Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 18

This time, even the patient NPCs stopped eating and stared at him blankly.

Xue Kai was dumbfounded. "You can do that??"

Qi Chanyang hurriedly spoke up. "You cannot do that!"

He was genuinely worried that these rookie players would follow Jie Fangcheng's example and start barking orders at the NPCs too.

What would happen once they got into that habit?

Fortunately, novice players were merely inexperienced, not stupid.

Just look at the patient NPCs sitting around them. Every last one was grotesquely misshapen; a second glance could cost you SAN points.

And after what had happened to Gu Shanshan, everyone knew the NPCs were vicious and terrifying. They could barely avoid them fast enough. Who would go out of their way to interact with them?

Except Jie Fangcheng, of course. He was still chatting with No. 9 beside him.

No. 9 had been sniffling and weeping miserably just moments ago. His head, at the end of that long neck, hung nearly parallel to his chest. He sniffed once and took a sip of porridge, while tears dripped steadily from his enormous eyes. It was hard not to worry that he might cry his eyeballs right out. The scene was bizarre beyond words.

After Jie Fangcheng finished "communicating" with him, No. 9 stopped crying. Half his body edged toward No. 8 as though avoiding something filthy, while the two eyeballs in his upside-down head furtively watched Jie Fangcheng.

To Xue Kai's left, Patient No. 8 had both arms twisted into corkscrews. To his right, Patient No. 9's snake-like neck was practically plastered against him. Trapped between them, he was scared half to death. His left hand shook so badly that a spoonful of porridge had become half a spoonful before he could get it anywhere near his mouth.

Jie Fangcheng was speechless. He yanked Patient No. 9 back. "Look at how scared you are. Just because I hit him doesn't mean I'll hit you."

Doesn't mean!

No. 9 looked ready to start sobbing again.

Jie Fangcheng hurriedly added, "Don't you like those meatballs? I'll have the chef make them for you at noon! A whole huge basin!"

No. 9 stared at him blankly. "No... all right..."

"It's fine. We'll discuss it with them!"

The more Qi Chanyang listened, the more he felt that this "discussion" was not all that different from Jie Fangcheng's "communication."

No. 9 hesitated.

He was rather shy by nature. Even when he did not get enough to eat, he was too embarrassed to say so.

No. 9 said softly, "Wouldn't... that be... inappropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it?" Jie Fangcheng persuaded him. "Wasn't there a slogan posted on the first floor? Something like, 'The hospital loves me.' If they love you, shouldn't they make sure you eat and drink well? Don't worry about it!"

The temptation of meatballs was indeed quite powerful. Soon, No. 9's eyes went vacant and drool slid from the corner of his mouth. "Meat... meat..."

Qi Chanyang looked at the two of them with utter resignation.

Were they in a horror-game instance right now?? How were his teammates already ordering dishes??

And wasn't the slogan on the first floor, "I love the hospital, and the hospital loves me"?? The first half was unimportant and could just be left out, was it??

After breakfast came free activity time. This time, He Xin opened the doors to the first-floor reading room and badminton court, then vanished without a trace.

The group followed the patient NPCs to the badminton court first.

Once inside, the patients all began exercising on their own. Some clutched shuttlecocks and writhed across the floor; others held rackets and twisted about as if having seizures.

Everyone finally learned where the shuttlecocks with eyeballs that they had seen getting smacked back and forth yesterday had come from: No. 3 had gouged out his own eyeball, leaving only a dark, empty socket.

He had only one left eye, which slowly rolled as he watched the players gathered together.

Everyone shuddered.

Qi Chanyang blocked his line of sight and quickly went over the clues they had found yesterday and their plan for today.

When they heard that they planned to tie up the NPCs tonight, everyone was at a loss.

Xue Kai could not help asking, "How are we supposed to tie them up?"

Qi Chanyang first glanced at Jie Fangcheng.

The man was leaning against the wall, boredly propping himself up on that stick of his. He could neither stand nor sit properly.

Apparently finding it tiring to hold the stick upright, he casually slung it over his shoulder, looking like a street punk.

