Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital 5

As ten o'clock drew near, the patient NPCs gathered of their own accord at the stairwell at the end of the first-floor corridor. The players followed behind them.

The doctor stood by the iron gate at the stairwell, his eyes sweeping over the patients before him.

At nine fifty, he finally took out his key.

"Let me stress this again. At ten o'clock, the doctors will begin their rounds. Before the rounds begin, everyone must remain in their ward and wait until they are over. If anyone is absent..."

The doctor gave an unreadable chuckle, then unlocked the iron gate.

The patient NPCs seemed thoroughly used to this. They made their way up the stairs with their characteristically slow, swaying gait. From behind, they looked like a crowd of elderly men unsteady on their feet.

The players followed the patient NPCs up the stairs, whispering among themselves behind them.

"We have to stay in our rooms during rounds, but he didn't say whether we can go out once the rounds are over. Could we wait until then and move together?"

"I don't think so. This hospital is terrifying. It might be even worse at night..."

"Where are we supposed to stay? The doctor didn't seem to say."

"Maybe the nine of us can stay in one ward. A big communal bed."

The lights in the second-floor corridor came on.

The moment they entered the second floor, the temperature around them seemed to drop by several degrees.

Walking at the front of the group, Qi Chanyang was the first to spot several lines of text posted on the wall.

Night Rules for the Residential Area:

1. At night, rooms must be kept clean and sanitary. Any trash in the wastebasket must be removed promptly;

2. Walking in the corridor is forbidden after midnight;

3. Walking is forbidden after the corridor lights go out;

4. Staying in the bathroom for more than ten minutes at night is forbidden;

5. Patients must close their ward doors after returning to their rooms. If you hear a knock, do not open the door.

The fifth rule had probably not been posted at the same time as the others. Its lettering was much brighter in color.

Looking at the rules, Xue Kai could not help asking curiously, "There didn't seem to be anything like this posted on the first floor. Does that mean the second floor is much more dangerous?"

Qi Chanyang shook his head and gestured for him to look behind them.

Once everyone had made it to the second floor, the doctor NPC named He Xin locked the stairwell door leading down to the first floor.

"After we return to the second floor at ten, the stairs to the first floor are sealed off. That's probably why no night rules are posted downstairs, but it doesn't mean the first floor is safer than the second. In fact, the fact that these rules are posted here means following them improves your chances of survival."

After saying that, Qi Chanyang turned his head slightly and quietly reminded the newcomers behind him, "Make sure you remember all five. Rules posted this plainly are killing rules. Once they're triggered, NPCs will definitely come after you. But as I've said, if you run into danger, run if you can. Don't just sit there and wait to die!"

As he spoke, Qi Chanyang caught Xie Fangcheng out of the corner of his eye, head tilted back as he studied the five rules on the wall. Knowing perfectly well that this man was not normal, he still could not help asking, "What are you looking at?"

"Look at the fourth rule."

Qi Chanyang hurriedly looked up again and reread the fourth rule carefully.

What was wrong with it? Was the handwriting different, or was there some trap in that rule?

Just then, he heard the person beside him ask, "What if you get constipated at night?"

Qi Chanyang: "..."

Fuck!

Qi Chanyang turned and walked away.

On the second floor, the patients' wards were all on the right side of the stairs. There were nine wards in total.

Each patient NPC entered a ward according to the number on their hospital gown, and the players' hearts lurched.

Lu Xiaoqin felt like she was really about to faint. "We... aren't each going to share a room with a patient NPC, are we?"

Qi Chanyang walked up to Ward No. 1. Its door was open, and from the doorway he could see two beds inside. The No. 1 NPC was already sitting on the bed nearest the door, staring at the players gathered outside.

Qi Chanyang could only nod. "Looks that way."

Lu Xiaoqin's legs gave out.

Everyone else looked equally awful.

