Inside the tent it was dim and murky. Light seeped through the gaps, a blurred expanse where the people inside could vaguely make out each other’s faces.

Shen Mo said: “Close your eyes.”

Bai Youwei closed them for a while, then opened them again. “If you don’t close yours, how do you know whether I’ve closed mine or not?”

Shen Mo was used to her little tricks and looked down at her blandly: “Don’t want to sleep anymore?”

“I do.” She shifted her body, moving closer to him. “I just want to see what I look like in your eyes…”

His breathing unconsciously tightened.

In the soundless dimness, her breath enveloped him—faint, sweet with a touch of coolness, like honey mint, with a vague floral fragrance, perhaps from the shampoo scent on her hair.

She was completely unaware that the two of them were already too close, looking straight at him, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: “Eyes can also be considered mirror-like objects, right…”

Shen Mo looked at her quietly. After a moment, he asked: “See clearly?”

“Too dark, can’t see clearly.” She shook her head lightly.

Strands of hair brushed against his arm, a bit ticklish. He instinctively pulled away.

Bai Youwei reached out and grabbed his retreating arm. “You look at mine too.”

She very seriously widened her eyes, tilting her face up for him to see.

She had a pair of beautiful doe eyes, so they often created the illusion that she was innocent and gentle. But if she smiled a little, with the corners of her eyes slightly upturned, revealing a cold charm, she was like a proud little cat.

“Did you see?” she asked him. “Is it a person or a doll?”

Shen Mo was silent for a while before replying: “Can’t see clearly.”

He calmly pulled away the hand she had wrapped around his arm, his tone flat: “Go to sleep.”

This time she didn’t move closer again, but lazily yawned and murmured an instruction: “Shen Mo, tomorrow remember to find a mirror and look at yourself, you must look…”

As she spoke, she turned over with her back to him, her breathing gradually becoming slow and prolonged.

As if she had fallen asleep…

Shen Mo inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, though he couldn’t say why.

…

The night was long, and he wasn’t the only one suffering from insomnia.

The sound effects of a match-three game came from the tent next door—it was Tan Xiao playing games, with level-clearing sounds coming one after another, entertaining himself quite merrily.

Later, the sounds around them became fewer and fewer, until finally even the game sounds stopped.

The maze was immersed in silence.

Shen Mo estimated the time was about right, quietly got up, and went outside the tent.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself, and slowly exhaled. Light-colored smoke swayed before his eyes.

Away from that faint mint sweetness, his mind seemed to clear up considerably.

Sometimes he felt she understood everything, other times he felt she was just teasing him for fun.

He didn’t know when a simple task of picking someone up along the way had become so tricky. Turning the thought around, if he hadn’t gone to get her, where would he be now?

It would probably be quite boring…

Shen Mo smiled soundlessly, exhaling a thin breath, gently dispersing the smoke before his eyes.

The work of keeping watch was dull and tedious.

He sat in front of the tent, quietly surveying his surroundings.

From some tent came the murmured whispers of a young girl:

“The mirrors here are so terrifying. If we’d known, we shouldn’t have come in…”

Another girl’s voice was cold: “Weren’t you the one who insisted on coming in because you were afraid you wouldn’t get an item?”

“Chen Hui, why are you talking like that…” The girl felt wronged. “It’s because everyone wanted to come in, and I didn’t want to stay outside alone, so I followed.”

“We’re already here, stop thinking about it so much. Let’s sleep.”

“But I can’t sleep. Keep me company and talk for a bit…”

“Talk about what?”

“Um… Did you notice that cripple actually went to take a bath? When she came back her hair wasn’t even dry yet.”

“What’s wrong with someone taking a bath? Hurry up and sleep, it’s almost three o’clock.”

“You don’t know? Many paralyzed disabled people have no sensation in their lower body and suffer from urinary and fecal incontinence. They always have a strange smell on them, so they have to bathe frequently…”

Shen Mo thought: No, she’s quite fragrant.