Chapter 021 Chapter 21

Xia Meng felt that even if Li Zhou was not Spider-Man, he was probably close.

He carried her on his back and jumped onto the balcony railing with a light leap. After gathering some strength with his feet, he jumped towards another balcony to the side and below.

A distance of at least four or five meters seemed nothing to him.

With a single step, he landed precisely on the balcony railing.

The wind was howling beside me.

The howling sound of the wind was like crying or chirping of extreme sadness.

Xia Meng lay on his back and looked up at the thick, dark fog that seemed to have no bottom.

She didn't know why, but she always felt that deep in the darkness, there was a pair of eyes silently watching her.

Or maybe, it could be watching them.

Xia Meng suddenly tilted her head and asked, "Li Zhou."

Li Zhou: “Hmm?”

Xia Meng: "You said, are there people at the edge of the spiritual picture?"

Li Zhou was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't know. I've never heard of anyone who was devoured coming back alive."

Xia Meng: "Even if you are the owner of the spiritual image, you can't go there?"

Li Zhou: "Maybe, I haven't tried it."

Xia Meng thought about it.

Now she is also a guide and can have spiritual visions.

If she has the chance, she might try it.

At this moment, Li Zhou seemed to see through her thoughts and suddenly said, "I advise you not to try it."

Xia Meng looked at him sideways for a few seconds, then smiled easily, "I know, I was just asking."

Li Zhou obviously didn't believe it.

He turned his head and looked into her eyes. When their eyes met, he said, "If you want to try, remember to ask me to come with you."

Xia Meng raised her eyebrows: "Why? Are you curious about that place too?"

Li Zhou curled his lips: "Maybe."

If there was any place in the world he had not yet explored, it was probably the edge of his mental landscape.

He had thought about it before, whether he should go to that place and look for it.

After hesitating for a long time, I still couldn't take action.

He is not afraid of death.

He was just afraid that the person he was looking for was not there.

Then his last glimmer of hope would be gone.

Soon, they arrived at the balcony corresponding to Ou Xu's room on the first floor.

Li Zhou entered the door in the same way.

Ou Xu's room was empty at this time.

The oil lamp on the dressing table burned dimly.

Xia Meng was already familiar with the route. She picked up the oil lamp, activated the mechanism behind the dressing mirror, and led Li Zhou into the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel is the underground pool of water.

Ergou had been waiting here for a long time. He turned around twice on the wooden boat by the water and squeaked twice at Xia Meng.

Xia Meng didn't hesitate and got on the boat immediately.

Li Zhou followed and naturally picked up the oars to row the boat.

The oars pushed against the rocks on the shore, and the small wooden boat slid out of the water lightly.

Xia Meng sat back at the bow of the boat.

He reached out and skillfully picked up Ergou and held him in his arms.

She touched Ergou's head and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Ergou."

Ergou let out a long breath, and lay on her with a wronged look on his face, as if he had suffered a great injustice. He hugged Xia Meng, buried his head in her chest, and began to sob.

Xia Meng: “?”

Why are you crying?

Li Zhou glanced at the man and the weasel.

His eyes moved around the ferret, thoughtfully.

The boat moved quickly on the water.

Li Zhou's way of rowing is very different from Ou Xu's.

Ou Xu took the oar and rowed the boat honestly, grunting and struggling, left and right, trying hard to control the direction of the small wooden boat. But in Li Zhou's hand, the oar was more like a stick. He casually poked and pushed it against the stone next to him, and the boat immediately slid away.

So, with a few easy pushes, we soon reached the other side.

This place is no different from the last time Xia Meng came here.

An underground stage lit by candlelight.

Various kinds of candles and mirrors of various sizes can be seen everywhere.

In an instant, the originally limited sense of space here was magnified several times, making it appear empty and mysterious.

On the stage, the mirror that Xia Meng had smashed before was still there.

The debris was scattered all over the ground, reflecting the tiny candlelight.

At this moment, Ou Xu was lying there.

Two iron chains were locked on his feet, and his hands were simply handcuffed together.

Xia Meng couldn't help but frown when she saw it.

"Are they keeping him as a prisoner?"

He is still unconscious.

Xia Meng walked forward and was about to check on Ou Xu's condition again. Her hand had just touched his wrist when an extremely strong emotion suddenly surged towards her through their skin touching.

Like a cold ice arrow, it shot into her heart.

No sound, no picture.

There were only extremely strong and complex emotions, like an invisible tsunami, the high waves rushed directly towards her and swallowed her.

For a moment, Xia Meng felt like she was thrown into the deep sea.

The ubiquitous water pressure around her was accompanied by countless heavy negative emotions: pain, sadness, fear, despair... It kept pressing towards her, trying to crush her, to imprison her, and to squeeze out the last bit of air in her chest.

Under this cold deep sea, it seems like a huge cage where people cannot move.

It is empty and silent, with no sunlight.

It is boundless loneliness.

