Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1547: The Hospital (Part 2)

Since Beatrix hadn’t gotten any luck with the man in the previous room, she decided she needed to dig deeper , both literally and figuratively. There were still a few things she could do. She could use her staff to open the ground below and look for something worse hidden beneath, but before rushing into that, she wanted to check this floor properly. It was better to know what she was dealing with first.

Quietly, she walked up to the small metal slider in the door. There was a tiny square of reinforced glass that allowed a person inside to see into the hallway , most likely for the guards to check up on them. Through it, Beatrix could make out the long, sterile corridor stretching in both directions. At each end stood a pair of guards, motionless, their attention divided between the hallway and the occasional muffled noise from one of the rooms.

For now, no one was making rounds. That was a small blessing.

Since the current man had ignored her completely and hadn’t given her any information, Beatrix turned to the opposite wall. From where she stood, she could enter about ten rooms on one side, then cross and do another ten on her way back. It was systematic, efficient.

Raising her staff, she pushed it lightly against the wall, and the solid surface parted under her Qi as if it were nothing more than clay. Beatrix stepped through the gap and into the next room.

This one was different. The person inside wasn’t bound in a straitjacket. Instead, they sat hunched in the far corner, their body swaying back and forth in slow, rhythmic motions.

Beatrix’s eyes softened. "Are you okay?" she asked gently, taking a cautious step closer.

The person’s rocking grew more frantic. Their shoulders tensed, their fingers clawing at the floor. "I don’t want to go," they whispered in a trembling voice. "I don’t want to go down there. Please don’t. Please don’t."

Beatrix froze. The desperation in that tone sent a chill down her spine. She stopped moving immediately, realizing that if she pushed further, the person might start screaming loud enough to alert the guards. She had no idea what "down there" meant, but whatever it was, it terrified them.

Deciding not to risk it, she slipped through the next wall.

The following cell contained a frail, skeletal figure lying flat on the floor. The person’s ribs were visible beneath thin, pale skin. Their breathing was shallow , so faint that at first Beatrix thought they were dead. But when she concentrated, she could hear it: a faint heartbeat, weak but still there.

They didn’t move. They didn’t even turn their head toward her. It was as though their body had forgotten how to respond to sound. Their eyes were open but vacant, and it seemed as though they could no longer see anything at all.

What have they done to these people?

Still, she pressed on, breaking through into the next room.

The moment she entered, she saw a woman standing in the corner with her back turned. The woman’s arms were wrapped tightly around herself, her fingernails digging faintly into her skin as she trembled.

"Hello," Beatrix said cautiously, her voice soft but steady.

The woman’s fingers stopped moving. Her body froze completely. The air in the room shifted , thick, tense, silent. Beatrix waited for a reply, but the woman didn’t speak. Then, in the next heartbeat, she snapped her head around with unnatural speed and lunged forward.

"GIVE ME SOME!" the woman screamed.

Her voice was raw and cracked, filled with desperation that bordered on madness. She hurled herself at Beatrix, arms outstretched like claws.

Instinct took over. Beatrix’s leg shot up, and she kicked the woman squarely in the face. The blow landed hard , too hard , twisting the woman’s head with a sharp crack before her body collapsed limply to the floor.

Beatrix winced. She hadn’t wanted to hurt her. She crouched beside the woman quickly, her hand hovering above her face.

"What... what was that?" she murmured.

Relief washed through her when she felt a pulse. The woman was still breathing. Her chest rose and fell shallowly, but she was alive. Beatrix leaned closer, examining her more carefully now. The skin was pale and tight, covered in faint markings that crawled across her arms like veins of ink. Her chest was sunken, her body thin, almost starved.

Beatrix’s eyes widened. She recognized these symptoms.

This is just like the ones in the Underside, she realized. Raze said these marks appear on those addicted to illegal substances... But this is supposed to be a mental center, not a treatment facility for addiction. These should be two completely different kinds of places. So why would they have her here?

Her stomach turned uneasily. The pieces didn’t fit together.

This place is definitely wrong, she thought. I just hope I can find someone who can actually talk to me.

Before leaving, she glanced back through the glass slit in the door. Even after the scream, the guards hadn’t moved. They stood there as if nothing had happened. It made sense now , the screams probably echoed all the time in this place. In fact, she could hear another one coming from a cell somewhere farther down the hall, sharp and sudden before fading back into silence.

She swallowed hard and continued her search, passing into the next room.

Each time, her body tensed, unsure of what she’d find , another broken figure, another nightmare. But this time, when she stepped through, there was someone different.

The man was slumped against the wall, his skin slick with sweat. Heavy bags hung under his eyes, and his breathing came in ragged bursts. Yet his gaze was alert , focused directly on her.

"You..." he rasped, his voice shaking. "Why didn’t you come through the front?"

Beatrix blinked. It took her a second to process his words.

"And you’re... you’re not dressed like them," the man added weakly.

Finally, she had found someone lucid enough to speak , someone who seemed to understand what was happening here. Beatrix tightened her grip on her staff.

Finally, she thought, her pulse quickening. Maybe now I’ll get some answers about what this place really is.

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