Chapter 502: Jinglin Sanatorium
Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood rode a pair of shadow wolves that had temporary license plates through the old streets of the Old City. They leaped into a "shortcut" from a nearby underground parking lot and soon reached the express lane—after traveling for thirty minutes through the spatial network that covered the entire , the shortcut automatically delivered them to a special exit.
It was a tunnel that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Beyond the tunnel, the sky was overcast. When the shadow wolf leaped out of the tunnel mouth, Yu Sheng, riding on the wolf's back, looked back and saw that the tunnel, which had been brightly lit and supported by steel and concrete just a second ago, had transformed into a massive tree hollow. A colossal withered tree, so thick it would take almost ten people to encircle, stood silently, and the tree hollow serving as the shortcut exit was near the base of the withered tree.
Ailin, who had her head resting on Yu Sheng's, curiously looked around and saw that the area around the withered tree was a forest. Tall trees of unknown species stretched to the horizon. The sky was gray, as if it might rain at any moment. A small path wound through the woods, and at the end of it stood a large gray-white building, quietly perched in a clearing.
"Whoa..." the little puppet exclaimed. "There's this much forest in ?"
"This forest itself is part of Jinglin Sanatorium—we're no longer in ," Little Red Riding Hood's voice came from the side. "Follow me. Don't stray too far. This is already the sanatorium's peripheral anomalous space. If you wander off, you might be identified as a lost patient and forcibly teleported into a ward."
Yu Sheng rode the shadow wolf and followed Little Red Riding Hood, proceeding together along the forest path. Under the gray sky, the forest breeze was cool and moist, noticeably several degrees colder than the current temperature in . At the edge of the woods and the clearing, he saw several large signs standing on the ground, with messages such as "Welcome to Jinglin Sanatorium," "Come in happily, go home healthy," "Stay away from the depths of the forest—beware the deceptive trees," and similar phrases.
When they approached the sanatorium gate, Little Red Riding Hood put away her shadow wolf. Ailin, sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder, asked curiously, "Should I pretend to be dead later?"
"No need," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "Jinglin Sanatorium is not open to ordinary people. The people inside are either psychics, investigators, or Special Services Bureau employees."
As she spoke, the three arrived at the sanatorium's main entrance. Yu Sheng looked up and saw that the large building consisted of three main structures connected by strip-like buildings. The main building facing them was like a single high wall made of poured concrete, with not a single window from top to bottom.
Even the side buildings on either side had only a very limited number of narrow windows, all located at the corners of the building—otherwise, ninety percent of the building's exterior walls were uniformly poured concrete.
Yu Sheng didn't know what the sanatorium looked like from other angles, but just from the front, this scene was already oppressive enough.
Even the normally carefree Ailin couldn't help muttering, "...A building this big with hardly any windows—even a normal person living inside would go crazy, wouldn't they?"
"The interior environment of the sanatorium is normal. The 'inside' and 'outside' of this building are inconsistent. You'll understand once you go in," Little Red Riding Hood explained. "The reason there are no windows on the outside is to prevent unauthorized eyes from peering into the wards and also to prevent some patients with mental conditions from jumping out of windows to escape."
Yu Sheng blinked, momentarily thinking he had misheard, and also feeling that the girl had just uttered a very subtle malapropism—but before he could ask, he saw the only door beneath the concrete high wall across from him beginning to open.
The black metal door creaked open, revealing a brightly lit hall inside. A particularly tall figure appeared at the entrance, slightly hunched, apparently coming out specifically to receive Yu Sheng and his companions.
Yu Sheng looked at the tall figure, but his expression turned startled.
The person was over two meters tall, wearing a conspicuous white coat. But above the collar, instead of a human head, there was a spherical fish tank filled with clear water, with tiny bubbles rising. A palm-sized goldfish slowly swam in the water, and numerous small electrodes and probes were attached to the sides and bottom of the tank. The tails of the electrodes and probes converged into several bundles of wires that extended down the collar into the white coat.
Apart from that, this "fish-tank weirdo" was completely covered, even wearing a pair of unusually thick leather gloves.
"This is the 'Director,'" Little Red Riding Hood whispered in Yu Sheng's ear, snapping him out of his daze. "The 'Director' is an entity generated by Jinglin Sanatorium. Also... its true body is that goldfish."
Yu Sheng: "...?!"
