Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The Super Big Fish

In an instant, a crushing pressure slammed down.

Lin Jianyuan’s eyes flew open. A blur of fleshy pink shadows streaked past him—thick, heavy, but impossibly fast, whipping out from behind.

He couldn’t make out what it was. The pink tide swallowed everything.

“You—!” The fluttering eyeball was clearly shocked, but it recovered fast. The blades beneath its white wings snapped upright, grinding together with a sound that set Lin Jianyuan’s teeth on edge.

“Come on, then!” the eyeball roared, charging at the pink wave. “So what if you’re S-class? I’m not exactly—”

But before it could finish, a gaping maw tore open in the dark.

One bite—silence.

All three pairs of wings snapped off, tumbling to the ground.

The fight ended in a heartbeat.

No, it wasn’t even a fight.

It was a one-sided slaughter.

The pink shadow chewed, slow and deliberate.

Golden sparks burst like fireworks, scattering through the dark.

Lin Jianyuan stared, eyes wide, watching those dazzling flecks of light.

The sparks scattered, vanishing into the shadows.

But they left their mark, burned into his eyes.

Strangely beautiful.

Lin Jianyuan eyed the slow, writhing shadow, hesitating. “Xie Yu?”

The pink digestive system paused, the whole set turning slightly, voice rising at the end. “Hm?”

Lin Jianyuan’s mind went blank.

How could his roommate be here? How could his roommate see his hallucinations?

So were they hallucinations at all?

What the hell is going on?

Frustration surged through him.

Then he smacked his forehead.

Right. I’m crazy.

Why am I trying to reason with my own madness?

Lin Jianyuan accepted it in a flash. He pointed at the sparks in the dark. “What are those?”

“They’re memories,” said the pink digestive system.

It clicked for Lin Jianyuan.

So, the bastard mouth stole things, and the eyeball erased memories.

That way, the victims never even knew they’d lost anything.

What a team.

Wait—where was the bastard mouth?

Lin Jianyuan turned and spotted the abyssal mouth trying to sneak away in the chaos.

Its shark teeth were clamped shut. The black plastic-bag body pressed flat against the wall, trying to slip off in the shadows.

“It’s trying to run,” Lin Jianyuan warned.

“Not a chance,” said the pink digestive system, unhurried.

Almost instantly, the abyssal mouth froze. Dozens of intestines had coiled around its bag-like body, squeezing tight and dragging it back without mercy.

Lin Jianyuan: “.”

These guts are pretty handy.

The abyssal mouth watched itself being dragged back, despairing. “I was wrong! I swear I know I was wrong… I wasn’t trying to steal your food…”

The pink digestive system tossed a wing root into its mouth, crunching away, sounding bored. “Oh.”

The chewing made Lin Jianyuan’s skin crawl.

It was the kind of menace that said, “Even if you don’t steal my food, I’ll eat you anyway.”

Lin Jianyuan rubbed his chin, wondering how his roommate’s mouth had gotten so huge just now.

That’s what you call an abyssal mouth.

With a gulp, his roommate swallowed.

The soft throat pulsed. The pink digestive system asked, “Are you scared?”

Lin Jianyuan glanced from the abyssal mouth to his roommate. “Big fish eat little fish, huh?”

His roommate grinned. “That’s right. I’m the super big fish.”

There was a smile in his voice.

Still smiling, he reached for the abyssal mouth, ready to eat it too.

Eating frogs is one thing, but a trash bag?

“Wait,” Lin Jianyuan stopped him. “That thing’s got a lot of other people’s stuff inside.”

“Then let’s dump it out.”

His roommate flipped the abyssal mouth over and shook it. A rain of items tumbled out like dumplings.

Mixed in were thin, glowing icons.

PDFs, Word files, Excel sheets.

The glowing icons scattered like golden sparks, vanishing into the dark as if returning home.

Lin Jianyuan found the whole thing absurdly funny. He couldn’t help but laugh.

The pink digestive system seemed equally amused, digestive juices bubbling in its stomach.

After a while, the pink digestive system asked, “Any more?”

