"And, and..."
The little girl talked endlessly, and it seemed that she really understood.
"It sounds a little scary."
As Yan Jingxing listened, he slowly began to feel something was wrong and couldn't help but interrupt her.
On this hot day, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
"By the way, why are you telling ghost stories? Are they not related to aliens?"
"Um……"
Ji Chunzao thought for a moment, then shook his head decisively.
"I've never heard of this..." The little girl noticed his subconscious reaction of crossing his arms, and raised the corners of her mouth with a wicked smile, "Oh, Jing Xing, look at you, you must be scared, right?"
"You tell ghost stories, how can you prevent others from being afraid?"
Yan Jingxing said angrily.
"Haha, he is obviously a boy, but he is so timid. There is something I have said many times..."
"Yes, yes, 'Let's talk about science, there are no ghosts in this world', right?"
Yan Jingxing sighed.
"That's what I say, but you will still be afraid if you should be afraid."
At this time, Xie Yuzhi coughed dryly and intervened in the conversation between the two. She raised her hand to her mouth and whispered:
"Actually, you don't have to worry too much. According to my investigation, this hospital does have a relatively complicated history, and some tragic events have occurred. But for the people living here, the main reason is actually the mental hospital itself. The particularity has led to insufficient communication between the internal environment and the outside world, making it difficult for people to fully understand it, which has led to rumors flying everywhere."
"I understand. But if it comes out of nowhere..."
Of course, in the past, he could have dismissed it as "It's all fake and I didn't hear it." But now, Yan Jingxing has seen various alien creatures and even visited an alien planet himself. He already feels that nothing happens. Strange.
"Of course, similar rumors generally don't arise out of thin air. It's just that with the evolution of time and communication paths, the content people hear often keeps deforming and becomes far away from the facts. As a result, the more the news spreads, the more outrageous it becomes. , what you are hearing from others now may not contain much truth at all.”
Xie Yuzhi glanced at the driver in the driver's seat intentionally or unintentionally.
"Besides, we are not here to take risks, but just to visit the teacher. The hospital receives family members who come to visit patients every day, so nothing will really happen, right?"
"..."
Yan Jingxing heard the implication of Xie Yuzhi's words and did not say any more.
"As long as you don't come into contact, you won't encounter bad things." It seems to be the same as the horror movies he watched. Although the protagonists in them were all miserable, some of them ignored the advice and went to dangerous places or encountered dangerous situations. If you touch things that you shouldn't touch, you release evil spirits or demons, which seems to be more or less your own fault.
But the problem is-
They really didn't just go to visit Teacher Gao.
*
It was already sunset when I left school. By the time the car reached the foot of the mountain where the mental hospital was located, dusk had dragged its tail and disappeared at the other end of the mountain, and the sky had completely darkened.
The thick night fell low, covering the surrounding desolate wilderness. The car was driving on the mountain road, with only two bright beams of light from the headlights illuminating the road ahead.
Why choose to set out at night? The most important thing is of course because today is Monday, and Yan Jingxing and the others are still junior high school students. They are only free at night. They have to do homework if they go back early.
Another reason is that Miss Xie feels that what she wants to do may cause commotion within a certain range. The darkness of night can hide the occurrence of certain abnormalities from being noticed.
The car continued to spiral up the mountain road.
Yan Jingxing lay on the window, watching the guardrails on both sides of the road being swept away by lamp posts, reflecting the light like snow; the trees submerged in watery darkness stretched into the distance, and then were left behind in the blink of an eye.
Driving at night, he and his friends went to a mental hospital... This was an experience he had never experienced before. Yan Jingxing's heart was filled with excitement and nervousness.
After going around a hill and driving onto a gentle slope, the vehicle finally came to a slow stop at the end of the long slope.
There is an iron gate in front, and behind the fence you can see a wide courtyard, lush green plants and several four or five-story buildings.
Many windows were illuminated by the lights from the corridor, like strips of light wrapping around the cement box, and the building was brightly lit.
The boys and girls grabbed their backpacks and jumped out of the car.
"Thank you for waiting here. We will come out around ten o'clock."
After Xie Yuzhi gave instructions to the driver, she called on her companions to follow them and walked towards the iron gate together.
"Let's confirm the plan again."
With only three people present, she was finally able to share important information.
"What the priest has mastered is the knowledge of that planet, as well as the ability to receive and send special radio waves; what the warrior has gained is the instinct to fight and the qualification to use alien weapons. Going forward in this direction, according to my guess, The most likely nature of the king's ability is to command and control living things, such as monsters on alien planets or humans on earth."
Her guess was almost the same as Yan Jingxing's idea. So he nodded in agreement and asked again:
"Have you tried it?"
"tried."
Miss Xie is very candid.
"I tried it on people, but it didn't seem to work. I don't know if it's because I didn't get the hang of it, or if I just didn't have it."
She covered her eyes with one hand, then lowered it, sighing softly.
"That's why I want to find alien creatures and try again."
"Then when we are on the alien planet..."
"Well, I didn't feel anything at the time. In short, the ability of the 'King' does not emerge naturally like the two of you. It requires me, the recipient, to actively explore it."
Yan Jingxing stared at those bright eyes like autumn water under the moonlight, and noticed a hint of imperceptible anxiety in her eyes.
He thought for a moment and then comforted:
"Don't worry, Yuzhi. We have plenty of time. Unlike the two of us, even if you don't have super powers, you are still irreplaceable."