When they had eaten in the cafeteria, they had been sitting beside NPCs too, but at least there had been other players around then. With an experienced player like Qi Chanyang there, they had felt somewhat safer.

Now they had to spend the night alone in a ward with an NPC. Even Gu Shanshan, who had remained calm all this time, changed expression.

Just then, the doctor's voice came from behind the players.

"Why haven't you returned to your rooms?"

Lu Xiaoqin's legs were so weak she could not walk. Gu Shanshan helped her to the door of Ward No. 3, while the doctor's eyes remained fixed on them.

"Only two people may occupy one ward. A third patient is not allowed to enter."

Inside the ward, Patient No. 3 sat quietly on the bed. When he saw Lu Xiaoqin, he flashed her a grin. Then, like a bratty child, he reached up, plucked out his own eyeball, and played with it in his hand, watching her with nothing but his pitch-black eye socket.

Lu Xiaoqin had barely stepped halfway into the room before she recoiled in fright.

Gu Shanshan steadied her and asked softly, "How about we switch rooms? It doesn't seem to say we can't."

Lu Xiaoqin was trembling all over, tears of fright already streaming down her face, but she shook her head firmly.

"No. What if switching rooms triggers some other rule?"

Though Gu Shanshan had not said it, Lu Xiaoqin knew very well that Gu Shanshan had twisted blood and human tissue out of the faucet because of her.

If that player named Xie had not helped them, the two of them might already have triggered a killing rule and died.

Lu Xiaoqin knew she was timid. From what Qi Chanyang had said, this instance counted as a very easy one in the game, yet she was already so frightened her limbs had gone limp. Even if she survived this instance by sheer luck, she could not earn points without entering instances, and food and lodging at the base both required points.

In the next instance, without reminders from a kind-hearted veteran like Qi Chanyang, without Gu Shanshan looking after her, and without Xie Fangcheng's help, she would surely die.

Gu Shanshan was different from her. She was calm. Though she was afraid of these things too, fear did not stop her from thinking or acting.

She could survive in the instances. Maybe she could even save enough points to go back.

Lu Xiaoqin did not want to drag anyone else down.

She took a few breaths, braced herself against the doorframe, her expression as heroic as one could possibly be, and extended her foot again--

Just then, Lu Xiaoqin felt another head poke out beside hers, peering into Ward No. 3.

Lu Xiaoqin jumped and turned to look. It was that player named Xie.

Xie Fangcheng happened to be passing by. At that moment, he frowned like a school disciplinarian as he looked at Patient No. 3. "What are you doing? Keep acting up and I'll crush that eyeball!"

No. 3 knew him too. He was the one who had made No. 9 gouge out No. 3's eye twice.

No. 3 knew Lu Xiaoqin was easy to bully, which was why he had scared her. But at the sight of Xie Fangcheng, he silently shrank back. The eyeball in his hand rolled as it looked toward the doorway.

"What are you looking at? Put your eyeball back in! Stop messing around." His tone was exactly like a school disciplinarian's too.

No. 3 obediently reached up and put the eyeball back into its socket.

Though he was a terrifying NPC, Lu Xiaoqin thought she glimpsed a trace of grievance in his eyes at that moment.

Xie Fangcheng tipped his chin at Lu Xiaoqin. "It's fine. If this kid acts up again, tomorrow I'll help you borrow No. 9's left hand. His left hand is incredibly accurate when it comes to gouging out eyeballs. You can keep it with you tonight for courage."

Lu Xiaoqin: "..."

Carrying around a severed hand or facing someone gouging out an eye--she had no idea which was more frightening.

Drained, Lu Xiaoqin said, "Th-thank you..."

The doctor urged them from behind. "It's almost ten! Hurry up!"

Lu Xiaoqin took a deep breath and finally entered the ward.

Xie Fangcheng headed inside as well. Ward No. 9 was at the end of the corridor.

He pushed open the door. No. 9 was sitting quietly on the bed, and when he saw Xie Fangcheng, a smile appeared on his upside-down face.

