"Weiyu, can you still see?" Xia Shou called out.
"I... I can still see. Everything went dark for a moment just now, but it went back to normal once I got this key."
Xia Shou felt someone lift his hand and place something cold, hard, and intricately shaped in his palm.
The instant he touched the key, light returned to his pitch-black vision.
Su Weiyu stood before him, staring straight into empty space, her eyes unfocused. Now she was blind.
Xia Shou tried having her hold half the key. "How about now? Can you see?"
"Nothing. It looks like only one person can see at a time."
Xia Shou let go of the key. His vision darkened, and Su Weiyu regained her sight.
"So that's how it works! Whoever holds the key can see, but if several people touch it, ownership won't transfer unless the original holder lets go," Su Weiyu reasoned.
Beside them, Wang Long was still shouting. "I can't see! Why can't I see anything?... Xia Shou? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Wang Long, calm down! We've killed the guardian doctor on the first floor. Losing our sight was an effect triggered by his death, but he left a key behind. Whoever holds it can still see. I'll keep it with me," Xia Shou explained.
At that, Wang Long nodded wearily, slowly calming down.
He stretched out both hands, felt his way to the wall, and sat down against it. "So it's just the two of us left now, right?" he asked, his voice full of despair.
"Yes, just us. Stay here on the first floor. I'll go up alone."
"I'm so tired. Maybe I should've stayed back there in the first place." Wang Long gave a bitter smile.
Although he had known from the start that almost no one survived entering a Closed Domain, he had still clung to a sliver of hope. What if he could be the exception? After all, there had been exceptions before.
But now, when Liu Guangyao had died just moments ago, he had looked into the man's eyes and suddenly understood... no one could be the exception. Everyone had to die. They all struggled to the bitter end, clinging to the chance that they might survive, only to die without warning.
"Do you think we can get out?" Wang Long asked the darkness.
Xia Shou glanced at him, took the Boy Cutter from Su Weiyu, and began carving into the floor tiles.
The sharp tip of the blade scored the ceramic with ease.
Hearing the strange noise, Wang Long grew puzzled. "What are you doing?"
"Leaving information behind. That the Eye Doctor on the first floor is invisible, how to beat him, things like that. It might not survive, but there's a small chance it will. If we don't make it out and someone else reaches this place, the information I leave might help them survive."
Wang Long fell silent. He had never expected Xia Shou to be acting on the assumption that he would die.
"Done! That's all I had time to leave."
Xia Shou handed the blade back to Su Weiyu and said quietly, "Based on what Liu Guangyao told us before he died, we can more or less work out how these five doctors fight.
"The doctor responsible for eyes can't be seen, and after he dies, he can rob everyone else of their sight.
"That means the other four doctors can take away our hearing, the use of our hands and feet, and our heart function.
"The second floor is a pitch-black room. A setting like that has to put us at a disadvantage and favor the enemy. Following the pattern of the Eye Doctor being invisible, the second floor most likely has an Ear Doctor who makes no sound at all.
"Without sight in that darkness, losing our hearing as well would make it many times more dangerous."
Leaning on the sword like a blind person's cane, Su Weiyu continued thinking it through. "But what kinds of abilities would the hands, feet, and heart have?"
"We don't have time to think about that. The diary said, 'Anyone in the sanatorium who isn't a staff member will become raw material for Idrisu's medical use.' That probably wasn't an empty threat.
"Stalling is definitely a bad strategy, and speculation alone won't help. We might even be wrong about the Ear Doctor.
"All we can do is adapt and deal with whatever comes."
"But if killing a doctor means losing the corresponding bodily function, then blindness, deafness, and paralyzed hands and feet are all manageable. But there's a Heart Doctor at the end. If killing him stops our hearts, what do we do then?"
"After we kill the Heart Doctor, only the person holding the key will still have a heartbeat.
"With Blood Rampage to keep the blood flowing, it won't matter if our hearts stop.
"My plan is to bring Wang Long up with us before we tackle the final floor. Once the fight ends, you'll hold the key to keep your heart beating, and I'll use my skill to keep my blood and Wang Long's circulating. That should get us through," Xia Shou said calmly.
Su Weiyu smiled, a hint of tension in her voice. "It feels like walking a tightrope."
"Yes. We have the Eye Key, but on the second floor, it seems like having it won't make any difference. Let's hurry."
Taking Su Weiyu's hand, Xia Shou walked to the stairwell. He felt for the steps in the darkness and followed the handrail to the second floor, eventually touching a cold door.
"This is the only entrance now. Take a look." Su Weiyu slipped the key into Xia Shou's palm. The darkness before him swiftly receded, revealing their surroundings.
Just as Liu Guangyao had said, the stairs ended at the second floor. The only way forward was through the door in front of them.
"Weiyu, I have a tactic."
"What tactic?"
"If the Ear Doctor is behind this door, then judging by the Eye Doctor we killed, his ability should let him move without making a sound.
"I want to bet on one possibility: that his hearing is still normal, and his ability simply keeps him silent!"
"Yes, that really is a gamble." Su Weiyu nodded.
They had no way of knowing whether the Eye Doctor they had killed had possessed exceptional eyesight.
"Assuming his hearing is only as good as an ordinary person's, we can try to fool him. So my tactic is... I'll carry you in on my back," Xia Shou said seriously.
"I see. That way, he'll only hear one set of footsteps! If his hearing is average, he won't be able to distinguish two people's heartbeats and breathing. He might misjudge the situation." Su Weiyu immediately understood his intention.
"But we definitely won't be able to talk either, so we need to agree on some signals. For now, get on my back and try it." Xia Shou returned the key to Su Weiyu, then bent down.
He waited for quite a while, but there was still no move-
-ment behind him. Unable to help himself, he asked, "What are you doing?"
"Huh? I, I... I'm just moving the Boy Cutter so... it won't dig into you." Su Weiyu's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, almost inaudible by the end.
A second later, weight settled onto Xia Shou's back, and he felt something large and soft pressing against his shoulder blades.
A pair of arms reached over his shoulders and wrapped around his neck.
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