After adjusting his mindset, Zhong Mu resolutely gripped the knife in his sleeve, determined to overcome his fear and explore the area again, hoping to gather more information and help Xiu-ge as much as possible!
He took a deep breath and began walking around the entire mental treatment area while shooing away the monster.
The paper pasted on the wall was originally a promotional poster for the mental health treatment area, but under the second-degree condition, it was changed to some other content.
If you are feeling unwell and don't know what to do, please go to the Traditional Chinese Medicine department in the mental health treatment area for treatment.
Be careful not to let them discover your abnormality.
The text above is in human script, which Zhong Mu can understand; it seems to be some hints specifically for the players.
He continued walking forward in the direction of the arrow drawn on the note.
I also took the opportunity to carefully examine each of the altered treatment advertisements in the picture. The content was no longer praise, but rather warnings and prohibitions.
[Beware! The God of Slaughter is about to enter this instance!]
[What's there to be afraid of? He's just a teenager, still a child in human years, right? Why should we be afraid of a kid?]
[The God of Slaughter is forbidden from entering this instance. The ballot box is on the second floor of this building. Your vote counts as mine. God of Slaughter, please stay away!]
[If even monsters need to vote to avoid players, what kind of dungeon are we? No vote! We're not afraid of them!]
[This is a sincere warning to everyone: A player named Yin Xiu is about to bypass low-level dungeons and enter this designated area. It's only a matter of time before you and I encounter this killer. Block him in advance and take precautions to avoid trouble.]
[I'm waiting for him to come. I'm definitely going to kill him in this dungeon. We're doing an intermediate dungeon!! He's just a kid who's cleared low-level dungeons, don't give up!]
[Vote! Why isn't anyone voting for him and blocking him?! Don't underestimate a player!]
[Another instance has been wiped out! Please vote! Choose to blacklist Yin Xiu! The ballot box is on the second floor! Let's all work together to avoid this dangerous entity!]
[Vote! You'll regret it sooner or later!!]
The promotional content and the paper markings look very old, as if they were left over from many years ago.
Zhong Mu read through them one by one and vaguely sensed that the so-called blacklisting mechanism seemed to be voted on by the monsters in the entire instance. But it seemed that the monsters in the past did not take Brother Xiu seriously, so Brother Xiu entered the instance and then slaughtered them all?
Based on Brother Xiu's record, it should be clean, there's even blood splattered on the paper!
The slogans mocking Yin Xiu and declaring their intention to kill him were stained black with blood, clearly indicating that the entire dungeon was wiped out in the end.
The deadly blows that the former god of war dealt to the monsters may not feel real to players, but from the monsters' perspective, it is truly chilling.
Zhong Mu continued walking down the corridor and found another sign.
[Turn left ahead to the second floor, towards the Traditional Chinese Medicine department. Look for a TCM doctor wearing a light gray Chinese-style long gown; he will examine you for any discomfort or abnormalities!]
Below that is a row of crooked, small characters.
Western medicine treats the symptoms but not the root cause; Traditional Chinese Medicine can relieve your worries!
"Turn left ahead, second floor...?" Zhong Mu stared at the note in confusion. He remembered that the corridor ended just ahead, right? There was nothing there, let alone a second floor.
Almost no one saw the second floor when players were walking around the mental healing area.
However, the promotional title mentioned that there was a ballot box on the second floor, which means that there is indeed a second floor here, at least it used to be, and if the layout hasn't changed, it should still be there now.
Zhong Mu clutched the note and tentatively walked forward, groping his way to the end of the corridor, where he indeed found a peculiar corridor.
From Zhong Mu's perspective, now that he has level two symptoms, the entire hospital is a bloody mess and extremely terrifying, but this staircase is clean and made of wood. When he reaches the end and turns around to see such a staircase, it's almost like he's hallucinating.
The staircase is suspicious, but Zhong Mu has no choice but to go now. He either has to go crazy and kill the staff to get to the mentally ill area, or he has to go to the second floor to take a look.
