Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 17

Qi Chanyang stared up at the ceiling, speechless.

He said it!!!

He actually said something that cocky!!!

Beside him, Gu Shanshan's expression went blank. She turned to Qi Chanyang, looking at him questioningly.

Qi Chanyang had no idea how to explain it to her, so he could only nod vaguely.

Gu Shanshan let out a bewildered "Huh?"

When she had said, "Count me in among the players who won't take the medicine," she had already prepared herself to die.

After all, she had dealt with mutated patient NPCs, and she had faced Ge Juan alongside Qi Chanyang. By now, she had a rudimentary grasp of how formidable the NPCs in this instance were.

There was no way normal humans could beat this bunch of instance NPCs. Even an experienced player like Qi Chanyang, who had already cleared six instances, could only run when he encountered Ge Juan.

Those doctor NPCs were clearly no pushovers either.

Yet barely more than an hour ago, she and Qi Chanyang had almost been killed by NPCs. And now, in the blink of an eye, the doctors didn't dare make a move?

Gu Shanshan couldn't help asking, "Why don't they dare attack?"

Faced with Gu Shanshan's confusion, Qi Chanyang didn't even know how to explain.

Tell her, "The guy standing in front of you is so strong that NPCs run the moment they see him"? That didn't even sound like bragging. It sounded like the two of them had been driven insane by NPCs outside and were delirious.

Before Qi Chanyang could work out an explanation that sounded even remotely believable, Jie Fangcheng spoke up. "Because I beat them until they were scared."

...He really dared to say it!!!

Qi Chanyang shot him a sidelong glance.

Even Gu Shanshan, who had been calm and composed the whole time, couldn't help staring at him in shock. "How did you beat them?"

Jie Fangcheng waved the stick in his hand and demonstrated a few moves. "Like this."

"You could beat them like that??"

"Yep."

Gu Shanshan turned to Qi Chanyang. From her expression, she clearly thought Jie Fangcheng had lost his mind.

Qi Chanyang sighed toward the ceiling. "He's telling the truth."

Gu Shanshan: "..."

Great. Now Gu Shanshan thought he had lost his mind too.

But Qi Chanyang understood. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it either.

Besides, there was something inexplicable about this man's aura. Everything he said felt so confident and self-evident, yet also so much like complete bullshit.

There was no explaining this clearly. Unless Gu Shanshan saw it for herself, she probably wouldn't believe it.

After all, he hadn't believed it himself before.

With that thought, Qi Chanyang said, "It's fine. You'll find out tomorrow."

Gu Shanshan's expression became even harder to describe.

Qi Chanyang pretended not to see it. "Let's leave it at that for tonight. Generally, once an instance passes midnight, it's not advisable to go out looking for clues. Midnight is a dividing line. From midnight until sunrise is the most dangerous time for players."

This was also something players had learned from experience. Once a new day began, an instance might develop new Rules, and in general, NPCs grew stronger during that period.

Players were human, after all. Though their bodies were strengthened after clearing instances, they were still better suited to being active in daylight. Thus, experienced players avoided this stretch of time known as the NPC home turf.

But after saying this, Qi Chanyang paused and turned to ask Jie Fangcheng, "Is that okay?"

Jie Fangcheng was as agreeable as ever. "Sure."

Qi Chanyang said, "You two get some rest. I'll keep watch."

With that, he got up, took his weapon, and sat by the door.

Gu Shanshan shook her head. "I'll keep watch. You two have already worked hard going out to look for clues."

Qi Chanyang smiled. "It's okay. This is your first time in an instance. Get some proper rest."

It had only been a few short hours since these newcomers had died in the real world and been pulled into the game.

Decades of ordinary life had ended in a single day. All their effort and struggle had come to nothing. They had been separated from family, lovers, and friends by life and death, becoming horror game players themselves. That kind of psychological adjustment took time too.

Gu Shanshan blinked rapidly. "Thank you, Brother Qi. If you get tired, call me."

"Okay."

Jie Fangcheng was already lying peacefully on the bed. Considerately, he asked, "Why don't you take this stick for now? Give it back when I wake up."

Qi Chanyang: "...I have a weapon."

Jie Fangcheng glanced at Gift of the Whale Fall in his hand. It looked bizarre and was only about two palms long.

"Is your weapon any good?"

"It's all right."

Jie Fangcheng gave his stick a wave. "Mine's really useful!"

Qi Chanyang's gaze sharpened. "Really?"

Could it be... that this stick only looked ordinary, but was actually some rare item?

Was this expert trying to hint at something?

Jie Fangcheng nodded and kindly handed him the stick. "It's long."

"What?" Qi Chanyang didn't quite understand at first, but the moment he took the stick, he froze.

It was plainly an ordinary stick!!!

