Chapter 737: It Makes Sense for a Psychotherapy Room to Have a Basement
Names weren't anything worth noting, but two of them had a very special surname: Shang.
He had seen this surname many times since entering Museum City, but never in any prominent places—just on some shop signs or banners with small text like "Shang's Franchise," "Shang's Sponsorship," and "Celebrating XX Years of Partnership with Shang's Small Shop."
The game's background didn't mention the name of the merchant who built Museum City, but a surname appearing so frequently on the streets should logically belong to the builder. As a thread running through the instance, these photos being placed here couldn't be a coincidence.
Xu Huo took down each photo to examine them, finally selecting one to keep.
Nearby were some leftover items from the epidemic period, including used utensils and initial versions of developed medicines. Though he couldn't tell if they were real, they had already been visited—items were haphazardly thrown in display cases, with all the outer glass shattered.
The items were replicas, looking very realistic, but for guests to play with, they couldn't possibly bring in the real thing.
What caught Xu Huo's attention was a bound notebook.
The notebook was completed by multiple people, mostly recording epidemic symptoms, patient conditions, and medication processes. The content was repetitive, the handwriting hasty, and the penmanship changed across different time periods. The only consistent thing was that most entries were signed by the same doctor—a doctor surnamed Shang.
The personnel in the photos changed rapidly. Initially, he thought that besides those who died from illness, some might have left voluntarily, unable to face such a raging epidemic. But this notebook, besides containing names of some medical staff, occasionally had fragments describing their situations—basically a shortage of medicine and proper treatment drugs. Few came, and those who did basically couldn't leave, except for the two surnamed Shang.
Records about these two were sparse, but from the signatures, one of them not only survived the entire decade but also participated in every epidemic rescue effort without ever contracting the disease. This could be seen from the last group photo of medical staff evacuating.
Although judging by age, this Shang doctor was unlikely to be the young merchant mentioned in the background who founded Museum City, the game's background might not be accurate. At least the part about "a young merchant trying to save his family from genetic disease" was questionable.
In the five years after Museum City was built, the total number of missing persons accounted for one-tenth of the national total that year. Although it wasn't mentioned when the matter was exposed, it couldn't have been too long. The builder died of illness before being exposed, and during that time, he frantically had children, indicating that this genetic disease had a high incidence rate and caused early death.
But this conflicted with the photos placed in this venue. Being placed here, they must be related to the Shang family. The Shang doctor was likely a clan member or direct relative of the merchant—someone dedicated to service and absolutely resistant to infectious diseases.
Although not everyone with a family genetic disease would develop symptoms, someone who could survive a decade on the epidemic frontlines and walk away unscathed was worth studying anywhere, especially when other medical staff were either infected or dead.
From this perspective, the game's background introduction was not only incomplete but might also contain significant exaggeration.
However, regarding the epidemic theme, it did match the content of the Wax Museum.
Putting down the notebook, Xu Huo noticed black dust on his fingers. He tried to wash it off with cleaning agent but failed, belatedly realizing he might have been infected with some unknown pathogen.
This wasn't a big deal; instead, it confirmed the notebook's authenticity.
But someone had already flipped through this notebook before him, and he wondered if any unlucky person had been affected.
However, what was fatal to ordinary people might not be so for players.
Leaving the venue, he put on gloves and walked into the adjacent Adult Psychotherapy Room.
The room's layout was incongruent with the other venues—unusually calm and gentle, with careful color schemes and arrangements that made it look like a real therapy room on the surface.
Xu Huo first walked around the room before stopping in the center. He stomped his foot, hearing a faint echo. Then he sat at the desk, scanned the arrangement, reached out to remove the corner cloth, and pressed a hidden button.
A floorboard under the desk sprang open backward, the chair automatically moved aside, and a staircase leading underground appeared.
Although the amusement park map only marked the Styx Ferry waterway, there were many gaps in the middle of the waterway. It made sense for a basement to exist, and appearing in a place like a psychotherapy room was perfectly logical.
Xu Huo turned on his light and went down.
Unexpectedly, below was a very clean room with nothing but a chair. On the armrest of the chair were written two words: "Please Sit."
Xu Huo tested it with a prop before sitting down. In the blink of an eye, the walls rapidly retreated backward, expanding into a spacious residential living room. Simultaneously, folded furniture and decorations appeared.
Given Museum City's layout, there shouldn't be such a large space underground, let alone one made to look so sci-fi. Either it was an illusion, or someone had deliberately left it here.
Xu Huo opened a door using his Spiritual Realm, only to find himself still standing in the house's living room, confirming that this place was an illusion he was experiencing.
Instead of rushing to find a way out, he began walking around the room.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, only a sea was visible. The window couldn't be opened, but he could hear the sound of waves.
White leather sofas formed a square in the spacious living room, with a glass coffee table in the center. On the table sat a doll with braided hair.
The spot where he had just been sitting was at the corner of the sofa.
Before he could approach, the doll on the coffee table opened its eyes and began to sing:
"Little doll plays in the living room."
"Mommy cooks in the kitchen."
"Daddy's on his way home."
"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! The doorbell rings!"
"Daddy forgot his keys!"
"Little doll goes to open the door, bumps her head on the cabinet."
"Mommy goes to open the door, hits her belly on the knife."
"Daddy comes home and opens the door, he lies down beside little doll and Mommy too!"
The doll finished singing and closed its eyes. Then the doorbell rang: "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"
Xu Huo glanced toward the door, set down the doll, and walked over. When he was still two meters from the door, he suddenly felt his vision go black. When he opened his eyes again, he was back sitting on the sofa—exactly where he had been when he first entered!
He stood up again. This time, he didn't approach the doll but bypassed the sofa and went to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, there were half-cut vegetables, still-frozen meat, and a missing knife from the knife rack where one was usually kept.
Then the doll in the living room began to sing again: "Little doll plays in the living room."
"Mommy cooks in the kitchen."
"Daddy's on his way home."
"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! The doorbell rings!"