here voluntarily?" Wen Xishu asked.

Mo Yuan nodded:

"He came here voluntarily."

Wen Xishu felt more and more that something was wrong. He started to recite the mission description of the Mysterious Tower again—

Some works in this world are always only cared about by people after death; he had been promoting his works everywhere, saying they would come in handy in the apocalypse, and he even made them into small gifts to give away for free. It's just that people were all laughing at him.

His heart was very strong, but he was always misunderstood because of the various strange items he made and the various bizarre remarks he told. Geniuses are always lonely, and so are madmen.

He ultimately moved into a psychiatric hospital.

At this time, Wen Xishu discovered some different places.

"His heart is very strong; he ultimately moved into a psychiatric hospital. I actually ignored such key information before!"

"In my previous understanding, the great inventor felt lonely because he wasn't understood, produced some mental problems, and ultimately entered a psychiatric hospital."

"But in this way, it doesn't conform to the description of being very strong inside."

The mission introduction uses "very strong" to describe a person, indicating that this person's mental world is truly very rich and not so easily destroyed.

Wen Xishu felt it was interesting. He became more and more curious about Ding Dong.

Mo Yuan said:

"After Ding Dong came here, he started listening to my past; he was very moved at that time."

Ding Dong was very moved at that time, saying to Mo Yuan in a somewhat excited tone:

I thought coming here was the call of items; I didn't expect that I could find more content here.

Mo Yuan didn't understand this sentence, but as a listener, Wen Xishu understood a bit at this time.

"What else did he say? Did he ask you anything?" Wen Xishu asked.

Mo Yuan said:

"He lived here directly. Later, many conversations were daily conversations; after listening to my story, he made a lamp..."

"This lamp is too magical; all the mirrors within the range of the lamp light and what others see with their eyes can be seen by me, but the images are all imprinted in my mind... I don't need to take off the eye patch to see."

"My eyes don't feel stinging, but at the same time I saw the light, and the restlessness in my heart slowly disappeared."

"I started to gradually become normal; all of this stems from Ding Dong."

Wen Xishu asked again:

"Think carefully, before he made this lamp, did he have any other questions?"

Mo Yuan frowned slightly:

"Other? Ah... seems so, yes, yes, he asked me, after experiencing failed relationships continuously, do you still long for love?"

Wen Xishu said:

"What did you say?"

Mo Yuan smiled:

"Of course I long for it; when I was a child, my grandmother was the best person to me; I believe I can find the kind of person described by my grandmother who can stay together for a lifetime. I just... had a period of doubt about myself, but I didn't doubt that there are people in this world worth loving; if I met them, I wouldn't be timid."

Mo Yuan's smile didn't last long, because thinking of Ding Dong, the expression on her face clearly showed a look of loss again.

Wen Xishu said:

"Then what was Ding Dong's response?"

Mo Yuan realized that Airplane seemed to have thought of something, and she also became serious:

"Ding Dong just said thank you to me... said he envied me for having such a heart."

Wen Xishu nodded; he had a bit of an idea in his heart.

"Grandma Wu, what about you?"

The radio in the 4-8 room transmitted a new sound at this time:

"Airplane is no longer Airplane, but he is indeed an airplane that changes the trajectory of fate; his worry at this time is longing to get the truth of the story."

Grandma Wu said:

"Oh oh, me, I don't have a story... I just, I just feel empty in my heart and always want to do something for others."

Grandma Wu's story couldn't really be counted as a story. When Grandma Wu was young, she helped many people and taught many children. And because she learned some medical skills from her father when she was a child, this also made Grandma Wu a famous person in the town.

She wasn't a teacher, but because she followed her father to memorize prescriptions since she was a child and could recognize characters, she would also teach the children in the town to read and write, and if some families in the town had headaches or fever, she would also help to take a look.

In everyone's evaluation, Grandma Wu was a warm-hearted person.

After marriage, Grandma Wu's focus was on her children, and several children were very smart. Grandma Wu's husband was the principal of a primary school at that time.

They should have had a happy family, but Grandma Wu's husband was imprisoned because of an unfounded grievance. This also caused Grandma Wu's family life to plummet.

Everyone who had been taken care of by Grandma Wu started to stay away from Grandma Wu, afraid of suffering the same grievance; they weren't unaware of Grandma Wu's character, but no one would speak for Grandma Wu.

Grandma Wu's three children, two died of illness, and only the eldest daughter later married far away, hiding from that place like hiding from a plague.

Later, the grievance of Grandma Wu's family was finally washed away, and she was clean and white again. It's just that her husband had already died.

