??

  In the darkness, a figure emerged from under the covers and crept out, first gazing at the two people sleeping soundly beside him. He didn't disturb his companions, but instead tiptoed barefoot towards the corner of the room, an excited glint flashing across his face.

  He picked up the mask and held it in his hand, looking left and right, with a reluctant expression. Just as he was about to put the mask on his head, a hand landed on his shoulder and a voice said: "Xiao Yi, you're awake so early?"

  The light bulb suddenly lit up with a dazzling flash, and for about half a minute, I was stunned, during which time I found myself holding that bronze mask in my hand.

  "Bang", the mask and floor came into close contact, I turned around to look at my bed, the quilt was lifted. Behind me, Cha Wenbin and Ye Qiuer were looking at me one after another, I turned my head to look at the mask on the ground and couldn't help but ask myself: "What am I doing? What's wrong with me?"

  "I...". I couldn't say anything, my language suddenly became very pale. Looking at the defensive eyes of both of them, I realized that I had done something I shouldn't have done.

  "I really don't know, I just can't recall how I did it." I was making excuses for my behavior to my friends: "Damn it, why can't I remember anything?"

  "When you get up, we wake up. When you sleep, we don't sleep." Zha Wenbin leaned against the quilt and said to me: "I thought you were going to get up at night, but you didn't respond when I called you, and went straight to that mask."

  "I... " I pointed at the mask and said: "You should understand me, how could I possibly be interested in something like this..."

  "It's not that you're interested in it, but rather it's interested in you." Zha Wenbin said: "When you were asleep, Ye Qiu and I had already discovered that this thing has been trying to get us to put it on, but its priority target is not you, but him." The 'him' Zha Wenbin was referring to was Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu nodded at me and said: "There's a voice in my heart that keeps talking, telling me to pick up the mask and saying that if I put it on, I'll know its secrets."

  Zha Wenbin picked up where Ye Qiu left off and said, "He also told me that the content is similar to yours." He then said to me, "Both of us are awake and our willpower is still quite strong. You fell asleep without any defense, but fortunately Ye Qiu has been keeping an eye on you."

  "What if I put it on, what will happen?"

  Zha Wenbin also shook his head and said, "I don't know, this thing looks like it's related to witchcraft from its shape. If you wear it, I'm afraid you'll end up like Miss Cheng and get into some kind of trouble."

  "I had an idea: isn't it said that if you don't enter the tiger's lair, how can you get the tiger's cub? Anyway, since you two are here, why not first tie me up with a rope and put this thing on me to try it out. Let's set a time limit, count down from a certain number, and then take off my mask to see what happens."

  Cha Wenbin immediately refused: "This is risky, what if something goes wrong, who will be responsible?"

  "Don't worry about who's responsible, I'll take care of it myself." I looked at Cha Wenbin with a hint of playfulness and said, "Don't worry, my mind is very clear right now, this definitely isn't the idea of that mask-wearing person."

  Cha Wenbin looked at Ye Qiu, who didn't show any expression. Cha thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let's give it a try."

  Next thing I knew, I was tied up with ropes and even the bed sheet was used, from head to toe, not a single place was left unbound. In this state, even if I had eaten spinach like Popeye, I wouldn't have been able to struggle free. My whole body, except for my eyes which could still blink, didn't have any part that could exert force.

  Cha Wenbin waved the mask in front of me and said, "I'll count to three, put it on for at most 10 seconds, if you feel anything off, just shout."

  To be honest, at this time I already regretted coming up with such a stupid idea, which was completely setting myself up for failure. But as a man, how could I say I'm afraid and then actually be afraid? I closed my eyes, opened my mouth and said: "Come on, today I won't resist, give me a quick one!"

  The black bronze mask was placed in front of me, I took a deep breath, thinking that just ten seconds later I would be free, and for this once showing off, I would pay the price, and there would never be a next time. Ten seconds, what can you do? It's about saying one sentence, taking a puff of smoke and exhaling it, or bending down to tie your shoelaces.

  It was indeed a brief ten seconds, wasn't it? But what will happen in the next ten seconds?

  My heart stopped beating the moment I was put on a mask, my breathing, hearing, vision and brain all paused at that moment. In an instant, everything in front of me turned black, and when I opened my eyes again, I was already in a closed room, everything around me was unfamiliar, not far from me there was a huge palace, the outside of the palace was a row of steps, I saw people walking on the steps in threes and fours, those people were all facing away from me, I looked at them with a very familiar feeling.

