"Baba, how long are you going to sleep?"

A ghastly howl echoed in Liu Xiaodan's ears. When he scrunched his face and opened his eyes after, he could see himself in a dark void. However, he was clearly lying supine on what seemed to be a branch. His limbs were dangling from the sides, but twigs were holding him in place.

Liu Xiaodan sat up and stared at the void before him. Soon, a face made up of marks on a bark loomed before him. Guangru seemed to be worried, but it was hard to make it out from those feebly moving marks as a face. The father then smiled.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"I'm upset, Baba. You're breaking your own body. Do you think you're healing with no repercussions?" Guangru didn't proceed with his child talk while in this form. He never showed this form to anyone, but he was so sure that Liu Xiaodan wasn't going to run away because of it. "That's… bad thinking."

He wanted to say 'stupid' or 'idiotic', but he couldn't bring himself to insult the only man that showed him love and kindness. Moreover, the way Liu Xiaodan scratched his head made it apparent that he knew what Guangru was really saying.

Liu Xiaodan only held down his head as if apologizing. He then looked up and reached out a hand, to which Guangr responded by using his humongous wooden finger. The father laughed. "Guangru, how long has it been since I was last awake?"

"It's been a whole day. Everyone in the Rooms Hall thinks you're dead." Guangru tilted his head. "Also, someone said you took her lamp without permission. I'll give it back, Baba." After a pause, the tree seemed to smile. "Do you like the lamp? I will make you another one."

"Guangru can make a lamp like that?"

"I gave that lamp to her. Like a farewell gift."

Liu Xiaodan raised his brows. Guangru knew the Mother? "Are you… from the facility, Guangru?"

The tree's head moved again but at the other side. "No, Baba. This place used to be a deserted village. Guangru stood here for a while before leaving. No more people meant no more chances for me and my little wish." The tree seemed to smile ominously. "Is Baba… afraid?"

However, Liu Xiaodan only shook his head. "Of course not. With Guangru on my side, what should I be afraid of?"

"...me, I have one fear, Baba." Guangru vanished from view, and the branch seemed to be dissipating as well. "I had lived for so long and had seen so many. I never learned to be scared of anything, but I now see that fear is like water that can bore a hole in a stone.

"I am scared of you, Baba. You're showing me the heights of human d.e.s.i.r.e."

Liu Xiaodan didn't know what Guangru meant, but he did feel like he was indeed 'wanting' so many ever since he had liberated himself from the binds of societal norms. He only sighed as he rubbed his head. "I… I'm sorry."

Guangru only kept on watching him as the nightmare ended. When Liu Xiaodan woke up on his hospital bed, the child was sitting on his abdomen and waiting for him to rise. The father reached out to pet the child's head.

The child looked at his father's apologetic look before he smiled at Liu Xiaodan. When Liu Xiaodan sat up, the child went to hug him tightly. "Baba, don't worry. Even if Guangru is scared, he will still love Baba."

"Hehe, thanks." Liu Xiaodan rubbed the child's back before taking a look at his surroundings. It was like the same room where he found Old Doctor. To think about it, he wondered how the other ghost was. It hadn't responded to anything for a while.

"He's doing fine. He's hibernating." Guangru lifted his face and smiled at his father. "He's very old and fragile. He needed to feed to sustain himself. Don't worry, he will wake up soon. Baba, do you want to come back to your room?"

Liu Xiaodan only sat up and shifted to a more comfortable position, his legs crossed and Guangru seated on his t.h.i.g.h. He then began combing Guangru's hair with his hand and even kissing the child's face while squeezing him in a hug. Even if such affection was new to Guangru, the child began liking it.

What's the use of a human body if his parents wouldn't hold him like this?

The father then carried the child on one arm and walked out of the room, forcing the door open without any loud sound—just a click of the locks. The hallways design told him that he was still indeed in the Treatment Hall. Moreover, Guangru did say he was not seen by anyone in the Rooms Hall.

The father and son traveled the hallways, the child directing his father where he should go. The longer they traveled, the more Liu Xiaodan grew confused. Were they not lost?

"Uhm, Guangru, we already walked past this place..."

"Did we?" Guangru frowned and then held on to his father's shoulders. "Baba, I can sense the exit, but I can't reach it. I think it's real. They said that ghosts would only get lost in this place. It's like something is shrouding the entire building that forces us to materialize and traps us here."