Grandma Wu, who had always relied on her own ability to support herself, was too sad, so she changed to a new place and started life again.

She never complained about the past, came to a new environment, Grandma Wu was still a warm-hearted person, and her kindness was not distorted. Her frugality all along allowed Grandma Wu to save a sum of money in the following years and open a small shop next to the school.

She liked the atmosphere of the school; an era would always have some absurd things, and a person would always experience some setbacks, but she didn't resent the suffering brought to her by knowledge.

Many people around had been taken care of by Grandma Wu, and they were naturally willing to take care of Grandma Wu's business; Grandma Wu gradually lived a better life.

It's just that the setbacks of this old person didn't end; after a few more years, the Internet era narrowed the distance between everyone.

Grandma Wu never thought... her eldest daughter would hate her so much.

The eldest daughter's marriage was unhappy; marrying far away in that era was in itself a big gamble, and she bet wrong.

But these resentments were all counted on her mother's head, because her father was already dead.

Years later, she started to be moved by herself, sighing at how difficult these years had been; she should have had a good husband and a good family, but because of her mother, these were all out of reach.

After finally learning that her mother was actually living quite well and could save quite a bit of money in such a desperate situation, she started to accuse Grandma Wu and started to fabricate some pasts.

Grandma Wu told up to here, just smiled bitterly:

"I did owe her, so I left her a little money, and I donated the other money to a school. That was the school where my husband used to teach; I wanted to be closer to him."

"But my daughter was very angry; in the story she fabricated, it was I who reported my husband... I betrayed my husband."

"People around didn't know the truth, and naturally some believed me, but there were also many people who started discussing me behind my back."

"People would say, how much grievance must one have to make a child treat a mother like this?"

"But I... really had no way."

In this world, there are many people who don't know how to be parents. Tang Rui's story is not an isolated case. But there are also many children who cannot understand the difficulties of their parents.

Grandma Wu said:

"After that incident, I was stimulated a bit; my daughter made me very sad, and I felt that there would always be people accusing me in my ears..."

"I wanted to calm their accusations, so I thought about going to help them do something. I heard someone saying their head was very painful, and I wanted to take their pulse for them."

"I also heard children wailing, saying the questions were very difficult, and I wanted to explain to them patiently..."

"But in the eyes of outsiders, I looked like a lunatic. They felt it was because I felt guilty toward my daughter... so I became like this."

"In their eyes, everything I did was atonement, all to balance the sense of guilt in my heart."

"But I really wanted to help them; I felt that helping them would make me obtain peace and happiness."

"Later... I entered here, and in my ears, there were always various sounds. I wanted to help the owners of these sounds."

Wen Xishu said:

"What about now? Have you obtained peace and happiness?"

Grandma Wu nodded:

"Yes, I obtained peace and happiness, because Ding Dong came, and Ding Dong gave me that radio."

"Speaking of which, it's magical... no, it's not magical; it's that Ding Dong himself is a miracle. After that radio came, I wouldn't hear any noise anymore, and my world was suddenly clear."

"But the radio would occasionally automatically play the troubles in the hearts of the people around, and I would ask these people if there was anything they needed help with."

Wen Xishu had some answers in his heart:

"Grandma, did Ding Dong also ask you? Something similar to the question he asked Mo Yuan?"

Grandma Wu nodded:

"He asked; he said after experiencing being pointed at by thousands of people several times, are you still willing to help others?"

"Of course I am willing..."

Wen Xishu said again:

"Did Ding Dong also express gratitude to you?"

Grandma Wu nodded again:

"That child Ding Dong was a bit confused; he didn't know whether he should hold kindness for this world; he hoped that he could be like me, not thinking about this problem, but always looking at the world with a kind heart."

Wen Xishu sighed:

"Thank you, Grandma; people like you are really rare. Meeting Ding Dong is indeed a miracle, but Ding Dong being able to meet you is also lucky."

Wen Xishu looked at Qian Lele:

"Then what about you, Qian Lele."

The one who answered the question wasn't Qian Lele, but Grandma Wu; Grandma Wu said:

"Sigh, Qian Lele wasn't like this before; he just easily believed people, and whatever others said, he believed. Once Qian Lele went to play by the river with other children... those children hid, leaving only one child saying..."

A person as helpful as Grandma Wu was a bit angry at this moment:

"He said, Qian Lele, others fell into the river; let's go save them."

