Chapter 23: Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital (Part 23)

Chapter 23: Blue Mountain Psychiatric Hospital (Twenty-Three)

Damn it!

Even though this scene had repeated several times, Qi Chanyang couldn't help but feel shocked every time.

The NPCs inside the game instance were incredibly powerful. Any player entering the instance would treat the NPCs with utmost respect, always trying to maintain a good relationship with them, just hoping to save their own lives in critical moments.

This was truly the first time he had seen a player behave so recklessly.

The audacious Manager Jie even leisurely changed his pose at this moment, shifting the stick onto his shoulder nonchalantly, and continued shouting towards the opposite side: "Stop dilly-dallying, Han Qi and He Xin! I can see you both!"

Qi Chanyang was astonished.

Their half of the corridor was well-lit, while the other half was dark, making it difficult to make out the details in the shadow. Even with Qi Chanyang's system-enhanced sight, which had been upgraded six times, he could barely discern a silhouette in the darkness. How could the person beside him see clearly?

At that moment, the sound of footsteps accompanied by the noise of a small cart echoed from the other half of the corridor.

Gradually, Han Qi and He Xin, pushing the small cart, emerged before the group.

Qi Chanyang heard Jie Fangcheng mutter under his breath, "So it really is those two."

Qi Chanyang: "..."

So you didn't know either, huh?!

Yesterday when they came to deliver the medicine, Han Qi was leading the way while He Xin trailed behind, pushing the small cart.

Today, He Xin was walking in front, pushing the cart with a gloomy expression, occasionally shooting resentful glances backwards.

Han Qi, half-hidden behind him, had his eyes fixated on the person standing in front of room number one.

Jie Fangcheng looked back at him and asked amiably, "What are you looking at?"

Han Qi quickly averted his gaze.

The noise of the cart mingled with the footsteps, creating a slow and heavy cadence.

Observing the expressions of these two NPCs, Qi Chanyang deduced that they weren't here to deliver medicine, but rather to offer tributes.

The cart reached the staircase entrance and refused to move any further. Han Qi frowned and shoved He Xin harshly, urging, "Move forward, the job isn't finished yet!"

He Xin turned to look at him, "Why are you only hurrying me? Why don't you lead the way?"

Han Qi was furious: "How dare you speak to me like this?? He Xin! You've become increasingly bold lately! Are you planning a rebellion??"

Before He Xin could respond, Jie Fangcheng interjected with disapproval, "What's this about a rebellion? You are hospital doctors, not an emperor and his eunuch. What can you do if someone doesn't listen to you? This is workplace bullying, you know? Just because someone holds a lower position, they have to endure your bad temper? If it were me, I wouldn't stand for it."

He Xin's eyes flickered, not expecting this person to stand up for him.

The players stealthily watching the scene from the doorframe also began exchanging glances.

At this point, Jie Fangcheng gallantly gestured towards the two men, "Hurry up, let's finish this procedure so we can get to the fighting and killing part. It's getting late."

After speaking, he stretched his neck, loosening his muscles and joints, clearly looking forward to the imminent battle.

He Xin: "..."

He stood frozen for two seconds before suddenly turning and sprinting away.

Han Qi hadn't expected He Xin to flee without completing their task, leaving him alone with the small cart when he came to his senses.

All his teeth were clenched tightly, with a couple seemingly making a fearful clattering noise.

Gritting his teeth, Han Qi reached out to push the small cart forward.

This was his job, and failing to complete it would incur the wrath of the dean.

At the thought of the dean, Han Qi couldn't help but shudder, temporarily overcoming another form of fear.

Slowly, he pushed the cart towards Jie Fangcheng.

Jie Fangcheng was standing in front of room number one, with merely a meter separating them. Han Qi felt that he could easily be struck by Jie's staff.

It would be okay, what’s the worst that could happen from a single hit? It wouldn't kill him. He would just get up and run... besides, as long as he kept an eye on that staff, he would turn and flee the instant it moved.

This person wasn’t fast enough to catch him anyway.

Jie Fangcheng seemed somewhat weary in his current stance, hence he planted the staff back on the ground.

As he moved, Han Qi across him twisted his body in a freakish manner and in an instant, darted to the staircase entrance.

Jie Fangcheng: "..."

He couldn’t help but smile wryly, "Just changing my stance here, why such a dramatic reaction??"

Han Qi fixed his eyes on him, remaining silent.

After pondering for a moment, Jie Fangcheng placed the staff aside with a helpless expression, "Is this better? Can you speed up? Look at the time."

Han Qi steadied his nerves before hesitantly pushing his cart closer once again.

Very considerately, Jie Fangcheng took a few steps back.

Only then did Han Qi manage to enter room number one smoothly.

Inside room number one, the first patient lay securely restrained on the hospital bed, while Qi Chanyang was sitting on his own bed.

