Question: If someone who looks like a nurse is actually a psychiatric patient, what is someone who looks like a psychiatric patient?
Answer: Yu Jin.
Seeing the nurse in front of him turn around to ask if he needed to use the restroom, Yu Jin turned and left without saying another word.
There was no one at the reception desk, and the nurse's station behind it was empty. All the nurses seemed to have vanished, leaving behind a clamorous silence that felt deeply eerie.
On high alert, Yu Jin could only look at the signs on the wall to locate the sanitarium ward.
Fortunately, the signposts in the corridor were clear, and not all of the ward patients were outside “using the restroom.” After carefully bypassing a few “room-ology” experts who were currently debating how to summon guardian spirits to study the curvature engine, Yu Jin found the sanitarium area of the Psychiatric Department.
But he was in no hurry to enter. Standing just outside the dividing line, he fell into deep thought.
There was no doubt about it: if the old director was truly recuperating here, the current level of security was highly problematic.
No matter how chaotic the Psychiatric Department was, there shouldn't be a complete lack of visible security.
Where had all the nurses gone?
Had they been taken away?
Yet, if this place had already been “breached,” the chaos before his eyes seemed a bit too mild.
What would be the point of only taking the nurses? Wouldn't taking the patients be the most beneficial move for the Disciples of Eternal Night, who sought to destroy the world with Nightmares?
If any of these patients randomly triggered a Nightmare Disaster, the Bureau would likely find it extremely difficult to handle.
Thinking of this, he glanced back at the panel discussion behind him. He saw an old lady gesturing wildly, spit flying as she passionately explained her research insights:
“Sigh, you lot just don't understand.
What is curvature? It is an arc!
An arc is a homophone for fox!
So I believe only Fox Immortals understand the secrets of this curvature.
When the time comes, we just slaughter a couple of chickens, invite the Fox Immortal to possess us, and write down the key parameters. Won't we then be able to build the engine, escape the disasters of Blue Star, and search for a new world in the boundless universe?”
Another old man waved his hand, his face filled with disapproval:
“You're oversimplifying things!
Different Fox Immortals have different tastes. White-cut chicken, three-cup chicken, mouth-watering chicken—each invites a completely different Fox Immortal.
How can you be sure that the central angle and radius of the possessed Fox Immortal are the ones we need?
Different radii mean different curvatures, which mean different spacetime compression ratios.
With even the slightest deviation, the error in the required magnitude of dark matter fuel will be exponential. Our financial resources are limited; how can we afford so many trials and errors?”
As he spoke, he slapped down three coins.
The old lady looked at the two yuan and fifty cents in her hand. Her mouth twitched for a moment, but she didn't argue. After digesting it for a while, she accepted the old man's authority.
“And that's why they call you the expert. What did you use to do?”
The old man snorted twice, saying with quiet confidence:
“I have a formal background in “brick-ology.”
Ever since my prefrontal lobe was hit by a falling brick at a construction site, I suddenly had an epiphany.
Newton, Patton, Upton—none of them got a ton of enlightenment like I did.
I saw long ago that this Blue Star is no longer suitable for human habitation. Ever since I was designated an academician and brought here, I have been dedicating myself to the study of escaping Blue Star.
By now, we are starting to see some results. Next, let me explain my train of thought to everyone...”
He couldn't listen to this any longer. Any more, and he'd probably win a Nobel Prize.
Yu Jin hurriedly covered his ears and looked toward the relatively quiet sanitarium area ahead.
He was debating whether or not to go inside.
Reaching this point, he could still claim he was here to pick up a report and ask for a re-examination, but stepping any further forward would leave him with absolutely no excuse.
The office wasn't in this direction.
If something had actually gone wrong inside, that would be one thing. At the very least, he could offset any wrongdoing by raising a timely alarm.
But if everything inside was normal, his reckless approach to the sanitarium area would be incredibly difficult to explain away. If the Bureau initiated an internal investigation, would red-haired Yu Jin be exposed?
In truth, if the fierce battle downstairs ended and Xia Jie was brought to justice, red-haired Yu Jin wouldn't necessarily have to remain in the shadows.
After all, he was Yu Jin's hope for dealing with Xia Jie. As long as his great vengeance was avenged, he wouldn't mind others finding out about red-haired Yu Jin.
He would do his best to explain that red-haired Yu Jin had absolutely nothing to do with Xia Jie and posed no danger to society, in hopes that the Bureau might accept him.
But Yu Jin also had to leave himself a retreat. If Xia Jie escaped again, even if it was extremely difficult for him to handle alone, he would have to do everything in his power to track him down.
A debt of blood must be paid in blood.
And the only means he had of making Xia Jie pay in blood was red-haired Yu Jin.
After thorough deliberation, Yu Jin slipped into the nearest restroom and let red-haired Yu Jin out first.
