Mutated Tao

Upon hearing the chatter outside the door, Li Huowang sprang up, angrily tearing off his blanket and striding towards the door.

As soon as he opened it, he saw two men in hospital gowns leaning against the wall and eating snacks while they debated about something.

One of them was tall, wore plastic-framed glasses, and had his hair swept back in a scholarly look. This man was the source of the nonsensical rambling that Li Huowang had heard from his room.

Li Huowang didn’t care too much about it; he just felt that that newcomer’s incessant chatter was very annoying.

Li Huowang snapped, “Get out of here! It’s only seven in the morning. Why are you so noisy??”

“Hey! Young man, don’t interrupt me! Do you know what I’m doing? I’m fighting for our special group’s essential rights!” the bespectacled man replied.

Just as he was about to continue arguing, his companion noticed the handcuffs on Li Huowang’s wrists and quickly pulled him away.

Although the people had left, Li Huowang was now wide awake. He sighed, went back inside, and put on his shoes.

Being a sane person enclosed together with these psychiatric patients was torture. He couldn’t even vent his frustration on them without the doctors thinking he was having an episode, which would further delay his discharge.

Li Huowang had nothing else to do in his empty room, so he decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

“Suisui, are you hungry?” he asked.

There were no surprises in the psychiatric hospital’s breakfast, just steamed buns and porridge.

Li Huowang took his tray to a corner and started to eat.

He pondered how much longer he had to stay there for before getting discharged. The man with mania has already been discharged. I should be the next in line.

Then, just as Li Huowang was about to resume eating his breakfast, he felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around to see Qian Fu, a schizophrenic patient looking at him from a distance.

Nevertheless, Qian Fu was just watching him, so Li Huowang ignored Qian Fu and continued eating.

Encounters like this were common in the psychiatric hospital, so Li Huowang just had to stay calm. With surveillance everywhere, he doubted Qian Fu would do anything extreme.

As for the conservation he had earlier, Li Huowang did not take them to heart. He could not be bothered with the ramblings of a stranger who was also a psychiatric patient.

After breakfast, it was time for the patients’ support group. Li Huowang doubted that this was effective in any way. If mutual encouragement could cure mental illnesses, medication would be unnecessary.

The plastic stool to Li Huowang’s left was empty, which didn’t surprise him since the guy who used to sit there had previously mentioned his imminent discharge. However, the schizophrenic Wang Wangsu’s stool was also empty, which puzzled Li Huowang.

“Where did Sister Wang go? Is she cured too?” he asked the depressed girl next to him.

Zhao Ting’s face looked pale as she shook her head. “No, she’s not cured. Her husband didn’t pay the bill, so she was discharged.”

“We shared a room and her condition was improving. But the doctor said the hospital isn’t a charity—there’s no treatment without money.”

Li Huowang sighed.

Outsiders thought psychiatric patients would eagerly escape if given the chance to. But in reality, those with some rationality knew they were sick and wanted to be cured. Some even checked in alone voluntarily without telling their families.

Only people who were completely out of control, like those in television series, needed to be forcibly admitted. Psychiatric patients were just like any other patients. The illness was just affecting a different part of their body. Most preferred to be fully cured before leaving, just like a normal person walking out of a hospital healthily.

Nonetheless, reality was cruel. Hospitals needed to make money too, especially private ones. Even if the doctors knew a patient’s condition was not optimistic, the patient would be emotionlessly asked to leave.

This often led patients into a vicious cycle where they couldn’t get better without money. They couldn’t earn money while they were sick, so that would eventually lead to a downward spiral that worsened their condition. Then, they would transition into disabled people or lunatics.

Li Huowang did not want to add to the psychological burden of this depressed patient, so he comforted her. “Sister Wang’s condition was mild. As long as she keeps taking her medication, she should stabilize. Don’t worry about her.”

While they talked, Li Huowang noticed Wu Cheng bringing two new patients over. One was the bespectacled newcomer from earlier, and the other was an emaciated old man.

Wu Cheng greeted the group. “Good morning, everyone. We have two new members in our group today. This gentleman here is Yuan Heping, and this is Wang Gang. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”

The applause was sparse. Li Huowang didn’t bother joining in. Instead, he thought about how to pass the time.

When the two new members were seated, Li Huowang noticed the bespectacled man looking at him. When he looked up, the person quickly averted his gaze.

Wu Cheng said, “Alright, how about the two of you introduce yourselves?”

The session dragged on slowly, tormenting Li Huowang as time passed. After what seemed like an entire year, the long support group session finally came to an end.

Nothing in the session had helped Li Huowang. His only takeaway was a glimpse into the illnesses of these two newcomers. The old man had an obsessive-compulsive disorder, while the bespectacled man had schizophrenia, which was nothing strange there.

The other people stood up separately and left with their stools.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang let out a deep breath, relieved that the tedious morning was over. He then headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

On the way there, Gao Jingyun, the simple-minded man he had helped in the past, approached him.

“Brother, for you. It’s nice,” Gao Jingyun said, holding out the small steamed bun in his hand.

Just as Li Huowang was about to thank Gao Jingyun, a figure brushed past and whispered urgently to Li Huowang, “Be careful! They’re coming! Danger is approaching us!”

The figure quickly vanished.

Li Huowang had only seen the back of that person’s head, but he recognized that person as Qian Fu—the schizophrenic man who had been staring at him.

Li Huowang frowned and pondered briefly about what Qian Fu had said. Then, he shook his head and walked to the cafeteria.

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