Gaze

Gaze

When Shen Jiyue saw Mu Sichen, a flash of pleased surprise crossed his frog eyes. He asked, "You've already written the supplemental rule?"

"Not yet. There's something I need to discuss with you," Mu Sichen said seriously.

He moved closer to Shen Jiyue. Shen Jiyue had been about to say something, but when he saw Mu Sichen's name badge, his eyeballs instantly stopped moving.

Shen Jiyue's current appearance was far too horrifying for Mu Sichen to read his expression, but he could still sense Shen Jiyue's mood through the movement of his eyes. Right now, it was probably full of suspicion.

"Don't worry. I used a special method to swap name badges with someone else." Mu Sichen pointed at the name "Zhang Sansan" on the badge. "If I had become Big-Eye's follower, the name on this would be 'Volunteer Sha Big-Eyes.'"

Shen Jiyue's rigid eyeballs spun two full circles in place. From the look of it, he had relaxed.

Talking to a smart person really was this simple. At the very least, Shen Jiyue would not refuse to listen to his explanation just because of a volunteer name badge.

"What do you want to discuss with me?" Shen Jiyue quickly regained his composure and asked.

"About the supplemental rule. I don't think what we need is a rule saying 'Family members may accompany patients through discharge procedures.' Instead, it should be, 'Volunteers may not be harmed, and volunteers' actions may not be obstructed.' Adding this rule will require your cooperation," Mu Sichen said.

All the blister-eyes on Shen Jiyue's body shifted at once. It looked rather frightening.

"What are you talking about? Don't you want to find the "Pillar"?" Shen Jiyue said with a dry laugh.

Mu Sichen said, "Of course I do. But the Discharge Registration Office on B1 can't be where the "Pillar" is. The "Pillar" has no physical form at all. It isn't inside any one room, but it is also in every room."

Shen Jiyue said nothing. All his eyes watched Mu Sichen at once.

Mu Sichen told him, "Inside the sanatorium, patients can be 'cured' and discharged. Doctors can be discharged after tricking enough patients into coming here. Family members can become doctors and leave by a doctor's method.

"Volunteers leave by a different path. If they perform well, they can be promoted. Every time they assist a doctor in curing a patient, they receive a pair of eyes. Once they have ten pairs or more, they can be promoted, become a Follower, and rotate to another post. This is also another form of discharge.

"Everyone wants to be 'discharged.' No one can leave the sanatorium. That is the real despair.

"Based on that principle, where do you think the "Pillar" is?"

Shen Jiyue did not answer.

Mu Sichen continued, "I think the power of the "Pillar" is dispersed. It fills every corner of the sanatorium.

"I haven't seen any other 'Pillars,' so I don't know what a "Pillar" is supposed to look like. But since the sanatorium is Big Eye's domain, I think the "Pillar"s' form should be closely connected to Big Eye's abilities.

"Therefore, I believe the "Pillar" should be the gazes scattered throughout the sanatorium. Ordinarily, they are dispersed, looking down over every corner of the sanatorium, and they will not remain fixed inside any one room!"

To Mu Sichen's surprise, Shen Jiyue did not look shocked. He merely said blandly, "I didn't expect you to guess it."

Seeing Shen Jiyue like this, Mu Sichen suddenly understood something. "You already knew? You've been lying to me this whole time?"

The instant he said it, Mu Sichen realized what Shen Jiyue intended to do, and he corrected himself. "No. You didn't lie to me. You and I have the same goal!"

Shen Jiyue sighed and said, "Since you've guessed it, I won't keep hiding it.

"That's right. I knew from the very beginning that the "Pillar" was the gaze. There is only one way to find the "Pillar": make all the gazes dispersed through the sanatorium focus on one point.

"When every gaze converges on that single point, the "Pillar" will naturally appear."

"You want to do something during discharge to draw the sanatorium's focus and summon the "Pillar,"" Mu Sichen said.

"Yes. I am going to tell every patient that discharge is impossible." Shen Jiyue pointed at the mirror in the ward. "I have an ability that can make objects that reflect light automatically play back images I have recorded."

