Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

Red hair...

He swore at people and even bared his teeth at them...

Lu Changsheng instantly realized that the "it" above his head was Qingzhi.

But those red eyes... I don't know what Aokiji is up to...

Upon learning Aokiji's location, Lu Changsheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Ms. Zhang, what does this 'it' that keeps bothering you look like? What does it say to you? And when will 'it' appear?"

"it……"

Zhang Ping's eyes were vacant, her hands were unconsciously twisted together, and her knuckles turned white.

"Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's like a blurry shadow, you can't see its face, and it just keeps crying."

Her voice became erratic, "Sometimes it sounds like a person. A... very ugly person."

Her lips trembled, and her voice lowered, carrying a complex emotion.

"Its hair was a mess, its eyes were dark and wide, filled with anger and resentment. When it wasn't talking, it just stared at me intently. But when it did speak, it was always cursing, calling me stupid, calling me useless..."

Lu Changsheng's heart stirred. He took out a piece of paper and began to write and draw on it, following Zhang Ping's description.

The result was an incredibly ugly person.

Its face is long, its eyes are wide open, its eyebrows are always raised, its mouth is turned down, and it has a large black spot on its nose.

What is this thing?

Lu Changsheng frowned. "Is 'it' really that ugly?"

Lu Changsheng pondered for a moment, enduring the shortness of his breath, recalling Zhang Ping's every move from the time he first met her until now.

"So, it was there when we were outside the door? And now it's gone?"

Zhang Ping nodded blankly.

When "it" was around, Zhang Ping seemed to be particularly irritable.

Lu Changsheng seemed to have figured something out, and asked seriously:

"So, every time you sense 'it,' or have contact or conversation with 'it,' are your own emotions greatly affected?"

Lu Changsheng slowed his speech, guiding the conversation with questions such as, "For example, are you also prone to anger, agitation, or even...losing control of yourself like today?"

Zhang Ping abruptly raised her head, a flicker of alarm in her eyes, as if she had been caught off guard. She paused for a few seconds, then slowly nodded, her movements stiff.

"Yes...yes."

She admitted that her voice was bitter, "Whenever 'it' speaks, I feel a tightness in my chest, like there's a fire burning inside."

The louder it yells, the more I want to smash things and scream. Sometimes, like just now, even though I know I shouldn't, the moment it starts yelling, I forget everything and just want to destroy everything that makes me uncomfortable…

She covered her face, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"I'm afraid... I'm afraid of myself. I'm afraid of becoming like 'it'."

"I see."

Lu Changsheng spoke gently and with understanding, "It is indeed very painful, like having another, uncontrollable self living inside your body."

Zhang Ping nodded vigorously, tears seeping through her fingers.

"Well then, Ms. Zhang," Lu Changsheng changed the subject, his tone still calm but now tinged with inquiry, "let's talk about another thing you're very afraid of—the inpatient ward. You seem very resistant to it. Why are you so afraid that I'll send you to the inpatient ward?"

Zhang Ping's body visibly stiffened. She lowered her hand, tears still staining her face, but her eyes were once again filled with intense fear.

She glanced nervously around, as if worried that someone might be listening, before lowering her voice and speaking in an almost whispered tone:

"Because 'it'... 'it' told me."

"Tell me?" Lu Changsheng pressed, "What did 'it' say?"

Zhang Ping shook her head, her eyes becoming somewhat unfocused, as if she were lost in some unpleasant memory.

"It said it had been there, and it was very white and bright. There were many things like it there, locked in little cubicles. There were people dressed in white... shining very bright things on them."

Zhang Ping's breathing became rapid, and her face grew increasingly pale.

Zhang Ping grabbed her hair, her eyes filled with terror:

"It said that if I go there, I will be washed away. So I can't go! I absolutely can't go, even if it kills me!"

Lu Changsheng listened quietly, but his heart was in turmoil.

The place Zhang Ping described does indeed look very similar to a hospital.

However, there are still some parts that cannot be well explained.

For example... how did it know there was a stun gun in its drawer?

Moreover, Zhang Ping's fear of the inpatient department was a bit excessive.

The fear and physical trembling were beyond what I had only heard about; it felt like I had experienced it myself.

"Didn't Dr. Zhou Ming also want to admit you to the inpatient department before?"

Lu Changsheng thought for a moment and steered the conversation toward Zhou Ming, but he didn't know if he was being watched, so he could only ask the question indirectly.

Zhang Ping's eyes widened for a moment, then she shook her head.

He said to take the medication as usual first, and then see how things go after three cycles of treatment.

It seemed even more inexplicable. Looking at Zhang Ping's state, Lu Changsheng didn't know whether what she was saying was true or whether she had heard it from "it".

Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information from Zhang Ping, Lu Changsheng felt a strange sense of irritation rising in his heart.

He picked up the bottle of yellow pills:

"Taking your medication on time will at least give you enough clarity and calmness to think and feel. Would you be willing to try again?"

Zhang Ping stared at the bottle of medicine, then at Lu Changsheng, her eyes filled with complex struggle. After a long while, she finally nodded very slowly, almost resignedly.

"Okay...I'll eat it."

"Very good." Lu Changsheng glanced at the clock on the wall. "That concludes today's consultation. I'll see you out."

He stood up, the strange bulge in his chest and the heavy feeling of blockage still lingering. He led Zhang Ping out of the consultation room. The corridor had returned to calm, with only a faint smell of disinfectant remaining.

Lu Changsheng escorted Zhang Ping to the stairwell and watched her stagger down the stairs, though she was still relatively steady. He felt a little relieved.

Lu Changsheng was suddenly stunned, because just as Zhang Ping brushed past him, he noticed a small black spot on the right side of Zhang Ping's nose.

The dark spot was so small, and Zhang Ping was wearing makeup, that Lu Changsheng wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been paying close attention.

Lu Changsheng returned to the consultation room and immediately locked the door. A severe headache and an unusual sensation in his chest surged back like a tidal wave, almost overwhelming him.

He took a few deep breaths, sat back down on the stool, and looked at the "it" that Zhang Ping had described on the scrap paper that he had drawn earlier.

That tiny black spot, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirred up ripples spreading across Lu Changsheng's heart.