It's dark outside the window.

Star Swirl looks at the ceiling and sighs slightly.

"What, can't you sleep?" Mr. X rolled over, one hand on the side of his head, and the other hand to pull the hair from the back of her neck.

She was scratched by her hair, itching so badly, she shrunk her neck, pressed his fingers, and said with a straight face: "I'm still used to sleeping alone." ”

Hearing this, Mr. X's face remained unchanged, "If you can't sleep better, that guy won't have a chance to go to your dream." ”

Star Swirl is speechless.

---

However, what should come will always come.

In the dream, Star Swirl is found in a dark hallway, unable to reach out of her fingers. With a "creak", the door at the end of the hallway opened a crack, revealing a faint light.

"Who is it? Who's there? Star Swirl asked softly.

In the faint light, a figure was infinitely elongated, dancing with the swaying light overhead, like a ghost.

"Come to me—" The voice came faintly from the door, and with a chill that had never been felt in summer, it fell lightly in the dark hallway.

Suddenly, dozens of doors in front of him were opened at the same time, and more than a dozen unfamiliar faces poked out of the door: "Come to me..."

The closest was a haggard-looking woman, her eyes were bloodshot, but there was a pleasant smile on the corner of her mouth, "If you don't come, I'll look for you." ”

"Don't come to me--!!" A panicked Star Swirl snapped open her eyes, and the man beside her was watching her in the dim light.

"Is it Clotho?" He asked.

Star Swirl reached out and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, "It's not him, it's just that the dark hallway has been reappearing in my dreams lately. ”

"Corridor, what kind of corridor?"

"I think I probably know where it is, I saw Han Dongzhi in a similar scene the night before, and... The boy named Hao Rui. ”

Mr. X's expression was still calm, but the blue eyes of the gods dimmed a little.

"The kid... Maybe it's trying to tell me something through my dreams..."Star Swirl looked down in thought, not trying to observe the look on the face of the man next to her.

"If you care, go check it out when it's dawn." He said nonchalantly, turning over again, and closing his eyes with his back to Star Swirl.

It was impossible not to care, even if it didn't recur in the dream, because of his obvious abnormality, how could she easily forget about it?

When Star Swirl, who had thought she wouldn't sleep well, opened her eyes again, the sky was already bright outside the window, and the man beside her was gone, with residual heat still on the sheets.

The aroma of coffee wafted through the crack in the door and into the bedroom, and Star Swirl immediately woke up from her sleepiness, stretched, and got out of bed.

"Morning—" She walked up to Mr. X, trying to make some sense of it on his face, only to find that he had completely reverted to his usual coldness and expressionlessness.

Star Swirl picked up the cup, took a sip of her coffee, and asked, "Wait, will we go together?" ”

"Of course," his eyebrows furrowed slightly, "didn't you say that you can't leave me?" ”

Star Swirl breathed a sigh of relief at his answer.

The dappled light and shadow of summer fell on his face through the screen window, and the person in the light and shadow stood for a long time, as if recalling something. Star Swirl didn't want to bother, but silently stirred the coffee in the porcelain cup with a spoon.

---

On the fifth floor of the old-fashioned apartment in Guanlin District, Han Dongzhi stood in front of the door in surprise, and forgot to invite the two people in front of him to come in for a while.

"Mr. Li, why didn't you say a word and came..."For a person with mild obsessive-compulsive disorder like Han Dongzhi, when a guest visits, the home should be cleaner and tidier.

"Officer Bai is worried about Haorui's child's condition." Mr. X said with a slight smile.

"It's really bothering you," Han Dongzhi turned sideways to make way of the narrow aisle, and said with a hearty expression: "Please come in." ”

At this moment, a crack suddenly opened in the door next door, and an ugly-looking man with a scar on his forehead leaned out and looked around.

Star Swirl frowned and took the lead in Han Dongzhi's house, not frightened by the man's ugly appearance, but smelling a musty smell.

"Mr. Cheng." Han Dongzhi smiled and nodded towards the door next door, but the neighbor didn't appreciate it at all, and after his eyes hurriedly swept over the faces of several people, he slammed the door with a "bang".

"I'm sorry." After Han Dongzhi said to the door closed by his neighbor, he lowered his voice: "The sound insulation here is not very good, let's try not to talk loudly." ”

Star Swirl raised her index finger to her lips and made a silent gesture, her eyes searching the room for Hao Rui's figure.

Han Dongzhi closed the door and smiled apologetically: "Although the uncle next door looks a little scary, he is not a bad person, don't be scared." ”

"No, no," Star Swirl shook her head, "what about Haorui?" ”

"He's out playing, and he won't be back for a while." Han Dongzhi said and walked to the window and looked out, "It's not downstairs, I probably went to the neighbor's house again." ”

Star Swirl let out a "huh", she was under the impression that Hao Rui was not a cheerful child who could quickly mingle with his neighbors.

"It's also a coincidence that the neighbor who lives downstairs happens to work in the hospital where Hao Rui used to live, so Hao Rui often goes to him after moving here." Han Dongzhi said, bringing tea and juice and putting them on the coffee table in front of the two.

"Is the hospital where Hao Rui used to live a mental sanatorium in K City?" Mr. X asked.

"No, it's Xin'an Hospital, and it is said that the psychiatric department there is also very famous."

"Oh, that's there—" both Mr. X and Star Swirl both had meaningful expressions.

"Of course, this Mr. Li knows better than me, after all, you are an expert in the industry," Han Dongzhi smiled, "By the way, last time you said that you wanted to confirm some Haorui's situation with me, what was it?" ”

"Yes, you need to know if there have been some extreme emotions or abnormal behaviors in the process of getting along with you?"

"Extreme emotions... Not really," Han Dongzhi replied thoughtfully, "but this kid seems to be very interested in what I write, shouldn't he be more fond of cartoons or something at his age." ”

"What has Mr. Han been working on lately?"

Han Dongzhi smiled "hehe" and replied shyly: "Recently, I have been trying to write suspense, and those themes were not very attractive to readers before. ”

"Suspense," Mr. X said thoughtfully, "You said earlier that Hao Rui can provide you with inspiration, do you also mean suspense?" ”

"That's right," Han Dongzhi nodded, "Hao Rui is my first reader, and whenever he hits a bottleneck in his writing, he will come up with a lot of ideas, which will open my mind. ”

"In that case, this kid is really good." Mr. X's knuckles tapped on the coffee table for a moment, and Star Swirl could hear the irritation.