Flower Patterns

It wasn't due to disrepair, but was remarkably clean.

The bed was neatly made, the table scrubbed spotless, and on the windowsill sat a pot of flowers whose name neither could recall.

The flowers were a pale purple, exuding a strangely melancholic aura.

The Fatty, moved by the scene, mused, "Doctor, do you think we, caught in this nightmare, are like duckweed in chaotic times? Drifting, uncertain where to root, living day by day, with death perhaps just a second away."

"Perhaps," Jiang Cheng sighed. "But at least I have you with me."

Hearing this, the Fatty was suddenly touched, his eyes welling up. "I can't believe we've only known each other a few days, and our bond has already deepened so much."

Jiang Cheng looked into the Fatty's sincere eyes and said emotionally, "Fatty, think about it. If you can survive, could the dangers we faced then have killed me?"

"I'll definitely die after you," Jiang Cheng continued. "So don't worry. If that day ever comes, I'll do my best to bring your ashes out and bury them in the flowerpot at the studio. You're large, so your ashes will have a higher calcium and phosphorus content than an average person's."

The Fatty was silent for a moment. "Doctor, did no one teach you how to speak when you were little?"

Jiang Cheng had already thoroughly inspected the room. Apart from a very, very small cabinet that was locked and wouldn't open, he hadn't found anything suspicious yet.

Confirming it was safe, the Fatty collapsed onto the bed. His stomach rumbled loudly. "Doctor, this place is so weird. I just got here and I'm starving."

But it was completely dark now, and moving around in the dark without any clues was undoubtedly foolish and dangerous.

Moreover, the woman who led them had specifically warned them not to move around at night, for reasons unknown.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Cheng pulled a large bar of chocolate from his pocket. It had a red wrapper, the kind the Fatty remembered being popular when he was very, very young.

"Where did you get that?" The Fatty sat up instantly, his eyes shining.

"On the way here." Jiang Cheng broke off a piece and tossed it over. The Fatty scrambled to catch it.

Taking a small bite, the Fatty chewed and seemed to realize something. He looked up and asked, "On the way to the cafe?"

When the Fatty left the cafe, he'd seen several supermarkets, big and small, nearby. But he couldn't figure out how Jiang Cheng bought the chocolate without any money.

After entering a nightmare, most of their personal belongings would be stripped away, including money.

Jiang Cheng also took a small bite of the chocolate, looking out the dark window, chewing slowly. He said, "I didn't buy it."

"You didn't buy it?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Then how did you get it?" The moment the Fatty finished speaking, his eyes widened abruptly, as if he'd realized something incredible. He exclaimed, "You didn't steal it, did you?"

"Nonsense!" Jiang Cheng looked at the Fatty indignantly. "The supermarket owner insisted on giving it to me. She got angry when I refused."

The Fatty eyed Jiang Cheng suspiciously. "Come on, Doctor, tell me, where can I find a shop owner like that? Please get me a dozen."

As Jiang Cheng put down the chocolate, ready to debate the existence of such a shop owner with the Fatty for three hundred rounds, the Fatty voluntarily gave up. He raised one hand. "Doctor, you're really getting me sidetracked. We're in a nightmare right now, and we might die tomorrow."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Jiang Cheng said, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "You might not even survive tonight."

The Fatty: "..."

407.

The woman in the dinosaur pajamas huddled on the bed, her body mostly covered by the blanket, shivering uncontrollably.

The woman in the dinosaur pajamas looked at the woman in the qipao sitting on the chair, her voice trembling. "Sister, don't you think it's very cold here? I'm cold even in my pajamas. Aren't you?"

The woman in the qipao, like Jiang Cheng, had meticulously inspected the entire room as the first thing upon entering.

Besides finding a broken comb in a drawer, she found nothing else unusual.

Even the trash can was spotless, with a brand-new trash bag inside.

"If you're just trying to find topics to fill the silence and make me talk to you to alleviate your fear, I advise you not to waste your effort," the woman in the qipao said in a cool, clear voice. "It's meaningless and will only distract us futilely."

The woman in the dinosaur pajamas seemed startled by the woman in the qipao's demeanor and stopped talking. However, her stomach audibly growled again.

"Turn around and pull the curtains," the woman in the qipao commanded.

The woman in the dinosaur pajamas's bed was right by the window. A blue curtain hung on the window. It wasn't large, but it should be enough to cover the window.

Trembling, the woman in pajamas reached out from under the blanket and quickly pulled the curtain shut.

"Do it gently," the woman in the qipao said, her tone not entirely pleasant. "If you tear down the curtain, who knows what trouble you'll stir up."

The woman in pajamas paused, stunned. "What kind of trouble?"

The woman in the qipao glanced at her a few times, then averted her gaze. She didn't answer, stood up, walked to her own bed, and lay down, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"Doctor," the Fatty said, watching Jiang Cheng move the blanket and mattress to the floor. "Why are you sleeping on the floor when there's a bed?"

After a pause, the Fatty seemed to have a flash of inspiration, his mouth twitching. "Do you think ghosts might crawl out from under the bed in this world, so you're preparing in advance?"

"Not exactly." Jiang Cheng spread out the blanket, arranged the pillow, and patted it forcefully a few times until a depression the size of a human head appeared. Only then did he lie down comfortably, wriggling his body. "I'm just used to it."

The Fatty nodded. Although he had never been to Jiang Cheng's bedroom in the real world, he remembered Jiang Cheng once telling him: if he wanted to steal something other than money, he could go to his bedroom, but there was no bed, only a mattress.

"Right," the Fatty scratched his hair, asking somewhat strangely, "Why were you targeting that man in the suit?"

He paused, then continued, "He didn't offend us. I think what you did was completely pointless and just created a formidable enemy for yourself for no reason."

"To put it bluntly, if you hadn't targeted him, we probably wouldn't have ended up in this Room 404."

Jiang Cheng stared at the ceiling, his hands tucked under his head. After a long while, he slowly said, "He made the first move."

The Fatty was startled by this. He sat up, his eyes wide. "What did you say?"