In the dim bathroom, Chen Ge sat alone in the bathtub. He breathed repeatedly to expel the waste gas remaining in his lungs.

Three forty-four in the morning is the intersection of night and dawn. He only has one chance and must be cautious.

The house was quiet, there was no movement in the corridor, and the monster in the mirror didn't seem to come over.

Time passed by, and Chen Ge put aside the electronic watch he had specially found. When the number representing the time on the screen turned to forty-three, he focused his attention, opened his mouth, and began to breathe in slowly.

The candle flame flickered, and Chen Ge's body slowly tilted downward. His eyes were on the electronic watch from beginning to end, with unprecedented concentration.

When the numbers on the screen changed again, Chen Ge did not hesitate and lay down in the bathtub with his head tilted back.

Three forty-four in the morning!

The cold water seemed to come from all directions and drown him.

It's a strange feeling to sink into the water late at night.

It was absolute darkness, as if I was the only one left in the world and was sinking deeper and deeper. It was absolute silence, as if the only sound I could hear was the sound coming from my own body, my beating heart.

The cold water stimulated every nerve. Chen Ge lay at the bottom of the bathtub, putting aside all distracting thoughts and counting his heartbeats silently.

"Sixty seconds. Just hold on for sixty seconds."

He had never had such an experience before. The night and the water seemed to merge into one. The flickering candlelight was like a lighthouse that was getting farther and farther away, and he seemed to be sinking into the deep sea.

“One, two…”

After the first ten seconds, time seemed to slow down a lot.

The sound of flowing water rang in his ears. The walls were filled with darkness. Chen Ge silently recited his parents' names and maintained the same movements as at the beginning. He held the handle of the kitchen knife with both hands and let his body be carried by the waves.

The oxygen in his lungs was slowly being consumed, and Chen Ge felt a slight discomfort, as if something heavy was pressing on him.

"Fifteen, sixteen..."

Every time the heart beats, it consumes oxygen in the lungs. As the heartbeat slows down, time seems to slow down as well, and every second is broken down into countless segments.

The feeling of discomfort gradually became stronger, as if a pair of hands were slowly pressing on my neck and tightening it little by little.

Lying in the water, Chen Ge opened his eyes, but could not see anything through the water. He felt like he was trapped in another world.

After about three or four seconds, his face became increasingly uglier, and not just pale in the normal sense.

"How long have I been holding on? I should be well soon, right?"

The water flowed across my ears, and a strange sound suddenly appeared in the dead silence.

It seemed to be coming from the corridor outside the door. Chen Ge didn't know why he could hear it so clearly. Perhaps the other party deliberately made the noise just to distract his attention.

"Footsteps? Someone pacing up and down the corridor?"

His slowed heartbeat began to speed up again, and his body unconsciously tensed up: "Maybe the monster in the mirror is looking for me. I hope the dolls can hold on. I can complete the task in at most another thirty seconds!"

His thoughts were running slower and slower, and his ears began to buzz. Chen Ge was not in a good condition. The footsteps in the corridor made him extremely nervous. He endured it without being distracted, and continued to silently recite his parents' names while counting his heartbeats.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine..."

Water poured into his ears, making the sound a little distorted. The footsteps gradually became hurried, and it seemed that the other party was also trying to find a way to get in.

After a few seconds, Chen Ge felt as if his chest was being pressed down by a huge rock. The blood vessels on his neck slowly became visible, his hands and feet became cold, and his body began to feel weak.

The brain's reaction was getting slower and slower, and Chen Ge was now relying entirely on his own will to persevere.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Without any warning, something banged against the door.

Chen Ge's heart suddenly tightened. The thing outside the house couldn't help it!

Maybe because there was a rag doll behind the door, the other party knocked on the door three times and found that he couldn't open it, so he stopped this meaningless action and the room became quiet again.

The situation was still similar to before, the only difference was Chen Ge himself. Normally, he could hold his breath for a minute, but the footsteps in the corridor and the sound of the door banging just now made his heart beat faster. When a person is in a tense state, the oxygen consumption will increase significantly.

He felt like he had reached his limit, the last bit of oxygen in his lungs had been squeezed out, and every second was a torture for him.

"Thirty-nine, forty..."

When he counted to forty, Chen Ge felt dizzy. His physical condition did not allow him to continue counting.

Unable to concentrate, the feeling of suffocation became stronger and stronger. Chen Ge's consciousness began to blur. He could not remember many things and could only instinctively recall the memories of his parents.

The blood vessels were visible, bulging out on the pale skin, the tendons on the neck were moving, and the fingers holding the kitchen knife gradually loosened.

He felt that he was on the verge of death, and at the same time he understood the words in the mission.

When time reaches the gap between night and dawn, you can see the person you met on the edge of life and death.

What this sentence clearly means is that at the moment when day and night change, a dying person can see the scene of another world in advance!

Chen Ge stared at the water without blinking, his pupils dilated, the water seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him, he did not see anyone he was meeting, there was only darkness before his eyes, a darkness so deep that it made him despair.

My lungs seemed to be squeezed flat, and it was an indescribable feeling of suffocation.

"No, if this continues, I might really drown in the bathtub."

The forty-fourth minute of three o'clock in the morning had already passed, and the person Chen Ge wanted to see still hadn't shown up. He no longer had any illusions, or rather, he felt fortunate in his heart that his parents hadn't shown up, because at least it meant they were still alive.

With his cold arms supporting the bottom of the bathtub, he used the only shred of reason he had to decide that it was time to give up.

Chen Ge was about to get out of the water with both hands, when he suddenly felt something was wrong!

Something was holding his head down, preventing him from leaving.

The dilated pupils suddenly shrank into a point, and Chen Ge looked above his head, but there was clearly nothing there!

The puppet has blocked the door and the bathtub, so the monster in the mirror shouldn't be able to get in. Who is causing this trouble?

The blood vessels on Chen Ge's neck were stretched, and his face looked frighteningly ugly. His life was at stake. He used up his last bit of strength, grasped the kitchen knife in his hand and swung it towards his head.

Due to long-term lack of oxygen, his body and will have reached their limits, like a spring that has been stretched to the top and may break at any time.

The kitchen knife was swung, water splashed everywhere, and Chen Ge seemed to have chopped something in a trance. He only heard a crisp "pop" sound in his ears, and the power above his head disappeared instantly.

Without any more obstacles, Chen Ge suddenly sat up from the bathtub, taking in big gulps of air!