Chapter 10: The Fourth Floor of the Sanitarium

The resentment on Wolf was well-hidden; Wu Chang did not notice it when he first entered the office. It was only when the two entered the pharmaceutical cave and Wolf revealed his true form that the resentment on his body could be observed.

The existence of that resentment was very subtle, somewhere between pale red and bright red, indicating that the owner of the resentment had an obsession, but not a strong one.

The blood-colored last words within the resentment flickered in and out of existence, and it took Wu Chang quite some effort to see the content clearly.

The owner of the resentment on Wolf was a Stalker; he had not only found the pharmaceutical room but also used some kind of skill to pass directly through the door into the room.

Perhaps because there was no "opening the door" step, the crisis the veteran doctor had sensed did not occur.

The Stalker hid in the shadows, quietly observing Wolf.

After witnessing Wolf finish processing all the medical records in the office and having them sent to the surface by the duty doctor underground, he saw Wolf change into a special robe and enter a secret door in the office.

Inside the secret door was a shrine, and on the shrine was a stone symbol statue; the symbol was a crescent-shaped eye, identical to the pattern carved on the Traveler's Amulet.

Wolf prostrated himself, piously worshipping the symbol.

The Stalker who discovered all this excitedly broke out of his stealth state, wanting to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Wolf, having sensed his secret was discovered, transformed into a monster and thrust a sharp insect limb into the Stalker's mouth.

A one-hit kill.

Wu Chang watched this segment many times over.

He put himself in the Stalker's shoes and found that even if he knew Wolf was going to attack and when he would attack, he still couldn't see it clearly or dodge it.

Damn, within seven steps this time, the fist really was faster.

Looking at the physique Wolf had after transforming, one knew his health bar definitely wouldn't be short.

With high attack and thick health, given his current attributes, even with the Silver Dawn, it was unrealistic to rely on force to deal with Wolf.

He had to find another way.

While he was thinking, the blood-colored last words in the resentment stabilized.

[The Prophet has received the oracle; the Cursed Gold is on the second basement level of the Moonlight Sanitarium! For the return of the Lord, it must be found.]

A player actually believing in the same god as the villain in the dungeon—the situation was getting more and more interesting.

Wu Chang did not know what the so-called Cursed Gold was, so he was in no hurry to complete the blood-colored last words and hid this piece of information away.

Wolf saw Wu Chang's absent-mindedness and did not communicate much, simply giving a few suggestions before letting Wu Chang leave.

After Wu Chang left the pharmaceutical room, he changed back into his human body, returned to the office, and opened the secret door the Stalker had once discovered.

He knelt before the shrine and piously chanted:

"The sacrifice is about to begin, the gods are destined to descend; this is fate, and it cannot be stopped."

Wu Chang left the pharmaceutical room and did not continue to explore the sanitarium, choosing to return to his room.

He lay on the bed, organizing the clues he had discovered tonight.

The highest realm of lying is nine truths and one falsehood: selectively expressing certain truths and mixing in a lie at the most critical node of the truth.

The story of Baishi Town from Wolf's mouth should not be fake, and the mastermind being the Serene Sect should also be true.

But the truth about the delusion and Wolf asking him to "awaken" Director Randy must have other motives.

He suspected Wolf not only because of the Stalker's resentment but also because when the story reached its end, Wolf, under the guise of scratching an itch, "accidentally" tore the white lab coat he was wearing.

The admission instructions mentioned that one could trust the words of medical staff in the sanitarium, but only those wearing white uniforms were medical staff.

Assuming that medical staff could not say things that would harm or deceive patients was a rule that had to be followed, then Wolf tearing his white coat was a signal that he was about to lie.

By reverse inference, he could not "awaken" Director Randy, at least not easily.

However, there was one thing he couldn't figure out: patients in the sanitarium disappeared every few days, a group of rotting, mutated humanoid creatures were locked in the underground ward, and walking around outside the room at night could turn one into a pile of meat.

With the sanitarium having become like this, the director still hadn't discovered the existence of supernatural powers; was his faith in materialism a bit too firm?

Looking at the half-bright sky outside the window, he yawned; he had done enough for today, and he would let everything wait until he woke up.

Wu Chang opened his eyes again, awakened by a knock on the door.

He stretched, feeling refreshed.

Relying on a physical constitution nearly double that of an ordinary person, his sleep quality was ridiculously good; he only needed an hour or two of sleep to relieve a whole day's fatigue.

A beautiful day began with seeing Nurse Zhu Li the moment he opened the door.

"Good morning, Miss Zhu Li."

Zhu Li walked into the room and looked around, surprise and strangeness appearing in her eyes, as if she had discovered something.

