"Swish, swish, swish—"
The sound of a pen scratching across paper interrupted Tang Qisheng's thoughts. "I can save your friends, but you'll have to pay a price."
Tang Qisheng tensed at the words. "W-what kind of price?" The boy hadn't mentioned anything about this before, and unease churned in Tang Qisheng's chest.
"Your friends are trapped in the dean's psychological experiment. They can't tell illusion from reality." The pen paused, then the boy continued writing. "So they need an eye—one belonging to an outsider, an eye that can see through illusions."
The boy continued patiently, "You should be able to sense that something is different about that bowl. It's the mental world the dean created, and the place where your friends are trapped. As long as you're willing to remove your eye and put it in the bowl, your friends will be freed."
Tang Qisheng shuddered. He had only one eye left, and the importance of eyes in this hospital was clear. Without an eye, he would be trapped in the underground world forever, becoming an immortal monster like the children outside.
But... did he even have the chance to say no? Bitterness and conflict crept across his face, making the man in his early forties seem to age in an instant. If not for Jiang Cheng and Wang Fugui, he and Zhu Jie would have died long ago.
And most importantly, if Jiang Cheng and Wang Fugui were trapped in the dean's mental world forever, what would happen to Zhu Jie?
Even if she managed to leave the hospital alive, would she really have any chance of escaping the Night Watch's pursuit on her own?
It was a painful, difficult choice, but its outcome had already been decided. "I agree," Tang Qisheng said hoarsely.
Perhaps puzzled by Tang Qisheng's