"Qian Lele jumped into the river without hesitation, but actually his swimming ability wasn't very good; the current was rapid at that time, and that child was also scared silly, not expecting Qian Lele to really believe it."

"After that incident, Qian Lele... became like this."

Wen Xishu guessed it:

"Qian Lele lost the ability to distinguish between truth and lies?"

Grandma Wu nodded:

"I often chat with Qian Lele; I found that he actually had this tendency before that incident, always easily believing those... lies that tried to hurt him."

Wen Xishu said:

"So Ding Dong came, and he also knew that Qian Lele would definitely continue to believe... so he made that pipe for Qian Lele?"

At this time, Qian Lele spoke:

"Hehehe, Brother Ding Dong told me a story, a story about a child who lied and whose nose would grow long; he also said that a detective who likes to use a pipe is very smart; he hopes I become smart."

Wen Xishu smiled:

"Qian Lele, you will."

Wen Xishu didn't ask another question, which was whether Qian Lele would still believe others in the future.

He had the answer to this question; he thought Ding Dong also had the answer.

Obsession with love, obsession with the kindness of helping others, obsession with trusting others... Wen Xishu was more and more convinced that Ding Dong came here with some kind of purpose.

Wen Xishu looked at the cook Xiang Yang:

"Brother Xiang, what about you?"

Xiang Yang said:

"My story is actually simpler than theirs; I am a person who is nitpicky about my own craft... I have been studying culinary arts and have participated in many competitions and won many championships."

"But I have also always felt that food is getting less and less delicious; I have my own disciples, and I am very strict with them, sometimes so strict that I would scold and beat them, using very ugly language to humiliate their intelligence."

"Everyone felt that I was pathological; once, in a high-stakes culinary competition, the dish I made was scolded as hard to eat. So I started tasting the dishes they made..."

"I scolded, 'It's all dog shit; this also deserves to say that what I made is hard to eat?' This also led to me insulting my opponent and the competition, and I was expelled."

"Later, my disciples started saying that my sense of taste had a problem and I could no longer make delicious food."

"My restaurant's business started to plummet, and my negative news also started to appear constantly."

"My brain was full of those ingredients... they seemed to be alive; I felt like I could see various changes after they were put together with different ingredients; some changes I knew, some changes... were also the first time I saw them."

"Sounds like I saw hallucinations? I feel like an art student who sees various pigments automatically combine into new colors."

"I suspected I was crazy; plus at that time, the pressure was indeed too great, and my family also felt that my pickiness about the taste of food had reached a pathological degree."

"Sometimes... too many people said it, so the false became true. I really thought my sense of taste had a problem."

"So I came here. And my bad temper, plus my belief that my judgment of food taste was unbalanced, also made my mental state worse and worse."

"Later, Ding Dong appeared; he used that pot that could convert various foods into my ideal state and saved me."

"Strictly speaking, this thing is a miracle; my skills haven't been studied to this degree yet; the food made in this pot... perfectly meets my standards; when eating those things, I knew! My sense of taste has no problem!"

"And I also understood one thing! Above reaching the peak, there is the realm of gods! My efforts are still far from enough!"

"Everything I suffered was just because I didn't have the ability to make it! My state of mind suddenly became open, because Ding Dong used a miracle to show what I was pursuing, proving that it wasn't my nitpicking; it really existed."

Wen Xishu actually admired such a person a bit. Geniuses sometimes lower their requirements moderately... and they will become geniuses in the general sense in people's eyes.

But if they demand too much of themselves, it is very likely that they will become monsters in people's eyes.

People hate monsters, expel monsters, and don't believe in monsters even more.

"To this day, Brother Xiang, do you still not regret your extreme dedication to your career? Clearly, if you take a step back, you can take back everything you once lost."

Xiang Yang shook his head:

"How could I regret it? I haven't reached the age of dying of old age, so you absolutely cannot say that I am unable to reach that realm!"

Wen Xishu applauded and praised:

"You have a heart that reaches the peak for your career... no, it's a heart that has supreme enthusiasm for your career."

After Wen Xishu finished speaking, Xiang Yang was slightly surprised:

"Your words are actually very similar to what Ding Dong said to me; Airplane, you are indeed very different from before..."

"Could this also be Ding Dong's miracle?"

Wen Xishu smiled and looked at the last person, Lei Yihong.

"Brother Lei, what about you?"

Lei Yihong felt that Airplane seemed to have found some kind of pattern; he couldn't say it, but he was willing to cooperate with Airplane:

"My pressure was too great; I wasn't as legendary as Brother Xiang. I was just... a useless father. My daughter suffered from cancer, and I had been running food delivery to earn money."

