Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 3

The group hurried to the restroom Gu Shanshan had mentioned.

It was unisex, with only two stalls. A slogan was posted above the sink by the door: Wash your hands after using the toilet. Cleanliness goes with me wherever I go.

Whether it was clean or not was hard to say, but the sink now looked like the scene of a murder.

Traces of blood-red liquid lingered in the white basin. There was no sign of the fingernails; perhaps they had already gone down the drain. Several sticky-looking clots, presumably blood, still clung to the sides.

Qi Chanyang stepped up to the sink, dipped a finger into the remaining red liquid, and held it under his nose. Then he turned back, his expression grim.

"It's blood."

"Holy shit!" Xue Kai couldn't help taking a step back.

The newcomers crowded together too, like chicks huddling for warmth.

Qi Chanyang stared at the sink, then suddenly reached out and turned on the faucet.

Clean water poured from it, quickly washing away the reddish-brown bloodstains still in the basin.

Qi Chanyang turned off the tap and asked, "Who turned it on when you washed your hands just now?"

Gu Shanshan's face changed as she looked at Lu Xiaoqin.

Lu Xiaoqin looked close to collapsing. Trembling, she raised her hand. "I did."

"Turn it on again."

As he spoke, Qi Chanyang stepped aside.

Lu Xiaoqin walked up to the faucet, took a deep breath, and gently twisted the handle.

Unlike when Qi Chanyang had turned it on and clean water had immediately flowed out, this time the pipe sounded as though something was clogging it, making a teeth-grating chug-chug noise.

Then, with a pop, a clump of hair shot out of the faucet.

Once whatever had blocked the pipe was expelled, a thin stream of reddish-brown blood began to flow from the tap.

The restroom fell silent. Lu Xiaoqin covered her mouth as tears and cold sweat fell together.

Qi Chanyang immediately shut off the faucet, then turned it on again.

The water ran clear once more.

"What's going on?" Gu Shanshan asked, holding the crying Lu Xiaoqin.

Qi Chanyang looked at Gu Shanshan.

"You try turning it on too."

Gu Shanshan froze for a moment, then understood something.

She went to the sink and twisted the handle.

Just like Lu Xiaoqin, thumb-sized chunks of flesh came spurting out with the blood.

Gu Shanshan shut off the tap and immediately realized. "Because Xiaoqin and I both said we saw eyeballs in the cafeteria?"

Qi Chanyang nodded heavily. His gaze swept around the room before he suddenly paused.

"Where's Xie Fangcheng?"

The eight of them looked at one another.

As soon as Gu Shanshan and the others said blood was coming from this restroom's faucet, everyone had rushed over. Their attention had been fixed on the tap, and no one had noticed they were missing a person.

Xue Kai weakly raised a hand. "He seemed to be chatting with No. 9 NPC just now. Could he still be on the court..."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

There was no need to discuss it here. Qi Chanyang walked to the restroom entrance and looked outside.

On the court, that strange newcomer teammate in a T-shirt and jeans was playing badminton with No. 6 NPC.

No. 6 was nearly two meters tall, so thin he looked like little more than a skeleton. He stood alone in the south half of the court with a racket in hand, waiting to return the serve.

Xie Fangcheng had a racket too and was serving.

With a bang, the shuttlecock flew over from the north half. No. 6 had only just slowly raised his racket when it hit the ground.

No. 9 stood to one side holding a flag as a referee and gave it a proper wave.

"Xie Fangcheng wins."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

He couldn't help calling out, "Hey!"

Xie Fangcheng turned his head.

Qi Chanyang looked at how relaxed he was. The man even stretched his back, as if he were cooling down after a workout. Did he even know they were in an Infinite Game right now?!

Look at the state of the others on the team.

Lu Xiaoqin could barely stand and was hiding in Gu Shanshan's arms, her shoulders shaking. Gu Shanshan was still composed, but her face had gone white. The other onlookers all stood silent, fear clear in their eyes.

Qi Chanyang wasn't especially frightened. A level-one instance had limited difficulty and terror. He was just a softhearted do-gooder, putting in the time and effort in hopes that a couple more of these newcomers might survive.

And then there was this Xie Fangcheng! How was he closer to the NPCs than the players?? What kind of person was this guy??

Qi Chanyang gritted his teeth. "Get over here!"

Xie Fangcheng handed his racket to No. 9 and even gave No. 9 an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Judging by the movement of his lips, he was probably saying, "See? Badminton isn't hard. You can definitely beat No. 6. Go for it!"

Everyone: "..."

After Xie Fangcheng reached the restroom entrance, he even asked in surprise, "Why is everyone here? Are you lining up to use the bathroom?"

"..." Qi Chanyang ignored him and turned toward the sinks.

Gu Shanshan was the one who quickly explained what had happened.

Xie Fangcheng merely nodded after hearing her out. He walked over to the sink and casually turned on the faucet.

Sure enough, blood flowed out when he turned it on as well.

The restroom fell quiet again.

Qi Chanyang was feeling somewhat resentful. Without looking at him, he faced the group and began his analysis.

"It seems that because you said you saw eyeballs in the cafeteria, blood and chunks of flesh are coming out when you turn on the faucet now."

Splash, splash...

"But you haven't triggered a killing rule, so the NPCs can't attack you. If you run into something similar again, pretend you didn't see it. Don't let the NPCs notice anything unusual."

Chug, chug...

"I've checked. There don't seem to be any other clues on the court. We'll look in the reading room next door in a minute."

Pop... pop...

Qi Chanyang couldn't help turning around. "...Why haven't you turned off the faucet??"

