Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Jiang He was headed to the Dragon City Psychiatric Hospital, where Song Xiangmei had already been confined.
Paranoia, as the name suggests, is a condition where the patient firmly believes they are being persecuted, including deception, stalking, murder, poisoning, and other forms of suspicion. Patients often suspect those around them of harboring ill intentions, leading to constant vigilance that severely disrupts their normal lives. In extreme cases, these patients may preemptively harm others to prevent what they believe to be an impending murder against themselves.
This is a mental illness that can be alleviated but is difficult to cure. Antipsychotic medications can have significant side effects, while psychological therapy is a lengthy process. Unless the patient's mindset suddenly shifts, there may be little hope for recovery.
It was similar to Jiang He's Hyperthymesia; he might never recover or could suddenly regain normalcy at some point. However, paranoia can be traced back to its roots, making psychological counseling a viable option. In contrast, this rare Hyperthymesia remains a mystery with no known cause or treatment.
"To the psychiatric hospital," Jiang He told the taxi driver.
Noticing the driver glancing at him in between driving, he asked, "What’s up?"
After a long hesitation, the driver finally spoke up, "Are you going there for treatment?"
It was hard to blame the driver; Jiang He certainly did not look like a typical person. His clothes were wrinkled and unwashed, carrying a faint sour odor. His hair was messy and unevenly cut, resembling a chaotic bird's nest. There were spots of blood on his arms and body that made him appear quite unsettling.
Such an appearance made it difficult for anyone not to think of Jiang He as a mental patient. However, he didn’t care about the driver's judgment; he rarely wasted time on his appearance, believing it to be a waste of time.
"No, I'm visiting a mental patient," Jiang He replied.
When they arrived at the location and Jiang He handed money to the driver, the driver visibly relaxed and quickly drove away.
Upon reaching his destination, Jiang He saw a man and woman waiting there. Both appeared to be around fifty years old with sun-tanned skin that suggested they spent a lot of time outdoors. They looked weathered as they paced back and forth in the corridor.
"Are you Song Xiangmei's parents?" Jiang He asked.
Song Xiangmei's parents were momentarily taken aback by Jiang He's appearance. After a moment, Song Xiangmei's mother responded, "You must be Officer Jiang? We appreciate you coming here so early after just getting up."
Jiang He dismissed any false pleasantries and asked directly, "A while ago, Song Xiangmei was doing fine. Why did she suddenly go mad? There must have been some significant change or trigger."
"It all started about a week ago," Song Xiangmei's mother said as she led Jiang He down the corridor. "We returned from the south last week when my sister Xiangmei found us. We were so overjoyed we nearly fainted! You know? We searched for Xiangmei for ten whole years without any leads until suddenly she appeared right beside us."
Jiang He nodded.
Song Xiangmei's Mother continued, "Ten years have passed, and Xiangmei has changed so much. She has lost so much weight and is covered in scars. It breaks my heart to wash her. Her clothes are filthy, and we thought about taking her to the mall to buy a few new outfits and treat her to something delicious."
At this point, tears filled Song Xiangmei's Mother's eyes. She struggled to hold back her tears as she said, "When I was washing her, she kept asking for ice cream and wanted to eat things she hadn't had in ten years. That was my precious girl! You can't imagine how painful it is for a mother to hear her daughter say that!"
"Then," Song Xiangmei's Mother wiped the tears from her face, "her father and I took her to the mall. It was supposed to be our happiest day, the best day we've had in ten years. Her father bought her a lot of tasty treats while I helped her pick out pretty clothes. It felt like ten years ago when she had just graduated high school, and the three of us were shopping together."
A faint smile appeared on Song Xiangmei's face, only to turn into a bitter smile. "But that's when everything went wrong. At that moment, while I was helping Xiangmei pick out clothes, she suddenly spotted an ice cream shop downstairs and asked her father to buy some. I was busy finding her a nice outfit, but they didn't have her size, so I followed the sales clerk to the back."
"It only took a few minutes, but how could I have imagined such a thing would happen?" Song Xiangmei's Mother regretted deeply. "I left Xiangmei for just a few minutes; I saw her watching her father go downstairs for ice cream, and I didn't call out to her as I followed the clerk."
"But not even a minute after I went in, I heard Xiangmei calling out." Song Xiangmei's Mother repeatedly slapped her forehead. "I recognized my daughter's voice and rushed out. As soon as I stepped out of the stockroom, I saw my daughter standing at the store entrance, shouting."
"The surrounding customers didn't know what was wrong with Xiangmei and came over to ask. But as soon as they got close, she ran out like a madwoman, knocking over countless shelves in the store. She wouldn't let anyone touch her; if someone did, she would go wild. In the end, several security guards from the building stopped her and tried to call the police."
