Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 123

A faint smell of blood permeated the long and narrow corridor, complementing the deep shadows which were seemingly trapped within the dirty and blood-stained walls.

There was a buzzing tube light not too far away from them, casting a faint and dim light downward onto the corridor.

The conjecture they had just put forward earlier sent a shudder down their spines—

In the numerous split personalities of such a cold-blooded serial killer, there would obviously be an evil personality. The reason why this personality killed the bosses on -3F and -2F, then tried to open the door on -1F was likely to gain control of Edwin’s body.

Mo Yi lifted his gaze. He took a final look at the corpse hanging on the wall, then turned to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing beside him.

“Let’s go, let’s go to that room to have a look. Maybe we can find some clues.”

Jiang Yuanrou’s complexion was still pale. She took a deep breath, and then nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

With their current situation, there was nothing they could do even if their guess was true. What they should focus on was searching for clues and finding a way to get out of here.

Mo Yi glanced down at his watch. There was less than an hour left until the end of this instance.

Not only had they not uncovered any relevant clues, they have also not found Jiang Yuanbai yet.

And it would be impossible to save Jiang Yuanbai if they missed this chance where they were in the same instance.

This was the first time that Mo Yi hoped the survival time required by the instance would be longer, so that they could stay here for more time.

He lowered his wrist, exhaled slowly, then moved his fingers slightly to adjust the angle of the flashlight in his hand.

The straight beam of light shone into the deep darkness, its flickering light illuminating the vague outlines of the undulating shadows ahead.

The two walked towards the depths of the corridor one after the other.

Although the bosses on this level were no longer a threat to them, there were still more hidden and unknown dangers waiting for them. They had to be more cautious.

The atmosphere in the hallway was heavy and tense, and one couldn’t help but be anxious for whatever may happen next.

They soon came to the door of the blacked-out room.

Mo Yi turned his head and glanced at Jiang Yuanrou. They exchanged a look of affirmation, before he pushed on the door with his fingertips.

The door slid open slowly and silently into the darkness within.

The gaping door frame was akin to a huge dark mouth, as if waiting for something to step into its empty insides.

Mo Yi took several steps forward and used his flashlight to illuminate the room—

The area inside was not small, with the cold iron beds scattered disorderly and some hanging curtains knocked over onto the damp and the dirty ground. It was difficult to decipher the original colour of those curtains, and only the half-rusted mottled metal parts were still gleaming under the light.

On one side of the room was the familiar iron bed, with stained straps strewn across the surface. An old dusty instrument was placed on the table beside it, with countless densely packed wires hanging down and electrodes of different colours connected to the other end.

And the two other iron beds which the dead bodies were once bound on were, unsurprisingly, empty.

Just like the human corpse in the room on -1F, it disappeared utterly, not even leaving behind the blood on the ground.

He swept the light of the flashlight across the iron beds. The belts were scattered on the dirty leather bed and sharp ice picks lay quietly on the top of it, with their metal tips glinting coldly.

But the beds were completely clean, without any trace of brain pulp or blood.

Mo Yi stared at the beds thoughtfully, then moved the flashlight to other corners of the room.

The butterfly outlined with blood on the wall of the room was still bright and dazzling, its ugly and bloated body still stretched across the wall and ceiling, looking distorted and weird.

Jiang Yuanrou took a few steps forward. She walked to the bed used for electric shock therapy and stretched out her hand behind the old instrument——

Mo Yi turned to look, and noticed that she was picking up a dusty medical record from the corner of the table.

Jiang Yuanrou patted off the dust on it, then turned on her flashlight and read the medical record. After a quick glance through its contents, she looked at Mo Yi with a serious expression.

“Come and see this.”

Mo Yi strode over and looked down at the open folder in Jiang Yuanrou’s hand.

The paper inside was very old. Its rough surface was a dull grey-brown, and the handwriting on it was also very blurred, which made it very hard to read under the dim light.

It seemed to be a record of some treatment methods. The patient’s name and information had been blurred out, but the recorded treatment methods could still be seen—

Electric shock, craniotomy, lobotomy…

With the flipping of each page, cruel methods which had been banned in modern society surfaced before their eyes one after another, their descriptions more than enough to make people shudder.

This folder was obviously the record of experiments which had been conducted in this room.

The subtle sound of flipping pages resounded in the empty and silent room, scratching gently on their eardrums, which made the listener uneasy.

But before long, they reached the last page.

Compared with the previous pages, this page looked clean, with only the name of the patient printed on the top of the page.

The flashlight illuminated the handwriting on it clearly and distinctly. It was exactly the same handwriting as on the previous pages:

Edwin Carter.

