INSIDER Chapter 15

So far, Lu Chu has correctly identified every object in front of him, making him suspect that his parents’ extensive training since childhood might have been anticipating this day when he would regain his sight. They painstakingly taught him to recognize characters, study various subjects, walk along the streets of the town every month to form a habit, and touch every object until he could draw them blindfolded…

Except for “color,” which was impossible to imprint in his mind, everything else seemed to have been preparing him for the present.

Perhaps “7” knew the reason, so Lu Chu temporarily set aside his doubts and focused on the problem at hand.

Having figured out the layout of this place, he felt even more oppressed. The shape of the building and the interior arrangement could greatly influence one’s emotions.

Suppressing his discomfort, Lu Chu pondered which of the four doors against the wall was the real way out.

He had already observed the room several times and, besides finding a flashlight and a usable knife, had not made any other discoveries. Perhaps there were clues in the corridor. With this thought, Lu Chu returned to the small room’s doorway, deciding to start from there and inspect every item in the rectangular corridor.

The corridor had few items, but the clock hanging on the wall outside the small room, which trembled and made sounds without its hands moving, caught Lu Chu’s attention.

Because Lu Chu had not yet fully aligned the things he saw with the descriptions his parents had instilled in his mind, it wasn’t until now that he noticed something peculiar: the hour, minute, and second hands of the clock all pointed exactly to “3.” This configuration was impossible under normal circumstances; everyone knows that the hands only overlap when they point to “12,” indicating midnight or noon. This meant the hands had been manually or externally set to “3.”

So, what was the “3” trying to tell people here?

Below the clock was a long-dead potted plant. Lu Chu bent down and thoroughly checked it, only finding a piece of yellow paper, used by children for origami, with the number “6” written on it at the bottom of the tray.

Lu Chu put the paper in his pocket, wondering if this number was related to the clock’s position.

Having found a clue, Lu Chu returned the plant to its original place, stood up, and prepared to search other areas.

This rectangular corridor was intriguingly designed. If it weren’t for the slight differences in each hallway, a few more laps and Lu Chu might have lost his sense of direction.

Wait!

Lu Chu paused as if he had just thought of something.

Direction, direction… Could the “3” on the clock be indicating a certain direction?

The clock was installed low enough for Lu Chu to touch it, and “3” pointed due east. Realizing this, Lu Chu followed the wall parallel to the east direction, knocking along the way and listening intently. When the sound of the wall changed from solid to hollow, Lu Chu’s heart lifted: he was right.

The wall here was clearly hollow. Lu Chu used his knife to pry off the outer layer and retrieved an iron lockbox from inside.

The lockbox required a four-digit code, with each digit being a different color: yellow, red, green, and pink. Almost simultaneously, Lu Chu recalled the piece of paper he found with a number on it. He tried to force the box open with the knife but failed, so he resumed searching the corridor for other numbers.

After several rounds of searching the corridor and the room, Lu Chu found two more pieces of paper with numbers, corresponding to the first, third, and fourth positions of the code. However, he couldn’t find the second position’s paper no matter what.

Without a device to know the exact time and needing to escape before “dawn,” Lu Chu had limited time.

Just then, a faint, ethereal song came from outside, intermittently echoing in the dark and quiet rectangular corridor. Along with the song were light, crisp footsteps. Unlike the distant and near song, the footsteps sounded close, making Lu Chu feel a sudden chill and too scared to look back.

Lu Chu quickly picked up the lockbox and calmed himself, examining the box more carefully.

Then he noticed the box didn’t have a “confirm” button, and the code digits rolled like on a typical travel suitcase. This likely meant the box would automatically unlock once the correct code was entered.

Assuming there was a possibility of a “wrong code triggering a deadly outcome” like a time bomb.

The digits rolled in a non-reversible sequence from “0—9,” returning to “0” after “9.” This meant if the correct code included “9,” you would have to roll through all the digits from “0” to reach it.

Thus, the assumption was invalid because rolling to “9” would involve all incorrect codes along the way.

“Very simple,” Lu Chu sighed.

He entered the three known digits and rolled through the remaining digit from “0—9.” The box would automatically unlock when the correct number was reached.

He slowly rolled the second digit.

0——

1——

2——

…

7——

“Click—”

The lock opened.

Inside the box lay a key, beneath which was a blood-stained letter. The writing on the paper was scribbled and twisted, hard to decipher.

Lu Chu turned the letter over several times before finally making out two lines:

— “The way forward is the way out.”

— “I’m coming to find you. Guess where I’ll appear.”

Lu Chu pondered whether the “I” on the paper referred to the “it” in the hint.

At that moment, the song outside grew louder, piercing his ears and becoming impossible to ignore.

“Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!”

As the song approached, all four doors in the corridor were knocked on simultaneously.