16. The Alarm Clock (To be featured in next week's recommendations)

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Maan blinked.
He felt as if he had forgotten something.
Then, that feeling faded from his memory.
Bang!
With a crisp sound echoing between the walls, two coins landed on the soft quilt, followed by others falling like raindrops.
They collided just as Maan had anticipated.
He remembered nothing, yet he knew this was a signal—when these coins, tracing complex paths without room for error under telekinetic control, dropped heavily, it meant...
Wait, it meant what?
Maan grimaced, pressing his forehead, struggling to dredge up information that no longer existed in his mind. It was almost impossible.
Fortunately, he had done this before—long ago.
This scene meant...
He had failed to maintain focus.
This coin trajectory system was a strategy Maan had devised in recent days. The coins, guided by telekinesis, frequently brushed past each other in midair, but if his mind wandered, the entire system would fall into chaos.
And this indicated the Unrememberer had attacked him.
Originally, Maan had thought that if he could miniaturize this alert device to a portable size, it might help him counter the Unrememberer.
But obviously, he had been naive.
Even with the alert device, he had nearly failed to realize the Unrememberer’s influence just now.
Yet he was still alive, so there must be a reason.
Could it be that this device had frightened the entity away?
After all, if he could now use telekinesis to make such a device, surely his past self could as well—and better. The Unrememberer who just came might have seen it before.
In his prime, he surely could have devised a better countermeasure, yet even he had failed to defeat the Unrememberer.
At this thought, Maan’s heart sank. The information declared one fact:
He had no chance to overcome the Unrememberer.
Looking on the bright side, the Unrememberer at least feared him; otherwise, it wouldn’t have retreated upon seeing the alert device.
He needed to be discharged before it was too late.
Maan guided the coins into his pocket and stood up under the gaze of the deceased on the wall, then stepped out.
He had walked only a few steps when he heard a familiar voice.
“How did you do it?” the suspicious woman asked behind him. “Are you hiding something from us? Deceiving company employees isn’t very smart.”
Company?
Was this the codename for the group led by Li Fen and the others?
“Go to 721.” After delivering the warning, she didn’t expect an answer. “Li Fen is waiting for you.”
With that, she slipped into the crowd behind him like a nimble reptile, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Maan continued in the same direction.
He stopped before door 625.

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Knock, knock.
A few seconds later.
Ning Changkong cautiously cracked the door open.
“Maan?” Her expression relaxed as she naturally stepped aside. “Come in.”
Maan entered.
“If you don’t want to talk about Lü Yide,” the girl turned casually toward her desk and sat down, holding the back of her chair. “Then I won’t ask. I guess you’re not here to silence anyone.”
“You seem to let your guard down around me too easily,” Maan said, his face full of curiosity.
By now, Maan was certain Ning Changkong was also a gifted individual, and she seemed to perceive his age quite accurately.
The girl was silent for a few seconds.
Then she shrugged:
“Although you might think this is a brush-off, the truth is I have mental health issues.
“I can’t overcome my emotions.”
She sensed a calmness radiating from Maan.
“They’re meaningful,” he said, sitting opposite her. “The symbols you showed me, but I can’t tell you what they mean.
“And in theory, you shouldn’t have seen them.”
It seemed they hadn’t known each other before.
Ning Changkong suppressed her emotions and nodded:
“That’s good. It means I’m not crazy.
“To be honest, I’m not even sure if that sentence wasn’t just auditory hallucination. Maybe I’m talking to myself, or maybe I really did see those symbols, but you don’t remember.”
Maan understood her worry:
“You’re afraid what you saw was false, right?”
She nodded slightly:
“Yes. After all, that’s what the doctors say. Although I feel there’s a deep connection between what I see and feel, all mental patients think that, don’t they?”
“You’re very rational,” Maan said. “But we call this phenomenon ‘spiritual vision’…”
What did Li Fen say again?
“…It’s a revelation of the nature of reality. Because of your instability and the impossibility of self-verification, it’s easy to doubt your sanity—that's precisely because you’re not insane.
“A truly mad person never spends all day doubting themselves.”
The girl pondered for a moment.
Her expression calm, she nodded:
“I understand.”
“You don’t look happy,” Maan asked gently.
Ning Changkong exhaled deeply:
“Honestly, I’d rather be crazy, because that would mean there was still a chance to go back. But no matter what, seeing the truth is far better than living in lies.”
“Mr. Maan, I’m sorry. I actually sensed something unusual about you a long time ago.”

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She was revealing why she had sought him out.
Maan leaned back slightly, puzzled:
“Haven’t you helped me a lot?
“Besides, how can you be sure I didn’t have some intention you’d never suspect when I accepted your offer to come along?”
This was also his main reason for coming—to repay Ning Changkong’s help.
Had he ever repaid others’ kindness before?
Maan didn’t remember.
But it didn’t matter.
The girl smiled:
“Thank you.”
Maan said,
“Since you’re not crazy, I suggest you get discharged as soon as possible. This isn’t a place to settle down.”
She shook her head:
“I wasn’t admitted without reason. But Mr. Maan, since we’re this far, is there anyone in particular you’re watching out for?
“Maybe I can tell you what they look like through my eyes.”
Maan blinked.
He was straightforward:
“What does Dr. Xu look like?”
Ning Changkong recalled:
“A handsome man wearing glasses, dressed in a white doctor’s coat, with white tattoos on his face. That probably doesn’t match his normal appearance, right?”
Maan nodded.
“And,” the girl added, “he gave me a very cold impression.”
She didn’t explain how she sensed this.
“Besides him, let me describe the woman who went with you to see Lü Yide.”
Maan asked:
“The very slim woman?”
“No.” She shook her head in puzzlement. “In my eyes, she’s quite well-built, like a beautiful woman close to thirty. Would you like me to draw her for you?”
Maan looked at her in confusion.
Ning Changkong pointed to a drawer:
“I’ve studied sketching, quite professionally.
“After all, I have this ability.”