Qi Chanyang fell silent for a moment.

He felt that if he told them, "Don't be scared. Mr. Jie will tie up all the NPCs tonight," these rookies would probably think he had lost his mind.

They needed to see it with their own eyes.

Qi Chanyang could only say, "You'll find out tonight."

Everyone exchanged looks, but hearing him say that put them at ease.

In this perilous instance, Qi Chanyang's dependable image had long since taken root in their hearts. Though they had no idea what he planned to do, they all trusted him.

"Then what do we do next? Keep looking for clues?"

"Yes."

There was very little in the badminton court; it could practically be taken in at a glance.

Qi Chanyang said, "Let's go to the reading room instead."

Yesterday, he and Ge Juan had briefly clashed in the reading room, and Ge Juan had sawed the door open.

But now, the door had been repaired again, and even the room had been cleaned.

Who had cleaned it?

He Xin?

Qi Chanyang thought about it with a frown.

Once inside, everyone spread out and continued searching for fresh clues according to yesterday's arrangements.

Qi Chanyang sat down beside the newspapers and magazines again, and then his vision went dark.

Jie Fangcheng had sat down too. He held a magazine and flipped through it idly, yawning from time to time.

Qi Chanyang said, "Why don't you get some sleep?"

Jie Fangcheng pretended to hesitate. "You're all working while I go to sleep. Isn't that inappropriate?"

Qi Chanyang smiled. "We'll still have to rely on you tonight."

"All right, then." Without another word, Jie Fangcheng got up and left.

Qi Chanyang froze. "Where are you going?"

"To sleep."

"Where are you going to sleep??" Qi Chanyang was baffled.

He had meant that Jie Fangcheng could nap for a while in one of the seats here, but where was this man planning to go catch up on sleep??

Jie Fangcheng was equally baffled. "Back upstairs to sleep, obviously. Where is there a bed here?"

Qi Chanyang's face filled with shock.

They were in a horror-game instance, and he still needed a bed to sleep on?!

Seeing his expression, Jie Fangcheng suddenly understood. "Oh, right. You can't beat that group of NPCs."

"..."

Jie Fangcheng pondered it for a moment. "Then I'll bring a bed down. I remember there's a spring bed in the Director's office on the third floor..."

As he spoke, he opened the door and walked away.

"Hey!"

Qi Chanyang stood there in a daze for a moment before coming to his senses. By the time he reached the doorway, Jie Fangcheng had already made it to the stairs.

He Xin had locked the iron gate at the stairwell again.

Ever attentive to detail, Qi Chanyang had noticed on the way down that all the locks on the gate had been replaced with new ones, which looked sturdier than the old locks.

But then came a teeth-grating crack. Jie Fangcheng casually flung the now-broken lock aside, opened the iron gate, and disappeared up the stairs.

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Qi Chanyang waited by the door for a while, but there was no movement from the stairs.

Then the elevator behind him chimed.

The elevator doors opened. Jie Fangcheng emerged carrying a folded spring bed on his right shoulder, with a pillow and bedding in his left hand.

"? What are you doing here?" Jie Fangcheng asked curiously.

Qi Chanyang looked at him, then at the elevator.

At him, then at the elevator. After a long while, he said, "You... are unbelievably brazen!"

Jie Fangcheng looked back at him. "You're so strange!"

With so much stuff, where else was he supposed to bring it down from if not the elevator!

......

Jie Fangcheng moved the bed into the reading room, set it against the wall by the last bookcase, and lay down in it peacefully.

The rookie players did not understand why he was sleeping, nor where the bed had come from, but they all expressed their understanding.

"He was a rookie too last night, and he didn't take the medicine. It probably wasn't any easier for him than it was for Shanshan. Let him rest." The considerate middle-aged man, Sun Miao, said this.

Everyone nodded.

The room filled with the sound of pages turning.

Before long, Lu Xiaoqin suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "There's a diary here!"

It was a very plain notebook, like the kind bought wholesale for a few cents. Thin and inconspicuous, it had been tucked among a stack of thick professional books.

