Chapter 561 - 558: Paranoia

Chapter 561: Chapter 558: Paranoia

Xi’s ball of light flickered constantly. He stood frozen in place, as if completely paralyzed by the emotion emanating from the black mud.

A gaunt arm trembled slightly. Xi slowly reached out, as if wanting to touch the black mud in Mo Ling’s hand, but he suddenly pulled back and took a few steps away.

"Senior, I’ve felt this kind of loneliness before..." Xi said dazedly, his ball of light flickering.

"When?"

Mo Ling had thought Xi would recall his experience in the Administrator’s Healing Space, but to his surprise, Xi’s words were startling: "When I was creating the Red Spirit Flower."

"Back then, I felt the same loneliness. The emotion suddenly burst forth from the depths of my consciousness and consumed the entire Healing Space..."

"That’s right! I did add my personal emotions while creating the Red Spirit Flower. I remember now!" Xi cried out excitedly.

"Did you see anything like this back then?" Mo Ling asked, holding up the black mud.

"I don’t remember, but the feeling was definitely the same. A sudden burst of loneliness, washing over me like a tide..."

Hearing Xi’s words, Mo Ling grew more certain that this black mud was indeed a weapon targeting healers, capable of triggering their negative emotions.

It induced different emotions in different healers. For the Administrator, it was a sense of emptiness; for Xi, it was loneliness.

These emotions already existed within them, but the black mud seemed to amplify them, affecting the healers’ work and leading to unknown consequences.

"Xi, do you know what consequences there are for adding personal emotions during a healing?" Mo Ling asked seriously.

"Senior, I don’t know either. But the Elder Council strictly forbids it, and I’ve never heard of any cases like that."

"Aren’t you a case like that yourself?" Mo Ling retorted.

"Er, I guess you’re right."

"How did it make you feel?"

Hearing Mo Ling’s question, Xi fell silent in thought for a long time. He stammered, wanting to say something but seemingly unable to get the words out.

After another moment, he finally voiced his true feelings.

"Obsession. Once you add personal emotions, the healing process becomes extremely obsessive. You subconsciously ignore the patient, ignore experience, ignore the advice of other healers..."

"I remember after creating the Red Spirit Flower, I became abnormally obsessive. My emotions were also very unstable, I’d often have wild thoughts, and I became incredibly bold, using treatment methods that had never been tried before."

"It’s like... drinking a Coke! You get super excited! But the result of being overexcited is that you crash even harder. The emotional highs and lows become extreme, you’re wracked with anxiety, and then your thoughts just get more and more chaotic."

Xi carefully recounted his previous changes, telling Mo Ling his true feelings in meticulous detail.

’Obsession, huh?’

It seemed to be true. Both Xi and the Administrator had become increasingly obsessive after adding personal emotions to their healing processes, refusing to listen to advice and experiencing huge emotional swings.

But was causing obsession the only purpose of this black-orb weapon?

Mo Ling felt there was more to it. The masterminds who created the black-orb weapon definitely had a much larger conspiracy in mind.

"Xi, you need to be careful from now on," Mo Ling said, withdrawing the black mud as he spoke.

Hearing Mo Ling’s warning, Xi immediately agreed.

"I’ll be very careful, Senior!"

Mo Ling studied Xi for a moment, then asked with concern, "Do you still feel that loneliness now?"

"Not recently. While I was asleep, the loneliness kept fading. When I was trapped in the Healing Space, my thoughts grew clearer and clearer, and I slowly calmed down. I can’t feel that emotion anymore."

Hearing this, Mo Ling felt a great deal of relief. He had been worried that those black orbs might also exist inside Xi’s body or his Healing Space, but it now seemed their effects weren’t long-lasting.

’Sigh, how did I really end up becoming a healer...’ Mo Ling lamented internally.

All these calls of "Senior" were making him lose track of himself.

He couldn’t just ignore these healers. This was a conspiracy, a disease targeting them, and as their "Senior," he certainly couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Xi had always been respectful and was very cooperative with his "examinations."

Not only that, but back in the Administrator’s Healing Space, Xi had spared no effort to help him.

Because of that, Mo Ling didn’t want to see Xi get dragged into this conspiracy for no reason...

"Xi," Mo Ling called out softly.

"What is it, Senior?"

"I will protect you," Mo Ling said earnestly.

Xi paused, his light trembling a few times.

"But haven’t you always been protecting me, Senior?"

"That’s true..."

Mo Ling nodded, took out his electronic screen again, and tapped it a few times.

"Xi, help me get another sofa. The one I had before is filthy, covered in mud..."

"Oh, and this. Why don’t you get me a few sofa covers, so I can swap them out."

"And, and, I forgot last time, I need a nice pot for my plant. The color should match, preferably. What do you think of this one?"

...

In the Matrix Tree forest, the sound of ringing bells could be heard from time to time.

Li Luo curiously examined the wristband in her hand. Whenever she strayed from the correct path, the Pot Bell Grass on the band would make a "DING DING DONG" sound. When she was heading in the right direction, it would fall silent. It was quite marvelous.

Li Luo couldn’t figure out the guiding principle of this strange plant; she just thought the sound was very pleasant.

Not only that, but the wristband also blew out a cool breeze from time to time, like wearing a portable fan on her wrist. The breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and trees, which was wonderfully refreshing to smell.

The Administrator walking ahead seemed oblivious to everything, weaving through the Matrix Tree forest at their own pace, which fortunately wasn’t too fast.

Healers were in terrible physical shape, not even comparable to regular humans. Li Luo was a bit curious why they didn’t use their healing powers to modify their own bodies, but she didn’t ask. She figured they must have their reasons, or perhaps it was some kind of taboo.

Li Luo glanced over at Xi from time to time. She noticed he’d been spacing out ever since they started, his body rigid as he followed the Administrator like a doll, the ball of light on his head flickering nonstop.

’What is he doing?’

Li Luo shook her head. ’These healers are so hard to understand.’

Before she knew it, the group had left the forest of copy-pasted Matrix Trees, and the wristband on Li Luo’s hand stopped making noise.

Li Luo shook her arm hard. Other than the lingering cool breeze, the Pot Bell Grass had gone limp, drooping completely.

"Every time it makes a sound, it’s draining the Pot Bell Grass’s life force. This fragile plant withers quickly after being picked..."

Xi, who was beside her, suddenly returned to normal and explained the characteristics of the Pot Bell Grass to the arm-shaking Li Luo.

"Where’d you just go?" Li Luo asked curiously.

"Senior came to see me. He told me to be extra careful," Xi said, a little worried.

"Senior?" Li Luo turned and glanced at the Block behind them.

"Yes. He said there might be a disease targeting healers spreading across the Hua Sheng Islands..."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Er, a lot. Sofa covers, flower pots, Coke..."