Han Qi couldn't resist glancing back, finding Jie Fangcheng leaning lazily against the door of room number two, engrossed in a conversation with someone else.

"What did you do before? A programmer? Impressive!"

It seemed like he had no intention of coming this way.

First, finish the task at hand, then leave immediately afterward.

With this thought in mind, Han Qi finally resumed his usual routine.

As per usual, he first inquired if the first patient had seen anything unusual today before retrieving medicine for the patient from the cart.

He then turned towards Qi Chanyang.

"You haven't been taking your medication seriously yesterday and this morning, the condition has worsened," Han Qi remarked, before taking a pink bottle from the second shelf and pouring out two pills.

After Qi Chanyang accepted the medication, Han Qi looked at him with a significant expression, "If you don't take your meds, you'll start to differ from everyone else, you know."

At that moment, Han Qi heard a voice from behind inquire, "What will be different?"

Click—

Jie Fangcheng walked in with his staff in hand, making sure to close the door behind him.

Han Qi: "..."

"Come on, spill it. Don't play the enigmatic figure," Jie Fangcheng smiled at him, "Cooperate a little, I'm not a fan of resorting to coercion and torture."

The façade of calmness Han Qi had managed to maintain vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind. He retreated two steps in alarm, "Don't you dare act recklessly!"

Jie Fangcheng: "Recklessly? Don't spout nonsense if you don't understand! I have a plan, okay??"

What a flawless case of luring the tiger away from the mountain!

Qi Chanyang stood against the wall, making room for

the impending

battle, considerately pulling the trembling patient number one into the corner with him.

The next second, Jie Fangcheng charged forward in two strides, raising his staff high—

With a booming noise, Han Qi didn't dare to turn his head, crashing promptly into the wall, shattering the barrier between rooms one and three.

Inside room number three were Gu Shanshan and Lu Xiaoqin, the latter couldn't help but let out a scream, drawing Han Qi's attention.

Han Qi reached out, intending to pull her in as a hostage, but Gu Shanshan acted swiftly, pulling her away as the two girls rolled to the side in unison.

There was no time left!

With a furious roar, Han Qi shattered the door of room number three, bolting like a rampaging bull, abandoning even his small cart, and vanished from everyone's sight at lightning speed.

Everyone was flabbergasted: "Holy shit!"

With a strained expression, Jie Fangcheng opened the door to room number one, only to see Han Qi's retreating figure in the distance down the hallway.

Jie Fangcheng grumbled, "This NPC is way too strong, how can he run that fast?"

All eyes turned towards him.

Xue Kai blurted out, "Bro, aren't you even stronger??"

Jie Fangcheng let out a sigh, seeming somewhat dejected, "What's the use of being strong?"

Everyone: "..."

Qi Chanyang took a deep breath, "Well, at least we now know which two bottles contained today's medicine."

The cart was laden with numerous items, and it was indeed difficult to distinguish between the bottles and jars without the NPC's assistance.

Patient number one was confirmed to be not a regular human, and Qi Chanyang handed him the medicine first.

The patient NPC attempted to resist: "If you don't take the medicine, I can't either. The head of the hospital will punish me if he finds out."

Jie Fangcheng stood by with his staff, stating, "But if you don't take it, I'll punish you right here and now."

Tears welled up in the eyes of patient number one as he accepted and swallowed the medicine.

Patients number four and nine could also be ruled out. Jie Fangcheng was ready to administer the medicine to them in the corridor.

Lu Xiaoqin whispered from the side, "Given this, couldn't we have avoided restraining patients one, four, and nine from the start?"

Jie Fangcheng shook his head: "That wouldn't work."

Qi Chanyang pondered, "Why not?"

Was there some logical detail here that needed to be learned and considered?

Jie Fangcheng replied, "If all the other NPCs are restrained and only these three aren't, it would make them stand out too much. What if they end up isolated because of this?"

Qi Chanyang: "..."

He shouldn't have asked!!

The meticulous Manager Jie not only considered this but also brought patient number one back with him.

Nine peculiar-looking patient NPCs lay side by side on the corridor floor, arranged in order.

Jie Fangcheng administered the medicine to patients four and nine — these two also upheld the NPC's professional ethics, voicing the same concerns as number one, "If I don't take it, the head of the hospital will punish me."

Jie Fangcheng decisively kicked them against the wall. The entire building seemed to shudder, the wall broke with a noise louder than when Han Qi had crashed into it earlier.

"If you don't take it, you get beaten now."

He was straightforward and clear.

Patients number four and nine obediently took the medicine, while the other patient NPCs widened their eyes, looking at him with faces filled with fear.

Apart from Qi Chanyang, the players felt somewhat afraid when interacting with these patient NPCs after entering the game. Now, seeing their tear-streaked faces, they even felt a tinge of sympathy.

Everyone began whispering amongst themselves.

"What exactly did Brother Jie do in the past? How is he so proficient at this?"

