Forbidden Land – CH 052

Exiting through the back gate on the northeast side of Zijingang Park, one would find Wangyue Residential Area. Next to the residential area was a bustling street called “Wenzhou Village.”

It was said that the land in “Wenzhou Village” was bought by Wenzhou people a long time ago, hence the name. Now, Wenzhou Village was filled with various small hotels and rental rooms.

Zhang Chao looked at several hotels, but they all refused to let him stay because he had a cat. Finally, the owner of one hotel didn’t mind the cat in his bag and let him stay.

The room he stayed in was 313.

The hotel’s layout was no different from the others; after going upstairs, there was a corridor in the middle, with rooms on both sides.

However, the room Zhang Chao chose was in a somewhat unusual location. It wasn’t on either side of the corridor; instead, the door opened at the end of the corridor, directly facing it.

This room was also larger than the others, and the price was expensive, 30 yuan more than the other rooms. Zhang Chao chose this room because he’d always had trouble sleeping. These small hotels had poor soundproofing, and at night, they were filled with noise. A hot-blooded young man like him, alone in a hotel with all that noise around him—how could he possibly sleep?

So he had no choice but to choose the most expensive room, located in the furthest corner.

Once inside, Zhang Chao’s mind was a mess. He was already in poor health, and now he felt even more dizzy and weak, completely exhausted.

He turned on his computer and went online, continuing to search for information about Bai Qiu. Aside from the blog post reminiscing about her classmate, there was nothing else related.

Was Bai Qiu really dead?

Why didn’t he remember her at all?

He took out Chen Rong’s treatment notes, thinking about the words, expressions, and behaviors of those around him over the past few weeks. Putting everything together, he realized everyone knew, but they were keeping it from him.

Why did Lin Yi’ang look unhappy when he saw him running over to talk to Bai Qiu the first time?

Why did Bai Qiu never take an access card when she went upstairs after the dorm closed? And when the other girls opened the door, and Bai Qiu followed them in, the other girls would look at him strangely when he said goodbye.

Why did passersby seem curious but hesitant to look at him when he talked to Bai Qiu by the lake? Because to them, he was talking to thin air, which naturally seemed scary, and they wouldn’t dare look at him.

And Zhu Xiaoyu, the reason she didn’t want to talk to him was that she wanted to help him, but because she was a girl, she was naturally afraid of his daily mention of Bai Qiu, so she chose to avoid him.

So, it turned out that everything was just because the people he knew knew about his illness and conspired to create a lie to cure him.

And the strangers, seeing him talking to thin air, thought they had encountered a lunatic; no wonder their expressions were full of curiosity and fear.

Was he really mentally ill?

Was Bai Qiu really dead?

How did he explain the opera singing at the School of Medicine, the woman in the ancient white costume, and the strange animal? Thinking of the School of Medicine, Zhang Chao suddenly felt a sudden, clear understanding dawn on him.

Bai Qiu committed suicide there, as did Li Weihao, and almost Zhu Xiaoyu too.

He was perfectly lucid now; he didn’t believe he was hallucinating at all.

Even if science couldn’t explain all of this, that didn’t prove these were just figments of his imagination.

Many people had seen a woman in ancient costumes, and he had personally experienced being trapped in a maze.

The facts were irrefutable, beyond doubt!

Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was Chen Rong calling.

Seeing it was Chen Rong, he hesitated for a moment, but the next second, he decisively hung up and turned off his phone.

Chen Rong, whom he had always trusted most, had always treated him as a patient and always used him as a research subject.

Especially the treatment notes, where she repeatedly referred to him as a patient, sent a chill down his spine—what a cold and ruthless term!

He suddenly understood. So Chen Rong was already a doctor at the Seventh Hospital. No wonder she, a mere figurehead counselor, insisted on studying with him and would see him whenever she had a spare moment. Their strolls around West Lake and hiking were all just part of the therapy.

Everything she did was simply to complete her job.

“Hmph, thank you. At least you didn’t lock me up at the Seventh Hospital. That’s the greatest favor you could do!”

And then there were his parents. Although they were busy with their business, they used to call two or three times a week, but they hadn’t called at all in the last few weeks. Clearly, his mental illness treatment was at their behest.

His mind was a complete mess; he hated everyone around him.

“Bai Qiu, where are you? Come out again. Maybe, whether you are alive or dead, only you are truly sincere to me.”

His mind was hazy, and he felt his body growing weaker and weaker. He hadn’t eaten much that evening. Although he felt hungry, he could tell that even if food were placed in front of him, he couldn’t eat it.

It seemed like he had developed severe anorexia.

Now that he had left the dormitory, were they all looking for him?

“Haha, even if they find me, what can they do? They wouldn’t really lock me up in a mental hospital, would they? Who would believe anything I say?”

Sitting blankly in front of the computer, Zhang Chao’s mind gradually became more dazed. He glanced wearily at the time on the screen; it was already past 11 o’clock. The black cat beside him had eaten some food and was lying quietly asleep.

He lazily stood up, intending to go to the bathroom to wash up, when suddenly, the black cat leaped up, its eyes flashing with extreme aggression, and let out a fierce “Meow!”