Chapter 172: Animal taming
With the cooperation of 02, Wen Jianyan effortlessly obtained the hidden item inside the ward.
【Congratulations to the anchor for obtaining the hidden item in the instance (difficult)!】
【Collection Rate 6/10】
Wen Jianyan gazed at the item in his palm.
Surprisingly, it was actually a doll.
Old, yellowed fabric, faded features, and a missing button eye.
Based on Wen Jianyan’s experience, the items in each high-risk patient’s room were either items they once possessed or closely related to their past.
For example, a dog toy for 01, a sketchbook for 03, and a paintbrush for 04.
By the same token…
He raised his eyes and looked toward 02, standing nearby.
Under Wen Jianyan’s command, the tall, brown-skinned man obediently stood aside. When he noticed Wen Jianyan’s gaze, 02 curled his lips, revealing a bright smile without any shadow.
Sunny and cheerful.
He seemed completely unconcerned about finding a doll in his hospital room.
Wen Jianyan: “.”
Forget it; he didn’t have any special interest in their perverted inner world anyway.
He took a deep breath, stuffed the tattered doll into his backpack, and then nodded toward the other person: “Let’s go.”
For Wen Jianyan, the second underground floor was far more dangerous than the first underground floor.
After all, the patients on this floor obviously had a very clear target toward him.
“You go first,”
Wen Jianyan said.
One thing he was very clear about was that cooperation on this level was extremely fragile. The thought patterns of high-risk patients in the Ping An Asylum were different from those of normal humans. Wen Jianyan wasn’t so naive as to believe that the other party would obey him absolutely out of fear of death. The reason 02 agreed to this form of cooperation was only partially due to the threat to his life. The other reason, Wen Jianyan concluded, was the narcissistic complex of the psychopath.
He had challenged the other’s authority and completed a counter-kill in the field where the other excelled.
This was a signal to a psychopath with antisocial tendencies and significant psychological flaws.
I’m not your prey. I am stronger than you.
I can break your neck.
For a narcissist, twisting the victory in such a dark manner would be an insult to his own logic and a denial of his past advantages.
Compared to humans, these high-risk patients were more like beasts. Biological instincts were more prevalent than human societal morals.
So, Wen Jianyan had at least seventy to eighty percent confidence that the other party would agree to cooperate accordingly.
Every high-risk patient had their own set of internal behavioral logic, whether it was choosing to comply or exploit it—as Wen Jianyan did with 01, 03, and 04…
Or destroying it—as he did with 02 and Dr. Reese. These were all carefully considered results of Wen Jianyan’s deliberation.
This was essentially a form of psychological manipulation, guiding things in a direction favorable to oneself.
So, Wen Jianyan wouldn’t always keep his gun aimed at 02 because he didn’t believe the other would break his own behavioral pattern. Constant vigilance was unnecessary internal consumption, diverting energy from more important aspects and neglecting the more worthy external world.
However, this didn’t mean Wen Jianyan would relax and expose his back to him.
This was a game where both sides knew the game.
Wen Jianyan was aware that he held a fragile rope in his hand, with a wild beast ready to bite at the end of it. The other party was currently obedient to the “sweets” in his hand, but once more chips were pressed down on the other end of the scale, resistance would bring more temptation. It would choose to devour its master without hesitation.
Therefore, his other hand must always be ready to hold the whip.
When the other bares his teeth, he must not hesitate to strike hard.
This isn’t animal taming.
This is self-preservation.
“Okay.”
02 complied readily, turning around obediently and leaving the ward first.
Wen Jianyan followed immediately.
The corridors of the second underground floor were similar to the first underground floor, but the gaps between the wards were much wider, and there were fewer of them.
The overhead lights had long been extinguished, or rather, the entire Ping An Asylum was engulfed in darkness due to a power outage, with only some emergency lights still glowing.
A faint smell of blood lingered in the air.
Faint traces of blood splatters could be seen on the walls, some fresh, some already dried; the whole path was silent and dead.
Out of caution, Wen Jianyan didn’t turn on his flashlight.
He had been to the second underground floor before and had a deeper impression of the route here. Coupled with the presence of 02 on the team, Wen Jianyan wasn’t worried about getting lost or encountering monsters.
Speaking of monsters…
Watching the man’s back, just a few steps away from him, Wen Jianyan walked while wearing a pensive expression.
Earlier, 02 said that maybe there was a little bit of his hand in it, but most of the work wasn’t done by him.
Since the blueprint of the illusion was based on the real world, what 02 said was probably not baseless.
If that were the case, those “monsters” should be some of the patients who have been alienated.
Whether it was the slug head in the first-floor lobby, the human bug that swallowed humans on the second underground floor, or those people manipulated by 02, they were probably all members of the Peaceful Recovery Hospital.
