Chapter 019
Duanmuh Shannchyuan
Shannchyuan gazed at the faces of his two friends. It turned out that something super strange had happened to him yesterday.
"What time did you see me?" Shannchyuan asked Yihshyong.
Yihshyong replied, "I was only briefly in the mall. So it's still around ten in the morning. Soon after you left, I also went out."
"That's impossible!" Shannchyuan's tone was unyielding. "When I'm out of the mall. It's probably almost two o'clock."
After that, Shannchyuan told them what had happened to him yesterday afternoon. Including the matter of him passing out inside the restroom. On that occasion, Yihshyong also told Shannchyuan what he saw yesterday in as much detail as possible. All of them looked at each other in astonishment as Shannchyuan and Yihshyong each finished their story.
Shannchyuan leaned towards Iren. "It was me you saw entering the mall." Then he turned to Yihshyong. "The person you saw looking for something inside the mall was probably me. But the person you saw leaving the mall, that's definitely not me. Because I was most likely still inside the toilet at the time of the explosion."
Shannchyuan glanced at Yinqyueh. The girl was also looking at him. All this time, Shannchyuan had noticed that the girl was taking their conversation seriously. From the girl's expression, Shannchyuan could conclude that Yinqyueh also thought the incident was complicated to explain with common sense.
Yinqyueh then raised her hand. "I think we can all agree that it was very strange. There's one thing I don't understand. Not long after the flash of light occurred, didn't the bomb disposal and firefighters check the place? Didn't they find Uncle in the toilet?"
"I put a 'under repair' sign on the doorknob of the toilet. So maybe they thought there must be no one inside," Shannchyuan replied.
"They might think that there was no one inside the toilet. But they must have gone inside to check if there were explosives or something like that. And if they went inside the toilet, there was no way they won't find you." Iren shook his head vigorously.
"I have a hypothesis we might consider." Yihshyong raised his right-hand high. The tip of the elbow of his right hand was already above his head. Iren, Shannchyuan, and Yinqyueh waited for Yihshyong to say his following sentence. After taking a scant breath, Yihshyong opened his mouth again. "After Dahge passed out, you got up but was still unconscious. So sort of like Walking Sleep. In that state, Dahge walked out of the toilet and then walked out of the mall. After a few hours outside the mall, Dahge, who was still sleeping, went back into the mall. Then immediately went back into the toilet. After Dahge woke up from his sleep, then Dahge came out of the restroom and went home."
Is he serious?
Shannchyuan was stunned. The theory that Yihshyong had just put forth was nothing but bizarre and absurd. Shannchyuan couldn't help but laugh after hearing such a joke.
"As far as I know, causes of sleepwalking include hereditary, so the condition may run in families. Lack of sleep or extreme fatigue. Interrupted sleep or unproductive sleep, or it could be some kind of disorders," Yihshyong apparently still had not finished speaking. But this time, he sounded like he was starting to speak seriously.
Hearing Yihshyong's words, Shannchyuan frowned. Then he began to speak at a slow tempo but filled with stress on every syllable he spoke. "I have never had a history of sleepwalking. Nothing like that has ever happened. In my family, no one has a sleepwalking disease either. I had a little sleep deprivation in these last two weeks because of the many things I thought about. But the night before that, I slept so tight. So at the time of the fainting incident, I was not sleepy or tired."
Shannchyuan looked deeply into Yihshyong's eyes. "Besides, the person whose face and stature were similar to mine, that you saw leaving the mall in a hurry, wasn't he walking quick? As far as I know, people who were in a sleepwalking state always walked slowly."
Iren raised his hand. "Dahge! Didn't you ever tell me that in the past, several times, you were unconscious when doing an activity? You once said to me about a thing that happened over twenty years ago. You said one day you stood on the side of a bustling major road. When you were about to cross, you looked to the right and to the left. Make sure things were safe. But there were so many vehicles passing by. Then suddenly you realized you were already on the other side of the road. You didn't remember at all when you crossed the road. "
Shannchyuan was dumbfounded. The incident had not faded from his memory at all.
Iren was still talking. "Later, you also experienced several events similar to that. For example, when sitting in a chair at the beginning of a meeting. Suddenly, the meeting was almost over. You have absolutely no memory of how the meeting went."
Shannchyuan also still remembered that incident very well. "Indeed, things like that did happen. But I don't think the cause was the same as sleepwalking. Besides, I wasn't unconscious. I just couldn't remember what happened during those few minutes. One thing is for sure, I do have a habit of daydreaming. So it might be just my usual daydream. It's just on that occasion, my daydreaming level was much severe than usual." Shannchyuan's defense didn't sound very convincing, but for now, that was all he could come up with.
