Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 299: Confrontation of Personalities

Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Confrontation of Personalities

Xu Huo was very lucid; he knew that Xu Zhi had died, and even if he saw Xu Zhi in the hospital, it was merely his hallucination.

This hospital might not be where the copy resided, but it undoubtedly affected people’s mental states.

After escaping, what he saw as the "real world", the "family members" who insisted on sending him to the hospital for treatment, the ’relatives’ who visited, were all steps toward destroying his spiritual world.

The most firmly held, deeply ingrained beliefs had been overthrown; anyone would begin to doubt themselves. Those who came in were more or less influenced, and the worse a person’s state, the more perfect the psychiatric hospital seemed to be.

"Xu Huo?" Yu Qingqing waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"I want to change into a different set of clothes," Xu Huo said as he walked toward his ward. As he entered, he opened his wardrobe, which contained a complete set of new clothes and shoes.

After changing out of his patient’s uniform, he headed for the visiting room.

By this time, it had gotten dark.

Father Xu and Lady Fang were leaning on each other, their eyes red as they saw him. Xu Zhi stood to one side looking significantly more mature and world-weary than what Xu Huo remembered.

"You didn’t shave your beard," Xu Huo pointed to Xu Zhi’s chin.

Xu Zhi smiled, "I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had time to tidy up my appearance. You, on the other hand, look pretty neat; not bad."

They all sat down, and Lady Fang was the first to ask how he was doing in the hospital, how he felt, if the food was enough, and she even took out a big bag of clothes she had prepared in advance.

Xu Huo accepted the items and turned to Xu Zhi, "I heard you went abroad, what kind of job are you doing now?"

"It’s not a proper job; I’m just teaching around the place," Xu Zhi said tiredly. "I still want to start a research institute and work for myself. Working for others means having to follow orders, which is neither free nor comfortable."

"Doing it on your own is good. Are you short of money?" Xu Huo asked.

Xu Zhi laughed, "Can I still ask you for money if I’m short?"

"Don’t worry about it. I’m not short of money, and neither is the family. Mom and Dad are doing quite well. We just miss you a little. You just stay here and get better, and I’ll come to take you out after a while. Then our whole family can go on a road trip."

Xu Huo extended his hand to him.

"What’s this for?" Xu Zhi looked at him curiously.

"Do you have the keys?" Xu Huo asked.

Xu Zhi’s expression slowly changed, the warm smile disappearing, mixed with cold hardness and a touch of sadness. He asked, "Can’t you just live a normal life? Mom and Dad are looking forward to you coming home."

"Whether family members are together or apart, they are still family, and it doesn’t change whether I’m normal or not," Xu Huo withdrew his hand. "Over the years, I’ve kept revisiting that moment you were shot, leaving without saying a word. Mom fell into depression for two years and divorced Dad to move abroad; Dad also has a new family. It seems like we are all moving forward, but we can never turn this page."

"Now I have the chance to turn this page."

Xu Zhi cried, slowly pulling out a key from his bag and placing it on the table, "Xu Huo, don’t forget me, okay?"

"I won’t." Xu Huo picked up the key and the door appeared before him again. He stepped back onto the spiral staircase and began to run down it, accelerating.

Soon, the first person appeared, followed by the second and the third.

The three of them followed behind him, but no one caught up. Then one by one, they disappeared, after a while, the process repeated itself.

It was a full twenty-four hours before he reached the base of the tower. This time the round tower wasn’t as bright as before, in the dim light, the black sliver on the round table had enlarged, and the poker card, bloodstained dagger, and White Shelled Book all seemed dimmer.

Xu Huo walked over and sat down, placing his hands on the table. The White Shelled Book lit up first.

A few minutes later, the black sliver shrunk, and at the same time, the inside of the tower began to brighten. The light became so bright that he instinctively closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, there were three more chairs next to the round table. Sitting on the chairs were three mannequin-like shadows, three faceless black figures, all turning their heads to look at him.

Xu Huo didn’t speak but tried to open the book in front of him. The book wouldn’t open.

After a standoff of half an hour, one of the shadows raised its poker card and asked him, "Guess what suit this is?"

In a voice exactly like his own, yet slightly higher in pitch, and with a mocking tone.

"Hearts," Xu Huo answered the question.

The poker card was placed back on the table, this time face up, it was the "Ace of Hearts," but its suit was visibly melting away.

Xu Huo frowned as the shadow behind the poker card disappeared.

The second shadow picked up the dagger in a flat, emotionless voice, "Whose blood?"

"Xu Zhi’s."

The shadow stabbed itself in the chest with the dagger, then it too disappeared.

Now only one shadow remained, along with the black sliver in front of him.

The third shadow didn’t ask a question but patted the black sliver. The object, which had been lying on the table like a piece of paper, suddenly turned into a shadow that spread rapidly, engulfing everything including the round tower and the spiral staircase, leaving behind only Xu Huo and the White Shelled Book in front of him.

Xu Huo couldn’t see himself; he could only see the book in front of him. He reached out, grabbed it, and flipped open the cover.

White spread from the book, quickly creating a path in the pure blackness leading to the spiral staircase and then winding upwards, turning all the steps white. The uneven stone surface bubbled like boiling water before calming down after a few minutes and slowly becoming smooth.

Xu Huo looked around and without lingering further, he stepped back onto the spiral staircase.

The new steps were like the surface of water; each step he took caused ripples to spread out, and with them, the white spread a little further around. As he moved, the originally neat edges of the steps undulated like waves, increasing the area step by step.

Exiting the round tower, he was back in his room. Xu Huo rubbed his forehead and sat down on the edge of the bed, pondering how to control that round tower.

"Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!" A frantic knocking came from the door. He turned to see it was Tall Black One, and said, "The door isn’t locked."

Tall Black One turned the doorknob forcefully, but the door wouldn’t open. In a panic, he said, "Please, open the door for me..."

Xu Huo realized the other’s Psychic Power had intensified. He quickly went to open the door, and Tall Black One squeezed in and quickly shut and locked it, while saying, "There’s a strange person chasing me!"

"There’s nothing outside," Xu Huo glanced outside.

"There is! There is!" Tall Black One was agitated, leaning against the door, and peeking out from a corner of the glass window, "He has stitches on his face, clearly a man, but he was holding a woman’s hand, had manicured nails... Ah! When I came out, I overheard the doctors talking; they’re going to use us for human experiments, turn us into monsters!"

Xu Huo knocked him down with a punch, dragged him to a corner, "Just stay put for now. If you really start imagining monsters, that’ll be trouble for me too."