"Ying Chen knew about A Mu and his brothers — in fact, you could say these three children's very existence was connected to him. He personally created all three of these tragedies."
"The three children suffered from three different psychological conditions, all of which were likely coerced out of them by Ying Chen — corresponding to sharp objects, confinement, and fright respectively."
"He asked the 'corpses' to take care of the three children. In reality, this meant he had hidden the corpses inside the home, and Ying Tong, living with those corpses for so long, developed three stress-bearing personalities."
"This also explains why none of these three children could leave the house — only Ying Tong himself kept choosing to flee."
"There's another thing to note — A Mu isn't blind, but A Mu is only six years old. If my earlier analysis is correct and A Mu is one of Ying Tong's stress-bearing personalities, then this indirectly proves that Ying Tong wasn't blind before the age of six — at least not completely blind."
The more he analyzed, the more horrifying it became. Chen Ge took a deep breath and called toward the living room: "Skirt Lady, are you still there? Can you tell me when Ying Tong first ran away from home?"
"It was a long time ago — about five years back. That was when Ying Chen's relatives had just moved out, leaving only Ying Chen and Ying Tong, the two brothers, in the house." Skirt Lady revealed another crucial piece of information.
"As soon as the relatives moved out, Ying Tong ran away from home — don't you think that's suspicious? Why would Ying Tong suddenly leave without any reason? His brother Ying Chen must have done something terrible that scared him." Chen Ge couldn't see Skirt Lady's expression, nor whether she agreed with him. "Think about one more thing — A Mu is the same age Ying Tong was when he ran away. A Mu has a phobia of sharp objects, and when Ying Tong was found by Ying Chen after running away, nails were driven into his face near his eyes. Aren't nails sharp objects? And doesn't A Mu always imagine someone using a sharp object to blind him?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"A Mu was Ying Tong at that time. The reason he developed a phobia of sharp objects is because Ying Chen once did something like that to Ying Tong — that's why he's terrified whenever he sees anything pointed. That's the root cause!" The world behind the door was absurd and bizarre, often defying logic, but when combined with the Door-Pusher's memories from reality, one would find that beneath every absurd exterior lay a battered heart from the real world.
To convince Skirt Lady, Chen Ge laid out all his deductions and speculations: "If you don't believe me, you can take me to see A Tong and A Ying. The experiences of these three children combined represent the wounds Ying Tong once suffered."
"I still can't understand — A Mu is a living, breathing person, an independent existence. How could he possibly represent Ying Tong's memories from a certain age?" As a native of the world behind the door, Skirt Lady herself was woven from Ying Tong's memories. Her very purpose of existence was to care for Ying Tong, to accompany him, to be his friend.
"You'll understand once you find Ying Tong. Even though he's disfigured and blind, he has no problem communicating normally with others." Chen Ge sighed. "The voice of that child — the one none of you ever truly listened to, those words that sounded so nonsensical to you — were actually his cries for help. Tragedy doesn't have to repeat itself, but it's a pity that all of you were deceived by Ying Chen. The kindness and warmth you saw were all put on by that bastard. His true face would make every one of you sick."
The building's residents all thought Ying Chen was a fine person and that Ying Tong was nothing but a burden — but in reality, this was exactly what Ying Chen had deliberately orchestrated.
Because they had believed Ying Chen, most of the residents had become corpses.
"I'm not asking you to fully believe me — I just hope you'll give me a chance to prove myself." Chen Ge's tone was deeply sincere. He had no other option. The door world of Ying Tong was the most difficult he had ever faced. He had to exhaust every possible method and seize every opportunity — only then could he find a possible path through the cracks.
The room fell silent. After a long pause, Skirt Lady spoke: "How do you plan to prove it? Have me help you find Ying Tong?"
"At the very least, before we find Ying Tong, don't tell Ying Chen about me. Also, you must be careful to protect yourself." The building's tenants regarded Ying Chen as a neighbor, but in Ying Chen's eyes, these tenants were nothing but puppets on a stage — once he grew tired of them, he would kill them without hesitation.
"Fine. Before we find Ying Tong, I promise to keep your secret. But once we do find him, if you can't prove what you've said, I'll hand you over to Ying Chen."
"That's fair. It's a deal." Receiving the woman's affirmative answer, Chen Ge let out a breath of relief and leaned against the wall. "Has A Mu not left the house even once since he started living here?"
"That's right. Since Ying Chen brought A Mu here, he hasn't gone out even once."
"Was that Ying Chen's instruction?"
"Yes. He was worried A Mu would get hurt." Skirt Lady didn't know what Chen Ge was planning — she simply told him everything she knew.
"A Mu has a phobia of sharp objects, so it makes sense that he can't leave the cottage. But what about A Tong and A Ying? You mentioned earlier that A Tong suffers from severe claustrophobia — does that mean this child can't leave his home either? Keeping a child with claustrophobia locked inside a room all the time — is that really for his own good?" Chen Ge hit the nail on the head. The woman thought for a moment and suddenly realized his point made a lot of sense.
"Ying Chen doesn't let A Mu leave this room for his own good — he just wants to hide him, to keep Ying Tong from finding him." After groping around for a while, Chen Ge finally found a chair and sat down. "A Mu is a part of Ying Tong. I suspect that once Ying Tong finds A Mu, something will change about him."
Ying Tong didn't dare open his eyes because he had to remain blind — otherwise he would die, his eyes would be gouged out. That was why A Mu had come into existence.
If the Ying Tong behind the door could find A Mu, he would very likely recover partial eyesight.
More importantly, as an outsider, Chen Ge was experiencing Ying Tong's most desperate moments. If Ying Tong's condition improved, he should also stand to gain significant benefits.
"I noticed something was off even back when those kids pushed me off the building. They didn't call me blind — they were just curious about why I kept my eyes closed. That was when I started wondering whether Ying Tong was actually blind. Turns out I was more or less right — there's a high chance Ying Tong isn't completely blind. He just doesn't dare open his eyes. I have to help Ying Tong escape his despair and try to open his eyes."
Chen Ge's tone was resolute. He had never wanted to help someone this badly before. Some pain can only be truly understood after experiencing it yourself — and that was exactly what Chen Ge was going through now.
He had to walk out of that door alive, save the real Ying Tong, and make Ying Chen face the punishment he deserved.
Chen Ge's voice carried both gentleness and strength, with an unwavering determination that would never retreat. The woman in the room had a greatly changed impression of him. "I'll take you to Wooden Man first, but he's not as easy to talk to as I am. He's a stubborn block of wood who only sees things his own way."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me — I'm just curious about what you've said." Skirt Lady had been a good-natured girl in life. She opened the security door and grabbed Chen Ge's arm. "Wooden Man lives on Tuesday. Let's head upstairs."
"Lives on Tuesday?" Chen Ge stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean, lives on Tuesday?"
"You can think of it as the second floor. The first floor is Monday, the second floor is Tuesday — seven days of the week correspond to seven floors." Skirt Lady was breezy and casual, not dwelling on the subject. She guided Chen Ge into the stairwell.
"The floor numbers are dates — and dates might represent the date of death." Chen Ge felt cold winds blowing from every direction. He felt extremely vulnerable. "Skirt Lady, can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it?"
"If something goes wrong and I tell you to run in a certain direction, just run that way. Don't ask questions, don't say anything."