"Financial Department Manager? Sun Miao, aren't you also an accountant? Are all of you in this field so terrifying?"

"Not at all! The worst we do is cook the books a little!"

"Sun Miao, you should go and have a chat with Brother Jie, perhaps you two will find some common ground!"

Sun Miao, who had been an accountant for nearly a decade and encountered countless colleagues, had never seen anyone like this before.

He hesitated for a moment, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, couldn't resist initiating a quiet conversation with Jie Fangcheng, who was casually polishing his staff again, "Brother Jie... are you also an accountant?"

"Uh... you could say that, yes."

"I am an accountant too! Our company is quite well-known. It's exhausting working at a big firm, I literally worked myself to death! Which company do you work for, Brother Jie?"

"The Underworld, haven't I mentioned it before?"

A series of exchanged glances rippled through the crowd.

Sun Miao assumed that Jie was reluctant to share because his company might be relatively small, so he shifted the topic: "Brother Jie, what's your position? What do you usually do on a daily basis?"

The crowd perked up, straining to hear the conversation.

Jie Fangcheng vaguely replied, "Well, just the usual, balancing the books, collecting some debts."

"Oh, so, accounts receivable management?"

Jie Fangcheng looked confused, "What?"

Equally perplexed, Sun Miao elaborated, "Aren't you in charge of accounts? Like, reviewing the financial statements, then following up on payments and such..."

"No, not really," Jie Fangcheng corrected candidly, "We don't really do accounting where I work."

"? ? ? Then how do you go about collecting money? How do you determine the amount to be collected if there's no accounting? ? ?"

Jie Fangcheng offered a slight smile, "In our place, whatever amount I say is the amount to be collected."

The crowd: "..."

Damn! What kind of company is this??

At that moment, a transformation began in the first of the patient NPCs.

It was number eight.

His limbs had always resembled those of an invertebrate, flailing about even when he was eating. Despite being tightly bound now, it was clear that while the ropes restrained his limbs, his body continued to twist and grow as if being melted by something, soon elongating into a long entity writhing on the floor.

Following the transformation, his eyes fixated intently on Jie Fangcheng, saliva beginning to dribble from the corners of his mouth.

Jie Fangcheng squatted down in front of him, attempting to force a pill into his mouth.

The transformed NPC had lost all human cognitive abilities. With a flick of his tongue, he spat the pill back out, continuing to leer at Jie Fangcheng while undulating his body and opening his mouth, as if intending to bite.

"Flesh... flesh..."

In the next instant, Jie Fangcheng produced another pill, thrusting it into his mouth, swiftly following up by grabbing a banner from behind like a rag.

Jie Fangcheng stuffed the banner into number eight's mouth without hesitation, preventing him from spitting the pill out again.

Number Eight was muffled with stuffy cries as the medication took effect rapidly. Soon, he closed his eyes, his body gradually returning to its original state.

Jie Fangcheng extracted the saliva-drenched banner with two fingers, giving an embarrassed smile under the intense gaze of the patient NPCs, "There isn't enough cloth to go around, so I hope everyone can bear with it for a while."

At this moment, NPC number Seven initiated a conversation, "I... I feel it starting. Maybe... you should give me the medication now while I'm still lucid..."

"That's a great idea!"

Jie Fangcheng squatted beside him.

Seeing the unmistakable signs of the impending transformation in number Seven, Jie Fangcheng hastily administered the medication.

The patient NPCs cooperated willingly, earning them Jie Fangcheng's continuous praise, "You all have such high levels of consciousness! Thank you for cooperating so well. Tomorrow, I'll ask Xiao Qi to add more dishes to your meals!"

It took Qi Chanyang a moment to realize who "Xiao Qi" was.

This man! After witnessing such brutality, how could he still address someone so affably??

Soon, all the transforming NPCs had taken the medication and fallen into a deep slumber.

Only one remained.

Lu Xiaoguin turned pale, "Number Three? How could it be Number Three??"

Number Three was a bratty child of about thirteen or fourteen, who frequently removed his eyeballs to play with them and often scrutinized the players with an unsettling gaze, appearing nothing like a normal person!

At this moment, the securely restrained Number Three looked at Jie Fangcheng in front of him with wide eyes. The normally frightening child now seemed subdued by the display of force, politely inquiring, "Uncle, is it my turn to take the medicine?"

Jie Fangcheng asked, "What would happen if you don't take the medicine?"

The child looked at him with dark eyes, "If I don't take it, my eyeballs will fall out, and the director will be angry."

Qi Chanyang frowned upon hearing this.

If Number Three was the normal one, what clues could possibly be found on this little child?

At that moment, Gu Shanshan scrutinized Number Three more carefully, finding something oddly familiar about him. She suddenly asked, "Little friend, what is your name?"

The child's eyeballs rotated as he looked at Gu Shanshan, "Auntie, my name is Liu Hanxi."