"What's wrong?" Wu Chang probed; when it came to mystery, this beautiful "friendly NPC" was no worse than anyone else. "Nothing, let's go quickly, you're going to be late for your consultation." Zhu Li hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing.

As per routine, before all activities, patients needed to go to the clinic to check their condition and receive the day's special medicine.

Dr. Charles, who was in charge of mild patients, was even more haggard than last night.

His eye sockets were deeply sunken, his dark circles were a shade deeper, his eyeballs were covered in bloodshot veins, and there were clotted blood spots near his pupils, as if it were he, not Wu Chang, who had stayed up all night investigating.

The neurasthenic Dr. Charles was exceptionally irritable; he grabbed a pack of special medicine and slapped it in front of Wu Chang. While Wu Chang reached out to take the medicine, he grabbed Wu Chang by the collar, looked at the radiant face in front of him, and said in a jealous tone:

"Did you sleep well last night?"

When Wu Chang was grabbed by the collar, he feigned panic and braced his hands on the desk, slapping the tabletop to create a clear noise.

"Thanks to the special medicine, it allowed me to have a good dream."

"A good dream?" Charles repeated in a strange tone, then asked: "What did you dream of?"

"Huh?" Wu Chang pretended not to understand.

"I asked, you..." Dr. Charles prepared to continue questioning, but Zhu Li, having heard the noise, had already walked into the clinic.

!

Charles seemed to fear Zhu Li's presence; he let go of Wu Chang's collar, gave a muffled snort, and said: "Get lost!"

Wu Chang straightened his collar and followed Zhu Li out of the clinic.

Standing at the door of the clinic, Zhu Li asked pointedly: "Do you still remember the admission instructions?"

Wu Chang: "Of course I remember."

"Then is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Not for the moment."

"Oh."

Due to Jin Dun's disappearance, Wu Chang was temporarily out of danger and could move freely in the activity room.

As the hero who exposed Jin Dun's gambling tricks and vented everyone's anger, he was welcomed by the other patients.

With an emotional foundation, he quickly integrated into the group of fellow patients.

Integrating was simple, but trying to extract information was not easy.

Under the influence of the delusion, every patient was abnormally restless, as if they were avoiding something; often, they would be halfway through a sentence when they would suddenly shiver and hide under the table, or hug their heads and cry, or even look for sharp objects to self-harm.

Only the special medicine could alleviate their symptoms.

But after taking the medicine, they would turn into high addicts, their eyes becoming blurred, their speech incoherent, and they would talk to the air from time to time.

In the end, after a whole day, he hadn't gained much information and had almost been driven crazy himself.

Whether the delusion was truly contagious or he had inhaled the powder of the special medicine from other patients, at one moment near dusk, he turned to look at the sunset, and a phantom of a white angel actually flashed across the corner of his eye.

No, he had to speed up the dungeon's progress.

That night, he took the Traveler's Amulet and headed toward the fourth floor of the sanitarium.

The day's activities were not without gains; the fragmented descriptions from the patients, combined with Wolf's story, allowed him to roughly map out the plot of Baishi Town.

The Vino family and the Serene Sect who came to invest in Baishi Town really existed, the Serene Sect was indeed recognized by the kingdom as dangerous elements, and many townspeople had indeed joined the Serene Sect.

In the activity room of less than twenty people, seven patients, after getting high, put their arms around his shoulders and preached loudly:

"Brother Xiao En, don't worry about the delusion; as long as you join the church, the gods will grant us eternal serenity. If you are interested, come find me tomorrow, and I will take you to see the priest."

Every time they finished preaching, the patients would not forget to emphasize at the top of their lungs:

"We are a secret church, don't tell anyone else; if the kingdom finds out, we'll be nailed to the stake!"

The Serene Sect's high-intensity infiltration was just as Wolf had said: the entire sanitarium had fallen into the control of the Serene Sect.

Therefore, Wu Chang had to confirm the director's situation right now; regardless of what Wolf's motives were, the director was the key to clearing the dungeon.

Making his way to the fourth floor and using the red key to open the heavy iron door leading to the fourth level, the moment he entered the fourth-floor corridor, the scene before his eyes made his brow furrow tightly.

The medical staff were not like the patients, staying honestly in their rooms; eight or nine medical staff in white uniforms wandered the corridor like sleepwalkers.

While sleepwalking, they were frantically tearing at their white uniforms, wanting to get rid of them, and the white uniforms had also come to life, tightening and coiling like pythons, resisting the medical staff's struggles.

Just as Wu Chang was wondering what was going on, a sinister voice sounded behind him.

"Xiao En, tell me, what are you dreaming of now?"

(End of chapter)