The black mist disappeared inexplicably, and Shen Lin couldn’t trace its whereabouts.
He turned back to inspect the room where the black mist had lingered.
Similar to an ordinary ward and no different from the one he saw last night, Shen Lin conducted an investigation and unsurprisingly found another blurry metal tag at the head of the bed.
The tag read:
【Qian X】: X Lei’s obsession
Shen Lin pocketed the metal tag into his white coat and turned to leave.
With a dim flashlight in hand, faint light illuminated the path ahead as he retraced his steps. The hallway was dark and silent, enveloping the entire building in an eerie stillness.
He wanted to check on Xu Lu’s room.
KP: “Use the navigation.”
Shen Lin successfully threw it, clearly identifying the locations of each room. He headed straight to Xu Lu’s room.
However, it was different here. The door was tightly locked, and something yellowish oozed out from the gap, resembling muddy substance with a life of its own, constantly wriggling.
Taking a step back, Shen Lin grasped the doorknob, feeling an unusually cold iron handle.
The door was locked.
Shen Lin: “I’ll unlock it.”
KP: “This is not an ordinary lock; you can’t open it now.” Pausing, he added without any emotion, “Nothing will work here; forget about it.”
“No wild thoughts,” Shen Lin innocently said. “Don’t be so tense; I’m just a law-abiding citizen.”
KP: “…If all law-abiding citizens were like you, there would be no troublemakers in this world.”
Shen Lin’s hands were in the pockets of his white coat, standing to the side with a silhouette that looked sturdy and sharp in the hazy moonlight. He adjusted his glasses, and a fleeting thought crossed his mind, leaving behind a vague and unspoken idea.
Shen Lin slowly walked to the window, determined the direction, and looked towards the other twin building.
The connected twin building stood directly opposite, with chaotic branches of trees obscuring the view. Shen Lin stared at it.
KP’s cold voice suddenly sounded: “Get an inspiration.”
Shen Lin threw successfully. In the next moment, he saw someone standing at the window of the opposite twin building, mirroring his position exactly, as if facing a reflection in a mirror.
He raised his hand slowly, and the person across almost simultaneously raised theirs.
Dim moonlight, encircled by dark clouds, and a dim star rose slowly from the profound night.
In this dim light and shadow, Shen Lin felt a bit trance-like, momentarily unable to distinguish which one was the real body and which was the reflection.
No matter what movement he made, the person in the reflection would mimic the same action, like two synchronized and coordinated individuals. He didn’t know if he initiated the action first, leading to the reflection’s response, or if he was the reflection, being manipulated by the person in the building across from him.
It was like puppets suspended on a grayish-white screen, wondering who was pulling the strings.
At that moment, a sharp scream suddenly rang behind him. Shen Lin swiftly turned around, but the deep darkness returned to silence, as if the sound had never occurred, even the echo in the corridor being completely absorbed by the darkness.
In the next second, Shen Lin opened his eyes. The ceiling was scrubbed snowy white, a gentle breeze lifted his short hair off his forehead, and outside the window, everything was tranquil, occasionally interrupted by the chirping of birds.
He sat up on the bed, reaching for the gold-rimmed glasses on the side table, and headed straight out to the place where he had seen the figure from the opposite twin building last night.
The weather today was clear, the sky a deep blue. The twin building opposite nestled in the embrace of the backyard, its glass reflecting the sunlight, making it impossible to see the interior.
Squinting, Shen Lin conducted another investigation, but the information he obtained told him that during the day, from this angle, nothing could be seen.
It seemed that to unravel the truth of the matter, some clues could only be obtained at night. However, based on his experience last night, obtaining clues at night likely came at the cost of encountering the unknown.
He planned to revisit the vacant room where something had been absorbed by the black mist last night. Shen Lin followed the room numbers, passing by a corner where he encountered a young nurse.
The nurse looked at Shen Lin in surprise, “Dr. Shen, good morning.”
Shen Lin greeted her, “Good morning.”
The nurse, holding a bundle of sheets, asked, “Why are you here so early?”
“Woke up early and thought I’d come take a look,” Shen Lin looked at the room behind her, where an attendant was packing things. He asked, “What’s going on here?”
The nurse smiled and said, “Qian Wen’s ballet obsession has improved a lot. He’s moving to the second floor for further observation. If everything goes well, he can be discharged.”
