Chapter 1167: The Paradox (2in1)

“You know me?” The woman had put on make up, her face was startling white and her dress was covered in fresh ‘blood stain’. Even standing at this distance, Chen Ge could smell the scent of paint that drifted off her.

“I am Chen Ge…” Chen Ge blurted out the four words, he did not say that ‘my name is Chen Ge’ but directly introduced himself like they should have known each other for a long time already. A mental patient in a patient’s garb and a Haunted House worker in a ghost outfit stood at the two sides of the fence that surrounded a mental hospital just like that. They belonged to two distinctively separate world but at that moment, they were facing each other face to face.

“Is it your cat?” Zhang Ya did not get any closer to the fence but she did point at the white cat, “It was it who brought me here.” The white cat squatted between Chen Ge and Zhang Ya. Its fluffy tail wagged back and forth, it looked very proud of itself.

“It is a stray cat, but for some reason it is very close to me. It likes to come and visit me.” Chen Ge looked at the white cat that sat between them and a bitter smile appeared on his face. “Something is wrong with my brain, I have forgotten a lot of things and the doctors are helping me recover them.” Even though Chen Ge was wearing a patient’s garb, the feeling that he gave was completely different from the mental patients that were portrayed in mass media. He was very collected, calm and rational, there was nothing dangerous or strange about him. If he was not wearing the patient’s outfit, an outsider might thought he was a melancholic person and there was an inscrutable pain that was pooling in his eyes.

Studying the weak Chen Ge, Zhang Ya found it unable to hate him or be scared of him. “You should be the owner of this cat. You are hospitalized and sick so you have forgotten about it but it is clear that it has not forgotten about you. The fact that your cat sticks to you so much proves that you are definitely a very kind and gentle person. Hopefully you will be able to regain your memory as soon as possible.” Zhang Ya squatted down to scratched behind the white cat’s small head. “A cat is willing to cross a city to come find you. I cannot imagine that hardship that it must have encountered along the way, you must not lose it again.”

“Okay.” Chen Ge also squatted down. His eyes darted away, he did not dare to look at Zhang Ya’s face, so instead he silently studied Zhang Ya’s hand that was patting the white cat. Zhang Ya’s hand was very beautiful. She had tapered fingers, fair skin, so fair that they did not possess any color of blood at all. As if sensing Chen Ge’s gaze on her hand, Zhang Ya coughed slightly and pulled her hand back. “Starting from a few days ago, this cat has appeared around my Haunted House and refused to go. I noted how clever it is so I did not chase it away. But now that it has found its owner, I do not need to look after it anymore.”

“Wait a minute.” Zhang Ya stood up and prepared to leave but Chen Ge suddenly called after her.

“Is there anything else?”

Looking at Zhang Ya’s profile, Chen Ge’s eyes were filled with confusion and pain. “Have we met somewhere else before? I remember your name, I cannot forget it no matter what. You have shown up constantly in my past memory but I cannot for the life of me remember how you fit in my past life.” If a stranger had said something like that to Zhang Ya on the street, she definitely would have turned and walked away, and if the man insisted on bugging her about this, she might even call the police. But this situation was different. Chen Ge was a patient inside a mental hospital and from the looks of it, he did not look like he was acting. The pain and helplessness that were clear inside his eyes pulled at her heartstrings. Zhang Ya stopped moving and carefully studied Chen Ge’s face. She had no impression of this person at that. But she did not feel strangely comforted by this face that could not be called that handsome.

“I believe this is the first time we have met? Actually I am curious too how did you know my name?”

“I cannot remember. The doctor said I have once visited your Haunted House and that was how I know your name but I am afraid that might not be the truth.” Chen Ge grabbed the fence link that was rusted. “I have a feeling that you are someone very important to me.” This was a very simple sentence but it was pulsing with sincerity when it left Chen Ge’s lips. The impression that he gave was that he was like a piece of white paper and the whole paper was written to the brim with Zhang Ya’s name. Due to her beauty, Zhang Ya had heard other people said similar words to her before but this time, when Chen Ge said it, it evoked some kind of indescribable feeling inside her.

Her heart slowly picked up its pace. Zhang Ya hesitated as she turned around to look at the Haunted House before she walked to stand before Chen Ge. “Normally I remember all the visitors that have come to my Haunted House in the past, but this really appears to be the first time we have met. Is it possible that your doctor has mistaken that detail?”

Chen Ge shook his head. “I can still remember the scenarios that are available at your Haunted House, Night of the Living Death, Minghun, Murder at Midnight and a high school…”

“Night of the Living Dead and Minghun are indeed scenarios at my Haunted House but the ones after that do not belong at my Haunted House.” Zhang Ya said rather sadly, “Currently my Haunted House do not have that many visitors, it is already maximum for us to have 2 scenarios. If we open up more scenarios, we will be seriously understaffed.”