If an item produced by the system had a special function, like Gift of the Whale Fall, a small prompt box would appear above it when it was first obtained.

But when he held this stick, all Qi Chanyang felt was its weight.

Wasn't this just an iron rod made by screwing six table legs together???

Jie Fangcheng even explained, "Long weapons are safer. And since you're leaning against the door, when you get tired, you can prop yourself up with it and change positions."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Numbly, he set the stick aside. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Call me if anything happens."

With that, Jie Fangcheng finally closed his eyes too.

The room fell silent.

Qi Chanyang leaned against the door and rested with his eyes closed.

After a while, a faint sigh sounded in the room.

"Why don't you sleep?" Jie Fangcheng turned his head to look at him. "This is exactly when I start work. My body clock is hard to adjust."

"Huh? You're not sleepy?" Qi Chanyang asked in confusion. "You looked like you were about to fall asleep standing there with that stick just now."

"I'm not sleepy. I'm always like that."

"..."

"Come on, come on." As he spoke, Jie Fangcheng got out of bed and pulled him to his feet without giving him a choice. "Go sleep. I'll catch up on sleep tomorrow during the day."

Qi Chanyang hesitated.

Keeping the NPCs at bay at night had drained a great deal of his stamina, and he really was a little tired.

Qi Chanyang said, "Then call me if you get sleepy."

"Mm, okay."

As he lay down, Qi Chanyang grew curious. "What kind of job do you have that you need to start work now?"

Jie Fangcheng answered honestly, "Doing the accounts."

"..." Fine. The image of the big shot as a manager in the Underworld Finance Department would never collapse.

Qi Chanyang closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Once the other two people in the room had fallen asleep, Jie Fangcheng pulled the room door open and sat down directly facing the doorway.

He wiped the stick in his hand clean and stared energetically at the open door.

The long night stretched ahead. Come on, a few NPCs could drop by for a chat!

......

Seven in the morning.

The moment the first bell rang in the hospital, Qi Chanyang opened his eyes. Then his hair stood on end as he abruptly sat bolt upright in bed.

At some point, the room door had been opened. Only he and the still-sleeping Gu Shanshan remained in the room; even Patient No. 1, who had been badly injured last night, was gone.

Jie Fangcheng, who had said he would keep watch, was nowhere to be found, but his stick still lay by the door.

He didn't even take his weapon? What had Jie Fangcheng gone to do?

Had something happened yesterday??? But Qi Chanyang was a light sleeper. If there had been any movement, he should have woken up!

Just as Qi Chanyang nervously gripped Gift of the Whale Fall, a head poked in through the doorway.

"Awake?"

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Jie Fangcheng walked in and picked up his stick again.

"Come on. Time for breakfast."

"...How do you know?"

"No. 9 told me."

Of course.

Soon, He Xin's voice drifted down the hallway from afar.

"Quit sleeping! The cafeteria is serving food! Anyone who's late doesn't get breakfast!!"

Qi Chanyang got out of bed and looked outside, then froze.

He Xin, whose eyes had darted around yesterday like he was sizing up merchandise, stood some ten meters away, staring fixedly at Jie Fangcheng.

Jie Fangcheng leaned against the doorway, looking bored. As though he found the position tiring, he straightened up.

Ten meters away, He Xin immediately took a step back.

Qi Chanyang was startled. "Holy shit!"

Jie Fangcheng was startled too. "Holy shit! Is that really necessary?"

Jie Fangcheng hadn't hit him yesterday. Mainly because He Xin had run off too early, and he couldn't catch him.

The bell rang again, and sounds gradually came from the various wards.

Before long, the patient NPCs who had taken their medicine normally yesterday emerged from their rooms, as though used to it, and headed down the hallway to the cafeteria.

Then came No. 4.

The little girl who had transformed into something terrifying yesterday had returned to normal. Still wearing two pigtails, she passed the two of them looking like a doll.

Qi Chanyang frowned.

"Looks like the patients are restorable NPCs."

"What?"

Qi Chanyang explained, "In some instances, NPCs return to normal the next day even after dying. Those are restorable NPCs."

"That's impressive?"

Qi Chanyang remembered something. "Right, where did the No. 1 NPC go?"

"Oh, he's in No. 9's ward."

"??"

"He woke up this morning, so I had him go comfort No. 9."

Compared with the two patients who had either died or fainted before midnight, No. 9 had been tied up in the cafeteria all night and wasn't untied until the cafeteria NPCs came on shift.

When No. 9 staggered back at six in the morning, his neck had already returned to normal. Upon seeing Jie Fangcheng, his head swayed wildly. His neck, still longer than a normal person's, looked just like a lawn sprinkler watering flowers.

Jie Fangcheng tried to reason with him. "Can you blame me? You wanted to eat me yesterday!"

