Chapter 87: The Museum in the Psychiatric Hospital

Wen Xishu decided to squeeze Xie Changfeng:

"I can help you, and I can let bygones be bygones. After all, I only want to live in the bunker as an ordinary person now; I wouldn't dare offend you."

"But Sir Xie, if you want someone to do something for you, you have to pay a price, right?"

Xie Changfeng thought for a moment:

"I have an item that can be used in the Tower of Desire... I'll give it to you. As long as I can survive, I'll give it to you!"

Wen Xishu accepted this request:

"Then I shall return good for evil. I accept your request. You give me the item, and I, in turn, will tell you the simple intelligence regarding this mission."

"Deal, here!"

As Xie Changfeng spoke, he took out a small object; it was a business card. A blue item.

The item's effect: when you hand over the business card, the other party must also hand over a business card.

It counts as a forced information-exchange prop; the business card will quietly return to one's own pocket after one hour.

It is not a one-time consumable prop.

Xie Changfeng also knew this thing was precious, and he also knew Wen Xishu was untrustworthy.

But as long as he survived, it would count as atonement. Relying on his connections, he could still land a desk job in the Anquan Bureau in the future that didn't require climbing towers.

Even if he did climb towers, it wouldn't be the Mysterious Tower.

Therefore, Xie Changfeng had no choice but to gamble. He had asked around, and no one knew the walkthrough. Now that Wen Xishu knew it, although he was resistant internally, he had no choice.

Wen Xishu put the business card away directly and said:

"This mission is actually not difficult. After you enter, there are four scenes. The first scene is in the study. There is a piece of women's clothing in the study that is out of place with the other items; you just need to purify it. The second piece is in the bedroom. There is a bowl of porridge in the bedroom that emits a black light; you drink it, and then go purify the guitar next to it."

"The third piece is in the office. Remember, don't move. When the laughter starts, silently recite the names of everyone in your family."

Zheng Zai's face twitched, thinking to himself, Brother Wen is quite ruthless.

If it weren't for the iron mask covering his mouth, his expression would have given him away.

Wen Xishu said:

"That is the entire walkthrough. Believe it or not, but I wish you good luck."

The other party had no choice but to believe, so Wen Xishu turned around quite arrogantly.

Time was almost up, and he happened to go see if there were any new teammates.

Xie Changfeng thought about it; Wen Xishu was just a student, a kid who had just come of age, how bad could he be? Albert and Liu Jinsen were both self-proclaimed righteous people.

Especially Liu Jinsen. Being able to be friends with Liu Jinsen, he figured Wen Xishu shouldn't harm him.

Besides, he had already taken his item; this person couldn't be completely devoid of credibility, right?

His mood clearly improved:

"As long as I complete this mission, I'll go back and do some business, find a good way out for myself."

……

……

Zheng Zai did not open his mouth to ask Wen Xishu why. Wen Xishu had saved him more than once; in his view, Brother Wen doing this must have his reasons.

The two soon returned to the central area, and Wen Xishu discovered... there really were new teammates.

Wang Ying said:

"You two finally arrived. Let me introduce you; this is a new teammate. His name is Including Tong Ming. He comes from the fourth-floor psychiatric hospital."

Including Tong Ming was squatting on the ground. In terms of age, he was the same as Wen Xishu, both just having come of age.

He squatted on the ground and looked back at Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu also sized up Including Tong Ming.

"Don't look at him as young, but he has already explored the Mysterious Tower four times. His anti-magic value is the same as mine, nine points," Wang Ying said.

Including Tong Ming was still squatting, but he reached out a hand:

"We are teammates now."

Wen Xishu did not resist and shook hands with Including Tong Ming.

At this moment, he had a feeling of being eroded by cold air.

This kid had a sequence on him.

Including Tong Ming was also quite surprised:

"Eh? Interesting. I'm starting to look forward to this journey."

He revealed a smile, very pure, looking harmless to humans and animals.

But Wen Xishu knew this kind of smile very well. In his past life, after he killed his parents, he had revealed this kind of smile.

Based on the fact that the other party came from a psychiatric hospital, he roughly guessed that this person might have a very serious antisocial personality.

It was just that he was good at disguising it.

This information was not deduced; it was purely guessed, a judgment of one's own kind by one's own kind.

"I'm looking forward to it too. Let's not delay," Wen Xishu said.

He was truly looking forward to it; having a psychiatric patient go to a psychiatric hospital to explore, there might be unexpected gains.

