After many twists and turns and a great deal of effort, Yue Shi finally met his target.
He steadied his breathing, calmed his emotions, and put on a friendly smile. “Are you Mr. Qiao Xu?”
“That’s right, I’m Qiao Xu. And who are you?” Qiao Xu asked. His voice was a bit weak, giving off an introverted and harmless vibe.
Yue Shi replied, “I’m Zhang San. I have some questions I’d like to ask you in person.”
“Zhang San? That’s a pretty lazy alias,” Qiao Xu said, his face expressionless.
Yue Shi said, “A name is just a label. Even if I told you my real name, you might not believe me.”
Qiao Xu smiled. “You have a point. Come in.”
Yue Shi discreetly checked the barrier protecting him before stepping into the room.
On the desk in the room, besides a worn-out laptop, there was a thermos, an old calendar, and an ancient landline phone.
Qiao Xu occupied the only stool in the room and showed no intention of inviting Yue Shi to sit. He got straight to the point: “I don’t believe I know you at all. What exactly do you want with me?”
Yue Shi was blunt. “I heard you were a researcher in an illegal human experimentation lab established by the Su family?”
Hearing this, Qiao Xu lowered his eyes slightly, looking displeased. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Yue Shi could tell he was likely lying, so he decisively activated 【Raven's Secret Whispers】. “Please believe me, I mean you no harm. I only want to ask about that laboratory.”
Qiao Xu’s expression twisted for a brief moment, but he remained silent.
Yue Shi suddenly realized that since the man lived on the fourth floor of Qingshan Sanatorium, there was a chance he had already suffered mental contamination and was no longer a normal human. He might have some degree of resistance to hypnotic charms.
Seeing that Qiao Xu wasn’t speaking, Yue Shi continued his questioning. “Why did you come to a place like this?”
“I...” Qiao Xu paused as if his memory was failing him. After a moment of thought, he said, “I’m sick. I came here for treatment.”
Yue Shi went along with it. “Fine, since you’re sick, I’m simply here to visit you. Are you feeling any better? Can we talk about your previous place of work?”
Qiao Xu’s brow furrowed, seemingly resisting Yue Shi. He then issued a direct order for him to leave. “I like my peace and quiet and don’t feel like chatting. If you have nothing else, please leave.”
Yue Shi wasn’t about to give up so easily without digging up any useful information. He immediately fabricated a lie. “People from the Su family are lying in wait outside the sanatorium. They’re planning to come in and seize you.”
“That’s impossible!” Qiao Xu denied it without a second thought.
The corner of Yue Shi’s mouth curled into a smirk. “It seems you really were a researcher in the Su family’s lab.”
Qiao Xu didn’t fall for it. “Stop testing me. I won’t say anything.”
Yue Shi remained noncommittal and simply said, “I can protect you. I can ensure you live out the rest of your life in peace and safety.”
“Don’t make me laugh. I need you to protect me? I have plenty of ways to defend myself,” Qiao Xu said firmly.
“Your so-called self-defense is hiding in this terrifying sanatorium? Aren’t you afraid of being killed by the supernatural entities here?” Yue Shi’s tone held a hint of irony.
Qiao Xu pursed his lips tightly, refusing to communicate further.
Yue Shi rubbed his chin. “It seems you have a reason to stay here. Are you afraid of being hunted down and silenced? Or is there something you want in this sanatorium? Or perhaps... you’re just bait that someone set out?!”
He repeatedly used 【Raven's Secret Whispers】, but Qiao Xu’s expression only shifted back and forth without revealing anything useful.
“Just leave. I don’t know anything, and I won’t talk. If you keep pestering me, don’t blame me for being rude!”
Yue Shi let out a seemingly helpless sigh. “Fine, I won’t force you. Let me ask a different question then. Do you know where the director of this sanatorium is?”
This time, Qiao Xu didn’t resist and answered bluntly, “The director is in the restroom down the hall to the left. He’s an extremely dangerous fellow; I wouldn’t recommend approaching him.”
Before Qiao Xu could even finish, Yue Shi had already turned and left the room.
Ward 404 seemed to be a boundary line. As he walked toward the left side of the hallway, the light grew even dimmer.
Yue Shi reached the restroom at the end of the hall. A cold wind blew in through a broken window, bringing a chill with it.
This public restroom on the fourth floor was relatively small, likely due to the small number of people. He could feel a thick layer of dust under his feet as he walked.
Yue Shi needed to calm down. He had never been a particularly patient person, and he really wanted to use the “great memory restoration technique” on Qiao Xu.
But he knew that for Qiao Xu to survive in such a peril-filled place, he must have his own trump cards. Using violence would likely backfire.
Suppressing the surge of violence in his heart, he suddenly heard a somewhat aged and weary voice coming from the last stall of the restroom: “Who’s out there?”
Yue Shi’s muscles tensed instantly, and his breathing slowed significantly.
“I sense an unfamiliar presence. You must be another newcomer, right?” the voice from the stall spoke again.
“Don’t stay silent. I know you’re out there. Can you help me open this stall door?”
Yue Shi asked, “Can’t you open it yourself?”
The other party coughed lightly. “No. Most of the doors here can only be opened from the outside. That’s the rule.”
“Rule? What rule?” Yue Shi was puzzled.
██: “Rules are rules. Everyone here must follow them.”
Yue Shi asked, “If it weren’t for me or some other newcomer, would you be trapped in there forever?”
██: “No. After all, I’m the one who established the rules. I can always change them given enough time.”
Yue Shi asked, “You’re the director? There’s a man in Ward 404 next door who can come and go as he pleases. If you call out to him, he should be able to hear you and come help, right?”
The director let out an angry, cold snort. “That’s the guy who tricked me into this toilet and locked me in!”
“Oh?!” Yue Shi was surprised. “He’s actually that capable? Even you, the director, got played?”
The director said helplessly, “A “Clown” snuck into the sanatorium and has been causing destruction everywhere. I was a bit careless while trying to catch him...”
“By the way, have you asked enough? If you’ve asked enough, hurry up and open the door for me.”
Yue Shi lowered his voice, changing its pitch. “I can’t. That man named Qiao Xu in 404 won’t allow me to let you out. He’s so scary; I wouldn’t dare disobey him.”
“So his name is Qiao Xu? Is that his real name?” the director asked curiously.
“I’m not sure. He just told me his name is Qiao Xu,” Yue Shi said vaguely. He felt this director might also be a mental patient whose intelligence wasn’t quite all there.
The director was silent for a moment, then asked, “Then what’s your name?”
“I...” Yue Shi’s eyes darted around. “My surname is Su...”
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