I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 132

Withdrawing his gaze from Yun Shuanghua, Jing Qizhen couldn’t help but keep wondering what he planned to do with that box of medicine.

Thinking back to the previous incident in the erosion area abroad, where Yun Shuanghua had acted so cold and distant, Jing Qizhen was puzzled. Although Yun Shuanghua often seemed a bit odd, his behavior didn’t resemble that of a mentally ill patient. It was more like someone with amnesia.

Surely Yun Shuanghua wasn’t just curious about what the pills tasted like? Given how he ate the food drugged by Si Jiayang before without any issue, that might actually be possible?

Suppressing his wild speculations, Jing Qizhen quickly reported his findings to the others through wireless communications.

Manman speculated, “If that’s the case, then maybe other places in the hospital that the patient could’ve accessed might also contain similar ‘evidence.’ Other departments are less likely, though, since he probably didn’t know much about them.”

Jing Qizhen analyzed, “Places that a schizophrenic patient might easily come into contact with are like the registration desk, the psychiatric department, the pharmacy, and the inpatient wards?”

They’d already been to the pharmacy and inpatient wards, and had indeed found something.

Manman and Si Jiayang, who were currently on the third floor, immediately said, “We’ll go check out the Psychiatry Department.”

Meanwhile, on the first floor, Jing Qizhen walked out of the pharmacy. “I’ll go back and check the registration area.”

As for the others, they continued combing through the old hospital building, searching for any unexpected discoveries.

Before long, Jin Guijuan, Grandma Fang, Old Xiao, and Wilcox chimed in, “We also found a torn piece of paper in the surgical records book. But the handwriting is too messy to read.”

Jing Qizhen calmly said, “Let Babyball look at it later. I bet it can even read oracle bone script or cuneiform.”

Jin Guijuan: “…” Wait, so that ball also has translation functions?

Wilcox’s blue eyes widened in astonishment at the mention of oracle bones and cuneiform. He couldn’t help but start wondering if he could ask the Earth next time to help translate some archaeological records or academic texts.

Grandma Fang, meanwhile, thought of the researchers she knew from different academic fields.

So far, only geologists and seismologists had gotten overly excited because of Babyball’s capabilities. If this news got out, people working in paleontology, archaeology, and history would probably swarm Jing Qizhen next…

Wang Feizhou asked instinctively, “Who’s Babyball?”

Jing Qizhen said, “One of the tireless supporters working their butt off behind our team.”

Wang Feizhou: “0.0!” Sounds like someone impressive and totally dedicated!

The door to the registration desk was already open, saving Yun Shuanghua the trouble of violently breaking it down.

Jing Qizhen walked in, carefully looked around, and then opened the registration log used by the front desk staff.

The logbook was basically empty. Only the very first entry on the first page had any writing and it was exactly the entry Jing Qizhen had previously made in the director’s name to register a fictitious relative of the director.

Lu Lingxi walked over too. When he saw the logbook in Jing Qizhen’s hands, he blinked his big, innocent, doe-like eyes. “This is… just our registration from earlier?”

Jing Qizhen nodded and sighed a little, “So many of those ghosts were wandering the hospital, looking like they were working, but in the end, they were busy for nothing.”

Lu Lingxi muttered, “No wonder we haven’t seen any other patients in the hospital…”

Jing Qizhen said, “Clearly, there are no other patients in that person’s eyes. This erosion area is based on the patient’s imagination. The way the world appears is exactly how he perceives it in his mind.”

At that moment, Si Jiayang’s voice came through the earpiece, “Manman and I searched every room on the third floor and we didn’t find the Psychiatry Department.”

Jing Qizhen paused slightly and looked at Wang Feizhou. “Could that department be imagined by the patient too?”

It was evident that the patient’s paranoia was mostly directed at doctors and nurses. He was probably the type to avoid acknowledging illness or seeking medical help.

Wang Feizhou looked nervous and answered with a pained expression, “All I can say is… anything’s possible!”

Jing Qizhen replied, “Mental illness gives people vast imagination, huh. Got it.”

It wasn’t meant as sarcasm; it was simply a fact.

Humans never lack imagination. The difference is, healthy people can distinguish fantasy from reality. Schizophrenic patients blur that line. In addition to their physical discomfort, the psychological pressure they endure is unimaginable to ordinary people. That confusion between what’s real and what’s not can make normal life impossible for them.

Wang Feizhou nodded. “That’s pretty much it.”

Manman had taken photos of every room they visited on the second and third floors. As she flipped back through her phone’s album, she suddenly noticed something strange. There was an odd number of photos.

Manman: “Wait a second!”

Si Jiayang immediately turned to her, “Baby?”

Everyone else listening through the comms also became alert.

Jing Qizhen put down the registration log for now and asked, “What’s wrong, Manman?”

