Expressionless, Xuan Wen put away every trace of her smile. There was no longer any warmth or tenderness to be felt from her.
She stared at the surveillance footage with utter seriousness, repeatedly checking what her eyes had seen.
Gao Ming had entered the rear building of Lishan Hospital six months earlier, and not as a patient. The Shadow World might well have chosen him back then.
"Um..." Chen Meng stood beside her, looking at the frame Xuan Wen had paused. He wasn't in it. His attending physician seemed to be focusing on another doctor. "Aren't you treating me? Did you pause on the wrong frame?"
As a patient, Chen Meng had been reluctant to ask questions casually, but Xuan Wen's expression was so grave that it made him feel as though his condition was critical and he was about to drop dead.
"Every time you have insomnia, the people around you disappear or die, but you're always fine. So there's no need to worry too much about your condition." Xuan Wen brushed him off, motioned for him to be quiet, and took out a pair of earphones to connect to the old computer.
Shutting out all outside distractions, Xuan Wen pressed play. She watched without blinking, as though she had returned to that evening six months ago.
The footage continued. The ward door opened, and Gao Ming entered in his work uniform, along with the light of dusk.
Dust danced in the light. There was no pungent smell of disinfectant in the air, only a strange odor of decay.
Gao Ming frowned slightly. Holding a medical equipment invoice, he looked at Chen Meng, who was receiving treatment in the room.
"How can an outsider just walk in?" With the secrets deep in his heart exposed, Chen Meng grew flustered.