As Fang Xiu pondered, noon had already arrived. He casually found a ramen shop, had a bowl of noodles, and then continued on his way.
He needed to observe more of the strange occurrences, to uncover more of the truth.
Soon, the afternoon passed, and dusk began to fall.
The dim sunlight bathed the city of Greenvine, as though the entire city were shrouded in a layer of gloom, and the strange entities within the city grew ever more obscure and grotesque.
At last, Fang Xiu arrived near Bai Liu Academy.
Bai Liu Academy was a luxurious residential district, located in a relatively remote area. The surrounding streets were desolate and devoid of pedestrians, yet this did little to mask its exorbitant price.
The villas were designed with luxury and tranquility in mind, ideal for keeping mistresses or perhaps hosting underground gatherings.
Those who could afford to buy a house here were mostly chauffeured by luxury cars, and the distance mattered little to them. Instead, they valued the serene environment.
Fang Xiu rode his shared bicycle along the quiet tree-lined path, flanked by lush greenery, with trees forming shade and flowers growing abundantly, pruned into various exquisite shapes.
This road had been meticulously renovated by the developers of Bai Liu Academy, as it led directly to the estate, with the road's end marking the entrance to the academy.
Perhaps due to its remote location and sparse population, even the strange entities in the area were few, scattered here and there.
As Fang Xiu passed through this main road, he suddenly stopped, carefully surveying the building in front of him.
A hidden current of turmoil stirred beneath the calmness in his eyes.
Bai Liu Academy... was gone!
The once beautiful and neatly arranged expanse of villas had vanished, replaced by a mental asylum.
The asylum spanned a large area, with several buildings connected by sky bridges. The walls were dilapidated, with paint peeling off in many places, giving it an abandoned, eerie atmosphere.
The sign at the entrance was tilted and covered in dust, yet the name was still visible.
Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital.
Fang Xiu stared impassively at the mental asylum in front of him, fully aware that he had not taken a wrong turn.
This had once been Bai Liu Academy, not some Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital.
"Is this another strange phenomenon? Unlike the previous entities, this time it's an entire asylum? Or perhaps the asylum itself is a product of these strange occurrences?"
Fang Xiu felt a curiosity stir within him. It was the first time he had encountered such a sight on his journey, and his intuition told him that this place might harbor some hidden secrets about these strange entities.
With that, Fang Xiu set his bicycle aside and pulled out his phone.
Earlier, he had turned it off because Manager Wu Dahai had been persistently calling him, which had become an annoyance.
He powered the phone back on and found 13 missed calls from Wu Dahai, along with three from Zhao Hao.
Zhao Hao was Fang Xiu's colleague, and they shared the closest relationship.
After a moment of thought, Fang Xiu dialed Zhao Hao's number.
Beep, beep, beep...
After about thirty seconds, Zhao Hao's voice, muffled with heavy breathing, came through the line, intentionally lowered.
"Xiu Ge, why are you only calling now? What's going on over there? Wu Dahai's furious and said he's going to fire you, and you won't get a cent of your pay."
A rapid-fire barrage of words came from the other end, filled with urgency and concern.
Fang Xiu fell silent.
Is everyone alright?
Despite Bai Liu Academy having transformed into a mental asylum, it seemed that his colleagues at work had not been affected, judging by Zhao Hao's tone.
Was this an illusion?
Or, like those strange entities, was this asylum yet another eerie construct, visible only to him?
"Xiu Ge, why aren't you saying anything? Did something happen over there?"
"I'm fine," Fang Xiu replied calmly. "Are you all still at the office?"
"Yeah, we're all here. You didn't come in today, and that b*st*rd Wu Dahai is taking it all out on us. He even made us work overtime. By the way, Xiu Ge, you..."
"We'll talk later."
Fang Xiu interrupted Zhao Hao, hung up the phone, and turned it off again.
He planned to investigate the Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital further, and certainly didn't want to risk drawing any unnecessary attention at a critical moment with a ringing phone.
He walked directly toward the entrance of the asylum.
The gates were dilapidated and ominous, and with the dimming light, they resembled the gaping maw of some ravenous beast, terrifying to behold.
However, this failed to instill fear in Fang Xiu. In fact, it seemed as though he no longer experienced any sense of fear.
Whenever he encountered strange occurrences, his first emotions were always anger, hatred, and even excitement—fear was the last thing on his mind.
Tap, tap, tap...
The silence was broken only by the sound of Fang Xiu's footsteps.
But the next moment, thud!
Fang Xiu slammed into something invisible, his face aching from the impact.
"An air wall?"
He stood at the entrance, yet it felt as if an invisible wall blocked his way.
He reached out and felt a cold, rough texture.
"This isn't an air wall—there's an actual wall here, just invisible. Could it be that this mental asylum can't be entered?"
Fang Xiu was undeterred. Like a blind man, he continued to search for an entrance, his hands tracing the unseen wall.
"Xiao Fang, what are you doing over there? Is this some kind of performance art?" A teasing voice suddenly came from the side.
Fang Xiu's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged.
Having been killed multiple times by his wife, he had long mastered the art of remaining motionless like a mountain. In a place as eerie as this mental asylum, if someone suddenly called out to you, reacting could mean being devoured the next second.
Yet, he did not remain entirely still. Instead, he continued to search, gradually moving toward the direction the voice had come from.
When he was close enough, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a man standing in the left front, an unamused expression on his face.
The man was a young security guard in a uniform, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking at Fang Xiu with a smirk.
Fang Xiu recognized him—it was the security guard of Bai Liu Academy.
Unlike the security guards in other neighborhoods, the guards at Bai Liu Academy were younger, as the area catered to the high-end market.
The older guards would only replace them once the property sales slowed.
An illusion? Or was this another strange entity in disguise?
As Fang Xiu pondered, the security guard approached and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Xiao Fang, why haven't you responded? I saw you bumping into the wall from afar, and then you started feeling it up. What's the deal? Is the wall that s*xy?"
Fang Xiu felt the warmth from the security guard's touch on his shoulder, lost in thought.
Could he make direct contact?
Was he not a strange entity?
Fang Xiu turned to face the man. "Zhao Ge, have you been standing here the whole time?"
Zhao Ge, the security guard, looked surprised and even waved his hand in front of Fang Xiu's face.
"Xiao Fang, are you sure you don't need glasses? I was standing straight at the pavilion. You really didn't see me?"
The pavilion?
There was no pavilion at the Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital, Fang Xiu was certain of that.
He looked in the direction Zhao Ge had just come from, and was stunned.
In the place that had been empty just moments ago, there was now a pavilion.
It was a pavilion he had seen every day during his previous work at Bai Liu Academy, one that even had a small air conditioner inside, keeping it cool in the summer.
How could this be possible?!