Revere the Gods

After Shi Yunxing left the family, he went through one disaster after another in the span of just one year: a friend betrayed him, his company went bankrupt, and his apartment caught fire.

He temporarily rented a place and moved in, only to find that things were getting increasingly bizarre.

He stared silently at his reflection in the mirror, talking to himself.

Every now and then, he even shared a “friendly” handshake with a hand in his drawer that didn't belong to him.

On his way home, he saw a paper effigy that a neighbor was about to burn cheekily wink at him.

Worst of all, the teddy bear in his home started talking to him.

It kept repeating that he was going to die, and even helpfully counted down the time he had left.

Even after Shi Yunxing cut it to pieces and threw it away, the teddy bear still returned to his room the next day.

At his wit's end, Shi Yunxing left it in the donation box beneath a statue of Buddha, and even had a master perform a ritual for him.

But it was no use. Those strange occurrences still followed him around like a shadow.

In the end, Shi Yunxing decided to go to the hospital and see a neurologist.

After listening to his account, the doctor wrote in his medical record: [Hallucinations, severe depression.]

He asked Shi Yunxing, “Have you been feeling extremely low, or had thoughts of ending your life?”

Shi Yunxing replied, “No. Compared to that, I'd rather deal with those strange things... especially that bear that loves to spout nonsense.”

The doctor silently lowered his head and amended the record: [Extremely self-confident, now diagnosed with bipolar disorder.]

Shi Yunxing asked, “What is bipolar disorder?”

The doctor only said, “Try to keep yourself under control. Don't get too manic.”

Thinking about how he acted when dealing with those things, Shi Yunxing fell silent for a moment. “...I'll do my best.”

On the day of his appointment, as he left the hospital, someone handed him a flyer. When he first took it, it was an advertisement for a health and wellness center, but when he went to throw it away, he noticed the words had changed.

The writing was bold and forceful, and there was only one sentence: If praying to gods and Buddha doesn't work, why not try praying to ghosts, monsters, and demons?

[Although the blurb is written from the gong's perspective, the story actually has two perspectives. After Tang appears, many parts also follow his point of view.]

Theme: Be kind to the people in your life who love you.