Jack looked around at the world he found himself in, unsure how to describe it. After a moment of silence, he said, "There are flowers and grass, mountains and water, bubbling springs and waterfalls, and even a moon." There was a huge lake, ringed by gentle hills, with lush trees, vibrant grass, proud blossoms, and cascading streams. The moon hung overhead, its pale light shining bright. And Jack was standing right on the surface of that vast lake.
"Sounds pretty nice—like paradise on earth, huh?"
"Nope. Not paradise, not hell—just... freezing cold." That’s right, this place sounded beautiful and looked beautiful, but it was completely frozen solid. The lake, the hills, the trees, the flowers, the waterfalls, even the clouds in the sky—it was like everything had hit absolute zero and just stopped. Nothing withered, nothing warped, nothing creepy or out of place—just everything locked up tight in a layer of ice.
"Freezing cold?" Ethan Zhuo was surprised and confused. "No worries, this is your inner world—everything here means something. Do you have anything in you that’s related to cold?"
Something related to cold? Mental strength in my head, the Bright Jade Technique in my chest, and especially that icy core condensed in my lower dantian—any of them could be linked to cold. "Plenty."
"Uh, okay, let’s not worry about that for now. See if you can spot anything that isn’t frozen."
"Yeah." Jack looked up at the sky. "The moon." The bright moon hung high, still and silent, but Jack knew that in this frozen world, the only thing still gently moving was that yin star. The moonlight was cool, but now it was the only source of warmth in this world.
"The moon?" Ethan Zhuo was even more confused, but he let it go: "I don’t really get your mental landscape, but just follow my lead—look around, is there a door nearby? Can you see one?"
"I see it." Jack focused, and instantly appeared in the very center of the frozen lake. Right there, in the middle of the vast, mirror-like circle, stood a door. But—"If you want me to open it, that’s gonna be tough, because it’s frozen under the lake."
"What you’re seeing now is just a reflection of your inner mind—if you want something to appear, it’ll show up."
"Let me give it a shot." Jack waved at the door beneath the ice, and sure enough, the door floated up. No rumbling, no shards of ice flying everywhere—the door just rose up from under the surface as if it wasn’t even real, standing upright in front of Jack. "Done." He sized up the door. You’d never see something this weird in the real world, but in his mindscape, anything goes.
"Alright, behind that door is what you’re trying to figure out. You’ve got a key in your pocket—take it out, unlock the lock, open the door and..."
"Hey, hold up—don’t get ahead of yourself. Who said this door even has a lock?" Jack snickered. "There’s no lock, no key, not even a handle on this thing."
"Huh?" Ethan Zhuo was baffled. "So what kind of door is it?"
"It’s an elevator door. And not just any elevator door—the inside part." The door in front of Jack was shiny and spotless, its surface reflecting a blurry shadow. Anyone who's ever ridden an elevator would recognize this kind of door. Frame and all, it was definitely the inner side of an elevator. On the right frame, there was even a keypad with numbers from 1 to 24—just like the buttons for picking your floor.
"This door... looks familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen it." Jack stared at the buttons, and suddenly, a lightbulb went off. To open this door, you had to punch in the right numbers. Three numbers, three floors—get the combo right, and the elevator door would open, letting you inside. Too bad, though: Jack raised his finger, hesitated, and then let it drop.
With a sigh, Jack’s real body in the café opened his eyes, startling Ethan Zhuo across the table. "You came out on your own? How’d it go?"
"No luck. Can’t get in." Jack shook his head. "To enter, I need the password, but the password is locked inside the world behind the door. It’s a total deadlock."
If it were a real password lock, you could brute-force it—twenty-four numbers isn’t much, just try them all and you’d get it eventually. But a mental lock doesn’t work that way. The numbers aren’t the point, and the floors and keypad are just projections of the mind. What he really needed was a key piece of information.
That weird elevator door was definitely a big clue, but sadly, Jack couldn’t remember anything about it. All the relevant memories were locked away in the world behind the door, like forgetting your keys and locking yourself out—if you’re the homeowner, you’re still stuck.
"You’re something else—not only is your mental strength off the charts, even your mind lock is top-tier." Ethan Zhuo shrugged. "I’m out of tricks, that’s as far as my skills go. But I’m still working on that Unchanging Mind Technique manuscript. If I get a breakthrough, we can give it another shot."
"No worries, just helping me find the door is plenty. The rest, I’ll handle myself." Only he could unlock his own mind. But those three passwords—what was the key to them, anyway?
"Actually, it’s not a dead end." Senior Brother chimed in with a crucial lead. "Just because I can’t do it doesn’t mean nobody can. There’s always someone out there who’s got the skills. Recently, some expert showed up in Chengdu—I think they might be able to point you in the right direction."
"An expert? How expert are we talking?"
"No clue, but they were exposed on the Observatory Bureau forum, so I figure it’s legit. The post made them sound almost mythical—whether it’s real or not, we’ll see when we meet. Worth a shot, though." Ethan Zhuo was all fired up to team up: "Let’s go find them together tomorrow! I’ve got some questions about exorcisms, too. Sound good?"
"Sure, why not? Where is this person?"
Ethan Zhuo hesitated for a moment, then, with a slightly odd look, mumbled, "Supposedly, they’re hanging around the intersection of Tianxianqiao North Street and Dongmen Bridge."
Jack, ever the simple guy, had no idea what Senior Brother’s address really meant. Suddenly, his ears perked up—he heard some students excitedly shouting in the distance: "Hurry, hurry! The Foreign Language College Welcome Party’s started! They say there’s a legendary magician this year, let’s go check it out!"
Foreign Language College? Welcome Party? Isn’t that Xiao Geng’s turf?
"Alright then, I’m off. I’ll be in touch tomorrow." Jack stood up and shook hands with Senior Brother, looking all mature and suave—then, out of nowhere, his face darkened with a wicked shadow: "It’s getting late, and you’ve still got that lecture at the library. When you pass by the lake, say hi for me, alright...?"
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Ethan Zhuo burst out laughing, head tilted back so far he was practically facing the sky, like some reincarnated warlord overflowing with swagger. Then suddenly, he grabbed Jack’s wrist, ducked his head, and showed off a pair of eyes on the verge of tears: "Bro, walk me over there! It’s scarier at night—don’t make me walk the dark road alone, please!"
How could this supposedly mature and steady Senior Brother turn into such a scaredy-cat at the mention of "ghosts"? Jack had really shot himself in the foot—he got stuck escorting the teary-eyed Ethan Zhuo all the way back to the library. Along the way, he used his super hearing to catch snippets of student gossip, and sure enough, there were plenty of rumors about the spirit in the lake. One keyword kept popping up: "Senior Brother from Year Four."
Jack stood on X Bridge, gazing at the lake under the night sky. "Looks like that lake spirit’s got a story—can’t just ignore it." Too bad, even though his mental powers were way stronger than Ethan Zhuo’s, everyone’s got their specialty. He still couldn’t sense the Thought Waves Senior Brother mentioned, let alone help with exorcism. Maybe tomorrow, after meeting that so-called expert, he’d figure something out.
"Might as well check out Xiao Geng’s Welcome Party first. Isn’t the big choir performance happening there? Wonder how it’ll turn out." That choir was partly his brainchild—come to think of it, from writing the music, splitting up the parts, booking the venue, training, accompaniment, one-on-one coaching, it was all him. Dang, the more he counted, the more it felt like he’d done everything!
Alright, since I’m involved, I’d better go and cheer on my choir!