...
Bzzzzzz—
A high-pitched ringing echoed in his ears. Blinding flashes of light assaulted his eyes.
The world before him distorted. Shu kept his eyes lowered, sealed off his heart, and said absolutely nothing.
"...Resuscitation failed. Time of death... I've never actually seen someone beaten to death with bare hands before..."
Bzzzz...
"Shu... Shu, look at me... It's Dr. Bai... Can you hear me? Shu..."
Bzzzzzz—
"...The defense argues that at the time of the incident, my client was experiencing a severe psychotic break, resulting in a complete loss of his capacity to recognize and control his actions... These are his comprehensive medical records from a two-year hospitalization, along with his follow-up consultation records from exactly one month prior to the incident...
"...On the day in question, my client suffered profound psychological trauma due to the illegal theft of his emotional support animal, which he had become deeply dependent upon. This event directly triggered the acute episode...
"...While carrying out the act, he possessed no lucid awareness of his own movements, his target, or the consequences..."
Bzzzzzzzz—
"...Presiding Judge, I am a witness for this case, and I am also the defendant, Xu Shu's, attending physician.
"...He suffers from severe bipolar disorder with psychotic features, with a documented medical history spanning four years...
"...He underwent inpatient treatment at our facility for two years. Following his discharge, he has continuously received maintenance medication and attended regular follow-up consultations...
"...On the afternoon of the incident, he had just completed one of these follow-up consultations... I can confirm that given his psychiatric condition, the occurrence of an acute psychotic break with a complete loss of cognitive and behavioral control when subjected to intense stress is an explicit and highly probable medical certainty..."
Bzzzzzzzzzz—
"...Presiding Judge, I am Deputy Chief Wang of the XX Precinct...
"...On the evening of the incident, I maintained continuous telephone contact with the defendant... During our communication, he exhibited unambiguous signs of an emotional collapse, disorganized thinking, and a severe crisis of identity...
"...On multiple occasions, he failed to comprehend basic questioning. His reaction times were severely delayed, and his ability to organize language was markedly abnormal...
"...Upon arriving at the crime scene, I personally witnessed him in a state of absolute unresponsiveness to external stimuli. His actions were deeply stereotyped, and his scope of consciousness was extremely narrow...
"...As a police officer with twenty years of experience, it is my professional assessment that this was not the behavior of a rational individual post-crime. It was a psychotic break..."
Bzzzzzzzzzzzz—
BANG.
"This court finds that the defendant, Xu Shu, was in an active state of psychiatric illness while carrying out the act that resulted in death, rendering him incapable of recognizing or controlling his own actions.
"In accordance with relevant legal provisions, he shall not bear criminal responsibility.
"However, given the severity of his condition and the grave consequence of having caused the death of another, in order to protect the safety of the public and the personal safety of the defendant himself, this court hereby rules that Xu Shu shall be subject to compulsory medical treatment. He is to be remanded to a designated psychiatric facility for lifelong confinement and treatment.
"This verdict is effective immediately."
————————
One month later.
The sunlight was perfect, falling at just the right angle to illuminate the black text printed on the white pages of a book.
The faint, distinct scent of paper and printer's ink mingled uniquely with the fragrance of the flowers and grass in the courtyard.
The expansive courtyard was almost entirely empty. A single figure sat alone by a flowerbed, facing the sun, staring quietly at the book in his hands.
This was a specialized psychiatric facility, after all. Patients like Shu, who required lifelong confinement, were a rarity.
Furthermore, the facility was located far from the city center, making it one of the few truly quiet places left in the world.
But to Shu, there were still too many people here.
So many it was annoying.
A nurse's white shoes crunched across the concrete path from the main building, stopping in front of his bench.
She held a tray. On it rested a single paper cup of water and two pills presented on a small square of paper, a presentation that felt oddly ritualistic.
"Time for your medicine," the nurse said, her tone gentle, carrying a hint of accommodating softness.
Without lifting his eyes, Shu placed a bookmark between the pages of the book he hadn't turned in a long time and set it aside. He reached out, took the pills and the warm water from the tray, and swallowed them down.
The nurse checked his mouth to ensure he had swallowed, then nodded.
"How has your sleep been lately?" By the time the nurse returned after supervising his medication, a doctor was standing beside her.
Holding a clipboard, the doctor stood next to Shu. After a standard greeting, he launched into the routine questioning.
"How have you been feeling lately? Is your sleep quality good?"
"Pretty good," Shu replied simply, still not looking up.
"Pretty good..." The doctor looked at Shu's lethargic, listless state. He sighed helplessly, whispered something to the nurse, and jotted down a few notes on the clipboard.
"Are you currently experiencing any hallucinations? Any auditory hallucinations?"
"No."
"What about your appetite? Are you able to eat? Do you feel nauseous, or do you have a complete lack of desire for food?"
"No."
"Do you experience sudden bursts of anger or profound sadness?"
"No."
"Do you feel incredibly tired? Like you can't muster the energy to do anything, like you don't want to do anything at all?"
"..."
"Alright, alright..." Seeing Shu choose silence, the doctor immediately raised a hand and waved it dismissively. "No more questions, no more questions. You get some rest. Xiao Liu will come get you for lunch..."
When this patient had first arrived, he had spent a considerable amount of time conferring with Shu's former attending physician, Dr. Bai.
After learning about Shu's specific symptoms and manifestations from Dr. Bai, this doctor had immediately recognized just how thorny this case was.
Combined with the reason the young man had been sent here... the doctor genuinely felt like he wasn't being paid enough for this.
But fortunately, unlike Dr. Bai, he didn't have to figure out how to cure Shu. All he had to do was make sure Shu stayed quietly, stably alive.
The doctor sighed and walked away, leaving the garden to Shu once again.
Shu picked up the book he had set aside. With lowered eyes, he pulled out the bookmark, his vision blurring once more over the black, tadpole-like text.
He was lying... and both he and the doctor knew it.
How has your sleep been lately?
He had been suffering from constant insomnia. Shu was now entirely certain that his "rest" at night wasn't sleep; it was him simply passing out. This extreme method of losing consciousness left him constantly burdened with an unshakable exhaustion throughout his daily life.
Hallucinations... It was true he wasn't having those anymore. But Shu had also noticed that his days felt incredibly short.
He would frequently sit down somewhere, and by the time he stood up again, half an hour, or even two or three hours, would have vanished.
Appetite... Maybe it couldn't even be called an appetite anymore. Shu didn't even know if his act of eating two meals a day was driven by a survival instinct, or if he was just strictly following doctor's orders.
Why did the doctor emphasize that the nurse would come get him for lunch?
Because when he had first arrived, without someone specifically reminding him, Shu had actually gone an entire day without eating a single bite. The doctors had no choice but to have the nurses semi-forcibly escort him to the cafeteria.