Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chapter 128 [The Asylum] A Brief Moment of Clarity

The process of the medicine being inserted directly into the stomach through the esophagus immediately made Chen Ji feel nauseous and physiologically want to vomit.

Meanwhile, the female nurse turned her back, blocking Chen Ji's view, seemingly checking whether Du Tingfeng had actually taken the medicine.

A few minutes later, she left.

In the empty ward, only Chen Ji and his companion remained.

"She didn't force you to take the medicine?"

Chen Ji whispered, looking at Du Tingfeng, who was squatting beside him with a worried expression.

"I'm lucky."

Du Tingfeng smiled and took out a few pills from under his tongue. "The pills were stuck together, she didn't notice."

Chen Ji stared blankly at the intact pill in his hand, and after a moment, said somewhat dazedly:

"Too."

"You've always been... very lucky."

He didn't say anything more, stood up somewhat unsteadily, and walked to the door.

"I... need to use the restroom."

"What are you going to do?" Du Tingfeng was taken aback.

"My stomach feels a little uncomfortable."

Chen Ji said softly, and pushed the door open. The once noisy corridor outside was now empty and very quiet.

He knew it was because the other patients had also gone back to take their medication.

The room where the scream had just been heard was now as silent as a tomb.

After taking those pills, Chen Jineng gradually felt his hallucinations disappear, and the muttering that had never stopped in his ears also became quieter and quieter.

Chen Ji showed no joy on his face. Instead, he walked into the bathroom in a few steps, with Du Tingfeng following closely behind.

"Are you ok?"

Du Tingfeng asked worriedly, "Will this medicine have any side effects?"

"The side effect is that it makes my hallucinations disappear," Chen said simply.

He glanced at Du Tingfeng again and suddenly asked, "Aren't you coming in?"

Du Tingfeng shook his head:

"I'll wait for you outside."

Du Tingfeng stood straight at the bathroom door, the light from the corridor outside shining through him into the dark bathroom.

His shadow stretched all the way to Chen Ji's feet.

Bang!

Chen Ji slammed the stall door shut, didn't say a word, immediately knelt down in front of the toilet, and once again stuck his finger down his throat to forcefully induce vomiting!

He did his best to vomit the undigested pills in his stomach without making a sound.

His face was as pale as paper, and his fingers trembled slightly as he pulled the card out of his pocket again.

He stroked the words on it: "auditory hallucinations," "visual hallucinations,"...

And one last sentence:

[Note: The patient is also suspected of having "Capgrass paranoia": fantasizing that his/her loved ones are being replaced by other people.]

"Tang Qin..."

“This is the second time.”

Chen Ji silently recited the words to himself, put the piece of paper back in his pocket, and began to recall everything that had happened in the previous hour.

His brain, which had been in a semi-dormant state, began to operate at an unusually rapid pace.

First, there's the matter of Xiao Guo and the female nurse.

They were both clearly not normal. Of course, they weren't necessarily ghosts, but they were definitely insane.

Xiao Guo's actions were based on the statement: "I am a member of the No. 4 Middle School swimming team."

She had been swimming in a formalin solution.

The female nurse, though she looked like a ghost, had a faint warmth hidden within her icy touch when she put her fingers into Chen Ji's mouth.

After killing his mother, during his time in a mental hospital after being arrested, Chen Ji read about a rare mental illness in the hospital's handbook:

Cottal syndrome, also known as walking corpse syndrome.

To be precise, this illness belongs to a branch of paranoia. It is a rare delusional disorder in which patients believe they are dead, do not exist, or have become a zombie.

This fits the situation perfectly for female nurses.

Then they must both be mentally ill!

Meanwhile, the scream of "I'm not sick!" from the next ward is quite noteworthy.

Chen strongly suspected that the people in the bookstore, including the couple who had not yet appeared, might all be patients.

They most likely switched identities with the staff of this mental hospital.

However, he cannot be certain yet; only after searching the ward where the scream came from can he confirm it.

In the hospital, there is a patient information card at the head of each bed in the ward.

Putting that matter aside for the time being, Chen Ji began to ponder the concept of the "Netherworld".

Too much had happened before, and his mind had been foggy. Only now did he return to normal and was able to think clearly.

It is known that the "Netherworld" is driven by supernatural beings, and only A-level supernatural beings can open it. Chen Ji encountered two A-level supernatural beings:

Both chips and pens are passive.

Moreover, Chen Ji was trapped in a mental hospital on both occasions.

Therefore, the passive ability of this strange creature is very likely related to "influencing thinking and cognition".

This aligns with Chen Ji's experience of mental stagnation and hallucinations after entering the mental hospital.

At the same time, this could also be one of the Painted Skin Demon's passive abilities, or even his special powers...

Painted Skin Ghost.

Chen Ji pursed his lips, his eyes turning gloomy. He stopped thinking about it and looked at the toilet in front of him.

There, in a barely noticeable, hidden corner, a mouth a few centimeters long opens and closes on the tile surface.

It's hard to see unless you look carefully.

This mouth is different from the one Chen Ji saw under the incandescent light bulb before.

Before, what he saw was more illusory, with double images, and this mouth...

It's clearly a physical entity!

Some of the medicinal effects still remain.

However, the impact is not significant.

The moment Chen Ji stepped into the corridor, he realized something:

These drugs don't actually make hallucinations disappear, but rather turn them into reality!

"Chen Ji, how are you?"

Outside, Du Tingfeng's voice suddenly rang out, seemingly coming from the corridor.

"I am fine."

Chen Ji said softly that he had roughly sorted out his thoughts and now he needed to go to the next ward to investigate.

At the same time, he also needed to be careful of the dark figure in the stairwell.

"Watch out for that dark figure in the stairwell!"

At that very moment, a familiar shrill laugh suddenly came from above Chen Ji's head again!

Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat!

His hair stood on end, and that intense feeling of being watched returned.

"What you say comes true!"

Chen Ji immediately looked up, his eyes widening suddenly. Right there on the partition of the cubicle next to him…

A completely black ghostly figure... stuck half its head in from the next cubicle!

They're spying on him!

It chuckled and repeated Chen Ji's inner thoughts once again!

No one knows how long this ghostly figure had been spying on Chen Ji from above!

It's even possible that this ghostly figure was there the moment Chen Ji entered the bathroom...

why? !

Isn't that ghost in the stairwell?!

Chen Ji immediately reached out to turn the doorknob, while deliberately numb and blanking his mind to prevent the black shadow from continuing to probe his inner thoughts!

However, the black shadow was faster than him, and within 0.1 seconds, it crawled onto the door of Chen Ji's cubicle like a snake.

The door immediately became completely immovable and could no longer be pushed open!