Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 4

"Found him--He Xin!"

The hospital's reading room was large. Four or five bookcases were packed with books on brain research; besides those, there were all sorts of newspapers and magazines.

On the periodicals rack by the entrance sat a copy of An Introduction to Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, printed by the hospital itself. It was a thin booklet, introducing the hospital's basic circumstances with pictures and text, much like the advertisements for men's health clinics that were often handed out on the street.

Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital was a private hospital. It had been founded ten years ago, and its director was Chen Xiangyuan, a doctor of neurology who had returned from abroad. He looked refined in the photograph, and the list of honors beneath it filled half a page, in both Chinese and English. One look was enough to tell that he was extremely accomplished.

Over those ten years, the hospital had treated several hundred patients, boasting a successful discharge rate as high as ninety percent.

Turning the pages, they found five or six consecutive pages of thank-you letters from family members.

There were patients with mania who had been successfully discharged after two months, patients with autism discharged after half a year, and even children sent in by their parents for internet addiction.

"'Ever since our child came home after treatment at Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, he has never touched a computer again. His grades have soared. Thank you to the doctors for giving our child a future'... Damn, does this hospital have a successor to the Lightning King?" Xue Kai snarked.

"This one's strange too. 'My younger brother used to be introverted. He didn't like talking, had no friends. Ever since receiving treatment at the hospital, he has become talkative and willing to go out and socialize. Thank you to the doctors.' Is being introverted a mental illness too? And how do they treat that?"

"And this one. They sent someone in for puppy love, and after getting out, all they cared about was studying. They never spoke to the opposite sex again. Aren't the parents the ones with the problem?"

They kept complaining as they flipped farther back. After the family thank-you letters came "Profiles of the Hospital's Outstanding Doctors," with photographs of three doctors.

Attending physician--Han Qi.

Associate chief physician--Ge Juan.

Intern--

"He Xin! This must be him! That doctor NPC outside has exactly the same hairstyle as in the photo!"

He Xin in the photo was not especially handsome, but at least one glance told you he was a normal person.

The one outside now, though...

The thought alone made everyone shudder.

That was all the booklet contained. After Qi Chanyang finished reading it, he could not shake the feeling that something was off.

Gu Shanshan was a white-collar worker whose job involved publicity, and she immediately spotted the problem.

"This booklet looks like a promotional brochure, but if it is, it's missing the most important page: it doesn't have the hospital's address or contact information."

Qi Chanyang froze, then opened the booklet again.

Sure enough, the entire brochure strained to explain how good the hospital was, how obedient its patients became after leaving. It practically wanted to print, right on the first page, If someone in your family is sick, you absolutely have to come to Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital for treatment! Yet it had left out the most vital information.

It was like a talent-show contestant screaming, "Vote for me! Vote for me!" onstage without saying what number contestant they were or how anyone could vote for them.

Qi Chanyang searched through it carefully again and finally found signs of a page having been torn out on the second-to-last page.

Whoever had torn it out had been extremely careful; unless one looked closely, it was impossible to tell.

What had been on the missing page?

"An address and contact information aren't complicated. Half a page, or one side, should have been enough. What would have been on the other side?"

Gu Shanshan considered it for a moment. "If I were the one printing this advertising booklet, I would probably introduce the hospital's facilities too--the equipment, the size of the grounds... perhaps even a detailed floor plan of the hospital."

Since entering the instance, they had only been circling around the first floor. A floor plan would indeed be a great help.

"Everyone, look around later. See if that page can be found in any other books or drawers." But the odds were not high. Pages torn from books like this were generally not easy to find.

Qi Chanyang glanced at the electronic clock on the wall. "We have to go back to rest at ten. For now, each of us should take a bookcase and see whether any of the books has clues. At nine thirty, we'll compare what we've learned."

Everyone answered and scattered in all directions.

Qi Chanyang sat beside the periodicals rack, leafing through the newspapers and magazines.

These newcomers had already given him plenty of surprises, but expecting people in their first instance to uncover some critical clue was still a little unrealistic.

Qi Chanyang chose the periodicals, the place most likely to yield a clue.

The reading room's periodicals rack had five columns. Most of them were medical publications, and once opened, they were almost entirely in English. Qi Chanyang could not understand them, so he casually set them aside.

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw someone else sit down beside him and pick up a medical journal to leaf through.

Qi Chanyang paused.

"You can understand that?"

Xie Fangcheng shook his head. "Not really."

"..."