Xie Fangcheng smiled back at him. After closing the door, he walked over and sat on the inner bed.

For a time, the corridor and everything around it were quiet.

Soon, the piercing ten o'clock bell rang.

Almost at the same moment, the distant sound of a cart and clinking bottles and jars came from the corridor.

Qi Chanyang tore open the cicada-shaped slip of paper. A transparent jade cicada, visible only to him, fluttered its wings and gently settled beside his right ear.

He had thirty minutes of call time. He hoped the others would be able to hear from the moment the doctors entered.

This group of newcomers had never cleared an instance. Facing NPCs alone for the first time, they needed courage, and they needed experience.

Soon, all eight cicada-shaped slips had been used, and Cicada Call took effect.

Qi Chanyang spoke in a low voice. "Can you hear me?"

After seven jumbled replies of "Yes," Qi Chanyang patiently reminded them again.

"Once the doctors come in, listen carefully. The procedure should be fixed. Handle it the way I do, and there won't be any danger."

"Mm-hmm."

"Okay."

Cicada Call fell quiet for a moment. Outside the door, the cart moved exceptionally slowly, as if it carried something so heavy it took great effort to push.

But no matter how slowly it moved, they could tell the sound was getting closer. The agonizing wait was like being shut in a coffin, waiting for the oxygen inside to run out.

Just then, Lu Xiaoqin's timid voice came through Cicada Call.

"Brother Qi, thank you."

Soon, several more jumbled voices followed.

"Right, thank you so much, Brother Qi. If it weren't for you, I'd have been scared to death the moment I entered the instance."

"Me too, me too."

"Good thing Brother Qi is here. If it were just us newcomers, we'd probably die without even knowing how."

"I know. Xue Kai, you'd definitely die of fright."

"You're so brave? Then why couldn't you even walk just now?"

Qi Chanyang pressed his lips together in a smile, and his taut nerves eased a little.

Then someone asked quietly, "Brother Qi, are all veteran players as kind-hearted as you?"

"No." Qi Chanyang's smile faded. He glanced at Patient No. 1 lying on the bed.

No. 1 was short, but his arms and hair were extremely long. His hair trailed on the floor, and apparently finding the floor dirty, he idly used arms longer than his own height to wind his hair around them.

Qi Chanyang seemed to think of something. His voice turned cold. "Some people only look human."

Cicada Call went quiet.

Just then, the sound of the cart became crystal clear. It sounded as though it had reached the door.

Qi Chanyang focused himself.

"Enough chatting. Get ready--"

The sound passed right by the door of Ward No. 1.

Then, not far away, came the sound of a door opening.

An unfamiliar voice came through both Cicada Call and the corridor, overlapping as it entered everyone's ears.

"Doctor rounds."

Qi Chanyang jerked upright in bed.

"Which ward did the doctor enter?"

In Cicada Call, a trembling yet calm voice answered him.

"Ward No. 4."

Gu Shanshan sat on the bed, facing the two doctors standing in the doorway.

One was the familiar He Xin. Dr. He, who had always seemed so arrogant, was now obediently pushing the cart. Its two tiers were piled with all kinds of solutions and medicines.

Only after the door opened could one see that it was not because the cart held too many things that he walked so slowly.

Gu Shanshan lowered her gaze. He Xin was standing on one foot; the other seemed to be missing a section of leg bone, making him limp as he walked.

And the other doctor--

Gu Shanshan took one look and immediately lowered her eyes. Covering her mouth to suppress the urge to vomit, she spoke quickly and quietly.

"Besides He Xin, there's another doctor. It should be Han Qi. But his body... has grown a lot of teeth."

Han Qi wore a white coat too. He even had on a strange, tall hat, as if it were meant to cover something growing from the top of his head.

The brim of the hat was firmly bitten by the teeth on his forehead. Those teeth were especially small, like a baby's teeth.