“I think so,” said Lin Jianyuan.

His roommate seemed bored now. He handed the abyssal mouth over with a lazy stretch of intestine. “Whatever, you take it.”

The abyssal mouth quivered, belly flat and empty. If not for the rows of shark teeth, it looked just like a real black trash bag.

Lin Jianyuan reached out to take it—when a sudden thud sounded behind him.

He turned to see Pei Shuo, eyes wide, falling straight backward.

He looked just like Xu Xian, scared to death by the White Lady.

Lin Jianyuan jumped, rushing to catch Pei Shuo. “Why’d he faint? Call 120!”

His roommate said, “He saw me. Fainting is normal.”

Lin Jianyuan pinched Pei Shuo’s philtrum, suspicious. “What do you mean?”

“But you,” his roommate leaned in, “after seeing so much you shouldn’t, how come you…”

His tone was curious, almost playful.

But Lin Jianyuan suddenly couldn’t focus.

His roommate was too close. A cool, soft sensation pressed through his shirt.

It was strange, a feeling he’d never known.

A bit like sneaking his hand into a sack of rice in summer—soft, cool, impossible to describe.

But softer.

His roommate was much softer than rice.

Well, he was made of intestines.

Ha.

Lin Jianyuan suddenly burst out laughing.

His roommate asked, puzzled, “What’s so funny?”

“Call 120 first,” Lin Jianyuan said, sobering up as he remembered Pei Shuo lying unconscious. He quickly dialed emergency.

Lin Jianyuan put Pei Shuo in the ambulance, handing him off to coworkers.

Then he headed to another hospital.

700 Jiangchuan North Road.

When Lin Jianyuan said he was going to 700 Jiangchuan North Road, no one objected. They just looked at him with sympathy.

“My memories really are back…”

Lin Jianyuan muttered to himself in the back of the rideshare.

“Hmm?” His roommate tilted his “head.”

Lin Jianyuan looked at him.

In the sunlight, his roommate shone with that same impossible handsomeness.

A gentle glow, soft and clean, made the whole pink digestive system look almost fresh.

Fresh, as if just pulled from the belly of some huge mammal.

But his roommate was nothing like a normal digestive system.

Ordinary guts reek. His roommate didn’t.

He was clean. Soft. He even smelled faintly sweet.

His roommate smiled. “Why are you staring at me?”

Lin Jianyuan answered without thinking, “You’re good-looking.”

The smile grew wider.

The rideshare driver glanced up, giving him a weird look in the rearview.

Lin Jianyuan went on, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Afraid of what?”

“I’m crazy, you know. I could snap at any time. What if I can’t tell what’s real and hit you?”

“You couldn’t beat me. I’m the super big fish.”

“Oh, right. You’re the super big fish. That’s kind of cute.”

“Isn’t it? I think so too.”

He sounded a little proud.

Lin Jianyuan burst out laughing. He gave his roommate’s liver a playful punch. “What’s with the cuteness?”

His roommate’s voice rose. “That’s cute?”

Lin Jianyuan grinned. “If that’s not cute, what is it? Flirting?”

“I have no idea.”

Then Lin Jianyuan noticed the driver watching him again.

The driver kept sneaking glances, face even stranger than before.

Lin Jianyuan frowned. “Driver?”

The driver jumped, quickly looking away. “Uh, what is it?”

“Why aren’t you watching the road? Why do you keep looking at us?”

The driver said nothing, just thinking.

He stayed silent, thoughtful.

Then he sighed.

Lin Jianyuan frowned, wondering what the driver wanted to say.

At last, they arrived. The driver stopped at the psychiatric hospital entrance.

As Lin Jianyuan got out, the driver rolled down the window. “Take care, kid. Get well soon!”

Lin Jianyuan: “?”

He blinked, hesitated, then said, “Thanks?”

The driver gave him a sympathetic smile, waved, and drove off.

Lin Jianyuan scratched his head, helpless. “Let’s go.”

But his roommate suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Jianyuan asked, surprised.

They stood in the first-floor lobby. Usually empty, today it was packed.

