Chapter 117 Bright Sanatorium "Not all relationships last forever..."

"Oh right! Your phone password!"

Jiang Yang called after Xiao Mei's retreating figure, and Xiao Mei waved at him from afar, her voice carrying back, "123456".

As Jiang Yang emerged from the kitchen, she gently closed the door, a soft "click" that shut out all sounds from either side.

The only sound in the washroom was his breathing.

"Ji Yang?" Jiang Yang called out in confusion from the empty water room.

The sound echoed dully against the damp wall. He carefully took half a step back, his back against the small door, his wrists silently gripping the key on the lock behind his back.

Suddenly, without warning, a circle of water rippled across the mirror's surface, spreading outwards in layers, and a tall figure tumbled out.

Jiang Yang's heart tightened, and she rushed forward two steps, shouting, "Ji Yang!"

"Don't come any closer!"

Ji Yang swayed as he stood on the pool, and managed to steady himself by bracing himself with his hands as he rolled toward the ground.

A gruesome gash ran across his raised arm, the flesh torn open, blood trickling down the taut muscle lines, dripping onto his fingertips and then falling between them.

Jiang Yang stopped at the edge of the pool, but the worry in his eyes only increased.

Ji Yang staggered toward him, and the light in the water room above his head flickered twice. Jiang Yang could see clearly now that the hunched back that had appeared in the corner of the mirror had changed direction at some point.

Jiang Yang suddenly felt a chill and almost instinctively retreated, but the light reflected from the mirror almost completely illuminated the entire water room.

With no way to avoid it, a tremendous force dragged Jiang Yang toward the mirror, and tiny specks of light exploded in front of his eyes, almost blinding him.

As my shoulder passed through the mirror, a bone-chilling cold seeped into my marrow through my pores.

The water room in his line of sight began to distort and deform. He saw Ji Yang stretched into a blurry strip. His shouts, along with the sword of justice, crashed into the thick glass. The crisp sound shook the dust that had accumulated on the mirror for years, causing it to swirl downwards.

The world in the mirror wasn't large, and the light from the water room shone in just enough to illuminate the entire space.

Dust flew everywhere, and shards of mirror were scattered all over the ground, as if a fierce battle had just taken place.

Jiang Yang propped himself up from the ground, his fist pressed against his lips as he coughed violently.

He carefully observed out of the corner of his eye and saw a figure standing not far from him, shrouded in a black robe, with a pair of sticky and cold eyes that were visible.

"Don't move," the figure coldly reminded.

Contrary to his aged appearance, the voice that came out was that of a young man.

A shadow fell over Jiang Yang's head. When Jiang Yang looked up, he saw a sharp piece of glass above him.

As he moved, the glass remained locked above his head, forcing him to lower his leg before raising it.

Jiang Yang asked, "What do you mean?"

The man didn't answer. His body, hidden beneath his black robe, straightened little by little, and then he walked up to Jiang Yang and asked in return, "Do you want to become even stronger?"

Jiang Yang glanced down at the dark red bloodstains on the man's black robe and retorted without any politeness, "You don't seem to be as good as him."

As she spoke, she turned her head and looked at Ji Yang, who was striking the mirror with a long sword outside the mirror. The man's legs were a little unsteady when he walked, which was undoubtedly caused by the fight between the two of them just now.

The man's expression changed; who knew that guy would be so difficult to deal with.

He left a wound on Ji Yang's arm, but in return, he had at least three or four wounds on his body. Every time, they were aimed at killing him. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and used a mirror to block them. What's even more infuriating is that in this life-or-death ordeal, he dragged in someone who was useless.

The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get!

"I'm not as good as him, but if you have me, you'll be even better."

The man spared no effort in trying to seduce Jiang Yang; becoming stronger was such a tempting offer to these cowardly players in the No Man's Land.

"No, I don't want to have a pet."

Jiang Yang glanced at the panel again to make sure the observation room was connected.

There was no other new information popping up on the panel, but it was enough to help Jiang Yang make a basic distinction.

There are only a few types of cases that can appear in trials.

Players, NPCs, judges, monsters... and very rare creatures not from the Borderlands.

First, we can confirm that the other party is not a player.

Secondly, it is not a monster, nor is it a creature from outside the nomadic lands.

Ultimately, it seems the other party needs a player's identity to help them escape their current predicament.

This reminded Jiang Yang of the patients and caregivers at the Guangming Sanatorium who could switch identities, and the answer became obvious.

Judging from the man's appearance, he was not an ordinary caregiver, and Jiang Yang was still unsure of his true identity hidden beneath that caregiver role.

The glass ceiling above his head dropped another two centimeters, and the man angrily shouted, "I'm not a pet!"

