Plague Doctor

Chapter 353: Paranoia

It was already 22:40 when Gu Jun arrived at his hotel and laid down to rest. It was 10 minutes over his scheduled bed time, it was still acceptable. He sent a good night message to Wu Siyu and received a reply before he placed the phone down on the bedside table and closed all the lights.

‘I’ve lost count of the good nights we’ve wished each other tonight...’ Gu Jun closed his eyes with a smile. He adjusted his breathing and emptied his mind. ‘Tomorrow we’ll go to the beach. Even though there won’t be any swimsuits in winter, there’ll still be plenty of fun...’ He gradually relaxed as the fun of the day floated before his eyes. He felt the pull of sleep...

Suddenly, Gu Jun was overwhelmed by a falling sensation. This was fairly common. Scientifically, it was called a hypnic jerk. It is the feeling triggered by a sudden muscle twitch, causing the feeling of falling while sleeping or dreaming. Hypnic jerks typically occur moments before the first stage of sleep. However, this particular instance worried Gu Jun, it reeked of the supernatural... Or was it just his paranoia acting up... He took several deep breaths to try to suppress these thoughts but eventually his eyes flew open. He did not move his body, just his eyes. The bedroom was dark. The light filtered in through the window gave the furniture in the room a blurry shadow. There were no other people or any Zoog in the room. However, Gu Jun’s skin crawled with chilblains. It felt like someone was staring at him...

However, infiltration was impossible. Due to his unique status, there were Phecda members who guarded outside his door. Furthermore, Phecda had cooperated many times with this hotel management so it couldn’t be an inside job either. When he scouted the hotel earlier, he did not identify any suspicious character either.

‘The dresser?’ Gu Jun’s gaze eventually landed on the large wooden dresser to the right of the bed. ‘Is someone hiding in there?’ He looked around as thoughts ran through his mind. He grabbed the phone and jumped out of bed. He blasted out from the bedroom. Then he immediately called the two guards in. Gao Haoze and Lin Ziyong were both large, imposing men. Dressed in black suits, they looked like a celebrity’s personal guards, which in a way, they were. They wore the opaline assessment stone and were taught lessons on how to sign the Ancient Seal. Both of the gentlemen were elites, like everyone else in Gu Jun’s personal guard entourage.

“Doctor Gu, what’s wrong?” The team captain, Gao Haoze asked respectfully even though Gu Jun was much younger than he was.

“I suspect there is someone else in the room.” Gu Jun said seriously, “They might be hiding inside the dresser.” Both Gao Haoze and Lin Ziyong snapped into attention. They were disappointed and angered at themselves. How could they discover nothing on their surveillance? This was a huge mistake on their part. Being on guard duty meant curbing all possible danger while causing the least amount of disturbance to their person of interest, but now Doctor Gu suspected there was someone else in his room...

Doctor Gu was famous for his sharp instinct, his prediction had never been wrong... At least not until now. If someone had infiltrated into his hotel room, they would only mean serious harm to Gu Jun. The chance of it being a fan or a thief was miniscule. Therefore Gao Haoze immediately called for backup. The other members rushed over. After they were ready, they stormed into the bedroom with their rifles engaged. They pressed towards the dresser as well as any other spot in the room where someone could hide. However, there was nothing... not even a cockroach in the dresser or under the bed.

Gu Jun’s creased brows refused to relax. The agitation that he felt earlier was still there but it had lightened aplenty.

“Captain Gao, I was probably being too nervous.” He sighed, “It’s most likely because I’m still not used to this place.” Despite everything, Gao Haoze’s team still gave the place a clean sweep. They checked the entire hotel from the rooftop to the basement. They even scanned the surveillance videos again. No discovery was made. Regarding the false alarm of this Phecda Hero, they did not have any complaint, instead they showed more than enough understanding. This was not their first day working under Phecda. Guard detail was a common mission for Special Mobile Forces so they were familiar with their client’s acts of paranoia. Furthermore, they had worked with colleagues who suffered from low S value and PTSD before. Even though they did not know the absolute detail about Gu Jun’s condition, from the orders given by their superiors, they knew Gu Jun could not suffer anymore unnecessary worry. Gao Haoze signed for his teammates to retreat before he reported, “Doctor Gao, this place is very safe. You can rest with ease. We will guard this place with our lives.”

“Okay... I’m so sorry.” Gu Jun nodded. It was clear from Captain Gao’s choice of word that he was concerned about Gu Jun’s mental condition. After sending Captain Gao away, Gu Jun sat down back on his bed. For the moment, he was lost.

‘Will my symptoms from PTSD worsen?’ Gu Jun knew that was possible and it was the very thing that worried Prof Shen. ‘Paranoia: a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, lack of focus, irritability, self-destructive behaviour, or exaggerated self-importance, typically worked into an organized system.’ Gu Jun recited the textbook definition of paranoia in his mind. It perfectly explained his condition. ‘Is that all to it?’ Gu Jun collapsed on the bed. Looking up at the ceiling, he sighed. He did not suffer from unwarranted jealousy but he couldn’t say the same for delusions of persecution...’But I already suffer from minor paranoia before this... Dirty-minded Yu, I miss you...’

Gu Jun adjusted to his sleeping position again. He slowly closed his eyes. Just as drowsiness claimed him, the falling sensation returned. This time he kept his eyes closed. His breathing turned heavy. A ball of fire lit up within him...’irritability?’

‘Who is it?’ Gu Jun asked in his mind, ‘Who the hell are you? What are you doing? Is this a mental signal? Part of a ritual? Answer me!’ People with mental problems would not admit that they had any problem. But in this case, Gu Jun really did not think he suffered from PTSD. As the questions of the supernatural filled his mind, the headache returned...

‘What are you intending to say? What do you want to tell me?’ Gu Jun opened his eyes. He knew he could not hold on any longer, he was close to epilepsy. However, he swore he could hear a voice. Or was it an illusion...

He pressed his eyelids closed. He tried to focus on the voice. The voice appeared to be saying...

“If you can hear us... We are... innocent...”