A name was written on the cover: Wang He.

Inside was a neat, orderly hand.

[November 4, heavy snow.

It snowed heavily today, but she still pushed her cart out. I saw from the window that she slipped and fell. When she got back up, she was limping. But she went out anyway.

It's all my fault. If not for me, we wouldn't have had to sell the house, I'd still have a job, and she wouldn't have to work so hard.

I hate this illness so much!!]

[November 9, light rain.

The medicine cost another five thousand today. She said not to worry, that we have enough money and that she'll definitely cure me. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful wife! I love you, honey!!]

[November 21, light rain.

Why! Why! Why!!

I've never done a single bad thing in my life!! Why did a terminal illness have to find me?! I want to die!

But I can't. I can't die! So what if it's terminal! She hasn't given up on me! She's my only family! I can't give up! Once I'm better, I'll treat her well!! I love you!!]

[November 29, clear.

She's thinner. Her hair has gone white, and she looks so worn out. All because of me... all because of me. Wang He, what did you do in your past lives to deserve such good fortune? To have such a wonderful wife!]

...

[December 22

What kind of thing is this doctor? He calls himself a doctor? What right does he have to tell us to give up treatment! What right!! I'm only twenty-eight! I won't die!! I can't die! What will she do if I die? Her health isn't good either. I have to hold this family together!!]

[January 5

I saw her crying]

[January 11

I'm sorry, honey. You'll have to go on alone. It's a good thing we gave up early; you still have some savings. Marry a good, healthy man someday. How much longer can I stay with you? Half a year should be enough time for us to say goodbye, right?]

He turned another page.

The formerly neat handwriting suddenly became scrawled, as though its writer were ecstatic.

[January 14

I won the lottery!! Thank God!! Thank God!!! That doctor said he came back from abroad! He'll treat me for free! I'm so lucky!!!

My wife was worried and looked him up. Turns out he's won many international awards!! I can be saved! Honey! We can be saved!!!]

[January 16, clear skies!

It's a beautiful sunny day! The doctor said a hospital car will come pick us up!! We're all lucky people selected for the 'Blue Mountain Project'! We're the first group, eight people altogether!

But I'll have to be separated from my wife. The doctor said the closed treatment will take about a year. She'll miss me so much. I'll miss her too! It's all right. We'll see each other again in a year!]

[January 18, light rain

The weather is bad, but everyone in the car is happy! I talked to them a little. They're all pitiable people! Their families have no money to treat them.

But they... no! We! We're lucky people! We were selected for the Blue Mountain Project!! The doctor says he's confident he can cure us!!! Oh God! Thank you, Doctor!! Thank you, Doctor!!!]

[January 21, heavy rain

Even though I was lucky enough to be selected, I don't know why, but this hospital feels strange... I don't mean the doctors, but at night I keep smelling something odd. It smells like the sea, but no one else seems to notice it.

Is it because of the rain?]

[January 24, clear

Life is so relaxing here. We get delicious meals every day, and everyone talks and laughs happily. There's even a little girl among us. She was abandoned after falling ill, and everyone dotes on her.

But perhaps because she was abandoned, the little girl is sensitive and has quite a temper, like a little hedgehog. Brother Li said that once we leave the hospital, he'll take Qingqing home with him. He'll make sure Qingqing grows up healthy and happy.

Once I'm better, I want to have an adorable daughter with my wife too!]

[January 25, light rain

The smell of the sea is gone!

The doctor said treatment can begin tomorrow!!]

He turned another page, and the handwriting suddenly grew somewhat distorted.

[January 29

It hurts. I just had surgery, and it hurts so much!

But there's no wound on my body. The doctor said that's normal... How strange. My pant leg is suddenly shorter.

Did I get taller?]

[February 2

Another surgery... How strange... I feel like Brother Li has changed]

[February

I can't tell how many surgeries I've had. When I open my eyes now, I'm in the hospital room. There are no cuts on my body, but it feels like something has been stuffed inside me.

