Knock knock knock!
"Please come in."
Lin Qiye pushed open the door and walked into the consultation room.
Sitting on the other side of the table was a middle-aged male doctor, wearing a white coat and sporting a very thin bald head, a symbol of wisdom.
Lin Qiye sat down in the chair, and the doctor spoke slowly:
"Tell me, what's wrong with you?"
"I have no problems."
"If you're not sick, what are you doing here?"
"I'm fine, but I have a friend who has a very serious mental illness."
Upon hearing this, the doctor looked at Lin Qiye with a strange expression, then smiled and smoothed a few strands of hair on his head.
"The friend you're talking about, could it be yourself?"
Lin Qiye replied seriously, "No, she really is a friend."
"Okay, then tell me, what illness do you... no, what illness does your friend have? What are the specific symptoms?"
Lin Qiye pondered for a moment, "This might be a little difficult to describe..."
The doctor laughed, "Then just put yourself in that friend's shoes and give me a real demonstration."
Lin Qiye gave the doctor a strange look, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded helplessly.
So, Lin Qiye slowly stood up from his seat.
Under the doctor's watchful eye, hhe walked straight up to him.
He reached out his hand.
He buried the middle-aged doctor's head in his arms.
With his other hand, he gently stroked the few remaining strands of hair on the doctor's head.
His eyes were full of kindness.
He said softly:
"My dear son, your mother has finally found you!"
Doctor:"..."
In the next ten minutes, Lin Qiye used all the argumentative writing techniques he had learned in his life, explaining to the doctor with great enthusiasm that he was not the one who was sick, thus avoiding being forced to be hospitalized.
"So, your friend sees everything as if it were her own child?"
"Right!"
"And she cried for a long time?"
"She kept crying."
"Does she like sitting in the yard telling stories to the vases and stools?"
"That's right."
"How was her sleep?"
"She doesn't sleep."
"..."The doctor frowned. "Your friend is quite ill! I strongly suggest you bring her to our hospital for inpatient treatment."
"Her situation is rather special; she doesn't meet the requirements for hospitalization," Lin Qiye said helplessly.
He certainly couldn't tell the truth. If he were to tell the doctor that the Goddess of Night, Nyx, was a patient and was living in the mental hospital in his mind, he would immediately receive an admission notice.
The doctor hesitated for a moment, then started typing on the keyboard, "If hospitalization isn't an option, then we can only rely on medication for now. I'll prescribe some medicine for you; take it home and give it to her. If her condition doesn't improve, you must bring her to the hospital."
Lin Qiye looked somewhat troubled.
Can real-world medications be transferred to the mind?
Lin Qiye didn't know, but he felt that even if he brought it in, medicine that mortals used to cure diseases might not be effective for gods.
"Doctor, besides medication, are there any other ways to treat this?"
After a moment of contemplation, the doctor slowly said, "Your friend's symptoms indicate severe delusional disorder. I've seen many patients like this. There was a man who loved his wife very much, but she died in a car accident. He would often talk to the air and imagine that his wife was still by his side."
"This illness is mostly caused by a huge psychological trauma, a subconscious rejection of reality, and thus creating a false sense of' her is still by hisside' for himself."
"If we can address the underlying causes of the illness and provide some psychological support, there is a possibility of improvement. However, without medication, it is very, very difficult."
"Medication and psychotherapy are complementary, you know what I mean?"Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully.
Should we start by examining the causes of the illness...? But he knows nothing about Nyx's past, so he has no idea where to begin!
It seems we need to do more preparatory work.
Lin Qiye took the prescription from the doctor but did not choose to pay for the medicine. Since the medicine in reality could not work on the god in his mind, he did not need to spend the money.
And... these medicines are too expensive!
Lin Qiye, who had just been discharged from the mental hospital, boarded the bus back home.
This trip to the mental hospital was worthwhile; at least it gave Lin Qiye a breakthrough.
To counsel Nyx from a psychological perspective, one must understand her well enough to do so.
So, Lin Qiye got off the train at a certain stop and went into the Cangnan City Library....
The entrance to No. 2 Middle School...
"Hey, look, who's that uncle?"
"I don't recognize him, I guess he's one of the parents."
"I saw him when I entered the school gate at around 7 a.m."
"I saw him too. He was wearing sunglasses and a shirt in the morning, holding a cup of coffee and leaning against the wall. I thought he was quite handsome at the time."
"Then why does he look like a beggar now? His eyes are all red."
"Do you think he's been staying here since morning?"
"No way, it's almost 10 o'clock now."
"Who knows? Oh, by the way, have you heard? Two students were murdered on their way home from school last night!"
"Really?!"
"Of course it's true, I heard..."
"..."
On the curb opposite the school gate, a lonely man sat alone, surrounded by cigarette butts. His silhouette under the streetlights exuded an indescribable sadness.
Zhao Kongcheng flicked the cigarette in his hand, unable to figure out what had gone wrong.
He squatted there from six in the morning until ten at night, his mind going blank from the sun, but he still couldn't see the kid.
I clearly saw the No. 2 Middle School uniform last night!
Did this kid guess that I was coming to ambush him, and therefore not come at all?
Damn it... my butt hurts from sitting so long.
Zhao Kongcheng supported himself on the ground with both hands, slowly sat up from the curb, pretended to casually pat the dust off his pants, and began to move his hands and feet.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a boy in casual clothes strolling leisurely across the street, carrying a few books...
That guy's build is somewhat similar to that kid's...
A little...
Um?
Zhao Kongcheng was taken aback and blinked hard.
Holy crap!
Whoosh—!
Without saying a word, Zhao Kongcheng rushed towards the boy like a gust of wind, his eyes bloodshot and his appearance fierce and menacing!
However, when he was about twenty meters away from the boy, the boy seemed to sense something, his whole body trembled, and he also took off running!
The two of them ran wildly down the street, one after the other!
Lin Qiye really wanted to slap himself twice. Why did he have to choose this path when there were so many other options?!
Now look what's happened! I stood them up yesterday, and now they're chasing after me again!
Although Lin Qiye was not slow, he was still far behind Zhao Kongcheng, and was caught up by Zhao Kongcheng in just a few seconds.
Zhao Kongcheng grabbed Lin Qiye's shoulder fiercely and sneered twice.
"Hey kid, we meet again!"
Lin Qiye stiffly turned his head and tilted it slightly:
"Who are you???"