"Achoo!!"
In the cold wind, Chen Ling suddenly sneezed.
In his previous life, as a person from the north, Chen Ling still found it a bit difficult to withstand the weather here. It was cold and humid. Although there was a big sun in the sky, he couldn't feel the slightest bit of warmth at all.
"Make way, make way!"
A lazy voice came from ahead. Chen Ling came back to his senses and instinctively pressed against the side of the road.
At the end of the road, a tricycle was slowly approaching. One teenager was riding the bike, and another teenager was sitting on the chair at the back. Beside him were two large barrels of salt.
He scooped up the salt with a spoon and sprinkled it on the frosty road. As the salt grains fell, the frost on the ground gradually melted.
"Yo, Chen Ling?" The person sprinkling the salt raised his eyebrows when he saw Chen Ling standing by the roadside.
"I didn't expect to see the top student here. Didn't you go to take the law enforcement officer exam? Were you eliminated?"
When Chen Ling saw that face, a memory welled up in his mind.
His name was Zhao Yi. He had grown up on the same street as Chen Ling since childhood. However, he was born jealous. When Chen Ling had good grades in high school, Zhao Yi's mother often compared him with Chen Ling, which made him dislike Chen Ling no matter how he looked at him.
"I passed the written test. There's still the physical test." Standing by the roadside, Chen Ling casually replied.
"Hehe, then I wish you good luck in the exam!"
As he said this, Zhao Yi scooped up a large spoonful of salt and swung it hard towards the road beside him, just hitting Chen Ling who was standing by the roadside.
The flying salt grains covered Chen Ling's hair and cotton robe. He never expected that Zhao Yi would do such a thing. He quickly brushed off the salt grains with his hand and then turned around and glared at Zhao Yi.
At this time, Zhao Yi had already ridden away in the tricycle, swaying... He put one foot on the salt barrel and stuck out his tongue to make a face at Chen Ling.
As a 28-year-old adult who had experienced the hardships of society, Chen Ling felt both angry and a bit amused in the face of such a clumsy prank...
However, Chen Ling had no intention of chasing after that kid and giving him a good beating. He just secretly remembered this incident in his heart. At the moment, he had more important things to do.
Chen Ling was just about to take a step forward when he caught a glimpse of the ground at his feet from the corner of his eye and was slightly taken aback.
The frost that had come into contact with the salt grains gradually melted, and a slight white residue remained on the ground. At that moment, Chen Ling saw a line of words taking shape intertwined—
[Audience Expectation Value: 27%]
Before Chen Ling could react, the salt grains completely melted, and the scene just now seemed to be just a fleeting illusion.
Chen Ling rubbed his eyes hard and murmured to himself:
"It can't be..."
The sense of urgency rose again, and Chen Ling couldn't help but quicken his pace and rushed straight towards the clinic.
A few minutes later, Chen Ling pushed open the door of the clinic.
Although it was called a clinic, it was actually just a civilian house on Frost Street. It was two stories high, square in shape and gray in color. At a glance, it made Chen Ling think of the house in his rural hometown.
But such a rough house was already quite good on Frost Street. At least it had two floors and could block the wind.
"It's you." Behind the wooden table, a man wearing a white coat turned slightly sideways. "Are you here to get medicine for your younger brother again? Didn't he transfer to the hospital in the second district?"
"This time it's not for Ayan. It's for myself."
Chen Ling's younger brother had been hospitalized here before and was quite familiar with this Doctor Lin. He walked to the table and sat down, looking a bit nervous.
"Oh? What's wrong with you?"
"I... my head doesn't feel right."
"Do you mean a headache in the physical sense, or..."
"Recently, I seem to be having hallucinations."
"Psychiatry department?" Doctor Lin raised his eyebrows and carefully pushed up the black-rimmed glasses on his nose. "I'm good at this... Tell me about your condition."
"I had a dream last night. I dreamed that I was standing on a stage, and there were many audiences under the stage... I couldn't see their faces clearly, but they didn't seem to be human. I ran desperately on the stage, but I could never find the exit..."
"Interpreting dreams is not within the scope of my business."
"I know." Chen Ling took a deep breath. "But after I woke up, I always felt... that they were still watching me."
Hearing this, Doctor Lin finally became interested. "Imagining that you're being spied on?"
"It doesn't seem like an imagination... They seem to be right in my head, sitting in the audience, observing my every move. And I'm like an actor who's forced to perform, just a tool to please them."
"You mean, your life is a stage, and you're the only protagonist on the stage?"
"That's the general idea... But it's not as positive as you put it."
"What about the audience? Besides spying on you, do they do anything else?"
Chen Ling was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure if it's my illusion... They seem to be able to affect the things around me."
"Able to affect reality? That sounds a bit mysterious." As Doctor Lin spoke, he picked up the tea mug and took a sip. Just as he was about to say something, his face suddenly changed!
Puff!!
Doctor Lin spat out a mouthful of scarlet blood, which splattered onto the ground.
"Doctor Lin??" Chen Ling was startled. "What's wrong with you? Are you ill?"
"... Something's not right." Doctor Lin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. That blood wasn't his. After frowning and thinking for a moment, his gaze landed on the tea mug at the corner of the table...
Before he knew it, the tea mug was already filled with thick blood.
Doctor Lin's face looked rather grim. He clearly remembered that he had brewed a packet of Pu'er tea in it a minute ago.
During this period, there were only him and Chen Ling in the clinic. Chen Ling had been under his gaze all the time. It was simply impossible and there was no motive for Chen Ling to switch the tea. That full mug of blood appeared in it as if by magic, eerily...
Chen Ling also seemed to have thought of something, and his face turned even paler.
"Just as I said." He said hoarsely,
"They... might really exist."
Doctor Lin stared at the cup of blood for a long time before slowly looking at him.
"How long has this been going on?"
"One day." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "Since I regained consciousness, it's only been one day."
"What about before you regained consciousness? What were you doing?"
"I..."
Suddenly, an image of him staggering in the heavy rain last night flashed in Chen Ling's mind. "I don't know. I can't remember clearly."
"So, you're not sure if this symptom started last night, and you have no memory of what happened before last night?"
"... That's right."
"Have you ever been possessed by a 'calamity'?" Doctor Lin pushed his glasses up.
"Or let me put it another way. Last night... did you encounter the convergence of the Gray Realm?"