Life Dungeon Game

It only describes that the mental hospital will provide patients with free accommodation and food, and the environment looks quite nice.

However, this mental hospital generally does not admit patients with living immediate family members. They only admit homeless people who show signs of mental illness, as well as some elderly people living alone who are suspected of being ill.

However, some posts claiming to be from court employees mentioned that the hospital also admits some mentally ill criminals transferred from the court.

That's where the information ends.

This mental hospital has no official website or promotional materials. Apart from its location on map software, no other specific information about the mental hospital can be found.

Even this geolocation was uploaded by nearby netizens and has no official certification from the mental hospital.

Based on this information, this mental hospital seems more like an urban legend than a medical institution.

"Is this an old industrial area?"

The slowly moving taxi turned into a cluster of somewhat old buildings. The taxi driver looked around and said, "When did a mental hospital open in this old industrial area? Isn't this area full of factories?"

"More than ten years."

Looking at the familiar scene around him, fragments of memories from Jess slowly surfaced. He put down the bracelet and said casually.

“I’ve lived here for over ten years and I’ve never seen this mental hospital before,” the driver glanced at the navigation on the car’s display screen. “Are you sure this location is accurate?”

“It should be accurate,” Heo said, looking out the window. “There’s only one Vic Mental Hospital in the entire Westland.”

The old buildings around us flashed by outside the car window. "It's been more than ten years, and there's basically been no change here."

"Have you been here before?"

The driver glanced at the rearview mirror, noticing He Ao's slightly reminiscent expression, "You used to work here?"

“My father worked here a long time ago.”

He Ao gave a gentle smile.

.

“Your father must have had a tough time. The working conditions here have never been good, and accidents happen frequently. Many of these factories and buildings are over fifty years old, and safety accidents can easily occur if you’re not careful.”

The driver slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Those bastard conglomerates only care about making more money; they won't let a single penny slip through their fingers to improve the living conditions of their subordinates."

"Ah."

He Ao nodded slightly.

"But that's true,"

The driver followed the navigation and turned into a dark alley without streetlights. "If we could live a good life, who the hell would come here to work? There are layoffs everywhere now. Many people who used to work in offices in North Witland have gone to factories. These factories only want young people; they don't want older people like us."

How does the taxi industry compare to the factory industry?

He Ao withdrew his gaze and continued the conversation.

"How can they be any better? They're all pretty much the same,"

The driver sighed.

"The group takes a cut of more than 30% from each order, and then there are electricity fees, maintenance fees, car rental fees for the company, and various insurances. There's not much money left in your pocket from each order. If you want to make more money, you have to work in the early morning when there are extra fees, or work overtime."

"But what can we do? We have two children at home who need to go to school, eat, and pay credit card bills and rent every month. It's all weighing on our minds."

"Actually, my wife works in a nearby factory. I know it's dangerous there, and people can die, but there's no other way. If we don't work, we won't eat. Once the credit card payment is overdue, the interest just keeps piling up. If we miss the rent payment, we'll be evicted."

He pointed to the homeless tents leaning against the wall outside the window.

“Look at the homeless people outside. They used to have houses to live in. They either couldn’t afford the rent or the mortgage, so they were evicted and ended up living outside or in cheap hotels. I have a colleague who is like that.”

"I used to think, what's wrong with sleeping on the street? At worst, I'll just sleep on the street."

"But it was from my colleague that I learned that sleeping on the streets for a day or two is okay, but if you sleep on them for too long, you will catch a cold and get sick."

"People who sleep on the streets generally don't have health insurance, or they only have the cheapest health insurance. Once they get sick, the hospital will drain their last bit of money, making their lives even worse."

"Even if they recover, they will fall ill again because their lives get worse. Then they won't have money for treatment, their health will collapse, and they won't be able to work. My colleague was fired because of poor performance and his poor health."

"Later I heard that he was wandering the streets south of Plant,"

He paused for a moment, then said, "After that, I never heard from him again."

After saying that, he smiled and said, "Sorry, I've been complaining a lot lately, and I accidentally said too much."

"fine."

He Ao smiled and shook his head.

At this moment, the taxi slowly pulled over, and a gentle, mechanical female voice came from the car's navigation system: "You have arrived at your destination. Please take your belongings with you and watch out for oncoming traffic. Trison Taxi Company is at your service."

"Brother, your spot seems a bit out of the way."

The taxi driver glanced out the window.

This seems to be some forgotten corner, the surrounding streetlights are also...

Everything was damaged, and only the faint lights of the taxis illuminated the dark road ahead.

Looking out the car window, in the hazy night, there was only a rusty iron gate, and behind the gate was a building with only a few scattered rooms lit up.

