After Jing Minghe and Tong Zheng finished speaking, Wan Zuo also found them. Tong Zheng took the initiative to tell Wan Zuo what Jing Minghe had just told him.
After hearing this, Wan Zuo had the same questions as Tong Zheng and the others, but at this time, they all knew that these questions could only remain questions.
"By the way," Wan Zuo said to Jing Minghe and Tong Zheng, remembering something, "there's a room on the second floor that can be opened. I went in and didn't find any useful clues. Do you want to take a look?"
So, the three of them went to the room Wan Zuo mentioned.
This room was smaller than the one assigned to them, and it contained a wardrobe, a bed, and a set of table and chairs.
As Jing Minghe was about to step forward to examine it, he heard Wan Zuo say, "I've checked. There are a few clothes in the wardrobe, folded very neatly. The things on the bed were originally folded and covered with a sheet. I didn't put them back in place after opening them. The things on the desk were all put into the drawers. Although the floor is clean, there is a thick layer of dust on the desk. Therefore, I can conclude that this room has probably been unoccupied for some time."
"That's strange," Tong Zheng said. "This is a school's dormitory apartment. If the previous teacher wasn't living here anymore, they should have cleared out their belongings for the next person to use, right?"
"Perhaps," Jing Minghe speculated, "it was for remembrance."
As soon as Jing Minghe finished speaking, the window of the room suddenly opened by itself, and a gust of cold wind blew in, scattering the thick layer of dust on the desk.
The three looked at each other. Jing Minghe stepped forward to examine it and smiled, "No wonder. The room was meticulously cleaned, yet there was a thick layer of dust left on the desk. It wasn't an oversight, but a concealment."
"Concealment?" Tong Zheng walked over and asked, "Concealing what?"
As he spoke, he saw the words carved on the desk before Jing Minghe could answer, but the original handwriting had been deliberately scratched out, making it illegible.
"What does this say?" Wan Zuo also walked over. As he spoke, he reached out and brushed away the dust covering it, leaning in to discern carefully. "Love is, accumulating... hate is, one touch..." What does this say? It's completely unclear.
Just as Wan Zuo and Tong Zheng were trying hard to make out the scratched-out words, Jing Minghe suddenly retreated, and at the same time, read out the line of words on the desk that should have been illegible.
"Love is accumulated over time, hate erupts at a touch."
Tong Zheng turned to look at Jing Minghe. "Minghe? You can see it clearly?"
Jing Minghe nodded. Just after Wan Zuo brushed away the dust from the desk, the words that had been scratched out and blurred, one by one, jumped out from the desk and appeared clearly before his eyes.
"Love is accumulated over time, hate erupts at a touch?" Tong Zheng repeated, puzzled. "The surface meaning of this sentence is not hard to understand. Perhaps it's a case of love turning into hate, or perhaps the person he loved betrayed him. This room..."
Tong Zheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Could it be... his?"
Hearing Tong Zheng's analysis, Wan Zuo looked around every corner of the room. "If it's his, then... is he here now?"
As soon as Wan Zuo finished speaking, the room door slammed shut with a bang. Seeing this, Wan Zuo immediately went to open it, but couldn't.
"What do we do?" Wan Zuo said, struggling to open the door, while looking back. "Is he really here? What should we do now?"
"Calm down," Jing Minghe walked to the bed and sat down. "If he's the mission target, he must have a request. Ask him what he wants us to do?"
"Ask?" Wan Zuo gave up on opening the door and frowned. "How do we ask?"
Tong Zheng looked around the room, cleared his throat, and shouted, "Teacher, you've locked us in your room. What exactly do you want us to do? Why don't you just say it?"
"I did nothing wrong, why are you treating me like this?"
The young man's voice echoed in the room, but he did not appear. He just kept repeating these two sentences, his voice exceptionally sorrowful and tragic.
This was the first time Tong Zheng and Wan Zuo had heard the young man's voice, and their faces showed surprise.
Jing Minghe frowned slightly, stood up, and said, "Tell us, what did you do? How did they treat you? Why did you commit suicide?"
"Ah! Let them all die, go to hell!"
After this sentence, a fierce wind suddenly swept through the room. Even without sand or stones flying, it still made it impossible to open one's eyes.
Jing Minghe forced his eyes open a crack and saw the young man's face looming close, his face pale, blood and tears seeping from his eyes, filled with unspeakable pain and sorrow.
Jing Minghe did not dodge. He simply met the young man's gaze.
As he looked into the young man's eyes for a long time, Jing Minghe felt as if the other's pain and sorrow had penetrated his heart. A tear slid from the corner of Jing Minghe's eye, and he whispered a name.
"Chi Hao."
The wind finally stopped. Tong Zheng and Wan Zuo regained their sight and simultaneously looked towards Jing Minghe. They saw Jing Minghe still standing by the bed, his face etched with a trace of resentment, his gaze chillingly frightening.
"He..." Wan Zuo cautiously walked over to Tong Zheng and whispered, "What's wrong with Jing Minghe?"
"Not good!" Tong Zheng quickly stepped forward and grabbed Jing Minghe's arms. "Minghe! Wake up, wake up!"
Jing Minghe suddenly came back to himself, stared at Tong Zheng for a moment, then shook off Tong Zheng, turned to the door, kicked it open, and walked out.
"Minghe?"
Tong Zheng and Wan Zuo quickly followed.
They thought Jing Minghe would go to the rooftop, but upon catching up, they discovered he had merely returned to their resting room on the third floor and was sitting on the bed, deep in thought.
Tong Zheng and Wan Zuo looked at each other with confusion and stepped forward to ask, "Minghe? Did you see something just now?"
"Nothing," Jing Minghe said in a low voice. "Let's rest. We have another mission tomorrow."
Wan Zuo wanted to press further, but Tong Zheng stopped him. "Listen to Minghe. Let's rest first."
"This..." Wan Zuo hesitated for a moment, then agreed and turned to sit on another bed.
Tong Zheng looked at Jing Minghe with concern, sighed silently. It was the first time he had seen Jing Minghe like this. It seemed that without Chi Hao by his side, Jing Minghe also had moments of confusion.
This showed how terrible habits could be.
In this city of death, losing one's life could happen at any moment. Therefore, in this place, it was best not to involve others in any habits that were formed.
Thinking of this, Tong Zheng suddenly let out a bitter laugh. What right did he have to worry about Jing Minghe? Wasn't he the same? It had only been a short time since they separated, and he was already starting to miss the figure of a certain child.
After all, everyone understood theιη (reasoning/logic), but only those who were truly cold-hearted and detached could put it into practice.
Sighing silently, Tong Zheng felt that Jing Minghe was right. They should get some good rest, otherwise, where would they find the energy to clear the dungeon levels?