"I have a theory." Yihshyong smiled. Shannchyuan could see he was ready to explain something. Then, with a solemn face, Yihshyong imitated a teacher who gave a lesson to the students. "Maybe it was not sleepwalking. But it could also be that when you daydreamed, your subconscious took over. So your body does things automatically, without you even thinking about it. Perhaps a specific internal mechanism inside you realized a potential danger or a doubt, then your subconscious took over. So you still did whatever you initially wanted to do without hesitation."
What Yihshyong had just said had started to make Shannchyuan doubt himself. But Shannchyuan didn't have the slightest intention of admitting it.
Yihshyong continued his explanation. "Now, let's discuss the crossing road incident first. It was a bustling road. The number of vehicles made you hesitate to cross. If this thing may continue, you could stand by the roadside for half an hour or maybe even more. It was very possible that your subconscious took over your body because you were hesitating."
Yihshyong straightened his sitting position, then continued his words. "Regarding The 'suddenly the meeting is over' incident that happened after that. I offered this interpretation. Attending the meeting was your obligation. It was something you absolutely must do. There was no reason to ignore it. But in your heart, you were actually reluctant and lazy to be there. Maybe you felt the meeting was boring, perhaps you thought it was unnecessary, or maybe you just didn't like it. So if you had a choice, then you would choose not to attend it. But you didn't have a choice, so you had to attend it. In order to overcome that, your subconscious took over, so you did not suffer the torment of attending that meeting."
Shannchyuan looked at the faces of his friends one by one. Now Yihshyong's theory didn't sound too bad. "How did my subconscious know that something was going to happen at the mall?" Shannchyuan again discussed the incident at the mall yesterday.
Although Shannchyuan's question seemed to be aimed more at himself than anyone else, Yihshyong didn't seem to hesitate to try to answer it. In style imitating Shannchyuan, Yihshyong resumed his theory. "Maybe when you looked around looking for something or someone in the mall, you saw something suspicious. It was just that because your focus was on the person or thing you were looking for, you ignored those suspicious things. But even though your conscious mind ignored it, your subconscious continued to process the information. Then your subconscious concluded that there was a potential danger inside the place. Therefore, immediately, your subconscious took over and got you out of that place."
At this point, Yihshyong's words left a different impression than the previous one. Shannchyuan had to admit that there was some truth in his friend's words.
"So, this is like what we call intuition, instinct or hunch. Sometimes people feel something is going to happen but cannot explain it. This is because their conscious mind does not take the information they get as a threat. But the subconscious picks it up and then analyzes it according to the person's context and life experience. The subconscious will send out some kind of signal, that is the result of the analysis. It is captured by the conscious mind as an instinct or hunch. "
Yihshyong's explanation this time really makes Shannchyuan consider the possibility that yesterday he entered and got out of that mall twice.
Yihshyong apparently still hasn't finished explaining his theory. He added again. "You often suppress your emotions. Suppressed emotions do not disappear just like that. It could possibly appear in other forms. When our conscious mind suppresses an emotion that we feel is unnecessary, maybe our subconscious accepts that 'unnecessary' emotion well. In certain circumstances, with the help of the subconscious, that emotion could resurface. I feel introverts people like us may have a much more active subconscious than those extroverts. "
This kind of opinion, I can't argue with it!
"But of course there are other plausible explanations," Yihshyong seemed eager to talk this time.
"It's possible that the person I saw yesterday leaving the mall was someone else who looked like you. That could happen. Our neighbors here also often mistake me for you. So maybe I also mis-recognize people. Moreover, before, I had seen you looking for something or someone inside the mall. Well, when I saw a figure that looked like you a few minutes later, my brain automatically associated the figure I saw as the same person I saw before. So my brain came to the conclusion that the one who rushed out of the mall was you."
"So you're saying that Dahge was in that restroom for a few hours?" Iren's tone sounded unsure.
"Right. That's just one possibility."
"Then why didn't the firefighters or bomb disposal find Uncle Shannchyuan in that restroom toilet?" Yinqyueh frowned.
Yihshyong stroked his chin. "It's a very hidden restroom. As far as I know, it's rare for anyone to go in there. The one who happened to use that restroom is usually people who are lost inside the building. So maybe the officers thought no one was inside. Also, the probability that someone would set up explosives in a place where people hardly ever visit is extremely low. So I guess it's possible that they never really checked every inch of that restroom."
"Or maybe they indeed went into the restroom but didn't find anyone there," suddenly Iren continued Yihshyong's words.
"How could they not find Uncle Shannchyuan in there?" Yinqyueh's face was so serious. Shannchyuan smirked. He realized the girl did not know that Iren often joked in such situations. So there was always the possibility of Iren throwing out strange theories that were absurd just to tease other people.