Shen Lin, gripping the iron tag he brought back, which read【Qian X】X Lei’s obsession, asked the nurse, “Do you have Qian Wen’s medical records? Show me.”
“Yes,” the nurse said hurriedly, “We have records every day. Dr. Shen, please wait a moment.”
Shen Lin nodded, and the nurse went upstairs to place new beddings. Shen Lin waited in the room.
Standing in a spot that wouldn’t disturb the attendant, he scrutinized the room. The structure was the same as the one he saw last night. The monster had indeed entered this room last night.
After a while, the nurse came back and handed Shen Lin a notebook.
Shen Lin opened it, and it contained miscellaneous records. It was mostly daily changes in temperature and diet, with some changes in the patient’s condition written in a confusing manner. The handwriting was messy, and the order was very chaotic.
Shen Lin said, “Perform a medical examination.”
Shen Lin easily passed this medical examination, focusing on the medical content. Reading the seemingly high-end and sophisticated medical records became very straightforward. Shen Lin quickly finished reading the seemingly high-end and sophisticated medical records and came to the next conclusion— it was all nonsense.
The patient named Qian Wen suffered from ballet obsession. He wanted to dance ballet whenever he saw a flat surface or looked in a mirror. He was admitted to this psychiatric hospital about six months ago. During the treatment period, besides an inexplicable electric shock, there were only injections of physiological saline and oral vitamin C effervescent tablets. Everything was packaged as top-tier imported special treatment drugs.
However, it was this damn treatment method that miraculously cured a patient diagnosed as having moderate psychosis by the M City First Hospital.
If there’s no trickery involved, his name should be spelled backward.
Shen Lin closed the medical record book and asked the nurse, “Yesterday, the patient who was also transferred to the second floor, Jiang Yiming, do you have his medical records?”
“Yes.”
The nurse quickly found it for Shen Lin. After a medical examination, Shen Lin discovered that Jiang Yiming was also admitted to this psychiatric hospital about six months ago. The treatment phase prescribed by the doctor was filled with nonsensical content.
Shen Lin said, “I want to see the treatment records of all the patients who have recently transferred or been discharged.”
“It’s all in the records room,” the nurse asked hesitantly, “Dr. Shen, what are you looking for?”
Shen Lin said expressionlessly, “Just studying the advanced treatment techniques of your esteemed hospital.”
He turned to the records room. With his authorization, he could freely read these documents, so the staff guarding the records room did not stop him. However, reading these documents required Shen Lin to pass a library examination.
After passing it, he rolled a 1d6 die to determine how many hours he would spend reading through this pile of records.
Three hours later, Shen Lin’s mind had compiled a complete list. The situations of these patients, including Jiang Yiming and Qian Wen, were almost identical. Despite the severity of their conditions, they miraculously left the hospital after a period of seemingly unnecessary treatment.
Armed with these conclusions, Shen Lin went to meet the others. Upon meeting, Han Qianqiu hurriedly asked, “KP asked us for another listen last night, but none of us went,” he said sarcastically, “Brother One had another big failure, slept well, and our esteemed security guard slept like a dead pig in the guardroom.”
Yan Xiu glanced at him.
Han Qianqiu continued, “What’s going on? What happened with that listen last night?”
Zheng De also looked at him.
Shen Lin said, “Same as the night before last, everyone saw the monster wrapped in black mist, but couldn’t make out what it was, seemed to have six feet and wings.”
Han Qianqiu widened his eyes, “So terrifying? What does that monster want?!”
“I don’t know yet.” Shen Lin described the scenes he saw last night to them. Zheng De took in a sharp breath, “The monster absorbed something out of thin air? No one in the bed? What does this mean? Is the psychiatric hospital still in that old state? Wait, I can’t process this; there’s too much information.”
Shen Lin asked, “Did any of you check the past records of this psychiatric hospital?”
No one nodded.
Han Qianqiu said, “Speaking of which, Xia He went to check yesterday. She’s good at remembering things, did some homework before coming, but we haven’t seen her all morning, don’t know where she went.”
“Haven’t seen her?” Zheng De asked, “I haven’t seen her either. I thought she was with you guys.”
“No, where’s Brother One?”
Yan Xiu shook his head.
“Don’t tell me he’s still sleeping?” Zheng De joked, “Probably another big failure, slept in until now.”
“Go check her room.”
Not trusting, they went to knock on Xia He’s door.
