Invade the World

   The next morning, Zhu Kangwen read the newspaper on the sofa in the living room as always. But today's is obviously a little absent-minded. From time to time, he will look away from the newspaper and look at his wife who is preparing breakfast.

   "Are you free today? Don't rush to work in the morning."

   Zhang Hong suddenly stuck his head out of the sliding kitchen door and spoke to him. Zhu Kangwen was slightly startled, he looked at his wife's face, his expression was the same as before, and he couldn't see the slightest difference.

   "Yes... yes, no hurry."

   "Then you can send Qingyue to school later."

"Row."

   Zhu Kangwen glanced upstairs. The daughter is still asleep there and will have to wake her up in a while.

   He hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke up.

   "Wife, I have something to tell you."

"Um?"

"last night…"

   He recounted what happened in the early morning: Zhang Hong hit the wall with his head, and after being stopped by him, he fell into his arms.

  Zhu Kangwen was very nervous at first, and planned to call the emergency number. After checking for a long time, he found that his wife seemed to have just fallen asleep, and the words in her mouth were nothing but sleepy words.

"This…"

   Zhang Hong's eyes widened, obviously surprised.

   "Listen to this, I'm... sleepwalking?"

"Um."

   "I didn't seem to have this problem before."

"Maybe it's because you've been under too much pressure at work recently." He said, "Look at me, don't you have insomnia too? When people get older, there will be various problems in the body. It's better to take a rest and don't push yourself too hard."

   After only half a year, the painful memories brought by the invasion of the Nest Mother have not gone away, like the haze shrouded in the hearts of all those who have experienced it, the lingering anxiety and heavyness are hard to let go. The couple tacitly did not mention it.

   "...That's right, I'll give myself a leave."

  Zhu Kangwen asked again:

   "Do you remember what you dreamed about last night? It feels like you had a nightmare."

   "It's just a dream" - he said to himself, but for some reason, the fragmented and topsy-turvy words uttered from his wife's mouth always gave him an unsettling premonition.

"what is it then…"

   Zhang Hong's face showed a blank look.

   "When you say that, I seem to have a dream. But when I wake up, I can't remember anything."

   "It's a dream after all, so it's normal if you can't remember it." Zhu Kangwen comforted, "You can rest at home for a few days and you'll be fine."

  *

   But Zhang Hong's situation did not improve.

   On the contrary, her sleepwalking became more and more serious, and it even happened during lunch breaks during the day.

  One night, when she was sleepwalking, she walked into her daughter's bedroom and shocked Zhu Qingyue.

   At the same time, Zhang Hong's mental state rapidly declined, heading for the worst. She slept longer and longer, but she was still very weak when she was awake, and she was easily fatigued after a little work.

   Her concentration became more and more difficult, and her memory was severely affected; she began to become hypersensitive to external stimuli, and sound, light stimuli, or slight physical discomfort would be unbearable for her.

   In less than a week, Zhang Hong's face lost weight, became pale and dark, and there were deep dark circles under his eyes. The impression of the whole person was very different from the previous one.

   It is naturally impossible for her family who get along with her day and night to not notice this change, even if she is still young Zhu Qingyue.

   "Dad, what happened to Mommy? Is she sick?"

Zhu Kangwen looked down at the worried little girl who was pulling the corner of his clothes, and looked up at his wife who was sitting on the sofa not far away. something that doesn't exist.

   From the day before yesterday, Zhang Hong often fell into this state of daze, and fell into confusion without warning. She had to call her name several times to regain her consciousness.

   This feeling is like... Even when a person is awake, her consciousness still falls into a dream state from time to time, away from reality.

   Once asked what she dreamed about, why she was in a daze, or what she was thinking about, Zhang Hong's response was always at a loss, because she couldn't remember anything.

  The wife herself is of course uneasy about this situation on her body, but to be honest, it is beyond her own knowledge.

  According to Zhang Hong, I have encountered some ordinary people who fell into a similar situation without warning before, often under the influence of haunted houses or evil spirits.

   But she herself is a psychic medium, and she is also a first-class psychic medium with the highest rating. It is impossible for an evil spirit to affect her without her being aware of it. In the current situation, there can only be a problem with her own mental state.

  …It can’t go on like this anymore.

  Zhu Kangwen took a deep breath, patted his daughter's head, and said softly:

   "Don't worry, I'll take my mother to the doctor, she'll be fine soon."

   However, the wife's current condition is likely to require hospitalization. It is unknown when it will be better, but I am afraid that the mother and daughter will not be able to see each other for a long time.

   Thinking of this, his heart became heavy.

  Because he was worried about his wife's physical condition, he actually put forward this suggestion at the beginning, but Zhang Hong refused.

  According to the general regulations, after the psychic has any abnormal mental state, he must immediately report it to the superior for a timely examination.

   This is because their power comes from the distant realm, and this connection is closely related to their psychological state. In order to avoid accidents, the mental health testing of the psychic group has already been included in the corresponding process.

   The problem is that Zhang Hong is now the de facto person in charge of the supernatural department in Tianhai City, and she is the head. At least during the time she was on leave, no one would know what was wrong with her.

   However, this kind of thing cannot be concealed. In the current state of his wife, she cannot work normally at all, and will be noticed by others sooner or later.

  ... Actually, Zhu Kangwen knew why Zhang Hong subconsciously chose to delay, even if it was escaping, dereliction of duty, or joking about his own and others' lives, even if everything was fine, he would inevitably be punished afterwards.

   Although he is an ordinary person, he has experience in dealing with related affairs, and as a family member of a national-level psychic, he knows some information that is confidential to ordinary people.

   He knows that the threats that psychics need to face are not only from the outside world, their biggest enemy is always themselves.

  Why is the mental state of the medium so important? It is because of the possibility of their power getting out of control.