“How many employees are there at your Haunted House now?”

“There are three of us working there, me and my parents.” Zhang Ya was quite embarrassed. “I am responsible for giving out flyers and selling tickets. My father plays the role of the zombie while my mother is responsible for the Minghun scenario. Even though we do not earn that much, it is a pleasant way to spend our days.” Discrepancies appeared in his memory, Chen Ge’s head started to become painful again, he remembered through the fog of memory that the Haunted House’s boss’ parents had already left the Haunted House.

“Why are you breaking out in sweat and your body is shivering? Hey, are you okay? Do you need me to go and call the doctor for you?!” Seeing how startling pale Chen Ge’s face was, and the green veins that popped on the surface on his skin, Zhang Ya was quite worried. She thought that she had accidentally said something wrong. “Stay right here! I will go and get the doctor for you!” Zhang Ya turned and prepared to head to the entrance of the hospital but before she could take the first step, Chen Ge reached out to grab hold of her wrist. “Please don’t leave and please do not go and get them…”

Both of their arms were equally cold. Zhang Ya was given quite a fright. Just as she was wondering what to do next, a large piece of bruise on the back of Chen Ge’s arm started to leak with blood. The blood droplet appeared to gather into very small letters. They formed several lines as they went and together they bound to form an entry of a tattered dairy. The drop of blood slid from Chen Ge’s arm and fell on Zhang Ya’s wrist. At that moment, Zhang Ya’s panicked heart instantly calmed down. Looking at her wrist that was held tight by Chen Ge, she was blanking out for a few seconds before she recovered herself and pulled her hand back.

“I am so sorry but I hope you will help me keep this secret. I do not wish for the doctors to know that I have met you in person.” The pain assaulted him. Chen Ge did not dive that deep into his memory and did not trigger any memory fragment but the pain kept rushing at him like waves. It was as if the dam that had been holding the pain back had suddenly crumbled and now he needed to suffer this endless pain alone. His arms were shaking. Chen Ge thought he had gotten used to the pain but only at this moment, he realized, the pain that he was been experiencing was just one tenth of the pain that he was being subjected to now.

“But why?”

Chen Ge’s legs lost their balance and the man dropped to the ground. The white cat ran around him in clear concern. Zhang Ya also kept saying something at Chen Ge but Chen Ge could not hear her anymore. “What have I done that this pain would suddenly appear to overwhelm me?!” His body felt like it had been torn apart, Chen Ge used the last shred of his rationality to yell at Zhang Ya and the white cat. “Bring that cat away and tomorrow morning I will be back here.”

After stammering out the words, Chen Ge immediately turned to run back into the hospital with his hands clamping over his heads. He used the last bit of his energy to burrow through the bushes and finally fainted at the garden path. This time he was knocked out directly by the immense pain.

…

“So painful! So painful! So painful!” In the world of darkness, Chen Ge could hear his own voice echoing. He followed his voice and tried to search for the source. Finally at the deepest corner of the darkness, he found a melancholic young man holding a beating heart and he was standing away from Chen Ge. The man looked similar to him from the back and the voice that came out from his lips was Chen Ge’s voice but instinct told Chen Ge that the young man was not him.

“Xu Yin?” A name suddenly appeared in his mind. Chen Ge walked forward in the black sea but the waves of darkness gradually pushed him away. The young man who was standing in his place to suffer the endless pain appeared to hear his voice. Just as Chen Ge was about to be washed away by the darkness, the young man turned back to look. The front of his body was being corrupted by different kind of curses, the curses were like needles that were stuck into his body but he seemed to have a lot of resistance regarding these curses and pain. The curses were unable to drill into his body and harm the beating heart in his embrace and Chen Ge who had already being carried away by the black waves behind him.

The two eyes suddenly flipped over. Chen Ge’s expression was violent and beast-like. He subconsciously wanted to raise his hands to grab at something but he was quick to realize both of his arms were strapped to the bed. He slowly calmed down. Chen Ge looked around him and took in the shattered windows, the titled beds and the bedside tables that had been toppled over.

“Now I finally understand why the doctors are feeding you two pills.” Zuo Han’s voice came from the corner of the room. He had moved his bed as far from Chen Ge as he could. “I somehow have managed to survive for such a dangerous patient like yourself for two straight days. Thank you for not killing me by the way.”

“it was me who messed up the room?”

“You were not only trying to mess up the room, you were trying to destroy everything.” Zuo Han was now as obedient as a pet cat. He sat at the corner and refused to get close to Chen Ge no matter what.

“I can only remember that I have fainted, my brain felt like it was being torn apart and pain came from every part of my body, I cannot remember anything else.”

