365. The Painter

"It's okay, I'll just take a walk by myself, don't worry."

Bi Jia waved his hand, indicating that the nurse didn't need to follow him.

"I'll just wander around the mild cases area. Don't worry, my wristband isn't hanging on me, so there won't be any mistakes."

He showed his plastic wristband, which had markings similar to those of ordinary patients, except that one section explained that he had a mild case and was there for a check-up.

Since Lu Ban came to Jiangcheng Mental Hospital to gather material and helped an entertainment reporter understand his own illness, the Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital has become a pilgrimage site for many artists after he rested and recuperated.

Some people believe that Lu Ban's ability to create a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film like "The Demon Tide" is inseparable from his experience in a mental hospital.

For example, the appearance of those monsters may have originated from the delusions of a mental patient.

For example, those bizarre and fantastical settings might be the dreams of some mental patient.

Serious artists are fine; they just have fun.

Some performance artists have tried to infiltrate mental hospitals to gather material.

But things are different now. The patients in mental hospitals are not like monkeys in a zoo. You can't just visit them whenever you want.

The mental hospital implemented numerous protective measures, driving away journalists and artists; however, some still managed to slip through the cracks.

Like Bi Jia, he is a painter who likes to paint pictures that normal people can't understand, and he is also very avant-garde.

He once created a painting using various fresh fruits to depict the process of these fruits rotting and spoiling, which he titled "Fruit".

He also created a painting using still-warm glass, which formed a distorted and bizarre three-dimensional shape on the canvas, and named it "Melting".

Anyway, they're all pretty ahead of their time.

This time, Bi Jia came to Jiangcheng City Mental Hospital to gather information from the mental patients there.

He was able to get in because he himself was a mental patient.

Bi Jia suffers from depression.

In short, he obtained a certificate of mental illness, and then went through various procedures and connections to get an examination at No. 900, West City North Road. Today is the day of the examination.

He planned to wander around here, looking for inspiration.

However, after meeting with several patients, Bi Jia felt somewhat disappointed.

That's it?

These patients are all too normal. It feels like the people on Weibo outside have much more severe illnesses than them.

"This can't go on."

Bi Jia believes that these patients with mild symptoms may simply have very mild mental illnesses, and the taste is not yet good enough.

He needs to find critically ill patients.

Fortunately, Bi Jia had prepared in advance and memorized the structure of the mental hospital.

He sneaked into the intensive care unit, hoping to see some eerie and strange patients, but found it empty.

"Did they all go to rest?"

Bi Jia sensed something was wrong. He took a few more steps and suddenly heard some voices.

"Take the Poetry Festival on Song Island, for example; it's a grand gathering place for literary figures since ancient times."

A clear voice came from inside. Bi Jia followed the sound and saw a lot of people gathered in a room.

He peeked out and saw many patients sitting together, listening intently to someone as if they were high school students with only 100 days left until the college entrance exam.

Bi Jia found it strange, so he followed him into the house, sat in the back, and listened carefully.

He felt the story sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it before.

But as he listened, Bi Jia quickly became engrossed in the conversation.

Until a loud slap, the man tapped the mineral water bottle, jolting everyone out of their daze.

To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.

He said something and then waved.

"That's all for today. Doctor Hao said we shouldn't delay everyone's exercise, so I'll keep it short."

Bi Jia looked at that person.

Suddenly I was startled.

Isn't this Lu Ban?

Although he scoffed at those kinds of commercial films, he had to admit that the art design in Lu Ban's films was quite outstanding. Therefore, Bi Jia also contributed a movie ticket to "Demon Tide".

He definitely recognized that face; it was Lu Ban!

How did he end up here?

Here we go again to gather material?

Bi Jia was about to stand up when she looked at Lu Ban's bracelet again.

The item above is genuine and is a mark indicating that the patient is critically ill.

Could it be that Lu Ban became mentally ill because he was too engrossed in filming the movie?

Bi Jia was filled with questions.

Just as he was hesitating, Lu Ban walked towards him.

"Are you new here?"

Lu Ban asked in a very kind manner.

"Uh, yes."

Bi Jia decided to pretend that she didn't know Lu Ban.

"The environment here is quite nice, so don't feel uncomfortable. Talk to people more and communicate more; it will help with your condition."

Lu Ban patted Bi Jia on the shoulder like a caring older brother.

"Actually, I've had a picture in my mind lately."

Bi Jia said, "Since Lu Ban is here, why not ask him if he has any inspiration? Maybe their ideas will meet and create a wonderful chemical reaction."

What kind of painting is it?

Lu Ban acted like a psychologist, patiently communicating with Bi Jia.

"I'm not sure either. I feel like this painting is missing something, maybe some exciting, passionate, or moving elements."

Bi Jia shook his head.

"You want to draw it?"

"Um."

Bi Jia nodded, and then saw Lu Ban take out a sketchbook and give Bi Jia a pen.

"Give it a try."

Bi Jia roughly knew that this was a psychological testing method that allowed people to peek into the inner world of the test subject by having them draw. Some tests also used special patterns for the test subject to identify. As a trendy painter, he was familiar with this kind of common sense.

"First, let's draw a person. You can draw whatever you want."

Lu Ban was giving instructions.

Bi Jia began to draw following Lu Ban's instructions. According to Lu Ban, he should empty his mind and only follow Lu Ban's prompts to create. When Lu Ban said to draw something, he would draw the first impression that came to his mind.

Soon, Bi Jia entered a trance-like state, feeling an extraordinary sense of pleasure, as if his soul had left his body and been released.

The unprecedentedly comfortable creative experience immersed Bi Jia in it, and before she knew it, more than ten minutes had passed.

"Okay, it's done."

Lu Ban snapped his fingers, Bi Jia came back to his senses.

He looked at his painting and was speechless for a moment.

It was a person sitting in a chair, whose gender and age were indiscernible; they were simply sitting there.

But one can sense from the brushstrokes that the person exudes an aura of tension, fear, despair, and dread.

Some indescribable tentacles and slime spread from the other's body. Just seeing this scene made Bi Jia feel dizzy and her consciousness blurred.

Moreover, it was drawn by his own hand!

But upon closer inspection, the person also exuded a sense of sadness and pitifulness, making it unbearable to look at. The melancholy and sorrowful emotions were like a hand gently caressing Bi Jia's heart, alleviating his symptoms.

"How about it?"

Lu Ban asked with concern.

"I... I don't understand, but I'm deeply moved."

Bi Jia felt that, in today's popular terms, she was first depressed and then cured.

He now even finds the patients around him much more endearing, like college classmates meeting for the first time, full of youthful innocence and friendliness.

However, Bi Jia soon noticed that his painting looked like a sketch.

Apart from the person, the tables, chairs, and simple background are all realistic elements.

That chair was right across from me.

It was completely empty there.

Thank you to "Tokisaki Kurumi UPUP" for the 1500 coin reward, thank you to "Xu You Nian" and "Wei Wei Wei cxx Ma" for the 500 coin reward, thank you to "Liang Mian Hao Chi" for the 350 coin reward, and thank you to "Xiao Yao Zui Huan 1", "Ge Kui Feng", and "Book Friend 160809213905886" for the 100 coin reward!