This kind of "loss of control" is divided into several levels. Once it reaches the final stage - the consciousness of the psychic slips into the abyss and completely out of control, the evil spirit that was originally manipulated by it will turn against the guest, erode the consciousness and even the body of the original owner, and transform it into A monster no different from the "possessed".

   For mediums, this is undoubtedly the most terrifying ending. No one will hope that after fighting all their lives, they will end up being a degenerate thing.

   "It'll be fine."

  Zhu Kangwen walked to the sofa and stroked the face of his wife who was sitting there.

   Zhang Hong's current appearance seems to be suffering from severe dementia, ignoring people at all.

  Zhu Kangwen couldn't help but think of his previous experience of visiting a mental hospital on official business. The people in the inpatient department wandered around the world, walking around or sitting there, which was impressive.

   He felt distressed and annoyed at the same time. He should have taken his wife to check! Even if it was forcibly pulling her away, or asking someone to come over without telling her.

  However, it has only been a week since the abnormality occurred. Who would have thought that the situation would deteriorate so quickly?

   "I'll accompany you to the doctor."

   Zhang Hong didn't answer, her eyes fell on his face, but she wasn't "looking" at him at all.

   At this time, she had no way of speaking out against her.

  *

"How's it going?"

   Half a day later, Zhu Kangwen sat on the bench in front of the door, his fingers crossed to support his chin, his elbows were on his knees, and he was nervous like a husband waiting in front of the delivery room.

   But to be honest, Zhu Kangwen was even more nervous than at that time, and the vague ominousness in his heart was becoming clearer and stronger.

   After the doctor came out of the door, he was restless and hurriedly got up to ask the situation.

  This is the mental health department located on the ground floor of Kangci Building in the center of Tianhai City, where the best psychiatrists in the country gather. This place is only open to psychic experts affiliated with state organs.

   "The situation of Captain Zhang..."

The doctor    hesitated for a while, but instead of answering, he opened the door behind him.

   "Come in, Director Wang has something to tell you."

  Zhu Kangwen glanced inside the door, and suddenly felt that his footsteps were heavy and he couldn't move his legs.

   In the worst case, it is completely out of control and reduced to a monster...

   Although he believed that it was not to that extent. But what if the situation was so bad that it was irreparable?

   He dared not guess any more. It all happened without warning.

   If it is a supernatural influence, the wife should have been aware of it;

   If it is just a change caused by his mental state, then his husband is really dereliction of duty.

   "I checked."

   Director Wang said.

   "It's not a big problem, it's just that I've been under a lot of pressure recently and I'm a little tired."

  “…”

  Zhu Kangwen was stunned.

   "Mr. Zhu? Are you listening?"

   "...Tired?" he whispered, "she took a leave of absence recently..."

   "Well, take a break after taking leave, adjust your work and rest, control your work intensity, and you can recover."

   The doctor had a smile on his face.

   But Zhu Kangwen did not answer, but stared at the other party with a strange expression.

  Although he is not a professional, the abnormal appearance of his wife before...is it really caused by "tiredness"?

   He thought so at the beginning, because Zhang Hong's situation was getting worse and worse, so he had to drag her to see the doctor.

   "Don't prescribe medicine?"

   "No, no." Director Wang replied with a smile, "Usually relax your mind, you, the husband, can spend more time with her."

   "I just said it? I'm fine." Zhang Hong said with a smile in his tone.

   When did you say…

   No, this morning, you obviously couldn't even speak.

   Zhu Kangwen turned his attention back to his wife at this time.

   She was sitting upright in the chair, smiling at her husband.

   At this time, Zhang Hong couldn't see her listless and empty eyes in the morning; on the contrary, the woman's eyes were bright and full of energy.

   The only traces of that bad week were still visible, and she was still pale and unusually thin.

   This is… "OK"?

  Zhang Hong and Director Wang were chatting, Zhu Kangwen's thoughts were still a little confused, he didn't interrupt, just observed his wife's appearance when she spoke.

   Her thinking is very clear, and there is no problem with her speech or demeanor.

   Director Wang sent the couple away. When the two passed the corridor, Zhang Hong asked:

   "Kang Wen, I think you seem to be in a daze?"

   "Huh? No, it's nothing..." Zhu Kangwen said, "I'm just a little surprised, the situation on your body comes and goes quickly, it feels like everything is sudden."

   "As long as the test results are OK, right?"

   A psychiatrist’s mental health checkup is more than just a psychiatrist. Due to the particularity of their existence, each examination is subject to a test of ability to see if the influence of supernatural forces is involved.

   This inspection will naturally not break the rules, and the results of the psychic test just now are also without any problems.

   "…Well, of course."

  Zhu Kangwen nodded, knowing that what his wife said was true. He temporarily put aside his worries and suggested with a smile.

   "Why don't we celebrate today? I'll drive to pick up Qingyue from school, how about we go to dinner with the whole family?"

   He heard no response.

After    walked a few steps, he realized that his wife was not following.

  Zhu Kangwen turned his head and saw that Zhang Hong had stopped for some time. She was facing the wall and stood silently.

   is exactly the same as that night a week ago.

   "Bang!...Bang!"

   She slammed her head against the tile, one stroke, another stroke.

   As if feeling her husband's gaze, Zhang Hong twisted her neck in a stiff posture to look at him, the corners of the woman's mouth raised upwards, revealing two rows of teeth.

   After seeing this creepy smile, Zhu Kangwen stood there for a while, unable to move.

   He was having trouble breathing.

   Zhang Hong turned around suddenly, with her head lowered, like a wild beast that had found its prey, she ran with big strides and rushed along the other side of the corridor.

   "Wait...wait a minute!"

  Zhu Kangwen reacted and quickly chased after him.