Under Merlin's series of brainwashing, Lin Qiye and Li Yifei stayed where they were.
"You mean... the world we live in is not real?" Lin Qiye had a strange expression.
"right."
"Do you have any evidence?"
"Isn't it proof that our myths suddenly appeared in your world?"
"… "Lin Qiye rubbed his eyes and suddenly felt that… what Merlin said seemed to make sense.
"But if the world we live in is fake, does that mean that we ourselves are fake?" Li Yifei couldn't help but speak.
"Yes." Merlin nodded as a matter of course.
"In that case, how can you, a false existence, question the reality of the world?" Li Yifei paused, "Just like you just said, fish will not question creatures outside the ocean, and two-dimensional creatures will not question the world outside the plane...
So, when you start to question whether the world is fake, is your existence itself... also fake?"
When Merlin heard Li Yifei's words, he was struck by lightning and petrified on the spot.
Lin Qiye's eyes changed instantly when he looked at Li Yifei.
"Do you also understand philosophy?" he asked close to Li Yifei's ear.
"No, I just didn't figure it out." Li Yifei scratched his head.
Lin Qiye looked at him meaningfully, then turned to look at Merlin, "You said you are a scholar looking for the real world, have you found it?"
Merlin's eyes lit up again!
"Found it!" he said confidently, "I don't know how long ago, I used magic to communicate with a mysterious plane. Although I don't know where it is exactly, I can vaguely predict that it is the real world!"
"What is that world like?"
"It seems to be at the bottom of the sea. There are all kinds of small houses inside, some in the shape of pineapples, some in the shape of human heads, there are shops selling strange food, and there seems to be a strange yellow cube..."
Merlin began to recall what he had seen and heard at that time. His eyes widened and his body began to twitch unconsciously...
Lin Qiye frowned, realizing that things were not simple, and silently took a half step back with Li Yifei.
"The real world... I saw the real world!!" Merlin's hands and feet danced wildly with excitement. The calmness and wisdom in his eyes had long disappeared, replaced by a strange madness.
His body twisted violently, and after a moment, he turned into a pink starfish.
He stretched out his hand, and the staff next to the chair turned into a fishing net. He ran quickly to Lin Qiye and started dancing with joy.
"SpongeBob!!
Let's go catch jellyfish!"
Patrick Merlin circled Lin Qiye several times, then ran out of the ward with the fishing net and ran in the yard. As he ran, he jumped up and the fishing net in his hand danced wildly, as if catching some invisible things.
Suddenly, he saw Nyx sitting in a rocking chair in a daze...
"Boss! Boss! You are here too?" Patrick Merlin came up to Nyx and asked happily.
Nyx was stunned, staring blankly at the pink unknown object, and fell into deep thought...
After a moment, she stretched out her trembling hand, hugged Patrick Merlin into her arms, and spoke with tears in her eyes:
"You... are you my grandson too?!"
"Packard!"
"My grandson!"
"Packard!"
"Hey grandson, grandma is here!"
"… "
The two who witnessed everything on the second floor...
Lin Qiye: (?)
Li Yifei: (?)
"I think I roughly know what's wrong with him..." Lin Qiye watched the scene silently and spoke softly.
"How should I put it..." Li Yifei scratched his head, "It seems a bit inexplicably touching..."
Lin Qiye pushed up his glasses and said in a doctor's tone:
"During the long process of exploration, the 'real world' has become Merlin's inner demon. In order to find it, Merlin used prophecy and magic countless times. In the end, he did not know what strange magic circle he created, connected to the so-called 'real world', and transmitted his consciousness to it...
Whether that world was the 'real world' or not, I don't know, but there is no doubt that it had some strange effect on his mental consciousness, eventually leading to mental disorder."
"Then what should we do?" Li Yifei felt a headache.
"… I don't know." Lin Qiye shook his head. After all, he was not a real psychiatrist. Although he could roughly deduce what happened, he really had no idea how to treat it.
Should I go to Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital again and try the same trick? But it's Chinese New Year now, so the doctors in the psychiatric department will probably be on holiday, right
Lin Qiye looked at Merlin, who was jumping around lively below, and sighed slowly.
"Before he was introduced to the real world, he was relatively normal. This should only be a short-term symptom... Anyway, let's inject him with a sedative and see if he can return to his original state. This is too much trouble."
"Who's going?"
"What do you think?"
"… "
A humble nurse who was exploited by a black-hearted boss sighed and walked towards the pharmacy alone.
After a while, Li Yifei was holding a large syringe and running around chasing Patrick Merlin. Nyx followed closely behind, shouting:
"Xiao Fei! He's your brother, you can't be so cruel!"
The three of them chased each other in the yard for a while, and finally Li Yifei successfully injected the tranquilizer into Merlin's body. The latter immediately calmed down, turned back into human form, staggered on the road for a while, and then sat down on the ground with a thud.
Li Yifei was also exhausted and sat on the ground, breathing heavily.
"This job... is so fucking tiring!"
Lin Qiye walked forward and checked Merlin's condition. He found that he was just a little fuzzy-minded. It was probably the sequelae of the confusion just now. There was nothing serious.
Although Merlin's illness is serious, it will not last for a long time. At least when the real world is not mentioned, he can still communicate normally. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much. The main problem now is to think of a treatment method first.
He patted Li Yifei on the shoulder and said, "Take good care of them. I'm leaving now."
Then, in Li Yifei's resentful eyes, Lin Qiye disappeared behind the door of the hospital.
…
early morning.
Lin Qiye woke up slowly from the bed and looked out the window. He didn't know when the whole scene outside the window was covered in silver.
"Did it snow so heavily last night?" Lin Qiye muttered, walked to the window, stopped and looked into the distance.
The streets outside were already covered in white, and large flakes of snow were slowly falling from the sky, condensing on the edges of the windows and gradually melting.
In Cangnan, such heavy snow is rare.
Just as Lin Qiye was about to wash up, he suddenly stopped, looked back at the corner of the house, and uttered a light exclamation.
In the corner, a little gray mouse was lying there quietly, not moving.