The twenty-nine patients in X Psychiatric Hospital were all weirdos, each more peculiar and brilliant than the last.
Of all the patients, Patients One, Two, and Three were probably the most bizarre and frightening.
What kind of special abilities did those three possess, then?
No one knew!
From Yun Zhonghe's point of view, they were the three most normal patients in the whole psychiatric hospital.
The only defect in Patient Three was that he incessantly claimed, "I am an alien." Other than that, there was nothing unusual in his behavior.
Over time, Patient Three became generally known as Alien.
On the other hand, Patient One and Two were mysteries through and through. They didn't even have nicknames. They were locked up deep underground all year long, and Yun Zhonghe had never met them, even though he was the director of the hospital.
After working as the hospital's director for three years, Yun Zhonghe still hadn't found out what these three patients were capable of or what superpowers they possessed. No one in the whole psychiatric hospital knew.
Perhaps the previous director of the hospital had known, but he… had already passed away.
One thing was for sure: Patient One must have been the most powerful and extraordinary patient, or else, he wouldn't have been given the first number.
Besides that, Patients Two and Three must have possessed some extremely incredible abilities. They just hadn't had the chance to unleash their unique powers in front of Yun Zhonghe.
Or perhaps Yun Zhonghe simply didn't have what it took to comprehend their unique abilities.
***
At that moment, Director Yun Zhonghe was doing his ward rounds.
"You can't stop taking the medicines!"
"Patient Twenty-Three, Da Vinci, what are you doing? What are you doing?" Yun Zhonghe rushed toward the patient immediately after he heard the nurse's squeal, only to find that Patient Twenty-Three had just castrated himself.
Patient Twenty-Three was very calm, he said, "I was studying life, and then I decided to try to produce life."
"You can study life all you want, but do you need to be so cruel to yourself? Are you trying to cultivate the Exorcism Sword Style?"
"Every single one of us originates from such a tiny little thing. I would like to dissect it and unlock the secrets of life once and for all."
"You can use a completely different method to do that! Do you really need to mutilate yourself in the process?"
"Would Patient Twenty-Four be willing to sacrifice herself for my research? It is a shame that she is a woman, so I don't have any other choice but to do it myself."
Even though Yun Zhonghe had already seen quite a lot in the past three years, the view still sent chills up his spine.
"You… Don't you feel the pain?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why haven't you cried out?"
"Why would I cry out? Director, when you were with Colonel Li, you were also acting sneakily…"
When he finished his sentence, everyone in the room was startled.
Colonel Li was the commander of the armed forces who were guarding the psychiatric hospital, and she was from Singapore. She was the captain of the troop of mercenaries, and what's more… she was married. Her husband was the chief researcher in the secret research institute under the hospital, and he was doing experiments in the laboratory at that very moment.
Yun Zhonghe was having an affair with the researcher's wife. If this got out, it would be a disaster!
At the same time, strange and heart-rending cries were heard in the psychiatric hospital. They were followed by an even stranger but more beautiful melody. People became intoxicated by the music and seemed to fall into a trance.
Yun Zhonghe immediately ordered, "Stop him! Stop him now! Activate the audio jammer, lock him up on the thirteenth floor underground. He is grounded for half a year! Grounded for half a year!"
A short while after, a mental health patient, whose entire body was tied up, was taken to the thirteenth floor underground.
Half an hour later, Yun Zhonghe showed up before him. The man was Patient Eight, also known as Beethoven. He was a musical prodigy; he could play all kinds of musical instruments very well, his performance skills were unconquerable, and his talent in composing was unprecedented.
He was deaf and blind.
He blinded himself because he claimed that having eyesight would reduce his sensitivity to musical notes. Blind people had more acute hearing.
A few years after blinding himself, he felt that auditory sense was an obstacle that stopped him from reaching a deeper understanding of music, so he deafened himself. He did that to fully engage himself in pursuing a deeper understanding of music.
He did, in fact, compose epic pieces of music that were not second to the masterpieces that had remained well-known for centuries. Many people thought that another legendary master of music, like Beethoven or Mozart, was about to slowly rise to fame.
He would become a world-class musical master and have a niche in the temple of fame.
However, his music gradually grew stranger and more frightening.
Some of his work could hypnotize, and some could make people lose their minds.
Some of his music, although you could not hear it, could give his audience nightmares and make them kill themselves in their sleep.
