Shen Fei had no idea what had happened. He stood beside the table, a little at a loss — only when Shen Mo came over to help him set the bowls and chopsticks out did he get a chance to quietly ask:

“While I was out, did something happen here?”

“Nothing,” Shen Mo said.

Shen Fei: “…”

The strange atmosphere didn’t last long. As friends and relatives of the Shen family gradually arrived one after another, the house became lively again.

At some point during the gathering, Teacher Cheng slipped back into the dollhouse, and returned carrying the roasted chicken and the simmered chicken soup, warming things up further.

The food was delicious, the wine flowed well, host and guests were all content.

By the time the meal ended, it was already eight in the evening.

Shen Mo’s father didn’t try to keep them — likely sensing that Bai Youwei had something weighing on her mind and needed time to quietly think it through.

The group returned to headquarters.

The banquet in the first-floor lobby of headquarters was still going. Young people were singing and dancing, celebrating as though it were New Year’s. Tan Xiao, drawn to the excitement, stayed behind on the first floor to join in.

Teacher Cheng and Pan Xiaoxin returned to the dollhouse as usual to rest.

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo headed to the medical ward.

Their intention was to look in on Chen Hui and ask about the labyrinth, but Chen Hui was sleeping soundly and couldn’t be roused.

She had apparently arrived at the medical ward in a state of extreme dehydration and severe malnutrition. She had fallen asleep during her IV drip and hadn’t woken since.

The doctor said Chen Hui’s state was due to having gone far too long without rest — a good night’s sleep and she should recover.

Leonid was in the ward keeping vigil. Seeing Shen Mo and Bai Youwei arrive, he gave a nod in acknowledgment.

In the real world, with no shared language, there was no way to get information out of Leonid.

As Bai Youwei and Shen Mo were about to leave, they learned that Du Lai had also been admitted to the medical ward. His symptoms were much the same as Chen Hui’s, and he too was deeply asleep.

It seemed he had been running purely on willpower — holding himself together just long enough to say everything he needed to say to Bai Youwei. Once every word was spent, he had finally gone to the medical ward to receive treatment.

Bai Youwei felt a complicated wave of feeling. Du Lai was a cold and indifferent person in many ways, but his feelings for Fu Miaoxue were entirely genuine.

The next morning, Bai Youwei and Shen Mo went to the medical ward again to see Chen Hui.

Chen Hui was still sleeping.

With no telling when she would wake, Bai Youwei settled in to wait — and waited until past noon, well after twelve o’clock, before Chen Hui finally stirred.

The doctor had been keeping track of the time. Chen Hui had slept a full eighteen hours, and even so, when she woke, it still seemed as though she hadn’t slept enough.

She opened her eyes, looked at the doctor, then at Leonid, then at Bai Youwei — her expression dazed and unfocused. Finally, her blank gaze drifted toward the snow scene outside the window.

“I’m out…” Chen Hui murmured in a lost voice. “Am I still in the dream…”

“You’re out — this isn’t a dream,” Bai Youwei leaned forward slightly, asking in a gentle voice. “Chen Hui, what did you encounter in Labyrinth 1? Du Lai said it was a dream that kept looping — how did you break through the dream and return to reality?”

Chen Hui was quiet for a long time. The overwhelming exhaustion had slowed her reactions.

“Right… it was a dream…” she said slowly. “I dreamed I was back at school — there was Teacher Tu, and Zhang Tianyang, and Liao Jingjing, Lin Zihang… everyone was there…”

Bai Youwei asked, “Then what? What happened?”

Chen Hui tried to recall. “…We were in class. Teacher Tu had me hand out the test papers. Zhang Tianyang scored 112… he came first again. I was one point behind him — there was a question I shouldn’t have gotten wrong… if I just hadn’t made that mistake, it would have been fine. I was so frustrated… and then Teacher Tu started going over the answers…”

Bai Youwei couldn’t help but furrow her brow. The details of this dream were disturbingly vivid…

Chen Hui closed her eyes, saying in a weakened voice, “It was truly terrifying… I thought the whole doll game was a dream — that because of exam pressure I’d had a nightmare, and in reality school was still there, and the teachers and classmates were all still there…”