Han Qi wore a mask as well, but two canine teeth protruded from beneath its edge on his right cheek. Clearly, he had the same thing growing on his face.

Gu Shanshan lowered her head after one glance.

Han Qi walked in.

Patient No. 4 was a little girl. Her oversized hospital gown covered her completely, making her look like a doll with terrifyingly large eyes.

But anyone who had seen her walk would discover that her legs were actually two arms, identical to the two growing from her shoulders.

Han Qi crouched down and smiled at the little girl.

"Qingqing, how are you feeling today?"

No. 4 answered obediently, "Very good today."

"Have you seen that strange little cat again?"

"No."

Han Qi stood and turned to instruct He Xin.

"Same medicine as yesterday for Qingqing."

He Xin pinched a round tablet out of a medicine bottle and handed it to her. No. 4 held it in her palm, then turned and stared straight at Gu Shanshan.

Gu Shanshan took a deep breath.

Soon, Han Qi walked to her bedside.

"Ms. Gu, I hear you saw an eyeball in your spoon today?"

Gu Shanshan bit her lip, holding back her fear.

"Yes."

"Eyeballs cannot appear in spoons, can they?" Han Qi looked at her.

"But during the meal, Dr. He should have seen it too..."

"Dr. He was mistaken. That was his error." Han Qi narrowed his eyes, turning to give the He Xin behind him an icy look. "Dr. He has already paid the price for his carelessness."

He Xin shuddered all over.

Having said that, Han Qi turned back with a smile.

"Please rest assured, Ms. Gu. Although you are now experiencing severe hysteria, under the careful treatment of our Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital, such symptoms will certainly improve soon. He Xin, prescribe Ms. Gu an extra dose of medication for hysteria."

When He Xin, standing guard beside the cart, heard this, his unpleasant expression from the moment he entered immediately brightened. Happily, he took a flesh-pink medicine bottle from the second tier, pinched out two pills, and handed them to Han Qi.

Han Qi held out his hand. As he moved, his loose sleeve slid up slightly, exposing part of his forearm.

There, on his forearm, were two rows of teeth as well.

Gu Shanshan forced herself to look at the teeth on his arm. She needed to give Qi Chanyang and the others more information.

Just then, the teeth that had been still and silent on his arm suddenly opened, revealing mouths and tongues, as though they were mischievously making faces at her.

Gu Shanshan: !!!

She sucked in a breath and recoiled sharply.

"What is it, Ms. Gu?" Han Qi's voice rang out, carrying undisguised excitement and malice. "Have you seen something strange again? Has your hysteria gotten worse, Ms. Gu?"

Gu Shanshan took two sharp breaths and forced herself to calm down.

"No." She raised her eyes and looked Han Qi straight in the eye. "I'm just looking forward to... getting better."

Han Qi looked at her. Only after a long while did he smile.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Your illness will be cured sooner or later."

With that, he handed Gu Shanshan the medicine in his hand.

Only once Gu Shanshan took the pills did she understand why He Xin had not simply tipped the bottle to pour them out, instead laboriously pinching them out by hand.

The two round tablets were densely covered in suspicious, fuzzy tentacle-like appendages that wriggled in her palm.

"Eat them. Once you do, you'll get better," Han Qi said, staring at her.

Gu Shanshan felt as though her entire body were crawling with those things. Nausea rose in her throat.

She took a deep breath. "I... I'll take them myself in a moment."

"That won't do." Han Qi smiled. "Good children take their medicine with their companions."

No. 4, sitting on the neighboring bed, tilted her head, tablet in hand, waiting too.

Gu Shanshan gritted her teeth.

In her ear, Qi Chanyang was quickly analyzing the situation through Cicada Call.

"From what we can tell, you probably can't take more than three of those pills. The NPC just said your hysteria had worsened, and he sounded excited. There should be serious consequences after the third pill. My guess is... three pills are the lethal dose. Two probably won't kill you, but there will definitely be serious side effects. Shanshan, figure something out. Whatever you do, don't swallow them!"

