Men Nan honestly looked quite scary, like he was possessed. After about ten minutes, his arms reached forward once more to try to push himself up. After several failures, Men Nan finally managed to sit up.
His eyes were fully white, and Men Nan sat on the bed, his head slightly lowered.
"Doctor Gao, has he woken up?"
Chen Ge and Doctor Gao were standing about one meter away from Men Nan, but the young man did not seem to notice them as his eyes stared forward. His pupils were rolled back to his head, so they could only see white of his eyes.
"Probably not." Doctor Gao signaled for Chen Ge to take a step back. Both of them leaned against the wall to avoid running into Men Nan.
"Then, is this sleepwalking?" This was the first time Chen Ge had seen something so weird as well.
"Sleepwalking is a type of common sleep impediment, but if it was just pure sleepwalking, his pupils would not have rolled back so far."
The two communicated softly. Men Nan sat on the bed for a while, and without warning, he slowly stood up.
"Should we wake him?" Their original plan had been to wake Men Nan when he did anything weird, and this was already past the definition of something weird.
"No, if we wake him now, we might break his already fragile mind." Doctor Gao paused before adding, "I've been watching Men Nan's face and following the changes to his expression. Even if we are forced to wake him, we should wait until there's a drastic change in his emotions."
The two exited the bedroom and stood outside for observation. Men Nan stood beside his bed for a few minutes before slowly turning to face the living room. His head was still lowered, and his eyes were open, but they were mostly white. In such a condition, he moved his legs to walk out of the bedroom.
Chen Ge nudged Doctor Gao lightly. "What is he doing now?"
"I've treated a child who sleepwalked before. He suffered from slight OCD, and every night he fell asleep, he would spend more than half an hour fixing the mattress to make sure the four edges lined up perfectly. After he fell asleep, he would sleepwalk in the middle of the night to again fix the edges before going back to sleep." Doctor Gao looked at Men Nan, and his face was full of worry. "That kind of sleepwalking that eventually return to bed is not so bad; we're most afraid of sleepwalkers who attempt things that are unexpected."
After Men Nan exited the bedroom, he did not stop or hesitate and head for the bathroom directly. The wooden door was pushed open, and without turning, he walked toward the mirror.
The faucet was turned on, and the bathroom was soon filled with the sound of rushing water.
"Is he planning to wash his hair?"
Chen Ge looked at Doctor Gao, who looked back at him with equal shock. "Don't look at me; this is the first time I've seen this as well."
The sound of water intensified, and Chen Ge as well as Doctor Gao rushed to the bathroom. Men Nan, who stood before the sink, was slowly bending down.
His head lowered, and they both caught a glimpse of Men Nan's upside-down face. Even then, his pupils were nowhere to be seen. His head touched the water and Men Nan's expression finally changed. His face twitched slightly like he had seen something incredibly scary.
Chen Ge quivered under his gaze. He turned back to look, but there was nothing inside the room.
"Has he spotted something in his dream? Reality and the dream are connected?" Men Nan had once mentioned the man entered the room from outside and stood beside him.
His hair was wet, and Men Nan masterfully grabbed the hair shampoo and squirted a generous amount on his head. He scrubbed his scalp mechanically, but his eyes were fixed in a certain direction.
The shampoo slid down his hair, and he instinctively wanted to close his eyes when the shampoo reached his eyes. At that moment, various negative emotions like fear and panic all surfaced at once!
"Quick! Wake him up!"
The moment Doctor Gao shouted this command, Men Nan reached out to strangle himself!
The veins on his arms popped as he tried to snap his own neck. His body lost balance, and he collapsed to the floor, the shampoo and water splashing everywhere.
"Wake up! Men Nan!" Doctor Gao and Chen Ge both tried to pry his arms away, but no matter how loud they yelled, the young man did not respond. He continued to strangle himself and tried to use his head to knock against the sink.
"Detain him!"
Doctor Gao had probably faced similar patients before. He expertly asked Chen Ge to hold Men Nan's upper body while he whipped out his belt to tie Men Nan's wrists together.
"Men Nan, this is Doctor Gao." After his hands were tied, Doctor Gao held Men Nan's head with his palm on his forehead to stop the young man from knocking his head into the wall. "It's alright now; it's alright now."
Doctor Gao's voice was gentle and kind; it had a trustworthy quality to it, but it did not seem to be at all effective on Men Nan. The young man's condition did not improve but only got worse. He opened his jaws to bite at the people around him, and when that failed, he bit on his tongue and soon blood seeped out of his lips.
"Get me the towel!" Before Doctor Gao shouted that command, Chen Ge had already stuck the towel into Men Nan's mouth. By then, Men Nan should have woken up already, but he had not. His pupils kept moving upward, and Chen Ge was suddenly reminded of something. He had seen the young man do the same thing before at the park.
He's looking upwards! The thing is on his head! Chen Ge tried to grab above Men Nan's hair, but there was nothing there.
"Let's get him onto the bed first." Doctor Gao also did not know what had happened in Men Nan's dream. Both he and Chen Ge cooperated to haul Men Nan off the floor. His hands were bound, and a towel was stuck in his mouth, but Men Nan still tried his best to hurt himself.
His head wiggled about violently. Chen Ge was afraid that he might knock into the mirror, so he walked forward to steady his head, but when he raised his head to look into the mirror, something shocking was reflecting in it.
Chen Ge's pupils narrowed, and a man was lying on Men Nan's back in the mirror. The man was as thin as twig, but his face was uneven on both sides, like a line was split down the middle and two faces were sewn together to form one.
The man was strangling Men Nan's neck and attempting to enter his body, but another force from within Men Nan was stopping the monster, causing it to slow down. Both parties were fighting over Men Nan's body, and that was the main source of his pain. The sight in the mirror was scary, but Doctor Gao could not see it. Now, only Chen Ge could help Men Nan.
When I left Room 303, I saw a shadow escaping into the mirror; this monster is probably of the same type as the mirror monster that I've dealt with before, so breaking the mirror should be able to hurt it somewhat. Chen Ge did not discuss this with Doctor Gao. He took out his mallet and swung it at the mirror!
The mirror pieces shot everywhere, and the sound shattered the night's silence; the whole building had probably heard that. As the mirror crumbled, Men Nan, who was trapped in the nightmare, finally showed signs of waking up. He screamed, and his pupils slowly returned to normal.
At the same time, a shadow glided across the floor as if it was trying to escape.
Chen Ge pushed Men Nan toward Doctor Gao, and he jumped up holding the mallet. By the time he exited the bathroom, the shadow had already reached the front door. Chen Ge picked up Xiaoxiao, who had gotten a little misshapen from being his sleep buddy, and threw her at the shadow!