Mutated Tao

“Huh? Why can’t I follow him? The public hospital even allowed me to do so! Why can’t you do the same as them?” Sun Xiaoqin asked, visibly upset at the strange rule.

“Even though we're a private hospital, we still have our rules. I’m just a doctor, so I can't do anything about it. If you're unsatisfied with our rules and policies, then you can transfer to another hospital.”

Sun Xiaoqin's brows furrowed, and her breathing became rougher as fury welled up inside of her.

Li Huowang saw that and intervened to stop her from going berserk.

“Mom, mom. It’s okay. I’m already cured. You don't have to stay with me every day. You must be tired of taking care of me every day over the past few years, so you can rest now. Go to Dad's side."

“I can’t do that yet! You're so skinny! What if you get bullied by the other patients here?”

“Mom, this isn't my first time in a mental hospital. Who'd dare to bully me?” Li Huowang persuaded. He even added a phone call to Li Jiancheng, which was finally enough for Sun Xiaoqin to back down.

"You're such—okay. Listen to the doctor, and don’t do anything rash? Okay, I'm going to do that.” Sun Xiaoqin put her phone down and looked at Li Huowang, saying, “Son, you must not worry about telling the doctor if you're experiencing any discomfort. Tell the doctor if your room is too hot or too cold!”

“Mom, calm down. I’m already cured, so I'll be discharged soon.”

Sun Xiaoqin nodded and left to pay the hospital fees, while Li Huowang was pushed into the hospital by the doctor.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Cheng, and I'm a psychiatrist like Yi Donglai. I was in the cohort two years later than Yi Donglai, so I’m considered his junior. He told me the details of your case through a phone call."

“Really? That’s great," Li Huowang said calmly, “Since you know that I'm basically cured, can you uncuff me?”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I understand what's going on with you, but I'm afraid that the director will not. He has specifically instructed me to ensure that nothing would you. Also, I’ve heard that someone has pressured him to accept you. If it weren't for them, he wouldn’t have accepted you.”

Li Huowang looked down at his cuffs and asked, “Are you saying that I have to wear these until I'm discharged?”

“Just endure it for now. I will talk to the director later. Anyway, we're here. Let’s go in for your examination. I’m sure you're already familiar with it.”

Li Huowang nodded. “I know the procedure. Let’s do it.”

To ensure that the hospital wouldn't accidentally admit patients with the tendency to harm others, the hospital would screen their patients before admitting them. Once the screening and admission procedures were done, Li Huowang finally managed to enter his own room. The room had nothing but a single bed. It seemed that his infamy had given him an unexpected boon, as the hospital had made sure that he'd be living by himself. The travel and the procedures had taken its toll on Li Huowang, and he sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.

The next morning, a nurse woke him up. He was given a few minutes to wash up before the nurse gave him a tour of the hospital.

There wasn’t anything particularly interesting, as the facilities of the hospital were mostly similar to the facilities in Li Huowang's previous hospital.

After the tour, Li Huowang was called over to sit in a circle with the other patients. It was Li Huowang's first time experiencing something like this, so he couldn't help but find it surprising. It turned out that the hospital wanted the patients to talk to each other about their illnesses to cheer each other up.

Although this was Li Huowang's first time participating in one, he had no qualms about doing it, as Wu Cheng had told him that this was the hospital's project to imitate overseas hospitals with more advanced technology.

Li Huowang could only say that private hospitals had more leeway when it came to activities that their patients could do.

Everyone sat on their stools in a circle, and the patients proceeded to take turns confessing their illnesses.

“I have schizophrenia. It’s fairly light, so I can manage it with medication,” a middle-aged woman said.

“Manic syndrome. My condition is improving, all thanks to the medicine,” a bald man said with his fingers twitching intermittently.

“Depression,” a young woman in a ponytail said. Her eyes were glazed over, and there were slash wounds on her wrists. Overall, she looked quite terrible.

An old woman, who looked to be roughly fifty years old, said, “Anxiety, but there was no reason for me to stay here. My daughter only insisted that I stay here until I'm all healed.”

Soon, it was Li Huowang’s turn. Everyone cast a curious gaze at the new face.

“Me? I don’t have one. I’m already cured.”

At that, the patients turned and whispered to each other while stealing glances at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang was too lazy to explain his situation, so he stayed silent. Moreover, he wasn't going to stay here for a long time, so he was planning on taking it easy. He looked around and saw a chubby kid playing with his own fingers.

“Hey, what's your illness?”

The chubby kid ignored Li Huowang without looking up from his fingers.

“Don’t waste your breath. He’s autistic, and he's not going to respond to you,” the man with manic syndrome said to Li Huowang.

“He's autistic? How did he get here, then? He’s not like us,” Li Huowang asked, sounding surprised. Autism required early intervention, and as far as Li Huowang knew, this hospital wasn't the best place when it came to it.

“How else do you think he got here? His family saw him as an eyesore; they didn’t want to take care of him, but it's illegal to abandon him on the streets, so they had no choice but to send him here,” the man with manic syndrome explained. Then, he pointed at someone else and said, “Do you see that fatty over there? The one with black spots on his face.”

Li Huowang followed the man's finger and asked, “What's wrong with him?”

“He’s fine. It's just that his mind is incredibly slow. He has the same circumstances as this kid right here. Their parents don't want to take care of them, so they sent them here. Really unbelievable, what kind of parents would do something like that? This is a mental hospital, so only those with mental illnesses should be here, but look at that fatty and this kid. I think their family members are convinced that this place is a prison for crazy people.

“Yeah, and that mindset is the reason why people think that those with mental illnesses are dangerous people."

“Is that even legal?” Li Huowang asked, scratching his chin. Unbeknownst to him, the young woman suffering from depression finally saw that he was handcuffed.

“This is a private hospital. There are no rules here when it comes to earning money. What? Do you really think that they can sue their own family?”

“Actually, I understand them. It takes a ton of money, time, and effort to take care of someone with a disability."

Just then, Wu Cheng walked over with a clipboard and a pen. He chose an empty stool and sat down before asking, “How’s the conversation going?”

"Ah!" The young woman suffering from depression abruptly jumped up and pointed at Li Huowang with a fearful look. She then let out a shrill roar, “I know him! He was on TV! He barged into a university and killed many people!”

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