Chapter 179: Sanity and Madness, Separated by a Single Thought

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Sanity and Madness, Separated by a Single Thought

Hoder forwarded the question to Huo An, hoping to get an answer from him.

Huo An’s response was unexpected, yet made perfect sense.

"After I took office, I had the Protection Zone’s drinking water source changed," Huo An replied. "It is no longer shared with the animals’ water supply."

After all, this was an Animal Protection Zone. Animal epidemics were unpredictable. If a disease spread through the water supply and incapacitated all the staff, there would be no one left to save the animals.

"As for the Seventh Service Area where Liang He is stationed, I secretly connected another water source," Huo An continued. "No one knows about it, and you mustn’t tell anyone else."

Ever since Liang He revealed her special abilities and took up long-term residence in the Seventh Service Area with the Evolutionary Beastmen, Huo An naturally had to be cautious in every aspect. Especially since Liang He had been targeted by the Rebel Army, he had to be extra vigilant. If they failed to kidnap her and decided to simply kill her instead, it would be almost impossible to defend against.

"Understood. I will guard the Seventh Service Area well and won’t let anyone get close," Hoder answered.

During this critical time, everyone was strictly prohibited from approaching the Seventh Service Area, with the exception of Xu Yi and a few other familiar faces. More than that, to ensure the safety of Liang He and the others, Huo An had dispatched the Guard Team to patrol the borders of the Seventh Service Area. He also had Uncle Liao stationed in the monitoring room for real-time surveillance.

"Liang He, why did you come out?"

Silver Feather was just discussing with Silver Shuttle how they could help next when she saw Liang He walk out of Xuan Jiao’s small private room. She immediately went up to her.

"Are you thirsty? Or hungry? We saved some food for you—should I go heat it up?"

Earlier, Hoder had rushed to the center of the forest, so Silver Shuttle had brought the food back and eaten with Silver Feather.

"Don’t worry, there was too much food, so Little Shuozi and I only opened a portion to eat. The rest is completely clean."

Perhaps due to the presence of the Silver Wing Temple, the Protection Zone had sent over a massive amount of food, clearly afraid of slighting them. Figuring that Liang He and the others hadn’t returned yet and might not even have time to eat, Silver Feather had only picked at two or three dishes. The rest had been kept sealed in storage containers.

"I’m not hungry."

Faced with Silver Feather’s concern, Liang He’s expression softened considerably. She forced a faint smile, then headed straight for the medical room.

"I need to mix some medicine. Please, could you and Silver Shuttle keep an eye on Jiao Jiao, Lanton, and the others for me?"

"Alright. I’m here, so don’t worry."

Watching Liang He enter the medical room, Silver Feather frowned slightly. After a brief moment of hesitation, she asked Silver Shuttle to go find Hoder and let him know.

Upon entering the medical room, Liang He first turned off the surveillance cameras. The moment the feed cut out, the monitoring room immediately noticed the anomaly and reported it to Uncle Liao.

"Let her be."

Uncle Liao knew that if Liang He wasn’t allowed to do something, she would only feel worse. It was better to let her distract herself. Besides, no one actually expected her to develop an antidote.

Liang He tinkered in the medical room for quite a while. Hoder, having heard the news and fearing for her well-being, had been guarding the door the whole time, hesitating to go in and disturb her. Just then, Liang He finally emerged.

"Liang He, are you... alright?"

Hoder looked worried, scanning her up and down, terrified that she might have done something to hurt herself.

"I’m fine."

Feeling his concerned gaze, Liang He gently shook her head. However, she subconsciously curled her hand into her sleeve, then stepped around Hoder and walked toward the animal dormitory. Seeing this, Hoder could only silently follow behind her, keeping a close watch.

"Hoder." Liang He suddenly stopped and turned to look at him. "I know you’re worried about me, but I won’t do anything to hurt myself, nor will I act impulsively."