Qi Chanyang had already lost the desire to figure out this strange newcomer.

He even felt that this psychiatric hospital really did suit Xie Fangcheng. No matter how he looked at him, the guy seemed a little abnormal.

With that thought, Qi Chanyang continued through the newspapers.

At last, amid the pile of English publications, he found an elementary school math textbook.

Fourth Grade, Volume Two.

Qi Chanyang frowned.

Did the hospital have patients that young?

Opening the textbook, he saw the owner's class and name written on the first page.

Class 1, Grade 4, Liu Hanyue.

The handwriting was childish at a glance, clearly written by a child.

This child named Liu Hanyue was evidently an excellent student. A test paper was tucked inside the textbook, marked one hundred, with a comment from the homeroom teacher: "Liu Hanyue has always studied diligently. She is an obedient, sensible child who cares for her classmates. Her only weakness is physical education. We hope her parents can take her out for more exercise after school."

Qi Chanyang had a younger sister, and he could not help smiling knowingly.

Only, unlike this little Liu Hanyue, his sister liked exercise far too much.

He wondered how she was doing now.

Qi Chanyang turned the test paper over wistfully, then his gaze sharpened.

Behind the teacher's comment, a parent had replied in blue gel ink.

"Thank you for your concern, Teacher. My spouse and I will certainly take Xiaoyue out to exercise more."

"Parent: Ge Juan."

Ge Juan.

Qi Chanyang immediately took out the hospital brochure and turned to the profiles of outstanding doctors.

Associate chief physician: Ge Juan.

Profile: Doctoral candidate at XXX University, age 41. Won numerous domestic and international awards during her studies. After graduation, entered a municipal hospital, then was recruited by Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital. During her time at our hospital, she was named "Most Popular Doctor Among Patients" for three consecutive years.

Compared to the other two doctors' kindly expressions in their photos, Ge Juan's photograph looked exceptionally stern.

And at forty-one, she was not old, but she was certainly no longer young.

Ge Juan wore glasses in the photo, yet it was still clear that she had no bags under her eyes and smooth skin. Judging from the photograph alone, she looked no older than thirty.

Could the photo have been taken when Ge Juan was thirty?

That should not be it. The other doctors were all around forty as well, and their photos all matched their ages. Why was she the only exception?

Just then, the person beside him who had been leafing through English journals the whole time leaned over. "Huh? All three of them received the Gold Conceive Award."

"What?"

Qi Chanyang frowned and carefully examined the three doctors' lists of honors.

Each person's honors filled a long half-page. At a glance, it was all English, so no one had paid it any attention before.

Looking closely now, there was indeed a line in each of them that read Gold Conceive.

Qi Chanyang immediately flipped back to the first page, and, just as expected, the Director's list of honors had the same line.

"What kind of award is that?"

Qi Chanyang was not good at English. Such a complicated term sounded like some international science award.

Xie Fangcheng answered from beside him, "Uh... Gold Idea?"

"..." The prestige of it instantly dropped to the level of a tacky gala show.

Qi Chanyang gave him a look, then put the test paper and the brochure together, considering the connection between them.

Ge Juan was forty-one and had a spouse and a daughter.

Her daughter was at least in fourth grade, meaning at least ten years old. At ten, she had excellent academic performance but poor physical education.

The Director who founded the hospital and the three doctors had all received the same award.

Qi Chanyang thought of something. He raised his head and looked at the five entire bookcases filling the reading room.

Would a normal psychiatric hospital need this many books on brain science?

Just then, Lu Xiaoqin came over carrying a book.

"Brother Qi, I found a book someone made notes in."

It was a thick English book with a human brain printed on the cover.

Qi Chanyang opened it to the annotated page. In the dense English text, a large section had been blacked out with a black pen.

The person who had blacked it out was obviously agitated, leaving a scrawled note beside it.

"Fake! Fake! The experimental results are wrong! The data is wrong!"

Qi Chanyang asked, "What is this section about? Can you understand it?"

Lu Xiaoqin shook her head. "I can't."

Someone beside them chimed in, "This page is about an experiment in which severed nerves in a monkey's brain were reconnected. The blacked-out section might be the procedure."

Qi Chanyang looked at him. "Didn't you say you couldn't really understand it?"

"Oh, I'm just modest."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Qi Chanyang set this book aside as well.

The clues were still not very clear, but Qi Chanyang had a vague guess.

