Chapter 9

Jiang Li quietly closed her diary and shut her eyes in deep thought.

Her index finger unconsciously twitched, tapping against the cover of the notebook.

Her mind raced through the details of her interactions with the Red Infant.

If the Red Infant liked you, he would call you “Mommy.”

If he felt nothing for you, he would call you “Mother.”

And when the Red Infant told Jiang Li, “Only the ninth rule is wrong,” he called her-

-Mommy!

So the Red Infant was not lying.

The one lying was the “thing” outside the door.

The “thing” gave Jiang Li the following hint:

[Do not lock the Bedroom door. There is a Pollution Source in the Bedroom.]

Within this hint, the information luring her to “not lock the Bedroom door” was false.

Since this was false information, why go to such lengths to hide it behind a password?

If it was so well concealed, it could only point to one possibility.

That within it, there was a key piece of correct information crucial to clearing the Instance!

Jiang Li snapped her eyes open, flipped to that hint, and stared intently at the latter half for a long time.

[There is a Pollution Source in the Bedroom.]

Jiang Li looked up, gazing toward the Toilet.

In the entire Bedroom, the only place mentioned in the rules, and the most unusual spot, was the Toilet.

So, the Pollution Source was most likely in the Toilet.

“Whoosh-”

The sound of flushing water kept coming from the Toilet in the Bedroom.

Behind the frosted glass door separating the Toilet, something seemed to be hidden, waiting for Jiang Li to investigate.

Between 23:00 and 4:00 the next day, Jiang Li could not leave the Bedroom.

The Pollution Source in the Toilet was very close to her, and Jiang Li had no choice but to stay in the Bedroom for a long time.

Her index finger tapped rapidly as she began to think.

There must be something in this room that could resist the mental pollution from the Toilet.

Otherwise, with such close contact with the Pollution Source, surviving seven days-let alone seven hours-would be impossible.

Jiang Li lifted her eyelids and began to observe her surroundings.

She noticed that on the left bedside table, there was the Wife’s diary and a pen.

On the right, there were two cups-one black and one white-and a functioning alarm clock.

Jiang Li walked over for a closer look.

The water in the Black Cup was clear and bright, while the water in the White Cup was cloudy and yellowish.

Jiang Li reached out to feel the temperature of the cups-the Black Cup was hot, the White Cup was cold.

Night Rules, Rule 9:

[The Black Cup contains Honey Water prepared by your Husband. Please be sure to drink it while it’s hot.]

The Red Infant had said that this rule was wrong.

Combining this with the latest entry Jiang Li saw in the Wife’s diary:

<

[October 25th-Friday-Light Rain]

The White Cup at my bedside has been empty for two days.

My Husband hasn’t prepared Honey Water for me these past two days.

My insomnia at night has gotten worse, and I’ve started having hallucinations.

I dreamed of chopping bones in the Kitchen late at night, but I know very well that we haven’t bought any bones.

>

Based on the content of the Wife’s diary, Jiang Li concluded that drinking Honey Water before bed was the right thing to do.

Drinking Honey Water should help resist some degree of mental pollution.

Otherwise, the Wife wouldn’t have described “not drinking Honey Water, which led to hallucinations.”

So the problem could only be with the color of the cup.

Therefore, the water in the White Cup was what the Wife should have drunk before bed.

Just as Jiang Li was lost in thought, she unexpectedly caught sight of a pair of brightly colored Red High Heels in the lower right corner of the wardrobe.

Night Rules, Rule 4:
[There are no Red High Heels in the room.]

Although Jiang Li didn’t want to admit it, she had indeed stayed in this room for a while, and her mind was already beginning to be contaminated.

The Red High Heels were just a hallucination she was experiencing.

She couldn’t delay any longer; she had to drink the Honey Water in the white cup as soon as possible.

Jiang Li picked up the cold white cup, about to bring it to her lips, when she suddenly remembered something and stopped.

The latter half of the ninth rule surfaced in her mind: [Please drink while it’s hot]

Although she didn’t know whether the phrase “while it’s hot” was a trap, to be safe, she decided to be even more cautious.

Jiang Li crouched down and quickly rummaged through the drawers of the bedside table, looking for something.

As she searched, Jiang Li heard the sound of high heels-“tap, tap, tap”-behind her.

“Red Infant, those shoes aren’t clean, don’t go and wear the high heels.” Although Jiang Li knew Red Infant wasn’t afraid of that thing, she still kindly reminded him.

Red Infant’s aggrieved voice came: “Mommy, I didn’t go to wear the high heels, and Yingying didn’t see any red shoes either.”

A cold sweat instantly broke out on Jiang Li’s back.

Instinctively, she glanced at the lower right corner of the wardrobe.

The pair of Red High Heels that had originally been placed there was now inching closer to her.

They even left a trail of bloody footprints.

She didn’t have much time left. Jiang Li’s hallucinations were getting worse; she had to drink the Honey Water immediately!

“Mommy, what are you looking for?” Red Infant asked.

Jiang Li replied gently, “I’m looking for something to heat up the water cup, anything will do.”

“Mommy, will this work?”

Yingying pulled out a white coaster with a plug from under the bed.

Jiang Li’s eyes lit up when she saw it.

“That’s it. Thank you, Yingying, good boy, Mommy loves you to death!” Jiang Li took the coaster, hugged Yingying, and kissed him excitedly.

Yingying blushed on the spot.

The “tap, tap, tap” of the high heels had already reached the foot of the bed.

Jiang Li told herself to stay calm.

Since the rules stated that there were no Red High Heels in the room,

and Red Infant had clearly said he couldn’t see the shoes,

that meant these Red High Heels were not “that thing.”

These shoes were entirely a hallucination caused by mental contamination.

Jiang Li calmed down, immediately plugged in the coaster, and placed the white cup on it to heat up.

At this moment, the “tap, tap, tap” of the shoes grew more urgent! They started running, as if chasing her!

The high heels quickly ran up to Jiang Li, still stomping on the floor.

The shoes trembled slightly, constantly oozing terrifying fresh blood and disgusting, rapidly crawling worms.

Jiang Li simply closed her eyes and rested, ignoring the annoying hallucination, and continued waiting for the cup to heat up.

Soon, Jiang Li felt the cup wall become slightly hot to the touch.

She quickly unplugged the coaster, picked up the white cup, and gulped down the contents in one go.

After drinking the Honey Water, Jiang Li clearly felt her mind become much clearer.

The sound of flushing from the Toilet seemed to fade, and the pair of bloody Red High Heels before her eyes also disappeared without a trace.

The crisis was temporarily resolved.

After all this, Jiang Li was already a bit exhausted.

Her mind had been under high tension all day, and now what she needed was plenty of sleep.

But the only thing stopping her from sleeping now was that-

Jiang Li’s gaze fell on the Wedding Photo on the wall at the foot of the bed.

To be precise, it was a black-and-white Wedding Photo of a couple, both smiling eerily!