"Guangru can't break it?"

"Guangru can, but wouldn't others be freed as well? The mop-face—" Guangru suddenly stopped talking. He then pressed his face against Liu Xiaodan's neck.

Liu Xiaodan laughed out. So his little child called Abaddon 'Mopface'?

How befitting since the thing was waving bodies around like they're absorbent strings on a mop. He only c.a.r.e.s.sed Guangru's head as if saying that it's okay. The child had not misspoken; neither was he told not to insult others… especially ones that tried to kill his father.

"What about Mopface, Guangru? Does he creep you out?"

"He's bad. He takes the dead and plays with them." Guangru pouted as he huffed. Was Liu Xiaodan making fun of him? Tch, this human really was scary; he had the audacity to tease an ancient demon. Then, the child remembered something since he needed someone to protect him from this scary human.

Guangru's eyes then glistened. "Baba, do you know? Big Brother is back. He survived… but he's not in a good condition."

Liu Xiaodan looked down at the child and stared at him. Big Brother…? Oh, wait, was he referring to the black horse stuffie? Wasn't he torn apart by the residents of the boys' dorm? Then again, Guangru mentioned that he survived. The father then broke into a smile. "That's great! Is he with Old Xiong now?"

"No, I can't tell where exactly because my mark almost disappeared. Old Xiong said that he'll come home with us soon so I'm happy, too."

"That's good news. You must have missed him a lot." Liu Xiaodan felt tired walking around aimlessly so he stopped at a place and opened a huge double door without touching it. He peered inside and saw a long hallway. Was it the way out?

Guangru's eyes flickered before giggling. "Baba is so scary he found the way out."

Liu Xiaodan laughed out and continued to walk through the path. "Hahaha! Yes, yes, Baba so scary the maze let me through."

He then opened the other double door and saw the visible changes in Guangru's appearance. However, it was the Guangru that he was most used to. Liu Xiaodan continued to the hallway and ended up running into a nurse. For a good ten seconds, they stared at each other.

She then screamed at her watch comm. "Patient 4-28 escaped the Treatment Hall! He's in the Lodging Hall right now! Patient 4-28 escaped the Treatment Hall!"

Liu Xiaodan only held up a hand. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You can speak naturally. I didn't mean to go here. How far are we from the Rooms Hall? I just wanted to go back to my room."

His words looked like they wouldn't reach the nurse who was cowering in retreat. When her back touched the wall, she then started to breathe properly. She wetted her mouth and spoke. "The Rooms Hall is on the other side of the Treatment Hall, but you still need to pass the Food and Leisure Hall."

The father scratched his head and listened to the child's giggling. It seemed that they reached the wrong exit. Lodging Hall? He wondered what would be lodging here. The nurses and the doctors? Liu Xiaodan then hummed. "Those people you called, will they bring me to the Treatment Hall or to the Rooms Hall?"

"...Treatment Hall."

"Ay, cancel your call. I'm heading back." Liu Xiaodan remembered what happened the last time a welcoming party came to get him. He hurriedly turned around and ran off back inside the Treatment Hall.

"Control!" The nurse was shocked. "Patient 4-28 ran back to the Treatment Hall. He's trying to go back to the Rooms Hall."

A familiar voice then answered her, but it wasn't the lady from Control. The low voice of an old man came through the comm. "Let him explore the area and find his way back to the Rooms Hall. Stay in the hallway in case he picked the wrong door again. I'm scheduling someone else for your task."

The nurse was so sure of that voice, and so she only agreed. "Understood, Mr. Wu."

…

At the Control Room, an old man gestured for the control agent to switch off the external mike. He then looked at Song Qixi and Director Sun at the back. He then grinned. "No one had ever found either exit without a guide. When I came here, I thought I would only be disciplining a few personnel.

"Director Sun, lift their suspension. I want them to be on standby on the other side of the Treatment Hall.

"Activate all cameras in the Treatment Hall and disengage all locks. Let's see how many of them would be attracted to Liu Xiaodan and his little child."

Song Qixi's eyes widened and quivered. This old man was really unleashing all the ghost kings and making them fight against an ancient demon? If they lost all their investments, wouldn't the Wu family lose all the trust of the Qiao family?

Even if they were looking at a theoretically super-medium, was it worth the hype for him to be destroyed like this?