Dienhai City.
Qingshan Mental Hospital.
This was one of the top three mental hospitals in Dienhai City. Its medical equipment and living conditions were all top-notch.
In the clean and orderly corridor, doctors in white coats walked around, patrolling the wards. Each ward housed four patients, all of whom had undergone professional assessment and evaluation to confirm their mental illness.
Their behavior was markedly different from ordinary people, yet they tended to form small groups with quite similar personality traits.
Some spoke loudly and eloquently about their vast knowledge.
Others held books, dramatically reading aloud about how world news would change in the future.
“Based on the discoveries I’ve dedicated decades to researching, tonight is the end of the world. But you don’t need to be afraid; I’ve found a very safe place. Once there are no more strangers lurking around, I’ll secretly take you away.”
“The Earth is clearly square, yet people outside say it’s round. They’re the ones who are sick and need treatment.”
“I’ve researched a formula that allows men to get pregnant with other men. Once I perfect this formula, I’m sure I’ll win the biggest award and be crowned king of the entire medical world. Look, you’re the first ones to witness this!”
Nurses held patient files in their hands. Each time they approached a room, they would stand outside, listen to the situation inside for a moment, and then nod with satisfaction.
Not bad at all.
They were all beyond saving.
A television was mounted on the wall in the common living corridor. On the screen, a short-haired female MC read the latest news.
“A Level 7 evil entity has been reported on Mount Tai. All citizens who participated in mountain climbing today suffered heavy casualties. The authorities have dispatched powerful individuals to suppress it. Unless absolutely necessary, we urge citizens to consider their lives and refrain from recreational travel or outdoor activities at this time.”
In a special ward.
This room was unlike the others; only two people resided there, one old and one young.
Inside, various equipment such as weights, punching bags, and more were displayed.
At this moment, a handsome young man lay on the hospital bed, his body wrapped in copper wire. He was the youngest mental patient there, having just turned 19 this year.
His name was Lin Fan.
He recalled that year when he was only 10 years old.
He had used an iron hammer to hit his head, claiming he wanted to practice Iron Head Kung Fu. The result was a bloody head, and he nearly met his end.
He also remembered when he was 11.
He had aimed a soldering iron directly at his own ‘little brother,’ saying he wanted to seal it off to prevent the leakage of vital essence and ensure abundant vitality. Fortunately, he was stopped in time, otherwise, he would have become a eunuch long ago.
After that incident, he was immediately sent to a mental hospital for a comprehensive examination.
The final result was exactly as everyone expected.
Lin Fan was diagnosed with Level 5 mental illness.
He posed no threat to the outside world, but he was capable of self-destructive behavior.
The person lying on the bed next to Lin Fan was an old man whose mind wasn't quite normal. He held two copper wires in his hands and looked at Lin Fan with a serious expression.
"I'm about to plug it in. Any thoughts?"
They were currently planning to use electric current to stimulate the physical body.
Originally, they had only experimented with AA batteries. Later, they switched to car batteries, then to electrical wires. Each type was thoroughly experimented with, and the results obtained were quite promising. Both had walked back and forth through Ghost Gate Pass many times.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Lin Fan said. "The book said electrical stimulation can help the physical body become stronger and stronger."
"Good."
Old Man Zhang was the one assisting Lin Fan. He was the only person in the entire mental hospital who believed Lin Fan knew Martial Arts, and he had consistently helped him cultivate.
At this moment, Old Man Zhang was clutching the two copper wires, intending to plug them into the electrical outlet on the wall below.
To others, plugging copper wires into an electrical outlet was equivalent to taking a shortcut to Heaven, but to Old Man Zhang, he was witnessing a miracle, verifying the truth of the one true path.
Finally...
*Sizzle sizzle!*
*Thump thump!*
On the hospital bed, Lin Fan's entire body trembled violently, and the legs of the bed slammed against the floor with intense noise.
In the hallway, an alarm immediately blared, because thick smoke was spreading from one of the patient rooms into the corridor.
"Ah!"
"Room 666 has a problem! Those two, the old one and the young one, are causing trouble again! Quickly, get people to check out the situation, and don't forget to bring fire extinguishers."
"Oh, right, call for emergency services too."
Not long after, a familiar sound rang out.
*Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Wee-woo!*
An ambulance appeared outside the mental hospital.
Several people in white coats quickly pushed a stretcher and ran over.
The area around the patient room was extremely noisy.
"The patient is foaming at the mouth, and breathing is very difficult."
"Will he die?"
"Make way, please step aside, the stretcher is here!"
"Hey, quickly take Old Man Zhang away, don't let anything happen to him!"
At this moment, Old Man Zhang's hair was standing on end in disarray, looking like a cartoon character whose hair stands up after an electric shock. He looked completely mad, clutching the stretcher tightly, determined to get on the ambulance with it: "I want to go, I want to see his situation with my own eyes! I still need to record the data! Let me come along, let me come along!"
The nurses had no choice and had to let Old Man Zhang come along. It was also a good opportunity for him to get a full body check-up at the hospital.
In the ambulance.