"I ran red lights countless times, hoping to run a little faster, as much as possible before my daughter died... at least take her on a trip once."

"But..."

Lei Yihong turned his head away:

"But I was slow; I still didn't outrun the Grim Reaper. After my daughter died, I kept thinking, why was it my child?"

"Why couldn't it be me? I opened my phone countless times during that period, looking at snow-capped mountains, deserts, oceans, and grasslands with my daughter..."

"Those scenes, after my daughter died... always called me when I closed my eyes; I felt like I could see my daughter's soul standing in those places, longing for me to go over."

"But..."

Lei Yihong laughed at himself:

"I haven't even been out of Jiangcheng; I am familiar with every small alley in Jiangcheng, and I know which road is the closest as soon as I see the address, but after leaving Jiangcheng, I don't understand anything."

Why was it me...

Wen Xishu had actually asked himself this question too: why was it that the person not loved by parents was himself?

But in this world, there are also many parents who care very much about their children; to be precise, such parents are the vast majority. When children have problems, they also think, why isn't it me who has the problem, but the child?

Lei Yihong said:

"Ding Dong gave me a pair of shoes... these shoes brought me peace. Maybe you don't believe it, but these shoes can let me reach the scenes in my dreams, or in my brain, the scenes in those hallucinations."

"That place is incredibly real; when I put on the shoes and truly stepped on that piece of land, the feeling it gave me was truly incredibly real!"

"I thought Ding Dong was a god, but Ding Dong told me that those places are not real, but they are not false either."

Wen Xishu believed it:

"It seems that is a pair of shoes that can reach the place longed for in the heart? For others, perhaps it is false, but for you, it is real."

Lei Yihong nodded wildly: "Airplane! You have truly become a completely different person today!"

Wen Xishu said:

"Brother Lei, if your daughter was still alive, would you be willing to give everything again?"

"Of course I would! I am her father; from the moment she was born, I had such awareness and mission!" Lei Yihong was a bit excited.

He hadn't let go of his daughter.

Wen Xishu said:

"Thank you, Brother Lei; at least you made me believe that some people in this world are just unlucky. But it's not that some things don't exist. Your heart willing to give everything for family affection makes me very envious."

For Wen Xishu, it wasn't worth sighing about anymore, but at least, there was spring in this world.

Lei Yihong sighed:

"Ding Dong also said so; during the period when I was most sad, I wore those boots and cried bitterly on that snowfield that should only exist in dreams; at that time, it was Ding Dong who comforted me."

"Now, he has had an accident, and I must save him; I have already regarded him as my relative!"

Wen Xishu nodded, and he stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the five people. This trip to the Tower of Desire made his mentality undergo subtle changes.

He developed a very strong longing to see Ding Dong.

Because he felt that Ding Dong was very similar to himself.

In everyone's description, Ding Dong redeemed them, but in a sense, they were also completing Ding Dong.

Almost everyone was asked a question by Ding Dong—if it could start over, would you still be like you were in the beginning?

Like in the beginning—continue to love someone, continue to help those who might hurt you, continue to trust others, maintain enthusiasm for your career, and give everything for your loved ones...

And the answer of everyone here was that they didn't regret it.

These things, it was very likely that Ding Dong didn't have, or... was questioning.

Just like Wen Xishu had also doubted whether all the virtues and happiness in the world were just beautifully packaged but already rotten candies? Just a means used to promote, essentially weakening people's rational thinking.

But unlike himself, Wen Xishu believed that Ding Dong's background color was kind. Unlike himself, a villain who killed his foster parents.

Because the five people in the psychiatric hospital, in a sense, were five thorough "losers."

They had all fallen to this point, so naturally, they couldn't be counted as successful. It could even be said that they should be negative examples.

Not loving, not believing, not helping, not doing, not raising... perhaps that was the way to reduce their pain.

Just as Grandma Wu said, Ding Dong was confused; he might have been thinking about what kind of life he wanted to live and what kind of heart he wanted to have to face the world.

Ultimately, he followed the guidance of the compass he made—and came to the location where the five special "failed hearts" were.

That was in this psychiatric hospital.

Wen Xishu said softly:

"I think I already know a part of the truth; regarding the puzzle left by Ding Dong, I can also solve it."

"Everyone, please follow me; before we find Ding Dong, let's go to 4-26 first."

(Only one chapter today; it came relatively late, and it was stuck in review for three hours in the middle; I only knew after I woke up...)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 97 =====

(End of Chapter)