“Just to be clear in advance, the patient’s mental state is extremely unstable. He has shown symptoms of extreme anxiety multiple times and has repeatedly scribbled on the walls using his own blood.”
“Therefore, even though you two are from the Association, for the safety of both sides, you can only communicate with him from outside the room through the guardrail. Please understand.”
“Understood. We’ll comply,” Li Meng replied.
The nurse leading the way nodded, then opened the window of the adjacent room so the two could communicate directly with the person inside.
“This is Patient No. 719. You can try talking to him… but it’s best not to expect any useful information from his mouth.”
At that moment, the nurse’s walkie-talkie rang. After giving a few brief instructions, she turned and answered the call.
“What? Patient No. 747 is eating his roommate’s foot again? Patient No. 863 is using a kitchen knife to fly on a sword? Where did he get that? I’ll come handle it right away!”
With that, the nurse hurried away, leaving only Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng behind.
“Mental hospitals… really full of talented people,” Qiu Qiqian couldn’t help but sigh.
Li Meng beside her also covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.
After the brief moment of amusement, the two turned their attention to the patient inside the room—a thin man huddled in the corner of the bed.
His entire body was trembling nonstop, and he seemed to be muttering something, but due to the distance, the two couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Of course, what made Qiu Qiqian and Li Meng feel the most creeped out was the walls of the room, covered everywhere with the words “I’m sorry.”
The dark red text… Qiu Qiqian remembered the nurse had just said these were written with his own blood.
Just… what exactly had he done? Why was he so obsessed with apologizing?
“Mr. Yuan Fu, can you hear us? Mr. Yuan Fu?”
Li Meng tried calling out to him, but the man showed no sign of being able to communicate normally. He simply huddled in the corner, trembling while drawing something with his fingers.
Afterward, Li Meng called out several more times and even mentioned why they had come, but it was all to no avail.
“Ugh… Xiao Qian, what should we do? There’s no way to communicate with him normally.”
“Hmm…”
Qiu Qiqian bit her finger, her gaze quickly scanning the entire room through the gaps in the iron bars, trying to find any useful information.
The field of view was too narrow… and some of the drawings were too small to see clearly…
At the same time, the man kept huddling in the corner, so she couldn’t sense whether any residual Nether Breath from the Guiyi remained on him. In that case…
“Li Meng, I’ll go inside and take a look. You stay outside for now.”
“Eh? But didn’t that nurse just say…”
“Silly, I can switch to spiritual form. Under normal circumstances, ordinary people can’t see me.”
Only after Qiu Qiqian’s reminder did Li Meng realize what she meant. She quickly glanced around to confirm no one else was nearby, then winked at Qiu Qiqian to signal it was okay to switch.
Thus, Qiu Qiqian instantly switched to her spiritual form. Like a regular ghost, her feet left the ground as she passed straight through the door panel and entered the room.
Now… next…
Qiu Qiqian did not approach him immediately. Instead, she first looked at the shocking text he had left on the walls using blood.
One entire wall was filled with “I’m sorry” written in various sizes, along with many red crosses.
These red crosses were not standalone. They often covered other drawings, as if expressing a sense of… denial?
Or the desire to erase something.
For example, one red cross was drawn over a whale, while another nearby was drawn over a somewhat sloppy and crude little figure.
Due to the poor drawing skills, Qiu Qiqian couldn’t tell what the figure was supposed to be at all. The only somewhat recognizable part was… the potato-shaped head.
Was it Yu Sheng?
That was the only person Qiu Qiqian could think of—the Curator Yu.
But why did these people always like writing and drawing on walls? Couldn’t they just write some normal text?
Qiu Qiqian complained inwardly, once again reminded of that riddle-speaking Cardinal.
After roughly examining the drawings on the walls, Qiu Qiqian finally floated toward the man who was huddled with his head in his arms in the corner.
When she got within about three meters, Qiu Qiqian could finally make out what he was muttering—
“It wasn’t me who killed you… It wasn’t me who killed you!”
“It was all Yu Sheng’s doing! It was all Yu Sheng!”
The man huddled in the corner, his body trembling nonstop as he repeatedly muttered those same few sentences.
Qiu Qiqian could sense that there was indeed residual Nether Breath from another Guiyi on him… It looked like they would soon be able to find that Guiyi.