Looking at the familiar restroom stalls, red-haired Yu Jin had a look of utter disgust.
“Can't you pick a different spot?”
Yu Jin had no time to explain—and it certainly wasn't because he simply didn't want to.
Leaving behind a brief “desperate times call for desperate measures,” he ordered him to keep an eye out for any anomalies, then gripped his revolver tightly and stepped into the sanitarium area.
Worried that Yu Jin wouldn't be able to handle things alone, red-haired Yu Jin avoided the surveillance cameras by climbing through a window into an adjacent ward. He swiped a pair of patient scrubs, slipped them on, and followed closely behind him, disguised as a patient.
The sanitarium area was indeed far less noisy than the outside. Everything here was in perfect order, and even when patients had episodes, they were extraordinarily quiet.
A woman who didn't look particularly old and wasn't wearing hospital scrubs walked out of the ward closest to the dividing line. With bright, spirited eyes, she headed to the lounge across the hall and filled her cup with hot water.
During this, she navigated around a puddle of water on the floor with absolute precision, opened and closed doors with familiarity, and even timidly gave Yu Jin a little nod in greeting.
Seeing how normally she behaved, Yu Jin assumed she was a visiting family member.
Yet, to his surprise, halfway back to her room, she tripped on flat ground and fell to the floor without warning.
The cup shattered, hot water splashed everywhere, and she got burned.
Witnessing this bizarre scene, Yu Jin furrowed his brow, his hand instinctively tightening around his gun.
But after keeping watch for a moment and noticing no signs of danger, he ultimately stepped forward to help her up.
As Yu Jin approached, the woman shrank back in fear at first, but then slowly let down her guard and allowed him to pull her up.
“Are you alright?”
Yu Jin glanced at her burn. It was a very small patch of skin, only slightly red. It shouldn't be too serious.
The woman shook her head, her body trembling slightly.
She seemed somewhat afraid.
Not understanding why, and thinking she simply disliked contact with strangers, Yu Jin released his hold.
The woman froze, looking at Yu Jin. Fear, apology, and gratitude clashed on her face as she flusteredly said:
“I'm sorry... Oh, no, thank you. Thank you.”
“Don't mention it.”
Before Yu Jin could finish his sentence, the woman added:
“...You are a good Nightmare.”
Yu Jin had been preparing to offer a polite smile in response to her impending gratitude, but his smile froze halfway across his face.
He looked at her, blinking, wondering if he was hallucinating.
What in the world?
I'm a good what?
Wait, sister, since when did you have a Nancheng accent?
A good Nightmare... He'd heard plenty of “good guy” cards being handed out, but this was the first time he'd ever received a “good Nightmare” card.
How novel.
His lips twitched. Realizing he might have misjudged her identity, he asked:
“Are you a patient here?”
But the moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake. What psychiatric patient would ever admit they were mentally ill?
Unsurprisingly, the woman did not admit it.
“No, I'm not sick.
I'm just blind.”
“?”
Yu Jin was taken aback. Recalling the path she had just walked, he waved a hand in front of her face in confusion:
“You... can't see?”
The woman was startled by his waving hand and quickly backed away. Knowing there were glass shards behind her, Yu Jin opened his mouth to warn her, but before he could say a word, the woman nimbly stepped around all the debris and retreated to one side of the corridor.
His gaze narrowed. He was just wondering whether she was faking blindness or suffering from cognitive impairment when, in the next second, she clutched her head, squatted down, and said with teary eyes:
“It hurts...”
Yu Jin's brain flatly refused to process this. He couldn't fathom her behavior at all. “What are you doing...?”
The woman sobbed, repeating:
“I bumped into a cabinet.
I told you I'm blind.”
Be that as it may...
But where on earth is there a cabinet here?!
Looking at the empty corridor and the three-meter-high ceiling above her head, Yu Jin was utterly bewildered.
He couldn't understand how she could nimbly avoid the shards on the floor, yet somehow bump into an invisible cabinet.
So did you hit a cabinet, or did you hit a ghost?
Yu Jin's expression turned slightly bizarre. He took a step back, pointing at the shards on the floor:
“But you clearly...”
The woman followed his finger, realized she hadn't cleaned up the shards yet, and quickly got down on her knees to sweep them up. As she busied herself, she said:
“I only can't see reality. I never said I couldn't see you in the dream.
When reality overlaps with the dream, I can live normally.
But once reality diverges from the dream, I start bumping into things.
It's fine, you don't have to pity me. I'm used to it.
As long as you don't hurt me, that's already the greatest help you can give me.
Thank you, truly thank you.”
“?”
What are you talking about?
This is a dream?
Yu Jin stood frozen in place, his face turning incredibly grave. For the second time, he questioned whether he was actually still in reality.
...
Rate on N.U.