Jiang Yang was not afraid and retorted, "Then what makes you think you're better than me?"

The best way to get information from an arrogant man is to provoke him.

The man glanced at him with a hint of disdain. "You?"

"Aren't you curious why he risked his life to save me?"

"What's your relationship?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Yang said meaningfully.

The man squinted. The mirror had been chiseled with spiderweb-like cracks by Ji Yang, and soon the entire mirror would shatter under the weight.

The man asked, "Are you also a judge?"

"Are you looking for a judge?" Jiang Yang raised an eyebrow.

Realizing he had been tricked into revealing information, the man remained silent from under his black robe. Suddenly, a shard of mirror on the ground flew up, its sharp edge cutting Jiang Yang's fingertip, drawing blood that dripped onto the shard. Then, with a flick of his index finger, the shard flew back into his palm.

The man held it under his nose and sniffed it gently. "So that's how it is."

"similar."

The mirror shattered, and the man disappeared into the mirror world.

Ji Yang's anxious calls came clearly the moment the lens shattered. The next second, as fragments flew everywhere, Jiang Yang fell into a solid and warm body, the embrace that always made him feel at ease, which now shielded him from all danger.

"don't want!"

The fragments flew towards Ji Yang's back. The young man was in turmoil, and he let out a silent roar with his mouth open. He struggled violently, and in Ji Yang's arms, he was like a small beast charging around.

Ji Yang groaned as Jiang Yang punched him in the chin, but the hand restraining the young man's waist didn't move at all.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm fine," he said gently, patting the young man's back reassuringly with his other hand. "It's protected, you'll get it scraped off if you move around too much."

Reason was brought back. The mirror shattered, creating a small storm. Upon closer inspection, the fragments were bounced back to the ground by the invisible force emanating from Ji Yang after they came into contact with him. Jiang Yang sniffed.

"Ji Yang, do you believe I don't want you anymore?"

"Why...don't you want me..."

Ji Yang's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. His eyes reddened as soon as he finished asking the question. His tight vocal cords revealed a panic that he himself was unaware of. He gripped Jiang Yang's shoulders, leaned down and stared into Jiang Yang's eyes, afraid of missing any subtle change in the person.

Jiang Yang said helplessly, "I'm asking if you believe I don't want you anymore."

“Why, why, don’t, want, me?” Ji Yang repeated, emphasizing each word.

Fool...

As the storm subsided, Jiang Yang grabbed the wrist on his shoulder and pulled it off. "Let's go, let's get out of here first."

Ji Yang stood motionless, "Explain yourself clearly."

"Explain what?"

Am I your property?

"Not all relationships last forever. We just like each other now, but I also have the right to stop liking you at some point in the future. Do you understand?"

Ji Yang's eyelashes trembled, and he concealed his pain in his closed eyes. "I...understand."

"You asked me why I didn't want you anymore. Ever since you woke up, you've been constantly terrified of the car accident we had back then. You wanted to protect me, but Ji Yang..."

Jiang Yang took a deep breath.

"Love has cracks; there will always be times when you can't protect me."

Ji Yang insisted, "I will protect you."

"So you've used up all your talent today."

"My hand is ruined."

"I can't lift the sword."

"Jiang Yang, I understand, you're worried about me."

Ji Yang pulled Jiang Yang into his arms, and Jiang Yang's voice was muffled in Ji Yang's chest, "I don't want to be protected forever, and I don't want to see you give up yourself to protect me."

"You're worried about me, aren't you?"

...

"right."

"That's enough, Jiang Yang. I'm willing to do anything for you."

"Ji Yang," Jiang Yang said, feeling somewhat weary. He hesitated for a moment, then finally said only, "Never mind."

After leaving the water room, Jiang Yang took out a bandage and gave Ji Yang a simple dressing.

With the person in the mirror still on her mind, she took the opportunity to ask Ji Yang for some information.

Jiang Yang asked, "What did he just say to you?"

Ji Yang succinctly stated: "He needs a player who doesn't have the role of a judge."

As a renowned war god of judgment in the No Man's Land, Ji Yang's title was not solely due to his formidable fighting prowess.

Previously, observers had calculated that as long as it involved thinking, there was no problem that Ji Yang couldn't solve if he wanted to. Therefore, although Ji Yang had closed the observation room and the observers didn't know what was going on with him in the mirror, they were not surprised that Ji Yang had come to this conclusion.

I just don't understand why someone like that would be so oblivious when it comes to relationship issues.

The two of them had just started having a disagreement.

Just as they were about to leave the observation room, thinking they wouldn't see any excitement, they discovered that the ever-cautious Jiang Yang didn't open the panel until the middle of the event.

