MTLNOVEL Chapter 38: Maybe... It's Just a Maybe
The night was deep.
Under Leo's warm gaze, the little girl had drifted off to sleep.
With his target now asleep, Leo turned his smiling face to Mark Zhang. He didn't see the same holy light in Mark's eyes as he did in the little girl's. Mark, for his part, knew that the patient staring at him was a good... mental patient. He wasn't afraid, but that unwavering stare made his skin crawl, the hairs on his arms standing on end.
He turned his back to Leo, pretending to clean up some trash under the bed.
If I don't make eye contact, it'll be fine. If you want to stare, stare at my butt. It may not be much, but back in my younger days, it was the talk of the dance hall. Ever since I broke my femur, I've retired from the dance scene, got married, had a daughter. But even after all this time without practice, my butt is still a prime specimen among men.
Round and perky.
Leo took a coil of wire from his pocket and placed it on the nightstand beside him.
One-Eye caught a glimpse of the thin, coiled wire out of the corner of his eye and frowned. He was intensely curious about what it was for.
"What are you looking at me for?" Leo asked.
One-Eye said nothing, averting his gaze and pulling out his phone to check the group chat.
« Mountain Sect Team One: A fruitful day! We've slain six malevolent entities. Before the masters of the Mountain Sect High Institute, these creatures can only bow their heads and accept their fate. »
« Buddhist Temple High Institute Team One: Amitabha! »
« Taoist High Institute Team One: Immeasurable Heavenly Lord! »
« Medical High Institute Team One: Heal the wounded! »
« Mountain Sect High Institute sent a coded red envelope: The Mountain Sect is so strong! So amazing! So powerful! »
« Buddhist Temple High Institute: The Mountain Sect is so strong! So amazing! So powerful! »
RETRACTED!
« Taoist High Institute: The Mountain Sect is so strong! So amazing! So powerful! »
RETRACTED!
« Medical High Institute: The Mountain Sect is so strong! So amazing! So powerful! »
RETRACTED!
« Mountain Sect High Institute: Thank you all for your praise. I've taken a screenshot and will be posting it on the High Institute's official website. If all three other institutes say the Mountain Sect is strong, then who can deny it? When you're choosing your future school, who's the strongest? The Mountain Sect High Institute! »
One-Eye scrolled through the messages, about to turn off his phone, when he remembered something.
« One-Eye: @Medical High Institute, how do you talk to a mental patient? »
« Medical High Institute: To connect with a special population, you must become part of that special population. »
« One-Eye: You mean I have to become a mental patient? »
« Medical High Institute: Heal the wounded. Phone number: 120. »
One-Eye turned off his phone. The people in this group were completely unreliable. In person, at headquarters, they were all deferential and servile. But behind a screen, you couldn't tell if they were human or dog.
Walter gazed at the watch on his wrist, mesmerized. His eyes were filled with the image of the Rolex, the symbol of nobility. He could stare at it until morning and not get tired.
The night grew deeper.
The hospital was quiet. Nurses manned their stations, scrolling on their phones or dozing off, only looking up when someone passed by. The wards were silent; the patients were all asleep. Occasionally, a terminally ill patient would groan in their sleep, unable to bear the pain.
In the mental patients' room, Leo and Walter's eyes were open. They lay on their beds, looking at each other. The faint light revealed the gleam in their eyes. The corners of their mouths twitched into smiles only they could understand.
One-Eye heard a stir in the room and his eyes snapped open. Years of living on the edge had trained him to wake at a moment's notice, even from a deep sleep.
What are they doing?
One-Eye didn't make a sound, not wanting to alert them. He was curious to see what they were up to.
Soon, he realized they were standing by his bed. His ears twitched as he overheard their conversation.
"He's a good person. I believe you can help him grow his eye back. Let's try again."
"Even though he wasted that delicious snake meat, he's a good person. I'm willing to forgive him."
"He asked me about my situation during the day. I want to tell him."
"Then let's do it."
The furtive movements of Leo and Walter sent a jolt of alarm through One-Eye. They're going to stick me again?! Do they really think I'm a pushover?
He was about to leap up and overpower them. But just as he was about to move, he hesitated. A new thought entered his mind, a thought that might lead to the discovery of a secret.
They might be genuinely insane. But to be able to kill two Level 2 malevolent entities, they must have some real skill. Maybe they were just faking it during the day, and now, while they think I'm asleep, they're going to reveal their true abilities?
After spending a day with them, One-Eye's thinking had shifted. It was a change he hadn't even noticed himself, or perhaps he still held out some hope for them.
As the saying goes, third time's the charm. This was only the second time, after all. Another try might just succeed.
A conflict raged within One-Eye. Should he trust them or not?
Oh, what the hell.
It's come to this. Why not give it a try? What if I'm right? It would be a monumental discovery.
Walter stood at the head of the bed, holding the case of needles. He clutched a silver needle in his hand. The dim light made it hard to see the exact location on One-Eye's head, but after studying acupuncture for so long, a blind jab was nothing. He found a spot and quickly inserted the needle.
The first needle!
One-Eye's fingers gently gripped the bedsheet. For a warrior like him to be nervous was truly unbelievable. A question had been bothering him: this seasoned mental patient never used the same acupoints. How did he choose his locations?
Leo took the wire and wrapped one end around One-Eye's toe. Then, he crouched by the power outlet in the corner, holding the other end of the wire.
One-Eye couldn't see what Leo was doing, but he could feel something wrapped around his toe. He wanted to sit up and see what was going on, but he restrained himself.
Meanwhile, Walter held another needle, stroking his chin in contemplation. He looked left and right, but couldn't find a spot that seemed out of place. After a long moment, he slapped his forehead. That's it! I'll just close my eyes and jab randomly. He had read a book once that told him to leave it to fate and insert the needle with his eyes closed.
The twelfth needle went in.
Walter picked up the thirteenth and final needle. He looked at Leo. Their eyes met in the dim light, and they nodded in perfect understanding.
Thwack!
The thirteenth needle landed on One-Eye's head.
One-Eye's fingers reflexively tightened on the bedsheet. He could feel it this time, more intensely than the previous two times.
Just as he was about to say something, Leo plugged the wire into the socket.
A jolt of electricity shot through the wire and into One-Eye.
In the instant before he blacked out, he felt the electric shock.
Thump!
Thump!
His body convulsed on the bed like a reanimating corpse. The lightbulb in the room flickered on and off, creating a horrifying scene.
Mark Zhang woke up from a deep sleep. He groggily saw two figures standing by One-Eye's bed, while One-Eye himself was twitching violently.
Mark's expression slowly morphed into one of terror.
"AHHHHHH!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hospital corridor.
A nurse heard the scream and rushed over. When she saw the scene in the room, she began to tremble, her face pale. A heart-wrenching, tearful roar escaped her lips.
"DOCTOR..."
In the on-call room, the head surgeon who had been treating Leo woke with a start. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thank goodness, it was just a dream," he said, relieved. "That really scared me to death. In my dream, six bikini-clad girls were all in love with me. My kidneys couldn't have handled that."
"That really scared me to death."
Crackle!
A voice came over the intercom.
"Chief, get to the ER, now! The one-eyed man who was rooming with the mental patients is in critical condition. He needs immediate surgery!"
"Understood," the surgeon said calmly.
He was still preoccupied with his dream. Thank goodness it wasn't real. Otherwise, it would have killed him.
Oh, well. Time to save a life.
Don't ask him why he was so calm.
Could he say he had seen this coming all along?