Chapter 8: Fellow Patients

“Stay on the first floor for now, and under no circumstances go upstairs, remember!” Chu Ning reminded Tanya with a smile, not at all intending to provoke her curiosity.

“Got it, got it! I absolutely won’t go to the second floor, I promise!” Tanya swore with conviction, uttering words she herself barely believed.

Indeed, after becoming a ghost, the boundaries of humanity have been completely discarded, and lying comes as easily as breathing.

After settling Tanya in, Chu Ning left the first floor alone to tidy up the mess upstairs. He vanished from Tanya’s view, hiding in a corner on the second floor, waiting for his prey to walk right into his trap.

“Ah!”

A piercing soprano scream echoed from the first floor. Chu Ning, puzzled, poked his head out to investigate. There were certainly no frightening objects placed downstairs; why would a woman’s scream ring out?

He’d intended to use the blood upstairs to frighten Tanya, but unforeseen events on the first floor forced him to abandon his original plan and follow the sound to locate his tenant—Tanya.

Chu Ning rushed to Tanya’s room, only to find she was gone. He carefully searched every corner, but found not the slightest clue.

A smile crept across Chu Ning’s lips—his fish had taken the bait. He had deliberately lured Tanya upstairs to play a trick on her. Though his motives contained a hint of malicious amusement, it was also to establish a fierce, unapproachable image before this mysterious woman.

Who else would visit at such an ungodly hour?

“Blood!”

Hearing the startled shriek from upstairs, Chu Ning barely managed to stifle his laughter. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and headed upstairs.

“What happened?”

Seeing Tanya collapsed on the floor, trembling as she pointed at the red-black blood, Chu Ning’s smile deepened.

“Blood, it’s everywhere!”

Tanya pointed with terror at the splattered blood, curling up in a cramped corner to avoid the stains.

As a new-age ghost, seasoned by years of horror films, she was naturally unfazed by blood. When she ascended to the second floor, she was already mentally prepared for the scene.

Twisted and full of perverse amusement—Chu Ning’s labels multiplied in Tanya’s mind. These scenes failed to frighten her further; at first, she even squatted down curiously, dipped her finger in the blood, studying the stains.

She never expected the blood on the floor to be rooster’s blood—the searing pain instantly burned her soul. So Chu Ning hadn’t lied; he really had killed a rooster.

Everything should have ended there, but Tanya lost consciousness afterward!

Chu Ning crouched carefully before Tanya, unsure how to comfort someone so frightened. He tried to reach out to soothe her, but her terrified gaze made him withdraw.

“What exactly happened?”

“Blood... myself in the mirror... I don’t know, I don’t know anything, don’t ask me!”

Tanya clutched her head in agony, teetering on the brink of collapse, her body shaking as if she’d encountered something unspeakably terrifying.

Chu Ning’s gaze was drawn to the mirror in the darkness. He switched on the room’s light. The mirror was scorched black, the original blood sigils now burned away, replaced by pitch-black marks.

Tanya, sitting on the floor, saw the black traces on the mirror and, overcome by the sight, shrank back, as if a soul-devouring demon hid beyond.

“Did you see him too?”

Chu Ning’s eerie voice lingered in the room. He supported Tanya’s body, guiding her away from this place of misfortune.

At dawn, Chu Ning leaned sleepily against the railing. He couldn’t fathom why he was groggy during the day, yet full of energy at night.

“Stop wandering around downstairs!”

To Chu Ning, Tanya was pacing the living room, at times hesitantly approaching the bedroom door, at times casting fearful glances behind him, toward the second floor.

“Calm down! There are no ghosts in this world. The world is material, and idealism is not reliable. What happened yesterday was just your imagination. Don’t overthink!”

“Heh, then care to explain what you meant by your last sentence yesterday?”

Seeing Chu Ning’s steadfast materialist expression, Tanya felt the world was absurd. If what he said was true, what did her existence even mean? She couldn’t help but press him about last night, the fear of the second floor still lingering.

“Well, about that...” Chu Ning pondered his words, shook his head, and propped his chin, considering how to tell the girl before him she might be suffering from a mental illness.

Chu Ning was particularly sensitive about such matters—about informing patients of their condition. He decided not to make a hasty diagnosis; the girl before him needed observation and data to confirm any illness.

Last night’s strange behavior gave him another idea—they might have known each other before, perhaps even as fellow patients in the same psychiatric hospital. Not that Chu Ning admitted to any mental issues himself; he steadfastly believed he was a transmigrator, as a matter of fact.

His predecessor must have been mentally ill; that would explain everything!

“Aren’t you going to explain?” Tanya repeated her request, exasperated. She wanted a clear answer. Even if Chu Ning told her that a fierce spirit was sealed in the mirror, it would be better than lingering in uncertainty.

Most fears spring from the unknown, and even as a ghost, Tanya held a certain awe for what she couldn’t understand.

“Hmm...”

Chu Ning drew out his syllables and uttered something that left Tanya dumbfounded: “I forgot to take my medicine, that’s all. I might have some mental issues, so hallucinations and delusions are normal phenomena.”

“What about me?”

Tanya was full of questions. Had she also hallucinated last night? She was certain her mind was perfectly healthy and that she couldn’t have imagined things. Besides, she’d sensed the presence of another spirit yesterday; something was definitely hidden in the mirror.

“Well... Maybe you forgot to take your medicine too.” Chu Ning looked at Tanya with sympathy—a pitiable child.

“You’re saying I’m sick?” Tanya pointed at herself in disbelief, her voice rising in protest.

He nodded gently, indicating agreement. Someone who mistook blood for tomato sauce must be gravely ill, and Tanya’s mental state was poor—listless during the day, floating silently as she walked, her constitution surely fragile.

“I have some medicine here, do you need it?” Chu Ning spoke softly, trying to appear as friendly as possible. He felt Tanya was owed humanitarian care; patients always need extra attention.

But to his surprise, Tanya reacted oddly. Far from getting angry, she smiled gently at him.

Patients never like hearing others discuss their illness, nor being looked at with pity. Chu Ning had expected Tanya to mock him, to coldly snap, “Are you out of your mind?”

The only thing that left Chu Ning a bit frustrated was Tanya’s look of affectionate concern for the mentally challenged. What did that mean? His intelligence was perfectly fine, after all. Unable to fathom the patient’s mindset, he resolved to find another chance to persuade her to take her medicine on time.