Chapter 286: Beauty Like a Flower (23) (Bonus Chapter)
"If only I were truly a snake, then I wouldn't need these two legs at all," Snake Taoist muttered wearily.
He touched the thin pack of medicine in his pocket, his heart bleeding.
These few pills cost him 3,000 federal currency.
But there was no other way; mental illness had to be treated.
Although mental illness was fashionable, in this era, the disease that bottom-tier citizens could least afford was mental illness.
As soon as he described his symptoms, the doctor, whose hand was in his eye, pinched his spiritual body with his hand and nodded, saying, "Hmm, you do have a mild case of quantum splitting syndrome."
"Quan, quan, quantum? Splitting syndrome?" Snake Taoist had never heard of such a disease before.
"Yes, you have the aura of quantum entanglement on you. The you from another space-time has become entangled with you," the doctor said expressionlessly.
"Do you sometimes feel that you are not the only one around you?"
"For example, you clearly remember turning on the light, but the next second it turns off by itself."
"You were clearly watching Channel A, but after taking a shower, it switched to Channel Z."
"You don't remember washing your clothes, but the clothes are indeed washed and even dried automatically."
"Does your hair always inexplicably tie itself into knots and braids?"
The more Snake Taoist listened, the more flustered he became.
Wasn't this exactly his experience?
"Doctor, how are you so accurate? How did you know!" Snake Taoist was very convinced by the doctor in front of him.
However, the doctor pushed up the glasses on his hand and said coldly, "Oh, I saw it written on the information you filled out when you came in."
"..."
Only then did Snake Taoist remember that indeed, upon entering the clinic, the nurse had asked him to pick up a form at the front desk and write down his symptoms in detail.
"So, Doctor, what's going on?"
"Quantum splitting syndrome is because the you in another space-time did these things, and due to quantum entanglement, it affected the you in this space-time to also do these things, but you don't remember because it wasn't you at all."
Snake Taoist was confused by this string of "you"s and directly asked, "Then... is it serious?"
"Not serious. People who have undergone dimensional leaps are generally prone to this problem. Just take some medicine and you'll be fine."
After speaking quickly, the doctor looked up, and the hand in his eye beckoned.
"Next."
Just like that, Snake Taoist was mercilessly driven out of the consultation room by the nurse.
Thus, the brief consultation, lasting less than five minutes, cost Snake Taoist a total of 5,000 federal currency, which included a 2,000 federal currency registration fee.
...
Back home, Snake Taoist very naturally turned on the light screen.
He seemed to understand more and more those young people who liked watching live broadcasts.
Before, he couldn't understand, finding it noisy and chaotic, sometimes naked and bloody.
But now it seemed that it actually brought some Life Qi into the home, preventing it from being so quiet, as if he were the only one.
"However, the doctor said that there isn't just me here; there's another me."
"Perhaps more than one, hehe, how interesting."
Snake Taoist looked at the empty living room illuminated by the light screen and muttered to himself.
"Hi, other me."
He even waved to the unlit dark corner.
However, to his surprise, the darkness actually rippled, transforming into a wriggling shadowy tentacle that also waved back at him.
Snake Taoist blinked, thinking he had seen wrong.
He had indeed seen wrong.
The darkness in the corner returned to calm.
Only he was still here.
Sure enough, his mind was not quite normal.
Feeling suddenly empty, Snake Taoist silently listened to the live broadcast of The Metamorphosis, ignoring the flickering lights, and quickly took a shower.
"This is all because of quantum entanglement," he comforted himself.
Having no appetite, he drank some nutrient fluid, then, according to the doctor's instructions, took a pill after his meal.
Would he really get better this way?
"Will you disappear?" Snake Taoist said to the corner.
No response, only the twisting darkness.
"Damn it, why am I still not better?"
The dark shadow transformed into the shape of a tentacle and pointed at the light screen.
"Watch the show, right? I understand."
Snake Taoist's gaze turned to the program, and at first glance, it was an extremely bloody scene.
The scholar, who had been speaking sweet nothings and showing affection with Xiao Xiao that morning, was now disemboweled and dead in the wilderness.
The camera even gave a close-up: the heart was missing from his chest, and it was unknown how cruel the murderer was to have cut out the heart.
This bloody sight attracted a large crowd of onlookers, who whispered to each other.
Xiao Xiao stood in the crowd, watching from afar, tears filling her beautiful eyes.
Sorrow, pain, and nostalgia flashed across her face.
She couldn't stay here any longer and could only turn to leave.
However, just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by a man dressed as a scholar.
"You still dare to leave?" The man grabbed Xiao Xiao, saying bitterly, "You heartless demoness!"
This loud shout attracted everyone's attention.
Everyone noticed that this was Lu Siniang, whose enchanting reputation was well-known.
Because of this, he successfully pushed through the crowd and dragged Xiao Xiao to the side of the dead scholar's corpse.
"You take a good look at him!"
"He died with his eyes open!"
"Isn't it because of you?"
"He said he wanted to elope with you, but you refused!"
"What happened then?"
A series of sharp interrogations made Xiao Xiao's tears flow.
"I want to leave, but can I leave?" Xiao Xiao said tearfully, implying something, but no one understood what she meant.
With a gentle struggle, the scholar's hand slipped, and the fair wrist he held in his palm slipped free.
"Besides, do we have a relationship? Please, Young Master, don't spread rumors," Xiao Xiao asked.
Her voice carried a fragility that could shatter at a touch, but her words sounded somewhat cold.
The onlookers present, having heard the scholar's words, already understood the relationship between Xiao Xiao and the deceased, and they were already discussing animatedly, even calling Xiao Xiao a hussy, saying she had secretly pledged herself and perhaps even had a child.
Now that Xiao Xiao vehemently denied it, whether it was true or not, because of their preconceived notions, everyone no longer believed her.
"Hmph, indeed, Zhao Hanzhang was right, you truly have no heart!" The scholar, seeing Xiao Xiao actually deny it, became even more annoyed. He didn't shy away from the bloody corpse and pulled out a handkerchief from the clothes under the corpse's open chest. It had a mandarin ducks playing in water pattern, and in the corner, a single character 'Si' (four) was embroidered, belonging to Xiao Xiao.
"The evidence is conclusive, how will you argue now?"
Xiao Xiao's face turned pale, and she cried out that she was wronged.
However, no one believed her. Insults, condemnation, and even intentions to act physically arose.
Fortunately, Liu Sheng, the doctor from the Earth Mother Medical Hall, and Cai Bin, the pharmacist, arrived in time and pulled Xiao Xiao out of the crowd.
"Are you going to continue?"
Sitting in the carriage, Liu Sheng looked at the crying Xiao Xiao and asked a seemingly nonsensical question.
No one understood what she was referring to.
"I will."
Xiao Xiao covered her face with a handkerchief, sobbing softly.
"I want to live well."
The two words "live well" were spoken very softly by Xiao Xiao.