Behind the white door is a staircase going down, and at the end of the staircase, there's another white door.
As Wu Chang stepped onto the stairs, he felt a blur before his eyes; inexplicable hallucinations rushed toward him, composed of countless shards of images, with contents that leaped, confused, and frenzied, like the pictures that burst out of the mind of a madman right before a complete mental breakdown.
He shook his head violently, breaking free from the hallucinations thanks to his high willpower.
Moments after regaining his senses, he noticed a red key embedded in the wall beside him.
Someone had placed the key to the fourth floor of the sanatorium here.
For this, they even set up a layer of trial.
If one's willpower isn't strong enough to break free from the illusion, they'd just muddle through the corridor without ever noticing the red key on the wall.
It seems his willpower passed the test.
He stowed the key in his personal space and swiftly walked to the white door below, pushing it open.
Behind the door was a room resembling a doctor's office, where a scholarly middle-aged man in a white coat sat behind a desk, writing out prescriptions.
Wu Chang's heart gave a thump, trouble, he had walked right into a trap.
No one had told him that behind the door would be the night doctor's duty room. Now, caught violating the rules of the hospital, he could only hope the punishment wouldn't be too harsh.
Hearing the door open, the middle-aged man looked up. Upon seeing that it was Wu Chang, and not the familiar Kinton, his brows furrowed unconsciously.
"Who are you?"
Wu Chang sneaked a glance at the doctor's name tag and responded obediently, "Hello, Doctor Wolf, I'm a new patient."
Doctor Wolf's gaze swept over Wu Chang, who suddenly remembered something and instinctively covered the Traveler's Talisman hanging at his waist.
"Did you kill Kinton?"
As soon as Wolf said this, the atmosphere in the room instantly froze to ice.
Wolf's question carried no emotion, making it impossible to tell if he was sad or angry. Wu Chang, maintaining his obedient expression, was frozen in place, unsure whether to answer truthfully or to preemptively strike, pulling out the Silver Dawn and shooting Wolf in the head instead.
This time, it was Wu Chang who was sweating profusely.
After a brief silence, he quickly made sense of the situation. Whatever was inside the white door could make even veteran doctors apprehensive. Initiating a fight rashly would not be wise.
"Kinton lost the gamble."
That was the truth, but only part of it. The part he didn't say was left for Wolf to fill in himself.
"That's wonderful!"
Upon hearing the news of an acquaintance's death, Wolf not only didn't get angry but instead broke into a radiant smile, as if he had heard the best news in the world.
At that moment, the sound of a kettle boiling came from the back of the office.
"My medicine is ready, come with me, let's talk as we go."
Wolf opened a door behind him and warmly beckoned Wu Chang.
Passing through the office, they arrived at a massive cavern, which was in stark contrast to the tidy office, very rudimentary, like some kind of large insect nest.
Once inside the cave, Wolf's body started to shake, his skin rapidly swelling and tearing, inflating like a balloon. From the ribs down, he transformed into a bloated worm covered in pustules.
In just a few seconds, the previously scholarly middle-aged doctor had turned into a grotesque humanoid-insect monster.
"Sorry, the aroma of the pharmacy is too alluring; it makes it hard for me to control myself." Wolf scratched his head with a limb that had turned into an insect's, his blood-red eyes showing a hint of apology.
"It's all Kinton's demon lot's fault, bringing about this damn delusional syndrome, turning me into this. I hope I didn't scare you."
Wu Chang shook his head and, in a tone of "You can do it!" said:
"Doctor Wolf, you've been out of circulation for too long. You don't know that society now appreciates diverse aesthetics. The idea that 'only looking like a person is normal' is outdated. Your current form is what truly defines aesthetics. If you went to a place like a certain White Tower Country, you could undoubtedly become a beauty queen."
"Beauty... queen?"
"Of course, in the White Tower, not only aesthetics remain undefined, but even gender cannot be defined—for instance, my gender is an armed helicopter."
"Ah?" Wolf was utterly baffled, staring at Wu Chang as if the one who had turned into a monster was not him, but Wu Chang.
What does this mean? Is this kid mocking him, or has the outside world already fallen into a delusional syndrome?
It wasn't until they had reached the innermost part of the cave that Wolf recovered from his bewildered state.
At the deep end of the cave, a massive metal pot was set over a fire, with pale yellow medicine bubbling furiously inside.
Wolf turned off the fire, expertly poured the medicine onto cheesecloth, squeezed out the moisture, leaving behind a clump of pale yellow medicinal powder, and placed it into a metal bowl.
Then he grabbed a burlap sack from the corner, took a large handful of various herbs from it, and began to chew them.
Under the effects of the herbs, multicolored pustules emerged on Wolf's swollen worm body. He squeezed the pustules, letting the pus drip into the metal bowl. He then used a pestle to grind the pus and medicinal powder together evenly and put them into an oven.
After which, he retrieved a tray of already dried medicinal powder from the oven, sifted it twice through fine wire, and filled it into pre-made capsules.
