Looking at the lines of text on the white paper, Wang Xin grew increasingly emotional. She slowly rose to her feet and reached out to take the ballpoint pen from
Her slender, ice-cold fingers slipped into the spaces between Chen Ge's fingers. It seemed to be the first time she had ever felt warmth from another person, and her arm trembled the entire time.
She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
The three minutes were almost up. The pen began to spin between their fingertips once more. This time, only two characters were written.
"Good night."
The pen stopped spinning. Chen Ge began silently reciting the incantation to send the Pen Spirit on its way. Across from him, Wang Xin unconsciously murmured the same words.
"Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, you are my past life, and I am your present life. If you wish to leave, please return now."
They finished the last word at the same time. Wang Xin's emotions completely broke open — a thorn buried deep in her heart had been pulled out. She clutched Chen Ge's hand, pressing her forehead against the battered old pen, as though she didn't want anyone else to see her in so much pain.
"All the lights in the world have gone out. Everyone's voices have shattered into pieces. I don't know what to do. Everything feels wrong. Every path leads to a dead end. I don't understand why I'm in so much pain. I've become some kind of monster that doesn't belong anywhere."
Wang Xin finally screamed out everything she had held inside. She looked at the words on the paper, collapsed onto the desk, and her voice grew softer and softer. "Help me. Pull me out of this world. I don't want to be in this pain anymore. Please help me…"
Her head rested on the back of Chen Ge's hand, her body draped across the mattress. Her breathing evened out, and it seemed she had fallen asleep.
"Good night."
Chen Ge gently withdrew his hand, covered Wang Xin with a blanket, and stepped out of the room.
Dr. Gao and Wang Xin's adoptive mother were both crowded outside the door, each desperate to know what had happened inside, but afraid of disturbing Wang Xin, so they kept their voices low.
"How is Wang Xin now?"
Chen Ge pointed back into the room. "She's already fallen asleep."
"She's really asleep." Dr. Gao could hardly believe it. He knew all too well how much suffering a patient with severe depression endured — sleep usually required medication. "How did you manage that?"
"It's a long story." Chen Ge replied with a half-truth. "While I was searching for haunted house material at the old Muyang Middle School site, I happened to stumble across some things about Wang Xin's past. It turns out the root of her trauma was that after she played the Pen Spirit game, she actually witnessed the death of her roommate. So I decided to treat the problem at its source — I recreated her roommate's handwriting and played the Pen Spirit game with her one more time, telling her that everything back then was nothing more than a coincidence."
"That actually worked?" Dr. Gao sighed with emotion.
The middle-aged woman beside him had tears glistening in her eyes. "Thank you! I was suspicious of you before — I'm sorry!"
"It's nothing. If anything, the two of you are the truly remarkable ones. One of you was willing to adopt Wang Xin despite her depression, giving her meticulous care and love. The other stepped forward in a critical moment to lend a hand." Chen Ge showered them with praise, which greatly improved their impression of him.
Wang Xin's adoptive mother wanted to invite them both to stay for dinner, but Chen Ge declined. The moment Wang Xin had fallen asleep, the black phone had vibrated twice in quick succession, and he was anxious to leave so he could check its messages.
After parting ways with Dr. Gao outside Fanghua Court, Chen Ge boarded the bus back to New Century Amusement Park.
He sat in the very last row, and once no one was paying attention, he took out the black phone and began reading.