Sam struggled for a few times, and his body quickly softened, his vision began to blur, and his consciousness drifted away little by little, as if he was stepping on cotton.
When Dean heard the noise and rushed over, Sam was sitting against the wall of the corridor, his eyes were distracted, a silly smile was hanging on the corner of his mouth, and his saliva was almost dripping.
"Hey, wake up." Dean squatted down and patted his face, feeling angry and funny, "How many sedatives have you been given?"
Sam looked up dazedly, saw Dean, became silly and happy, and said vaguely, "It's so cool...Dean, you were half crazy to begin with, but you haven't been normal since you came back from Hell... Maybe you are really crazy now, haha."
Dean retorted at first, saying you are crazy and stop talking nonsense.
But as he listened, his heart sank.
Sam reached out and held Dean's face, soft and childish. "I still love you."
He stretched out his finger, poked Dean's nose, and made a "pop" sound.
Dean felt helpless and sad, so he patted his face and watched the nurse come over and carry Sam away.
He leaned against the wall and looked at the back of Sam being taken away. His heart was heavy and a sense of uneasiness slowly crept up.
This monster is much more cunning than they thought.
None of them realized that Soul Eater's toxin had completely broken out in their bodies. Their mental defenses were loosening and collapsing little by little.
In the empty corridor, Dean walked forward alone. His head became heavier and heavier, his ears buzzed, and the lights above his head made his eyes dazzled, and everything he saw had double images.
He shook his head vigorously, trying to wake himself up, but his feet became increasingly weak, as if he were stepping on clouds.
Turning the corner, Dr. Cartwright suddenly appeared in front of him.
She folded her arms, stood in the light and shadow, looked at him, her tone was like an ice pick, piercing into his heart every word.
"You can't save everyone, Dean."
"Ellen and Qiao will be seriously injured, and Bai Haorui will be unconscious, all because of your command error. It was you who insisted on breaking into Lucifer's lair, and it was you who brought them into a dead end."
"Your mother died in the fire, and your father died in the hands of the devil. You shot Lucifer but didn't kill him. You broke the first seal with your own hands."
"You are a loser. You only have a high school diploma, you only know how to show off your skills, and you still want to defeat the devil? The world will be burned to ashes and you will be unable to do anything. Everyone around you will die in front of you one by one."
Every word struck him exactly where it hurt the most.
Dean's eyes were about to burst, he clenched his fists and rushed over with a roar, "Who are you? How do you know these things?!"
He swung his fist, but it missed. He staggered and almost fell down. The nursing worker passing by looked at him inexplicably. "Man, is there no one there?"
Dean froze in place, cold sweat instantly soaked his back, and his hands and feet were cold.
It's an illusion.
He was really starting to go crazy.
A chill crept up my spine.
He leaned against the wall and gasped for air, his heart beating so fast that it was about to explode.
The guilt, self-blame, and weakness that he had tried so hard to suppress suddenly came back to him, making him unable to breathe.
Every sentence in the hallucination was the judgment he had said to himself thousands of times in the middle of the night.
He can deceive others, but cannot deceive himself.
The next morning, Dr. Fuller's office.
Sam stood at the door, holding the corners of the hospital gown with his fingertips, feeling uneasy.
The sedative has worn off, but my head is still a little heavy. The scene last night was like a dream, very unreal.
He walked in with his head lowered and apologized in a low voice. "Doctor, I'm sorry. I thought you were a monster last night, and I..." He paused and said in a very soft voice, "I'm awake, there is no monster at all. It's my fault."
But his mind was in a mess. He couldn't tell what was real and what was imaginary.
Do the monster's shadow and those strange sounds really exist, or is he crazy?
Dr. Fuller put down the pen, raised his head and looked at him, with a heavy tone. "Monsters are not your biggest problem, Sam."
"The anger in you... When you rushed over last night, your eyes didn't look human at all. It was like you were possessed by something."
Sam's fingers tightened suddenly, his knuckles turned white, and his heart felt as if he had been hit hard.
Angry?
Yes. There was always a fire in his heart.
The concealment of Dean, the control of his father, the hatred of Lilith, and the fear of Lucifer.