Witnessing the entire manufacturing process, Wu Chang stared at the familiar capsules and asked nervously, "Doctor Wolf, what are you doing?"
Wolf replied matter-of-factly, "Pharmaceuticals, didn't you see before you came in? This room is the pharmaceutical lab."
Looking at the colorful boils on Wolf's body, Wu Chang felt a churn in his stomach and was glad he hadn't taken the special medicine from the sanatorium yet.
He really wanted to ask Wolf, who the hell taught you to make medicine like this.
Wolf placed the finished capsules into a medicine bottle and turned to ask, "Where were we just now?"
Wu Chang: "We were talking about how Jinton turned you into this."
"Much appreciated."
Wolf looked down at Wu Chang and said slowly, "You're a new face. As an outsider who can come here, you must be a treasure hunter, right?"
"You could say that." Wu Chang didn't know what a treasure hunter was supposed to be, but seeing that Wolf didn't seem to bear any ill will, he decided to go along with it.
"Unfortunately, the 'Cursed Gold' you are looking for doesn't exist. It's all a scam; you and we were all deceived."
Wolf sighed and began to narrate the past of the town in a reminiscent tone.
The place where Moonlight Sanatorium is located is called White Stone Town, a small town almost as old as the kingdom's history, always managed by the Anderson Clan.
In the beginning, White Stone Town was known as White Stone Territory.
The territory was earned by the head of the Anderson Clan, who was a farmer, through epic battle achievements.
With relentless efforts over generations, the Anderson Clan successfully developed the vast territory into a small town.
A town on the brink of bankruptcy.
The dire financial situation forced the Anderson Clan to seek aid from the surrounding areas, but opening the door to help also invited a wolf into their home.
The Vino Clan from Forest City, possessing dozens of large factories and immense wealth, were adept at business. They claimed to value White Stone Town's long history and couldn't bear to see its downfall, so they extended their assistance.
Under the magic power of gold coins, the Vino Clan quickly took control of White Stone Town. They built factories, explored minerals, and established schools and churches on the town.
For a time, the town thrived, and the townspeople's lives became prosperous.
But in reality, it was all a conspiracy.
Besides being wealthy merchants, the Vino Clan had another identity: they were members of the Peace Church, a group of madmen living in the industrial society but believing fervently in mysticism and magic.
The remote White Stone Town was the Peace Church's experimental ground.
Under their secret manipulation, the town's water and air became polluted, the townspeople's health declined, and they frequently suffered from illnesses.
To escape the illnesses, they had to turn to the church, gradually accepting the Peace Church.
Guided by the Peace Church, their minds started to be affected, developing an infectious mental illness called paranoia.
As the illness worsened, the afflicted began to go mad and attack others.
To control the spread of the disease, Randy Anderson, who returned from the Capital after studying medicine, and Wolf, converted the oldest great cathedral in town into Moonlight Sanatorium.
Hearing this, Wu Chang looked up at Wolf in surprise and asked, "So, you are one of the creators of Moonlight Sanatorium?"
Seeing Wu Chang's surprise, there wasn't a hint of pride on Wolf's face. Instead, he said sorrowfully:
"I am also one of the creators of this tragedy. Randy and I were wrong; mysticism really exists. The Peace Church used the paranoia patients they gathered to complete some kind of terrifying magic experiment!"
"They succeeded, and using the powers gained from the experiment, they locked down this sanatorium, torturing the patients inside, twisting their minds and bodies, turning them into inhuman monsters. Just like..."
"Just like me."
"I delved too deep into my investigations and was discovered by them, which is why I ended up like this. They've even been sending Jinton to watch over me."
Wu Chang stared at Wolf's worm-like body and asked, "Does Director Randy know you've become like this?"
Wolf shook his head and said, "Since the sanatorium closed off, Randy has never left the fourth floor. I guess his situation isn't optimistic, but he is our last hope."
"Poor and pitiful outsider, now you're caught up in this as well. To escape, you must help me! I can't distinguish who among the medical staff are followers of the Peace Church; I can only trust you outsiders."
"The Peaceful Sect has mastered the power of the Evil God, and they are using this power to warp reality. You must make Randy aware of the Peace Church's conspiracy and find a way to stop all of this!"
After Wolf passionately spoke, he waited for a while but got no response from Wu Chang.
He reached out with a limb transformed into an insect appendage to scratch his back and asked, "Outsider, is there something on my back that's making you stare?"
Wu Chang looked at the pale red resentment scratched by Wolf's insect limb and shook his head in response, "There's nothing there."
He looked at the words within the resentment, and also at the sincere expression and natural tone of Wolf, clicking his tongue.
What an actor. If it weren't for the information within the resentment, he might have really believed Wolf's act, thinking the monster in front of him was a tragic hero.
His gaze focused on the resentment, where a line of common last words surfaced.
"Didn't expect you, a bushy-browed pharmacist, to be a follower of the Evil God just like me. Wait, Priest, don't act, we're on the same side!"