The girl with black hair, light eyes, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and an over-the-knee plaid skirt similar to a high school uniform, short socks, sneakers, and a fabric bag on her shoulder, who appeared at the door of Lu Ban's ward, did have the exact same appearance as Amber.
"Why, is there something on my face?"
The girl noticed Lu Ban's gaze and hurriedly touched her face, then glanced at the hem of her skirt and the corners of her clothes. Not finding anything wrong, she walked briskly to Lu Ban's bed.
"You are already dead."
Lu Ban looked at the youthful and energetic girl in front of him and said seriously.
"ah?"
The girl was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted.
"You're talking about those settings again. Hey, didn't the doctor say that you're feeling better now?"
She sighed, put the fabric bag on the bedside table, took out two apples and a folding fruit knife, and began to peel the apples carefully.
However, her skill in peeling apples cannot be considered excellent. It can only be said to be a mess. It is obvious that she is the type of person who just washes the skin and eats the apple directly. Lu Ban could not bear to watch it any more and reached out to take the fruit knife and the apple.
Unexpectedly, this simple action startled the girl so much that she stood up hurriedly and put the fruit knife behind her. She couldn't even hold the apple firmly and it fell to the ground.
What Lu Ban saw in the eyes of the amber-faced girl who took two steps back was fear.
And a little regretful.
"…I'm sorry, I'm just worried that you might hurt yourself."
She brought the fruit knife in front of her, leaned down slightly, and took a step closer to Lu Ban.
"How are you?"
The girl confirmed.
"I am fine."
Lu Ban said calmly, he spread his hands flat with his palms facing up.
"I won't hurt you or myself."
After hearing Lu Ban's words, the girl put the fruit knife in Lu Ban's hand.
Lu Ban picked up the apple and handed it to the other person.
"Just wash it with water, it's still edible."
The girl nodded, picked up the apple and went to the bathroom to wash it.
Lu Ban felt the weight of the fruit knife in his hand, picked up the apple, and began to peel it neatly.
By the time the girl came back after washing the apples, he had already peeled them.
“Eat this.”
Lu Ban handed the freshly peeled apple to the girl, and picked up the one that had fallen to the ground and took a bite.
Crisp and sweet.
“It’s quite delicious.”
Lu Ban commented.
"Yeah, I specifically asked the fruit shop owner to give it a crispier texture."
The girl smiled happily and after chatting for a while, she spoke with some excitement.
"Yes, I just heard from the doctor that you have recovered very well. You can consider going home to rest for a while and gradually adapt to the outside world."
"Um……"
Lu Ban finished eating the apple and was about to throw the core into the trash can when he was stopped again.
"This is wet garbage, it needs to be sorted."
The girl put the leftover fruit cores in a bag.
“I didn’t expect that I would have to sort garbage in my hallucination.”
Lu Ban sighed.
"You're talking about this again, Lu Ban, are you really okay?"
The girl asked a little uneasily, and before Lu Ban could answer, she continued.
"You kept saying strange things before, saying that I was dead and burned to death, but I'm here fine."
"yes."
Lu Ban did not think deeply about these words and just nodded in agreement.
It is obvious that in this illusion, Lu Ban does not have any extraordinary powers, and this world is quite peaceful. There are no Old Ones, no foreign lands, and no pollution.
Lu Ban is just an ordinary mental patient who developed a lot of delusional symptoms due to strange illnesses and experimental treatments. Now, after surgery, he has finally recovered a little from that completely confused state. Although the delusional memories still bother Lu Ban, at least he can now recognize the real world.
Naturally, all the extraordinary powers that Lu Ban possessed also disappeared.
He cannot melt, cannot photosynthesize, does not have [True Sight], and cannot materialize [Last Words].
In Lu Ban's vision, there were no indifferent and cold words from the silent place.
Everything is normal.
But this is not normal.
"...Okay, I'll go back first. We'll go through the discharge procedures next Monday. You should have a good rest and don't think too much."
The girl chatted with Lu Ban for a while before packing up and leaving.
Lu Ban underwent another examination by the doctor. As time passed, the sun began to set and shone through the window into the house, giving Lu Ban the feeling of a lonely old man.
“Don’t let waiting become a regret.”
Lu Ban couldn't help but say.
He didn't have a cell phone, so he could only turn on the TV in the ward.
The TV set was also protected to prevent Lu Ban from lifting it. Obviously, although this was not a high-risk ward with a straitjacket, it was more or less a precaution against Lu Ban's sudden illness.
The TV can watch programs normally, although there are not many channels, they are all serious channels.
Lu Ban opened the news and read it for a while.
He found that the world in this illusion was similar to the world before he traveled through it, at least he didn't notice any difference.
After watching the news for more than ten minutes, Lu Ban changed the channel and saw that another channel was broadcasting a variety show.
This variety show is similar to the one where boys and girls rush forward, and it is a physical challenge.
However, the challenger Lu Ban inside looked a little familiar.
He recalled and found that these were the explorers he met when he first went to the wilderness.
Giant Arm, Flame Heart, and Old Dreams.
The three people who were mimicked by insects are now running in the water park and seem to be having a good time.
According to the doctor's theory, Lu Ban's brain will subconsciously remember everything he has seen, whether it is text or humans. Normally, humans will not record so much information, and will regularly forget unimportant things or convert them into some block memories.
Just like the embarrassing things that happened in elementary school, we normally wouldn’t think about them at all, but once stimulated in some way, we can recall them through association, causing the dead memories to start attacking us.
But Lu Ban's brain wouldn't do that. It made him like a computer that kept filling its hard drive with downloaded software, until it was so full that even its shape had changed and it often crashed.
This creates mental problems.
Under guidance, Lu Ban would transform the characters he saw on TV and the words he read in the newspaper into some delusions. This is the explanation of what Lu Ban called the "Silent Place".
The doctor also said that the reason why Lu Ban was always able to escape danger in those exotic adventures and never fall into madness no matter what was going on was because he was the master of these delusions.
When Lu Ban's overly powerful memory, meticulous logical thinking, and a little bit of mental problems collided with each other, he became what he is now.
Everything makes sense.
After all, compared to some foreign land, the Old Ones, evil gods, supernatural powers, or mental illness explanations, it is more in line with cognition.
If you really believe that there are those extraordinary powers in this world, you are crazy.
Lu Ban was still watching the person on TV falling into the water with great interest. Everyone laughed happily. Then there was a knock on the door of the ward and a man pushed the door open and walked in.
It is Feng Yu in the form of a nurse.
She was carrying a tray and came to deliver food to Lu Ban.
Patients like him seem to have a special diet and don't need to go to the cafeteria.
In other words, you are not allowed to go to the cafeteria.
"We have Pangasius today. Although it should be boneless, you still have to be careful when eating it."
Feng Yu reminded, putting the plate on the table.
"Thanks."
Lu Ban said, looking at Feng Yu again.
"You are indeed the woman who can become my mother."