This fire kept burning, making him restless.
He used to feel that it was the devil's blood's fault and that Ruby bewitched him.
But the demon blood has long since stopped, and Ruby is dead, but the fire is still there.
Could it be... that it was something in his bones? Was it the darkness he was born with?
Sam just walked into the activity room, and everyone in the room turned their heads to look at him.
More than a dozen eyes were fixed on him, full of disgust, contempt, and hatred, piercing him like knives.
He was stunned for a moment, his steps paused, and the blood all over his body seemed to have gone cold instantly.
Immediately afterwards, countless sounds penetrated into his ears and penetrated into his brain like needles, making him have a splitting headache.
"You turned on Apocalypse. It's all your fault."
"The devil's cub is black at heart."
"You killed Mary, you killed your father, you killed so many people, why don't you die?"
"Lucifer's container, you will destroy the whole world sooner or later."
"Everyone suffers because of you, you are a disaster star."
"Stop talking... stop talking..." Sam squatted down and covered his ears, shaking his head desperately, tears welling up uncontrollably and hitting the floor.
He couldn't refute.
He cursed these words to himself countless times in his mind.
He thought he was hiding it well, he thought no one knew. It turned out that everyone could see it, and it turned out that everyone was scolding him in their hearts.
The nurse rushed over, held his arm and dragged him out. Sam struggled to raise his eyes and saw Dean sitting not far away, with his head lowered and muttering something to himself, without looking at him at all.
At that moment, he felt very lonely. It was like he was the only one left in the world, sinking in the boundless darkness, and no one could help him.
At the same time, in the guest room of Bobby's house, the night was too thick to melt away.
Bai Haorui is leaning on the bedside, regulating his breath, trying to repair the damaged meridians.
Suddenly, the pale gold Lotus Seal between his eyebrows became hot without any warning, like a tiny flame burning, which made his eyebrows jump.
He felt an inexplicable panic, as if someone important was in danger, and he felt extremely uneasy.
Bai Haorui opened his eyes suddenly, quickly kneaded with his fingertips, released a trace of Divine Sense, followed the brothers' breath, and explored the direction of the mental hospital. The distance was too far, Divine Sense The transmission was already very weak, but he still clearly felt a chaotic spiritual energy - like corrosive toxins, getting into people's brains, constantly amplifying the negative emotions and dark thoughts in people's hearts, feeding the devil in people's hearts little by little.
Bai Haorui's face changed.
No, it's mental poison! Dean and Sam were infected!
He lifted the quilt and was about to get out of bed. As soon as he stood up, his legs went weak, his eyesight turned black, and he almost fell to the ground. The dark energy in his meridians was still vaguely chaotic, and the slightest movement caused excruciating pain.
"What are you doing?!" Bobby rushed in when he heard the noise, supported him, and said urgently, "Do you want to die? Where can you go like this?"
"Something happened to them." Bai Haorui's voice was tight, with a rare urgency, "That monster can amplify people's madness. If we don't go away, they won't be able to hold on, and they will go completely crazy."
"You can't go even if you're crazy!" Bobby pressed his shoulders and spoke in an urgent and heavy tone, "You can't even stand now, and you'll faint in the middle of the drive! Going will only add to the chaos! Dean and Sam have been in business for so many years. They haven't seen any big winds and waves, so they won't collapse so easily!"
Bai Haorui gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead stood out. He knew that Bobby was telling the truth. In his current state, it was difficult for him to protect himself, let alone help.
But he couldn't just watch the brothers collapse - for a hunter, going crazy was worse than death.
Bai Haorui took a deep breath and sat back on the bed.
He sat cross-legged, with his back straight, his hands quickly forming Clear Heart Seal in front of his chest, his fingers flying with afterimages. There was a faint golden light on his fingertips, and the air in the room seemed to freeze.
Ignoring the severe pain caused by damaged meridians, he forcibly mobilized the pure Power of Faith stored in the Lotus Seal between his eyebrows.
Pale golden light overflowed from Lotus Seal his eyebrows, like tiny starlight, slowly condensing in front of him, and finally turned into two clear and bright thoughts. The thoughts were wrapped in the power of clearing the mind and calming the mind, like a clear spring, which could extinguish the fire in the heart and break through the confusion of chaos.
