A Friend of Mine

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in."

Lin Qiye pushed open the door and walked into the consultation room.

Sitting on the other side of the desk was a middle-aged male doctor in a white coat, with an extremely sparse comb-over—a clear symbol of wisdom at a glance.

Lin Qiye sat down in the chair, and the doctor spoke leisurely.

"Tell me, what seems to be the problem?"

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, but I have a friend with a serious mental illness."

Hearing this, the doctor looked at Lin Qiye strangely and smiled as he stroked the few strands of hair on his head.

"The friend you're talking about... wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

Lin Qiye answered seriously, "No, it really is a friend."

"Fine, then tell me what you... no, what illness does your friend have? What are the specific symptoms?"

Lin Qiye pondered for a moment. "It might be a little hard to describe..."

The doctor smiled. "Then treat yourself as that friend and act out the actual symptoms for me."

Lin Qiye gave the doctor a few strange looks. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded helplessly.

Thus, Lin Qiye slowly rose from his seat.

Under the doctor's watchful gaze, he walked straight over to him.

He reached out a hand.

And buried the middle-aged doctor's head against his chest.

With his other hand, he gently stroked the few remaining locks of the doctor's beautiful hair.

His eyes were filled with kindness.

Then he said softly,

"My dear son, Daddy finally found you!"

Doctor: "..."

Over the next ten minutes, Lin Qiye used every argumentative technique he had ever learned, spitting with fervor as he explained to the doctor that he really was not the one who was ill, thus avoiding the fate of being forcibly hospitalized on the spot.

"So, your friend sees everything as her own child?"

"Yes!"

"And she cried for a long time?"

"She kept crying."

"She likes sitting in the courtyard and telling stories to vases and benches?"

"That's right."

"How does she sleep?"

"She doesn't sleep."

"..."

The doctor frowned. "Your friend is seriously ill! I strongly recommend bringing her to our hospital for inpatient treatment."

"Her situation is rather special. She doesn't have the conditions for hospitalization," Lin Qiye said helplessly.

Naturally, he could not tell the truth. If he told the doctor that Goddess of Night Nyx was the patient, and that she lived in the Psychiatric Hospital inside his mind, he would be receiving a hospitalization notice himself in no time.

The doctor thought for a while in difficulty, his hands beginning to type on the keyboard. "If she can't be hospitalized, then we can only rely on medication for now. I'll prescribe some medicine. Take it back and have her take it. If her condition doesn't improve, you must bring her to the hospital."

Lin Qiye's expression grew somewhat troubled.

Could medicine from the real world be brought into his mind?

Lin Qiye did not know, but he felt that even if it could be brought in, medicine used by mortals to treat illnesses might not necessarily work on a god.

"Doctor, other than medication, are there any other ways to treat her?"

The doctor contemplated for a moment before slowly speaking. "Your friend's symptoms fall under severe delusional disorder. I've seen quite a few patients like this. There was once a man who loved his wife deeply. Later, his wife died in a car accident, and he often spoke to thin air, imagining that his wife was still by his side."

"This kind of illness is usually caused by a severe psychological trauma. Deep down, the patient rejects reality and creates the false belief that 'she is still by my side.'"

"If we can approach it from the cause of the illness and provide some psychological treatment, there is a chance of improvement. But without medication as support, it will be very, very difficult."

"Medication and psychotherapy complement each other. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully.

Start with the cause of the illness... But he knew absolutely nothing about Nyx's past. There was no way to begin!

It seemed he needed to do more preparatory work.

Lin Qiye accepted the prescription slip the doctor had written, but he did not go pay for or collect the medicine. Since medicine from reality could not affect the god in his mind, there was no need to spend the money.

Besides... these medicines were too expensive!

After leaving the Psychiatric Hospital, Lin Qiye boarded a bus home.

This trip to the Psychiatric Hospital had still been worthwhile. At least, it had given Lin Qiye a breakthrough.

He would counsel Nyx from a psychological perspective, and to do that, he needed to understand her well enough.

So, Lin Qiye got off at one stop and entered the Cangnan City Library.

Second High School, at the school gates.

"Hey, look. Who's that uncle?"

"No idea. Probably some student's parent."

"I saw him when I entered the school gates a little after seven this morning."

"I saw him too. He was wearing sunglasses and a shirt this morning, holding a cup of coffee and leaning against the wall. I even thought he looked pretty handsome."

"Then why does he look like a beggar now? His eyes are all red."

"Do you think he's been here since this morning?"

"No way. It's almost ten o'clock now."

"Who knows? Oh, right, did you hear? Two students were killed on their way home after school last night!"

"Seriously?!"

"Of course it's true. I heard..."

"..."

On the curb across from the school gates, a despondent man sat there alone. Cigarette butts littered the ground beside him, and beneath the streetlamp, his silhouette was indescribably sorrowful.

Zhao Kongcheng flicked the cigarette in his hand. No matter how he thought about it, he could not figure out where things had gone wrong.

He had waited from six in the morning until ten at night. The sun had practically fried his brain, yet he had not seen a trace of that kid.

He had clearly seen a Second High School uniform last night!

Could that brat have guessed that he was coming to wait for him and simply decided not to show up?

Damn it... his ass hurt from sitting so long.

Zhao Kongcheng braced his hands against the ground and slowly stood up from the curb. Pretending to casually pat the dust from his pants, he began stretching his limbs.

Just then, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a boy in casual clothes on the other side of the road, carrying several books and strolling leisurely...

That guy's build looked rather similar to that kid's...

A little too similar...

Hm?

Zhao Kongcheng froze and blinked hard.

Fuck!

Whoosh—!

Without another word, Zhao Kongcheng charged at the boy like a gust of wind, his eyes bloodshot and his face ferocious!

However, when he was about twenty meters away, the boy seemed to sense something. His entire body jolted, and he turned and ran as well!

The two of them raced down the street, one after the other!

Lin Qiye truly wanted to slap himself twice. Of all the roads he could have taken, why did he have to choose this one!?

Great. He had stood the guy up yesterday, and now the guy was fucking chasing him again!

Lin Qiye was not slow, but he was still far slower than Zhao Kongcheng. Within seconds, Zhao Kongcheng caught up to him.

Zhao Kongcheng viciously grabbed Lin Qiye by the shoulder and sneered twice.

"Kid, we meet again!"

Lin Qiye stiffly turned his head and tilted it to one side.

"Who are you?"