Stunned, both Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou raised their heads to look at each other—

A conjecture emerged in their hearts at the same time… Edwin used himself as an experimental subject in order to find a cure for mental illness.

According to modern-day common sense, these cruel and ignorant treatments at that time could not cure mental patients at all, but would actually bring about even more serious consequences, be it physically or mentally.

Edwin himself had a tragic childhood experience, due to the influence of his perverted murderous father and a family history of mental illness.

Therefore, such experiments not only failed to cure his mental condition but aggravated his mental illness.

Perhaps this was why Edwin gradually changed from using extreme methods of treating mental patients to pure massacre, after moving back to his father’s old house.

Mo Yi stared at the flamboyant signature on the dark yellow paper and subconsciously stroked the paper with his fingers.

Perhaps… It was also at this time that Edwin split out this most terrifying evil personality.

Jiang Yuanrou let out a long sigh, then shut the folder with a little force. The paper inside flashed slightly under the light of the flashlight.

Mo Yi’s eyes paused when he suddenly caught the flashing handwriting under the light—

He reached out and grabbed, saying in a low voice, “Wait.”

Jiang Yuanrou froze, stopping her motions as she stared at Mo Yi questioningly while asking, “What’s wrong?”

Mo Yi took over the medical record folder from Jiang Yuanrou with a serious face, and then reopened the folder to the last page. Next, he turned over the page with his fingers, flipping it to the back——

Their hearts jumped at the same time.

There was an ugly butterfly at the back of the paper, visible under the light. Its bloated body ominously occupied the whole sheet, and the pattern on its huge wings was in the shape of eyes, lifelessly staring back at everyone who looked at it.

Was there a special meaning as to why this butterfly appeared at the back of this page?

If Edwin’s experiment on himself led to the birth of that evil personality…

Then did it mean that this butterfly, in fact, had nothing to do with Edwin’s other personalities?

Mo Yi was startled. As if he’d suddenly thought of something, he whipped his head around to look at Jiang Yuanrou with burning eyes, and asked her in a low voice.

“When you were on -2F, after you were caught by that woman, were you stuck in the same room as her until I went to rescue you?”

Jiang Yuanrou was taken aback by Mo Yi’s question, but still nodded.

Mo Yi’s breathing hitched. He stared at Jiang Yuanrou and asked the next question.

“Were you still conscious during that period?”

Before Jiang Yuanrou could answer, he continued to ask, “Do you still remember what she did to you during that time?”

Jiang Yuanrou frowned and said with some uncertainty.

“I lost a lot of blood at that time, and was soaked in ice water, so my memory is a bit unclear. However, I seem to have the impression that… she was… talking to me? Or telling me a story…”

Mo Yi’s throat bobbed. His voice was a little hoarse. He forced himself to calm down, and after a few seconds, he continued speaking.

“Before the 20th century, the treatment of mental illness was mainly divided into two primary methods, one of which was the surgical school of thought, which hoped to use surgical therapy, such as craniotomy and electric shock, to treat patients. The other was focused on using love and tenderness, which tried to cure patients with enough care and concern.”

Mo Yi paused, looking at Jiang Yuanrou.

“This is done by using empathy. The physician would try to communicate with the mentally ill patients by chatting.”

Jiang Yuanrou blinked, still too shocked to put two and two together. “So… that woman actually wanted… to treat me?”

Mo Yi nodded slowly. He took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m afraid that… the Edwins on the -3F and -2F were probably split personalities created due to his obsession with curing mentally ill patients. The -3F was for surgical therapy, and the -2F was for empathy therapy. Meanwhile, the -1F likely housed Edwin’s master personality, so only the Edwin there could communicate with us.”

Jiang Yuanrou pondered for a while, and asked, “So… the reason why the other two personalities locked him up was actually… to protect him?”

Mo Yi was silent for a few seconds, then replied, “It’s possible.”

His eyes fell on the end of the page with the butterfly on it, and he saw a single word written in the same handwriting he saw previously.

“stop”

Under it was a crooked handwriting: “why?”

“just STOP”

The crooked handwriting appeared again: “they become beautiful only after they die.”

“just like a butterfly.”

Mo Yi froze, and immediately said, “When the butterfly larva is in the cocoon, it will decompose until only a few remnants of cell tissue are left. From a biological standpoint… this is also a form of death.”

[To live is to die]

In the same way, [to die is to live].

Mo Yi turned to Jiang Yuanrou, pointed at the writing on the corner of the page with his finger, and spoke in a low voice.

“I’ve deduced where the exit of this floor is.”

Reina: Apologies for being late this week, I didn’t notice that I forgot to schedule the chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading!