I saw that the guy was wearing the same blue and white striped patient uniform as me. Regardless of his identity, he was likely another victim brought here by Dean Cang. The door was also locked from the outside, so his situation was probably the same as mine before. If my previous ward hadn't had a secret passage, I might have ended up like the man in front of me, trapped until I turned into bones.
I rammed the door a few more times, and it finally showed signs of loosening. But I knew if I kept this up, my own body would fall apart first. I looked around and spotted a wrench on the floor. I quickly grabbed it and smashed it hard against the lock. Fortunately, this kind of door wasn't secured with chains or anything; otherwise, without bolt cutters, it would have been quite a challenge.
After I opened the door, the guy rushed towards me as if he had seen his own father, hugging me tightly and saying, "Little brother, thank you for saving me!"
"Don't get too excited!" Smelling the strong odor of sweat from the man, I figured he'd been here for some time.
He then let go of me and stepped back, saying, "You don't know?"
"What? How could I possibly know?"
The man looked me up and down, examining my clothes, and said, "So you're like me? I was at work, but suddenly my head hurt really badly in the back of my skull. Then I woke up here."
"Oh? What do you do?"
"I'm a designer at a game development company. What about you?"
I didn't say I was a police officer, just an ordinary civil servant. The man replied, "So you're a government employee. I'm just an employee of a private company. Uh, let's figure out how to get out of here. Let's not worry about anything else. We can call the police after we get out?"
I could tell that the man was indeed a victim who didn't know how he got here, and there shouldn't be any problem. So I decided to team up with him for now. I said, "Alright, what do you know about this mental hospital?"
"Not much. I've only been here a few days. Fortunately, I met you, otherwise, I would have starved to death here. But your demeanor is a bit hard to describe. You're not... that kind of person, are you?"
"No, don't think too much of it. Let's go!" I didn't want to delve further into the topic, and the man didn't press. On the way, he told me his name was Lei Junyi, and he worked in online games. However, his company's games were mediocre and didn't make much money; he mostly just slacked off there. I observed his words and actions and concluded that he wasn't a pretender, so I gradually let down my guard.
Suddenly, I remembered something and asked Lei Junyi, "Have you heard about anyone being skinned recently in Guangming City?"
"Uh, you mean that news? It's quite scary. Are murderers so perverted nowadays?" Lei Junyi asked curiously.
Although he appeared surprised, I vaguely sensed that his reaction seemed a bit out of place.
How could this be? Could he know something about the inside of this case? But I didn't probe further at the time, thinking he was just an ordinary person and couldn't possibly know.
We reached the second floor. Besides us, there was still no one here. Lei Junyi couldn't help but shout out. In fact, I didn't want him to do that, but before I could stop him, he had already shouted several times.
We navigated through the treatment rooms of the mental hospital. We saw many electric chairs and iron bed frames placed there, as well as an operating room. If I wasn't mistaken, the mental patients must have received treatment here, but this method was probably not legitimate.
This mental hospital was likely shut down for this very reason. Lei Junyi seemed to have come to the same conclusion. As we walked, we pushed open the door to an operating room. We chose this room because the ones we had encountered earlier were all locked. After pushing it open, we discovered a skeleton sitting on the wall ahead. Lei Junyi took a sudden step back upon seeing it. I, however, calmly crouched down in front of the skeleton: "Been dead for so long? How is this different from the male victim we saw at the counter? Judging by his clothing, he should be a doctor here..."
I muttered. Lei Junyi said, "Why aren't you scared, little brother?"
I didn't answer and continued to carefully examine the skeleton. After a while, I said, "The diameter of the proximal end of the femur is slightly less than 0.047 meters. This is male skeletal remains; it would be smaller for females. The acetabulum has completely fused, with no signs of arthritis. The deceased should be between 25 and 45 years old... His skull seems to have a deformity. What is this a sign of? Is it symmetric parietal bone depression?"
"Holy crap, little brother, what's with your skills? Are you a doctor?" Lei Junyi asked excitedly, but his face showed a hint of pre-knowledge.
I still ignored him and continued to analyze, "This disease is rare, and it's remarkable he lived to grow up. Symmetric parietal bone depression has many names, with different scholars calling it differently. This condition is a rare cranial bone disease, the cause of which is still unclear. It's more common in middle-aged and elderly people, with no obvious clinical symptoms. Most patients are discovered due to suspicion of other head-related conditions. The main pathological change is atrophy of the parietal bones. X-ray shows thinning of the parietal bones, atrophy or disappearance of the diploë, and inward depression, thinning, or disappearance of the outer table, while the inner table remains intact. When the lesion is widespread, it can involve the frontal and occipital bones. In terms of diagnosis, it mainly relies on typical X-ray findings and physical signs. As long as one has a certain understanding of this disease, it's not difficult to diagnose when encountering such a case."
As I spoke, I noticed a beam of light cast on Lei Junyi's fingers. They were hands covered in calluses.
"Oh? Symmetric parietal something syndrome, I think I've read about it. I was designing a medical game before, so I learned a lot. But you're too professional. I guess you must be a surgeon."
"Is that so? Lei Junyi, but I advise you to stop pretending. You already knew all this, didn't you?" I suddenly stood up and turned around to glare at Lei Junyi!
He stepped back and waved his hands, "Holy crap! Little brother, what are you doing! What do you mean I already knew? I don't understand what you're talking about!"
"Stop pretending. There was a narrow passage behind your ward. Did you think I didn't notice? You could have definitely escaped, but you waited there. You must have been waiting for me. And when you mentioned the skinning case, you weren't surprised; you were acting as if it was expected. Your jaw muscles and eyebrows didn't move, and your fingers showed no abnormal trembling..."