The door stood wide open. The old man was right there in the doorway, a trace of confusion flickering through his eyes.
"I'm not dead?"
Chen Ge had seen this stern-faced old man before — also in Body Storage No. 8, where the old man's corpse had been laid out right next to Liu Zhengyi. Soaked in formaldehyde, his expression had been peaceful. Nothing at all like now.
"It seems like everyone displayed in Body Storage No. 8 has retained their memories and their personalities. They haven't been affected by the blood-colored world."
The world beyond the Door was saturated with every shade of negative emotion. Prolonged exposure would subtly wear a person down. Only the most clear-hearted among them could hold out. Liu Zhengyi, whom Chen Ge had encountered earlier, was one such man — unyielding and upright, the type who'd immediately stand up for a student being bullied. Full of righteous fire. The old gentleman standing before him now was cut from the same cloth.
Given what Liu Zhengyi had just been through, Chen Ge began to grasp something. "Maybe it's precisely because the blood-red world can't assimilate them that it forcibly controls them at regular intervals — makes them forget certain things — in order to maintain stability here."
Chen Ge was a composed man. Almost immediately, another question surfaced in his mind: "Compared to forcibly controlling their thoughts, killing them would obviously be far easier. But the blood-colored world hasn't done that. There's no compassion or pity in the world beyond the Door. The fact that they're still alive means they must be useful to the world behind the Door!"
"The monsters called the old man a doctor. Whether it's Liu Zhengyi or this gentleman, they should both be top-tier physicians in their respective fields."
"The owner of the Door seems to want to resurrect someone. He's keeping these two doctors alive because he needs them to help him complete that so-called experiment of bringing the dead back to life."
Through what the monsters had said and the clues he'd already pieced together, a conclusion crystallized in Chen Ge's mind.
"The two monsters didn't want to risk trouble by approaching the old man. But for me, it's a completely different story." Chen Ge tucked the white cat into his backpack, put away his skull-cracking hammer, and stepped out from the corner with easy confidence.
Hearing footsteps, the old man slowly looked up. When he saw Chen Ge, a flicker of surprise crossed his face — the look of someone caught off guard.
"I really wonder what I look like through their eyes." Chen Ge walked politely up to the old gentleman. "Sir, I have a few things I'd like to say to you. Could you spare me a few minutes?"
"Shouldn't you be in class right now? Which class are you from?" The old man studied Chen Ge for a few moments, apparently getting used to him, his expression settling back to normal.
"Sir, I heard everything those two said to you just now." Chen Ge cut straight to the point. He wasn't about to waste any more time.
"So what if you heard? You think I'm crazy too?" The old man gripped the door of the body storage, ready to retreat inside.
"You're not crazy. You really are dead." Once those words left Chen Ge's mouth, the entire corridor fell silent. He could clearly hear the sound of blood flowing across the ceiling.
The old man gave Chen Ge a long, searching look. He said nothing, simply gave a slight nod, and stepped aside.
Having obtained the old man's permission, Chen Ge slipped into Body Storage No. 4.
It was a small body storage unit. Due to wiring issues, it had been decommissioned and converted into a specimen room.
The door shut with a thud. The old man still hadn't said a single word. He walked on his own toward the shelves lined with organ specimens.
Chen Ge didn't understand what the old man intended to do. He followed quietly behind.