Is this the world that Huo Qingyu feels?

Xia Meng coughed hard.

I tried to breathe, but found myself almost suffocating.

She had never felt such strong and intense negative emotions head-on.

Even when she first met Li Zhou and heard the strange cry of thousands of ghosts on his body, she had never felt so uncomfortable.

This time, she felt excruciating pain all over her limbs and internal organs.

The flesh and bones of the body seemed to be being minced, scarlet blood splattered everywhere, and broken bone fragments flew everywhere.

But when she looked down, everything on the surface of her body seemed normal.

No one knew that the body had already been flooded with blood and its flesh and bones had been shattered.

It hurts so much!

The pain was so severe that even Xia Meng couldn't help but think, Oh my God, I might as well just kill her.

She used to think that she was naturally optimistic and immune to any negative emotions.

Even if she falls into the most desperate situation, she will never give up on herself.

Just like a seed, even if it falls on a cliff, it can struggle to take root, bathed in sunshine and rain, and can still grow into a towering tree.

But at this moment, she felt like she was being dragged into an endless hell.

There is no light, no sound, no time, no hope, no future.

There is only endless pain.

She lives forever here.

And here he will be tortured forever.

Let her die!

She thought.

Would this pain end if I just ended my life?

Let her be free!

She looked down at her hands.

No knife.

what to do?

If I use my five fingers to pull my heart out of my chest, will I die?

Her fingers formed into claws.

Without hesitation, he reached for his left breast.

The moment her fingertips pierced her skin, Xia Meng suddenly struggled and burst out with strong willpower.

No!

wrong!

This is not her!

She would never do such a thing!

This is--

"Huo...Qing...Yu...!" She shouted out the name with all her strength.

Xia Meng suddenly opened her eyes.

She gasped for breath, and as the air entered her chest, the feeling of suffocation and dying finally slowly faded away from her.

The light in front of her eyes focused and she met Li Zhou's anxious face.

Li Zhou held her wrist: "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

Xia Meng propped herself up and sat up from his arms.

He raised his hand to wipe his face, only to find his hand covered in cold sweat.

Xia Meng was breathing softly and looked up at Li Zhou. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was as pale as gold paper, and she was sweating profusely.

She: "Just now, when I touched Ou Xu...I seemed to have touched Huo Qingyu."

As she spoke, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing.

At the same time, it also helps calm your emotions.

"You're right." She said slowly, "Huo Qingyu is indeed abnormal."

Previously, she had never been able to determine what his symptoms were.

Until just now.

The moment she was dragged into the abyss just now, she finally caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of his pain.

Li Zhou: "So, what's wrong with him?"

Xia Meng raised her hand to wipe the sweat off her face and turned her head to look at Ou Xu who was unconscious beside her.

What flashed before my eyes were his excitement and passion on the stage, as well as the deep despair just now.

These two emotions are like black and white.

One side is extremely bright, the other side is extremely dark.

On one side is extreme bliss, on the other side is extreme sorrow.

Huo Qingyu seemed to be constantly swinging between these two extremes, sinking consciously and being torn apart in pain.

Xia Meng slowly raised her eyes: "Have you heard of bipolar disorder?"

Bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar disorder, is a common mental illness.

The disease is characterized by obvious manic and depressive episodes, with the two extreme symptoms appearing repeatedly and alternatingly.

The cause of this disease is still unclear, but studies have shown that biological factors such as genetics and psychosocial factors may trigger the disease.

She followed Wang Xiangyi and had also come across some cases of bipolar disorder.

Without exception, all patients experienced alternating states of mania or hypomania and depression.

In a typical manic episode, there are three symptoms: elevated mood, racing thoughts, and increased will.

During a typical depressive episode, the "three lows" symptoms appear: low mood, slow thinking and pessimism, and decreased will and behavior.

Obviously, Huo Qingyu's symptoms at this time completely met this standard, and were even more serious and extreme.

Perhaps it’s because this is a spiritual picture.

It is the deepest part of human spiritual realm.

So nothing here needs to be covered up or hidden.

It clearly showed the true inner state of Huo Qingyu.

——Of course, all this is just her guess.

To make a professional diagnosis, formal psychological testing and evaluation are required.

But, for now, her diagnosis is enough.

Li Zhou: "...So, have you figured out how to find the door?"

Xia Meng didn't answer.

To be honest, she didn't know.

There is almost no solution for bipolar disorder as severe as Huo Qingyu's.

At best, it can be controlled by drugs, such as mood stabilizers such as lithium carbonate, valproate, and lamotrigine, combined with some antidepressants.

In addition to medication, there is psychological intervention.

Bipolar disorder has the highest suicide rate of all mood disorders.

Repeatedly feeling the alternation of light and darkness, being torn back and forth, his pain was magnified day after day into the current appearance of the theater, terrifying and grotesque.

it is a pity.

There are no medications here now.

Xia Meng did not do well in the suicide intervention course.