A New Worker at the Hospital

Following the dungeon corridor, Zhou Meng arrived at Cell No. 1 and Cell No. 2.

Originally, only Cell No. 1 had an occupant: the Ghost-Faced King, whom Lin Qiye had killed. Now there was another person in Cell No. 2 beside it, a student in a school uniform.

It was the Nanda Snake Demon, which Lin Qiye had just beheaded with a single slash—or rather, Li Yifei.

"Where am I?" Li Yifei looked around in confusion. Then memories flooded into his mind like a tide.

"How could this happen? I... I'm actually the Nanda Snake Demon!" He clutched his head in disbelief, fell to his knees, and began trembling uncontrollably.

He had still been marveling at the wildly imaginative way Lin Qiye had identified the Nanda Snake Demon and looking forward to joining the Nightwatchers. But then, to his surprise, Lin Qiye had suddenly glared at him with a pair of golden eyes, and immediately afterward, he had turned into the Nanda Snake Demon.

"What a useless, weak-willed thing! How did I end up creating a second personality like you?" Its pupils turned to slits again as it blinked, and finally it cursed in resentment.

It now knew that the power over its life and death rested entirely in the hands of this place's owner.

But someone seemed to be standing outside the cell: a thin man in a black robe, with a head of curly hair, looking at it with a mocking expression.

"Who are you? Why are you outside the cell? Are you the owner of this place?" the Nanda Snake Demon demanded rudely.

Of course, it also saw the Ghost-Faced King in the cell opposite.

"Who am I? My name is Zhou Meng. But if we're going by seniority, I'm your grandpa. As for you, you're both my grandson and my servant," Zhou Meng answered with a smile, paying no attention to the snake demon's tone.

The snake demon's eyes flew open in a rage. Li Yifei's head burst apart, revealing its true form.

It was already furious about Lin Qiye chopping its head off, and now some stranger had taken liberties with it.

"What the fuck did you say? Just you wait! When I get out, the first thing I'll do is plant a snake seed in you!"

It hissed incessantly, cursing in its native tongue as it repeatedly tried to reach out with its claws. But as soon as it touched the iron bars, it was flung back against the wall, leaving itself covered in wounds instead.

"Save your strength. I'm not taking liberties with you. You'll find out why I'm your grandpa when you get out."

While the two were bickering, footsteps sounded from the other end of the corridor. Lin Qiye approached, wearing a white coat.

After looking at Li Yifei in the cell and then at Zhou Meng, Lin Qiye asked, rather puzzled, "Brother Meng, how did you know Li Yifei was the Nanda Snake Demon?"

Li Yifei's eyes widened even more than before. "It was him? That frail-looking guy? He saw through my true identity? Tell me, where exactly did I slip up?"

"Qiye, I'm a god. Don't ask too many questions about gods. Let's see what we should do with this guy instead." Zhou Meng did not answer either of their questions directly. Instead, he stepped aside, letting Lin Qiye stand in front of the cell.

Only then did the snake demon realize that the owner of this place was not Zhou Meng, but Lin Qiye.

After a brief chat with the Nanda Snake Demon, Lin Qiye confirmed that it could have Li Yifei's personality keep Nyx happy, then had him sign a Labor Contract.

"Wait, let me see the contract first." Zhou Meng suddenly stepped forward and took the contract Lin Qiye was about to hand over.

It had to be said, this really was a ruthless contract, full of completely one-sided terms. Party A, Lin Qiye, had no obligations whatsoever, while Party B, Li Yifei, had a mountain of them.

"This won't do, Qiye." Zhou Meng frowned.

Lin Qiye was a little surprised. Did the sun rise in the west today? Has this mental patient taken pity on him? Is he actually going to plead for Li Yifei?

Li Yifei, meanwhile, looked hopeful. He had just read the terms, and even if he counted all his snake seeds outside, they still would not be able to finish all the work listed there, let alone now that he was on his own.

"Huh? No, you misunderstood, Qiye. I mean, it looks like there are some things missing from these terms. Here, I'll add them for you."

"Here, besides the obligations, why aren't there any breach-of-contract clauses? Just write: if Li Yifei fails to fulfill the above obligations, he will, depending on the circumstances, be sentenced to punishments such as a baptism of Heavenly Voice—"

As he listened to Zhou Meng point things out, Lin Qiye's expression grew increasingly conflicted, while Li Yifei's grew increasingly desperate.

"Brother Meng, I mean, isn't that about enough?" Looking at the ever-growing list of terms, Lin Qiye even felt a little bad.

He could not help wondering whether this god was really the God of Theft, or the kind of god who ought to be hanged from a lamppost.

"All right, since you say so, that should be about enough. Don't overthink it. It's just an occupational habit; I can't stand seeing loopholes that could be exploited." Zhou Meng waved a hand, indicating that Lin Qiye could give Li Yifei the contract to sign.

Li Yifei's snake head was drooping by now. He had just been thinking about how to stay alive, but now his desire to die was growing stronger. Still, there was nothing he could do. Someone else held power over his life and death, so he could only obey.

After signing the contract, Li Yifei returned to human form. The three left the dungeon, and Lin Qiye briefly explained the layout of the Mental Hospital and the patients' circumstances.

After hearing Lin Qiye's explanation, Li Yifei hurried away from Zhou Meng in little steps and went around to his other side.

Damn it, what the hell is all this? A god? And there are six more like him? Why didn't I stand my ground just now and get it over with?

"Mother, look, I've found you another companion! When I'm not here, he'll take care of you!" Lin Qiye pushed Li Yifei forward.

"Uh, Lady Nyx, hello. My name is Li Yifei. From now on, I'll be your caregiver!" Li Yifei stepped forward with an awkward smile.

Nyx's eyes lit up at once.

"My grandson! Grandma finally found you! Come, hurry and meet your grandpa!" Nyx exclaimed in delight.

Huh? My grandpa?

Li Yifei was somewhat confused, but he also felt as though he had heard the word "grandpa" somewhere just now.

As he looked around, Zhou Meng slowly stepped forward from beside him and sat down next to Nyx.

"Good grandson, Grandpa's right here!"

Nyx linked her arm with Zhou Meng's, a blissful expression on her face.

"That's wonderful. Now all three generations of our family are together!"

He really is my grandpa! So this is what you had in store for me! But if you're my grandpa, that means you're Lin Qiye's... dad?

Li Yifei turned his somewhat stiff neck to look back at Lin Qiye, only to see him press a hand to his forehead and nod helplessly before pushing Li Yifei forward.

"Grandpa! Grandma! Your grandson's come to see you!" Li Yifei immediately spread his arms and embraced the excited Nyx.

As for why he did not hug Zhou Meng, it was because, just before he had originally intended to, he seemed to feel a thought vanish from his mind, so he only hugged Nyx.

Alas, what kind of mythical creature am I? My scheme was seen through, my offspring can't reproduce, and now I've ended up as someone's grandson! Still, at least I'm a god's grandson. I'll make do and live on!