chapter 3 Knock on the door

Returning to his room, Ben Lin closed the door. He didn't turn on the lights. It was already late at night, and the faint starlight outside spilled onto the floor. In the dark room, Ben Lin sat at his desk and slowly removed the black fabric from his eyes.
In the mirror on the desk, a handsome young face was reflected. Ben Lin was quite good-looking. If he were to take off the blindfold and tidy up a bit, combined with his inexplicable air of aloofness and depth, he would definitely be considered a campus heartthrob.
Unfortunately, he often wore the blindfold, and coupled with his status as a disabled person, it completely concealed his brilliance.
In the mirror, Ben Lin's eyes were closed. His brows furrowed slightly, and the eyelids covering his eyes trembled, as if he was trying hard to open them. Even his fists clenched in effort.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... His body trembled for a long time, but he couldn't bear it any longer. He suddenly relaxed, gasping for breath.
A few drops of sweat ran down Ben Lin's cheeks, and a hint of anger appeared between his brows. It was so close... Just a little bit more! Why was it that every time, he fell just a little short?
When would he be able to open his eyes again and see the world for himself? He said he could see now, but he lied. His eyes couldn't open at all, not even a tiny bit.
Yet, he didn't lie. Because even with his eyes closed, he could still "see" everything around him clearly. This feeling was strange, as if he had eyes all over his body, perceiving everything from all directions without any blind spots. Moreover, he could see clearer and farther compared to his original eyes.
At first, he couldn't do this. In the first five years after going blind, he was no different from other blind people and could only perceive the world using sound and the cane in his hand.
But for some reason, starting five years ago, his eyes seemed to undergo some changes, and he could start to perceive his surroundings in a basic way. Initially, it was just a few centimetres in front of him. As time passed, he could "see" farther and clearer. Now, after five years, the range he could "see" had expanded to ten meters.
For a normal person, seeing only ten meters would mean their eyes were practically useless. But for a young man who had lost his sight, these ten meters meant everything.
What was even more crucial was that the ten meters he "saw" were obstacle-free. In other words, within this radius, Ben Lin had an absolute field of vision. To put it crudely, it was as if he had X-ray vision. But to put it more eloquently, he could see every speck of dust floating in the air, every internal component of a machine, every subtle movement of a magician under the table...
And the source of this ability seemed to be the eyes that had been tightly shut beneath the black fabric for ten years.
Although he possessed this almost superhuman power, Ben Lin was still unsatisfied. While having a ten-meter absolute field of vision was impressive, he wanted more than anything to use his own eyes to see the world.
This was a young man's determination.
Although he failed to open his eyes today, he could keenly feel that... the day when he could truly open his eyes was not far off.
After washing up, Ben Lin, as usual, went to bed early to prepare for sleep. Spending so many years in the life of a blind person wasn't entirely a bad thing. At least, he had developed the good habit of going to bed early.
But upon lying in bed, almost instinctively, the image appeared in his mind again.
Under the dark cosmic dome, the silent surface of the moon, the ashen ground reflecting dim starlight. In the highest and largest crater on the moon's surface stood a figure that looked like a sculpture.
This figure stood there quietly, as if it had existed since ancient times. Its divine golden radiance shone, its majesty enough to make all living beings bow down in reverence. Six disproportionately large wings spread behind it, blocking the sunlight casting down from behind, leaving a massive shadow on the silvery-grey ground.
But etched in Ben Lin's mind, unforgettable, were its eyes.
Those eyes brimming with divinity, burning like a furnace, were as blinding as the sun up close! He saw those eyes, just for an instant, and then his world was reduced to darkness.
Ten years ago, he spoke the truth, but he was diagnosed with a mental illness.
But he knew in his heart what was real and what wasn’t. Since he saw the Angel zhi on the moon, he knew that this world... was far from being as simple as it seemed.
Slowly, Ben Lin fell into a deep sleep.
He didn't know that at the moment he entered the dream, in the dark room, two brilliant golden lights shot out from the slits of his eyes, flickering and vanishing.
...
Drip, drip, drip...
In the misty world, Ben Lin walked alone. The surrounding mist rolled as if it were endless. Though he walked in emptiness, every time Ben Lin set foot, there would be a crisp collision, as if there were an invisible ground beneath him.
Ben Lin lowered his head to look at his body, sighing.
"Again, this dream... it knocks every night. Isn't it tiring?" Ben Lin shook his head helplessly, taking another step forward.
The next moment, the mist around him rolled, and a strangely styled modern building appeared in front of Ben Lin. It was considered peculiar because although it was a modern-style building, certain details gave it a mysterious aura.
Such as the large iron gate engraved with countless deities, the electric lights that seemed to burn like fireballs, the ornate tiles that seemed to float in the air...
It was like a mix of modern architectural style and the elements of ancient mythology, somewhere in between, yet possessing an indescribable beauty.
Ben Lin recognized this building, and it looked very familiar.
It was remarkably similar to the Sunshine Mental Hospital, where he had lived for a year. The most compelling evidence was that the words "Sunshine Mental Hospital" that used to be written at the entrance had been replaced with another line of text.
— The God Mental Hospital.
"Such a strange place." Ben Lin shook his head, taking steps forward until he stood directly in front of the grand iron gate.
For five years, every night he would have the same dream, and the protagonist of these dreams was always this mysterious God Mental Hospital. However, the large gate of the hospital had always remained tightly shut, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open it.
Ben Lin had circled around the mental hospital countless times. There was only one entrance, the large iron gate in front. Although the surrounding walls weren't very high, the most absurd thing was that every time Ben Lin tried to jump, the height of the wall would increase.
As for using brute force... even if Ben Lin threw his entire weight against it, the iron gate wouldn't budge an inch.
There seemed to be only one way to enter.
Knocking on the door.
Ben Lin grabbed the ring on the large iron gate, took a deep breath, and struck it heavily.
Dang!
The sound echoed like an ancient bell tolling, reverberating throughout the mental hospital. The main body of the iron gate shook and swayed but didn't open.
Dang!
Once again, the iron gate remained closed.
Ben Lin didn't seem surprised or frustrated by this. He continued to knock patiently. Over the past five years, he had come to realize the ‘rules’ of this dream. Apart from knocking on the door, any other method was futile. And in this dream, he couldn't seem to do anything else.
Fortunately, in the dream, he never grew tired, or else his body would have long been worn out.
So, Ben Lin was like a diligent labourer, earnestly knocking on the door night after night...


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