Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

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Du Wei hadn't had much interaction with the man in patient's clothing who claimed to be a psychologist named Ryan.

However, what the other party said was rather interesting.

The cognition of psychiatric patients differs from that of normal people, but in their own worldview, everything can make sense to them.

Eating meals on time, resting, and having to return to their rooms after dark — if this were an ordinary psychiatric hospital, then there would be no problem.

Everything could be explained by the hospital's rules.

But Hill Psychiatric Hospital had the medium of the nun—a human head.

Curiously, Du Wei, in his Spirit Vision state, hadn't detected anything out of the ordinary...

Could it be understood that no anomaly was triggered, and that it would only appear after dark?

This situation was very much like the feeling of spatial displacement in Mrs. Mina's villa.

"But with the limited information, I can't jump to conclusions yet. Perhaps I should take another look,"

thought Du Wei to himself, puzzled by something.

Compared to other psychiatric hospitals, the staff at Hill Psychiatric Hospital seemed too sparse and lax; a patient like Ryan could wander the corridors unimpeded, with no one to stop him...

"Is it because the medical staff believes that patients will definitely return to their rooms on time?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Du Wei's gaze became calmer as he continued forward.

Soon, an open door of a patient's room caught his attention.

To be precise, it was the sounds inside that drew him in...

Rustling sounds, as if someone were busily writing something.

After contemplating, Du Wei stepped forward and peered inside.

He then saw a man, clad in a white lab coat who looked like medical personnel, crouching on the floor with his back to Du Wei, holding a piece of chalk and drawing some special patterns on the floor.

The lines intersected each other, radiating from a central point, sometimes straight, and sometimes made up of chaotic, curved arcs.

It wasn't just this; the entire ceiling, walls, beds, and chairs in the patient's room were covered with these lines.

Seeing this, Du Wei frowned, as he noticed that the ultimate convergence of these lines was precisely the window of the patient's room.

This room was strange...

It was normal for patient's rooms to have windows high up to prevent patients from reaching them, but items like tables and chairs shouldn't have been present.

Sharp table edges, movable chairs...

If a psychiatric patient had a stress response to the outside world, it could lead to injury or even self-harm.

Unless, the patients at Hill Psychiatric Hospital were really very well-behaved...

Suddenly, the man seemed to sense something and abruptly turned his head.

"What are you looking at?"

The man's complexion was ordinary, his tone calm, but his face was painted with lines, making it appear quite eerie.

Their gazes met.

Du Wei glanced at the patient's uniform underneath the man's white coat and said with a smile, "I am admiring your masterpiece."

The man sneered in response, "You? You think you understand my masterpiece?"

Du Wei spoke lightly, "Why do you think I wouldn't understand?"

The man replied, "If you understand, then I can invite you to join in, but if you don't, please leave immediately. I don't want to share my masterpiece with anyone."

Du Wei nodded, "Of course."

As he spoke, he pondered.

The world of a psychiatric patient is different from that of a normal person, characterized by abnormal perceptions of the external world and of themselves.

Yet, through some external behaviors, it's possible to analyze the logical actions of patients and understand their mental world.

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Apart from art students, ordinary people tend to express their subconscious representation of the external world through drawing when not specifically aiming to create art.

Because at this time, the hearts of ordinary people are undefended, revealing much information.

And lines have even more meaning, especially for psychiatric patients.

Straight and curved lines often depict the inner world of these individuals. Such patterns are either completely distorted and incomprehensible or shockingly masterful creations.

Of course, the latter are rare.

Most psychiatrists or psychologists encounter the former, directly observing the psychiatric patients' inner worlds.

Based on this.

Du Wei's gaze followed all the lines in the room, where straight and curved lines sometimes intertwined, sometimes ran parallel, but all eventually pointed to the window.

There's a saying that the eyes are the window to the soul, and the internal world of a normal person indeed manifests through their eyes.

For psychiatric patients, however, windows have a different significance.

Close the door, and everything is dark and sealed; but close the window, and the light does not disappear, and the line of sight is not obstructed.

Thinking this, Du Wei said to the man, "Your masterpiece, it's a conduit, isn't it?"

On hearing this, the man's expression instantly turned to terror, "How could you possibly know? I clearly haven't told anyone. Was it them who told you? You certainly want to destroy my masterpiece, you don't want me to leave, do you?"

Du Wei didn't answer this question and thought for a moment before saying, "It's getting dark, isn't it?"

Hearing this, the man hesitated, then said to himself, "Yes, it's getting dark, I must continue, or I won't be able to leave."

With that, he turned back around and continued sketching patterns on the ground.

It seemed in no time at all, he would have the entire room covered, completing what he called his masterpiece—a conduit.

Meanwhile, Du Wei turned and left, no longer paying attention to this patient.

He felt he had learned some important information, namely why Hill Psychiatric Hospital was so strange.

But for the moment, he couldn't be certain whether this was related to the nuns as a medium.

Recalling the words spoken by a patient named Ryan, Du Wei couldn't help but quicken his steps.

After dark, something eerie was likely to happen in this psychiatric hospital, and it seemed all the patients wanted to leave.

For psychiatric patients, wanting to escape is normal, but knowing that the hospital was off, nothing seemed normal.

It might be related to the missing medical staff, but Du Wei was more inclined to think it had to do with the abnormal situations brought about by the nuns.

At that moment, the entire building was eerily quiet, with patients staying in their rooms and the medical staff, who should have been preparing food, nowhere to be seen.

In fact, Du Wei, apart from Mrs. Taylor the director, had so far only met patients, or those who mistakenly believed themselves to be doctors.

A few minutes later, he returned to his room.

Looking outside at the sky, which had already turned pitch black, the entire Hill Psychiatric Hospital was engulfed in darkness.

Night had fallen completely.

Yet the time was 17:13, which, during this season, should have been evening.

Du Wei looked toward the hospital entrance with a somewhat somber expression, as James and his two companions had not yet arrived.

So, he took out his phone and called James.

Beep... Beep...

After a moment of silence, the call connected.

"Mr. Du Wei, we've just stopped the car. How are you doing?"

Enjoy new chapters from empire

"I'm fine. Are you at the entrance?"

"Yes, I called Taylor, and she said you would come to meet us."

"...Did you turn off the car? I don't see the headlights."

"No, we didn't turn it off. Can't you see it? Wait... weren't you walking toward the entrance?"