Tingen Hospital.
Because his daughter, Meredith, worked here, and Rowley's income was quite good, Josh was given a quiet private room.
As it was still early, his parents hadn't arrived yet, and the less advanced medicine of this era meant that Josh didn't have the various life-monitoring instruments Lex was familiar with from his previous life.
"Let Doctor Kaven give Josh a detailed examination. We shouldn't disturb them." Seeing that there was no one in the room, Lex quickly suggested to Hardy, winking at Kaven.
The old man didn't think much of it, nodded in agreement, and followed Lex out to the corridor.
They sat for a moment, then heard footsteps, and Meredith, dressed as a nurse, walked over.
"Father, you're here so early?" Meredith then looked Lex up and down again, nodding slightly at the kind-hearted reporter from yesterday.
Hardy sighed and said, "I had insomnia. This is the first time I've had insomnia since your mother passed away."
"Is it because of Josh?"
Meredith glanced into the ward, then sat down, somewhat annoyed: "I warned Rowley early on to keep a closer eye on Josh, and I also reminded Maggie, but they both ignored my words!"
Lex looked at the lady curiously, wondering if she had already sensed that her nephew was in some kind of danger.
Hardy immediately grabbed Meredith's hand: "What's going on?"
"It was probably in the first half of this month. I was visiting Rowley's house, and while chatting with Josh, he told me that someone was watching him."
"I thought it was just a child's nonsense and didn't pay it any mind. But a few days later, when Maggie brought him to my house, Josh acted very strangely."
"He was afraid of the paintings and photos I had on the wall. He asked me to find a way to cover them up."
Meredith paused, glancing at the ward, and continued: "It was then that Maggie told me Josh had become peculiar recently. He had taken down the picture frames in his room, and yesterday he even tore up an oil painting his father had bought at an auction a few days ago."
"I asked him why he did that, and he said, 'Aunt Meredith, the person in the painting wants to catch me.'"
"I suggested Maggie take Josh to the church to pray, and finally talk to a familiar bishop about his condition, but they always had various excuses to put it off."
Madam, you are truly professional! Lex praised Meredith in his heart.
"Rowley always says he's busy; he loves his company more than his family. As for Maggie, she always has afternoon tea parties; she prefers to go to the mall rather than care for her son."
"Oh my God."
Hardy looked his daughter up and down: "Meredith, you're not trying to say that Josh's current condition has something to do with someone in a painting, are you?"
"Otherwise, how do you explain him looking physically healthy but unable to wake up? If you ask me, we should go to church to pray now. Maybe we can get help from the gods."
Meredith stood up and said, "Of course, this is just my opinion. I know, Father, that since Mother passed away, you've been going to church less and less."
Hardy immediately fell silent.
Just then, the door to the ward opened, and Kaven walked out.
"Who are you? Why are you in the ward!" Meredith suddenly exclaimed.
Hardy stood up and said, "Don't be nervous. This is Rowley's friend, a neurosurgeon. Rowley asked him to examine Josh."
Meredith was half-skeptical: "Is that so? What are the results?"
Kaven looked at Lex with a somber expression and said, "We need to talk."
Hardy nervously said, "Doctor, did you find anything wrong?"
Lex comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, Mr. Hardy. Let me talk to my friend first, or you and Ms. Meredith can go see Josh first."
Hardy then followed his daughter into the ward. Watching the old man sit by the bed, holding his grandson's hand in silence, Lex exhaled and gave Kaven a look.
The two went to the end of the corridor, where few people passed, making it relatively quiet.
"How is the situation?" Lex asked, but he was already mentally prepared; Kaven's expression just now had already indicated something.
Kaven shook his head and said, "It's not good, quite bad. I can't see his 'Spiritual Body.' In mysticism, it's generally believed that the 'Spiritual Body' is everyone's most fundamental spirituality. To put it simply, the 'Spiritual Body' can be equated to a person's spirit body."
"Of course, there's still a slight difference."
"But the problem now is that Josh's 'Spiritual Body' doesn't seem to be in his body. I think this is the reason for his unconscious state."
"Also, remember last night's Divination? Now it seems his 'Spiritual Body' must have been imprisoned."
Suddenly, Lex remembered Meredith's words.
'The person in the painting wants to catch him!'
"Can you divine where his 'Spiritual Body' is?" Lex asked, grabbing the Seer's arm.
Kaven clenched his fist and coughed dryly, saying, "I did do that. In the ward, I used Josh's hair for Divination and got a clearer revelation than last night."
"I can confirm that Josh's 'Spiritual Body' is imprisoned in an ancient castle. Looking out the window, I can see large fields of wheat. I see clear rivers, windmills by the river, and houses with red sloped roofs…"
"But one thing is strange: whether it's the wheat fields outside the window or the trees by the river, their colors look very green. It seems the season outside the castle is definitely not early winter, but more like spring or summer."
"That is to say, the place where Josh is located might not be the Loen Kingdom."
Lex thought seriously for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, he should still be in Loen, or even right here in Tingen City."
"That's impossible!" Kaven exclaimed softly.
Lex didn't explain immediately. He asked back, "When you were divining, did you see anything related to paintings or photos?"
Kaven paused, then nodded: "Yes, that's the second thing I wanted to tell you."
"In the revelations I received, among those fragmented images, I always saw oil paintings and photos, and within them, I saw a very blurry figure."
"That looked like a woman in court attire. Oh, right, in one of the picture frames, in the reflection of the glass, I saw Josh's back."
"Josh seemed to be avoiding this figure, but that figure would get a little closer each time. I'm guessing it's this figure that ran off with and imprisoned Josh's 'Spiritual Body.'"
"That's 'Madam Christie'!"
Meredith's voice rang out. She had appeared out of nowhere, looking at Lex and the other person with shock: "The woman in court attire who appears in various photos and oil paintings, whose face can never be clearly seen…"
"That's 'Madam Christie,' the nightmare of my childhood. Oh my God, I should have thought of it sooner, I should have thought of it."
Meredith covered her mouth, her voice slightly sharp as she cried out: "Rowley took out that damned painting again?"