Chapter 104

The room was clean and thickly carpeted . The edges of the tables and counters were wrapped in thick cloth . There was a fruit plate on the coffee table but nothing sharp like knife or fork .

"Doctor Gao, please come in . " A woman in a white dress welcome Doctor Gao and Chen Ge into the room . She looked to be in her forties and took good care of her appearance .

"Has Wang Xin's condition improved?"

"I've given her the recommended sleeping pills and anti-depressants, but the effect has not been as positive as I hoped . " The woman smiled weakly . "If anything, her condition hasn't improved, but all the side effects did show themselves—dry heaving, shivering, and shaking hands . She could not even grip the chopsticks during lunch, and the food fell all over the table . Doctor Gao, do you think Wang Xin can still be cured?"

"Believe me, she will get better . "

"Hmm . " The woman then noticed Chen Ge behind the doctor . "And this is?"

"My name is Chen Ge . " Chen Ge did not want to waste time . "Can I please meet your daughter?"

"This…" The woman turned to Doctor Gao to ask for his opinion .

"I will join him . " After Doctor Gao nodded, the woman reluctantly let Chen Ge into the room . "The child is in her bedroom . After having one spoon of lunch, she started wailing . "

The woman walked to a door . She knocked lightly on it for quite some time, but there was no response . She placed her hand on the door knob, twisted, and opened the door a sliver . The woman sighed wordlessly before moving back .

"Let's go in . " Doctor Gao looked at Chen Ge . "Do not say anything to provoke the patient, before you do anything, please discuss it with me . "

"Okay," Chen Ge promised before he was let into the room . The carpet in the bedroom was even thicker, and the edges of the cupboards and table were all sanded off . There was not anything sharp in sight; even the windows were installed with anti-theft netting . There was not a bed in the room . Instead, there were two thick mattresses placed together . All of the decorations were white, and there were no personal effects .

Doctor Gao moved to the side, and Chen Ge finally saw the woman he was looking for . A slender girl was lying on the mattress . The white shirt with a round collar barely covered up her frame, her skin was white to the point it looked translucent, and she appeared fragile, like too violent a movement would cause her body to snap .

Realizing that she had guests, the girl slowly sat up in bed . While Chen Ge expected a raging mental patient, the girl was surprisingly normal, if a little reticent .

Doctor Gao squatted down beside the mattress to maintain a level eye contact with the girl and asked kindly, "Wang Xin, does your head still hurt?"

The girl shook her head and took a glance at Chen Ge before putting her head down .

"Then, have you been sleeping?" Doctor Gao asked, but this time, the reaction elicited was much more intense . She reached out to grab at her own hair, and when she released, there were strands of black hairs stuck between her fingers . That was how strong she was as she yanked her hairs out .

"Still can't sleep, huh?" Standing up, the brows of the good doctor were deeply furrowed . "Neither of the medicines had an effect?"

"Doctor Gao, may I speak to her?"

"Wang Xin's current condition is considered stable, so go ahead . " Chen Ge mimicked Doctor Gao and squatted down . The girl probably assumed he was also a doctor, so she did not show much resistance . She merely pulled her sleeves down to cover the red welts on her arms, which felt like they were the result of her own rabid scratching .

The girl before him was frail; she gave the impression of a paper kite, like a single thread was everything that connected her to survival . A single mistake, and she would be lost among the dark clouds before being torn apart by the storm .

"Wang Xin . " Chen Ge pulled out the ballpoint pen from his pocket . "Your friend wants to talk to you, so I brought her with me . "

Wang Xin glanced at the ballpoint pen but did not show any special emotion . She probably wanted to smile at Chen Ge's attempt at a joke but found herself unable to do even that .

Doctor Gao beside him and the woman who was eavesdropping at the door were confused; they did not understand what Chen Ge was up to . Chen Ge was not discouraged by Wang Xin's lack of reaction . He retrieved a piece of white paper from the desk and placed it on the mattress . He hovered the pen above it and prepared to start the Pen Spirit game .

Chen Ge was facing away from Doctor Gao and facing Wang Xin . He moved his lips but made no sound as he mouthed the incantation to invoke the Pen Spirit . "Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, you are my…"

As his lips opened and closed, Wang Xin's focus was slowly attracted to Chen Ge . She turned to look at Chen Ge fully and reading the words on Chen Ge's lips; she flailed her arms around and shrunk back into the walls like she was reminded of something horrible .

"What are you doing‽" The woman dashed into the room to stop Chen Ge alongside Doctor Gao .

"I'm helping her solve the issue in her heart . " Chen Ge shielded the ballpoint pen in his hand . "No one knew what happened to Wang Xin, but that is the source of her illness! Just give me one minute, I only need one minute!"

His conviction was firm as he squatted beside the mattress with the pen in his palm . Initially, Chen Ge merely wanted to finish the Pen Spirit's mission, but when he saw how tortured the girl was, he felt the need to do something .

"Why don't we give him a chance?" After a long confrontation, Doctor Gao chose to trust Chen Ge . "During my sessions with Wang Xin, she has never shown this kind of reaction before . Perhaps this is a good sign . "

Doctor Gao eventually convinced the woman, and they agreed to give Chen Ge three minutes . The two walked to the door, and Chen Ge stood up to close the curtains and the door .

"Wang Xin, your friend has been trying to reach you . " He placed the pen above the paper again and continued to chant . "Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, you are my spirit from my previous life, and I am your spirit in this life…"

As Chen Ge continued to mumble, the girl hiding in the corner started to get increasingly feared . The nightmare-like memory that had haunted her for years started to appear in her heart . As cruel as it was, Chen Ge forced himself to continue . Not long after that, the pen hovering over the paper started to move on its own . Then, beautiful handwriting appeared on the white paper, handwriting that was different from Chen Ge's own .

"Wang Xin, I really didn't expect that a mindless joke would create such a lasting wound in your heart; you must hate me very much, right?"

Wang Xin was stunned when she saw the familiar handwriting . At that moment, her mind was blank; she also did not know what to think anymore .

"You have nothing to do with my death . I merely wanted to scare you when I saw you coming with another friend . Who would have thought the rope would be too tight and the chair would slip?

"You did nothing wrong; it was a silly prank gone very wrong .

"I'm so sorry, Wang Xin . I don't ask that you could forgive me, but I hope that you can remove the bad memories from your mind and strive to live the best life on behalf of the rest of us . "