No. 9 whimpered, "Midnight... don't eat..."

"Oh, so you go back to normal at midnight?"

"Mm..."

Jie Fangcheng rubbed his nose. "Then sorry you had to go through that."

No. 9 went back to his room crying.

So after No. 1 woke up, Jie Fangcheng patted his shoulder, then patted his neck, chest, limbs... In any case, No. 1 finally yielded and limped off to find No. 9.

Qi Chanyang: "..."

"What is it?"

There were too many things to criticize. Qi Chanyang opened his mouth. "...No. 1 listens to you too?"

Jie Fangcheng answered modestly, "More or less. We had a little talk."

Before long, the players woke up one after another as well.

After a night's sleep, everyone actually looked worse than they had yesterday.

Xue Kai's face was waxy yellow. "What exactly were those pills? I had nightmares all night."

"Me too, me too! I kept dreaming about when I died."

"I kept dreaming about yesterday in the cafeteria... blegh..."

The players who had taken the medicine had all had nightmares. Gu Shanshan, on the other hand, looked the best out of everyone.

Quite a few people curiously asked what had happened after she chose not to take the medicine yesterday.

After Gu Shanshan finished recounting No. 4's mutation yesterday, a collective gasp ran through the crowd.

The patient NPCs already looked terrifying enough, and they could mutate too! And they were that terrifying after mutating!

Was this instance really something they could clear?

Lu Xiaoqin grew anxious after hearing it. "Are you okay?"

"I nearly died yesterday. Luckily, Brother Qi saved me."

More than ten meters away, He Xin urged them again. "Time to eat!"

At the sound of his voice, quite a few people shuddered. Lu Xiaoqin fearfully clutched Gu Shanshan's sleeve.

Qi Chanyang, however, had a better idea of the situation now.

He spoke calmly. "Let's eat first. We can talk after breakfast."

When they arrived at the cafeteria, the patient NPCs were already seated. Even No. 1 and No. 9 had somehow made it downstairs and were sitting at the tables.

The nine patients all stared at them. With those abnormal faces turned toward them, Lu Xiaoqin remembered what Gu Shanshan had described yesterday and shivered all over. Gu Shanshan took her hand and comforted her. "It's okay."

Once the players had taken their seats one by one, breakfast was quickly brought out.

Pickled vegetables, plain rice porridge, and two fried dough sticks per person.

The perfectly ordinary-looking breakfast eased some of the unease in everyone's hearts.

After Gu Shanshan sat down, Patient No. 4 beside her looked at her. "Big sister."

Everyone's skin crawled.

Yesterday, in Cicada Call, this NPC had used the same voice to say the most terrifying words.

"Let's play a game. Guess how many bites of meat you have on you."

But now, the little girl looked like an ordinary young girl. Only her bulging eyes made one's back go cold when she stared at someone.

She tilted her head. "Big sister, you were so smart yesterday! But Qingqing won't lose again tonight!"

The dining table fell silent.

Lu Xiaoqin covered her mouth and looked at Gu Shanshan with concern.

Gu Shanshan remained remarkably composed, and didn't forget to ask, "Then if I choose to take the medicine tonight, will Qingqing take it too?"

No. 4 pouted and lowered her head to drink her porridge.

No. 1, who likewise hadn't taken the medicine, said nothing. He simply lowered his head and ate his fried dough stick.

In the silence, Jie Fangcheng asked No. 9, "I'm curious too. Nine, if I take the medicine tonight, will you take it with me?"

No. 9's eyes lit up. "Take it, take it... take medicine."

Xue Kai was quick-witted and immediately caught on. "Brother Jie, you didn't take the medicine yesterday either??"

"Mm."

Everyone looked at him. Xue Kai blurted out, "What happened to you yesterday if you didn't take it? Those..."

Xue Kai subtly pointed his chin toward He Xin, who stood at the door.

"Can we not take the medicine?"

"Sure."

"Holy shit!! How did you manage that??"

Jie Fangcheng replied modestly, "I had a talk with the doctors."

Sun Miao rushed to ask, "You can talk to them? Are they easy to talk to?"

Jie Fangcheng answered honestly, "Not really."

Then he added, "So I don't recommend talking to them."

Everyone thought, Who but you would talk to this bunch of NPCs?!

Xue Kai was a little blindly devoted to him and was still ready to learn from his experience. "How did you talk to them?"

Jie Fangcheng demonstrated in person.

He turned his head toward He Xin, who had been staring at him. "What are you looking at? Looking to die?"

He Xin glared at him viciously, but lowered his head.

Jie Fangcheng said calmly, "See? He's not looking at me anymore. Doesn't that mean the communication was a success?"

Xue Kai: "????"

Everyone: "?????"