Chapter 8: Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital (Part 8)

Chapter 8: Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital (Part Eight)

Drip, drop...

Qi Chanyang cautiously descended the stairs.

The lights were off in the corridor on the first floor, yet a sliver of moonlight managed to seep into the lobby, casting a ghastly pallor upon the floor.

Qi Chanyang's eyes narrowed.

He slowed his pace, silently approaching the security office.

The guard who had been drooling at the sight of the players at night was now seated on a chair, eyes wide open, a steel pipe protruding from his chest, having been dead for an indeterminate amount of time.

Qi Chanyang possesses a passive skill named "Clayman's Self-Cultivation", which allows him to faintly sense the approach of dangerous NPCs.

He stayed close to the wall for a moment, and sensing no signs of living NPCs within the security office, he gently pushed the door open.

Upon opening the door, Qi Chanyang noticed that the elderly-looking human security guard only had a human upper body, while the lower half was stitched to the body of some canine creature.

The security office was not in disarray; there were no signs of a struggle in the vicinity.

Qi Chanyang approached the security guard to closely inspect his wounds.

Killed with a single blow.

The security guard NPC seemed to lack the strength of the patient NPCs; Qi Chanyang was confident he could deal with it, but it certainly wouldn't be this easy to kill the creature with just a steel pipe.

What kind of entity has infiltrated this instance?

A creature capable of easily annihilating ordinary NPCs would at the very least be a Level 3 instance boss; how could it appear in a Level 1 instance?

Qi Chanyang frowned deeply, his hands continually in motion.

The security office had scant possessions; after searching around, he only found a few local newspapers. Under the moonlight, he skimmed through them, noticing only commonly reported news.

Just as Qi Chanyang was putting away the newspapers, his gaze shifted to the calendar hanging within the security office.

August 11th.

Qi Chanyang furrowed his brows, glancing once more at the newspaper in his hand.

"Blue Mountain City Evening News", Issue 411, August 11th.

What was today's date? Was it the 11th?

It clearly wasn't the time to ponder this matter in detail; Qi Chanyang could only swallow the newspaper, stowing it away in his stomach for now.

The "Bovine Stomach" skill allowed for the storage of items up to one cubic meter in volume, making it an excellent skill for hiding various clues.

After surveying the surroundings once more and finding no additional clues, he pushed the door open and swiftly exited.

Adjacent to the security office was the badminton court. Upon opening the door and scanning the area, he found the vast badminton court to be engulfed in darkness.

A sudden surge of unease hit Qi Chanyang, leaving him feeling restless and uneasy.

Just as he was about to exit, a familiar voice emanated from the restroom area within the badminton court.

"Who... who's at the door?"

Qi Chanyang was momentarily stunned: "Xie Fangcheng?"

"It's me!" The voice from within the restroom responded, almost weeping with joy, "Have you come to rescue me?"

Something is off.

Qi Chanyang gripped his weapon tightly.

He slowly approached the restroom, saying, “Why are you here? Come out, I will take you back.”

“I can't get out... Can you please come help me?”

“Where are you?”

Qi Chanyang walked to the restroom door and pushed it open.

Completely empty.

Just then, the voice suddenly drew closer.

“I am... right behind you.”

Qi Chanyang's feet abruptly stamped on the ground, and he flew out, almost skimming the floor as he twisted his body to the side.

After stabilizing himself, he looked up and couldn't help but utter a swear under his breath.

Patient Number Nine!

Number Nine, already having a neck longer than an average person, was now tucked away in a corner, his neck slithering like a snake along the ceiling. His head hung down, eyes fixated on Qi Chanyang.

Even though he knew this was an NPC, Qi Chanyang couldn't resist asking, “Where is Xie Fangcheng?”

Number Nine's initially crazed expression froze momentarily, his head wobbling unsteadily.

“Medicine... need medicine, will die without it. Why not take medicine, take medicine, take medicine...”

Seeing him like this, a strange sense of relief inexplicably surged in Qi Chanyang's heart.

Xie Fangcheng might be a bit off his rocker, but he was quite familiar with Number Nine, often playing ball or sharing soup with him. It was possible that Number Nine didn't kill him even after the mutation.

But Number Nine's trance lasted only for a moment before his eyes moved once again, neck scaling along the ceiling, head charging towards Qi Chanyang.

“Meat, need meat... hungry...”

Following that, like a snake, he shot forward in a flash.

Qi Chanyang engaged him briefly. Number Nine wasn't particularly strong, even less so than Patient Number One, making him manageable for Qi Chanyang.

However, engaging this NPC here could potentially attract other NPCs. As Qi Chanyang blocked an incoming bite, he staggered backwards, and with a powerful kick off the ground just before falling, he shot to the door with a “whoosh,” flung it open and dashed out.

—The skill "Kicking Rabbit" allowed for increased speed the closer he was to the ground, which was why Qi Chanyang dared to venture out alone to seek clues, even though he knew he couldn't beat the NPCs.

After exiting through the door, Qi Chanyang appeared to be nearly grazing the ground, moving so fast that he almost left only a shadow behind.

He darted quickly through the lobby, heading straight for the cafeteria.

Upon opening the cafeteria door, Qi Chanyang froze momentarily once again.

The cafeteria looked as if it had been plundered, the round table that originally stood at its center was now legless, with only its round top cast aside in a corner.

The benches were still there, though upon a quick count, Qi Chanyang realized one was missing.

He walked towards the kitchen.

...The legs of the kitchen counter were gone as well.

What on earth had happened? What kind of monster feasts on table legs??

The knives on the knife rack were still intact, however.

Qi Chanyang took all the knives. He personally didn't need them, but the other new players were unarmed. Possessing a knife could grant them at least a modicum of resistance instead of facing certain death.

There wasn't much left in the kitchen.

As he was pondering this, Qi Chanyang had just stood up when he felt a sudden jolt in his heart.

He swiftly hid in a corner, pressing himself tightly against the wall.

Something was approaching the entrance.

Was it Number Nine?

No, that wasn't right.

Number Nine wasn't that powerful; Qi Chanyang hadn't even sensed his presence earlier at the badminton court.

So who was coming?

Thud, thud, thud.

"Hello, your trash bin is dirty, does it need cleaning?"

Ge Juan!

Qi Chanyang glanced at the trash bin. It had clearly been empty just a while ago; why was there an eyeball in it now?

Qi Chanyang quickly retrieved the eyeball from the trash bin.

The NPC at the door remained silent, ultimately leaving with a trace of reluctance.

Qi Chanyang let out a breath of relief, opening his hand to examine the eyeball nestled within.

Had he overlooked it earlier?

No matter.

Nearly fifteen minutes have passed, should check the second floor first...

Qi Chanyang swiftly rolled on the spot, as a crimson tongue shot towards where he had just been standing, only to retract frustratedly moments later.

Qi Chanyang slowly lifted his head.

Above him on the ceiling, countless pairs of eyes were intently watching him, their number too vast to count.

The "Clayman's Self-Restraint" didn't activate because none of the NPCs staring at him posed a real threat.

However, at this moment, the entire ceiling of the kitchen seemed covered with these bat-shaped NPCs, nearly numbering in the hundreds if not thousands.

The bats lay quietly on the wall, fresh crimson blood dripping from them onto the floor, as if they had just fed.

Then, that death-knelling "thud, thud, thud" sounded once again.

"Hello, your floor is dirty, would you like it cleaned?"

Qi Chanyang only stood for two seconds before abruptly dropping to the ground, kicking his legs to propel himself forward.

Run!