When Ning Wei arrived, she saw him talking to himself in front of the wall.
Alright, now there were only nine normal people left.
It was exactly five female passengers and four male passengers.
The female passengers were Ning Wei herself, Tang Tang, Wang Jing, Zhu Yilian, and Yuanyuan.
The male passengers were Li Ye, Mei Nan, Song Zhi, and a young man named Xiang Wang.
After only a few stops, the full bus was now left with these nine, and one of them wasn't even human, meaning only eight were genuine passengers.
Ning Wei felt exhausted, it was too much effort to lead her teammates.
She made a round and finally arrived at Tang Tang's room.
She had already fallen asleep, but her eyes immediately opened when she heard the door.
"You scared me to death." Seeing Ning Wei walk in, she clutched her chest in fright.
"From now on, no matter what noise you hear, I don't recommend you sit up immediately. That kind of reaction isn't something a mentally ill person should have."
Tang Tang nodded, humbly accepting the advice.
She was still not careful enough when dealing with unexpected situations.
"How are you?" After not showing up for two consecutive nights, Tang Tang was very worried about Ning Wei's safety.
"The nurse put the medicine in the food, and I couldn't spit it all out, so I've been sleeping all day." She felt she could still trust Tang Tang with this.
"They put the medicine in your food, have they targeted you?" Tang Tang was perceptive enough to realize this.
Ning Wei nodded: "We now know the secret is beneath the elevator. It's a good thing they're targeting me, since none of you are reliable, I might as well go see for myself."
"I'll go with you!" Tang Tang said without hesitation.
"We're not on the same floor; you wouldn't even know if I were taken away."
"Don't worry about me, Li Ye will be with me. As long as you ensure your own safety and clarity before we leave."
"Then you must be extra careful! If you really can't... if you really can't, then don't worry about us!"
Ning Wei looked at her in surprise.
Tang Tang looked into Ning Wei's eyes and repeated herself.
"I know you have the ability to leave on your own. So if you're truly cornered, just leave us and rush out with Li Ye."
"Don't say things like that," Ning Wei frowned. "Trust me! I can lead everyone to safety! It's just a mental hospital, at worst I'll burn it down. It's not like I haven't set fires before."
Tang Tang said nothing, hugging Ning Wei tightly.
Ning Wei was not used to physical contact, her body stiffened slightly.
Tang Tang held her, her breathing close, a living, breathing life.
Ning Wei patted Tang Tang's back, "Don't overthink it, everything will pass."
After leaving Tang Tang's room and walking up the stairs to the fifth floor, Ning Wei found the familiar ghost in front of the elevator again.
"Don't run!" Ning Wei struck first, a drop of blood flying out.
But the ghost was extremely cunning, it directly dodged behind the elevator. The blood dripped onto the elevator door, and there was no reaction.
Li Ye heard her voice and immediately came to the elevator door.
Seeing a drop of blood on the elevator door, he silently wiped it away.
"There are many ghosts down there. You won't be able to subdue them even if you bleed yourself dry. Save your strength."
"How do you know?"
Li Ye didn't answer, placing his hand on the elevator door and closing his eyes to feel again.
Unfortunately, his abilities were limited now, and he could only see ghosts desperately trying to climb up, and nothing else.
"There are many ghosts in the elevator shaft below. The secret is indeed down there, but I can't see it."
"You have X-ray vision?"
Li Ye shook his head. "This is just a small ability of mine, but for some special reasons, I can't help you much right now."
"Who are you?"
Li Ye glanced at Ning Wei. "Don't ask. I won't tell you even if you ask a hundred times."
"Then how about I ask a question you can answer?"
Ning Wei extended her hand, indicating for Li Ye to ask.
"Can we become companions who trust each other?"
Ning Wei was testing Li Ye's sincerity.
"Don't worry, stop overthinking," Li Ye patted Ning Wei's shoulder, then turned and returned to the ward.
The next day, to avoid arousing suspicion from the nurses, Ning Wei forced herself to sleep until late morning, thus missing breakfast and, naturally, her medication.
Taking too much of this medicine wasn't good, so she'd skip a dose if she could.
She sat up groggily, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mu Qing constantly observing her through the peephole in the door.
Ning Wei's acting was superb, so she decided to continue the act.
Not only were her movements slow, but she even fell to the ground.
With a loud "bang," Mu Qing was caught off guard.
The head nurse had instructed that Ning Wei must not get into trouble, so Mu Qing quickly placed paper and a pen on the ground, opened the door, and helped Ning Wei up.
"Are you alright?"
"I feel weak all over," Ning Wei said in a listless tone.
"You didn't eat breakfast; you must be too hungry. Lie down on the bed, and I'll get you something to eat."
Mu Qing was quick, bringing back two pieces of bread.
She secretly handed them to Ning Wei: "Don't let the head nurse know. Eat quickly."
Ning Wei nodded, took the bread, hid under the covers, and ate ravenously.
Hearing her chewing, Mu Qing quietly left the room.
According to regulations, patients were not allowed to eat random food; they had to eat what was prepared in the cafeteria.
But seeing Ning Wei so weak, Mu Qing couldn't help herself.
Mu Qing had just graduated from nursing school and completed her first year of internship at a public hospital. However, due to subtle and overt pressure from others, her family used connections to get her a position at the mental hospital.
Ning Wei was the first mental patient she was responsible for, and like all the patients she had seen before, she seemed ordinary.
Compared to the patients other nurses were responsible for, Mu Qing was already very grateful.
She just wanted to work hard here and see every patient through.
Now that Ning Wei was likely to leave the hospital, she couldn't let anything happen to her; she had to ensure she left safely.
Shedding the label of a mental patient and starting a new life.
Thinking this way, Mu Qing felt her work was noble.
Even though many people didn't understand, they only thought nurses like her were nannies for the insane.
To avoid taking too much medicine, Ning Wei had been going hungry.
Today, Mu Qing bringing her bread made Ning Wei see her in a new light.
The bread definitely didn't have any medicine in it, so she could eat it without worry.
Mu Qing didn't give her much, fearing that if Ning Wei ate too much, she wouldn't be able to eat lunch, which would surely arouse suspicion from the head nurse.
For Ning Wei, any food was better than none; the feeling of hunger was truly unbearable.