The invasion of the inner world into the outer world wasn’t just significantly accelerated; this alienation wasn’t just in terms of speed but also in terms of pattern.
This is what we call an increase in the difficulty of the instance.
With the patients’ bodies becoming deformed along with their mental worlds, like the “human bug” on the first underground floor, who, out of fear of loneliness, transformed into a monster craving more human companionship.
And the heads in the lobby should be composed of many low-risk, more docile patients. A single one was hardly a threat, but when their numbers formed a nest, the level of danger increased significantly.
But regardless of their high or low risk, they could hardly be considered humans.
Wen Jianyan stared at 02’s back.
The distance between them wasn’t far; even in such dim light, the man’s figure was tall and straight, with a standard broad frame. Under the thin hospital gown, one could clearly see the texture of the muscles rippling.
However… there seemed to be no such traces on 02’s body.
By extension, the others probably maintained their human form as well?
Why?
This puzzled Wen Jianyan.
After all, the first underground floor also housed high-risk patients, and in terms of danger and level of madness, they shouldn’t be inferior to the individuals on the second underground floor. So why do some change while others do not, despite both being high-risk?
As Wen Jianyan pondered, the silhouette of 02 ahead suddenly stopped.
“!”
Wen Jianyan immediately became alert.
Joris turned around, his large palm grabbing Wen Jianyan’s arm and swiftly pulling him to the side.
Wen Jianyan tensed but quickly allowed the other to act.
Currently, there were no conditions that would make the other betray the cooperation. In other words, his current actions were probably in his own favor.
02’s movements were swift, like a big cat, light and silent.
He pulled Wen Jianyan into the nearby guard room.
The guard room was dark, with a very cramped space. A still warm body dressed in a guard uniform lay on the ground, emitting a strong smell of blood in the air.
Wen Jianyan was pulled by 02, huddling in a corner of the guard room.
He furrowed his brows.
Though he was not particularly strong compared to the other party, he still had the frame of an adult. Squeezed into such a narrow space, the distance between the two was compressed to the extreme.
Behind him was the man’s warm and solid chest, almost half-embracing him, creating a sense of unwanted intimacy through the thin fabric.
“Someone’s coming,” the man’s low voice resonated in his ear.
Almost as his voice fell, familiar footsteps echoed from outside the guard room.
Thud, thud, thud.
The footsteps reverberated in the darkness, drawing closer to their direction.
Wen Jianyan’s body reflexively tensed, all his attention shifting from 02 behind him to outside the guard room.
“Why did you suddenly come back? Don’t waste our time,” a familiar voice sounded from outside the guard room.
A gentle, harmless boyish voice, with a hint of adolescent hoarseness from the voice-changing period, but the slight impatience was evident.
It was Niel.
“Shut up. If it weren’t for finding him faster, do you think I’d agree to split our time?” Another voice, similar in tone but colder and more abrupt, responded.
Lore.
However, there was only one set of footsteps.
Meaning, in the outer world, they were still sharing the same body—at least for the time being.
“You had better gain something,” Niel cryptically remarked before falling silent.
The footsteps continued to approach the guard room.
Wen Jianyan’s heartbeat slightly accelerated. He remembered that Lore was very skilled at “finding”…
There was a slight weight on his shoulder.
It seemed like 02’s chin had rested on his shoulder, and he tilted his head slightly, feeling the soft curls brushing against his cheek.
“Hush.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan was momentarily stunned. He remembered that Niel had done the same thing before.
Even the arm draped across his waist felt oddly familiar, giving him a sense of almost dislocation.
The footsteps circled around the guard room but never entered.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
Last time, Niel probably acted as another personality, altering Lore’s visual perception so he couldn’t see them. And this time, Joris likely used his abilities again to create another guard room.
But this sense of familiarity…
“Found anything?” Niel’s indifferent voice sounded from outside.
“…”
Lore remained quiet for a while before defeatistly growling, “Shut up.”
The footsteps gradually faded away.
After the sound disappeared, Wen Jianyan freed himself from 02’s arm, quickly creating distance between them, and left the guard room.
In the dim light, the other gazed at him with those brown eyes, a subtle hint of joy masking the aggression cleverly concealed beneath a harmless façade, his tone carrying a slight inflection of a foreign accent, “What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”
Wen Jianyan’s eyelid twitched.
“…”
After a brief silence, he suddenly smiled, the wary expression from before dissipating. Wen Jianyan stepped forward, closing the distance between them, then casually ruffled the other’s curly hair.
“Of course not.”
Though he was looking up, the young man managed to convey a sense of looking down on the other party.
“Not bad.”
Wen Jianyan returned the compliment exactly as 02 had given it to him earlier.