After considering it for a moment, Zhong Mu resolutely went up to the second floor.
When faced with an unfamiliar path, one must give it a try. If it were Boss Ye here, he would definitely go up. As someone who has been influenced by the knowledge of the small town, I must not back down!
Upon entering the second floor, the blood-soaked corridor behind Zhong Mu vanished instantly, replaced by a wall, forcing him to now proceed.
After taking a deep breath, Zhong Mu slowly stepped forward on the creaking, old wooden planks.
The stairs were old and covered in dust, as if no one had walked on them for a long time.
He went up the stairs to the second floor, where the style was exactly the same as the stairs. It was a small, dilapidated wooden building with a row of wards. The floor was covered in dust, and a dark wooden medicine cabinet stood against the wall with various medicinal herbs written on it that Zhong Mu couldn't understand. It looked like an old-fashioned clinic.
Although the art style changed abruptly, at least it wasn't a terrifying visual shock. Zhong Mu breathed a sigh of relief and decided to explore the place properly.
He took a step forward, the floorboards creaked heavily, and the wooden door beside him slowly opened, revealing a pale face.
It looked like a monster, but there were clear stitches on its neck, and the blood even stained the stitches red. Its eyes were bulging, its tongue was sticking out, and its face was pale and bluish. It looked extremely creepy, which made Zhong Mu shudder and take a step back.
"It's a person...it smells like a human..." The pale-faced person slowly curved into a smile and slowly moved their body, trying to come out.
Before Zhong Mu could run away, the door across the hall opened, and a pale-faced, rosy-cheeked child came out, loudly scolding, "This is a guest! You can't eat! The doctor said! Your stitches haven't been removed yet, so you can't eat anything recently!"
The head that had been poked out stared regretfully at Zhong Mu, then slowly withdrew and closed the door.
Zhong Mu stopped and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright, guest? Were you scared?" After chasing away the cannibalistic patient, the child slowly walked towards Zhong Mu.
His face was deathly pale, but his cheeks were rosy red. When he walked, his body rustled and floated lightly. Even when he got closer, Zhong Mu could clearly see the outline of the paper frame supporting his body.
This is a paper effigy that can move!
Zhong Mu jumped back, pressing herself tightly against the wall, staring at him in horror. "You! You! You're not human either!"
The tiny paper effigy politely approached Zhong Mu, who was trembling against the wall, and stared at him intently with its eyes dotted with black spots. "Don't be afraid, guest. I won't eat you."
Zhong Musong relaxed for a moment, then immediately tensed up again, "But you're a moving paper effigy!!"
"So what if the paper effigy moves! My body is light and airy, and my hands are still made of paper. I can't even kill you with a knife, so what are you afraid of?" The paper effigy's pale face was expressionless, but it showed a hint of doubt.
Zhong Mu thought about it carefully and it seemed to make a lot of sense, so he was no longer afraid!
It can move, that's all! Even if a paper figure really moves, it's still a fragile body. What's there to be afraid of besides being eerie!
"Come on! Come with me to see the doctor!" The little paper figure moved over with difficulty, taking small, hesitant steps, and waved to Zhong Mu.
Zhong Mu didn't know who the doctor it was talking about was, but now that he didn't know where to go, he just blankly looked around and followed it.
The paper figure floated lightly and made no sound as it walked on the ground, but Zhong Mu's footsteps on the dilapidated floor made a creaking sound, attracting the attention of many people in the wards on both sides.
Some muttered thoughts also drifted out from the ward.
"Another player has come here. The doctor always seems to be receiving players."
"He's also a boss in a side quest of the dungeon, so it's normal for players to encounter him."
"But it's not normal for him to bring players to the clinic. When will he stop getting so close to the players? These players will kill him sooner or later."
"The last player he hosted betrayed him, so who knows if he's changed his ways and started killing players! He brought players here to turn them into medicine!"
"You make a good point. I'll observe for a while."