Chapter 51

Having experienced the Strange Tale World, Jiang Li was all too familiar with the smell of decaying flesh.

Her first reaction was that something had happened to her father.

She followed the scent, rushing upstairs and into the study on the second floor.

When she pushed open the door, her father, Jiang Weisen, was lying blankly on a tattered quilt on the floor, his face pale.

His Eyes were dull, and his face was so thin that only skin was stretched over bone.

Hearing someone come in, Jiang Weisen laboriously moved his Eyes to look toward the doorway.

“Dad.”

Jiang Li hurried over, picked up a thick coat from the back of the chair, and covered his lower leg, which had rotted and mutated from the Aberration’s contamination.

Jiang Weisen blinked, but still showed no real reaction.

It was as if he were a dying puppet.

Jiang Li helped him sit up and poured him a glass of water.

Jiang Weisen opened his mouth mechanically and took a couple of sips.

“Dad, Uncle Zhang has a car. Let’s take his car to the hospital.”

Uncle Zhang stood behind Jiang Li, bowing respectfully.

When Jiang Weisen heard this, a flicker of light appeared in his Eyes.

He reached out his withered, yellowed finger and pointed toward the desk.

Jiang Li followed his gesture and saw a notebook.

She picked it up and looked.

On the blank pages of the notebook, there were still several shriveled white maggot corpses stuck on the pages.

A crooked line of writing, clearly scrawled in a delirious state, was written there:

“Kill me… I… am in so much pain…”

Ever since being contaminated by the Aberration, many white maggots had crawled out of Jiang Weisen’s body.

The maggots had hollowed out his flesh from the inside.

Now, Jiang Weisen was like a walking corpse.

To be alive was torment for him.

Jiang Li’s nose stung, and tears fell down her cheeks.

“Ms. Jiang, please don’t worry. Our department will hire the best medical team for you. You can rest assured.”

Uncle Zhang spoke up from the side, and arranged for his men to help Jiang Weisen up and take him to the car outside.

Jiang Li wiped away her tears. “Alright, then I thank you on my father’s behalf.”

Jiang Weisen was supported by two or three people as he was taken away.

As he left, he looked back at Jiang Li again and again.

That sorrowful gaze was full of pleading.

He was begging Jiang Li not to save him-to let him die.

Jiang Li’s heart ached. After all, Jiang Weisen was the father who gave her life and raised her.

She couldn’t just watch Jiang Weisen die before her Eyes.

Just this once…

Let her be selfish one last time.

“Uncle Zhang, while my father is being treated, prepare some paper and a pen for him. Let him write whatever he wants,” Jiang Li instructed.

As she spoke, her gaze clearly dimmed for a moment. “If… after seven days, my father is still in pain and wishes only for death, then… stop the treatment.”

“Understood, Ms. Jiang.”

Jiang Li left the Jiang Family, stepping onto the concrete Stairs of the old building.

She kept her head down, staring at her slippers, lost in thought about recent events.

Jiang Li inadvertently noticed the blue-striped psychiatric hospital gown she was wearing.

“By the way, Uncle Zhang, please take me to the mall. I need to buy some clothes to change into.”

Other than the hospital gown, all the clothes Jiang Li had left at home had been taken away by that pair of mother and daughter.
Maybe it was thrown away on purpose, just to vent, Jiang Li mused to herself.

She waited for a long time, but Uncle Zhang never responded.

Puzzled, Jiang Li turned around, only to find that Uncle Zhang, who had been following behind her, had vanished without a trace.

It was as if he had suddenly evaporated from the world.

Jiang Li’s gaze slowly shifted downward.

In the corner of the corridor, she saw a woman with messy hair, dressed in the same blue-striped uniform as Jiang Li, crouching by a brazier, burning Yellow Paper.

“Don’t come, don’t come… Don’t look for me, it has nothing to do with me…”

The woman muttered under her breath, then picked up another handful of Yellow Paper and burned it in the brazier.

The dim, flickering firelight cast eerie shadows on the woman’s face, and Jiang Li’s heart skipped a beat-

What… is going on?

As if sensing Jiang Li’s gaze, the woman slowly lifted her head, twisting her neck to look at Jiang Li.

“Are you talking to me?” the woman stared at Jiang Li.

A swollen bump bulged on the woman’s forehead, and her arms were covered in bruises.

Jiang Li froze for a moment, then forced a stiff smile and shook her head.

Beside her, the cement walls of the old residential building’s corridor had changed.

Now, they were covered with cold, white tiles.

Jiang Li’s eyes followed the wall, looking toward the small window in the corridor.

Outside the window, the sky was no longer a clear blue.

Instead, it was the lifeless, dark red sky of the Aberration World.

Beneath the crimson, it felt as if a bloody rain was brewing, ready to fall at any moment.

In Jiang Li’s mind, the System notification sounded:

[The latest Instance has been unlocked-]

[Instance Name]Escape from the Madhouse.

[Instance Description]A doctor’s misdiagnosis led to your wrongful confinement in the Jinghai City Madhouse. Mad patients and Eerie Nurses leave you lost and confused. As you plan your escape, you unexpectedly discover that this Madhouse hides secrets unknown to the world…

[Clear Conditions]

1. SSS Rank: Investigate the truth behind the Madhouse’s decline and eliminate the Pollution Source.

2. S Rank: Prove you are sane and have Doctor Lin Yi take you out.

3. A Rank: Find the exit of the Madhouse and escape alive.

[Current Instance bound family member: Jiang Weisen.]

[Chosen One, please prepare yourself.]

She waited for a long time, but the Red Infant never appeared.

It seemed that this Instance would be faced by Jiang Li alone.

Jiang Li’s thoughts were interrupted by the woman’s piercing scream in front of her.

“Ah!!! It’s here again… It’s here again!!”

The madwoman pointed at Jiang Li’s back, shrinking in terror into the corner.

“Don’t come near… Don’t look for me, it’s not my fault… Ahhh!!!”

A chill ran down Jiang Li’s spine.

Was the thing that terrified the madwoman right behind her?

Could it be related to the truth of the Madhouse? Jiang Li wondered.

So, amidst the madwoman’s horrifying screams, Jiang Li slowly turned her head to look behind her…