Wang Ying was slightly dissatisfied with Wen Xishu's liking to issue orders, but he still pretended to be very open-minded:

"Everyone, see you in the Mysterious Tower."

Wang Ying, Aspasia, Zheng Zai, Including Tong Ming, and Wen Xishu, the five-person squad, disappeared from the rest area.

Wen Xishu's fourth Mysterious Tower journey officially kicked off.

……

……

Mysterious Tower, Eighth Floor.

Location: Jiangcheng, Fourth Psychiatric Hospital, Inpatient Department, Fourth Floor.

The incandescent lights flickered, making the atmosphere in the hallway somewhat terrifying.

Wen Xishu, Wang Ying, and the others all appeared at the stairwell of the fourth floor of the inpatient department.

Everyone received the same prompt.

【Welcome to the Wonder Museum. In every patient room, there is an interesting item from the Great Inventor. Although he is dead, these items are his masterpieces. Please explore and identify the item.】

【Note: After identifying the item, you will enter the item-usage phase. Please choose the item carefully.】

This was the prompt everyone received.

And Wen Xishu received one more line.

【The orange prop you hold will provide you with the following function throughout this round of tower climbing:】

【Function Name: Team Up】

【Function Description: You can select one teammate to enter the team-up state. In the team-up state, non-teammates cannot view your ID in any form, and cannot view your props and attributes in any form. At the same time, in the team-up state, you cannot harm your teammate, and your teammate cannot cause any harm to you.】

Wen Xishu hadn't even had time to analyze the environment before he was amused by this rule.

This was a game rule he felt was quite useful.

In the real world, teaming up is just a verbal form of teaming up. If you fire a gun, the bullets you shoot don't distinguish between friend and foe; there is no such thing as "turning off friendly fire" in reality.

But in the game, when a meat shield is holding off monsters, the mage can cast skills freely without worrying about accidentally injuring teammates.

Wen Xishu decisively pulled Zheng Zai into the team.

This function didn't show any clever use for now, but Wen Xishu felt that in this mission, this function would have its uses.

"That big screen at the end of the hallway... seems a bit strange. Does that count as an item that can be identified?" Zheng Zai said.

Now Wen Xishu and the others were all at the stairwell, with patient rooms on both sides of the hallway.

At the end of the hallway was a huge screen, like a video wall.

Wen Xishu said:

"Let's interpret the mission first, Zheng Zai. First, we must analyze the mission. This mission has several keywords: Great Inventor, Museum..."

"So we may not necessarily face some terrifying enemies, but the items themselves are very terrifying, different from the last time we purified items."

"This time we need to guess the functions of the items based on their appearance and type..."

"Everyone remembers what the mission said, right? If we successfully survive, we can take away one item we have identified."

"And in the mission description, there is also a sentence that says, after the apocalypse came, the psychiatric hospital where he was located became a place that everyone was crazy to pour into. As if it were the only paradise in the world."

"It can be seen that before the apocalypse came, his items were strange and bizarre, and people just treated them as trash."

"But after the apocalypse came, these items seemed to have strange abilities, and they might be able to make this psychiatric hospital a paradise, resisting the invasion of the apocalypse."

"So, we might strike gold in this mission. But as for the attributes of the treasures and the risks involved in the identification process... that all depends on our performance."

"There are five of us now... averaging 2.4 items per person. Good luck to you all."

Wen Xishu said.

What he said actually made a lot of sense; Zheng Zai listened, took notes, and learned while he listened.

But Wang Ying said:

"Hmm, you're right, we know everything you just said, but I'm used to following discipline. Next time, I'll speak first, and you can add to it after I've spoken."

Wen Xishu said:

"Then, Captain, will you decide the order of exploration?"

Wang Ying said:

"Every hospital room might hide an item. Since it's a museum, these items should be easy to identify."

"The five of us will enter the room together. If someone feels a connection to an item... then that person will identify it."

"If several people are interested in the same item at the same time... then state your reasons for wanting it, and we'll put it to a vote. Or, if a vote isn't possible, I will make the ruling."

"Any objections?"

Wen Xishu had no objections; Wang Ying's method was actually quite reasonable.

Including Tong Ming said:

"No objections."

Aspasia and Zheng Zai nodded as well.

Wang Ying was very satisfied:

"In that case, let's go take a look in the first hospital room."

The door to room 401 was pushed open.

The hospital bed was messy, the quilt had fallen to the floor, the pillow was in the middle, and a nightstand sat in the center of the room with a ceramic teacup on it.

At the same time, there was a desk lamp on the floor with two eyes drawn on it. Some syringes were scattered on the floor. And... iron chains.

