The next day, Su Nian arrived at Xie Chen's apartment a little earlier than usual. She wasn't sure exactly how early Xie Chen meant by his awkward "come over early," but it was clear that he was expressing a need—albeit in an awkward way.

She unlocked the door; the apartment was silent. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the dust motes floating in the air. The horrific bloodshed and frenzy of the previous night seemed like a mere illusion. The walls had been repainted, pristine white, with only a faint, lingering smell of paint hinting at what had transpired.

She tiptoed in and first checked the guest room. Xie Chen (the main personality) was still fast asleep, breathing steadily, but his brows were still slightly furrowed, as if he couldn't find peace even in his dreams. She tucked the blanket around him and then left.

Then, her gaze fell on the closed door of the master bedroom.

She walked to the door, hesitated for a moment, and didn't knock, but just stood quietly outside listening. There was no sound from inside.

[Host, the alternate personality is conscious but extremely calm, with mental fluctuations more stable than ever before.] 088 reported the monitoring results. [It seems your 'gentle attack' yesterday was quite effective.]

Just then, the door to the master bedroom was pulled open from the inside without warning.

Ah Chen stood at the door. He had changed out of his pajamas and was wearing a simple black casual outfit, which made his face look somewhat pale. However, his eyes no longer held that frenzied, predatory look, but rather a deep, calm gaze, tinged with scrutiny and a complex calculation. His injured hand hung casually at his side, the white gauze particularly noticeable.

Seeing Su Nian outside the door, he didn't seem surprised. He merely raised an eyebrow, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger: "You're fairly punctual."

"Good morning." Su Nian's expression was normal, as if yesterday's passionate kiss and bloody self-harm had never happened. "How does your hand feel? Do you need to change the dressing?"

Ah Chen raised his bandaged hand to look at it, then put it down again, his gaze returning to Su Nian's face with a direct inquiry: "You won't die. You... come in."

He stepped aside to clear the doorway; it wasn't an invitation, but more like an instruction.

Su Nian went in without hesitation. The master bedroom's decor was as cold and hard as the outside, mainly black, white and gray, with almost no items that reflected personal feelings. The only exception was an upside-down photo frame on the bedside table, which seemed somewhat out of place.

Ah Chen closed the door but didn't approach Su Nian. He simply leaned against the window, watching her from a distance. The morning light outlined his slightly thin but sharply defined profile.

“Yesterday,” he began, his voice low, “what do you think of what that good-for-nothing said…”

He was referring to the things Xie Chen (the main personality) said to him, accusing him of being "afraid of losing" and "not understanding love."

Su Nian did not answer immediately. She walked to the center of the room, pulled over the only chair that looked relatively comfortable, and sat down in a relaxed posture, as if she were facing a visitor who needed to have an in-depth conversation.

“I think,” she said carefully, her gaze calmly meeting Ah Chen’s, “that he has hit a part of the truth.”

Ah Chen's pupils contracted slightly, and his jawline tightened for a moment, but unexpectedly, he did not immediately erupt in anger to refute, but simply gave a cold snort: "Continue."

“You reject emotions, abhor vulnerability, and arm yourself with violence and control largely because, in your early development, the ‘emotions’ and ‘vulnerability’ you witnessed or experienced were associated with immense pain and loss.” Su Nian’s voice was calm, as if stating an objective psychological phenomenon. “You are afraid that feeling of powerlessness will happen again, so you want to become absolutely ‘strong’ and eliminate all emotional connections that could trigger pain. Including… love.”

She paused, observing Ah Chen's reaction. He remained expressionless, but his tightly pursed lips and slightly flickering eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

“But, Ah Chen,” Su Nian’s tone softened with a hint of pity, “completely isolating oneself from emotions also means isolating oneself from warmth, connection, and…the possibility of being understood. Isn’t that a deeper kind of pain in itself?”

Ah Mo stared at her silently, the light from the window flickering in his dark eyes. After a long while, he spoke in an almost whispered voice, with a hint of confusion he himself didn't realize, and asked:

"So what if I'm not understood?"

Su Nian gently shook her head: "It's not that bad. It's just that you'll be very lonely. It's like being locked in a soundproof, dark room forever."

“Loneliness…” Ah Chen repeated the word, as if he were truly understanding its meaning for the first time. He subconsciously touched his injured hand, a faint stinging sensation emanating from beneath the gauze. The pain was real, and the embrace from yesterday… that warmth that stopped him from his destruction, seemed real too.

He suddenly felt a little irritated, turned around abruptly, his back to Su Nian, and looked out the window at the city view with its towering buildings.