Chapter 172: Animal taming
With the cooperation of 02, Wen Jianyan effortlessly obtained the hidden item inside the ward.
【Congratulations to the anchor for obtaining the hidden item in the instance (difficult)!】
【Collection Rate 6/10】
Wen Jianyan gazed at the item in his palm.
Surprisingly, it was actually a doll.
Old, yellowed fabric, faded features, and a missing button eye.
Based on Wen Jianyan’s experience, the items in each high-risk patient’s room were either items they once possessed or closely related to their past.
For example, a dog toy for 01, a sketchbook for 03, and a paintbrush for 04.
By the same token…
He raised his eyes and looked toward 02, standing nearby.
Under Wen Jianyan’s command, the tall, brown-skinned man obediently stood aside. When he noticed Wen Jianyan’s gaze, 02 curled his lips, revealing a bright smile without any shadow.
Sunny and cheerful.
He seemed completely unconcerned about finding a doll in his hospital room.
Wen Jianyan: “.”
Forget it; he didn’t have any special interest in their perverted inner world anyway.
He took a deep breath, stuffed the tattered doll into his backpack, and then nodded toward the other person: “Let’s go.”
For Wen Jianyan, the second underground floor was far more dangerous than the first underground floor.
After all, the patients on this floor obviously had a very clear target toward him.
“You go first,”
Wen Jianyan said.
One thing he was very clear about was that cooperation on this level was extremely fragile. The thought patterns of high-risk patients in the Ping An Asylum were different from those of normal humans. Wen Jianyan wasn’t so naive as to believe that the other party would obey him absolutely out of fear of death. The reason 02 agreed to this form of cooperation was only partially due to the threat to his life. The other reason, Wen Jianyan concluded, was the narcissistic complex of the psychopath.
He had challenged the other’s authority and completed a counter-kill in the field where the other excelled.
This was a signal to a psychopath with antisocial tendencies and significant psychological flaws.
I’m not your prey. I am stronger than you.
I can break your neck.
For a narcissist, twisting the victory in such a dark manner would be an insult to his own logic and a denial of his past advantages.
Compared to humans, these high-risk patients were more like beasts. Biological instincts were more prevalent than human societal morals.
So, Wen Jianyan had at least seventy to eighty percent confidence that the other party would agree to cooperate accordingly.
Every high-risk patient had their own set of internal behavioral logic, whether it was choosing to comply or exploit it—as Wen Jianyan did with 01, 03, and 04…
Or destroying it—as he did with 02 and Dr. Reese. These were all carefully considered results of Wen Jianyan’s deliberation.
This was essentially a form of psychological manipulation, guiding things in a direction favorable to oneself.
So, Wen Jianyan wouldn’t always keep his gun aimed at 02 because he didn’t believe the other would break his own behavioral pattern. Constant vigilance was unnecessary internal consumption, diverting energy from more important aspects and neglecting the more worthy external world.
However, this didn’t mean Wen Jianyan would relax and expose his back to him.
This was a game where both sides knew the game.
Wen Jianyan was aware that he held a fragile rope in his hand, with a wild beast ready to bite at the end of it. The other party was currently obedient to the “sweets” in his hand, but once more chips were pressed down on the other end of the scale, resistance would bring more temptation. It would choose to devour its master without hesitation.
Therefore, his other hand must always be ready to hold the whip.
When the other bares his teeth, he must not hesitate to strike hard.
This isn’t animal taming.
This is self-preservation.
“Okay.”
02 complied readily, turning around obediently and leaving the ward first.
Wen Jianyan followed immediately.
The corridors of the second underground floor were similar to the first underground floor, but the gaps between the wards were much wider, and there were fewer of them.
The overhead lights had long been extinguished, or rather, the entire Ping An Asylum was engulfed in darkness due to a power outage, with only some emergency lights still glowing.
A faint smell of blood lingered in the air.
Faint traces of blood splatters could be seen on the walls, some fresh, some already dried; the whole path was silent and dead.
Out of caution, Wen Jianyan didn’t turn on his flashlight.
He had been to the second underground floor before and had a deeper impression of the route here. Coupled with the presence of 02 on the team, Wen Jianyan wasn’t worried about getting lost or encountering monsters.
Speaking of monsters…
Watching the man’s back, just a few steps away from him, Wen Jianyan walked while wearing a pensive expression.
Earlier, 02 said that maybe there was a little bit of his hand in it, but most of the work wasn’t done by him.
Since the blueprint of the illusion was based on the real world, what 02 said was probably not baseless.
If that were the case, those “monsters” should be some of the patients who have been alienated.
Whether it was the slug head in the first-floor lobby, the human bug that swallowed humans on the second underground floor, or those people manipulated by 02, they were probably all members of the Peaceful Recovery Hospital.
