Free Web NovelChapter 49: Chapter 49: How to Heal Faster
They soon reached the last cell. Chen Xiong instantly pushed aside his chaotic thoughts, lowering his head as if facing a formidable enemy. He was terrified that if he looked up, he might accidentally meet Teacher Yan’s gaze.
Chen Xiong’s aptitude was relatively poor, so he hadn’t qualified for the Imperial Capital School. However, he had heard some of his buddies complain about a "devil teacher" at the school. At the time, he thought they were exaggerating and didn’t pay it much mind. He was more shocked that the Empire would actually allow an interstellar pirate leader to be a teacher at the Capital School.
When he first saw him in the prison, he already knew of the man’s reputation. The greater shock, however, came from the fact that Black Star Prison was full of powerful individuals whose 2s+ Spiritual Power had collapsed.
After all, any single person released from here could become a weapon of mass destruction.
However, after spending just a few short days with him recently, Chen Xiong knew he had been gravely mistaken. Although he wasn’t sure what abilities Yan Huoshui actually possessed, he was convinced that his own intermittent memory loss was connected to him.
Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. He kept his head down, his eyes darting everywhere but in Yan Huoshui’s direction.
Yan Huoshui glanced at him impassively, the corners of his lips curling into a gentle, friendly smile. "Chen Xiong, is something wrong?"
Chen Xiong’s heart skipped a beat. He kept his head lowered and stammered, "Ahem, no, it’s nothing."
"Oh, that’s good then. After all, you’ve worked hard taking care of us these past few days. I saw you keeping your head down with your neck all twisted and figured you might have slept poorly and gotten a stiff neck. Just showing a little concern."
"Hahaha, thank you, Lord Yan. I’m fine."
Chen Xiong had no idea what he was getting at. He laughed awkwardly out of sheer nervousness, still cautiously keeping his head down. But his head was already beaded with nervous sweat, and he quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe it away.
Shi Lan set down the breakfast at the window of cell number five and listened to their conversation, nodding to herself.
’It seems Yan Huoshui and Chen Xiong are getting along well these days. He’s even taking the initiative to check on him.’
Her gaze swept over Chen Xiong’s lowered head, then landed on his handkerchief. She sighed internally. ’Chen Xiong really is a sensitive person. He’s probably so touched that he’s crying again.’
After finishing her food delivery, Shi Lan still had to go pick flowers, so she didn’t linger.
The two of them left the cell block together. After they had walked for a bit, Chen Xiong finally raised his head and asked Shi Lan in a low voice, "Did you not feel like something was off just now?"
Shi Lan looked into his eyes. The area around them seemed a little moist, and his gaze held a hint of anxiety, as if he was afraid she would find out he had been crying.
Out of kindness, she didn’t expose him and just shook her head. "No, I was completely focused on delivering the food just now."
"Oh..."
Chen Xiong sounded a little disappointed and confused. "You... you didn’t think Lord Yan’s eyes were very..."
"Shh, you don’t have to say it. I understand!"
Shi Lan patted his shoulder comfortingly. Yan Huoshui’s gaze had indeed been very gentle and concerned. It was understandable that Chen Xiong couldn’t handle it and was moved to tears; after all, he himself had said he was a man of deep emotions.
Chen Xiong had a nagging feeling that what Shi Lan "understood" was completely different from what he was thinking. He looked at her. Her eyes were perfectly clear, with no trace of the confusion or daze he was experiencing. If it weren’t for the fact that he had clearly lost weight recently, he would have suspected he was just overthinking things.
’Well, no matter. This is the last day.’
’I’m never coming back to Black Star again. I still respect Vice Admiral He, but it would be much better if our future encounters were limited to online, if fate wills it.’
At this thought, the tension in Chen Xiong’s face eased, and he stopped worrying about all the chaotic business.
Shi Lan glanced at the changing emotions on his face. ’Looks like my encouragement worked,’ she thought, nodding to herself in satisfaction.