Mu Sichen understood Shen Jiyue's intention. He wanted to magnify and spread the scene of the sanatorium absorbing his soul during discharge, making everyone in the sanatorium know that no one could actually be discharged.

When that happened, people's cognition of the rule that patients could be cured and discharged would shatter.

Once everyone began doubting the rule itself, the sanatorium would no longer be able to run on its own.

This was a method that would shake the sanatorium's very foundation. Once Shen Jiyue did this, all those gazes would inevitably focus on him, and the "Pillar" would also appear inside the discharge registration office.

Shen Jiyue truly had not deceived Mu Sichen. He had only concealed part of the truth.

"If you do that, you'll die," Mu Sichen sighed.

"I thought you had already understood what I intended," Shen Jiyue said calmly.

Yes. In the original plan, Shen Jiyue had never left himself any way to live. But at the time, Mu Sichen had thought he could still use Self Stickers to bring the out-of-control Shen Jiyue back. He had believed that as long as he saved up enough Self Stickers, he would definitely be able to awaken Shen Jiyue's mind.

But in Shen Jiyue's plan, there had never been any retreat.

He would never give Mu Sichen the chance to awaken him. He meant to be swallowed by the sanatorium and, before he died, send that information out.

"All right. We have been honest with each other now. Please cooperate with my plan," Shen Jiyue said. "After I draw the "Pillar" out, everything will be up to you."

"I don't agree," Mu Sichen said.

"This is the only way," Shen Jiyue urged.

Mu Sichen shook his head. "Who says this is the only way? There are always more solutions than problems. We don't need to use this kind of mutual destruction. I'll draw the "Pillar" out. You cooperate with me."

"I don't want to argue with you. Competing to see who gets to die first will only waste energy," Shen Jiyue said resolutely. "If you don't agree, I'll find a way to cooperate with Yao Wangping. Given his personality, he will definitely be more willing to sacrifice me."

"I never planned to go die. I'm very attached to my life." Mu Sichen held Shen Jiyue's hand and said seriously, "I want to find a way for everyone to survive. I am highly confident. Please help me."

His sincere attitude moved Shen Jiyue. Shen Jiyue asked, "I need to understand your plan first."

Mu Sichen briefly told Shen Jiyue his plan.

Shen Jiyue was very intelligent. Mu Sichen did not need to explain in too much detail. As long as he gave him the opening, Shen Jiyue could guess what he was thinking.

"This is indeed a safer method, but if we do this, the risk you will bear is too great. One careless mistake, and there will be no coming back," Shen Jiyue said worriedly.

When it came to sacrificing himself, he was resolute. But when it was Mu Sichen's turn, Shen Jiyue became hesitant.

This only made Mu Sichen feel that Shen Jiyue was even more worthy of trust.

He said, "This world is so dangerous and bizarre that any of us might go mad or die one day without warning. We may be safe today and facing danger tomorrow. Surviving in this world is already as difficult as walking on thin ice. We endure risk every moment, so why should we fear taking one more?

"If I don't have the courage to face danger, how can I resist mental contamination that is everywhere?

"Since you approve of my plan, please cooperate with me."

Shen Jiyue still wanted to persuade Mu Sichen, but then some thought seemed to occur to him. He shook his head and did not try again.

He smiled and said to Mu Sichen, "If you can leave the Town of the Eye safely, please come to my town. It is a peaceful, safe place. The town residents live and work in contentment, and their lives are very happy."

"We'll talk about it then," Mu Sichen said, not agreeing.

He did not trust Qin Zhou. He did not want to go to Xiangping Town, and he did not believe there was any town in this world that belonged to him.

After persuading Shen Jiyue, Mu Sichen began carrying out the plan.

Step one: deceive the not very intelligent sanatorium and write the supplemental rule.

To do this, he needed to temporarily contaminate Shen Jiyue.

Fortunately, Shen Jiyue had long since prepared to be "cured." He had Mu Sichen bring over a mirror and said, "Using my Mirror Reflection ability, I once recorded Big Eye's appearance during Daylight inside this mirror."