“That room…” he abruptly changed the subject, his voice muffled, “…the one that’s locked.”

Su Nian's heart skipped a beat, knowing that he had finally touched on the core issue. "Yes, I know. Mr. Xie reminded me not to open it."

Ah Chen let out a cryptic chuckle, laced with sarcasm, though it was unclear who it was directed at: "Of course he wouldn't dare. That coward would only bury his head in the sand and pretend nothing happened." His shoulders tensed slightly. "But... some things can't be locked away and made to seem nonexistent."

His words seemed to be addressed to Su Nian, yet also to himself.

Su Nian didn't urge him, but waited quietly. She could sense that Ah Chen was in a state of extreme contradiction. He wanted to maintain the wall that kept the pain out, yet he also vaguely realized that the wall was trapping him in place. And Su Nian's presence was like a chisel, chipping away at the tiny cracks in that wall.

"The key..." Ah Chen's voice was very low, almost drowned out by the sound of the wind outside the window, "is not with me."

Su Nian was slightly taken aback. The key wasn't with him? Then where was it?

“It’s with…that good-for-nothing.” Ah Chen turned around, looking at Su Nian with a complicated expression, a kind of desperate malice and probing. “Or rather, it’s hidden in a corner that even he can’t find. It’s his ‘fuse,’ something he dares not touch, nor dares to let anyone else touch.”

The key is with the primary personality? And in a place that even the primary personality itself might not know or cannot access? Su Nian immediately understood. This "key" might not be physical, but psychological—a deeply repressed memory, an emotional switch, or... the courage to confront trauma.

"You want me to help you find the 'key'?" Su Nian asked directly.

Ah Chen's eyes instantly sharpened and became oppressive. He took a few steps closer, looking down at Su Nian: "It's not that I 'want' it, but that you 'must' it." His tone regained its usual obsessiveness. "You want to 'help' us? Then go and pry open that good-for-nothing's brain, find the key! Open that door! Let me see what shady things are hidden inside, so that he, and I... will become like this!"

His emotions began to surge again, his breathing became rapid, as if simply discussing the possibility of "opening that door" was enough to trigger a tsunami within him.

“But,” Su Nian wasn’t intimidated by him. Instead, she calmly pointed out, “you’re scared too, aren’t you? You’re afraid of what’s behind the door, which might be more… unbearable than you imagine.”

Ah Chen clenched his fist as if he'd been stepped on, a sharp pain shooting through his injured hand, instantly bringing him to his senses. He stared intently at Su Nian, his eyes filled with struggle, and finally, he forced a smile that was almost ferocious:

"Fear? Maybe. But rather than being locked out and guessing forever, I'd rather go in and smash that damn thing to pieces with my own hands!"

His paranoia and destructive tendencies were strangely intertwined with his desire to uncover the truth at this moment.

Just then, a slight noise came from the living room, as if Xie Chen (the main personality) had woken up.

Ah Chen's expression instantly vanished, returning to its usual cold, aloof, and prickly demeanor. He stopped looking at Su Nian, walked straight to the door, and opened it.

Outside the door, Xie Chen (the main personality) was wearing pajamas and rubbing his sleepy eyes as he walked out. When he saw Ah Chen coming out of the master bedroom and Su Nian following behind, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and a look of tension and a trace of... barely perceptible disappointment appeared on his face.

"Assistant Su... good morning." He greeted Su Nian softly, then glanced timidly at A Chen, his lips moved but he didn't dare to say anything.

Ah Chen glanced at him coldly, said nothing, brushed past him, and walked towards the living room, as if he were nothing but air.

Looking at these two personalities who clearly shared the same origin yet acted like complete strangers, Su Nian sighed inwardly. The bridge of communication was established only for a moment before it was quickly replaced by habitual defensiveness and estrangement.

But she knew the seed had already been planted.

Ah Chen brought up the locked music room himself, even subtly expressing his desire to explore it, albeit in an extreme way. This was a significant breakthrough.

The key, however, is hidden deep within the heart, in a place even the main personality struggles to access.

The next challenge is how to guide the vulnerable main personality to touch the forbidden zones they dare not face, and find the "key" that can unlock the past and may also unlock the shackles of their minds.

This requires immense patience and skill; a slight misstep could lead to an even more serious breakdown.

Su Nian walked into the living room and looked at the two personalities sitting silently at opposite ends of the sofa, as if they were in different worlds.

The war was far from over, but the objectives of the campaign seemed to become clearer for the first time.

Find the key and open the door.

Whether what lies behind the door is salvation or a deeper abyss.

(End of Chapter 131)