Back in his room, Lin Qi Ye closed the door behind him.
He didn't turn on the light.
It was already late at night, and the stars outside the window cast a faint glow across the floor. In the dark room, Lin Qi Ye sat at his desk and slowly removed the black satin covering his eyes.
In the mirror on the desk, the reflection of a handsome young face stared back.
Lin Qi Ye was very good-looking. If he took off the black satin and tidied himself up a little, paired with his inexplicable aloofness and deep aura, he would definitely be the school heartthrob.
It was a pity, though. His eyes were always covered with black satin, and with his disability, it completely hid his radiance.
In the mirror, Lin Qi Ye had his eyes closed.
His brow furrowed slightly, and the eyelids covering his eyes trembled, as if he were desperately trying to open them. Even his hands clenched into fists, straining with force.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds...
His body trembled for a long time, and eventually, he couldn't hold on anymore. He suddenly loosened, breathing heavily.
A few drops of sweat ran down Lin Qi Ye's face, and a hint of anger appeared between his brows.
So close... Just so close!
Why was it always like this? Why was it always just a little bit away?
When would he finally 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 crack.
But he didn't lie.
Because even with his eyes closed, he could clearly "see" everything around him.
This sensation was strange, like having eyes all over his body, able to sense everything in every direction, and seeing it clearer and further than his original eyes ever could.
At first, he couldn't do it. For the first five years after losing his sight, he was no different from other blind people, using sound and his guide dog to sense the world around him.
But for some reason, five years ago, his eyes seemed to start changing, and he began to sense his surroundings.
At first, it was only a few centimeters in front of him, but as time passed, his "sight" extended further and clearer. After five years, now, his range of vision had stretched to ten meters.
If a normal person could only see ten meters, his eyes would basically be useless, but for a boy who had once lost his sight, this ten meters meant everything.
The most important thing was, the ten meters he "saw" were unhindered by any obstacles.
In other words, within a ten-meter radius around Lin Qi Ye, he had absolute vision. To put it simply, he could see through things. Or, more grandly, he could see every speck of dust floating in the air, every part inside a machine, and every subtle movement a magician made under the table...
And the source of this ability seemed to be those eyes, tightly sealed for ten years beneath the black satin.
Though he had this almost superhuman power, Lin Qi Ye was still unsatisfied. Having absolute vision for ten meters was useful, but what he truly wanted was to open his eyes and see the world for himself.
This was the persistence of a young man.
Though he had failed today, he could clearly feel... that the day he could truly open his eyes was not far off.
After washing up, Lin Qi Ye, as usual, went to bed early, a habit he had formed from his years of blindness. At least, it was one good thing about his condition.
But as soon as he lay down, his mind involuntarily replayed that scene.
Under the dark cosmic sky, on the lifeless surface of the moon, the gray-white earth was bathed in dim starlight. In the highest and largest lunar crater, there stood a figure that seemed like a sculpture.
That figure stood there quietly, as if it had existed since the beginning of time. A sacred golden light radiated from it, a majesty so overwhelming that it could make all living beings fall to the ground.
Behind it, six enormous wings, exaggerated in size, spread out, blocking the sunlight that was casting from behind, leaving a massive shadow on the silvery-gray surface.
But what truly imprinted in Lin Qi Ye's mind, what he could not erase, were its eyes.
Those eyes, filled with divine authority, burned with the intensity of a furnace, blindingly bright like a nearby sun!
He saw those eyes, and in that instant, his world was consumed by darkness.
Ten years ago, when he spoke the truth, he was diagnosed as mentally ill.
But he knew deep in his heart, what was real and what was delusion.
Since the moment he saw the Seraph on the moon, he knew this world... was far from as simple as it seemed.
Gradually, Lin Qi Ye drifted into a deep sleep.
He didn't know that, just as he fell into dreams, two dazzling golden beams of light shot out from the slits of his closed eyes, disappearing in an instant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the misty world, Lin Qi Ye walked alone.
The mist swirled around him, seemingly endless. Although he walked in the void, each step he took made a crisp sound, as if an invisible ground existed beneath his feet.
Lin Qi Ye glanced down at himself and sighed.
"Another one of these dreams... It's tiring to knock every night," he muttered, shaking his head helplessly before stepping forward.
The next moment, the mist recoiled, and a strange, modern building appeared in front of him.
It was strange because, although it was a modern-style structure, certain details carried an eerie, mysterious vibe.
For example, the massive iron door carved with countless gods, the lights burning like fireballs, and the floating, intricate porcelain tiles beneath his feet...
It was like a blend of modern architecture and the ancient temples of myths—unfitting, yet inexplicably beautiful.
Lin Qi Ye recognized this building, and it looked strangely familiar.
It resembled the Sunlight Mental Hospital he had lived in for a year. The most telling detail was the inscription above the door. Where "Sunlight Mental Hospital" used to be, there were now different words.
— The Gods' Mental Hospital.
"This place makes no sense," Lin Qi Ye muttered, shaking his head as he walked up to the massive iron door.
Five years ago, not only had his body started to change, but so had his dreams.
For the past five years, he had dreamed of the same place every night: this mysterious Gods' Mental Hospital.
However, the entrance to the hospital's iron gate had always been locked. No matter what he tried, it would never open.
Lin Qi Ye had circled the hospital countless times. There was only one entrance—the large iron gate at the front. Though the walls weren't high, the strangest thing was that every time Lin Qi Ye tried to jump, the wall's height would increase.
As for brute force... even if Lin Qi Ye threw his entire body against the gate, the iron door wouldn't budge.
It seemed the only way to enter was one.
Knocking.
Lin Qi Ye grabbed the ring on the massive iron door, took a deep breath, and struck the surface of the door hard.
Clang—!
The sound of a bell resonated throughout the mental hospital, and the iron door trembled but did not open.
Clang—!
Another strike, but the door remained shut.
Lin Qi Ye seemed unsurprised and unbothered. With great patience, he continued to knock.
Over the last five years, he had come to understand the rules of this dream. Apart from knocking, there was no way to open the gate. And in this dream, it seemed there was nothing he could do but knock.
Fortunately, in dreams, he never grew tired. Otherwise, his body would have collapsed long ago.
So, Lin Qi Ye continued, as if he were a diligent worker, knocking on the door tirelessly...