"At that moment, something was seriously wrong with Xiangmei. She thought those people were human traffickers sent by He Caiqie to kill her. We rushed over to reason with them, but those security guards insisted on calling the police. Xiangmei broke free from those traffickers, but she didn't recognize us anymore; she thought everyone was a trafficker!"
Song Xiangmei's Father had been silent until now when he added, "It's terrible; those traffickers are worse than animals—they're nothing but cursed beings!"
Jiang He noticed something was off about Song Xiangmei when she returned to the big city; she seemed to think everyone around her was a trafficker with intentions of abducting her. However, Jiang He never expected that Song Xiangmei would reach such a state. The root of Song Xiangmei's mental illness stemmed from her abduction experience; ten years of nightmare had made her unwilling to return to that village.
This overwhelming thought made Song Xiangmei avoid all external risks; she wouldn't allow anyone outside to touch or even approach her. Jiang He could imagine the scene: when Song Xiangmei realized her mother had left, she instinctively felt she was in an extremely dangerous environment—someone who could give her a sense of security had left.
With people coming and going in the bustling mall, it completely shattered Song Xiangmei.
"Now," Song Xiangmei's Mother said with tears streaming down her face, "she won't even let us touch her; she's always curled up in a corner, seeing everyone as a trafficker and feeling that everything is wrong."
As they spoke, they stood outside a hospital room.
Through the glass, they could see Song Xiangmei curled up in the corner of the room, motionless and staring at one spot, looking utterly terrified.
A doctor approached and said, "You can go in to visit, but do not provoke the patient and do not get too close. She is not aggressive at the moment, but if there are any problems, call us immediately."
Jiang He nodded and opened the door to enter.
"Don't come over! Don't come over! Please, don't sell me! Don't take me away!"
Seeing Jiang He approach, Song Xiangmei shouted frantically.
Jiang He had no choice but to stop in his tracks and stand still. "Song Xiangmei, it's me who rescued you. Don't you recognize me?"
Song Xiangmei stared at Jiang He, her gaze fixed on him, yet she remained silent. It seemed that she had completely broken down. Back in the village, Song Xiangmei always wanted to escape, but now that she was out, she was constantly on guard against being sold again. The ten years of suffering had made her both strong and fragile.
She could endure humiliation yet still have the desire to escape, but she could also break down completely after just a minute without seeing her loved ones.
"Don't you recognize me?" Jiang He asked again.
"Don't come closer!" Song Xiangmei suddenly bowed her head repeatedly. "I beg you, please don’t sell me. Please."
Jiang He sat down on the floor. "I won't come closer, and I won't sell you."
"Hehe." Song Xiangmei began to laugh foolishly.
"Do you remember what happened in the village?" Jiang He continued. "Do you remember how I brought you back and saved you?"
Suddenly, Song Xiangmei exclaimed, "Oh! I remember now!"
Outside the door, Song Xiangmei's parents were filled with joy.
Song Xiangmei continued, "I remember everything! That night, He Caiwei came to rescue me. She killed that man and then dragged me away as we ran and ran. We ran past the village and through the cornfields. But those people kept chasing us; they never stopped. I was terrified! I didn’t want to be caught; I didn’t want to go back!"
Suddenly, Song Xiangmei's voice grew hoarse with desperation. "I can't be caught! I don’t want to go back! I never want to go back! We couldn't outrun those villagers, but as long as I could outrun He Caiwei, I would be fine. If I could just get past her, I could escape. I grabbed He Caiwei's machete and used all my strength—I chopped off her head!"
“Ha ha!” Song Xiangmei let out a sharp cry. “They’re not chasing me anymore! I ran away, I escaped!”
“Don’t take me away! Don’t sell me!” Suddenly, Song Xiangmei started crying again.
Jiang He looked at the completely deranged Song Xiangmei, feeling a weight lift from his heart. This was the most reasonable and least contradictory explanation. That night, when Song Xiangmei saw the villagers closing in on them, she had cut off her best friend’s head to prevent being captured, using He Caiwei’s death to block the pursuing villagers.
It was the most effective method; those villagers were left stunned.
And perhaps this was why Song Xiangmei feared He Caiqie’s revenge so much and why she desperately wanted He Caiqie to be executed.
“I don’t want to go back! No!”
Song Xiangmei’s reaction grew increasingly intense, leaving Jiang He unable to stay there any longer.
As he stepped out of the hospital room, Jiang He pondered whether it was people who changed their environment or if the environment changed people. Why did everyone in Desolate Village become their worst selves? How could victims also become perpetrators?
Jiang He didn’t have the answers to these questions, but he understood one thing: there truly were curses in this world, and those curses resided in everyone’s hearts.
Comment 0 Comment Count