CHAPTER 686: HALLUCINATION

Shen Nianzu couldn’t resist taking a step toward that man who had evoked such intense negative emotions from him— but in the next second, his vision spun.

"Everything will be okay, Nianzu."

A gentle voice spoke to him. "Your father and I have discussed it with the doctor. There’s been a new breakthrough regarding your genetic condition, and if all goes well, you may qualify for the clinical trial. All we can do now is wait..."

Shen Nianzu blinked in confusion, staring at the familiar visage of his mother before him.

...Huh?

Wait... wait a second...

Wasn’t he... in the hospital just now? So how could he be back home all of a sudden? Baffled and disoriented, he glanced out of the window and saw that the sky outside was already dark. Had time passed by so fast without him realizing...?

"Nianzu...?" Madam Shen saw that her son was looking listless and dazed, making her feel both concerned and heartbroken. "Mother knows that you’re sick of being hospitalized all the time, but I promise, this will be the last time, okay?"

Shen Nianzu was attracted by those words and couldn’t help repeating them, "The last time?"

Madam Shen nodded with tears in her eyes. "Yes, yes, this clinical trial will be the last. If it works, you will be cured soon. Isn’t that very good news?" A wide delightful smile broke across her face, but somehow Shen Nianzu could hear the hidden implication behind her words.

If this worked, he would recover. But if not...

Then he would just have to wait for death.

A bitter taste spread in Shen Nianzu’s mouth, and he was unable to return a smile no matter what. Master Shen signaled to Qing Mo, who handed him a handful of pills and a glass of water. "Young Master, your medicine."

With a pounding headache, Shen Nianzu extended his hand to take his pills, but when he saw exactly what Qing Mo was holding out toward him, his pupils shrank.

Those were not pills at all but a cluster of fat, writhing worms! Their bodies were streaked with black and vivid red, squirming over one another, and under the overhead lights they glistened with a greasy, almost viscous sheen. The sight was as repulsive as it was horrifying.

"Ugh...!"

Shen Nianzu hurriedly yanked his hand back as if burned, nausea churning in his stomach.

But when he blinked again, those worms disappeared and normal pills sat in Qing Mo’s palm once more, waiting for him to take it. "Young Master...?" he called out, puzzled by Shen Nianzu’s abrupt movement.

"Nianzu ah..." Master Shen released a heavy sigh. "We can compromise on you refusing to stay in the hospital, but you have to take your pills."

His mother chimed in, coaxing softly, "Listen to your father and be obedient, en?"

Again, his parents merely took his strong reaction as nothing but a temper tantrum. Shen Nianzu shook his head quietly, cold sweat dripping down his back. He couldn’t explain what he had seen just now or else another disease would be added to his already long list: schizophrenia.

Even he could not ascertain whether what he saw was real or it was just a product of his imagination. But one thing for sure, he couldn’t bring himself to swallow these pills now. That split-second vision had seared itself into his mind, making his skin crawl. Just the mere thought of these things... whatever they were... sliding down his throat and settling in his stomach was enough to make him gag.

But his refusal only angered Master Shen all the more. "Must you behave like this, Nianzu?"

"No..." Shen Nianzu tried to explain. But when he raised his head, he saw that his parents and Qing Mo were scowling at him with eyes whose black part was larger than usual, almost as if it was going to fill the entire sockets, giving them an eerie and unnerving look.

"...!"

In an instant, all the hair on the back of Shen Nianzu’s neck stood at the end. His throat tightened, causing him to swallow back all the words he was about to say.

But when he blinked again, they returned to normal.

Another hallucination...?

Shen Nianzu couldn’t help but bite the inside of his cheek, and the pain told him that he was not dreaming. He clenched his fists, feeling them clammy with sweat. Just what the hell was wrong with him...? Clearly these three people were his family, the people closest to his heart, but why did they suddenly feel so unfamiliar... as if he had never truly known them before?

An unprecedented wave of unease washed over him, prompting him to grit his teeth and accept the pills and water. A voice in his mind told him that something more terrible would happen if he continued to resist. And so, he tossed the pills into his mouth and gulped down the water before returning the glass to Qing Mo.

"I’m tired," he told them, exhaustion apparent on his face. "I’d like to rest please."

"Alright," Madam Shen’s expression softened as she reached out to caress his cheek in an affectionate gesture. "Take a good rest, Nianzu."

As soon as they left and the door closed in front of him, Shen Nianzu’s face abruptly changed as he spat out the pills he had been keeping under his tongue.

Nonetheless, the thick bitterness lingered, sticking unpleasantly to his cavity, causing him to rush to the bathroom to rinse his mouth under the faucet. He cast a glance at the wet pills on his hand before decisively dumped them down the sink, watching as the running water washed them away.

Only then did he feel his tense shoulders relax ever so slightly.

Splashing cold water to his face, Shen Nianzu propped his arms on the sink and tried to regulate his breathing. "Huff... huff..." water droplets clung to his silvery lashes before sliding into his eyes, prompting him to squeeze them by reflex.

But when he raised his head, the reflection he saw on the mirror was not his own!

Shen Nianzu’s pupils constricted— the mirror ’Shen Nianzu’ had blood flowing down his temple to his eyes, making it seem as if he was weeping blood. His expression was thick with seething anger, frustration and resentment, the veins on his neck flaring. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Shen Nianzu with a chilling intensity.

At first glance, he looked like an evil spirit who had just clawed his way out of Hell.

The mirror ’Shen Nianzu’ banged angrily at the mirror with his bloody fists, his mouth shouting— RUN, YOU FOOL!!

"Ah—!" Startled, Shen Nianzu recoiled, only to trip on his own feet and land on his bum. But he had no luxury to care about the stinging pain now.

He stared at the mirror, terror-stricken. The image of the bloody Shen Nianzu had vanished as if it was mere illusion, but no— he knew he was not hallucinating it this time. Because in the mirror, there was a bloody horizontal mark, followed by a diagonal slash where the crimson liquid was still dripping, resembling a scene straight out of a horror movie.

At first glance, it looked like the number ’7’.