Chapter 1

In the western part of Wulin City in Jiangnan, between Tianmu Road and Xixi Road at the foot of Laoheshan Mountain, the roar of engines echoed through the misty night, and the headlights distorted like phantoms as they sped by. The roar made the shadowy Laoheshan Mountain appear like a giant beast. Since a series of high-profile drunk driving cases a few years ago, the second-generation residents of Wulin had moved their street racing to more remote areas. Although Xixi Road was not as wide and bright as the neighboring Tianmu Road, it was more secluded with fewer people and less surveillance, making it perfect for their midnight madness.

Even better, there were no large residential areas nearby. After nightfall, pedestrians were scarce. In the dead of night, apart from the occasional roar of luxury cars, the area was exceptionally quiet. The car enthusiasts were active, and naturally, the car repair shops on Xixi Road were also busy. Opposite the car repair shops stood a few isolated buildings, separated by high walls, with no light visible from the buildings, giving them a somewhat eerie feel. The black windows on the white exterior walls, under the dim lights of Xixi Road, looked like ghostly eyes devouring the light.

Occasionally, a window would emit a cold white light, making the building seem even colder. Even though it was mid-April and many places in the south were already considered to be in summer, the shaded area of the mountain showed no signs of heat, and there was no sound of insects. If not for the occasional roar, it would have seemed like a dead zone.

Suddenly, a strange howl broke the silence from within the building, followed by several windows lighting up, as if the building had come to life. The black windows lit up with white light, and the cold feeling disappeared, but the noisy shouting, crying, cursing, and strange calls added an eerie atmosphere to the building. A silver sports car sped by and suddenly stopped outside the wall. A young man with spiky hair like a hedgehog got out of the car, holding a can of beer. He opened the other door, pulled out a heavily made-up, drunk girl, and poured some beer into her mouth. Pointing at the building, he said:

"Damn! Look at this, this is the Seventh Hospital. These lunatics don't even sleep at night!"

"..." The drunk girl squinted her eyes, as if the light from the windows was too glaring. She mumbled something incomprehensible, and the young man laughed loudly, kissed her face with a loud "pop," and then pushed her back into the car, continuing to roar towards the wetlands to the west.

This peculiar building, along with a few others nearby, was well-known in Wulin City. The place known as the Seventh Hospital of Wulin was often mentioned when people cursed. As a tertiary hospital specializing in mental and psychological disorders, it was commonly referred to as a "mental hospital" by the locals, and it was natural for it to appear in curses.

The independent building, the Third Ward, not only served as the inpatient department but also housed the intensive care unit, where the upper three floors had thick steel bars on the windows, causing fear among the doctors, nurses, security guards, and cleaning staff.

Mental illness, as it is known in folklore, has always been unpredictable. Even professional doctors find it difficult to predict the behavior of mental patients, as they are a group with completely different values and worldviews from normal people. Therefore, being a psychiatrist has always been a high-risk profession. This is not just because patients' aggression can harm them, but also because the impact of such different values and worldviews can cause psychological issues in those with weaker mental fortitude.

In fact, there have been many cases of psychiatrists becoming mentally ill or even being persuaded to commit suicide by their patients. Of course, such extreme cases are not common. Most patients can still be controlled.

Zhang Dadao, a long-term patient at the Seventh Hospital of Wulin, has been in the hospital since he was seven years old, for a total of eight years. One could say that most of the doctors at the hospital are not as experienced as he is. After a car accident at the age of seven, Zhang Dadao first entered the children's psychological research center, then the psychological rehabilitation center, and finally the psychiatric department. He has been in the hospital for eight years, and it would not be an exaggeration to call him the hospital's treasure.

According to the diagnosis, Zhang Dadao suffered from a series of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, and delusional disorder, after witnessing his parents' fatal car accident at the age of seven. Fortunately, due to his lack of aggression, he was not transferred to the intensive care unit.

To most new doctors, Zhang Dadao was a peculiar person. Although they definitely did not believe his claim of being the thirteenth-generation celestial master, and would not provide him with cinnabar, talismans, or peachwood swords to prove himself, many of the doctors, including some chief experts, found it incredible that he could convince some patients. In the end, the doctors could only attribute this to the idea that patients have more in common with each other. This was a rather peculiar reason.

Apart from Zhang Dadao, who was immune to the old man's influence and was still allowed to visit him, other patients were restricted from approaching the old man. The doctors said that the old man, Mr. Han, was using the hospital as a nursing home. Mr. Han, who had been off medication for several years, was the only patient more experienced than Zhang Dadao at the Seventh Hospital.

Compared to Zhang Dadao, who claimed to be the thirteenth-generation celestial master, the old man was even more abnormal. Although he looked like a retired official and seemed more like an expert than some of the hospital's senior experts, he was still a mental patient. His children, who rarely visited during holidays, had not come to see him for the past two years.

Of course, Mr. Han did not care about this. Many patients who had been cured by him often came back to visit, calling him "teacher" affectionately.

Zhang Dadao, though he said he did not care, was somewhat envious in his heart. If the disciples and grand-disciples of Longhu Mountain came to visit him, it would be wonderful. Of course, Zhang Dadao was well aware that if this matter were reported to Longhu Mountain, the current Zhang Celestial Master would definitely think he was crazy. In fact, everyone in the Seventh Hospital, except for some patients, thought he was crazy.

The noise in the inpatient building gradually subsided, and even the patient who claimed to be immune to everything was subdued by the sedatives. The intervals between the roaring cars on Xixi Road became longer, and it was a long time before another car appeared. In the quiet early hours of the night, the faint sound of insects could be heard from Laoheshan Mountain. The sky gradually turned white, and the dawn was clear and bright.

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