The Gods Mental Hospital.
In the clean and bright courtyard, Nyx, dressed in a black gauze dress, sat on a white rocking chair. The rocking chair swayed gently in the breeze, and she closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying herself.
"Grandma, it's time for your medicine." Li Yifei, dressed in a light blue caregiver uniform, walked over gently with a tray in his hand.
"Okay."
Nyx nodded obediently, took the medicine from Li Yifei's hand, and swallowed it one by one.
"Xiao Fei."
"What's wrong, Grandma?"
"When will Thanatos and Hemera give Grandma another grandson? That way you'll have another little brother, and life will be more lively."
"..."
"Xiaofei, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Grandma, your son and daughter won't be able to find a wife."
"How can you talk about your own father like that?" Nyx glared at him, adopting the air of an elder. "Those kids, Thanatos, may be a bit cold, but they're quite good-looking. Hemera is blessed with beauty and kindness so I doubt no one like her."
"...You're right."
Just as Li Yifei was rolling his eyes and dealing with Nyx, Lin Qiye, wearing a white coat, walked over unhurriedly.
"Mother!" Lin Xi Chen ran over and threw herself into Nyx's arms; Nyx stood up, embraced her, and spun her around in the air like a baby.
"Thanatos, Hemera you've come back to see me?"
When Nyx saw Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen, her face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Mother," Lin Qiye said with a smile as he stepped forward, "How have you been feeling these days?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Lin Qiye glanced at the healing progress bar above Nix's head, which was still at 78%. Ever since he helped her break through 51% half a year ago, the healing progress had been increasing more and more slowly, and it hadn't moved for almost a month now.
Has the therapeutic effect of the medication reached its limit...? Lin Qiye wondered.
If he's right, relying solely on this small mental hospital won't be enough to better advance Nyx's treatment. Ultimately, Nyx's illness is psychological, and to cure it completely, they need to look for solutions outside the hospital.
Unfortunately, he has been in the training camp for the past six months. After the lesson he learned last time, he dares not let Nyx go out for a stroll again. If he wants to continue to advance the treatment, he will probably have to wait until he graduates from the training camp.
"Mother, you rest first, I still have some things to do."
Lin Qiye chatted with Nix for a while, gave Li Yifei a look, and the two walked towards the ward.
Li Yifei asked in surprise, "What are we doing here? All the doors here are locked, aren't they?"
"That was before." Lin Qiye adjusted his non-prescription glasses. "Now that I've broken through to a higher level of spiritual cultivation, I might be able to open the next door."
"The next door? What's inside?"
Lin Qiye walked to the floor where the six wards were located, and stopped at the door of the second room. He looked up at the sign on the door that resembled neither a pen nor a cane, and slowly spoke:
"Perhaps... this hospital is about to receive its second patient."
Li Yifei's eyes widened. "I'm going to have another grandma?!"
"...Not necessarily, who knows what it is this time." Lin Qiye shook his head.
"Dean... if we have one more patient, will we get a raise?"
"No."
Li Yifei sighed, resigned to his fate of toiling away, and silently took two steps back, leaving the space in front of the door for Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye stood in front of the second ward, took a deep breath, and slowly placed his hand on the doorknob.
If he's not mistaken, each door here corresponds to a realm he's entered. Now that he's broken through to the "Pool" realm, his spiritual power might be enough to open the restriction on this second door.
Behind the first door is a melancholy goddess of the night, but what lies behind the second door...?
Filled with questions, Lin Qiye pulled the doorknob...
Click—!
With a crisp click of a mechanism turning, the runic restrictions covering the door dissipated, and the door slowly opened...really!
Lin Qiye's guess was correct; the six doors here correspond to the six realms of "Zhan," "Pool," "River," "Sea," "Immeasurable," and "Klein."
He is now qualified to release the second patient.
The old door emitted a piercing buzz. As the door gradually opened, Lin Qiye stared intently into the dark room. Behind him, Li Yifei also craned his neck, wanting to see who his second "grandmother" was.
Inside the dimly lit room, a young man dressed in a dark blue robe sat quietly, his head slightly turned to the side, his deep, abyss-like eyes fixed on Lin Qiye, like a statue that had never moved for millennia.
He had an ordinary Western face, but his eyes were imprinted on Lin Qiye's heart like rivets.
"Oh... He looks lively, at least...?" Lin Xi Chen peeked out from behind Lin Qiye to look over his shoulder. She felt a mix of doubt and surprise—though, after all, this was a mental hospital.
Lin Qiye still remembered that when he opened the door to Nyx's hospital room, her eyes were filled with only blankness and confusion, but this man now...
His gaze was not clouded at all; on the contrary, it possessed an indescribable wisdom and tranquility.
"You guys have arrived."
The man, draped in a dark blue robe, spoke calmly, his voice slightly hoarse.
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "You knew us was coming?"
"I know." The man nodded slightly.
This is quite different from what happened to Nyx... Lin Qiye thought to himself as he watched the mysterious man's behavior, then turned his gaze to the wall behind the ward.
Before anyone knew it, several lines of small characters had appeared on the wall.
"Ward 2
Patient: Merlin
Task: Help Merlin treat his mental illness. When the treatment progress reaches the specified values (1%, 50%, 100%), you can randomly extract some of Merlin's abilities.
Current treatment progress: 0%"
After reading these words, Lin Qiye looked at the man in the dark blue robe, and his expression became complicated.
Merlin...
"That legendary magician from English mythology? The one who helps King Arthur?" Lin Xi Chen tilted her head and asked as she entered the room and looked around.
"Correct!" Merlin flashed a cheerful smile, appearing deeply impressed and eager upon seeing them, though he didn't openly show it.
Lin Qiye knew very little about English mythology. After all, in the past hundred years since many continents were lost in the fog of mystery, there have been fewer and fewer books and experts studying foreign mythology. If it weren't for the fact that the name "Merlin the Wizard" was so well-known, and that he had a fairly large knowledge base, he might not have known about this person at all.
Merlin, the legendary wizard in English mythology who helped King Arthur ascend to the throne, can be considered the progenitor of the English wizarding world. He was not only proficient in almost all types of magic, but was also said to be able to foresee the future. He was powerful and wise.
However, as far as Lin Qiye knew, the so-called "Merlin" was not just a person, but a figure created by the English by combining many legendary and mythological elements. The legendary mage in front of him should not only be the wise man who helped King Arthur ascend the throne, but also a "deity" created by the English people's yearning for the unknown.
A deity belonging to magic and wisdom!
Lin Qiye looked up at the sign on the door again, and at that moment he finally understood what the staff depicted on it meant...
That said, the first ward featured Greek mythology, the second featured English mythology... Could it be that the six rooms here represent six different mythologies?
If that's the case, then... could there be a myth belonging to the Great Xia Dynasty within it?