“During your unconscious period, you have woken up once, that version of you is completely different from the current you. Your eyes were filled with blood and you roared like a beast while dragging a broken leg, refusing to let anyone get close to you.” Thinking back, Zuo Han was still quite afraid about what happened then.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The room door suddenly burst open. Doctor Gao and two workers rushed into the room. When they saw Chen Ge had woken up, they all sighed in relief. The two hospital workers were still quite afraid, only Doctor Gao voluntarily walked towards Chen Ge. “Why would you faint at the garden this morning? Were you bothered by some of the other patients? Did they jolt some of your past memory?”

“I suddenly remembered something from my past, the more I tried to not think about them, the more they got out of control. In the end, I fainted because I could not suffer the pain anymore.” Chen Ge basically was telling the truth.

“Your condition has started to stabilize a few days ago, you should not have relapsed so soon. Is it possible that the medication has lost its power already?” Doctor Gao took out the medicine bottle and this time he tipped out three pills instead. “You should take a good rest after you take your medication. I will go and discuss with the other doctors regarding your condition.”

“Doctor Gao, does that mean that my condition is getting serious again?”

“No, you are indeed getting better, but your second persona is getting more intense. Perhaps he can sense that you are slowly getting better so he is getting more and more out of control.” Doctor Gao analysed.

“If I am getting better, how come my second persona is getting more out of control?”

“if you are fully cured, then it would mean that your second persona will completely be wiped out.” Doctor Gao sighed in a severe tone. “Your second persona is built up from your negative emotions and the darker side of humanity. Selfishness, cruelty, violence, melancholy, he will not go peacefully. When that moment arrives, he will try everything within his power to bring you down with him.”

“My second persona will destroy me?”

“You should be able to sense the danger that he is in as well. But remember that you are the normal one and he is the abnormal one, do not lose yourself to that persona that only know how to destroy everything.”

After witnessing Chen Ge swallow the three pills, Doctor Gao left some orders with the hospital workers before he left in a hurry. The two hospital workers stood inside the room. They then cleaned the room, replaced the broken windows and they busied themselves until the afternoon before they left.

“Chen Ge?” Zuo Han summoned his courage to get close to Chen Ge. He shook Chen Ge’s shoulders slightly and was shocked to realize that Chen Ge’s eyes were open the whole time. “You have not fallen asleep after all?!”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Have you ingested all three pills?” Zuo Han reminded him out of kindness. “The white pills of the hospital can dull the pain, slow down your brain and help you decrease the sensation of pain but at the same time, the pills will slowly make you lose yourself. If you take too much of it, eventually you will turn into a living doll that only knows how to smile.”

“A living doll?”

“Like the name suggests, you will become a doll that is alive, you will become a puppet to be controlled by the others. Even though you will never feel pain again, but you will also never feel joy and happiness anymore, it will destroy everything that you are.” Zuo Han was himself a forensic doctor, he seemed to be familiar with these pharmaceuticals.

“Is the drug that scary?” Chen Ge slightly moved his head to the side and revealed the pills that were hidden under the pillow.

“You did not consume them?”

“My arms are tied, do you mind helping me grind these three pills into dust? Do not let anyone discover them.”

“Okay.” Zuo Han nodded subconsciously. He realized Chen Ge’s tone was slightly different from before, he appeared to be more in control of himself. More confidence was radiating off the man. “By the way, Chen Ge, there is something that I wish to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Earlier Doctor Gao said that your second persona only knows how to destroy and is completely made up from negative emotions and darker side of humanity but actually he was lying to you.” Zuo Han went straight to the point. “When you were acting up in the room earlier, I was inside the room with you. You wanted to destroy everything within your sight, and attacked all the patients and workers that you could see but you never intended to harm me even though I was just literally a few feet away from you!”

What Zuo Han said successfully piqued Chen Ge’s interest. “Keep on going.”

“Your second persona appears to know me! This proves that perhaps we have known each other before we were admitted here!” Zuo Han lowered his voice but Chen Ge could hear the excitement in his voice. “if that is the case, then it will explain why I feel like the whole world is trying to harm me but you are the only exception! And at the same time, this is the evidence that shows that our memories have indeed been tempered before!”

Zuo Han was very sharp, he hit the nail on the head immediately. “We are each other’s proofs! Your memory from the past should not be the fake one, but it is these doctors who are trying to convince you that they are made up.” Zuo Han knew that once Chen Ge sunk into deep thinking, he would start to get headache so he was speaking very fast. He needed to voice out his own thoughts before Chen Ge fainted from the overwhelming pain again. “Back to the most basic problem, the doctors said that the illness happened because your parents got into an accident caused by you but have you ever wondered that perhaps your parents are still alive and considered the possibility that they are still somewhere inside this city?!”