The taxi driver turned on the flashlight function on his wristband, shone it on the rusty iron gate, and then found a faded sign next to it.

“Vic Mental Hospital,” the driver read aloud, “there really is a mental hospital here.”

He glanced again at the rusty iron gate. The night wind blew through the gate, causing the loose screws and the rusty iron gate to sway and creak.

He turned to look at He Ao, "Brother, how long has it been since you saw your friend? Is it urgent? This place looks more like a mental hospital from a ghost story. You don't seem like a bad guy. Why don't you get a few friends and come over tomorrow at noon?"

"It's been a long time. I didn't even know he was here,"

He Ao raised his wristband, paid the fare, then opened the car door, got out of the taxi, and said with a smile, "It's okay, I'm safer in the dark."

The evening breeze rustled his clothes, blending his figure into the thick night.

Only then did the driver get a clear look at He Ao's face and see the few crimson stains on He Ao's clothes.

For some reason, he felt that He Ao at this moment was more terrifying than that gloomy mental hospital, more like a killer wandering in the night.

But perhaps because of their recent conversation, the killer didn't seem distant to him. Although fear rose in his heart, his overall mood was surprisingly calm.

"Then be careful, and remember to call the FBI if you are in danger."

He pulled back, stuck his arm out of the car window, and waved to He Ao, "I wish you all the best."

"Thank you."

He Ao nodded, watching the somewhat old taxi disappear into the night.

The fear spread by terrorists seems to have less impact on people with friendly and good intentions.

He turned around and looked at the iron gate creaking in the night wind.

Hanging on the edge of the iron gate is an iron plaque with faded lettering.

Visitors, please come inside.

He Ao's gaze passed over the iron sign and looked at the faded sign next to the iron gate.

The huge signboard was embedded in the wall, and its overall color was a dull purplish-red, which clashed somewhat with the gray and white wall.

The signboard and the wall are not actually part of the same structure.

On those gray-white walls, more than a decade ago, the company name was directly engraved. At that time, this area was called 'Enlight Chemical Company'.

The chemical plant where Jess's father had the accident.

Shortly after Jess's father's accident, the chemical plant filed for bankruptcy liquidation, and all its assets were auctioned off.

After that, Jess never heard the name of the chemical plant again.

It was as if the chemical plant had truly vanished forever.

He Ao withdrew his gaze, placed his hand on the iron gate, and with a harsh, long creak, he slowly pushed open the iron gate.

The reason that prompted He Ao to come here, besides the psychopathic killer who murdered his wife...

Besides being locked up here, the fact that this mental hospital was located in the old industrial area where Jess's father had an accident made him realize that something was wrong.

Although Jess didn't try to memorize the exact location of Enlight Chemical Company, he vaguely remembered its general area as the place where his father died.

Heo saw the location of Vic Mental Hospital, which was roughly in the area that Jess remembered.

Although he had expected it before coming, He was still a little surprised when the mental hospital actually appeared in front of him as a converted chemical plant site.

Who would buy a chemical plant that has suffered a major accident and then turn it into a free mental hospital?

He Ao's thoughts returned to the present moment, looking into the hazy darkness, where the Terrorist's 'Eye of the Night' made the surrounding scenery as clear as day.

Behind the iron gate was a narrow walkway that led directly to the brightly lit building closest to the gate.

The trail is flanked by manicured lawns and flowers swaying in the night breeze.

In Witland, where land is incredibly valuable, there are very few places left to plant so much greenery.

If you remove the rusty iron gate and the peeling paint on the signboard, the environment of this mental hospital is indeed quite nice, judging from the flowers inside.

He Ao followed the path step by step forward.

Long-forgotten memories, buried in the dust of time, began to replay in his mind.

Jess had visited Enlight Chemical Company several times after his father's death. Back then, there was a similar walkway behind the company's iron gate, but the walkway was flanked by old factories.

At that time, the factory on one side of the walkway had collapsed due to its age, while the factory on the other side was the site of the explosion, and most of the factory was reduced to ruins.

The person who bought the land demolished the two factories and built a garden on the site of the former ruins.

He Ao stopped beside a flower swaying at the edge of the path.

It was a purple, five-petaled flower, with its leaves and flowers complementing each other, making it look enchanting and beautiful.

People who live in the city might only marvel at the flower's beauty when they see it.

The wanderers in the wilderness would immediately leave the land that made the flowers flourish.

In the memories that Heo inherited from the wilderness wanderer Ronald, this flower was called the Ghost Flower by the wilderness wanderers.

This is a flower that blooms in all four seasons.

But its flowers only bloom on soil soaked in blood.

The more souls that have died beneath the soil, the more brilliantly the ghost flowers bloom in the mountains and fields.