Bai Haorui pointed his fingertips, and two thoughts followed the direction of Divine Sense, spanning a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, and were sent to the sea of consciousness of Dean and Sam.
This time, almost half of his Divine Sense power was taken away.
After doing all this, his body swayed violently, his chest surged, and he opened his mouth to cough out a large mouthful of blood. The bright red blood spattered on the white sheets, which was so red that it was dazzling.
His breath suddenly weakened a lot, and he could hardly even sit still, and his body slid down softly.
"Are you crazy?!" Bobby rushed over to support him, his hands shaking with anger, and his voice changing tone, "You even risked your life for them?! Have you ever thought about yourself?! Your fucking life is not your life!"
Bai Haorui leaned in Bobby's arms, panting, and his voice was weak but firm. "It's okay... it's just a waste of Divine Sense... as long as it can help them stabilize their minds... otherwise they will really go crazy..."
He knew very well that the brothers were burdened with too many things. Guilt, self-blame, fear, and self-doubt were already almost unbearable. If they were amplified by the poison, it would be easy for them to collapse completely and never wake up again.
His little expense is worth it for their safety.
In the mental hospital, Dean was leaning against the wall, and Sam was being supported by the caregiver. Both of them were on the verge of collapse of their hallucinations.
Just when they were about to be completely engulfed by their inner demons, a cool warmth suddenly surged into their minds - like ice water from a mountain stream poured on red-hot iron, like a spring breeze blowing away a thick fog.
Most of the noisy sounds, dazzling images, and heartbreaking pain disappeared in an instant.
The chaotic thoughts stabilized a little, as if a hand pulled them back from the edge of the abyss.
They were both stunned for a moment.
That breath was very familiar. It was refreshing, gentle, and had a touch of True Fire warmth.
Subconsciously, they simultaneously thought of Bai Haorui.
Dean wandered to Martin's ward. His face was still a little pale, but his eyes were much clearer. After the cool warmth just now, most of the hallucinations receded and his mind could turn around.
Martin is sitting by the bed, his eyes are distracted and he is mumbling something.
Seeing Dean come in, he smiled bitterly, "I'm going crazy too. I always see things and hear sounds. I've never been like this before."
Dean stopped for a moment, as if a light flashed through his mind.
Madness is the clue!
He, Sam, and Martin are all experienced hunters. How could they collapse on the same day? How could they have hallucinations at the same time? This is definitely not a coincidence!
"We're not crazy!" Dean grabbed Martin's arm suddenly, his eyes bright, "It's the monster's fault! It can cause hallucinations and amplify people's thoughts!!"
He quickly recalled the details of the past two days. When did he get infected? When did something start to go wrong?
The picture in my mind is fixed at the door of the activity room - the gentle kiss from Wendy.
That's when!
"It's Wendy." Dean spoke very fast, "She kissed me and Sam and passed the poison! She is Soul Eater!"
He pulled Martin and ran to Wendy's ward. Martin was still wondering whether "you can't step on the cracks in the floor tiles" was true. Dean shouted anxiously, "It's true! It's absolutely true! Arrest the person first! If it's too late, it'll be too late!"
The two kicked open Wendy's ward door.
The scene inside stunned them.
Nurse Foreman stood by the bed with his back to them, pressing one hand on Wendy's forehead.
Wendy was lying motionless on the bed, with his eyes open and a look of horror on his face. A small hole had opened on the top of his head, and blood was flowing down his cheeks, staining the pillow red.
Hearing the movement, Foreman slowly turned his head.
The skin on her face was pale and gray, sharp black bone spurs sprouted from her fingertips, and her eyes were completely black with no whites, like two bottomless dry wells.
She is the true form of Soul Eater.
"Not too stupid." Soul Eater smiled, his voice hoarse and harsh, like sandpaper being rubbed on wood.
She turned around and ran out, shouting as she ran, "Two patients are attacking me! Someone come quickly! Help!"
Footsteps were heard immediately in the corridor, and two caregivers rushed over with batons in hand.
