Chapter 532 - 529: Red Spirit Flower

Chapter 532: Chapter 529: Red Spirit Flower

"Are these flowers called Red Spirit Flowers? Who named them?"

Li Luo, filled with confusion, made her way to the center of the flower patch, surrounded by countless buds.

And there, she finally saw the one waiting to be saved.

It was actually a—Healing Creature.

Its shriveled body lay curled up amongst the red petals, the ball of light on its head as dim and faint as a candle flame. Its withered form was covered in small Red Spirit Flowers, a truly desolate sight.

The moment Li Luo saw the Red Spirit Flowers, she knew they were keeping this Healing Creature alive, preventing it from dying completely.

"Save him..." the flower on Li Luo’s hand pleaded once more.

Perhaps because of the dense water vapor in the air, its voice grew clearer and clearer.

"Who is he? Why do you want to save him?" Li Luo asked again.

She could feel the red flowers’ urgency, but she had to first understand the origin of the Healing Creature lying before her.

To Li Luo’s surprise, the red flower on the back of her hand responded this time, though its voice was still incredibly faint...

"He is Father. The father of the flower patch..."

The giant red flowers nearby drew closer to Li Luo, bringing a thick water vapor with them. The vapor drifted onto the back of her hand, gathering on the bud of the parasitic flower.

Li Luo was instantly immersed in a cacophony of voices.

"He says he is not our father."

"But he is our father."

"He won’t let us call him Father."

"But we have always called him Father."

...

The Healing Creatures have a name. They call themselves Healers.

Healer Xi was one of them.

He was very fond of plants, especially flowers, so he stayed on Hundred Flowers Island in the Hua Sheng Islands, conducting his research while treating patients who happened to come to the island.

One day, a colleague rushed to find him, saying that a patient had a very strange illness and needed him to take a look.

Healer Xi immediately went to the patient’s location. The moment he laid eyes on the patient, he understood the source of the illness.

"It’s a parasitic plant. It transfers its pollen onto the patient’s skin. At first, the patient feels nothing, but after a few days, they’ll feel an unbearable itch. By then, the parasitic plant has already begun to take root and sprout."

"This parasitic plant burrows its root system into the patient’s body to absorb their nutrients. The patient can’t simply rip it off because the plant shares emotions and sensations with them. The patient will gradually come to see the parasite as a part of their own body."

"Then, the parasitic plant will bloom a flower on the outside of the patient’s skin and begin to spread its pollen. This is also when it absorbs the most nutrients."

"The patient will grow progressively thinner, their spirit will wither, and they’ll become like a walking corpse. Once the pollen has been fully dispersed, the flower will wilt, and the patient will be left as an empty shell, on the verge of death."

Healer Xi looked at the patient with his vacant eyes and said to his colleague, "He’s already a complete shell, both physically and spiritually... Are you sure you want to save him?"

"Of course, we have to. Isn’t that our duty?"

The colleague thanked Healer Xi and then began treating the patient.

Healers possess a powerful healing ability. They can cure any difficult and complex disease, but there’s one condition: they must know the cause of the illness.

Only after knowing the cause can they activate their ability.

The patient was saved. His atrophied body became full and healthy again.

Just moments ago, he was like a soulless puppet, but under the colleague’s treatment, he instantly became full of life and vigor.

It was as if... he had become a different person.

Healer Xi watched the ’refilled’ soul and couldn’t help but doubt: ’Is a patient like this really worth saving? Even if you can save him, is he still the same person he was before?’

As he was grappling with this, his colleague came to his side again and thanked him. "It’s a good thing you were here. How did you know the cause was a parasitic plant?"

"I’ve read about it in the records of other Healers... The patient’s eyes were vacant, his body showed many signs of dehydration, and there were traces of roots crawling on his skin. And the most important thing..."

Healer Xi walked over to the recovered patient and grabbed his claw.

"There’s still some pollen in the crevices of his claws. It was left there when he was scratching his body. If this pollen finds suitable conditions, it will cause a reinfection, a repeat parasitism. After some time, he’ll be back here again..."

Hearing Healer Xi’s words, the colleague immediately grew tense.

"Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

He hurriedly went to the patient’s side and collected all the pollen from his body.

"That should prevent a relapse, right?" The colleague casually tossed the collected pollen to Healer Xi.

Healer Xi held the pollen, hesitated for a moment, and then finally spoke:

"Even if you’ve cleaned all the pollen off his body, he will still have a relapse. The moment the flower bud bloomed, his entire environment was saturated with pollen. His family, his companions, his entire food chain is now covered in it. His home may have already become a territory for that parasitic plant."

"You should understand how terrifying parasitic plants are. Even if you can save him now, he’ll just get reinfected as soon as he returns to his original home. Their medical technology isn’t advanced enough to deal with this kind of parasite. This species will soon be wiped out. So, why are you still trying to save him?"

"If you really want to save him, you should leave the Hua Sheng Islands, go to their species’ home, and completely eradicate this parasitic plant."

Healer Xi couldn’t hold back and blurted out everything he was thinking.

Hearing Healer Xi’s words, the colleague fell silent.

After a long time, the colleague finally spoke again:

"You’re right. I really should leave the Hua Sheng Islands and go take a look at their home."

Healer Xi was stunned. He hadn’t expected his words to make his colleague come to such a decision.

"I was just talking. We’re just Healers, not gods. Our duty is to treat illnesses, not to decide the rise or fall of a species." Healer Xi explained repeatedly, deeply regretting his big mouth.

But his colleague interrupted him.

"Xi, deep down, you also feel that we’re not doing enough, don’t you?"

The colleague looked at the lively patient. "We possess this incredible power, but we hide here on the Hua Sheng Islands out of fear. We could be saving so many more patients, but instead, we just watch as they march step-by-step toward extinction."

"Xi, you were actually right. We *can* decide the rise and fall of a species. We *can* save more patients. So why don’t we do it?"

"Since I know the cause of the illness, I will see the cure through to the very end. I won’t let my patient have a relapse."

The colleague looked at the fully recovered patient and spoke with determination.

Healer Xi wanted to argue further, but his colleague’s mind was made up.

The next day, the colleague left with the patient, heading for the patient’s homeland...