They only closed it briefly, and they even thought it was a bug.

Later, an observer in the live chat mentioned, "Is Jiang Yang running out of points?"

After calculating, I realized that the points I had accumulated from these trials were almost all used up.

Jiang Yang didn't take it to heart. His relationship with Ji Yang would be exposed sooner or later due to Ji Yang's uncontrollable behavior, so he could only try his best to avoid leaking more information.

"I need a player identity... but I'm hesitant about being a judge..."

Jiang Yang paused, holding the bandage, as he remembered Ji Yang's name at the sanatorium.

As patient number 007, and judge code name 007, he had a rough guess, but was not quite sure.

However, following this line of thought, Jiang Yang took two more steps.

"If he wants to attach himself to the players, what criteria would he use to select them?"

Ji Yang reminded, "Those who fell ill yesterday were all taken to the treatment room by the caregivers, but those who fell ill today are not being responded to by the caregivers."

Jiang Yang wrapped the bandage around the last wound twice more.

"You mean these caregivers didn't come to work today because they were all out picking out clients?"

"No, that's not that important. What's important is that bringing the person back to the treatment room is no longer their primary goal."

Ji Yang pulled his coat sleeves back on: "This means either something happened in the treatment room, or the people brought back to the treatment room are simply irreplaceable. I'm more inclined to believe the second one."

Jiang Yang suddenly realized: "Because neither you nor I have been to the treatment room."

Jiang Yang tied the end of the bandage into a standard bow.

Jiang Yang's gaze darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Don't use your talent anymore."

Ji Yang's eyes darted nervously left and right.

His words were evasive: "I wonder how things are going with Li Sheng."

...

In the morning, Ji Yang had just left Li Sheng's place when Li Sheng rushed to Building No. 2 with the key in hand. The first room he opened was the "Desire Strangulation Treatment Room".

From the caregiver's perspective, he could see an LED light shining above the doorplate.

Green indicates the treatment room is empty, while red indicates that treatment is in progress.

Jiang Yang told him to go in and check the situation. Naturally, he chose the treatment room where treatment was being administered first. He even prepared for defense before entering, but to his surprise, there was nothing inside after opening the door.

He gripped the doorknob uncertainly and looked up at the sign above his head again.

[Red - Under Treatment]

Just as Li Sheng was debating whether to turn back to the "Dark Zone Nerve Treatment Room," a faint sound of a lock turning suddenly came from the treatment room at the end of the room. He quickly pulled out the key, slipped into the treatment room in front of him, and closed the door.

He stood behind the door, leaning against the wall, his gaze piercing through the small glass window in the door. He heard footsteps approaching from outside and held his breath. A moment later, a face devoid of emotion passed by the door, expressionless.

He recognized the person.

Litanvi's chairman, Yuejiang.

Li Sheng silently wrote down the information.

Jiang Yang only gave him the key, so he could only search for information in the treatment room according to his own ideas.

...

[Player Yuejiang activates the talent card: Demon]

[Should the identity swap with Hoshino be terminated prematurely?]

The identity swap has been terminated ahead of schedule.

"Yuejiang! You just wait!"

Yuejiang naturally didn't hear Hoshino's roar. When he returned to the treatment room, he saw that the space, which was neither too big nor too small, was full of signs of being ransacked. He bent down and picked up two scattered books, and he could easily imagine how Hoshino had broken down while flipping through them.

Hoshino naturally couldn't find anything.

This is the "Dark Zone Nerve Therapy Room".

Yuejiang had already made a deal with that coward before the evening's activities.

The devil will give the coward a chance to be reborn, and the coward will then offer his soul to the devil after being reborn.

But the coward, caught up in the joy of being resurrected, failed to notice a hidden "additional clause": he would become a slave to the devil.

The footsteps stopped at the door.

Yuejiang stood up, brushed the dust off the book cover with the back of her hand, and then placed it on the chair.

Before he could turn around, the footsteps outside the door gradually faded away, as if they had stopped unexpectedly at the doorway.

The problem is, none of the caregivers should be in the building today.

Except for... Li Sheng, who is a player like him.

The examiner in charge of assessing new recruits, Mou Guang, rarely goes to other courts.

His appearance here is probably related to Jiang Yang; it seems Jiang Yang is planning to...

Yuejiang opened the door and went out, quickly catching a glimpse of the figure who had rushed into the "Desire Strangulation Treatment Room" not far away.

He bit his tongue, his finger hovering over the panel without pressing anything.

Yuejiang disliked this feeling of being bound, which made him feel restricted in everything he did.

He closed the door to the treatment room and walked towards the stairs with a gloomy expression.

The memory craniotomy treatment room... Yuejiang stopped silently...