This psychiatric hospital was probably conducting illegal human experiments. Led by Director Chen Xiangyuan, he and the three doctors used treatment for mental illness as a cover, tricking patients' families into trusting them while performing brain experiments on the patients.

What kind of experiment could it be?

Could it be related to Ge Juan's daughter's poor physical education, and to how Ge Juan looked much too young?

Gold Conceive...

Qi Chanyang hurriedly shared the clue with everyone. "The hospital's Director and all three doctors have received an award called Gold Conceive. Keep an eye out for any clue about that award while you search."

Everyone voiced their agreement.

Qi Chanyang was also about to look through that stack of incomprehensible magazines when he turned and saw Xie Fangcheng holding the test paper in one hand and the book in the other, clearly comparing the handwriting in the book's notes with that on the test paper.

The newcomer was strange, but some of the things he said were occasionally useful.

Qi Chanyang hesitated, then could not help leaning over. "Did you notice something?"

Xie Fangcheng laid the test paper over the book and pointed to the note. "Look. Doesn't the handwriting here look a lot like the handwriting on the test paper?"

Qi Chanyang studied the note carefully, then flipped the test paper over and looked at Ge Juan's signature on it, his brow furrowing.

"I can't tell. Maybe Ge Juan was in a good mood when she signed the test paper, so her handwriting was neater. But when she read this book, she was agitated, so her handwriting was messier."

Xie Fangcheng shook his head. "I'm not talking about Ge Juan's signature."

"Hm?"

Xie Fangcheng turned the test paper back to the page with the teacher's comment.

"I'm talking about these lines the teacher wrote."

The teacher's writing?

Qi Chanyang looked carefully, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

The teacher's comment on the test paper was written fairly casually, but it really did look very much like the handwriting in the book's note.

But how could that be?

If they had truly been written by the same person, that meant... Liu Hanyue's homeroom teacher was also someone from Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital.

A doctor?

That could not be right. If they were a doctor, how could they also work as an elementary school homeroom teacher? Both jobs were demanding.

If not a doctor, then who could it be? A cook? A security guard? Even a patient?

With those questions in mind, Qi Chanyang continued searching through magazines and newspapers.

Soon, without anyone noticing, it was nine thirty.

Whatever secrets the hospital held, whatever dangerous experiments it might be conducting, their first priority was still to make it safely through the first day.

"First, follow the doctor NPC's instructions as much as possible."

"Second, if you encounter anything abnormal, don't show it. If you accidentally do, say you saw it wrong."

"Third, the doctor may have everyone take medicine tonight."

As he spoke, Qi Chanyang took eight cicada-shaped slips of paper from the System Inventory.

"Generally speaking, a guaranteed-death Rule won't appear on the first day. In my experience, as long as you listen to the NPCs, you'll make it through the first day safely. But if we're unlucky and encounter a situation that is certain death on the first day, I'm No. 1, so I should be the first to take the medicine. Assuming we can't gather together when we take it, I'll use these to warn everyone and tell you whether it can be taken."

"These are single-use items. Once torn open, they allow group communication for half an hour. If we confirm we'll be separated when we take the medicine, tear one open. But I only have eight."

Qi Chanyang's gaze shifted to Xie Fangcheng. "You're No. 9, so you should be the last to take the medicine. You take this."

He pulled out a token and pressed it into Xie Fangcheng's hand.

"This is one of my skill items, called the Broken Shadow Man. I'll find a way to tell you as quickly as possible whether the pills can be taken. Until I notify you, stall for time as much as you can. If you really can't stall anymore, or if the NPC shows signs of aggression, squeeze this token hard. The shadow will help you hold them off for a while."

"But the shadow can only last six minutes. In those six minutes, come find me and regroup with me."

"I don't know how strong the NPC is. The shadow might disappear in less than six minutes, so you need to move fast!"

Finally, Qi Chanyang looked at the eight newcomers before him.

"Of course, none of this is a hundred-percent guarantee of survival. If you find yourself in danger, run. Run wherever you can. Anything is better than standing still and waiting to be caught!"

The reading room fell silent. They looked at one another, and at last the pressure of death seemed to take form, hanging over every one of them.

Qi Chanyang looked toward the door of the reading room.

The doctor was still wandering aimlessly through the corridor. But perhaps because ten o'clock was drawing near, each time he passed the reading room, he looked inside. His distinctly inhuman eyes darted rapidly, like a gourmet selecting ingredients.

Qi Chanyang calmly turned away.

"Let's go, newcomers. Prepare to survive your first night in the instance."