What date is it today?

The security guard won't tell me, but I saw that his calendar still says February]

[3rd

It hurts... My name is Wang Ke.

My wife's name... What is my wife's name?? What is my wife's name???]

[3...

I want to go home... She's waiting for me to come home... I don't want treatment anymore...]

[I want to go home!]

[Home!]

[Home home home...]

[Home]

The next several pages were all blank.

Then a sheet of paper tucked into the diary appeared before them.

In the Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital brochure they had found on the magazine rack, the final page was missing. Gu Shanshan had guessed that it might have contained the psychiatric hospital's detailed address and contact information.

But that much information could not possibly fill an entire page. And indeed...

The most conspicuous words on this page were "Blue Mountain Project."

[Blue Mountain Project: Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital is dedicated to helping every patient in need. Our doctors will surely do everything in their power to help you recover your health. Due to limited space, the hospital will admit its first group of non-psychiatric patients free of charge this month. Tear out this page and mail it to Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, and we will contact you as soon as possible.]

Gu Shanshan looked at the paper and quickly realized, "The patient NPCs we see now are the eight patients selected for this 'Blue Mountain Project.' Patient No. 4 is the little girl named Qingqing! This Wang He... he was tall, so he should be No. 6. The hospital lured this group in under the guise of 'free treatment' to experiment on them! Every time Wang He opened his eyes, he woke up in the hospital room. He thought he had undergone surgery again and again, but there were no wounds... I suspect they had already completed the experiments on other psychiatric patients in the early stages, and the results were successful. So in the end, they lured in people with severe illnesses but no mental problems for a final confirmation. At this stage, they no longer needed surgery, only medicine to achieve the effect!"

After Gu Shanshan finished, Qi Chanyang added, "But there were eight patients in total, and we have now seen nine! One of them is a normal person. That fits too!"

"So what use is this diary..."

Before the speaker could finish, Gu Shanshan happened to turn to the last page.

On the inside back cover was a line of tiny writing.

That must have been when Wang He was last lucid.

His handwriting was twisted, but he had written with immense care and force, his pen nearly tearing through the paper.

It was only a name.

Han Fangfang.

For a while, no one spoke. Everyone was nearly certain that this was the name of Wang He's wife.

Wang He had a terminal illness. His wife, Han Fangfang, sold their house and set up a street stall, never leaving his side as she tried to save him.

And Wang He... perhaps he no longer knew his own name, but thankfully, he had finally remembered his wife's.

Without Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, even if the couple were destined to part eventually, they would surely have been able to accompany each other through the final stretch of their journey.

But now...

The person living with Patient No. 6 was Hu Jian, a photographer who had tragically drowned after his tires skidded on a rainy road and his car fell into a river.

At this moment, a trace of pity showed on his face.

"No. 6... his legs are section after section... That's why he looks like he's stepping on springs when he walks..."

Even Qi Chanyang, an experienced player who had cleared many instances, could not help frowning.

But this was not the time for players like them to seek justice for NPCs.

Qi Chanyang was the first to compose himself.

He looked at the diary in his hands. "I understand. We're on the right track. First, we need to determine who the normal person is. To do that, we need to stop taking the medicine, but if we don't take it, the NPCs will mutate. Once they mutate, they'll attack us. To avoid being attacked..."

Qi Chanyang pointed to the final name.

"Just like this name. Once we know it, No. 6 may not attack us when we face him... Or there's another possibility: after learning the name, we can persuade the NPCs to take the medicine while we don't."

This was a clue that could save their lives!

Qi Chanyang said, "Now, let's keep looking for others like it. They don't necessarily have to be diaries."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Just as the atmosphere was warm and hopeful, He Xin's sinister voice came from the reading-room entrance.

"Free time is over. Prepare for your appointments! Those whose names I call, come out."

He poked his head in first, peering inside. His eyeballs darted about as though searching for something.

At last, everyone vaguely sensed that he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Then his two enormous eyeballs swept over their faces one by one.

Lu Xiaoqin was closest to the door and took a frightened step back.

