Chapter Thirteen: Madness

"Damn it, I bet wrong!"

"40%."

"60%."

"This accumulation rate is way too fast!"

Wu Que didn’t understand what this so-called madness value was, but hearing the system’s voice, an ominous feeling welled up in his heart.

But now was not the time to hesitate. Once he chose to run back, there was no turning back.

"Master... I’m counting on you!"

With a burst of energy, he sprinted back to the dilapidated house, but seeing the courtyard empty, an inexplicable irritation rose within him.

"As expected, I still hate the unknown the most."

He stood there dazedly, yet somehow, his irritation was gradually replaced by an unexplainable sorrow and fear.

At the same time, Wu Que heard sobbing coming from the toilet in the adjacent room.

"Is someone in the toilet?"

Surprised, he turned his head, but the sobbing grew increasingly familiar.

"Mother... is crying?"

Xu Jiabai was somewhat stunned, staring blankly at the toilet door.

"Why would Mother suddenly be in the toilet?"

"No, that’s not right!"

Panting heavily, Wu Que’s mind detonated with the image of the woman crouching in the toilet, scratching at her wounds.

"Whatever’s in the toilet... it absolutely cannot be that woman!"

Wu Que turned to run outside again, but the wailing inside the latrine deepened his sadness.

What was most terrifying was that this sorrow did not originate from himself.

The feeling was strange, as if another consciousness had seized his mind, battling for control over his thoughts, senses, and emotions, leaving him unable to move his feet.

"80%."

Wu Que crouched down, pounding his temples fiercely.

"No! No! No!!!"

"Cumulative madness value: 95%."

As the system’s cold voice rang out, the surroundings turned blood-red. Wu Que felt as if his body had frozen, chilled to the bone.

"I must think of a way."

Feeling his senses and emotions slowly being consumed, the remnants of his self-awareness fought desperately inside his mind.

He bit his lower lip hard, trying to stay lucid, biting down until his canine pierced through, filling his mouth with the sharp taste of blood.

Tears mixed with blood flowed into his mouth, then dripped down his jaw onto his school uniform.

"100%!"

Xu Jiabai’s body trembled violently, her eyes filled with grief and fear. After hesitating long at the door, she finally knocked.

"Mom, what’s wrong?"

"Hehe, girl, come in and scratch my back—it's so itchy," her mother’s voice came from inside, along with the sound of nails scratching skin.

"Maybe you should wait until you come out of the toilet."

Xu Jiabai hesitated. "That toilet’s filthy; there’s no place for just the two of us to stay."

"I work hard to provide for you, and you won’t even scratch an itch for your old mother?"

The voice inside sounded angry. "Do you know why I’m itchy?"

Xu Jiabai was scolded and nervously murmured, "I... I don’t know, Mom, what’s wrong with you?"

She expected more anger from her mother but was met instead with a long silence.

The silence was so profound that aside from her own rapid breathing, nothing else could be heard.

"Hehe... hehehehe..."

Finally, the giggling inside shattered the suffocating quiet.

"Mom, what are you laughing at?"

Xu Jiabai trembled all over, worried about her mother, and placed her hand on the door.

"Hehehe, girl, come in and you’ll know why I’m itchy."

Her mother’s tone was no longer strange but intimate, like a whisper from when she held her as a child learning to read.

Xu Jiabai felt dizzy but pushed with her hand. With a creak, the toilet door opened a crack.

"So fishy, so stinky."

"Mom, I’m coming in."

The door was right against the cesspit. Holding back the pungent stench, Xu Jiabai turned sideways, preparing to squeeze through the narrow gap.

The thing inside sensed her coming, becoming wildly excited and restless—like a venomous anaconda lurking in a swamp, ready to coil and crush any prey stepping into its territory.

Half of Xu Jiabai’s body had slipped inside when suddenly a strong suction pulled her back, slamming the toilet door shut with a bang.

"Disciple! Disciple! Wake up!"

At the same time, a woman’s voice called from behind.

"Who’s the disciple...?"

Xu Jiabai looked back in confusion, seeing only a fairy-like beauty, face full of anxiety, waving at her.

Staring at the face so much like her own, Xu Jiabai smiled dizzily.

"Hehe... you’re so pretty... hehe... you look like me. Are you the future me?"

