Chapter 123: Wake Him Up!
Men Nan's appearance was quite frightening, as if he had been possessed by something.
After nearly ten minutes, his arms contracted inward again, attempting to push his body up.
After several consecutive failures, Men Nan, who had been lying on the bed, finally sat up.
His eyes were almost entirely white, and Men Nan sat on the edge of the bed, his head slightly drooping.
"Dr. Gao, is he awake?"
Dr. Gao and Chen Ge stood about a foot away from Men Nan, yet Men Nan seemed unable to see them, his white-filled eyes staring straight ahead.
"Probably not." Dr. Gao motioned for Chen Ge to step back, and the two pressed against the wall, trying to avoid touching Men Nan.
"So, is this sleepwalking?" Chen Ge had never seen such a bizarre scene before.
"Sleepwalking is a common sleep disorder. If it were just sleepwalking, his pupils wouldn't change."
The two whispered to each other as Men Nan sat by the bed for a while, then, without any warning, slowly stood up.
"Should we wake him?" Chen Ge's original plan was to wake Men Nan immediately if he showed any unusual movement, but now Men Nan's behavior had far exceeded the scope of mere unusual movement.
"That's not a good idea. Waking him directly might shock his already fragile nerves." Dr. Gao paused for a moment before adding, "I've been watching Men Nan's face, and there's no significant change in his facial muscles. Even if we need to wake him, we should wait until his emotions start to fluctuate."
The two retreated from the bedroom and observed from outside.
Men Nan stood by the bed for a few minutes, then slowly turned his body to face the living room.
He kept his head down, his open eyes three-quarters white. In this state, he took steps and walked out of the bedroom.
"What is he trying to do?" Chen Ge gently nudged Dr. Gao beside him.
"I once treated a child with a habit of sleepwalking. That child had mild obsessive-compulsive disorder. Every night before sleeping, he would repeatedly smooth out the four corners of his blanket over a dozen times. After falling asleep, he would sleepwalk, getting up in the middle of the night to smooth the blanket corners before going back to bed." Dr. Gao stared at Men Nan, his expression worried. "This kind of sleepwalking, where they return to bed on their own, is still manageable. What I fear is the completely uncontrollable kind."
After Men Nan came out of the bedroom, he didn't hesitate or pause at all, heading straight for the bathroom.
As soon as the wooden door opened, the mirror was directly in front of him. Without needing to turn, he walked straight up to it.
He reached out and turned on the faucet, and soon the sound of running water filled the bathroom.
"Is he going to wash his hair?"
Chen Ge looked at Dr. Gao, who was equally astonished. "Don't look at me. This is my first time seeing this too."
The sound of the water changed, and Chen Ge and Dr. Gao quickly moved to the bathroom doorway.
Standing in front of the sink, Men Nan bent over at an excruciatingly slow pace.
His head drooped downward, and Chen Ge and Dr. Gao could already see his upside-down face. Even at this point, his eyes remained wide open, filled with white.
His hair touched the stream of water, and for the first time, Men Nan's expression changed. His facial skin twitched slightly, as if he had seen something terrifying.
Chen Ge felt uneasy under his gaze and turned to look behind him, but the rental apartment was empty.
"Is he seeing something in his dream? Is reality and the dream synchronized at this moment?" Men Nan had once said that in the final stage of his dream, the man who came in from outside was already standing right beside him.
His hair soaked, Men Nan skillfully opened the shampoo and poured a large amount onto his head. His hands stiffly rubbed his hair, but his eyes remained fixed on one direction without moving.
Shampoo dripped down, sliding along the bridge of his nose into his eyes. Just as he instinctively tried to close his eyes, fear, panic, and all kinds of negative emotions surged forth!
"Quick! Wake him up!"
As soon as Dr. Gao shouted, Men Nan in the bathroom grabbed his own neck!
The veins on his arms bulged as he used all his strength to squeeze his neck until it deformed.
Losing his balance, he fell to the ground, shampoo splattering everywhere.
"Wake up! Men Nan!"
Dr. Gao and Chen Ge pried Men Nan's hands apart, but no matter how much they shouted, they couldn't wake him. He was like a madman, trying to choke himself or smash his head against the sink.
"Hold him down!"
Dr. Gao had likely dealt with similar manic patients before. He had Chen Ge pin down Men Nan's upper body while he unbuckled his belt and tied Men Nan's hands behind his back.
"Men Nan, I'm Teacher Gao." After binding his hands, Dr. Gao held Men Nan's head, pressing his palm against his forehead to prevent him from banging it against the wall. "It's okay. It's okay."
Dr. Gao's voice was warm and reassuring, the kind that made people instinctively trust him. But at this moment, his words had no effect. Men Nan's condition didn't improve; instead, it worsened.
He opened his mouth to bite anyone nearby. When he couldn't reach them, he bit his own lips and tongue, drawing blood almost immediately.
"Towel!" By the time Dr. Gao shouted, Chen Ge had already grabbed a towel and stuffed it into Men Nan's mouth.
Even at this point, Men Nan still hadn't woken up. His white-filled eyes rolled upward, and seeing this familiar scene, Chen Ge remembered Men Nan doing the same thing in the amusement park.
"He's looking at the ceiling. That thing is above him!" Chen Ge reached out and grabbed Men Nan's hair, but there was nothing there—it was completely normal.
"Let's get him to the bed first." Dr. Gao didn't know what Men Nan was seeing in his dream. Working together, he and Chen Ge managed to drag Men Nan up from the floor.
With his hands tied and a towel in his mouth, Men Nan still tried every way to hurt himself.
His head thrashed violently. Chen Ge was afraid he would hit the mirror and tried to hold his head still, but when he looked up at the mirror, an unimaginable scene appeared.
His yin pupils slowly contracted. In the mirror, a man was lying on Men Nan's back. The man was as thin as a skeleton, and even more bizarrely, his face was completely asymmetrical, as if two different faces had been stitched together.
The man was now strangling Men Nan's neck, trying to crawl into his body, but Men Nan seemed to be protected by another force, slowing the monster's entry.
They were fighting over Men Nan's body, and that was the main cause of his suffering.
The scene in the mirror was eerie and terrifying, but Dr. Gao was completely unaware. The only one who could help Men Nan now was Chen Ge.
"When I left 303 earlier, I vaguely saw a figure hiding in the mirror. This monster is likely the same as the mirror ghost I encountered before. Smashing the mirror should affect it to some extent." Chen Ge was a decisive person. Without consulting Dr. Gao, he pulled out his tool hammer and aimed it at the mirror, smashing it down!
"Smash!"
Shards of glass flew everywhere, the sound echoing far into the silent midnight. The entire apartment building must have heard it.
As the mirror shattered, Men Nan, trapped in his nightmare, finally woke up. He let out a scream, and his pupils slowly returned to normal.
At the same time, a shadow streaked across the floor, seemingly trying to escape into another room.
Chen Ge shoved Men Nan into Dr. Gao's arms, grabbed his hammer, and chased after it. Just as the shadow was about to slip out the door, Chen Ge picked up the slightly deformed pillow from the sofa—the one Men Nan had been resting on—and hurled it directly!
Thanks to Liliya for the alliance leader! Three chapters tomorrow! Good night!