Yanhai City.
Qingshan Mental Hospital.
It was a top-tier Class III mental hospital, boasting the best equipment and environment.
Doctors in white coats walked through the clean and tidy corridors, making their rounds. Each ward housed four patients, all diagnosed with mental illnesses through professional assessments.
Their behavior was abnormal, yet they formed small, cohesive groups.
Some engaged in impassioned discussions.
Others held books, loudly reciting about the future of the world.
"Based on decades of painstaking research, I've discovered that tonight is the end of the world. But don't worry, I've found the safest place. When everyone's gone, I'll secretly take you there."
"The Blue Planet is actually square. People outside say it's round; they're the ones who are truly sick and need treatment."
"I've developed a formula for men to get pregnant with each other. Next year, I'll win the biggest award and ascend to the throne of medicine. You are all witnesses."
A doctor held medical records, listening for a while in each room before nodding in satisfaction.
Very good.
They were all beyond saving.
Televisions were embedded in the corridor walls. On the screen, a news anchorwoman with neat, short hair broadcast the latest news.
"A level seven evil entity has emerged from a sinkhole on Mount Tai. There have been heavy casualties among the climbers. Experts have been dispatched to suppress it... Citizens are urged to prioritize their safety and avoid traveling in the wilderness."
Inside a special ward.
This ward, unlike the others, housed only two occupants: one old and one young.
Various pieces of equipment were placed inside.
Barbells, punching bags, and so on.
At this moment, a delicate-looking young man lay on the bed, wrapped in copper wires. He was the youngest patient here.
Nineteen years old this year.
His name was Lin Fan.
At the age of ten, he had hammered his head with a metal hammer, claiming he was cultivating Iron Head Kung Fu. He had hammered himself until his head was bloody, nearly meeting his maker.
At eleven, he had stared at his crotch with a welding torch in hand, recalling the saying, "Pure Yang is the strongest." But the world was dangerous, and while one could maintain their Pure Yang, demons and monsters craved it.
Fortunately, he was stopped. Since then, he had been sent for psychiatric evaluation.
The final result was as expected.
Level five severe mental illness.
No threat to the outside world, but capable of self-destructive behavior.
Beside the bed, an elderly man, not quite right in the head, held two copper wires, his face serious as he looked at Lin Fan.
"I'm going to start. Any thoughts?"
What they were about to do was stimulate the body with electricity.
They had experimented with everything from five-number batteries to electric car batteries, with remarkable results, dancing on the edge of death many times.
"Excited. Just like in the books, electricity can make the body stronger," Lin Fan said.
"Good."
Old Man Zhang was Lin Fan's helper, the only one in the entire mental hospital who believed in Lin Fan's martial arts pursuit, constantly assisting him in his training.
Now, Old Man Zhang pinched the two copper wires and slowly extended them towards the wall socket.
For others, the socket was a shortcut to heaven, but for Old Man Zhang, it was the only way to witness miracles and verify the truth.
Finally…
Zzzt!
Bang! Bang!
Lin Fan's body on the bed shook violently, the amplitude large, the sound booming.
The alarm in the corridor went off.
Thick smoke drifted from a ward into the corridor.
"Ah!"
"Problem in Ward 666! Those two, the old and the young, are at it again! Get someone over there quickly, and don't forget the fire extinguisher!"
"And call an ambulance!"
Soon…
Beep! Beep! Beep!
An ambulance stopped outside the mental hospital.
Several medics in white coats rushed in, pushing a stretcher.
There were cries of alarm around the ward.
"The patient is foaming at the mouth and having difficulty breathing."
"He's dying!"
"Make way, make way! The stretcher is coming!"
"Someone get Old Man Zhang out of here, don't let him cause more trouble!"
Old Man Zhang's hair stood on end as if he had been electrocuted. He was acting crazy, hugging the stretcher, yelling, "I'm not leaving! I need to observe his condition! I need to record the data! Let me go with him, let me go with him!"
The doctors couldn't do anything.
They had to let Old Man Zhang follow; he needed a check-up at the hospital anyway.
In the ambulance, Old Man Zhang grabbed Lin Fan's hand and asked anxiously, "How do you feel?"
Lin Fan said weakly, "Great. I feel very energetic, my mind is clear. My acupoints must be completely opened, just like the book said. Just need some acupuncture, and I'll feel even better."
"Don't worry, I have the silver needles with me," Old Man Zhang said, patting his bulging chest.
He wasn't a doctor and hadn't received any formal training. The mental hospital had purchased a batch of books, including one on acupuncture and acupoints.
The two treated it like a treasure, studying it daily.
Old Man Zhang had experimented on Lin Fan hundreds of times, with remarkable results, sending him to the emergency room dozens of times.
But Lin Fan always said it worked.
According to them, acupoints were meant to be poked, and after enough poking, you got used to it.
Beep! Beep!
The ambulance drove away from the mental hospital, the siren fading until it disappeared.
The director of the mental hospital, already in his fifties with white hair, was exhausted. Things like this were tiring.
Other mental patients dabbled in literature, inventions, fortune-telling, and human anatomy.
Such excellent hobbies.
Only the two in Ward 666 were always playing with their lives.
"Director, I've contacted the renovation workers," a doctor said.
The director sighed helplessly. "Seal all the sockets in every ward."
"Understood, Director," the doctor nodded.
"Oh, and contact Baihe Cemetery. Reserve two plots. It's important to be prepared. Also, arrange for two orderlies to watch them 24/7 when they return." The director had done everything he could; the rest was up to fate.
The doctor watched the director walk away, lost in thought. Such a dedicated director.
He understood.
The director was tired, worn out from worrying about Lin Fan and Old Man Zhang.
At the hospital.
The red light above the operating room glowed.
Lin Fan lay there expressionlessly, letting the doctors examine him. He was used to it. Coming here felt like coming home.
"This kid again. Why is it so serious this time?"
"Copper wires wrapped around his body, plugged into a socket."
"Second-degree burns."
"Blood pressure stable, heart rate 250 beats per minute, higher than normal."
…
Lin Fan stared intently at the operating light and said calmly, "I feel great. That blackened flesh is just waste that I'm expelling. Don't worry about it, just scrape it off."
The surgeon nearly roared, "Fat? It looks more like smoked bacon to me."
Lin Fan remained calm. "Don't give me anesthesia. I want to temper my will with pain. My will is stronger than you can imagine."
"If you give me anesthesia…"
He paused, thinking, then said what he considered the most impactful words.
"I won't pay for it."
The doctors and nurses exchanged glances.
They were all helpless.
Perhaps this was the difference between a mental patient and a normal person.
Do you even have any money?