Chapter 8: Time Mix-Up? Mixed-Up Worlds?

Chapter 8: Time Mix-Up? Mixed-Up Worlds?

Fang Xiu couldn't help but glance back at the spot where the doorway to the mental hospital used to be. Shockingly, it was no longer there.

Instead, he saw a wall.

He took a step back and scanned his surroundings, utterly stunned.

*'Where has the mental hospital gone?'*

His view was now filled with the sight of the stunning and fancy Willow Hill.

Bewildered, Fang Xiu blinked and took another look. The mental hospital had reappeared! But now, the security guard, Zhao, was nowhere to be seen.

*'What in the world is going on?'*

His gaze locked onto the Green Mountain Mental Hospital.

Suddenly, just like something out of a movie, Willow Hill began to flicker in and out of existence. At first, it took on a spectral form, but it gradually solidified, and its colors became more intense.

Then, by some weird twist, the Green Mountain Mental Hospital was still there!

Both buildings seemed to have merged together.

*'Is this a time mix-up? A space mix-up?'*

Fang Xiu's eyes danced, the mental hospital and Willow Hill blending and duplicating before his gaze.

He moved to another spot and tried to touch the hospital wall. His hand sailed right through, stopping only when it met the wall of Willow Hill.

He immediately figured it out. This mental hospital must be like the other Specters he'd encounteredillusions that could only be seen and touched under special conditions.

Willow Hill was still there, while the mental hospital seemed to overlay it like a 3D image.

The thought of finding Wu Dahai slipped from Fang Xiu's mind. He needed to solve the puzzle that was this mental hospital.

'_Why is everything else a walking Specter, but this place a strange building illusion?'_

_'Have the specters escaped?'_

He pressed on, venturing deeper, only to find a real villa blocking his path. He had no keys, so he had to find another way.

After taking a detour, he found himself inside a doctor's office within the mental hospital. The room had a desk with a scattered stethoscope and blood-stained case reports.

Fang Xiu moved closer to read the case reports, and his eyes narrowed. One of the reports covered in blood had a few lines visible.

It read, "Experiment 128, Specter Transformation Level: 2164. Transformation failed."

_'Transform into a specter?! Specters were transformed from people? Are the Specters in those rooms once human?'_

Fang Xiu was seized by shock. He wanted to keep reading, but in the next moment, he paused. Everything around him was illusory, like a holographic image. He couldn't physically pick up the case reports to read further.

"Darn it!"

The secret seemed so close, yet out of reach, fueling his frustration.

Suddenly, several thin strands of black hair drifted into Fang Xiu's view. They floated down from the air, their source a mystery. But he wasn't about to foolishly look up. He acted like he was just wandering around, subtly moving away while watching discreetly from the corner of his eye.

He saw a "pretty" doctor in a white coat, her limbs stretched out like a spider, hiding on the ceiling. Her face was Specterly pale, her eye sockets were pitch black with creepy patterns, and her eyes were all white, devoid of pupils. Her hair, over a yard long, hung down from the ceiling, and she held a shiny scalpel in her hand.

_'A doctor?'_

Fang Xiu was a little surprised.

_'Did she write these case reports? Could she have been a human once?'_

Different guesses raced through his head, but he couldn't find any answers, and the Specters surely wouldn't answer his questions. Fang Xiu could only keep going. If there were clues in the doctor's office, then there must be more in the mental hospital.

Including the Director's office!

That must be the heart of the mental hospital, likely holding all its secrets. Fang Xiu kept weaving through the mental hospital, hunting for the Director's office. Soon, he found an administrative area. Based on standard hospital design, he deduced the Director's office should be in this area.

Drawing closer, he realized that its real-world location was none other than the sales office of Willow Hill, the place where he worked. "