Old Man Zhang gripped Lin Fan's hand tightly and eagerly asked, "How is it? Do you feel anything?"
Lin Fan replied weakly, "Very good. I feel incredibly clear-headed, and my thoughts are very coherent. All the acupuncture points throughout my body, just as the book said, have been completely unblocked. If I just spend a little time on acupuncture, that feeling of unblocking will definitely become even more pronounced."
"Don't worry," Old Man Zhang said, excitedly patting his own chest. "I always carry silver needles with me!"
Old Man Zhang was, of course, not a doctor, nor had he undergone any formal training. It was just that the mental hospital had purchased some books for its small library, and among them were a few books on how to perform traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture on acupoints.
The two of them were like people who had found a priceless treasure, pulling it out every day to study.
Old Man Zhang had experimented on Lâm Phàm hundreds of times, and the effects were quite obvious – no less than dozens of times, Lâm Phàm had to be rushed to the emergency room.
Yet, Lâm Phàm never once complained about him, always saying it was very effective and had helped unblock his acupoints.
According to their theory, acupoints were meant to be poked, and if you poked them enough, you'd simply get used to it.
Woo-woo!
Woo-woo!
The ambulance drove out of the mental hospital, gradually receding until its "Woo-woo" faded and then died out completely.
The director of the mental hospital, a man over 50, had hair that had turned completely white from overwork.
Many things happened here every day, but fortunately, not every day brought an emergency situation like the recent incident.
Other mental patients included those who enjoyed literary creation, those who liked inventing household items, and even those who often dragged people around to tell fortunes or examine body structures, and so on.
What excellent hobbies those were!
Only the old man and the young man from Ward 666 gave him a headache, because every time their 'experiments' involved human lives.
"Director, I've contacted the electrician as you requested," a nurse reported, approaching him.
The director sighed helplessly, then said, "Good. Seal off all the electrical outlets in their ward for me."
"Understood, Director," the nurse nodded.
"Oh, and go contact Bạch Hạc Cemetery. Prepare two burial plots. It's better to be prepared; it won't go to waste. After that, arrange for two more orderlies for me. When those two lunatics return, have someone follow and watch them twenty-four hours a day." The director had done everything he could; in the end, he could only leave the outcome to heaven's arrangement.
The nurse watched the director's retreating back, inwardly sighing, *What a truly dedicated director.*
He could understand how exhausted the director was because of Lâm Phàm and Old Man Zhang.
…..
Inside the hospital.
The emergency room's red light was on.
Lâm Phàm's expression remained unchanged as he lay there, letting a crowd of doctors surround him and examine his condition. Lâm Phàm had been here so many times it had become a habit, feeling as if he were returning home.
"It's this kid again? Why is it so serious this time?"
"He wrapped a copper wire around his body, and the other end was plugged into an electrical outlet, which is why he sustained these injuries."
"Second-degree burns on the skin, quite severe."
"Blood pressure is stable, heart rate 250 beats per minute, a bit higher than normal."
…
Lâm Phàm stared intently at the surgical light above his head and said indifferently, "My mental state is very good right now. Those charred fatty tissues were intentionally expelled by me. They're just waste flesh; no need to pay too much attention, just scrape them off."
The chief surgeon almost couldn't help but roar, "Fatty tissue? To me, it looks more like smoked, blackened jerky!"
Lâm Phàm maintained his calm demeanor as before and quietly said, "Don't give me anesthesia. I hope to use that pain to temper my will. Rest assured, my will is very strong; it's not something mortals like you can imagine."
"If you dare to inject me with anesthetic..."
He paused for a moment, frowning in thought, then uttered a sentence he himself claimed was the most devastating.
"I won't accept payment for the surgery."
The doctor and nurses exchanged glances.
Everyone's faces showed a hint of resignation.
Perhaps this was the difference between mental patients and normal people.
Damn it, who would even bother paying you?
In the ward.
After more than an hour of surgery, Lin Fan was finally out of danger. He was then placed in a patient room quite close to the nurses' station, and what's more, it was a "special VIP room" just for him.
Normally, three patients would share a single room.
This room originally had two other patients, but after they learned their soon-to-be roommate was a mental patient, they were scared out of their wits.
Both of them made a huge fuss, crying and protesting, demanding to change rooms.
They made their stance very clear: if you insist on putting us in the same room as that mental patient, we will cause a ruckus until you drop that decision.
The final outcome, of course, was their victory.
Lin Fan also received special treatment.
If this got into the news, it would definitely cause a public uproar. Who would have thought that even mental patients could pull strings these days?
Old Man Zhang sat by Lin Fan's bedside. He peeled a banana, took a big bite, savored it, and swallowed. Finding the taste not bad, he then brought the rest of the banana to Lin Fan's mouth – Lin Fan, who had needles and IV drips stuck all over his arms and legs, making movement quite inconvenient.
"Have a bite. I've already tried it; it tastes pretty good."
Ah!
Lin Fan opened his mouth wide, and more than half of the banana disappeared in that one bite. "It's really not bad," he said, "very sweet."