Gu Shanshan understood that too, but three pairs of eyes were staring fixedly at her.

She could only place the pills in her palm, open her mouth, and put them inside in front of all three people.

Han Qi watched her intently.

"Ms. Gu, did you swallow them?"

Gu Shanshan made a swallowing motion and nodded, her tongue pressing down hard on the two pills writhing madly in her mouth.

Han Qi sneered. "You really won't give up until you're at death's door."

Every hair on Gu Shanshan's body stood on end, but Han Qi merely looked at her. His gaze held pity and sympathy, after which he gave Patient No. 4 a meaningful look and quickly left with He Xin.

The instant the ward door closed, Gu Shanshan thrust out her hand.

In those few short seconds, she felt as though strange things had already filled her mouth.

She forcibly tore the two monsters that had latched onto the inside of her mouth free.

The moment the two monsters came out, they immediately reverted to the shape of small tablets.

Gu Shanshan dry-heaved twice. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, she first took off her coat and wrapped the two pills tightly inside it. Then, enduring the pain, she quickly shared the information with the others in a low voice.

"Xiaoqin! If the doctor asks you, say you were mistaken and didn't see an eyeball, or you'll have to take two pills. The teeth on Han Qi's body... aren't just teeth. They're mouths without lips! They seem to have minds of their own and can move by themselves. Don't stare at them. If they notice, the teeth may open..."

Lu Xiaoqin asked through quiet sobs, "Shanshan, how are you?"

Through Cicada Call, Gu Shanshan said in the tone of someone who had barely survived, "I hid the pills under the coating on my tongue... What the hell are these things?! Once they get into your mouth, they grow fast. They have tentacles and suckers, and they latch onto the inside of your mouth... Once the doctors leave, pull them out as quickly as you can. Otherwise, they..."

"Big sister."

An unfamiliar little girl's voice came through Cicada Call and into everyone's ears.

On Gu Shanshan's end, there was a deathly silence. After a long while, her deliberately calm voice came through again.

"What is it, Qingqing?"

She called the No. 4 patient's name, making them sound as if they were close.

But anyone who saw the current situation would never think they could possibly grow close.

Under Gu Shanshan's bed, No. 4 was on all fours. Though she was crouched down, her head had rotated one hundred and eighty degrees. A young girl's face connected to her back, her big eyes looking at Gu Shanshan, her twin ponytails dangling in the air.

"You didn't take your medicine, did you?"

Gu Shanshan took a deep breath and tried to pull out a smile. "Big sister took it."

"You're lying." No. 4 pouted, then broke into a happy smile. "It's okay. I'll tell you a little secret too. I didn't take mine either."

As she spoke, No. 4 reached out and, like Gu Shanshan, tore a monster out of her mouth.

This monster was visibly smaller than Gu Shanshan's. After being pulled out, it too returned to the shape of a pill, but it was a different color from the ones Gu Shanshan had taken.

It seemed the medicine on the first tier and the medicine on the second tier were not the same kind.

No. 4 tossed the pill to the ground. It wriggled away and disappeared at once.

No. 4 smiled, slowly rose to her feet, and then crawled onto Gu Shanshan's bed.

Gu Shanshan fought down the urge to run and tried to coax her into taking the medicine.

"Big sister really did take her medicine. Good children should listen to the doctor."

No. 4 looked at her, chin propped on her hands. Her two legs, identical to arms, swung back and forth, giving her an eerily innocent, girlish air.

No. 4 smiled. "I am listening to the doctor."

"The doctor said that the patients in a ward have to take their medicine together!"

Excitement gleamed in her innocent eyes. "Big sister, neither of us took our medicine, so neither of us will be sleepy tonight! That means after the doctors leave, we can play a game!"

"...What game?"

No. 4 looked at her, smiling. "It's called--guess, guess, how much flesh you have on your body."