Healing Doctor

Chapter 680 Empathy for Mental Illness!

Ji Xiang recounted what Xu Leyu had just said.

The system NPC, with his hands behind his back and a slight sigh, said, "Dr. Ji, let me tell you a story."

Ji Xiang remained solemn.

"I used to have a student who would always tell patients that interventional surgery is painless, there are only tension receptors on the blood vessels, so don't worry."

Later, he had surgery for a hemangioma, and he screamed so loudly that I almost thought I had made a mistake. In the end, Zhou Congwen slapped him to tell him to be quiet, and only then was the surgery successfully completed.

"..." Ji Xiang thought of Professor Zhou's slap.

"This is also where the importance of empathy lies," said the system NPC.

"Teacher, I want to ask..."

"Although I don't recommend empathizing with people suffering from depression and mental illnesses, you've already passed the first stage and are mentally sound. Now I'm asking you, would you like to give it a try?" the system NPC asked.

Ji Xiang hesitated for a moment.

Everything else is fine, but you have to be able to empathize with people suffering from mental illnesses...

I just came to ask about the situation, okay?

The system NPC wasn't in a hurry. He quietly watched Ji Xiang without saying a word, waiting for Ji Xiang's choice.

"Teacher, I'll give it a try. But I'd like to ask beforehand, is this kind of empathy safe?" Ji Xiang said somewhat nervously.

"I've empathized with people suffering from mental illnesses 121 times. Let me show you the simplest one," the system NPC chuckled. "Knowing you as I do, you should be fine."

Ji Xiang admired the system NPCs to the core.

Elderly people can empathize with depression and mental illness hundreds of times!

Are his nerves and mind made of iron?

The system NPC, with his hands behind his back and a slight bow, turned and walked towards the adjacent operating room, saying softly as he went, "Because this is a mental form of empathy, you can come out at any time if you feel any discomfort."

"Okay, okay." Ji Xiang was finally relieved.

"It's like a horror movie; after watching it, you'll know what their mental world is like. But that's all you'll know; you have to remember, it's someone else's world."

With the system NPC's guarantee and the mechanism to exit at any time, Ji Xiang suddenly felt fearless and followed behind the system NPC with great interest.

"Teacher, can't I choose the viewing angle?"

"No, this time you can only empathize from an outsider's perspective. If all goes well, we'll talk about it after 10 tries."

Ji Xiang knew that the system NPC was protecting him, so he didn't say anything.

Following the system NPC to the next room, a flash of light appeared, and when Ji Xiang opened his eyes, he saw…

I saw it...

I saw a pair of red embroidered shoes, 5cm off the ground.

A beam of white light shone in through the window, and dust motes danced in the beam, reflecting off the red embroidered shoes, creating an eerie and sinister feeling.

Is this the patient's inner world or reality?

Ji Xiang had doubts.

"Help!"

A familiar voice came from behind him, and Ji Xiang realized that he was the one calling for help.

He struggled to crawl away, then looked back in a panic.

This time, Ji Xiang saw clearly that a woman with long black hair covering half of her face, dressed in white and red embroidered shoes, was coldly "watching" him from behind.

In his nervousness, Ji Xiang almost opted for a recall.

But at the last moment, Ji Xiang held back.

He was a little scared. At this moment, Ji Xiang also understood why the system NPC wanted him to experience the inner world of patients with mental illnesses from the perspective of an observer.

That's really scary!

Ji Xiang then saw the white-clad woman floating in mid-air raise her hand.

Her fingernails were like daggers, gleaming coldly.

Oh shit!

If he had a mental illness, seeing such ghostly things every day would make him want to die, that was the first thought that came to Ji Xiang's mind.

When the woman in white raised her hand, Ji Xiang thought she was going to chase after "him". But to Ji Xiang's astonishment, he saw her hand fall directly onto the white clothes.

"Pfft~"

A muffled thud.

Ji Xiang felt a sharp pain in his right leg.

The woman in white poked her own leg with her fingernails, but it was Ji Xiang who was injured. Ji Xiang was stunned.

Although "itself" was injured, it knew the danger and struggled to crawl out.

However, the woman in white raised her hand once again.

Finished!

He was certain to die.

He felt it was absurd that he died so soon after arriving. Although he knew it was just empathy and he wasn't afraid, he still found it extremely nonsensical.

Ji Xiang saw his fingernails, sharp as daggers, slice across his abdomen.

Soon, all the strength in his body vanished rapidly. Ji Xiang even saw his intestines being severed, and as he moved forward, his intestines were left in a pool of blood behind him.

Is that all?

Ji Xiang thought to himself.

No way, how could it be so fast!

I tried to empathize with her for less than a minute, and without any resistance, I was sent away by the woman in white. It's ridiculous.

"Ah~"

With a startled cry, "I" sat up in bed.

Ji Xiang breathed a sigh of relief and looked around, but did not see any woman in white.

It turns out that what was happening just now was a dream of a person with a mental illness; this is the real space.

He clutched his chest, taking deep breaths, his body drenched in sweat.

He looks like he was terrified.

After getting up and washing up, Ji Xiang walked out of his rented room as dawn broke.

It's a bit chilly outside; it's already late autumn. The autumn wind sweeps through, and yellow leaves are scattered all over the streets.

There were sanitation workers sweeping the streets. They would occasionally look up at Ji Xiang, but they seemed like zombies.

Ji Xiang had some doubts. Could it be the kind of empathy experienced in Inception, where countless spaces overlap? Or did it mean something else entirely?

If that's the case, it's incredibly complicated; the world of the mentally ill is truly chaotic.

The neon lights of a hospital not far away are flashing—Jinghai City First People's Hospital.

Ji Xiang tried to recall quickly, but he was shocked to find that "his" mind was locked, and he had no idea what had happened before or his own specific information.

Upon arriving at the hospital, I took the elevator upstairs and saw the sign for the Second Neurological Ward.

However, instead of entering the ward, he stopped at the nurses' station.

The handover logbook for the nurses at the station was on the table. I took out my phone, took a picture, and sent it to the group chat.

Huh? What's this all about?

Ji Xiang was stunned.

He then left and started eating breakfast, looking at the photo as he ate.

The handover log clearly states that six patients were admitted during yesterday's night shift, and the diagnoses were also written down.

I am starting to look up the specific details based on each diagnosis.

Oh, I guess they're afraid the supervisor will ask them questions during shift change, and if they can't answer, they'll get a good scolding.

Ji Xiang had experienced something like this during his internship, and it seemed to fit Boss Wei's mindset quite well.

Encountering a strict department head makes even the longest days seem like an eternity. Just think about "myself" right now, arriving early to take photos during shift handover, checking what patients were admitted the night before—it's heartbreaking.

Thinking of this, Ji Xiang relaxed.

It doesn't seem as terrifying as the system NPCs described; at least so far, everything is still relatively normal.

(End of this chapter)