After they left the prison, Chen Xiong announced that he had checked the latest transport schedules and was going to pack his things and leave right away.
Shi Lan nodded and went to the garden to pick flowers. She had just finished delivering them when she saw Chen Xiong again. "The ship will be here in a little over ten minutes," he said. "So, I’ll be heading out now?"
"Do you want to pack a meal to take with you?"
Chen Xiong thought about all the expensive meat in the prison. In the past, he had always been frugal when eating it. And while the last few days had been an ordeal, the food had been genuinely excellent.
He couldn’t help but swallow. "Okay."
At that, he went and packed himself a hefty portion of meat before waving a happy goodbye and leaving.
’Wonderful! I’m finally free!’
Shi Lan watched his joyful, retreating figure, then looked up at the prison behind her, which resembled a giant cage. The lively atmosphere suddenly vanished, and a surprising pang of loneliness struck her.
’Maybe it’s because none of the people inside the prison can come out. Now I’m all alone out here again, with no one to even talk to.’
Shi Lan couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholy. Just then, another thought occurred to her, and her eyes curved into a smile. "Xiao Du, come out."
Xiao Du popped out. "Master, Master, did you call me?"
Shi Lan caught it and squeezed it for a moment, which lifted her spirits. But a question couldn’t help but surface. "Xiao Du, have you gotten a little bigger again?"
She measured it against her palm. Before, it had been about the size of two of her palms, but now it was even larger than that.
Xiao Du shook its head happily. "Yes, yes, Master! Did you forget? There’s lots of yummy-smelling stuff here. When we came back, all those offshoots fed their nutrients back to me." freeweɓnovel.cøm
Oh, right. Shi Lan remembered now—the mushrooms in the prison.
But she recalled that the spiritual power collapses of He Hanshi and the others were extremely severe. If Xiao Du could heal them by absorbing the Insect Clan’s poison, just how effective would it be?
"Xiao Du, how long would it take you to completely absorb all the Spiritual Poison from someone’s body?" free𝑤ebnovel.com
Xiao Du tilted its head and hesitated for a long moment before explaining, "Master, that kind of absorption depends on the specific method used."
"If it’s through the offshoots, that’s the slowest way. Plus, I need time to digest after each absorption."
"My main body can also go inside to absorb, but it can’t absorb much at a time either..."
Shi Lan frowned. "Then how can you absorb more?"
She was worried that He Hanshi didn’t have enough time left to last through Xiao Du’s healing process.
Xiao Du stood in her cupped hands and pointed its mushroom cap at her. "Master, it depends on you! I’m your spirit body, so naturally, it has to rely on you."
A spirit body’s power is greatly diminished when used independently. This is a safeguard to prevent some spirit bodies from running amok behind their masters’ backs.
Therefore, the true master is the core of this power, as the spirit body is ultimately just a manifestation of the master’s own spiritual power.
It was like that one time Shi Lan had no appetite; that was because her spirit body had absorbed so much Spiritual Poison that it was "full," which in turn affected its master.
Of course, this was also a benefit of the power limitations on a spirit body acting alone. Xiao Du’s absorption had a limit; otherwise, given the extent of its previous hunger, Shi Lan probably wouldn’t have been able to eat for days.
Upon hearing this, Shi Lan asked, "So what exactly do I need to do?"
"It’s super simple!"
Xiao Du explained, "Actually, you just need to make more contact with those people and transfer some of your spiritual power threads into their bodies. Those threads will automatically absorb the toxins in their systems. The next time you make contact, the threads will return to you. If you do this, your spiritual power will grow stronger, and you’ll be able to stay transformed for longer in the future."
At first, Shi Lan didn’t quite understand. But then she thought about the way females in this world soothed the spiritual power of males, and it suddenly clicked. It was basically the same type of process.
However, this meant she would have to test the danger on herself. The risk was far too great...
