Chapter 10: 010, Hallucination

Alex's home.

Du Wei looked up at the antique clock hanging on the wall, instinctively wanting to check the time, but then he remembered that the hands of this clock had long since stopped.

So, he could only take out his phone and glance at the time.

It was now 12:01 AM.

Then, he calmly looked at the beautiful woman across from him, "Alex, combining what you have said with my observations, it seems that your condition has been effectively controlled and alleviated. However, I would still like to understand more about the hallucinations you mentioned."

Alex shrugged, her oversized sweatshirt hanging loose, revealing a wide expanse of smooth collarbone.

"Well, if you insist, um... in fact, I'd rather not talk about these issues, because it makes me feel like our relationship is merely that of patient and doctor. You know, I would much prefer to have lunch with you, or talk about something interesting."

It must be said that Alex is a very beautiful woman. In high school and college, countless men went crazy pursuing her, like the thousand love letters, singing songs they thought were romantic under the dormitory building, and so on...

But for her, those people were too superficial. She preferred men like Du Wei, calm and full of attraction.

What a pity...

Alex looked at Du Wei's calm black eyes and sighed softly in her heart, feeling somewhat disheartened that her charm seemed to have no effect on this man.

Then, she slowly recalled, "About the hallucinations, they happened the day after I first destroyed the furniture in my home due to my anxiety disorder."

Du Wei hummed and asked, "At that time, did you do anything? Or did you encounter anything?"

Alex shook her head, "No, I was in very low spirits at that time. Even the furniture and appliances were bought for me by my father."

Du Wei continued, "What about the specific time?"

Alex frowned, "It was late at night on April 3rd, um... to be precise, the next day. Because on that day, the people responsible for moving the appliances and furniture damaged my antique clock. The lock core's manufacturing process has been lost, its hands can no longer move, and I lost over half a million."

"Okay, please continue about the hallucinations you saw," Du Wei said.

Du Wei took out a pencil and the medical chart, adding a note on Alex's page: [April 4th, midnight, first hallucination]

"I remember hearing a very regular, eerie sound, and it seemed to be mixed with some somber whispers."

"Then, I encountered something incomprehensible. I saw a black shadow standing at my door, beckoning to me, and I uncontrollably followed it. I tried to run away, to turn back, but I saw..."

At this point, Alex's face looked a bit troubled, her hand lightly touching her forehead, seeming in great distress.

Du Wei calmly guided her state, "Relax, Alex. Tell yourself it's daytime, there are no nightmares, no fear. You're just recalling, thinking rationally."

"Huff..."

After taking a breath, Alex closed her eyes and continued, "I saw myself lying in bed, as if my soul had left my body. I was led by that shadow, out the door, into an utterly dark space."

"There was no up or down, left or right, nor any sort of light. I could only hear a very regular, eerie sound, constantly in my ears."

"Do you remember what that sound was?"

"I can't remember."

"Hmm?"

"Because each time I woke up, I couldn't recall what the sound actually was. I only vaguely remember it was a very regular sound."

"Dong dong dong? Like this?"

Du Wei imitated the knocking sound he had heard, tapping on the desk.

Alex opened her eyes slightly, shook her head, and said, "It's somewhat similar, but not the same. I can be sure that it was definitely not the sound of knocking."

"Okay," Du Wei replied and then added another note to his remarks: [Hallucinatory symptoms are evident, but do not rule out...]

"Another question, Alex, how do you determine whether your current state is really returning to normal?"

This question seemed to touch a sore spot for Alex, as she said discontentedly, "Dr. Du Wei, you should know that I have no need to lie to you, and I think you ought to believe me."

This time,

she used the doctor's suffix, obviously not very pleased.

However, Du Wei still said calmly, "As your doctor, I very much hope that you can return to normal, rid yourself of these pains that ordinary people cannot understand, but relatively speaking, we need to undertake a more rational exploration and inquiry, don't you think?"

"I admit, you are quite right," Alex replied, frowning and asking, "So, what will you do? Or rather, what should I do?"

Du Wei closed the case file, placed it along with the pencil on the sofa beside him, and then looked at her seriously.

"From a psychological point of view, any non-pathological disease triggered by external factors has latent elements. When exposed to the right environment or some stimulus, these latent elements can be activated, causing the patient to exhibit pathological behaviors."

"Are you suggesting that my condition hasn't improved? It's just hidden?" Alex asked.

"You could think of it as not having triggered a certain mechanism yet."

As Du Wei looked into Alex's eyes with his calm, lake-like gaze, she couldn't help blushing slightly and leaned back.

"I will cooperate with you," she said.

Du Wei looked at her deeply. By now, he had a vague idea in his mind. It was highly likely that Alex might have encountered some kind of incomprehensible supernatural event.

But unlike the usual cases of being haunted by an evil spirit, Alex's experiences seemed a bit unusual.

So after some thought,

Du Wei said to her, "Based on your account just now, your hallucinations occur during deep sleep at night while your consciousness remains clear. In our Eastern culture, this is called 'ghost pressing on the bed.'

"Ghost pressing on the bed?" Alex looked at Du Wei with a somewhat odd expression, "Aren't you a psychologist?"

Du Wei replied matter-of-factly, "If you don't like that term, I can also explain the relationship between consciousness and dreams from a psychological perspective, or tell you from a physiological perspective that this is a perfectly normal phenomenon."

Alex shook her head, "Let's not, continue please."

Du Wei nodded and continued, "First off, your daily routine is normal now. To verify whether you have truly returned to normal, I need to know what you are like when you're asleep to determine your state."

"This... isn't this moving a bit too fast? I'm not ready yet... I mean, are you sure you won't do anything to me while I'm asleep?"

"Furthermore, I can't fall asleep before midnight except for naps, which is quite an ungentlemanly request. However, if you plan to accompany me all day, I think I might consider it," she said.

As she spoke, an enticing smile appeared on Alex's fair and pretty face. She casually flipped her hair, causing an irresistibly charming sensation.

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