CHAPTER 689: BRINK OF INSANITY

Everything went exactly as Shen Nianzu remembered—from the series of tests he had to take to the doctor’s grave verdict that sealed his fate in the end.

"Your son’s condition... it’s not too optimistic. By estimation, he should have lost 60% of his eyesight by now."

Right, this is it.

This time, Shen Nianzu did not wait until his parents reacted. "Nonsense," he rebuked, his tone cold and sharp. "What do you mean my eyesight is deteriorating? I can see everything just fine. Shall we take another test to prove it?"

"Nianzu...?" His harsh counterargument drew not only surprised glances from his parents but also from the doctor.

"But then again, that’s unnecessary. How can I not know my own body?" He stood up calmly, facing his parents. "Mom, Dad, I think this hospital is not too reliable. Let’s change to another one."

"Nianzu?!"

Shen Nianzu walked away just as he did yesterday, ignoring the shocked and alarmed cry behind him. He might look calm on the surface, but only he himself knew how much of a wreck he was within.

A nameless anger rose in his heart, twisting into a frantic, rolling storm with nowhere to vent. He felt a visceral urge to do something—anything!—to break through this suffocating deadlock. Every single second that ticked by felt like a noose tightening around his throat, winding tighter, pressing harder, until Shen Nianzu felt like he could go insane from the maddening sense of urgency.

What should he do?

What should he do?!

What could he do to break this cursed cycle?!

Catching sight of the sign above, Shen Nianzu swiftly pivoted his heels and entered the restroom. There were still a few people inside, but he didn’t care. He could no longer afford to care.

"Come out!" He seethed, slamming his palms onto the sinktop and glaring at his own reflection on the mirror. "You must know something, right? What did you want to tell me last night? What do you mean by ’seven’?!"

The people inside were startled by his sudden outburst, exchanging uncertain glances with each other.

Shen Nianzu could tell what they were thinking without looking— lunatic.

And damn did he look like a lunatic right now. But who cares? It’s either him who had gone mad, or the whole world did.

"I told you to come out and tell me!!!"

The others hurriedly zipped their pants up and rushed out, presumably to report him to someone, leaving Shen Nianzu all alone in the restroom.

The sound of his harsh and ragged breathing echoed loud and clear in the silent space, resembling a wild animal driven to a corner.

The wide mirror faithfully reflected Shen Nianzu’s image back to him— wide, bloodshot eyes tinged with desperation, ashen face, jaws clenched tight in suppressed rage. The stark ceiling lights distorted his features, making his complexion appear all the more ghastly.

He looked like a complete wreck.

Slowly, Shen Nianzu clenched his trembling fingers, his nails sinking into the flesh of his palm and drawing blood. His once straight back was now hunched over, trembling ever so slightly.

"Tell me..." he pleaded in a low, vulnerable voice. "Please tell me I’m not insane..."

Contrary to his expectations, the mirror ’Shen Nianzu’ did not appear.

Shen Nianzu walked out in a daze, nearly bumping into the nurse and a security guard who had been summoned by the passersby. He ignored their attempts to talk to him and entered an empty elevator, pressing the button for the first floor.

As soon as the metal doors closed, he buried his face into his palms and let out a shuddering breath, his back collapsing against the wall.

Again... it had always been like this.

Whenever he convinced himself that everything was but his own imagination, something would happen that made him suspect himself and the people around him. And then whenever he started to believe that he was onto something, all those traces would vanish, sinking him into the mire of self-doubt once more.

It was like this damn world was toying with him, determined to drive him to the brink of insanity!

Ding.

The elevator dinged softly, snapping him out of his reverie.

Under the surprised gazes of the people waiting outside, Shen Nianzu walked out numbly, his headache persistent and relentless. The world around him seemed to blur—the conversation, the people walking back and forth around him, the bustling activity—everything seemed unreal, like he was stepping through cotton.

Until someone bumped heavily on his shoulder.

Shen Nianzu swayed a little as the other person apologized profusely, "Sorry, I’m so sorry!"

It was none other than a nurse. After bumping into Shen Nianzu, she didn’t even pause before darting off in a hurry, crying out to the doctor across the hall, "Doctor Chen, help! The patient in the psychiatric department room 404 is acting up again! We need your presence there!"

Shen Nianzu had no idea which word she said that struck a nerve deep inside him, sobering him up quicker than a splash of cold water to his face.

In an instant, all the noises in the surrounding returned to him, allowing him to feel his feet firmly planted on the ground once more.

Only then did he realize he had gotten off the wrong floor.

Staring at the retreating backs of the doctor and the nurse, Shen Nianzu felt his heart rate increasing for some unknown reason. "What... is this?" he touched his chest, puzzled. "Why do I get the urge to follow them?"

His brows furrowed in deep contemplation.

Technically speaking, although he had often been hospitalized here, he had not made a single friend or an acquaintance, let alone someone from the psychiatric department. Which was why the urge to chase after the doctor and the nurse felt so bizarre, so absurd that he could not rationalize it with logic. However, there had been so many inexplicable events happening around him lately that Shen Nianzu didn’t mind following his heart once or twice.

Just check it out. He told himself. There’s nothing wrong with it, right? I will only take a look— that’s right, just a look.

With that thought in mind, Shen Nianzu turned to follow after the two people.

...But he ended up feeling disappointed, because all he saw was an old man thrashing in the bed, babbling and hollering nonsense with drool spilling out of his mouth.

Shen Nianzu stood still, exhaling. Then he shook his head, a bitter smile forming across his lips. "What am I expecting, really?"

This time, Shen Nianzu got off on the right floor— the lobby.

As he walked through the crowd, all of a sudden, he was reminded of something unusual that had occurred right here yesterday, prompting him to halt on his tracks. How could he have forgotten? The stranger... the stranger who had evoked such intense, foreign emotions from him. There must be something wrong with him! Maybe Shen Nianzu would be able to find a clue if he talked to the man face-to-face!

Feeling energized, Shen Nianzu made his way straight to the outpatient department, but neither the injured student nor the person he was looking for were there!

How could this be? How could this possibly be?!

Where did they go?!

A thin vein bulged on Shen Nianzu’s forehead as he glared at the empty seat where they were supposed to be, his expression so fierce and full of resentment that it drew startled looks from the people nearby. But Shen Nianzu paid them no heed. His fists trembled by his side, his teeth clenching so tight he could taste blood in his mouth. The frustration from the repeated cycle of hope and disappointment nearly drove him to the brink in that instant. He almost lost control and punched the chair before him.

But before he could damage the hospital property, a fleeting thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"The time..." he muttered under his breath. "The time is not right. I went down faster than yesterday, so they must not have arrived yet. Yes, I have to match the timing. If I wait here, then—"

"Nianzu?"

Shen Nianzu sharply turned to the source of the voice and found both his parents and Qing Mo standing a few meters away.

"What are you doing there? Oh my, you made me so worried!" Madam Shen cried out in both anger and relief.

Despite their concerned gazes, Shen Nianzu felt an instinctive urge to run away at the sight of them.