In short, Patient Eight had become an extremely dangerous being.
Yun Zhonghe was currently sitting in front of Patient Eight.
"Studying music is fine, but why should people have to die because of your music? The nurse was such a pretty girl. She smacked her head into the wall after listening to your music. She struck hard enough to crack her own skull."
Patient Eight was deaf, but he was so sensitive that he could feel the sound waves emitted by the others and identify what they were saying.
Patient Eight explained, "I have not had such an urge to compose in a long time, but I received a very special sound wave from the depths of the universe. I was very excited, and I began my newest work."
Sh*t. This "newest work" had led a nurse and a caretaker to beat their heads into a wall right after hearing it, leaving one dead and the other injured.
"Director, death is eternity, and I was searching for a musical note of eternity. I hope that this note can manipulate people's spirits, make them as happy as if they were in heaven, or make them suffer as if they were in hell. The note can bestow upon mankind dreams as tasty as wine, nightmares as scary as ghosts. It can drive men crazy, lead them to their deaths…"
Yun Zhonghe remained silent for a while and replied to him with the words, "F*ck you, you heartless piece of sh*t!"
***
In the secret laboratory...
The chief researcher of the research institute was doing an experiment with the help of his assistant.
The assistant said hesitantly, "Professor Wu, I have a friend in a very sad situation. His wife is having an affair with another man. Lots of people know about it, and he is the only one who hasn't realized what's going on."
"You should tell your friend about it quickly."
"I don't have the heart to do it," the assistant said. "This sort of matter is too embarrassing."
"Then maybe you should find a way to give him a hint?" Professor Wu replied.
The assistant thought for a moment and picked up a green test tube. "Professor Wu, look, how nice is the color of this test tube! It is the color of spring, isn't it?"
The chief researcher was stunned. He then burst into tears.
"Oh… Who is it, who is it? Is the b*stard Yun Zhonghe? Is it him?"
The assistant was surprised. "Professor Wu, how did you know it was him? Do you have the sixth sense?"
"He is the best-looking guy in the whole psychiatric hospital. Who else would it be if it wasn't him? Argh… argh… argh…"
"Professor Wu, what are you gonna do?"
"What can I do? As long as A Li does not divorce me, I… I will pretend like I know nothing!" The chief researcher choked with sobs.
The assistant sighed. The honest men in this world had to put up with the chagrin of being betrayed by their partners to be able to brave through life.
***
Something peculiar happened in the special psychiatric hospital: Patient Nine, Quantum, was awake!
This was the man who said he could predict the future and explain the past.
The predictive feats he claimed to be capable of were very complex, but his mind hadn't responded in ten years. He had been like a living corpse for the past decade.
When he suddenly opened his eyes after being only partially conscious for ten years, it caught everyone off guard.
The director, Yun Zhonghe, quickly went to meet the man who was considered a demigod. What had happened that could miraculously wake him up?
"Director, Colonel Li's husband knows about your affair with her."
Yun Zhonghe was shocked. "What?!"
"Professor Wu confronted Colonel Li an hour ago," Quantum said. "Colonel Li admitted the affair and was determined to divorce her husband so that she could be with you."
Director Yun Zhonghe was even more perplexed. "How, how is that possible? I have already discarded the vexation of worldly affairs and sworn to become an ascetic monk. Why would she take it so seriously? I didn't want to ruin what they have at all! The husband and wife are meant for each other; they are a perfect match!"
Quantum reacted with disgust. "F*ck, you are shameless!"
"Quantum, how… How do you know about all this? Did you predict this?" Yun Zhonghe asked.
Quantum answered, "Even though I didn't see any of this, I could infer what happened based on the quantum energy in the vicinity and predict what will happen next according to all the causal chains."
Yun Zhonghe then said, "So, can you predict what will happen in the future?"
"Captain Li is resolved to get a divorce to be with you," Quantum replied, "and Professor Wu is enraged and seeking revenge. He is going to detonate a bomb, which he created in secret, to destroy the whole psychiatric hospital. He wants the two of you, the paramour and the Jezebel, to be smashed to pieces."
Yun Zhonghe looked at the other man, horrified. He asked with a tremble in his voice, "When will he detonate the bomb? When? I need to stop him."
Quantum closed his eyes and said, "Five!"
"Five days? Five hours?" Yun Zhonghe asked fearfully.
Quantum continued, "Four, three, two, one…"