The invasion of the inner world into the outer world wasn’t just significantly accelerated; this alienation wasn’t just in terms of speed but also in terms of pattern.
This is what we call an increase in the difficulty of the instance.
With the patients’ bodies becoming deformed along with their mental worlds, like the “human bug” on the first underground floor, who, out of fear of loneliness, transformed into a monster craving more human companionship.
And the heads in the lobby should be composed of many low-risk, more docile patients. A single one was hardly a threat, but when their numbers formed a nest, the level of danger increased significantly.
But regardless of their high or low risk, they could hardly be considered humans.
Wen Jianyan stared at 02’s back.
The distance between them wasn’t far; even in such dim light, the man’s figure was tall and straight, with a standard broad frame. Under the thin hospital gown, one could clearly see the texture of the muscles rippling.
However… there seemed to be no such traces on 02’s body.
By extension, the others probably maintained their human form as well?
Why?
This puzzled Wen Jianyan.
After all, the first underground floor also housed high-risk patients, and in terms of danger and level of madness, they shouldn’t be inferior to the individuals on the second underground floor. So why do some change while others do not, despite both being high-risk?
As Wen Jianyan pondered, the silhouette of 02 ahead suddenly stopped.
“!”
Wen Jianyan immediately became alert.
Joris turned around, his large palm grabbing Wen Jianyan’s arm and swiftly pulling him to the side.
Wen Jianyan tensed but quickly allowed the other to act.
Currently, there were no conditions that would make the other betray the cooperation. In other words, his current actions were probably in his own favor.
02’s movements were swift, like a big cat, light and silent.
He pulled Wen Jianyan into the nearby guard room.
The guard room was dark, with a very cramped space. A still warm body dressed in a guard uniform lay on the ground, emitting a strong smell of blood in the air.
Wen Jianyan was pulled by 02, huddling in a corner of the guard room.
He furrowed his brows.
Though he was not particularly strong compared to the other party, he still had the frame of an adult. Squeezed into such a narrow space, the distance between the two was compressed to the extreme.
Behind him was the man’s warm and solid chest, almost half-embracing him, creating a sense of unwanted intimacy through the thin fabric.
“Someone’s coming,” the man’s low voice resonated in his ear.
Almost as his voice fell, familiar footsteps echoed from outside the guard room.
Thud, thud, thud.
The footsteps reverberated in the darkness, drawing closer to their direction.
Wen Jianyan’s body reflexively tensed, all his attention shifting from 02 behind him to outside the guard room.
“Why did you suddenly come back? Don’t waste our time,” a familiar voice sounded from outside the guard room.
A gentle, harmless boyish voice, with a hint of adolescent hoarseness from the voice-changing period, but the slight impatience was evident.
It was Niel.
“Shut up. If it weren’t for finding him faster, do you think I’d agree to split our time?” Another voice, similar in tone but colder and more abrupt, responded.
Lore.
However, there was only one set of footsteps.
Meaning, in the outer world, they were still sharing the same body—at least for the time being.
“You had better gain something,” Niel cryptically remarked before falling silent.
The footsteps continued to approach the guard room.
Wen Jianyan’s heartbeat slightly accelerated. He remembered that Lore was very skilled at “finding”…
There was a slight weight on his shoulder.
It seemed like 02’s chin had rested on his shoulder, and he tilted his head slightly, feeling the soft curls brushing against his cheek.
“Hush.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan was momentarily stunned. He remembered that Niel had done the same thing before.
Even the arm draped across his waist felt oddly familiar, giving him a sense of almost dislocation.
The footsteps circled around the guard room but never entered.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes.
Last time, Niel probably acted as another personality, altering Lore’s visual perception so he couldn’t see them. And this time, Joris likely used his abilities again to create another guard room.
But this sense of familiarity…
“Found anything?” Niel’s indifferent voice sounded from outside.
“…”
Lore remained quiet for a while before defeatistly growling, “Shut up.”
The footsteps gradually faded away.
After the sound disappeared, Wen Jianyan freed himself from 02’s arm, quickly creating distance between them, and left the guard room.
In the dim light, the other gazed at him with those brown eyes, a subtle hint of joy masking the aggression cleverly concealed beneath a harmless façade, his tone carrying a slight inflection of a foreign accent, “What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”
Wen Jianyan’s eyelid twitched.
“…”
After a brief silence, he suddenly smiled, the wary expression from before dissipating. Wen Jianyan stepped forward, closing the distance between them, then casually ruffled the other’s curly hair.
“Of course not.”
Though he was looking up, the young man managed to convey a sense of looking down on the other party.
“Not bad.”
Wen Jianyan returned the compliment exactly as 02 had given it to him earlier.