He listened, stunned. The three words "Director," "entity," and "goldfish" tumbled around in his mind, but no matter how he rearranged them, he couldn't figure out how they could form a coherent sentence. At that moment, the "Director" walked over. Yu Sheng watched the spherical fish tank wobble in his field of view, and the goldfish inside circled a few times before stopping, its two bubble-like eyes staring into his eyes—
The "Director" slightly bent down, extended a hand, and a slightly hoarse, lazy yet gentle and charming female voice reached Yu Sheng's ears: "Hello. I've heard about you from the Bureau Chief. I'm the fish in charge here."
The voice stunned Yu Sheng again, and then he reacted, reaching out to shake the offered hand.
He touched the seemingly thick leather glove and felt a soft, flowing movement inside, as if... filled with water.
"I hope my appearance doesn't bother you," the hoarse yet charming female voice came again from some sound-emitting structure beneath the fish tank. "Most people—I mean those who are sane—are startled when they first come here. They seem unable to accept that a fish is the director of this sanatorium, but I've actually done quite well in this position."
Yu Sheng had just recovered from his bewilderment. Not knowing what to say, he merely made a few perfunctory grunts, thinking to himself that he had dealt with so many bizarre things and creatures, and thought he was well-traveled and strong in comprehension, but this "Director" still exceeded his imagination. For a moment, he didn't even know where to start complaining. After holding it in for a while, he could only silently lament: This is Borderland for you—this damn place really has a way of being... something else. What the hell is going on with all this... and the Director is an "entity" generated by Jinglin Sanatorium... So entities can communicate like this and even cooperate with people stably?
A flicker of doubt passed through his mind, and Yu Sheng's gaze involuntarily fell on the many electrodes and probes around the spherical fish tank—were these devices installed by the Special Services Bureau? Were their purpose to maintain the "Director's" stability and enable it to communicate?
Many guesses sprang up in his mind, but he didn't feel comfortable asking directly, so he could only suppress his curiosity and greet the other party normally. But he had clearly forgotten that there was one person present who didn't hold back—Ailin had been staring wide-eyed on the side, and at that moment, she suddenly stood up from Yu Sheng's shoulder, pointing at the "Director"—or more precisely, at the goldfish in the tank: "You're really an 'Entity'? This is the first time I've seen one like you! Why can an Entity not only talk to people but also cooperate with the Special Services Bureau?"
"Because I couldn't beat Bai Liqing," the lazy, charming female voice said.
Yu Sheng: "...?"
"Then she put me in this device," the Director continued, speaking in a tone that seemed utterly unconcerned, as if talking about someone else. "Ah, that was about half a century ago."
Yu Sheng blinked, turned his head, and glanced at Little Red Riding Hood.
"Actually, I'm not very familiar with this place either," Little Red Riding Hood muttered. "A lot of the information I looked up last night..."
Just then, the "Director" raised a hand again, making an inviting gesture: "Please follow me. The person you want to see is in the deep ward. I'll lead the way."
Yu Sheng quickly gathered his scattered thoughts, and with Ailin and Little Red Riding Hood following behind the Director, he stepped into the main building of Jinglin Sanatorium.
After passing through the entrance, the first thing that met his eyes was a spacious and bright hall.
Bright lights shone overhead. It was clean and spacious. On both sides of the hall were clearly marked signboards and rest areas. Directly across from the entrance was a comprehensive information desk. He could also see medical staff in sanatorium uniforms and patients walking around accompanied by staff—no matter how you looked at it, the interior of this oppressive-looking building was unexpectedly normal.
But when he observed carefully, Yu Sheng finally noticed some... unusual things.
As he followed the Director through the hall, his eyes swept over the nearby walls, and from time to time, he saw "reminders" posted on the walls—
After curfew, no one is allowed to cross the red light beam at the hall information desk;
Medical staff are prohibited from having one-on-one contact with patients rated Level 2 or above in care;
All wards are single-occupancy. If the number of occupants in a ward is greater than or equal to two, an alter-ego entity alarm will be triggered;
The "Director" will not move in the corridors between midnight and 4:00 AM. If the "Director" is found in the corridor during the above time, immediately press the nearest big red button...
Normal medical facilities would not have such reminders.
As Yu Sheng slowly walked forward under the "Director's" guidance, he also recalled the precautions Bai Liqing had sent to his phone on the way: "Visitors" in Jinglin Sanatorium must follow various visitation rules; certain floors and wards marked with special colors cannot be entered; sanatorium staff each have their own duties and won't casually talk to visitors... things like that.
The rules weren't complicated, and the Jinglin Sanatorium, with a depth of only L-1, was relatively harmless compared to other anomalous spaces.
But it was indeed... an interesting place.
(End of chapter)