The young nurse, seeing Ning Wei retreat, also didn't want to offend her so quickly, so she chose to step back.
"Then you get into bed, and I'll watch you sleep."
Ning Wei nodded and cooperated by lying back on the bed. "This light is a bit bright, when can it be turned off?"
"It will be turned off when you fall asleep."
"I'm serious." Ning Wei stared intently at the young nurse.
The young nurse felt a little scared but pretended to be calm. "It will be turned off at ten o'clock at night, you just need to hang on a little longer."
After she finished speaking, she gently closed the door and, not forgetting to do so, softly bid Ning Wei goodnight through the door.
Ning Wei was already numb to her behavior and could only hope for an opportunity to let her personally experience the feeling of being restricted even when going to the toilet.
In a mental hospital, there was no difference between day and night, at least not on the floor Ning Wei was on. It was always exceptionally quiet, making her suspect she was the only one there.
Moreover, Ning Wei learned from the young nurse that the room she was currently in was a special ward, like a room of punishment.
At ten o'clock, all the lights were turned off. The only light in the entire room came from the barred window, only replacing sunlight with moonlight.
The entire corridor was silent, and Ning Wei suspected there were no nurses on duty at night.
She first went to the window. The light was insufficient at night, but the absence of blinding glare allowed her to see some things.
Visually, she must have been several stories high. Below was a garden where people took walks, and further ahead was the main gate of the mental hospital.
The dark gray iron gate, separating these patients from the rest of the world. Who would know what abuses they endured inside?
From the ward, the gate appeared to be only the width of a palm, but in reality, a vast chasm lay between them, an insurmountable gulf.
Ning Wei found it tedious to watch, so she took out her secret weapon and began to tinker with the room door again.
The sound of gears turning within the lock was the most beautiful music to Ning Wei. This sound meant she was about to gain a brief moment of freedom, to go and see her unfortunate companions.
With the final gear turning, Ning Wei gently pushed, and the door opened.
She cautiously peered into the nurse's station from earlier in the day. It was pitch black.
She tiptoed over, not hearing any sound from inside the room.
This room was also locked from the outside. It contained many medications, and the door was locked to prevent escaped patients from causing trouble in here.
With no sound and no light, Ning Wei was certain no one was in the room.
She opened the door using the same method and then checked the medications. Most of them were psychiatric drugs, but the most numerous were sedatives.
Under the desk was a trash can, filled with used sedative syringes.
Ning Wei glanced at it with disdain. It seemed this mental hospital was not dedicated to treating illnesses but prioritized controlling patients.
There was nothing else of interest here. Even the scissors on the desk were accounted for, even labeled.
If she didn't want to reveal that she had been out tonight, she couldn't take anything from this room.
Ning Wei felt a pang of regret and gently closed the door, as if nothing had happened.
She surveyed the entire floor. There were ten rooms, but only two were occupied. One was hers, and the other was two rooms away.
She approached the other patient's door and saw the person in bed sleeping soundly.
Ning Wei gently knocked on the door, but the person inside showed no signs of waking up.
This was a genuine mental patient, and Ning Wei dared not open the door and go in carelessly.
At least she was sure this patient wasn't one of her unfortunate companions.
Just as she was about to head downstairs, she heard the sound of "dada" from the stairwell.
Ning Wei quickly returned to her room, closed the door, pulled up the covers, and breathed steadily as if asleep.
As expected, a muffled footsteps approached the door, a flashlight beam swept through the peephole, and then it left.
Ning Wei's heart pounded. This was truly thrilling.
If she hadn't heard the sound and continued downstairs, she would have run directly into this patrolling person.
Ning Wei didn't dare to imagine the ensuing scene.
Even though the footsteps had disappeared, Ning Wei didn't dare to act rashly. Who knew if this person was checking from bottom to top or top to bottom.
There was no clock in this room, so Ning Wei could only count mentally.
When she reached three thousand, she opened her eyes, which were as bright as little stars in the sky.
About an hour had passed. They must have finished their rounds.
Ning Wei wasn't sure, but time was limited at night, and she didn't want to waste it waiting.
She reopened her room door, glanced back at the bed she had made to look like someone was sleeping, and left the floor with satisfaction.
Upon reaching the stairwell, she saw that her floor was the sixth floor, with more floors above.
Ning Wei listened carefully, confirmed there were no other sounds, and quietly climbed upstairs.
Upstairs was a rooftop, with nothing on it. The railing around the perimeter was very high, likely to prevent mental patients from jumping off.
However, it might not have been exclusively for mental patients, as there was a ghost in a white nurse's uniform continuously repeating the action of jumping off.
Was it too exhausting to care for patients that she jumped?
Or did she become assimilated with the patients, going mad herself and jumping?
Or did this ghost also possess the skill of opening doors, secretly putting on a nurse's uniform, and specializing in jumping?
Thinking wildly was useless. Ning Wei watched as the ghost's body was twisted from the fall, her head lolling on her shoulder, her legs tangled like a pretzel.
"You're really persistent, falling like that and still jumping. Such perseverance is commendable," Ning Wei muttered as she approached.
Just as the ghost was about to jump down again, Ning Wei grabbed her clothes and, gritting her teeth, pulled her back up.
The ghost was stunned, unsure of what had happened. It looked back at Ning Wei, and an eyeball fell out. Therefore, Ning Wei guessed that it couldn't see what she looked like at all.
"What are you doing?" The ghost spoke indistinctly. Ning Wei saw that only a few teeth remained in her mouth, so her being able to speak was a miracle.
"I'm saving you. Don't you get tired of jumping repeatedly?" Ning Wei released her hand and looked at her innocently.
Perhaps a particular word touched a nerve in the ghost, as it pushed Ning Wei hard, shouting, "Run! Run!"
After shouting, it jumped down again. This time, Ning Wei didn't manage to catch it.
She watched as the ghost, like an egg, fell with a "splat," then broke into several pieces.