My House of Horrors Chapter 117 - Reason Behind the Hair Washing

Chapter 117: Reason Behind the Hair Washing

Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97

Chen Ge could not understand Doctor Gao’s ssage. “How could washing one’s hair be related to a self-defense chanism?”

“PSTD presupposes an earlier trauma. n Nan repeatedly washing his hair is probably to escape from a psychological trauma; this perhaps has to do with his past.”

“His past?”

“Yes, sothing he has experienced in the past has left a great trauma in him. Whenever he is reminded of it, his body reacts. To ease the pain, he instinctively seeks out a thod to make himself feel better. Based on my observation, that thod is to wash his hair.”

After a while, Doctor Gao sent another ssage. “At the beginning of the sester, I once asked n Nan why he chose to study psychology. He told

that he wished to cure soone’s illness, and I now realize that he was probably talking about himself.”

“Looks like the problem resides in what happened to n Nan when he was young. In that case, we have to ask him for more details. Only by knowing his history can we help him.”

“If my diagnosis is correct, it is all the more reason that we cannot ask him. He has been trying to forget this past, so if we ask him about it, it might send him over the deep end.”

“Then perhaps we can contact his family. The man is in such pain, but his parents do not care one bit about him? That doesn’t seem right.” Chen Ge wanted to snap a picture of n Nan in his current state and send it to n Nan’s parents.

“I asked them about this when I made the call earlier. n Nan has had this habit of obsessively washing his hair since he was young. His parents have gotten used to it and don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”

“Did they say why this happened?”

“No, when n Nan was small, his parents did take him to visit a psychiatrist. The diagnosis then was OCD, sothing that was very rare for a child his age. Since he was still so young, there was no dication that could be prescribed. The psychiatrist rely advised his parents give him constant company.”

“Obviously, his parents did not take the doctor’s advice,” Chen Ge replied without second thought. If n Nan’s parents cared about him, they would not have acted so coldly.

“A slight OCD is not a disturbance to daily life, so his parents did not take it to heart. Other than that, after so digging around, I found out that n Nan’s biological mother died when he was five or six. His father remarried, and he gave n Nan a younger brother from the second marriage.”

“Biological mother is dead? There’s such a history?” Chen Ge saw a ray of light in their investigation.

“His biological parents did not share a good relationship. His father was not ho a lot, so his mother practically raised him alone. One day, a burglar entered the house. What happened next, n Nan’s current parents are not sure; all they knew was the neighbor called the police the next day.”

“The next day?” Chen Ge’s heart skipped a beat. “Then, where was n Nan during the ti of the cri?”

“I’m not sure, but based on the testimony from the neighbor, when the police arrived, n Nan was already at the cri scene; he was the first person to find his mother.”

Reading the ssage from Doctor Gao, a chill ran up Chen Ge’s spine. “aning n Nan spent the night with his dead mother inside the house? He was only discovered the next morning?”

“I suppose one can see it that way. Perhaps the burglar took pity on n Nan or was not awake during the ti of cri. In any case, n Nan survived the break-in; however, the sight of his dead mother must have left a deep psychological scar in his heart. I suspect his OCD and PTSD are both related to this murder, but what I don’t understand is why he insists on washing his hair? How is that related to the murder?”

Doctor Gao’s reply was filled with confusion. It was the sa question Chen Ge wanted to ask as well. He stood before the mirror and looked at his reflection.Washing hair? Self-defense chanism?

The image of himself mimicking n Nan appeared in his mind. Chen Ge touched the back of his neck, and he was suddenly reminded of sothing. The water drop!

He imdiately ssaged Doctor Gao. “At the cri scene, where was the body of n Nan’s mother discovered?”

“After the burglar killed her, he removed the damp-proof boards from the ceiling of the bathroom and shoved her up there. If not for the fact that the neighbor’s kid went to school together with n Nan, and thus both families shared a good relationship, the cri would not have been discovered so soon.”

“The space above the bathroom?” Chen Ge raised his head to look at the bathroom he was in. The ceiling of the place was low; he felt pressured standing in it. “I think I understand why n Nan has the hair washing OCD.”

He used his phone to reply to Doctor Gao. “Is it possible that this was the real event that happened? After the burglar broke into the house, both mother and son discovered him. His mother asked for n Nan to hide while she went to call the police but was unfortunately discovered by the burglar.”

“That’s possible, but what does that have to do with hair washing?”

“n Nan witnessed his mother’s murder and hid away. After the burglar left, he went to search for his mother. When he entered the bathroom, his mother’s blood happened to drip on his head.” When Chen Ge typed those words, he was not feeling so good. “Therefore, even now, whenever a liquid falls on his head or whenever he is reminded of that incident, he washes his hair again and again; he wants to wash the mory away. Doctor Gao, you were right; this is more than a simple OCD!”

After sending those words, Chen Ge looked out the bathroom. Doctor Gao’s expression was written in shock. He caught Chen Ge’s eyes, and they shared a look.

“The cause of the illness has been found!” Doctor Gao put away his phone and walked toward Chen Ge. “I’ll bring him away now and provide the necessary post-traumatic treatnt.”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Chen Ge glanced at n Nan, who stood where he was, and slightly shook his head. “n Nan kept repeating the sa action in his dream, but washing his head wasn’t scary. The real scary thing was the man who kept approaching him. To help n Nan, we have to find out everything about this man and chase him out of n Nan’s dream.”

“Chase the thing out of his dream?” Doctor Gao looked at Chen Ge with a suspicious look before turning to look at n Nan, who stood in a funny posture. In that short mont, he felt he was back at the ntal hospital. “Are you kidding with ?”

“I already have a theory in mind; it’ll be confird later tonight!” Chen Ge lined all the clues together, and he was sixty percent confident. “There are indeed three ‘people’ in this room. Two of them have been confird. We only need to solve the mystery of the third one.”