Seeing his mad state, Hong Lei sneered and slowly raised his left hand.

When madness strikes, physical therapy!

"You crazy disciple, taste this!"

"Smack!"

"You old bastard, you only know how to hit one side, huh?"

Wu Que took another slap, feeling a bit wronged. Those two were like firecrackers, impossible to catch, and when he finally returned indoors, he got the worst of it.

Wu Que didn’t want to lose his mind, but it seemed he had some peculiar trait—the mental invasion could track him down by scent.

"Looks like I need to make room for Xu Jiabai in my mind."

Just then, Xu Jiabai caught sight of her mother behind the fairy. She froze, then burst into a wide grin.

"Hehe... Mom, you just asked me to scratch your itch, how come you came out wiping your butt?"

Laughing foolishly, suddenly a mad roar came from behind.

"You silly girl, I’m still in here!"

Losing her prize, the mother in the toilet grew furious, furiously pounding the already shaky door.

"Come in! Come in!! Come in!!!"

---

"Hehe, Mom’s still in the toilet..." Xu Jiabai grinned, about to look back.

Outside, her mother had pulled open her ragged coat, revealing oozing sores all over her body. She cried bitterly, clawing at herself with long nails.

Listening to her mother’s curses inside the toilet and watching her scratch herself, Xu Jiabai shook her head like a rattle and finally laughed happily.

"Haha, haha, one mom, two moms—I have two moms! I have two moms!"

She clutched her stomach, laughing until tears and snot streamed down.

"I have two moms! I have two moms! I’m the happiest girl in the world!"

Hong Lei couldn’t stand it anymore. Stepping forward, he struck Wu Que heavily on the neck with the edge of his palm.

"Finally quiet."

Wu Que smiled and collapsed straight down.

"I wish it would stay quiet forever."

After a while.

"Slow down, child. It’s all yours, master won’t eat."

Hong Lei gently patted Wu Que’s back, speaking with some sympathy, "Master didn’t mean to slap only your right cheek. You know your master’s right leg is lame; right-legged people are usually left-handed."

"It’s okay," Wu Que replied softly, picking up the basin and drinking the vegetable broth clean.

After what had just happened, he had finally come to terms with it—if he was to die, he would die a well-fed ghost.

"You mean you’ve been through this kind of state too?" Wu Que wiped his mouth and asked coldly.

"You little brat, do you think your master would lie to you?" Hong Lei tidied the table, replying confidently.

"Most Dream Replenishers have been through it, only you accumulate it faster. Good disciple, listen, when your senior brother loses it, that’s scary—don’t even mention it..."

"How high did you accumulate your madness value?" Wu Que interrupted his rambling.

"Thirty percent..."

"That’s not important. Good disciple, I’m telling you, when your senior brother loses it, that’s scary..."

"Old Deng, grab a smoke," Wu Que sat down heavily on the sandalwood chair and casually ordered.

"Alright, Young Master Wu, this old servant will light it for you," Hong Lei didn’t object and showed his care for special people fully.

He took out two cigarettes, lit them together, then handed one to Wu Que.

A thick cloud of smoke poured from Wu Que’s mouth, followed by an overwhelming dizziness. He felt as if his soul flew away with the smoke, melting softly into the chair.

"So you’ve never smoked before," Hong Lei said, watching him stagger in a smoky haze, reaching out to take the cigarette, but Wu Que pushed his hand away.

"Let me smoke, master."

"Who knows, one day I might not even recognize you," Wu Que laughed and took a deep drag.

This madness accumulation felt different—like being tied to a spinning wheel with another person, and the pointer decides who controls the body for a while. It was strangely childlike.

When his master said everyone would experience it, a faint hope even flickered in his heart.

Now, it seemed his mind was abnormal, yet he still wished everyone else’s mind was abnormal too. How ridiculous.

In just half a day, he’d been diagnosed with two severe mental illnesses, shattering half of his newly rebuilt mental world.

Even if the root causes of both were the same, Wu Que could barely accept it. But deep down, he knew the truth was otherwise.

If the brain in the house was like underwear wedged uncomfortably in the butt crack, then madness was like pubic hair tangled in the waistband—both uncomfortable, but fundamentally different in nature.