Chapter Five: The Third Course Prohibition

Zhiwei recalled the second memory. A blue flash had appeared with every turn of the ventilation fan. Here every mirror reflected red lamps except one at the far end, which sometimes flashed blue. Lu smashed it with his pistol grip. Behind it lay the ventilation shaft, a memory card, and a mechanical master valve. He pulled the valve. The alarms stopped and the name readings froze. Nine people remained. One stayed blank. The card held a single video. Zhixia faced the camera, exhausted but lucid. “Jiejie, if you see this, they forced you to eat the first two. The third course isn't my memory. It's bait. Wen Qi wants your blood. The woman in the mirror wants you to believe the cycle can't change.”