Unlike other hospitals, this one had a small indoor garden.

Black and white pebbles formed neat patterns, little flowers blooming by the benches.

Long benches offered rest. The whole place felt peaceful and warm.

A few people—old and young, men and women—sat in the garden, chatting quietly.

No one raised their voice. Everyone spoke softly, polite and calm.

At a glance, you’d forget it was a psychiatric hospital. It felt more like a luxury resort.

The first time Lin Jianyuan came, the garden stunned him too. But he’d been too anxious to find out if he was crazy, so the shock lasted half a second before he rushed upstairs.

He understood why his roommate was surprised now.

He said, “Cool, right? Psych hospitals aren’t like other hospitals.”

But his roommate didn’t answer, just looked around. His Adam’s apple bobbed, gallbladder and pancreas rising and falling like breathing.

Even his intestines squirmed faster.

“So many…” His “gaze” tracked the patients passing by.

Even without eyes, Lin Jianyuan could swear he was shining.

Lin Jianyuan had no idea what he was so excited about. His roommate took a determined step forward.

“I’m getting snacks. You go see the doctor,” his roommate said.

“Huh?” Lin Jianyuan stared.

He watched, bewildered, as his roommate walked off toward a vending machine in the corner.

He remembered—the vending machines here were legendary. Snacks and drinks, all kinds of weird brands you’d never see outside.

So he’d ditched him for vending machine snacks?

Fine. Unbelievable.

Lin Jianyuan gave the pink digestive system a thumbs-up and headed upstairs, registration slip in hand, half amused, half exasperated.

The place was packed. Lin Jianyuan waited ages before his name finally flashed on the screen.

A blood-red text box blinked, and the PA system announced in a robotic female voice:

“Number 325, Lin *yuan, please proceed to Consultation Room 02.”

He stood and pushed through the crowd, a strange sense of unreality creeping in.

The people around him moved like a school of fish. The air was cold, making his skin prickle.

His ears felt underwater—muffled, distant.

All sound seemed far away.

He looked around and saw a giant goldfish swimming through the air, oblivious to everyone.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, glinting off its golden-red scales.

With a flick—

—the goldfish whipped its tail, spraying invisible water over the waiting crowd.

A girl, splashed in the face, suddenly looked exhausted. She slumped against her seat, phone slipping from her hand.

The scene was both surreal and eerie.

Lin Jianyuan frowned, staring at the goldfish. It seemed to notice, gliding over to him.

Another flick of the tail.

Swish!

Lin Jianyuan jolted, reaching for his face.

His skin was perfectly dry.

A hallucination, as expected.

The goldfish swam off, unconcerned.

Lin Jianyuan clutched his slip, walked into the consulting room, and described his bizarre hallucinations to Dr. Cen.

Dr. Cen: “Let me get this straight. You saw a trash bag stealing things at work, a winged eyeball erasing memories, and then your roommate opened a giant mouth and ate them all?”

Lin Jianyuan: “Not all. He only ate the eyeball.”

Dr. Cen: “And the… uh, what a nickname… the bastard mouth?”

Lin Jianyuan frowned in thought, then remembered. “Oh, here.”

He reached into his pocket, searching for the trash bag.

But found something else.

He set a plush eyeball keychain on the desk.

It had three pairs of wings. Soft to the touch. Odd-looking, but after a while, almost cute in a creepy way.

Lin Jianyuan stared at it, just as surprised as Dr. Cen.

Lin Jianyuan: “How did it turn into a keychain?”

Dr. Cen: “Shouldn’t I be asking that?”

Lin Jianyuan: “Come on, I’m already crazy. Cut me some slack.”

Dr. Cen couldn’t help laughing. “Alright, alright. I’ll let you have this one. Looks like your symptoms really are getting worse.”

Lin Jianyuan perked up. “So I can be admitted now?”

“Of course. But there’s one more thing.”

Dr. Cen clicked away at the computer, filling out the admission form.

“You said your roommate came with you, right? Where is he? Have him come in. There’s something I need to confirm.”