# Chapter 178: The Disappeared Mental Hospital
When Xu Huo left home back then, he had a bit of a disagreement with his family. His grandfather didn't open the study door for him, telling him through the door to go sweep his brother's grave.
"I understand." Xu Huo responded through the door, then asked, "How is your health lately?"
"I'm not dead yet." The voice from inside the room sounded somewhat impatient. "Stop being so wishy-washy, are you a man or not? Get going!"
Xu Huo turned and went downstairs, directly asking his father, "Is Grandpa sick?"
Xu's father was somewhat surprised but then said, "He's been sick for half a year. His legs are weak and he can't walk. He wouldn't let me tell you."
Xu Huo paused slightly. "What did the doctor say?"
"Just that. He's getting old."
Just then, a familiar person in a suit walked in from outside.
"Team Leader Wu."
Team Leader Wu said with a smile, "I didn't expect we'd meet again in Jing City. I came this time to deliver something to you again."
"You were injured in Hai City, and the higher-ups are very concerned."
"My injury was healed by a potion I found in the game." In fact, the alien toxin on his back had already been broken down.
"How is that friend of mine doing now?"
"You mean Wang Chaoqing?" Team Leader Wu laughed bitterly. "That kid is really a sneaky rat. After we gave him the suppressant, he refused to leave, insisting the government give him an antidote. But the antidote is still under research and hasn't been perfected yet. We can't just give it to anyone."
"Let's talk somewhere else." Xu Huo suggested.
The two moved to the small study on the second floor. Team Leader Wu first stated his purpose, "The country values talent, and of course hopes you can join the newly established security department. But the country also respects your wishes. No matter where you are, as long as your heart is with the country, that's fine."
Xu Huo smiled. "Didn't you find my past records?"
Xu Huo's records had of course been studied carefully. In the end, the higher-ups unanimously decided that as long as he was willing to join, they would fully support him. If he didn't agree, the country could still provide some support, since he himself had made certain contributions.
"That's all in the past. Once you're cured of the illness, isn't everything fine?" Team Leader Wu had been sent because he had dealt with Xu Huo before.
Xu Huo slowly lit a cigarette. "Since you've checked my records, you should know that I was treated in a mental hospital during my childhood. But now I have no memory of that hospital."
"Two years ago, on a whim, I wanted to find that hospital, but it was gone. No buildings remained. Based on the hospital name my father told me, I couldn't find it in any official records either."
"Later, I looked up some institutions and hospitals that should have had dealings with that hospital at the time. There was no record of that hospital in their files, but some people did remember that patients had indeed been transferred to that mental hospital. It's just that all the records have disappeared."
Team Leader Wu's expression gradually turned serious. "I'll look into this matter."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. "I don't plan to join any organization for now. But I did bring back some potions from the game this time. You can take them to report back."
Team Leader Wu was still somewhat regretful but didn't insist. "If you have any difficulties, you can bring them up. The country will help solve whatever it can."
"I'll think about it." Xu Huo mentioned, "Were the player losses heavy this time?"
On the way back, he had seen displays everywhere calling for ordinary people to sign up as players, but the response was lukewarm.
Mentioning this, Team Leader Wu couldn't help but sigh. "Due to the particularity of the situation, besides the innocent ordinary citizens who died, the ones who sacrificed the most were the players."
Whether it was the elite players gathered in Jing City, the defending players from various cities, or the vanguard players who supported Hai City, more than two-thirds had died.
Player cultivation had almost been cut off before it even got on track.
"Increase the number of players as soon as possible." Xu Huo said. "I heard some bad news in the game. If a new game zone loses its potential in the initial evolution stage, it's very likely to be abandoned by the game."
"What does that mean?" Team Leader Wu's expression tightened.
"It means that what happened in Country B will play out all over the world. A large number of aliens will invade Zone 014. Ordinary people won't be able to naturally become evolvers, and eventually the whole world will become an alien grazing ground."
"This news is too important!" Team Leader Wu broke out in a cold sweat. "You might not know this, but just this noon, the internal department announced the detailed rules for blocking outer zone players."
"Blocking?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"That's right. Through a large amount of surveillance footage, we found that outer zone players seem to need props to reach Zone 014, and they also seem to need to obtain Zone 014 instance tickets. We infer that whether it's tickets or props used to invade the real world, there are restrictions. So even high-level players can't just come and go as they please." Team Leader Wu explained. "And we believe that what happened in Country B was also caused by players."
"If outer zone players all need tickets to enter Zone 014's real world, then the maximum time each player can stay is less than two months." Xu Huo said.
"That's right. Every player has to go through one instance per calendar month—that's a game rule. No player can violate it."
With this condition, no player can stay in Zone 014 for too long. So if outer zone players are discovered in the future, the focus should be on blocking them. Now it seems this discovery made them careless. The real danger lies in the game, not in the very few players!
"I need to go back immediately and report this up the chain." Team Leader Wu was in a hurry to leave, but added before going, "By the way, a plague is spreading in Country Y recently. Before we figure out when this plague started, you should minimize contact with outsiders too."
Xu Huo stood up to see him out, then returned to his own room. He first checked the rewards from this instance.
Besides the "tooth" given to him by Granny Bai, there was only one prop added:
[Adult Fairy Tale Book: As long as you open this book, it will automatically tell unsettling fairy tales. It is recommended not to use it for children under eighteen.]
Xu Huo took it out to look. It was a hard red leather book three inches thick. When he opened it, blood-drop patterns inexplicably emerged on the originally white pages, then lines of text appeared on them, and a dry, eerie voice began reading the words aloud.
"So it's horror stories." He set the book aside, casually searched for some horror music, and started listening to the book while playing the music.
But the music hadn't played for two minutes before the reading voice grew softer and softer. The text and bloodstains on the pages faded, and the book cover automatically flipped over and closed.
At first, Xu Huo thought the time was up, so he opened it from the middle. This time, the dot-like bloodstains turned into surging wave patterns. He still played music while listening, but this time it was even shorter. The book automatically closed before half a page was read.
When he opened it again, a line of bleeding text appeared on the page: "As an adult fairy tale book, it has lost its dignity and intends to go on strike."