Chapter 16: Psychological Suggestion
The nurse guarding the door was leaning against the wall, scrolling through short videos on her phone, when she saw the white-haired girl, who had just entered moments ago, burst out of the room and hurry away.
The nurse wanted to follow but, seeing Huang Xiuqin’s room still open, rushed over to close it.
“Wait, nurse,” Huang Xiuqin said softly. “I’m a little hungry, could you bring me something to eat?”
“Oh, just a moment…”
The nurse instinctively shuddered at the sound of Huang Xiuqin’s voice, still traumatized by her previous experiences.
But seeing Huang Xiuqin’s calm demeanor through the crack in the door, she relaxed slightly.
“What would you like?” the nurse asked cautiously, standing at the doorway.
“A serving of fear will do,” Huang Xiuqin looked up, her calm gaze meeting the nurse’s, a darkness flickering within. “Please bring it to me.”
—Oneiric, Psychological Suggestion.
The nurse’s eyes glazed over, then widened in terror, as if she had seen something horrifying. A scream escaped her lips.
“Ghost!”
After the scream, the nurse collapsed, her face drained of color, foam bubbling at the corners of her mouth, completely unconscious.
At the same time, a touch of color returned to Huang Xiuqin’s haggard face.
“What’s going on, what’s going on?”
Hearing the scream, nearby doctors and nurses rushed over.
They first saw the unconscious nurse on the floor, then the open ward. Their faces paled—everyone in the neurology department knew this patient was best avoided.
But hadn’t they said the mad woman’s condition had improved, that she had even let go of her child…?
“Get out of my way.”
A heavy voice boomed from the doorway. Director Li approached with a grim expression, his face darkening further at the sight of the nurse.
“Where’s that little girl with the white hair?” Director Li asked in a low voice.
The surrounding nurses and doctors looked at each other, unsure what to say.
They usually avoided this ward, so they didn’t know what had happened.
It was Huang Xiuqin inside the ward who spoke.
“After asking where Dong’er’s body was, she left.”
Director Li’s already sparsely haired head seemed to shine even brighter, his expression anxious. “Damn it, she really was after the dead baby!”
Shortly after arranging for the nurse to take Luo Ling away, the thought that the little girl might be after the dead baby had popped into Director Li’s head.
At first, he had dismissed it as his own overthinking, but the thought grew stronger, so he came to check.
And it was true!
“What are you standing around for? Hurry to the morgue and stop that girl!” Director Li said angrily. Ultimately, this was his responsibility.
If things went wrong, his reputation would be ruined, and he might even lose his position as director.
…Who would have thought a pretty little girl would come to the hospital to steal a dead baby?
After Director Li’s outburst, the doctors and nurses hurried away towards the morgue. A few stayed behind to carry the unconscious nurse to the emergency room.
Of course, Huang Xiuqin’s ward was locked again. Until they were sure she wouldn’t have another episode, she would be treated no differently than a severely mentally ill patient.
After the prison-like ward fell silent again, Huang Xiuqin’s expression returned to calm.
She wasn’t an ordinary person, but an Awakened One.
If she weren’t an Awakened One, how could she have endured being consumed by a Grotesquery for over a year?
“Li Tianming is dead… Who could have killed a monster whose body was completely occupied by a Grotesquery?” Huang Xiuqin tapped the table lightly, lost in thought. “That white-haired girl just now? No, she must have just awakened. She wouldn’t be able to deal with even a Forgotten River Child…”
The thought that had suddenly popped into Director Li’s head was Huang Xiuqin’s doing. Sending him to the morgue was also her intention.
Huang Xiuqin knew that the Forgotten River Child would definitely retreat when facing an Awakened One, even a weak one.
But if there were ordinary people nearby, the Forgotten River Child would parasitize them. A Forgotten River Child with a host could escape even if killed, giving it the courage to fight an Awakened One.
As long as it could engage in combat… the Forgotten River Child would discover the white-haired girl’s weakness.
Awakened Ones were highly nourishing for Grotesqueries.
“It seems there are quite a few hidden talents in Jiangcheng County. Besides Li Tianming, whose body was occupied by a Grotesquery, there are other high-Order Awakened Ones…”
Huang Xiuqin took a deep breath, recalling her painful experiences over the past year.
“To think I would be defeated by an ordinary person…”
Awakened Ones were nourishing for Grotesqueries, but the reverse was also true.
If an Awakened One wanted to level up, besides progressing along their chosen path, there was another very effective method: killing a Grotesquery of the corresponding path and obtaining its corpse, known as a Sacred Relic.
But killing a Grotesquery was no easy feat.
Even the weakest Grotesquery could be fatal if one was careless.
Moreover… Grotesqueries weren’t everywhere.
So, Huang Xiuqin had come up with a method.
—Creating her own Grotesquery.
Forgotten River Children were one of the few Grotesqueries that could be mass-produced, but those created through ordinary methods were too weak and difficult to control.
Huang Xiuqin’s method was more ruthless. She planned to refine her own child into a Forgotten River Child.
First, she would trick a man into having a child with her. Then, when the child reached full moon, she would kill it and use the man’s blood to initiate a blood sacrifice ritual, transforming the child into a Forgotten River Child.
The flesh and blood of an Awakened One, combined with the blood of a close relative, would create a powerful Forgotten River Child from birth, and most importantly… it would be easier for Huang Xiuqin to control.
She would use this Forgotten River Child to hunt ordinary people and Awakened Ones. After it reached its peak, she would kill it again, and the resulting Sacred Relic would be extremely powerful.
Huang Xiuqin had used this method to advance to Mid-Order Awakened One, but she hadn’t expected to be defeated by an ordinary person.
After she killed her son in front of Li Tianming, the enraged Li Tianming had wanted to kill her.
In the end, Li Tianming used some unknown Grotesquery ability on her during their lovemaking.
But perhaps because she was a Mid-Order Awakened One, Li Tianming couldn’t completely control her. He could only fix her in the “doting mother” persona she had been “performing,” preventing her from returning to normal.
That was why Huang Xiuqin had been insane until now, only awakening after Li Tianming’s death.
“…So be it.”
Huang Xiuqin stood up and walked to the door.
The nurse at the door opened it for her in a daze, watching as she walked out of the ward, step by step, towards the hospital exit.
She had more important things to do.
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