DF Chapter 16
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Zhen Yi felt a wave of frustration. Doctor Yan, do you have memory problems? Was it a ghost who answered the phone just now?!
Zhen Yi and Xiao Ke exchanged glances, both of them directing their gaze toward the man in the white coat.
Yan Ge rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Xiao Ke, didn’t I tell you to take her over there…?” He paused for a moment. “Hmm, I didn’t say that.”
Xiao Ke chuckled awkwardly. “Teacher, you were taking notes at the time and didn’t notice.”
Yan Ge took off his glasses and said, “I’ll take you myself.” He handed over his tasks to Xiao Ke and led her to the psychiatric hospital diagonally across the road.
Upon entering, Zhen Yi discovered the place had an entirely different vibe, unlike the research institute. The institute was cold and solemn, but here, it was warm and peaceful, with a large lawn, a small pond, and swings. There was no one on the lawn, only the sunlight.
He remained silent the entire way, his hands in the pockets of his white coat, quietly walking. Zhen Yi followed two steps behind, thinking his back looked pretty good too. She recalled the way he stood in the lab earlier, head down, taking notes. It was a comforting sight—graceful, but without the slightest hint of arrogance. It was odd how even his back made her heart restless. Fate between people is truly unpredictable.
She caught up to him. “Doctor Yan, can patients in this hospital escape? I mean, escape and then come back?”
Yan Ge thought about it for a moment and replied, “Sorry, I’m not sure.” Asking was as good as not asking.
As they entered the main building, through the glass window, Zhen Yi saw patients in white clothes lined up, waiting for their outdoor time. Doctors and nurses were watching over them.
The patients were highly sensitive to new faces. One by one, they stopped queuing, pressing their heads against the glass, all eyes curiously focused on Zhen Yi. Their gazes were like those of children eager to learn. Every one of them was exceptionally clean—white clothes spotless, faces clean, expressions clean. It was different from the outside world, where people wore masks of filth, but here, they had none. Because they were genuine, they were pure.
A group of them, heads tilted, squashed their faces against the glass, curiously observing. In the front, a conflict broke out as a patient shouted, “Why won’t they let me go outside to play? I want to go out, I want to go out!”
As soon as one started, others chimed in, “Why hasn’t that doctor with the perky butt, Dr. Ke, come? I want him to give me my check-up. I only let him touch me. I like touching him; I want to sleep with him.”
Zhen Yi: “…” How many women are bold enough to express love like that? Between the mentally ill and the so-called normal people, who’s truly awake?
She found herself strangely liking that patient.
Another voice piped up with a complaint, “Dr. Xu, Meimei has stolen my man again! Aren’t you going to do something?”
The first man who spoke became furious, “You bunch of imperial concubines, all of you shut up! I’m the emperor, and I’m going out to play!”
It was clear that the doctors and nurses couldn’t calm them down. Yan Ge walked over to the iron bars and softly asked, “Why can’t he go outside?”
Dr. Xu quickly explained, “He didn’t pass the evaluation; he has to wait a few more days.”
Yan Ge looked at the ‘emperor,’ his tone calm, as if having a conversation with a normal person. “You won’t be able to go out for the next few days.”
The emperor, hands on his hips, radiated authority. “I am the emperor! If I say I’m going out, I’m going out!”
Yan Ge replied casually, “But the empress dowager doesn’t agree.”
The emperor was silent for a few seconds, then surprisingly nodded. “Alright then. The country is founded on filial piety.” With that, he obediently followed the nurse.
Zhen Yi: “…”
The patient at the front of the line raised a fist to the sky and shouted, “Toot, toot, the big ship is setting sail! Sailors, take your positions!”
“Set sail!” “Set sail!”…
No one was looking at Zhen Yi anymore. They all lined up neatly, some pretending to row, others pretending to hoist the sails, and some steering. They were incredibly orderly, not chaotic at all.
The mental patients, all dressed neatly in white, lined up, singing as they “sailed” their imaginary boat towards the lawn.
This psychiatric hospital was nothing like what Zhen Yi had imagined.
Zhen Yi followed Yan Ge upstairs to a large hall. The white tables and chairs were a place where patients could read, play chess, or paint. Everyone had gone outside, leaving only Wu Zhe sitting alone in front of an easel. Zhen Yi whispered, “What’s his condition?”
“It hasn’t been diagnosed yet.”
“Why?”
“His mental state is too poor to undergo the evaluation. But so far, it seems like he’s lost his memory of people and relies on feelings to remember things.”
“So, only pain and fear?” Zhen Yi felt a bit sad. “The police must have come by many times, right?”
“Yes. He talks to himself a lot, but it’s not really a conversation. Still, they wrote down his ‘testimony,’” Yan Ge said, sounding disapproving.
Zhen Yi walked over. Wu Zhe’s canvas was blank, but a pile of finished sketches lay on the ground. They were black and white, depicting strange and terrifying scenes. The people in the drawings had twisted postures, and their expressions were horrifying, almost demonic.
In just half a month, he was still a handsome young man, but he wasn’t the same person anymore. After the tragedy, he had been the one encouraging Tang Shang, running around with her to find a lawyer. He displayed incredible endurance and patience, resisting the storm of outside pressure, protecting his little woman.
When Tang Shang was tormented by the cruelty and darkness of reality, breaking down into screams and curses, when Zhen Yi was about to lose her strength, he buried all his pain deep inside, offering comfort and reassurance to Tang Shang, and giving Zhen Yi his trust and gratitude.
Four long, hellish months of fighting side by side felt like a century-long war.
It was through him that Zhen Yi had realized that even the most ordinary person could unleash an astonishing and enduring strength when faced with sudden life changes.
But this man, strong as steel and concrete, collapsed completely after Tang Shang’s death.
She sat down in front of him. “Wu Zhe?”
Wu Zhe’s empty gaze slowly moved towards her, eventually focusing on her face. “Lawyer Zhen.”
Zhen Yi’s heart pounded—she couldn’t quite describe the feeling. It was like meeting an old comrade from her youth after a lifetime apart, filled with bitterness and pain. “Do you still remember me?”
“I said goodbye to you last month and gave you my address.” He looked as if he were a normal person. “Xiao Shang went to buy ice cream and hasn’t come back yet. You can wait a bit.”
“Okay.” Zhen Yi nodded. Yan Ge had mentioned that after the injury, Wu Zhe’s memory was short, resetting every so often to the stage where he was waiting for Tang Shang to come home. And so, he kept waiting.
“What are these?” Zhen Yi picked up one of the dark sketches from the floor.
“It’s a girl’s story.” It was a comic strip. The girl killed four men. It seemed strangely similar to Tang Shang, Lin Ziyi, and the others.
Zhen Yi frowned slightly as she reached the last picture. “What are these round, flat things?”
“She castrated them,” he replied casually.
Male genitalia? Zhen Yi’s breath hitched. Lin Ziyi had indeed been castrated, found naked with his hands and feet tied in a humiliating and disgraceful position when he died.