Martin gritted his teeth, growled, and rushed forward without thinking, hugging the waists of the two caregivers tightly. He was old and in poor health, but he still had the bravery of the old hunter in his appearance as he tried his best.
"Go kill that thing!" Martin shouted at Dean, his face turned red, "I'll hold them back! Quick!"
Dean was stunned for a moment, looking at Martin's gray hair that was messed up, but the sharpness of the past was rekindled in his eyes. He felt sour and hot in his heart.
Even if the old hunters are worn down by time and trauma, even if they are regarded as crazy by everyone, the blood in their bones is still there. As long as the monsters are still there, they will always be hunters.
Dean gritted his teeth, said no more, turned around and chased towards Sam's ward.
Sam was tied to the bed and could not move.
The hallucination just now exhausted his strength, and his head was still a little heavy.
The door opened with a click, and Foreman walked in and locked the door behind her back.
She leaned down and looked at Sam with a playful smile on her lips, like a cat looking at a mouse under its paws.
Sam turned his head and saw her original appearance from the reflection of the metal plate at the head of the bed - gray skin, sharp bone spurs, and black eyes.
He reacted instantly. It had always been her.
From the moment they were admitted to the hospital, she had been watching them from the dark, guiding them step by step, amplifying their inner demons little by little, and pushing them to collapse.
"You are delicious, Sam." Soul Eater stretched out the bone spur and gently scratched his cheek. It was cold and biting. "There is too much anger and too much darkness in your mind. It is more delicious than anyone I have ever tasted."
"I don't create madness, Sam." Her voice was teasing, "I just amplify what is already in your bones. The anger and darkness in your heart are all your own and have nothing to do with me."
The bone spur slowly moved to the top of his head, and the sharp tip had already pierced a little of his scalp.
"When you are completely mature and have been swallowed up by your own inner demons, I will help you solve all your worries."
Sam gritted his teeth and struggled desperately. The straps tightened around his wrists, causing pain and leaving red marks. But his heart was in turmoil.
Is what she said true?
That anger, that darkness, was originally his? Not the devil's blood, not Ruby, it was his Sam·Winchester, born with it?
At the moment Soul Eater raised the bone spur, aimed it at the top of his head, and was about to stab him hard.
"Bang--"
The door was slammed open.
Dean rushed in with a silver letter opener, his eyes red, like an enraged beast, roaring and pounced on Soul Eater: "Stay away from him!"
Soul Eater reacted very quickly, dodged away, and swung his claws with his backhand. The black bone spurs carried strong wind and brushed against Dean's shoulder.
Dean rolled on the spot to avoid the fatal blow, but his shoulder was still scratched, his clothes were ripped open, and his skin felt a burning pain - this was the corrosive nature of Soul Eater's toxins.
Soul Eater was very powerful and moved very fast. Before Dean could get up, he kicked him in the chest. Dean groaned and was thrown to the wall. His back was painful from the impact, and the silver knife in his hand almost flew out.
"That's all you have?" Soul Eater sneered and walked over step by step, the bone spurs shining coldly under the light, "Are you two brothers only good at talking?"
Dean slowly climbed up while holding on to the wall, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and revealed a mischievous smile.
"You're right, I'm indeed crazy." He flexed his wrist, his eyes filled with the fierceness of a desperado, "But when a madman fights, he never cares whether he can win or not."
Before he finished speaking, he rushed forward suddenly.
Soul Eater stabbed his chest with his claws. Dean did not dodge, but turned sideways to resist with his arm. The bone spur pierced into his arm, and the burning pain came, but Dean seemed not to feel it. Taking advantage of this gap, he threw himself on her back, strangled her neck with his arm, and held a silver letter opener in his other hand, aiming it at her heart and piercing it hard!
"Trick--"
Where the silverware touched the skin, acrid black smoke emitted, accompanied by a burning sizzling sound.
Soul Eater let out a piercing scream, the sound was so sharp that it hurt the eardrums.
She struggled wildly, waving her bone spurs wildly, but Dean strangled her tightly and wouldn't let go at all.