He Xin's eyes stopped moving and stared straight at her.

"Ms. Lu, you're first. Come with me."

Lu Xiaoqin trembled all over.

She was timid to begin with. Since being transported into this horror game, she had constantly felt on the verge of passing out. While everyone else was gradually adapting to the terrifying atmosphere, Lu Xiaoqin would still cry in fear at being alone in a room with an NPC.

Now, being called first, she looked at Qi Chanyang with despair in her eyes.

Qi Chanyang took the initiative. "I'll go first."

He Xin gave a cold laugh. "No need to rush. Everyone will receive a consultation with Dr. Han."

He was clearly determined to make Lu Xiaoqin his first target.

Qi Chanyang pressed his lips together and mouthed reassurance: Don't be afraid. Listen to the NPC. You'll be fine.

Lu Xiaoqin had been called in for an appointment. As long as she obediently followed the NPC's instructions and did not trigger a killing rule, the NPC could not harm her no matter how much it wanted to. That was the instance's Rule.

Lu Xiaoqin knew it well, but her face was still deathly pale with fear. Her legs weak, she followed He Xin out.

He Xin turned back to look at them, left behind a sinister laugh, and led Lu Xiaoqin toward the second floor.

Gu Shanshan was worried. "Will Xiaoqin be all right?"

Qi Chanyang shook his head. "She'll be fine. As long as she follows the rules, the NPC won't do anything to her."

Gu Shanshan's brow remained furrowed. "Xiaoqin won't disobey the NPC. She's timid. But I'm afraid the NPC will deliberately scare her, make her afraid, and cause her to break the rules."

Exactly.

The girl clearly looked as though she had grown up sheltered from the world. Scare her, and she would panic for certain.

If only the first person to go had not been her, but Qi Chanyang instead.

Qi Chanyang had cleared so many instances, and he was brave too...

Brave...

Qi Chanyang suddenly came back to his senses.

......

Second floor.

There were no windows in the corridor, and not a ray of sunlight could enter.

In the deathly still corridor, only Lu Xiaoqin's own footsteps could be heard. Ahead of her, a man in a white coat walked forward, his two legs taking turns, yet making no sound at all. The peeling paint on the walls looked like distorted human figures in the dimness. Lu Xiaoqin could barely inch forward without leaning against the wall.

He Xin turned around.

His already terrifyingly large eyes looked like two dreadful black spheres at that moment, staring right at her.

"Ms. Lu, your appointment is about to begin. Please do not waste time on the way. Dr. Han is a very meticulous person. If you are late, he will be angry."

Lu Xiaoqin shuddered. Tears already welled in her eyes, but she forced herself not to make a sound.

She had always been timid. As a child, even a dog barking twice would scare her stiff, too afraid to move. Now she did not even dare raise her eyes, only keeping her head down and staring at her feet.

Then, just at that moment, a horrifying face suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

He Xin bent at the waist, his neck twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, looking at her from right beneath her eyes.

"Ah!" Lu Xiaoqin screamed, and then began to cry.

The mouth beneath He Xin's mask curled into a distinct smile. Pretending to be surprised, he said, "Ms. Lu, did you see something frightening? Why are you crying?"

As long as Lu Xiaoqin nodded, he could prescribe her a pill on the grounds that "everything you saw was an illusion"... No, one would not be enough. Two!

As long as she took two more pills...

Lu Xiaoqin bit her lip hard. She was crying and gasping in terror. Even the hand braced against the wall shook, and her fingernails left a scratch on it.

Lu Xiaoqin slowly shook her head. "No... I-I didn't see anything."

He Xin stared at her.

After saying that, Lu Xiaoqin covered her mouth. A long while later, she looked up, tears smeared all over her face.

"Aren't... we supposed to have an appointment?" she asked.

He Xin's smile gradually vanished.

He gave a cold snort and unwillingly continued leading the way.

At the consultation room door, Lu Xiaoqin took a deep breath.

Trembling, she walked inside.

The dim consultation room was like a monster opening its bloody maw at her.