She was not a dense person. Even though her heart and mind were entirely focused on Xuan Jiao, she could still feel the care and concern of those around her. Whether it was Hoder or Kuang Ye and the others, they were all protecting her in their own ways. She knew this very well.

"I am indeed angry, but I am also very clear-headed. The most urgent task right now is to detoxify Jiao Jiao. Nothing else matters."

There was an order of priority to things. Liang He had never been someone with only brawn and no brains.

Hearing her say this, Hoder finally felt a little relieved. He decided to stop following her so as not to add to her stress.

"Okay, then I’ll go check the kitchen. You didn’t have lunch, so you have to eat something for dinner."

"Mm. Thank you."

Liang He didn’t reject Hoder’s kindness this time. She knew that if she didn’t maintain a normal routine, they would never truly be at ease.

After Hoder turned and headed to the kitchen, Liang He quickly walked to the small private room where Xuan Jiao was staying. Silver Shuttle was standing guard at the door.

"Liang... Liang He, you’re finally back."

Silver Shuttle was practically sweating bullets, perhaps from being stared down by Cedriel and the others for too long. Truth be told, he knew that with Liang He around, the fluffies wouldn’t hurt him. But being glared at by a pack of fierce predators was simply too much for his nerves to handle. Especially since he had previously schemed against Liang He, he felt even more guilty and on edge.

"Mm, leave this to me. Go to the kitchen and help Hoder out."

Having sent Silver Shuttle away, Liang He closed the door to Xuan Jiao’s room. She then covered the room’s surveillance camera so that no one would know what she was planning to do.

Cedriel stood guard at the door. Through the crack, he saw Liang He place a pill into Xuan Jiao’s mouth. A strange glint flashed in his golden tiger eyes.

He thought, "Another pill..."

"Mgh..."

Xuan Jiao grunted groggily a couple of times. He was finally no longer completely unresponsive like before.

Seeing this, Liang He finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that, just as she had expected, the pill was also effective for Xuan Jiao. Though it wasn’t enough to wake him up entirely, it could at least ensure his life wasn’t in danger.

"Huh? Did Xuan Jiao just wake up?"

Seeing that Hoder and Silver Shuttle were both busy in the kitchen, Silver Feather had come over to check on Liang He. Unexpectedly, she heard Xuan Jiao’s groans and peered inside curiously.

Hearing her question, Liang He slowly opened the door to the small room, revealing the sleeping Xuan Jiao to the outside world. This also allowed the monitoring room to capture his footage again.

"You misheard."

Silver Feather took the opportunity to glance at the bed in the room, finding that Xuan Jiao was indeed not awake.

"I really did mishear."

Feeling a bit puzzled that she had actually hallucinated the sound, Silver Feather pursed her lips and touched the back of her ear.

She wondered, "Am I unacclimatized to this environment? Are my senses degrading?"

"Ah Ling, did you need me for something?"

Seeing Silver Feather’s thoughts drifting further and further away, Liang He promptly pulled her back to reality.

"Ah? Oh, right, I almost forgot. The food is ready."

Since Hoder and the others didn’t know how to cook, they could only heat up the untouched leftovers from lunch and make do with that. Given the current situation, most of the attention was focused on the water sources and the Sixth Service Area. It was unlikely that anyone would be delivering food anytime soon. Moreover, even if food was delivered, they wouldn’t dare eat it. Who was to say someone wouldn’t take advantage of the chaos to poison their meals?

"Okay, let’s go eat."

Liang He instructed Lanton and Cedriel to keep a close eye on Xuan Jiao. Then, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the fluffies first. It didn’t matter if she skipped a meal, but the fluffies couldn’t go hungry.

"Liang He, stop worrying about it. Let Silver Shuttle carry the rest."

Silver Feather pulled Liang He to sit down at the dining table and continuously piled food onto her plate. She then directed Silver Shuttle to deliver the meat-filled food bowls to the fluffies.

"I’m afraid I might be a poor host for the next few days. Please make yourselves at home. If you need anything, just ask Hoder to take care of it."