Chapter 619: The Ancestor's Gift (8)

It is unclear when the sky turned dark; the sun and moon alternated, and the lights in the old house behind Guan Xinyue flickered on once more. The summer night fields and mountains were scenery she knew better than anything else. Thick clouds billowed from behind the mountains, lightning tore through the night sky above the peaks, and several clusters of summer night will-o'-the-wisps drifted at a distance neither near nor far.

Guan Xinyue gazed at all of this, feeling neither fear nor novelty. That small hand remained held in hers, and the child looked longingly at the scenery she knew so well.

"It's truly beautiful," the child said, hesitating for a moment before using a word beyond her years, "truly magnificent."

"Mm," Guan Xinyue mused. She did not fear the storm about to arrive, nor did she fear the will-o'-the-wisps dancing in the fields, for they could not touch her. "This is my memory."

"That's right," the child said, holding her hand and pressing her body close to her. "Do you want to see your grandfather and sister?"

"I have always wanted to see them one more time..." Guan Xinyue said submissively. A question lingered on the tip of her tongue—who are you? But as soon as she thought of this question, she felt as if she had fallen into a nightmare; she could not ask it, and even the mere act of gathering this doubt exhausted her.

"Don't you want to see them? Relying only on yourself, their details are almost blurring, aren't they? Aren't you always afraid that you will gradually forget them? I can help you condense your memories," the child said happily. "I want to see them, too."

"She has fainted," Luo Qi said. He stood behind Du Zhengyi, watching Guan Xinyue, observing her from two layers of vision. She sat leaning against the wall with her knees hugged to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees. Du Zhengyi crouched in front of her, his hand checking the pulse on her neck. In another space, Guan Xinyue's Spirit Fire burned calmly; looking closely, one would realize it was the same as when she was sleeping on a normal day.

Clownfish stood a step further away and corrected Luo Qi's statement, "She is just sleeping."

"Oh, then wake her up," Luo Qi glared fiercely at Clownfish.

Guan Xinyue seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep; Du Zhengyi had been unable to wake her just moments ago. Mahjong had released several Medical Detection Magic spells, and Guan Xinyue gave him only positive feedback. She was very healthy, her body had no abnormal characteristics, and she looked as if she had suddenly developed narcolepsy.

"She might have narcolepsy."

Luo Qi turned his head and saw Zhou Ruisi, who was poking his head out from behind Yan Hao. He glared at Zhou Ruisi. But when Zhou Ruisi wanted to say something, he would certainly say it as long as he wasn't strangled to death.

"It's a type of human illness where sometimes one can fall into a coma for months. There was a girl in my neighbor's house back home who was about this age. She usually looked very healthy, but when her narcolepsy flared up, she could sleep for three months straight. If you forced her to eat, she would eat, and sometimes if you talked to her, she would answer, but it would be muddled, all sleep-talking."

"But I've known her for a while, and she has never suddenly fallen asleep like this," Liu Ziyu said worriedly. "If only I hadn't left her side just now."

Luo Qi interjected, "There shouldn't have been any issues to begin with. Weren't there several breathing Great Mages around her? Can't so many people protect one little girl? Unless they were the ones who did it in the first place."

The sudden accusation startled Zhao Jiaozhu, though the words spoken were unpleasantly lukewarm. "This shouldn't be referring to us, should it? How could we possibly harm such a cute little girl?"

"Is that so? But aren't you all Lotus Burners? We all look very much like the Lotus Eaters in your eyes, and as for this human little girl, she is the legendary sweet fruit." It was Yan Hao who spoke; he had suddenly interjected. His tone was relaxed, and his face still held a youthful look, but the sharp edge in his gaze belonged to a Battle Mage of the Qionglin.

The atmosphere became tense invisibly. The false peace of the last hour began to fade. Yan Hao stood behind Luo Qi, pressing close to him, and several Battle Mages entered a quiet state of readiness. The Lotus Burners all cast their gazes toward their leader.

Zhao Jiaozhu's expression remained unchanged, showing nothing, only glancing again at the little girl on the ground as if evaluating the situation.

Clownfish suddenly said, "Perhaps she was attacked by a sealed demon."

"What do you mean?" Luo Qi asked stiffly, staring coldly at Clownfish's featureless face.

Several Lotus Burners looked uncomfortably toward the other adult Mages, especially Du Zhengyi. But no one spoke, and Du Zhengyi had no intention of interfering with Luo Qi at all; he was crouching in front of Guan Xinyue, carefully watching Mahjong retry several Medical Magic spells.

"Explain," Luo Qi commanded, acting every bit the little leader here.

Clownfish seemed to let out a breath; his body posture was blurry, perhaps with his hands tucked into his pockets. "This is where the Progenitor Mage sealed the weapons. We actually don't know what the Progenitor Mage's weapon types are like at all. Perhaps they are beasts, perhaps there are more. We only know that the weapons are aimed at humans, and now there is only one human here, and she looks like she has been attacked."

"If it were a mental attack, you are standing right beside her; you should be able to feel it," Luo Qi said.

"I didn't feel anything," Clownfish said. "Don't blame me; you didn't feel it either. I can be certain you are monitoring your people, and you did not perceive any consciousness attacking her."

"That... other types of weapons, could it be a virus? A virus that only humans can be infected with," Zhou Ruisi said suddenly, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was right. "It might just be a narcolepsy virus!"

Yan Hao looked at him in surprise, as if he wanted to discuss it with him. But neither Luo Qi nor Clownfish paid any attention to what he said. Luo Qi continued from Clownfish, "Unless it wasn't a malicious attack at all; I didn't feel any hostility."

"If the tentacles of consciousness are as thin as gossamer, the defensive net you've spread might not be meticulous enough, and something could slip through," Clownfish said.

"Very clever consciousness; it's a master of manipulating consciousness," Luo Qi said.

"We cannot rule out that there are fragments of the Progenitor's consciousness here," Clownfish said.

Zhao Jiaozhu looked curiously at Luo Qi, then at Clownfish. "The Progenitor Mage might still be here?"

"Fragments of consciousness cannot be considered a person." Luo Qi licked his lips. In the other layer of vision, he saw Clownfish also encrypting his consciousness filter, tentatively touching Guan Xinyue's consciousness. He had to admit that Clownfish's technique was more sophisticated than his own; he used complex and exquisite corrections that could affect Guan Xinyue's mind less. He was a master of killing, but when touching Guan Xinyue's consciousness, he was cautious, as if wiping a precious and fragile piece of art. He remembered that Clownfish's former lover was a human; he was very familiar with humans, too familiar. "I cannot be certain it is the Progenitor; I don't think it is."

Updating "Deep Space Screw" tomorrow.

(End of chapter)