Free Web NovelChapter 120: Chapter 120: Treatment Bottleneck
Shi Lan waited for a while, but He Hanshi still hadn’t appeared. After hearing him say he hadn’t caught a cold, she didn’t ask anything else.
For the next two days, Shi Lan continued to treat Jiang Xia.
On the third day, she finally saw He Hanshi exercising on the first floor.
Shi Lan felt, for some reason, like she hadn’t seen him in a long time, so she lingered for a moment at Cell One while delivering his meal.
He Hanshi came over to take the meal himself, his gaze fixed on Shi Lan. The darkness in the depths of his eyes receded, and his blue irises were gentle. "Breakfast smells delicious today."
"Really?"
A smile immediately touched Shi Lan’s lips. Her gaze fell on his clothes, damp with sweat and clinging to his body. She didn’t quite dare to look directly at the strong, athletic physique outlined by the fabric—powerful but not overly bulky. Lowering her gaze slightly, she said, "You can rest for a bit before eating since you just finished working out. Breakfast is still hot, so it won’t get cold right away."
"Alright."
He Hanshi’s gaze still rested on her, his voice becoming even softer.
Shi Lan glanced at him again, but felt as if she were seared by his gaze, which was even more intense than before. Her eyelashes fluttered as she quickly looked away.
She just gave a small nod, and their conversation ended there.
He Hanshi suppressed the barely perceptible disappointment in his heart.
The Middle Level for collapse value ranges from 30% to 50%, a span of about 20 points. With the steady growth of her spiritual power and energy, Shi Lan managed to lower Jiang Xia’s value to 18% in just five days.
On the sixth day, Shi Lan tried to continue but found that her spiritual power seemed to have hit a bottleneck. Even after three hours of treatment, his collapse value only dropped by a single point.
She was certain her spiritual power had grown stronger, so she couldn’t understand why the treatment was less effective.
Inside Jiang Xia’s spirit sea, Shi Lan stared doubtfully at the dozen or so remaining toxic threads. She tried again, only to find they simply refused to peel away.
As she grew frustrated, the little Pallas’s cat, now free from the Poison Cocoon, began to run cheerfully around her spiritual power thread. It would occasionally roll around playfully, trying to get her attention.
Before long, Shi Lan couldn’t resist and began to play with it using her spiritual power thread.
Like a wand toy for a cat, the little Pallas’s cat was easily captivated by her spiritual power thread, chasing it wherever it went.
It would occasionally leap into the air, its chubby little body jiggling with the movement. It looked absolutely adorable.
The only problem was, she’d tried it before. Touching Jiang Xia’s spirit body with her spiritual power thread created a strange sensation—a tingly, numbing itch like a mild electric shock that seemed to pierce straight to the soul. Afterward, when he woke up, Jiang Xia would be completely limp, looking as if he’d been thoroughly bullied. The reaction was even more intense than with the initial Spiritual Connection, to the point where tiny beads of tears would well up in his eyes. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Because of this, Shi Lan only dared to play with it from a distance, never letting her thread get too close.
After playing with the little Pallas’s cat for a while, it grew exhausted and flopped down beside the little mushroom, panting with its tongue out. But its eyes still held a lingering excitement, and its gaze remained fixed on her spiritual power thread, ready to pounce again at any moment.
Seeing how tired it was, Shi Lan decided to stop. She said her goodbyes and departed from the spirit sea.
In the moment her consciousness faded from the spirit sea, she could still see the little Pallas’s cat’s form chasing longingly after her.
Shi Lan opened her eyes, an inexplicable feeling of guilt in her heart. When she saw Jiang Xia lying on the bed, face flushed and eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, that guilt intensified.
She guiltily stroked his head, unsure if she was trying to soothe the little Pallas’s cat or the man himself. She let him nuzzle his cheek against her palm for a moment before pulling her hand away.
Shi Lan left Cell Four and went to tell He Hanshi about the obstacle she had encountered with her treatment.
Perhaps it was because He Hanshi had been the first person in the prison to show her kindness, or perhaps it was the image of the military he represented; whatever the reason, whenever she faced a problem, he was always the first person she thought of.
However, this was also He Hanshi’s first time truly experiencing a Spiritual Connection, so there were some aspects of it that he didn’t understand very well either.
At this moment, Yan Huoshui chimed in, "Perhaps he has temporarily developed a resistance."
"What?"
Shi Lan looked baffled. ’Can someone really develop a resistance to spiritual power treatment?’
Yan Huoshui said thoughtfully, "I believe so. A female’s soothing is similar to pharmacological treatment. Both are healing methods. If you use a specific drug continuously over a short period, you develop a resistance to it. By the same token, it’s possible for a female’s soothing to reach a stage where it temporarily loses its effect."
"Of course, that doesn’t mean it becomes completely ineffective, but it will consume far more spiritual power, and the results will be greatly diminished."
"In other words, what you’re perceiving as a bottleneck, Lanlan."
Shi Lan fell into thought at his words. What Yan Huoshui said seemed highly plausible.
After all, she had brought their collapse values all the way down from High Level to low-level. It was a huge leap that consumed a great deal of spiritual power, so doing it continuously in such a short time could very well have caused them to develop a resistance.
Shi Lan was a bit dejected. "I see. I was hoping to try and get you all back to a normal level in one go."
’But reaching a low-level is still good,’ she thought. ’If they need more help later, they can find other females. They shouldn’t be resistant to the spiritual power of a different person, at least.’
He Hanshi consoled her, "Don’t worry about it, Lanlan. You’re already incredible. At least for now, there isn’t a single other female who can do this."
"Besides, your treatment has already saved our lives. That alone is a debt we can never hope to repay."
Mu Tangfeng chimed in, "It’s more than good enough. Lanlan, you’ve already brought Jiang Xia down to a low-level. What more could he possibly want?"
At the sound of his name, Jiang Xia’s muddled mind instantly cleared. Not to be outdone, he croaked in a still-raspy voice, "Lanlan, low-level is great."
Ye Ming gazed at Shi Lan’s gentle profile, his green eyes full of soft affection. His lips twitched. "Yes, Lanlan. We all know you’ve been putting your entire heart and soul into helping us, so please don’t feel burdened at all."
Yan Huoshui added, "Lanlan, none of us ever dared to dream of returning to a normal level. We never even imagined that a High Level collapse could be treated. We owe all of our current good fortune to you, so please don’t let something like this bother you." freewēbnoveℓ.com
As everyone spoke up one by one to comfort her, a warmth spread through Shi Lan’s heart. She nodded and decided not to dwell on the issue any longer.
Yan Huoshui’s gaze darkened. He propped his chin on his hand, his fingers tapping absently. ’It’s not as if there’s no way to reach a normal level from here,’ he thought.
’All it would take is a change in treatment method. In fact, Shi Lan has already used different approaches to treat them.’
’First, it was Basic Healing, then the Spiritual Connection. That’s why the resistance from short-term treatment took so long to appear.’
’As for the other method... he couldn’t possibly be the one to bring it up...’
’Because... it would require Deep Healing.’
’Yan Huoshui couldn’t bring himself to personally deliver the woman he liked into another man’s bed.’
’Besides, now wasn’t the right time to mention it. It would only cause Lanlan distress. And anyway, a low-level is good enough for everyone for now.’
Yan Huoshui remained silent.
Shi Lan, for her part, remained oblivious. Of course, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have gone along with it.
In the days that followed, she simply continued her treatments in order, starting with Mu Tangfeng. Her last patient would be her observation subject, He Hanshi.