Yan Jingxing certainly meant Yuzhi's identity and her ability to mobilize resources and handle affairs that far exceeded the scope of students.
If there were only him and Chun Zao, some things wouldn't be so convenient. For example, if the two of them wanted to visit a mental hospital like tonight, they would at least need adults to come forward, but what kind of excuses would he and Chun Zao have to make to convince their uncle or Chun Zao's family to help them?
Xie Yuzhi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly stared at him with a piercing gaze.
What, what happened?
Yan Jingxing felt a little uncomfortable with the look in her eyes.
"No, I think it's the same." Then, he heard the girl say softly, "You are also irreplaceable."
This time it was Yan Jingxing's turn to freeze on the spot.
What, what does this mean...?
No, he knew what she meant, the same thing as him. Yan Jingxing thought to himself, but the other person suddenly spoke so seriously that he suddenly felt that he had other meanings...
So, what does it mean?
Miss Xie seemed to notice that her words just now were a bit abrupt. She turned her head and suddenly quickened her pace and walked forward.
"Hey, why are you blushing?"
Ji Chunzao, who was originally following behind, walked around Yan Jingxing from behind and stared at the boy's red face in surprise.
"No!"
He quickly turned his head away.
Ji Chunzao looked at Yan Jingxing and then at Xie Yuzhi's back, which was almost in front of the hospital lobby.
"Ah, I understand. Did Yuzhi just say something that made you feel embarrassed?"
She laughed "hehe".
"Don't look at Yuzhi's cold attitude in front of outsiders. She really has a way of saying this. When she and I were talking on the phone that day, she also said to me, 'I've been with you since the first time I saw you. , I just want to be friends with you,' something like that, wow, this person is so disgusting! I was a little embarrassed to answer."
……real or fake.
Yan Jingxing's attention was quickly attracted by this topic, and he asked curiously:
"Then how did you answer her later?"
"I told her that I felt very touched, but I had already promised Yan Jingxing, and he was my first friend——"
Ji Chunzao gave him a thumbs up and raised his face proudly.
"How about it, am I interested enough for you?"
"...Yeah, it's really interesting."
Yan Jingxing couldn't help but admire it and gave her a thumbs up.
"Okay, you two!"
Miss Xie's somewhat embarrassed voice came from not far away.
"It's already the appointed time, come here quickly!"
*
Although there are all kinds of weird and terrifying rumors, the mental hospital they are currently entering does not seem to have anything to do with the dark past at least in terms of its internal environment.
The corridor is brightly lit and the atmosphere is quiet. Occasionally, I see medical staff wearing white clothes coming and going. They deliberately lower their voices when they speak.
It's neither empty nor scary, nor is it as noisy as a wet market. In order to take care of the patients' emotions, the hospital strives to create the most stable and peaceful atmosphere.
The young people walked to the front desk and asked the nurse which ward Teacher Gao was in.
"Teacher Gao? Is that Gao Ru? She is currently resting in Ward 204 of the inpatient building. Do you want me to take you there?"
"No, thank you. We'll find it ourselves."
Xie Yuzhi thanked him politely.
"Okay, then remember to come out before nine o'clock in the evening. Staying too late will affect the rest of other wards."
"knew."
When I met nurses and doctors passing by on the street, they would look at them with curious eyes. They probably thought it was strange for a few middle school students to visit a mental hospital without an adult.
"It's a little weird."
When the three of them walked to a relatively secluded corridor, Ji Chunzao suddenly whispered.
"Um?"
"Although it's not nice to say this, I originally thought that Teacher Gao would definitely not be in an ordinary ward. After she was boarded by the Hairless Man that day, she acted very viciously. Shouldn't she be kept in a special place?"
...Is that true?
Yan Jingxing frowned and began to feel strange.
Teacher Gao looked crazy that day. Even if ordinary people couldn't see the "leeches" lodged in her body, just her violent performance of inserting a pen into the students' eyeballs and opening her mouth to bite them was enough to be regarded as extremely dangerous. Are you a psychopath? I heard that the student with an eye injury is still hospitalized.
"Where's Yuzhi, what do you think?"
Miss Xie held her chin with her hand, showing a thoughtful expression.
"There are several possibilities now, but none of them are certain."
She looked up to the second floor.
"In any case, let's meet with Teacher Gao first. Judging from what you two witnessed in the cram school last time, our eyes can see hairless people, but we may not be able to detect the human body as a nest, boarding and hiding place. The hairless ones among them.”
The girl put down her hands and looked at Ji Chunzao with a smile.
"But the situation is different now. Spring algae has become a sacrifice, and even if those hairless people hide, they can't avoid her perception. Am I right?"
The little girl nodded.
"And more importantly -" the eldest lady turned her gaze to Yan Jingxing's face, "finally we don't have to think about how to face dangerous enemies. Because as a 'warrior' you have already found the way to kill the Hairless Man. method."
Yan Jingxing also nodded slightly.
His hands dropped in the most natural state, and they crossed his waist and abdomen intentionally or unintentionally. There was a leather ring tied to the T-shirt on the inside of the shirt, with five knives stuck in it, all of which were taken from Liu Tie.
Whenever he needs to fight, he will activate his instinct immediately. It lasts for more than four minutes, which is enough to deal with monsters at the level of the Hairless Man.
"Then let's go."
Yan Jingxing took a deep breath and then took the lead in walking up the first step.
