The next day.
Chen Hao woke up early in the morning and, after a simple breakfast with the black cat, took a bus to Stone City Mental Hospital.
Stone City Mental Hospital was originally just an ordinary mental hospital. But eight years ago a doctor was struck by an idea and invented a technique called electrotherapy. In the end, due to improper use and causing the deaths of a few mental patients, it created a huge hoo-ha all over town, making the mental hospital very notorious. It even became a scare tactic adults used with children thereafter.
Li Meng's father was locked there to receive treatment.
Chen Hao had no idea how mad Li Meng's father was, whether he could find out anything from the latter. But this was the only way to help Li Meng now.
Half an hour later, Chen Hao arrived at the mental hospital and, after registering, found Li Meng's father Li Feng.
Chen Hao was stunned by what he saw.
According to Li Meng's age, Li Feng was merely forty or so. But with his head half full of white hairs and an aged face, he resembled an old man in his fifties or sixties.
Li Feng was constantly in a state of terror, mumbling to himself, looking rather uneasy. He was bound to his bed by a uniform designated for mentally ill patients.
The nurse leading the way for Chen Hao told him that Li Feng's condition was very complicated and it was of no use even if they injected him with a tranquilizer. Once he was awake he became a maniac, and there was nothing they could do about him. After affecting other patients on several occasions, the hospital arranged him to be locked by himself in a room and generally didn't allow him to go out.
The nurse also reminded Chen Hao not to agitate Li Feng, else it would invoke a strong response in him. They would then have to force this visiting session to come to an end.
Chen Hao quickly said something nice, and the nurse then opened the door for him.
After entering, Chen Hao didn't speak and merely sit in front of Li Meng and listened to his words.
Too bad Li Feng totally wasn't conscious of what he was saying—he was talking nonsense and sounded inarticulate, and Chen Hao wasn't able to make out a word of what he was saying.
Looking at Li Feng's aura, Chen Hao noticed that there was still residual dark energy on him, and his own aura was also murky. Clearly, he didn't entirely go crazy because of his son's drowning—there was also the influence of the residual dark energy on him.
So ruthless!
Chen Hao couldn't help sighing.
Back then those few people whose deaths were caused by Li Meng's grandfather must have suffered great torment, such that even after their yin bodies evaporated, their residual dark energy still carried out such vicious revenge.
But now that he had found the cause, things became easier.
Chen Hao took out a jade Buddha magical artifact from his cloth sack and pressed it between Li Feng's brows.
Momentarily, the jade Buddha exuded a Dharmic Aura and dispelled the dark energy on Li Feng.
After the dark energy was dispelled, Li Feng behaved much more normally—at least he stopped trembling.
Chen Hao didn't shift it away and continued to observe. After that, he found that the magical artifact actually managed to condition Li Feng's aura. His originally murky aura slowly started to subside. Thereafter, Li Feng stopped mumbling to himself and his gaze became less terror-stricken and slightly more focused.
"Where… is this?"
Li Feng suddenly murmured softly.
The overjoyed Chen Hao hurriedly asked, "Hello, Li Feng. I'm a friend of your son Li Meng. I'd like to ask. What's the name of Li Meng's mother?"
"Li Meng's mother? Xiao Hong, is she back? Where is she?" Li Feng's tone suddenly changed, and it now had a hint of agitation and desire.
Chen Hao couldn't be bothered about what he was thinking. He felt it was most important to ask him for more information while he was sober.
"She didn't come back. But what's Xiao Hong's surname? My house is over there. I'll get Li Meng to bring her over, okay?" Chen Hao tried guiding him.
"Yeah, she won't be coming back. Xiao Hong won't be coming back. She has abandoned me and Xiao Meng. She abandoned…" Li Feng's tone started to become abnormal, and his breathing got heavier. It was clear he had thought of something and suffered agitation.
Anxious, Chen Hao said in a deep voice, "Tell me where she is. I'll capture her and make her not leave you forever. Quickly tell."
"Channel Mountain Lane… who are you? What are you trying to do? Help, someone is trying to kill me! Help!"
Before he finished his words, Li Feng suddenly exploded. He appeared seized by terror and suddenly seemed to have great strength, making loud banging noises against the bed underneath him.
Without waiting for Chen Hao to react, the nurse outside rushed into the room and pulled him over. She glared at him and berated. "I told you not to agitate the patient. Why didn't you listen? Hurry up and leave."
Then, without waiting for Chen Hao to explain, she shoved him out of the ward. The nurse then took out a small needle and injected Li Feng with it in a skilled manner. Within the span of a few breaths, Li Feng rolled his eyes and fell slumped on the bed.
Chen Hao was speechless.
Damn. I haven't even finished talking! Why did he suddenly snap? What's the meaning of Channel Mountain Lane? Which place has such a name? Don't tell me Xiao Hong is a foreign chick?"
But since Li Feng was injected with a tranquilizer, there was nothing he could do.
Chen Hao could only leave embarrassed under the nurse's glaring eyes.
Although it wasn't a very fruitful trip, at least with two pieces of information he found a direction to further his investigation.
After exiting the mental hospital, Chen Hao took out his phone and called Zhou Gang.
The phone rang twice before Zhou Gang answered it. "Hao'zi, how is it? Did you find out anything?"
Chen Hao said, "Found out a bit. Li Feng addresses Li Meng's mother as Xiao Hong, so I'm guessing there's a Hong in her name. As for her address, it's called Channel Mountain Lane… then Li Feng's madness struck again and I was chased out."
Zhou Gang was speechless.
"Alright, to be able to find out these from a lunatic is not bad already. Mm, I'll check using the internal system and see if I can find a clue from this information. Wait a moment." Zhou Gang then hung up the phone.
There was nothing Chen Hao could do but wait.
Regardless, he absolutely couldn't give up on these two missions.
Waving a hand, the black cat that had been hiding in the grass next to the hospital jumped out. Chen Hao lifted it into his arms before leaving.
Before Chen Hao got back to his rented apartment, Zhou Gang's call came again.
"I found it. Channel is a county below Qingzhou, and Mountain Lane is a village in Channel County. I searched for names with the word 'Hong' in that village and found a compatible match. I found her contact via a classmate of mine at the police academy. Do you want to try contacting her?" Delight could be detected in Zhou Gang's voice.
He had thought that this was going to be the most arduous task, but surprisingly, Chen Hao managed to obtain information from the lunatic. Tracking down using the police internal information network, it turned out to be the easiest task, which caught him by surprise.
Chen Hao was elated. He quickly asked for the number and dialed over immediately.
The call got through very quickly, and a female voice with a heavy accent answered, "Hello."
Suppressing his excitement, Chen Hao said, "Hello, are you Madam Wei Xiuhong?"
"I am. Who are you?"
"My name is Chen Hao. A boy called Li Meng asked me to help him find…"
Beep—
Suddenly, the line was cut, leaving Chen Hao dumbfounded.
What's going on? I haven't even finished my words and you hung up? Did I get the wrong person?
That shouldn't be the case. If he got the wrong person, the person on the other end would at least politely remind him that, instead of hanging up directly. And if not, another normal reaction would be to scold him or something.
Trouble!
Gaze flickering, Chen Hao hurriedly called the number again.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is not available…"
Chen Hao was speechless.