"You can do that too? That's amazing," Mu Sichen said.

"The ability in your plan is also amazing," Shen Jiyue said.

Mu Sichen did not want to expose the System, so he gave a dry laugh and brushed it off. "Eyes can hang in the sky, the sanatorium can eat people, and even an octopus can become a god. In this world, anything can happen."

Shen Jiyue said, "True."

He placed his palm on the mirror and warned Mu Sichen, "The mirror recorded the light reflected from Big Eye. Looking at the mirror is not the same as looking directly at Big Eye, but it is still very powerful. After I secretly recorded this image, I never dared to look at it myself."

No wonder Shen Jiyue was confident that he could lose control at any time if needed. So this was the ace he had up his sleeve.

He had even managed to withstand the Feather-Eyed Apostle's purification. The only thing capable of contaminating Shen Jiyue was probably Big Eye's true self.

"I only need you to be in the middle of being contaminated. My companions will interrupt the process, and in the end, you must stay clearheaded," Mu Sichen said.

"As long as it doesn't exceed one second, I'll be fine," Shen Jiyue said.

Mu Sichen walked out of the room and murmured the plan in low voices to Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo, who were waiting outside.

The two of them nodded solemnly.

Mu Sichen walked back into the room, took out the mirror that was face down, and faced Shen Jiyue.

The moment he flipped the mirror over, Mu Sichen shouted, "Shen Jiyue, stop resisting. Return to His embrace!"

Shen Jiyue's gaze fell on the mirror. All the eyeballs on his body went rigid at the same time, and an intoxicated look appeared in his frog eyes.

At that instant, Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo, who had heard Mu Sichen's voice, kicked the door open and charged in. Cheng Xubo lunged forward and tackled Mu Sichen to the ground. Following his movement, Mu Sichen used the momentum to flip the mirror face down.

Cheng Xubo made a show of hitting Mu Sichen a few times.

Chi Lian shouted, "What are you doing to my patient? Volunteers can only assist doctors. You can't act on your own! How can you treat a pati..."

Chi Lian's gaze fell on Shen Jiyue, and she was instantly too frightened to speak.

Before this, she had only seen patients who had grown a few blister-eyes. She had never seen someone like Shen Jiyue, whose body had already been completely contaminated.

Shen Jiyue's appearance was no longer disgusting. It was terrifying, the kind of terrifying that could make someone lose control with one careless glance.

Thanks to Cheng Xubo flipping the mirror down in time, Shen Jiyue's eyes soon returned to normal.

Only after steadying his emotions did he say to Chi Lian, "Don't be afraid. I... Doctor Ke? Why do you look different?"

Shen Jiyue looked at Chi Lian's name badge, his gaze a little confused. Then he abruptly understood. "So you changed name badges too."

Chi Lian was in no mood to chat with Shen Jiyue. Her body stiffened, and she shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! I can feel a gaze glaring at me. Such a vicious gaze. It feels like it's trying to kill me with its eyes!"

Cheng Xubo stopped moving and said, "This gaze is even scarier than the one I encountered before. Too vicious, way too vicious. My goose bumps are all turning into blister-eyes. Captain Mu, how are you?"

After taking a flurry of blows to the head and face, Mu Sichen lifted his head and gave a thumbs-up. "The plan succeeded. I heard the broadcast. It's telling me to go supplement the rules!"

"Yeah!" Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo excitedly high-fived.

Mu Sichen nodded to Shen Jiyue, set the mirror down, and rushed to the first floor at top speed. He saw that a pen had appeared on the wall holding the Management Rules.

First, according to the original plan, he wrote, "Volunteers may not be harmed, and volunteers' actions may not be obstructed." But a prompt sounded by his ear: "rule invalid." The words he had just written disappeared.

Mu Sichen thought for a moment, then rewrote it: During a volunteer's procedure on a patient, no one may interrupt the volunteer's actions or harm the volunteer.

This time, he heard the prompt: "rule valid."

The new rule was clearly written on the Management Rules. The first step was complete, and every condition for carrying out the plan was now in place.