  That big-assed person is hugging a slender person and having fun, isn't that fatty!

  "Fatso!" I shouted, and the big butt stopped. He looked around for a while, seemingly not noticing me. I got anxious, and with all my might, I shouted again: "Fatso, over here! I'm over here!" I desperately tried to wave my hands, but they were tightly bound. I realized I was powerless.

  "Over here! Over here!" I shouted, and finally that fat butt turned around. The person next to him also turned around, and to my surprise, it was Cha Wenbin. What was he doing here?

  Chubby probably saw me, his eyes were filled with surprise. I had just opened my mouth to say something when suddenly my eyes lit up and the grand hall began to disappear from my line of sight.

  "Fatty! Fatty!" I was still shouting when I heard Cha Wenbin's voice, and he said: "What did you see? Did you see Fatty?"

  "Apparently my mask has been removed. I looked at Cha Wenbin with a resentful face: 'What are you doing? I just saw him wanting to talk to me, and I haven't even heard what he said yet!'"

  Cha Wenbin also complained: "It was agreed that it would be ten seconds, but you're blaming me now. Have you seen the fat guy?"

  "Come on, don't just stand there! Hurry up and put the mask back on me, and this time remember to keep it on for a longer while!"

  "Alright, then let's extend it by ten seconds."

  The mask was put on me again, but this time I didn't have the same feeling as before. Everything felt cold and icy, just a metal lump on my face. Heavy, uncomfortable, suffocating - that's all I could feel now. In the numerous tests that followed, it was always like this. I never returned to that enclosed space where I saw those people and buildings. It had become an object, a cold and lifeless object.

  After struggling for a while, the sky should have brightened up, and people in the house started to get up one after another. I was finally untied. No one explained what I saw, it was just that scene never came back again. Because there were still tasks today, Cha Wenbin said at last: "Tonight, we'll switch and try, at least Xiaoyi didn't show any special abnormalities when wearing it."

  Ye Qiu nodded in agreement: "It started with me, it summoned me first."

  Outside, He Lao and Gu Lao were practicing Tai Chi. The weather was nice today, and the air in the mountain village was fresh except for a slight smell of coal ash that occasionally wafted by. Yuan Xiaobai was busy washing up in the courtyard, and as soon as she saw me, she started asking for help: "Xiao Yi, that sister is still not awake, hurry up and get Wen Bin to think of something!"

  "Ah, he's over there." I pointed to Zha Wenbin standing by the window and said to her, "You can go find him yourself, what's the point of always asking me to pass on messages?"

  "Cut it out, who told you to pass on messages?" She intentionally poured the washing water at my feet, splashing my entire pant leg wet. Seeing her smug expression, I picked up a cup of water and splashed it back at her. Unexpectedly, this girl suddenly grabbed Ye Qiu, and I couldn't brake in time. About half a cup of water still splashed onto Ye Qiu's body. This guy's eyes were staring at me with a look that could kill, and I apologized while trying to appease him: "Second Master spare my life, Second Master spare my life!"

  Today started with such a pleasant atmosphere, and it seemed to have set a good tone for the day. The good news is that the girl named Cheng Ziying has woken up, just as we were having breakfast.

  "Wake up, wake up!" Yuan Xiaobai rushed out of the house with a bowl and chopsticks in one hand and a steamed bun in the other, shouting: "Miss Cheng has woken up, you all go take a look quickly!"

  Inside the house, Zha Wenbin was taking the girl's pulse and examining her eyelids and tongue. The girl had been very quiet since waking up and was quite cooperative with Zha Wenbin's examination, but so far she hadn't spoken a word.

  "How is it?" I asked.

  "Her body is still a bit weak." He beckoned me and Ye Qiuxian to go out, but just as we reached the door, Zha Wenbin said: "It's really strange. I saw this woman earlier and it seemed like she had lost a soul and fallen into a state of madness. But when I looked at her again this morning, apart from being a bit weak in energy, everything else was fine. However, there was a hint of restlessness in her pulse, but it only flashed by for an instant and then disappeared."

  "You're not a professional TCM doctor anyway, so it's normal that your skills are subpar."

  "Xiao Yi, go to the Zhou's house and find me a set of old clothes that she used to wear, including shoes. It would be best if you can also find her old comb or something like that."

  "This is no problem, I'll go right away." I don't know what he's got up his sleeve, but with just a few bites of mantou in my mouth, I went out the door...

  ...

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