The sink now looked like a dismemberment scene, piled with fingernails, hair, suspicious fragments of organs, chunks of flesh... all giving off a bloody smell.

Something large seemed to be clogging the pipe. It had been popping for a while without coming out, so Xie Fangcheng helpfully patted the pipe. Out came half an eyeball tangled in hair. Everyone's hair stood on end, as if something were crawling across their backs.

But Xie Fangcheng, the one who had knocked that thing out, looked perfectly normal. "I'm a little curious how much inventory it has in the end."

"..."

"What?"

Lu Xiaoqin's voice trembled. "Aren't you scared?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you scared... that in the end, a female ghost might... might crawl out of the pipe... or something?"

Once she said it, everyone stared at the faucet in horror, feeling as if a long-haired female ghost would really crawl out of it the next second.

Xie Fangcheng laughed. "What are you afraid of? You're dead too, aren't you? That makes you a female ghost as well. If anyone should be afraid, it's her. The pipe's that narrow. She crawls out a bit, you chop off a bit. She crawls out a bit, you chop off a bit. You can't beat her?"

"...?"

Seeing Lu Xiaoqin's expression, like she was about to faint, Xie Fangcheng thought about it and added some consolation. "And if you really can't beat her, you've died once already. Dying one more time, you'll probably be used to it."

Everyone: "..."

Everyone looked at him speechlessly. As they spoke, the pipe made one last effort, popping out the last scraps of flesh. A rumble of straining suction came from inside it, while the blood flowing out dwindled until only a few drops remained.

Then, with a hiss, normal clear water grudgingly sprayed out and rinsed into the sink.

Xie Fangcheng patted the faucet again. "That's it? It hasn't even been three minutes."

A layer of human tissue, shredded flesh, and hair had accumulated in the sink, with half an eyeball gathered among it all. It was a terrifying sight.

But at his words, even Lu Xiaoqin seemed to have a voice in her heart asking: That's it?

This was Qi Chanyang's first time encountering a newcomer with this kind of outlook, and for a moment, he had no idea what to say.

But when he turned around, the newcomers who had been scared stiff now all wore subtly speechless expressions.

In any case, at least they weren't quite so frightened anymore.

Taking advantage of their no-longer-so-low spirits, Qi Chanyang clapped his hands.

"Let's go to the reading room now and see if we can find more clues."

The moment he finished, a sinister voice came from the restroom entrance. "What are you all gathered here for?"

The doctor stood in the doorway, his eyeballs shifting as his gaze slid over each person, as though inspecting the condition of his food.

The restroom went still. The morale that had just risen a little plunged back to the bottom. Xue Kai, closest to the door, kept chanting holy shit in his mind, and then the doctor's gaze landed on him.

"Mr. Xue, why aren't you playing ball? What are you doing here?"

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Xue Kai felt that the doctor's already bulging eyeballs had grown even larger, as though they were about to burst from their sockets.

Xue Kai took a step back, fear making his voice shake.

"I..."

"Using the bathroom." Xie Fangcheng's voice came from the farthest corner of the restroom, carrying a trace of confusion, as if the doctor had asked the stupidest question imaginable. "Of course we're using the bathroom if we came to the bathroom. What else would we be doing, having a group meal?"

"All of you are using the bathroom together?" the doctor asked viciously.

"Oh, we're all done. We were waiting to wash our hands, but the sink is clogged. Perfect timing. Come take a look and see how to clean it out." He sounded entirely justified, like he was ordering around a subordinate.

Our savior!!

Xue Kai's eyes filled with grateful tears.

The doctor fell silent, his voice grinding through clenched teeth. "Don't stand around here! Go do whatever you're supposed to be doing!"

The players immediately filed out.

Xie Fangcheng followed the group out last, but his pace was slow, and gradually a distance opened between him and the others.

The doctor's attention was on the sink now. He frowned in disgust.

He had told Dr. Han so many times not to grind up the failed specimens and flush them directly down the drain, but Dr. Han never listened.

Should he report it to the Director next time? If the Director got angry, perhaps he would eat Dr. Han?

If that happened, all the patients in this batch would be his.

One player after another passed by the doctor, until only the one named Xie Fangcheng remained.

Just as Xie Fangcheng was about to brush past him, the doctor suddenly felt a weight settle on his shoulder.

A lean, pale hand rested there. The doctor's eyeballs shifted, and his gaze slowly traveled from the hand to the face above it.

It had to be said that even as an NPC, the doctor knew the player before him was exceptionally beautiful.

He had lovely almond-shaped eyes, a tall, slender figure, fair delicate skin, and a slim, toned waist. He looked like a little porcelain doll that would shatter at the slightest touch.

The doctor had eaten countless porcelain dolls like this. Their flesh was fragrant and tender, delicious food.

Just as saliva began to seep uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth, the porcelain doll spoke beside his ear.

"Don't like what's in the sink? Such a picky eater?"

The doctor's eyes met those of the player called Xie Fangcheng.

The doctor opened his eyes wide, somewhat confused.

No patient had ever dared meet his gaze before, but this person merely tilted his head to look at him. His pitch-black eyes examined the "person" before him. They were like inorganic black obsidian, looking down from above as though he were something filthy.

Then his scarlet lips curved into a chilling smile.

"Or..."

"Do you only like it alive?"

With that, Xie Fangcheng straightened up and patted the doctor on the shoulder.

"Being a picky eater isn't good."

The doctor's eyeballs shifted.

Xie Fangcheng smiled. "I'm right, aren't I, Dr. He?"