Her skin quickly burned and ulcerated, and gray-black juice flowed out with a fishy smell.
The intensity of the struggle became smaller and smaller, and finally he fell heavily to the ground, twitched twice, and then stopped moving. The body shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into a puddle of black stuff.
Dean gasped and leaned against the wall, the wound on his arm burning with pain.
He waited for a few seconds before walking over and untying Sam's wrist.
Sam sat up and shook his head. Those hallucinations and voices all receded, and his mind was clearer than ever.
He looked up at Dean and asked, "Are you still crazy?"
Dean twitched the corner of his mouth, picked up the silver knife on the ground, and wiped the stain on it. "It's almost the same as usual."
At this time, the alarm sounded throughout the corridor, and red light flashed on the windows. The two looked at each other, turned around and ran out without saying anything.
In the woods outside the hospital, the night is thick and the shadows of the trees are dancing.
The black Impala parked quietly in the shadow of the trees, like a dormant beast.
The two ran out, and Dean opened the car door and urged them to get in the car, "Hurry up, I'm going to drink a dozen glasses of whiskey when I get back to calm down my shock. I'll never come back to this damn place again."
Sam stood motionless next to the trunk, his head lowered, his figure hidden in the shadow of the trees, and his expression could not be seen clearly.
"Dean." His voice was soft but clear, "Soul Eater is right."
Dean's hand pulling the car door paused. He turned around and looked at Sam, feeling inexplicably nervous.
"Most of the time I can hide it, but I'm really angry." Sam raised his head, with tiredness and confusion in his eyes, "I used to be angry at you for hiding it from me, angry at dad for controlling me, then angry at Lilith, and now angry at Lucifer. I made a lot of excuses, blaming Ruby, blaming the demon blood... but..."
He paused, his Adam's apple moved, and his voice was a little hoarse. "The anger is in my body, it's always there... I don't know why."
Dean panicked and immediately interrupted him, with a firm tone and a hint of unnoticeable panic. "Stop it, stop talking. So what? Do you want to quit? Or do you want to agree to Lucifer to be his container?"
It's not that he doesn't want to hear what Sam says. It's that he doesn't dare to listen.
He was afraid that if he spoke out, those negative emotions would flow out like a tide and swallow them both up.
He is used to burying everything and carrying it forward. This is the only way to survive that he learned from his father.
Open up your heart? He won't and doesn't dare.
Dean stared into Sam's eyes and asked again, with a bit of pleading in his tone. "Hey, are you coming with me?"
Sam looked at him and was silent for a few seconds. The woods were very quiet, with only the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.
He nodded slightly and said in a very soft voice, "I'll go with you."
Dean breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward and patted his shoulder, urging him to get in the car quickly.
The door closed, the engine started, and the car drove into the night.
Some words were left unsaid after all.
Winchester family members will never learn how to express their true feelings properly.
They will only hide their emotions, suppress their worries, and move forward with silence and strength.
But you can't solve the problem by avoiding it. The inner demons are still there, and they will reappear one day.
At around four o'clock in the morning, the Impala slowly drove into the yard of Bobby's house.
The headlights swept across the fence and finally went out.
Dean and Sam opened the car door and came out. Their faces were exhausted from the aftermath of the disaster. The bruises under their eyes were getting heavier. They also smelled of disinfectant and a faint smell of blood. They didn't speak. The first thing they did after entering was to go to the guest room.
Pushing open the guest room door, I saw Bai Haorui leaning on the bedside.
His face was worse than three days ago, and his lips were so dry that they were peeling. He was drinking slowly from the medicine bowl. The Lotus Seal between his eyebrows was so pale that it was almost invisible, and his whole person showed a sense of weakness.
Dean was heartbroken and walked over a few steps, his voice a little hoarse. "Why did you do this? Didn't I ask you to take good care of me?"
Bai Haorui raised his eyes and glanced at the two of them, seeing that although they were in poor spirits, they were still conscious, and the worry in their eyes quietly dissipated.
He put down the medicine bowl and asked quietly, "It's okay... Just be fine. Is the case solved?"
