"I'm called Lin Xing, what's your name?"
"The ancestor here is named Bai Yiyi, you can just call me Miss Bai."
"You're a girl?"
"What? Do you look down on women?"
"No, just didn't expect it. Speaking of which, why did you turn into a doll?"
"Sigh, I once was considered the most beautiful woman under the heavens, with countless men willing to squander their fortunes just to speak a word to me. But among them, a shameless wretch, wanting to possess me forever, captured me and turned me into this..."
"If he wanted to possess you, wouldn't capturing you be enough? Why turn you into a doll?"
"Who knows what goes through the minds of such evildoers."
Lin Xing lay on the hospital bed, chatting with the doll off and on.
Before he knew it, the next day had arrived, and Lin Xing, carrying the doll, prepared to return to the office to talk with the doctor.
Chu Qingxin caught a glimpse of the doll Lin Xing had stuffed into his shirt, its cat head poking out from his collar, and asked, "Do you like cat dolls?"
Lin Xing casually replied, "They're alright, I guess."
"Then why bring it with you?"
Lin Xing responded, "Because she told me to always carry her with me. I know it doesn't sound real, but this doll really can talk."
Chu Qingxin nodded, then noted in the medical record: Patient's condition deteriorated, seemingly developed new hallucinations, believes his cat doll can speak.
She continued, "I heard you and Jiang Hong get along quite well?"
Lin Xing nodded and sighed, "Yes, he's much easier to communicate with now that he's medicated."
Chu Qingxin spoke, "Lin Xing, you said you've come back from a year in the future, can you tell us what will happen over this next year?"
Lin Xing nodded, "According to my memory, the World Cup is next month. During that time, I worked in the afternoons and watched the World Cup at night..."
Chu Qingxin curiously said, "Next month?"
Lin Xing, too, expressed surprise, "Yeah, I clearly remember it being next month, but then the day before I checked, I discovered it's not until next year. I also did some research on the World Cup, and I found that many historical events I recall from a hundred years ago... have all been changed..."
Listening to Lin Xing's slow narration, Chu Qingxin was somewhat astonished.
She had seen many patients with schizophrenia and delusions who could develop their own unique logic or even worldview amidst their hallucinations and delusions.
But someone like Lin Xing, able to imagine so many historical changes in detail and hold a complete logic all his own, was extremely rare among mental illness patients.
Chu Qingxin thought to herself, "Lin Xing's condition is more severe than I anticipated."
"This is a mess!" Bai Yiyi felt increasingly heavy-hearted as she listened, "The people here aren't wrong, this guy really is sick!"
The thought of entrusting herself to a madman chilled her heart.
After sending Lin Xing off, Chu Qingxin made a phone call, asking, "Are we certain we shouldn't prescribe medication for Lin Xing? His condition seems to be worsening rapidly. Without prompt treatment, he might sink deeper, and it would be much harder to bring him back to normal later on."
After receiving a negative response, Chu Qingxin shook her head and hung up the phone.
Although she was currently working here temporarily, her knowledge about the Quantum Intelligence Research Institute was very limited.
For instance, she was aware that it was engaged in some sort of highly confidential research, and that it held very high authority in various regards, so much so that even the upper echelons of East Sea City had no control over it.
However, what exactly the Quantum Intelligence Research Institute was doing, and where these mental patients came from, were completely beyond her understanding.
Surely, the other world, reversal of time, historical changes... that these patients spoke of couldn't all be real?
As Chu Qingxin looked through the case files, her mind was filled with questions and curiosity, "What is the purpose of investing so much effort into this research?"
Meanwhile, Lin Xing on his way back sensed that familiar feeling once again and, recalling his previous encounters, said, "Miss Bai, I feel we might encounter another opening soon. Can you sense it?"
Bai Yiyi didn't reply, in her heart, Lin Xing was already an unreliable madman.
But the next moment, just as Lin Xing stepped through the open iron gate in the corridor, he vanished right before the eyes of several staff members and security guards.
Instant chaos ensued on the entire floor.
Elsewhere, Wei Zhi cursed as he ran, "What's happening? Why didn't we have a prediction for this Mirror World opening?"
"Captain Wei, we were just about to report to you when Lin Xing already entered."
"It happened too quickly, way too quickly."
"After three consecutive openings around him, there must be something mysterious about this Lin Xing..."
When Lin Xing came to his senses, he found himself once again in the small courtyard.
Bai Yiyi watched in shock, "The gate really opened? Are we really back?"
Recalling the familiar feeling just before the opening, Lin Xing mused, "Indeed, that feeling signified an opening."
Thinking back on his previous encounters with the gate, he realized that similar feelings of familiarity had surfaced in his heart, and now it seemed none of them were coincidences.
Bai Yiyi still found it unbelievable, "Why have you encountered the opening of the gate in such a short span of time? What's so special about you?"
"I find it strange too," said Lin Xing. "The process of the opening is so familiar to me, but I can't remember why it feels that way."
After speaking, Lin Xing began to observe his surroundings and noticed that this was the very courtyard he had left the Mirror World from last time.
Only the old man who had been lying on the ground had vanished, leaving only a faint, dried bloodstain on the ground.
Bai Yiyi warned, "Lin Xing, should you hide first? You killed someone here before, be careful of other people seeking revenge."
Lin Xing corrected her, "Miss Bai, don't talk nonsense. As a righteous person, I never kill people unless it's in self-defense."
He added, "My defense was clean and decisive, and no one witnessed it, so no one should know it was me."
But even as he said that, Lin Xing still ran to the woodshed looking for a sickle for self-defense, only to find the woodshed completely empty, as if everything had been moved away.