Manman kept it brief. “The number of rooms on the second and third floors doesn’t add up. I suspect the missing Psychiatry Department is actually a hidden room.”

Jing Qizhen asked directly, “What do you mean?”

Even Si Jiayang hadn’t noticed it until now. He looked a bit surprised. “Huh? I didn’t realize that at all earlier.”

Manman said, “I only realized it when I saw that the number of photos was odd in the album.”

Old Xiao blurted out, “Odd number? But the rooms on the second and third floors should definitely total an even number, right?”

Manman said, “Exactly. The old building of Binhai City’s Second Municipal Hospital has a really simple layout. Aside from the lobby on the first floor, the second and third floors are basically identical. Jiayang and I walked through both, and each room is spaced evenly. There’s no obviously large room taking up extra space.”

Si Jiayang had figured it out by now.

The old hospital building was built quite a long time ago. The design style back then was simple and symmetrical. The whole building was just a straight line, oriented north-south, with the hallway in the middle. It had poor lighting and rooms on both the north and south sides, each with a window facing outward in opposite directions.

Manman continued, “Jiayang and I weren’t familiar with the building, so while walking through the second and third floors, we didn’t notice anything was missing. If the number of photos hadn’t been off…”

She was right. It was only because one room was missing that it stood out. If two had been missing, she might not have caught on at all.

When navigating unfamiliar places, people tend to overestimate how large or complex the layout is. Just like how the first time you visit somewhere, it feels far away, but once you go often, the distance seems shorter. It’s purely a matter of psychological perception.

Buildings work the same way, especially those with many rooms.

The first time you enter one, you might even feel like you’ll get lost. But if you show up regularly, it quickly starts to feel familiar and manageable.

While Manman was explaining, Jing Qizhen had already left the registration desk and headed upstairs to the second floor.

Jing Qizhen asked, “Manman, Jiayang, where are you? Let’s meet up first.”

Manman replied, “We’re on the second floor. Jiayang and I were about to recheck both the second and third floors. Since the building itself physically exists, that missing room can’t just vanish. Most likely, the patient’s fantasy is making us subconsciously ignore it.”

As they spoke, Jing Qizhen’s group reached the second floor and met up with Manman and Si Jiayang.

Everyone else who heard over comms quickly headed their way as well.

Jing Qizhen gave a reminder, “We probably don’t need to check every single room. The rooms corresponding to the keys on the key panel are mostly next to each other.”

Manman’s eyes lit up. “I’ll use the photos to match them!”

Jing Qizhen nodded and pulled the key panel from his backpack.

Si Jiayang looked up at the room names on the second floor. “Let’s just start from here.”

Jing Qizhen quickly located the matching keys on the panel. Manman held up her phone. “Little Jing, read out the rooms listed on the key panel. I’ll match them to the photos.”

Jing Qizhen: “Got it.”

Once they had a lead, everyone moved quickly.

After comparing with the key panel Jing Qizhen was holding, Manman soon pinpointed a location. “It’s on the second floor, right next to the Endocrinology Department.”

Jing Qizhen: “Let’s go take a look.”

However, when the group followed the hallway and arrived at the Endocrinology Department, they didn’t find a door labeled ‘Psychiatry’ next to it.

Si Jiayang couldn’t help but complain, “Have you all watched Harry Potter? I just remembered there was a place in it hidden between two door numbers.”

Jing Qizhen looked at the neighboring department and matched it with the key panel. It was correct. But right between the two departments, the Psychiatry room was missing.

Wilcox chimed in, speaking Mandarin in that familiar Sichuan hotpot-flavored accent, “So we can’t find the Psychiatry Department just because no one handed us a little note with ‘Psychiatry’ written on it? That brat tricked us again.”

Jing Qizhen stared at the two department signs with a thoughtful expression.

The March Hare, who had been quietly sticking close behind Yun Shuanghua this whole time, suddenly widened his eyes. “You guys can’t see the door in the middle?”

Whoosh!

Everyone immediately turned to stare at the big bunny.

The March Hare jumped a little, startled. “What are you all looking at me like that for?!”

Jing Qizhen directly handed him the key panel. “Dear, help us open the door.”

The March Hare immediately relaxed and reached out to take the keys. “Oh, it’s just opening a door? Why were you all acting so intense?”

Manman and Si Jiayang exchanged a look. So this was likely a clear difference between natives of the erosion area and outsiders like them.

But Jing Qizhen glanced, almost unconsciously, toward Yun Shuanghua.

If the March Hare could see the door, then Yun Shuanghua should be able to as well…

And sure enough, the very next second, when March Hare opened the door to the Psychiatry Department, the rabbit, still dressed in his little jazz suit, suddenly disappeared right in front of their eyes.

Everyone: “!!!”