The ink-stained quill pen was grasped by a hand, pausing on the paper.

"Mr. Lu Li?"

The doctor looked up, indicating the dark-haired man sitting across.

The view outside was hazy, shrouded in a gray mist. This scene seemed to have happened before in memory...

"Mr. Lu Li?"

Lu Li, as if awakening from another world, responded to the call slightly clearer: "I am a detective."

The doctor slightly furrowed his brows, put down the medical record, and sighed: "What I asked was... recently there have been a lot fewer patients."

"Indeed."

Lu Li, waking from a daze similar to mental illness, regained his rationality.

"So do you have any clues?"

Lu Li responded formulaically: "I am glad they are able to recover and be discharged."

"Hmm..." The doctor murmured noncommittally, "The nurse has been complaining about you these days... She said you’ve been wandering around every ward lately."

"That nurse seems to have some bias against me."

The doctor gazed into those unwavering black eyes: "So is what she says true?"

"I cannot confine myself to the ward. As a patient, appropriate distractions aid recovery, and I have been complying with the asylum’s rules."

The doctor overlooked Lu Li’s defense, continuing the topic: "The nurse told me that those discharges were also related to you."

"Do you believe it?"

Lu Li seemed puzzled, tilting his head slightly, "I am just a patient. The patients’ recoveries are because of your treatment, not me."

The doctor’s face formed a smile, quickly reined in: "But indeed, some patients were discharged after interacting with you."

"I don’t know. But I thought as a doctor, you would be happy to see patients recover."

"Ahem... Of course, I’m happy for them." The doctor used a cough to mask embarrassment, continuing to ask: "And what’s about the stolen patient list?"

"The head nurse can vouch for me; I only picked it up when I saw it fell to the ground."

"I stand by you in principle. However..." The doctor leaned forward, reminding Lu Li, "Do you know, the third floor already has empty rooms."

After a brief silence, Lu Li said: "I will avoid conflicts with the nurse moving forward..."

But Lu Li was no longer adverse to being moved to the third floor. He had a flashlight for night activities, and nearly half of the patients on the second floor had been sent away by him.

"You are very clever."

The doctor clasped the quill pen stuck in the ink bottle, picked up the medical record again, wrapping up this pre-consultation talk, "You have been hospitalized for... two weeks, feeling any better?"

"I feel like I’m recovering."

In reality, Lu Li had no memory of receiving treatment, nor any sign of recovery... But this asylum made him unwilling to linger too long, even if it was truly treating him—

Then without warning, Lu Li pictured some patients resisting doctors... Is he like them now?

Suddenly, the doctor asked: "Can you still see the thick fog?"

"No. Today happens to be my favorite rainy day." Lu Li calmly answered.

In the subsequent questions, Lu Li responded as vaguely as possible—because he didn’t know anything. This approach resulted in not being considered by the doctor as fit for discharge—nor did it imply deterioration. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Knock knock knock—

The sudden knocking paused the consultation.

"Come in."

The office door opened, a nurse carrying a large teddy appeared outside the door.

"Why earlier?" The doctor puzzled asked.

"You went overtime."

"Alright then, let’s end here for today, Mr. Luli."

The doctor closed the medical record, and after the nurse placed the teddy on the sofa, gently said: "Poor child, so pitiful... such clear coffee-colored eyes, yet unable to see."

Lu Li looked at the teddy, unable to claim it didn’t have eyes.

"We are the same." The teddy, indifferent to whoever spoke, rudely insulted, "I can’t see things, and you can’t see your wife in bed with a lover right now."

"Uh..."

"I’ll be leaving now." Lu Li said.

The teddy’s attention fell on him: "Don’t you fucking forget the fucking promise you fucking made me!"

"Don’t mind her; she has Tourette’s syndrome." The doctor explained.

"Yes, yes, a lover jerking while spewing vulgarities on your wife."

As Lu Li was about to step out of the profanity-laden office, he suddenly stopped: "May I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

The doctor, relieved like being saved, promptly said.

"Why does the nurse seem to dislike me?"

"I also don’t kno... uh... medical staff are very professional; they wouldn’t dislike any patient."

The formulaic answer wasn’t what Lu Li sought. Lu Li didn’t linger and kindly closed the door for the doctor.

Lu Li followed the nurse back to the second floor, asking: "Did you hear everything?"

The nurse ignored Lu Li, directly stepping onto the stairs to the third floor.

Returning to the familiar environment, Lu Li exhaled, intending to visit Aidanvoya first, unexpectedly seeing room 203’s door open.

[203: Remnant of the Drowned; Stone Demon; Mrs. Slav]

Obviously, addressing the remnant of the Drowned’s theft issue is of higher priority. Besides, there were still two patients in room 203 he had yet to interact with.

Regarding the remnant of the Drowned attacking him again...

"Head Nurse?"

"What’s wrong, child?"

From behind the curtain came the head nurse’s hoarse inquiry.

"Just checking if you’re here."

With backing, Lu Li directly entered room 203. Upon his entry, the remnant of the Drowned curled up on the bed, as if Lu Li was the aggressor.

In the corner of his eye, the other two patients were observed: one covered in muscles like stones, Lu Li once saw its illusion when serving as a guard, another like a werewolf with muscular knots, lush body hair, clad in a floral dress.

"Were you the one who tore its clothes?" a rough voice rang out.

It was daytime now, with the head nurse outside, Lu Li fearlessly stared at the Stone Demon: "Are you accomplices?"

The Stone Demon clumsily waved his hand: "I didn’t mean to stand up for it. It’s just that ever since it came back, it has been crying non-stop, driving me crazy..."

Lu Li’s gaze skimmed over the "crying" curled-up remnant of the Drowned, looking at the other patient—from the moment he entered, she... it had been staring at him steadily.

"Do you need help?" Lu Li first asked the Stone Demon.

"Help? Me?" The Stone Demon moved his stone head, raising a stone finger producing a friction sound, pointing at the remnant of the Drowned: "Can you make it stop crying?"

Lu Li still overlooked the remnant of the Drowned, turning to look at Mrs. Slav. The woman, stout as a brown bear, was drooling from her lips.

"Are you hungry?"

"Just drooling seeing you." Mrs. Slav’s eyes nested in her fat unhidden greed: "Do you have a girlfriend—"

"Yes."

Lu Li had no memory regarding a "girlfriend," but at this moment, he had to have one.