PD -Chapter 147 The Psychiatric Hospital

“Old Que, all we can say is that we’ll do our best. Even if she has already become a wandering soul, there’s still the possibility that her spirit has already dispersed, so…” I sighed and looked at Old Que.

Old Que merely nodded. “I’ll give you the address of that psychiatric hospital and wait here for news from you. As for whether I’ll forge that weapon for you afterward, that depends on your luck.”

We had wanted to bargain a little, but Old Que was an old hand at this sort of thing. Once he laid down his conditions, he had no intention of discussing anything further and practically wanted to throw us out immediately.

I sighed and had no choice but to leave behind the gifts and liquor we had prepared in the car before driving everyone away.

After returning to the office, we began discussing how to complete the task Old Que had assigned us: finding his old lover.

Based on his description, I roughly identified three places where this woman, Shen Fang, was most likely to appear.

The first was the home where the two of them had once lived together.

The second was Shen Fang’s own family home.

And the third was the psychiatric hospital Old Que had mentioned.

If Shen Fang had truly died and her soul had not yet dissipated, there was a good chance she would be at one of these three places.

Personally, I felt the first two locations were more likely. After all, throughout history there has always been the saying that souls return to their homeland.

According to Old Que, Shen Fang had most likely remarried later in life. Although she had been sent to a psychiatric hospital due to her mental illness, if she had died, her family would certainly have claimed her body and arranged her burial.

That made the first two locations seem far more probable, while the psychiatric hospital appeared to be the least likely.

Even so, after discussing it, we decided to split up to be safe.

Right in the middle of our meeting, my phone suddenly rang.

I picked it up and saw that it was Li Zi calling.

That’s right—the same Li Zi who ran those haunted-house adventure attractions.

I froze for a moment before remembering that after returning from Youdu, I had indeed seen a whole string of missed calls. Later, with my mind occupied by other matters, I had completely forgotten to call him back.

Li Zi never contacted people without a reason. The last haunted-house project had been a huge success, so this time he had probably found another promising location for development.

I answered the call. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he got straight to the point and told me about his new project.

The new project was an abandoned psychiatric hospital.

The moment I heard that, I frowned.

A psychiatric hospital?

Could there really be such a coincidence?

I asked for the exact address and discovered that it was the very same hospital Old Que had mentioned.

At first, I thought it was an unbelievable coincidence, but after giving it some thought, it didn’t seem so strange after all.

Li Zi spent all day tracking down eerie haunted houses and abandoned, mysterious locations. It wasn’t surprising that he had managed to uncover a psychiatric hospital that dated back sixty or seventy years.

After considering it, I agreed immediately.

This was killing two birds with one stone: I could investigate Old Que’s former lover while also helping develop a project and earn some money in the process. Why not?

And so the plan was finalized.

Liu Xiaopeng chose to investigate the place where Old Que and Shen Fang had once lived together.

Shentu chose to visit Shen Fang’s hometown.

As for me, I would accompany Li Zi to the psychiatric hospital.

Once Zhu Zhu learned of our plan, there was no way she was willing to go home alone. She insisted on joining the operation.

Knowing there was no talking her out of it, I shoved her onto Liu Xiaopeng’s team and took the opportunity to encourage the two of them to spend some quality time together.

Once everything was settled, we set off separately the next day, agreeing to stay in contact.

Ironically, the psychiatric hospital I was heading to was the farthest destination of all.

Fortunately, Li Zi had booked a plane ticket for me, so I didn’t have to make the drive myself.

Sitting on the plane, I stared blankly out the window, unable to sleep.

For days now I had been suffering from insomnia.

Every time I closed my eyes, that dream returned.

In the dream, Tang Shanshan had grown frighteningly thin.

She used to cry out for help.

Now she could only lie limp inside the cage, motionless, staring at me.

As I sat by the window, I suddenly remembered the first time Tang Shanshan and I had flown together.

That had been when the Underworld Rakshasa launched its sneak attack on her…

And everything that followed became the catalyst for the Ghost Emperor’s awakening.

Because of that, I had developed something of a psychological shadow regarding airplanes.

It wasn’t that I feared a crash.

I simply felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

Everyone on the plane seemed suspicious to me.

Fortunately, the flight wasn’t very long.

An hour and a half later, I stepped off the aircraft.

As expected, Li Zi had arranged everything perfectly.

He was already waiting for me at the airport.

The moment I walked out, I saw him standing at the entrance with several buddies, holding up a giant banner.

The welcome seemed rather grand.

But when I got close enough to read the words printed on it, I nearly coughed up blood from anger.

“Warmly Welcoming the Renowned Haunted-House Designer for Project Guidance.”

I cursed under my breath and signaled for them to put the banner away immediately.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Judging by the situation, Li Zi had probably been holding that thing up for quite a while, and people all around were already giving me strange looks.

“So, Big Bro, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right?” Li Zi grinned shamelessly as he hooked an arm around my shoulder and led me out of the airport.

I smacked him on the head.

“You’re the damn haunted-house designer!”

“If word of this gets out, how am I supposed to take on any normal jobs afterward?” I snapped.

“If this project becomes a hit, why would you even need those small-time jobs anymore?” Li Zi replied excitedly. “I’m telling you, Big Bro, this project’s huge. The site covers over a thousand square meters. You’d better be prepared.”

He chattered nonstop during the drive.

I wasn’t in the mood to banter with him, so I told him to take me to our accommodations first.

After that, I had him send me all the information he had gathered about the abandoned psychiatric hospital.

Combining Li Zi’s account with some old records, I gradually pieced together the story behind the place.

The hospital had originally been established during the Republican era.

Its actual name was Ankang Neurological Sanatorium.

However, after it fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned, a series of bizarre urban legends began spreading throughout the small county where it was located.

Over time, people stopped using its official name and simply referred to it as “the psychiatric hospital.”

There was also a reason why Li Zi had discovered the place.

Nowadays, short-video platforms and livestreaming had long since spread into China’s third- and fourth-tier cities.

An abandoned psychiatric hospital naturally carried a mysterious and eerie appeal.

As a result, many local young people had ventured inside with their phones, broadcasting their explorations live online.

Li Zi had stumbled across one of those livestreams by chance.

That was what first sparked his interest in the hospital.

“But this place is genuinely creepy,” Li Zi said after handing over all the documents. Sitting beside me, he lowered his voice slightly.

“That’s exactly why, to be safe, I came looking for you, Big Bro.”