"Maybe, at that time, Dahge was sucked into another dimension. So the officers didn't find him there. After a few hours, Dahge was thrown back into this dimension."
That's right! The messed-up talk is finally out!
Yinqyueh gawked at Iren's perfunctory explanation. Shannchyuan was sure that such remarks were completely beyond Yinqyueh's expectations. Yinqyueh's facial expression at that time was intriguing. She looked annoyed and confused. Shannchyuan wanted to laugh, but he knew he couldn't. He didn't want to hurt Yinqyueh's feelings. The girl had only just gotten to know them, so she probably didn't fully understand the sense of humor of the middle-aged men living in this house.
It turned out that Iren was still talking again. "It's also possible that at that time an extraterrestrial abducted Dahge for research or scientific experiments. After a few hours they put Dahge back in the toilet again. Aren't there some stories about alien abductions? The kidnapped people reported they were not aware of what was happening to them. There were always a few hours missing from their memory. They experienced lost time."
Conspiracy theorists must be happy with the explanation Iren just put forward. Yihshyong smiled broadly at that. He snorted, shaking his head.
And it turns out that Iren still has another theory. "Or it could be that the spirits over there are hiding Dahge from the eyes of others. So other people can't see her even though Dahge is actually still there!"
"Do you mean ghost?" Yinqyueh screamed.
"There are rumors that the mall was built on top of an ancient burial site. Maybe some curious spirits are not satisfied. So they haunt some parts of the building. I've heard several mall employees tell about ghost sightings there."
Supranatural story fans would welcome Iren's last theory.
"It's okay. Don't scare the little ones," Yihshyong said with a laugh.
Yinqyueh pouted. She got up from the couch and walked out of the living room.
"Where are you going?" Iren asked.
"Bathroom," Yinqyueh replied curtly.
Iren laughed at hearing Yinqyueh's answer. It seemed that this middle-aged man was overjoyed to have managed to make Yinqyueh show a sullen face.
"Don't joke too much. Later if she gets angry, won't we also be in trouble?" Yihshyong advised Iren while turning on the television.
"I was just joking," said Iren.
"Miss Liuchiou doesn't know that weird sense of humor of yours yet. So you have to slow down to joke like that." Yihshyong was still staring at the television screen. He seemed to have found the show that caught his attention so much. He glanced over at Shannchyuan. "What do you think of, Dahge?"
Shannchyuan didn't look at Iren at all while Yihshyong and Iren were conversing. But that didn't mean that Shannchyuan wasn't paying attention at all to what was going on. "I think Miss Liuchiou needs a little time to understand each one of us' temperaments. So indeed, we all have to be able to hold back. Don't act impulsively."
"Alright! Next time I'll be more careful." Iren then also got up from the sofa.
"Want to go to the kitchen? Please bring me some drinking water as well," said Yihshyong.
Shannchyuan glanced at Yihshyong. His friend seemed really focused on the program being broadcast on television. That was a bit out of the ordinary. Not many television shows could make Yihshyong seem hypnotized into ignoring other things.
"No. I want to go to my room," answered Iren. "Isn't every day we have to move things little by little to the subway station? So, now, it's better I just prepare the things that I will take to the subway station tomorrow."
"That's a great idea," said Shannchyuan. "Yihshyong, what do you think?"
Yihshyong turned around. "That's right Dahge!" This time Yihshyong looked at Iren. "I'll catch up with you in about fifteen minutes. Now, I still have something to discuss with Dahge." Yihshyong then turned off the television.
"Okay!" Iren smiled. "I'm going to my room first."
Shannchyuan smiled. It turned out that Yihshyong wasn't really interested in the television show he had just watched.
After Iren went into the room, Yihshyong shifted his seat so that he was now sitting right next to Shannchyuan. Shannchyuan didn't know what Yihshyong was going to say. He guessed that it still had something to do with Yihshyong's previous explanation. Even Shannchyuan was still thinking about those words. If what Yihshyong said was true, then it would mean that his health condition was much worse than he had initially expected. It could also mean that Shannchyuan's health problems were not just physical problems but other things as well.
Shannchyuan felt Yihshyong knew what he was thinking. He knew that as a friend, Yihshyong was often worried about him. Shannchyuan admitted he was suppressing too many emotions. This was definitely not good for health.
Yihshyong patted Shannchyuan on the shoulder. "You'd better have a complete health check. You shouldn't just ignore this. We're not young anymore. So this is very important."
Shannchyuan nodded. "But I don't think it's just me. We all need health check-ups."
Yihshyong smiled. "We have to find some time for that. Later, when everyone is here, we'll talk about this again."
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