Xie Chen (the main personality) fell into a deep coma, his breathing weak, his forehead covered in cold sweat, as if the brief, all-out struggle had drained all his spirit. Su Nian laboriously helped him to lie down on the sofa in the living room and covered him with a light blanket. Even in his unconscious state, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his fingers unconsciously curled up, as if resisting some terrible nightmare.
[Host, his vital signs are stable, but his mental energy is extremely depleted and he needs time to recover.] 088 reported after the check: [The primary personality's act of forcibly suppressing the secondary personality is extremely taxing. This may temporarily weaken the secondary personality's activity frequency, but it may also intensify internal conflicts, causing the secondary personality to be even more manic during the next switch.]
Looking at Xie Chen's pale face, Su Nian felt a heavy weight in her heart. His words, "The music room... that locked music room... can't be opened..." were like a stone thrown into a lake, stirring up huge ripples in her heart. That music room, deliberately hidden, and even warned against being opened by the main personality in a critical moment, was undoubtedly the key to Xie Chen's core trauma.
She stood up, her gaze sweeping across the spacious yet cold apartment. Besides the piano in the living room, was there another practice room? She hadn't noticed the other locked room when she was familiarizing herself with the place.
Su Nian began to search the apartment carefully. The apartment was a top-floor duplex, with a living room, dining room, kitchen, and guest bedroom downstairs, and a master bedroom, study, and a lounge area with a terrace upstairs. She checked each floor and finally found a dark wooden door next to the study on the second floor, almost blending in with the wall color and difficult to notice.
The door handle was made of brass and looked quite old, with a thin layer of dust on it, a stark contrast to the spotless surroundings. Most striking was the keyhole below the handle, which was firmly locked by an old-fashioned, sturdy-looking brass lock.
This is it. The sealed music room.
Su Nian tried gently pushing the door, but it didn't budge. She leaned down and peered into the keyhole, but it was pitch black inside, and she couldn't see anything. Only a faint, musty smell, mixed with wood and dust, wafted from the cracks.
【Host, do you need the Master Key service? Only 50 points!】088 eagerly pitched.
Su Nian straightened up and shook her head: "No. This is Xie Chen's strongest psychological defense. Forcing our way in will only cause irreversible damage, and may even completely enrage the alternate personality." What she needs is a key, a password, an opportunity to get permission to enter, not a brute-force attack.
She went downstairs and sat next to the unconscious Xie Chen, keeping an eye on his condition while sorting through the known clues in her mind.
What triggered the alter ego's strong reaction was the piece Xie Chen improvised, a piece that carried childhood memories.
The alternate personality is extremely averse to music that expresses the main personality's emotions, viewing it as a sign of weakness.
Talking about parents is a taboo subject that causes intense pain.
The locked music room is seen by the dominant personality as a Pandora's box that must never be opened.
These clues all seem to point to a major traumatic event closely related to family, childhood, and the piano.
Time passed in silence. The sunlight outside the window gradually slanted westward, casting a warm hue over the cold apartment, but it could not dispel the heaviness that permeated the air.
Around 3 p.m., Xie Chen, who was on the sofa, let out a soft groan, his eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes were initially somewhat dazed, but he quickly recognized Su Nian standing beside him, and guilt and unease instantly appeared on his pale face. "Assistant Su... I'm sorry... I..." He struggled to sit up, but it was difficult because of his weakness.
Su Nian helped him up and handed him a glass of warm water: "No need to apologize, you just need to rest. How are you feeling?"
Xie Chen took a small sip of water, shook his head, and said in a weak voice, "I feel a little dizzy... I think I... said something strange?" His memory of the warning he shouted before he lost consciousness seemed a little hazy.
"You reminded me not to open the locked music room," Su Nian said calmly, looking into his eyes.
Xie Chen's hand trembled violently, spilling water from the glass and soaking his pajamas. His face turned even paler, his eyes filled with immense fear, as if the room itself were a terrifying monster.
"Yes...yes..." He lowered his head, his voice trembling, "We can't go in there...absolutely not..."
"Can you tell me why?" Su Nian's tone was extremely gentle, without any coercion. "What does that room mean to you?"
Xie Chen bit his lower lip tightly, his body trembling slightly. He remained silent for a very long time, so long that Su Nian thought he wouldn't answer. Only then did he speak in an extremely faint voice, as if it might break at any moment:
"That's...the place where Mom played the piano for the last time..."
Mother!
The keywords have appeared!
Su Nian's heart skipped a beat, and she continued to gently guide the conversation: "Mom... is she a pianist?"
Xie Chen nodded, then shook his head quickly, tears streaming down his face without warning, dripping onto his hand that was tightly gripping the cup. "She...she plays so well...so beautifully...but...but Dad doesn't like it...they're always arguing...because of the piano..."
His narrative is fragmented and chaotic, filled with childlike helplessness and fear.
"Later... one night... they were arguing terribly... I was upstairs... I heard my mother crying in the music room... and then... then there was a loud noise... and my father's roar..." Xie Chen's body began to tremble violently, as if he were back in that terrible night. "Then... the music room was locked... my mother... my mother disappeared..."
"Gone?" Su Nian's heart sank. Did she run away from home? Or...?
"Dad said...Mom went to a very far place...and will never come back..." Xie Chen's voice trembled with tears, "But I know...I know it's not like that...the music room...there's something in the music room..."