Sam nodded and briefly talked about Soul Eater. When he mentioned that the toxin was at its most serious, a chill suddenly came over his head and his whole body calmed down instantly. He paused and looked at Bai Haorui: "Is it you?"
Bai Haorui said a faint "hmm" without going into details.
"It's okay!" Bobby walked in with water and finished the attack angrily, "In order to calm you two down, I forcibly mobilized my strength, vomited half a liter of blood, and almost got myself in! I can't stop him! This kid is such a stubborn guy!"
Dean and Sam were both stunned.
They knew that Bai Haorui had helped them, but they didn't expect that the cost was so high. Looking at Bai Haorui's pale face and his weak appearance, they felt warm, guilty, and panicked in their hearts.
Dean opened his mouth and held back a sentence for a long time. "You kid... you are not allowed to do this again. Do you hear me?"
Bai Haorui smiled and did not answer.
He has never been one to listen to advice. Next time something like this happens, he will still make the same choice.
A dim small lamp was on in the kitchen, and the warm light fell on the wooden table, very softly. Bobby brewed black coffee, and a strong bitter taste floated in the air.
Four people were sitting around the wooden table. Ellen and Qiao were sleeping deeply in the next room. The room was very quiet except for the soft clinking of coffee cups.
No one spoke, and the atmosphere was a bit heavy.
Dean pretended to be relaxed, laughing and talking about the embarrassing incident of shouting "pudding" in the morgue, dancing and dancing, trying to liven up the atmosphere. But after he finished speaking, no one laughed. Bai Haorui looked at him with understanding in his eyes; Sam lowered his head and slowly stirred the coffee with a spoon, thinking a lot.
Dean's smile slowly faded, and he took a sip of coffee.
Bai Haorui took out two folded Clear Heart Talisman from his pocket and pushed it in front of the brothers. The talisman paper was yellowish, with a faint cinnabar smell, and the corners were very neat, and he had drawn them one stroke at a time.
"Take it and keep it close to your body." His voice was still a little hoarse. "I've been feeling restless lately. Wearing it can help calm my mind."
Dean picked up the talisman and held the thin talisman paper with his fingertips, feeling panicked in his heart.
He knew that Bai Haorui could tell that something was wrong between them and that they were hiding something in their hearts.
But he didn't know what to say or where to start.
Bai Haorui looked at the two of them and said softly, "The monster on the outside is easy to kill, but the monster on the inside is difficult to heal. Don't hold it in all the time. When you can't hold it in anymore, we are still there."
One sentence, light and delicate, hit the weakest point of the brothers.
Dean picked up the coffee and took a big sip. He frowned in pain and said nothing, but his throat felt a little tight.
Sam lowered his head and clenched the talisman paper tightly with his fingertips, his knuckles turned white.
It was almost dawn outside the window, and a faint cyan light leaked through the cracks in the curtains and fell on the four people.
The road is still long, fate is still waiting in front of me, and the inner demons are still hidden in my heart, which are not easy to get rid of.
But at least they don't carry it alone.
When it was just dawn, Bai Haorui returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated.
He slowly ran "Three Altars Body-Refining True Fire Art", and the purple-gold True Gang slowly traveled in the meridians, nourishing the damaged meridians. The Lotus Seal between the eyebrows flickered slightly, a little brighter than before.
After finishing his work, he took out Five Emperor Coins. The five copper coins glowed with a warm copper light and the edges were polished smooth.
Bai Haorui He picked up the copper coin with his fingertips and threw it into the air. The coin fell on the bed, made a jingling sound, rolled around a few times, and then stopped.
He looked down.
Above the ridge and under the ridge. Jian Hexagram.
Tuan said: Jian is difficult and dangerous. If you see the danger and can stop it, you know it. Jian is good for the southwest, and you can go to the middle. It is not good for the northeast, because the road is poor. It is good for seeing the great people, and you can make great achievements. When you are in a chaste and auspicious position, you can uphold the country. You can use it wisely.
The road ahead is difficult and dangerous, and every step is difficult.
Bai Haorui put away the copper coins and looked up at the white sky outside the window. The morning fog had not yet dispersed, and the shadows of the trees in the distance were hazy.
His eyes were calm and unruffled.