Qiu Qiqian continued to move closer and began absorbing the Nether Breath from the man’s body.
She didn’t notice that the man named Yuan Fu in front of her already had bloodshot eyes wide with fury, staring fixedly at the shadows in the corner.
He hadn’t had a peaceful night’s sleep for who knows how many days and nights.
He kept trembling… until at a certain moment, he seemed to sense something. In panic, he turned around, his eyeballs darting rapidly as he scanned the entire room.
The sudden movement startled even Qiu Qiqian. Her action of absorbing the Nether Breath paused for a moment, and she thought this guy might actually be able to see her.
But from the looks of it now, perhaps he just had a sharper sixth sense?
At this moment, Yuan Fu was still scanning the room.
Nothing… There was nothing in the room, but… there was definitely something else!! Something invisible and intangible was present!
His contact with that “whale” had made his sensitivity to Nether Breath slightly sharper.
Although he couldn’t see Qiu Qiqian, the Nether Breath continuously emanating from her made him subconsciously associate it with what he had felt on that whale.
“It’s you?! How did you find me here?! No… no no no no!!”
Terrified, he kicked his legs and frantically clawed at the wall behind him, his eyes filled with fear.
“I told you, it wasn’t me who killed you! Why are you still chasing me… Why… Why?! You beast!! Get out!! Get out!!!”
Extreme fear turned into rage. He began to roar, howling hysterically, while throwing anything he could grab around the room—even though he didn’t even know where Qiu Qiqian was.
Such a loud commotion naturally drew the attention of the nearby doctors and nurses. They hurriedly opened the door to restrain him and prevent any more extreme behavior.
Qiu Qiqian took advantage of the chaos to float out of the room and into the nearest restroom. Then she pretended she had just finished using the toilet and walked back from the corner to Li Meng’s side.
“Hey… Xiao Qian, did you cause some trouble…”
Li Meng stood on her tiptoes, covering her mouth as she whispered into Qiu Qiqian’s ear.
“Probably… I think so… I didn’t expect that guy to actually sense me.”
Qiu Qiqian’s expression was complicated. She really didn’t want her actions to put Yuan Fu in any life-threatening danger.
However, not long after Qiu Qiqian left, the man who had been in a frenzy suddenly froze.
He lifted his nose and sniffed…
“Gone? I… I drove it away? Hahaha… Hahahaha!!! I won!! I won!!! I’m the champion!!”
The doctor who had been holding him down along with the nurses saw this and could only sigh helplessly.
“Increase the dosage from now on.”
***
“Hey, Sister Nan, how many Youxun are still on guard at the aquarium?”
“Half of the Youxun have already left to handle other matters. There are still a dozen or so on site, but the Xianyi wasn’t taken away and is still set up here.”
“If we activate the Xianyi, how long can it seal off the entire aquarium?”
“The coverage area is too large, so the Xianyi we brought can probably only operate for ten minutes. If you can precisely indicate the area where that Guiyi’s Inner World is manifesting in reality, the Xianyi can narrow its range and operate for longer. But… ten minutes should be enough for you, right?”
“Yes, it’s enough, Sister Nan. You can activate it now.”
“Understood.”
Sister Nan nodded, then gave a hand signal to the Youxun beside her. The person immediately understood and switched the communicator to the regional public channel.
“Begin activating the Xianyi. I repeat, begin activating the Xianyi!”
On the other side, in the suburbs, Li Meng hung up the phone and nodded to Qiu Qiqian beside her.
“Let’s begin, Xiao Qian.”
As she spoke, Li Meng closed her eyes and temporarily relinquished control of her body, allowing Qiu Qiqian to possess her once again.
Once Qiu Qiqian took control of the body, “Li Meng” proceeded just like when she had pried open the Inner World of the Mother of Profanity. Using the Nether Breath she had obtained as a key, she opened the entrance to another Inner World.
However… that Curator Yu… What exactly is his connection to this Guiyi…
Earlier he had clearly said that all the victims had encountered the anomalies in different locations, but… according to the list provided by that woman, they had all encountered the anomalies in the same place—the same branch hall…
Why did Curator Yu lie?
They would have to find him and get a clear answer after dealing with this Guiyi.
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