Knock, knock, knock—no one responded from inside. Shen Lin pressed down on the door handle, but it didn’t move; the door was locked.
Suddenly, KP said, “Everyone perform a listen.”
They threw the dice, and quickly, those who succeeded heard faint maniacal laughter from inside. But soon, the sound turned into something like a wail, then like crying. Before they could react to the previous sound, it transformed into incomprehensible roars and curses.
Han Qianqiu shivered, saying, “What’s that sound in the room? Is it haunted?”
“The door is locked; let’s get a locksmith. We’ll go in and check,” Zheng De quickly suggested.
The locksmith didn’t succeed, so Shen Lin called the nurse to bring the master key to open the door.
Xia He seemed to have gone mad, running around the room. Sometimes she jumped on the bed, laughing wildly and rolling around. Other times, she hid under the table, crying as if abandoned by the whole world. In the gaze of everyone, she suddenly rushed over, grabbed the collar of Han Qianqiu in the front, and screamed hysterically. Her emotions were completely uncontrolled, and she became completely hysterical.
“W-what’s happening? Ahhh! Don’t scare me, I’m scared.” Han Qianqiu held onto Shen Lin, “Lin Mei, save me, save me! She’s gone insane!”
Shen Lin said, “Temporary insanity? One symptom is hysteria, always showing extreme emotions such as laughter, crying, screaming, and fear. What happened last night?” In the previous world, Yan Xiu also fell into temporary insanity of interpersonal dependence, but at that time, he could communicate normally with Yan Xiu, except for the fact that his gaze towards himself was always very passionate, and he couldn’t help but come closer to hug and kiss him, there were no other abnormal behaviors.
Shen Lin tried to communicate with Xia He, “We’ll do a simple communication. I’ll ask you a question, nod if it’s you, shake your head if it’s not.”
Xia He nodded with a grotesque expression.
Communication was still possible.
After confirming this, Shen Lin asked her the first question, “Did you see that guy shrouded in black mist?”
Xia He nodded.
“Did it have wings?”
Xia He nodded again.
“Six legs?”
Xia He didn’t speak. Instead, she grabbed a pen and paper from the table and began to sketch. In the end, she drew a bizarre creature.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t look. I dare not see.” Han Qianqiu covered his eyes, and Zheng De frowned, turning away.
Yan Xiu and Shen Lin leaned in to see what she had drawn.
The creature had a head like a wasp, but its body resembled a lizard. It had six legs, with the first two pairs of legs located on both sides of the chest, and the last pair hanging down. The ribs were located on both sides of the body, protruding through the thin skin, emphasizing them. The back was covered with a thick layer of black fur from head to tail. The fur grew strangely, even covering the bone structure of the wings.
Hard to describe—
In Shen Lin’s mind, there was a buzzing sound, and before him, a riot of colors swirled again. Finally, it settled into a deep yellow, like rolling yellow sand, decadent yet dazzling.
In the pupils of the monster, he vaguely saw a pattern, but couldn’t make it out.
“Xia He’s painting is a great success,” KP said with great interest. “So, for those who see this painting, Sanity-check succeeds, -1d6; fails, -1d10. Oh, wait, didn’t Shen Lin fall into temporary madness earlier? So now, your madness will erupt.”
Shen Lin: “…”
Everyone: “…”
KP said, “Roll for your madness expression.”
Shen Lin rolled a 1, then rolled a 1d10 to determine the duration of his madness.
He rolled a 9.
So, for the next 10 hours, Shen Lin was about to forget who he was.
As soon as the result was out, before he could react, Shen Lin’s mind became blank. He surveyed everyone with a puzzled expression, and with a confused tone, he asked, “Why am I here? Who are you guys?”
Han Qianqiu: “…” Oh no, I’m starting to panic.
Meanwhile, Yan Xiu finished his check.
He also successfully fell into temporary madness.
Coincidentally, it was the number 5 again, interpersonal dependence, lasting for 10 hours.
After a moment of silence, KP uttered a devilish voice, “Now, Yan Xiu will fall in love. As an unlucky security guard who occasionally works from nine to five and sometimes from five to nine, he secretly falls in love with the handsome doctor with super high popularity in this hospital. And now, this handsome and arrogant doctor, unfortunately losing his memory and becoming bewildered, does this mean—Mr. Security can do whatever he wants?”
TL: Geez, Han Qianqiu and his nicknames… I always have to double check to see if i am translating right…
