# 292
**Chapter 292: She and He**
“Hongyan, what you did was wrong.”
“This is a hospital! Who is Bragi? He’s a patient here!”
“Patients are people we need to help and care for. Just because he has mental issues doesn’t mean it’s okay to kick him down three flights of stairs.”
“If you have a problem with a patient’s behavior, there are more tactful ways to handle it—like poisoning his voice, sewing his mouth shut, or just cutting out his vocal cords…”
“Today’s incident was extremely serious. As punishment, you’ll eat two extra chicken legs tonight!”
“In the future, I hope you’ll stay rational and avoid doing anything that damages the image of our asylum.”
“Do you understand?”
Lin Qiye stood there with a stern face, loudly scolding Hongyan in front of him.
Hongyan tilted her head in confusion, as if trying to figure out whether she was being punished or rewarded.
Whatever. No matter what Lin Qiye said, she just needed to nod. According to Li Yifei, this was… company culture?
Not far away, Bragi clutched his butt, looking grief-stricken.
“Outrageous! You know nothing of the beauty of poetry!”
Lin Qiye quickly walked up and said sincerely, “Mr. Bragi, I apologize on behalf of the asylum. I’ve already punished her severely. Please don’t be angry.”
Just then, the tightly shut ward door opened, and Nyx walked out holding knitting needles and thread, saying in surprise:
“Huh? Why did he stop singing? I just got my needles ready to sew his mouth shut…”
Bragi: …
Lin Qiye coughed twice and gave Li Yifei a look. The latter immediately understood and shouted, “Dinner’s ready! Everyone, come eat!”
Everyone gathered around the dining table, chatting and laughing. Nyx gently and kindly asked Bragi if he was hurt from the fall and how serious it was, as if she had forgotten she was just holding needles to sew his mouth shut.
Lin Qiye looked at the scene and sighed helplessly.
From the outside psychiatric hospital to the one inside, his world seemed to have lost all sense of normalcy. He worried that if this continued, he might be assimilated by the patients.
Night gradually fell.
Lin Qiye slowly walked into the courtyard and looked up at the second-floor ward. All three patients had gone to bed, and the entire floor was dark.
He wasn’t in a hurry. He simply sat under a tree, closed his eyes, and rested.
Tonight, he would confront the woman inside Bragi.
After a long while, Lin Qiye suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at the second floor.
A faint light had appeared in the previously dark corridor, seeping through the cracked door of Bragi’s broken ward.
Lin Qiye knew the time had come. He quietly climbed the stairs and approached the door of Ward Three, holding his breath and peering through the crack.
In the dim candlelight, Bragi had changed back into his white silk robe. He sat gracefully in front of a bronze mirror, twirling a strand of hair by his ear, admiring his reflection.
After a while, seemingly satisfied, he dipped a finger into a box of crimson and gently applied it to his lips.
“Who are you?”
A voice suddenly came from the doorway.
Bragi’s body jolted. He turned sharply and saw Lin Qiye standing at the door, panic flashing across his face.
“You… you…”
Lin Qiye stepped forward, looked into those flustered eyes, and calmly asked:
“You’re not Bragi. Who are you?”
Bragi pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and avoided Lin Qiye’s gaze, clasping his hands tightly like a child who knew he’d done something wrong.
“I… my name is Idun,” he said tremblingly.
“Idun?” Lin Qiye was stunned.
The name sounded familiar…
He seemed to realize something and stared into Bragi’s eyes in shock. “You’re Bragi’s wife, the Goddess of Youth, Idun?”
Bragi—no, Idun—nodded.
Lin Qiye looked again at the panel behind Bragi. The content had changed.
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**Ward Three**
**Patient:** Bragi (Idun)
**Task:** Help treat Bragi (Idun)’s mental illness. When treatment progress reaches specified values (1%, 50%, 100%), randomly unlock part of Bragi (Idun)’s abilities.
**Current Progress:** 0%
---
Lin Qiye drew a sharp breath.
Even the Asylum of the Gods’ built-in panel had changed. That meant the woman before him wasn’t Bragi’s delusion or split personality, but a real goddess!
In other words, Bragi’s body now housed the souls of two gods!
“You’re Bragi’s wife. Why are you sharing his body? What happened?” Lin Qiye asked in confusion.
Idun lowered her head even more. “I don’t know… a hundred years ago, a mysterious fog invaded Asgard. Weaker gods began dying one by one, and even the powerful ones rapidly lost their strength, on the verge of vanishing from this world.
Later, some evil gods began slaughtering their followers, sacrificing souls to preserve themselves. Some kind gods refused to do that and came to me, asking for an apple each…”
“The golden apples from myth that grant gods eternal youth?” Lin Qiye asked.
“Yes.”
In Norse mythology, the Goddess of Youth Idun possessed golden apples that could keep gods forever young. Even the gods coveted them. When the fog descended, it wasn’t strange that the apples could help resist its erosion.
“Did you give them to them?”
“I did.” Idun’s face turned bitter. “I gave all my golden apples away, keeping only two—one for me, one for Bragi…
But I underestimated the power of the fog. Bragi and I weren’t particularly powerful gods. I governed youth, and with my strong life force, I could barely resist the fog. But Bragi couldn’t…”
Lin Qiye frowned.
“As his divine power faded, Bragi fell into a coma, and I could only stand by helplessly…” Idun’s eyes reddened as she recalled the memory, tears glistening.
“But he survived,” Lin Qiye said slowly. “So what did you do?”
Idun looked up at the warm, familiar face in the mirror, placed a hand over her right chest, eyes filled with deep love, a faint smile on her lips.
“I gave him my heart…”