There were no other items.

"Didn't you say it was a museum... so where is the item?" Aspasia asked.

Wen Xishu picked up the desk lamp:

"This is the item. Do you want to identify it?"

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the desk lamp, but without exception, all they saw was garbled text; they couldn't recognize a single character.

In fact, every item in the room would show garbled text if stared at for too long.

Wen Xishu was the same, but Wen Xishu's Magic Resistance was 19 points, leading the others by a wide margin.

He could see a few characters in the lamp's notes.

Diverge, Vision, Common.

These five characters didn't seem to describe a regular desk lamp, so Wen Xishu believed the museum exhibit in room 401... was this lamp.

He also guessed the lamp's function; it was actually quite good, but he wasn't interested.

Wang Ying said:

"Don't talk nonsense. What makes you think this is an item that needs to be identified?"

Wen Xishu was still very patient; he was patient with every teammate. After all, in the earliest stage of an adventure, he assumed every teammate was someone he would eventually have to kill. As for whether they would die, that depended on their performance during the process.

Wen Xishu said patiently:

"I've said it before, Captain, you have to interpret the mission. The mission mentioned a museum and a great inventor."

"Clearly, the items this time aren't historical artifacts; they are novel items that need to be invented. We just need to find the new element within an item."

"Try to find things that shouldn't be in a hospital room. Of course, a desk lamp might exist in a hospital room. But a desk lamp wouldn't have eyes drawn on it. This must contain the new element. I guess this is the item that needs to be identified."

Wen Xishu's words were logical and well-founded, and they also helped everyone find a way to judge the items.

Wang Ying took a deep breath:

"Is anyone interested in this thing? You can come and try."

Zheng Zai shook his head:

"I'm not interested in a lamp. This thing doesn't look like a powerful prop at all."

Wen Xishu also said:

"I'm not interested."

Wang Ying wasn't actually interested either, but he needed to establish his authority as captain now; he didn't want to be upstaged by Wen Xishu.

He thought for a moment and analyzed:

"You guys still don't get it. You need to use your brains more. This item really doesn't look useful. But the previous mission hint said that identifying items is risky!"

"The more ordinary an item is, the lower the risk, understand? What is the primary mission of exploring the Mysterious Tower? It's to survive safely. You are all too young; learn well."

Including Tong Ming clapped:

"The captain is amazing, the captain's words are so useful. Captain, can you identify this item?"

Wang Ying said:

"Of course."

Just as Wang Ying was preparing to identify it, a prompt appeared in everyone's mind:

【You have found a museum item. You can choose to identify it. After identification is complete, the item will be in an activated state. It will forcibly display its function, and then it will enter the standby area.】

【Please decide whether the identifier wants to identify it alone or collectively. If identified alone, you will enjoy absolute distribution rights for this item after the mission ends.】

That was quite a lot of information.

Forcibly display its function, then enter the standby area... and the giant video wall at the end of the corridor.

Wen Xishu had a guess in his heart, but he didn't say it.

At the same time, he noticed a light in Including Tong Ming's eyes, the look of a prank successfully pulled off.

This Wang Ying, if he weren't so jealous, wouldn't be so easily manipulated.

"Collective identification means the risk will be borne by the group, but the distribution rights will decrease."

"Individual identification means the risk should be borne by the identifier alone, but the distribution rights are 100% yours to allocate."

Wang Ying continued to analyze:

"So, I'll give you a chance to decide for yourselves whether this item should be identified together or by me alone."

Including Tong Ming said:

"Of course the captain should identify it alone! Captain, your courage alone is worth the full distribution rights."

Wen Xishu also went along with it:

"I don't like lamps... Captain, you do it."

Zheng Zai followed Wen Xishu's lead and said:

"I don't like lamps either."

Only Aspasia said:

"I'll share the risk with you. Don't worry, I'll listen to you regarding the distribution."

Wang Ying was very satisfied with his junior sister Aspasia's performance, so he decisively chose collective identification.

Wen Xishu and the others gave up on identification, so the result of the collective identification was:

【Number of identifiers: two. Item activated, forcibly displaying function.】

The desk lamp, with eyes carved all over its shade, lit up at this moment.

The light was very soft, without any exaggerated effects like petrifying targets or anything. The lamp's light shone on everyone, and it was even a bit comfortable.

At the same time, Wang Ying laughed loudly:

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful! This lamp is a divine artifact! I was right after all! Who said the Mysterious Tower was hard? The museum in this Mysterious Tower is just great."

(End of chapter)