His words came to an abrupt halt, as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat; his face was filled with extreme fear, and he could no longer speak.
Although Xie Chen's narrative is vague and fragmented, Su Nian has roughly pieced together the outline of the tragedy. A mother who loves the piano, a father who opposes (or perhaps hates) the piano, a fierce argument, an accident (or perhaps a violent incident) in the practice room, leading to the mother's "disappearance" and the permanent sealing of the practice room. Young Xie Chen witnessed or heard all of this, and the immense trauma caused him to develop another personality to bear this unspeakable pain and fear.
The alternate personality "Achen" despises the piano and emotional music, perhaps because the piano is associated with that bloody and lost memory, while the expression of emotions reminds him of his mother's "weakness" and the tragedy that followed. He armors himself to appear strong and ruthless in order to resist the fear that is deeply rooted in his heart.
The main personality, however, remains trapped in the trauma of that night, using music to express her longing for her mother and her inner pain, yet she is too afraid to truly face the music room and the truth.
Just then, the apartment doorbell rang!
The sudden ringing of the bell sounded particularly jarring in the quiet room, startling Xie Chen so much that he shuddered and looked toward the door in terror.
Su Nian patted his shoulder to comfort him, then got up and walked to the intercom. The screen displayed the face of a well-dressed, capable-looking middle-aged woman.
"May I ask who this is?" Su Nian asked.
"I'm Xie Chen's agent, Yang Li." The woman outside the door spoke with a capable tone, tinged with a barely perceptible anxiety. "I can't get in touch with Xie Chen. He has an important interview tomorrow, so I came to check on his situation."
Agent? Su Nian glanced at Xie Chen, who looked like a frightened rabbit on the sofa, and quickly weighed her options. Letting the agent see Xie Chen in his current state was obviously inappropriate, but completely shutting him out might also arouse unnecessary suspicion.
"Hello Ms. Yang, this is Mr. Xie's new assistant, Su Nian." Su Nian said into the walkie-talkie, "Mr. Xie was a little tired from his performance last night and is resting. He is not available to see guests. I can arrange the interview for tomorrow."
Yang Li, standing outside the door, remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly assessing the veracity of Su Nian's words, before saying, "Assistant Su, right? I know you. Dr. Chen mentioned you. Since Xie Chen is resting, I won't disturb him. Tomorrow's interview is very important, as it relates to the promotion of the next album. Make sure he attends on time and is in good condition." Her tone carried an undeniable authority.
"I will do my best to ensure that, please rest assured," Su Nian replied.
Yang Li didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
Su Nian returned to the living room, and Xie Chen looked at her nervously: "Is...is it Sister Yang? Is she angry? I...I have to go on an interview tomorrow..." His tone was full of reluctance and panic.
"Don't worry, I'll help you with the interview," Su Nian reassured her, while keeping a close eye on the agent. Yang Li seemed to know something about Xie Chen's "situation" (through Dr. Chen), but she seemed more concerned about Xie Chen's commercial value and schedule, and her attitude appeared somewhat businesslike and indifferent.
The little incident of seeing off the manager made Xie Chen's mood even more depressed and tense. Su Nian stayed with him until he ate something and his mood stabilized a little before she prepared to leave.
Before leaving, Su Nian glanced once more at the tightly closed, dark wooden door on the second floor. Her pupils were deep and unfathomable, like a cold eye watching everything that was happening downstairs.
She knew that the key might not be in Xie Chen's hands, nor with the agent. The real "key" might be hidden deep within Xie Chen's sealed memories, or... in the hands of the alternate personality who also knew part of the truth but used anger to mask their fear.
To open this door and heal these split souls, she must understand the manic "Achen" more deeply, and even... guide him to confront the past he has been trying to destroy.
This is undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a knife.
"Mr. Xie, I'll come see you again tomorrow," Su Nian said to Xie Chen, who was seeing her to the door. "Get some rest and don't think too much."
Xie Chen looked at her expectantly, nodded, and whispered, "Assistant Su... thank you."
His gratitude was sincere, but it also revealed a deep sense of helplessness.
Su Nian turned and stepped into the elevator. As the elevator doors slowly closed, blocking Xie Chen's vulnerable gaze, her expression turned serious.
[Host, the situation is more complicated than you imagined. Domestic violence (suspected), mother missing (suspected death), a sealed-off crime scene (possibly)...] 088's tone was unusually serious. [This level of trauma is practically hellish.]
“No matter how difficult it is, we have to solve it.” Su Nian’s gaze was firm. “Moreover, I always feel that the alternate personality ‘A Chen’ may not be as he appears, only wanting to destroy everything.”
She recalled the controlling force with which the alter ego grabbed her wrist, and the fleeting emotion deep in his eyes when he declared "you are mine," an emotion he himself hadn't even noticed—similar to "fear of loss."
Perhaps he was also trying to "protect" something in his distorted way.
However, his way of protecting himself was to push everyone, including himself, into an even deeper abyss.
The elevator arrived at the first floor. Su Nian stepped out of the apartment building, the evening breeze carrying a hint of coolness brushing against her face.
She glanced back at the towering top of the apartment building.
That locked music room holds not only a tragic past, but also a child's shattered childhood and an endless war between two souls.
And she is about to become the only variable that will enter this war.
(End of Chapter 128)
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