Chapter 59

Chapter 59

When Xu Qiao stood up, Qinchi had been watching her and indeed noticed her habit of brushing off the dirt.

Outside the base, there were no clean roads. During their previous training, Xu Qiao and Sun Fushan would often sit on the ground to rest, then brush off the dust from their battle armor before setting off again.

To Qinchi, this glance was no different from seeing her ride a bicycle into the neighborhood.

However, before he could politely look away, he saw Xu Qiao's movements freeze, and she quickly huddled into the sofa, the flying lotus leaves only making it more obvious.

Qinchi smiled and looked at the group of beasts.

Xu Qiao, who was facing away from him, quickly retracted the "shocking" lotus leaves; she didn't need such direct praise.

Fortunately, this distraction allowed Xu Qiao's brain, which had been occupied by experiments, to relax naturally for a few minutes.

Feeling prepared, Xu Qiao sat up straight on the sofa and whispered to Qinchi, "I want to test if the beasts still remember the memory fragments after I seal them with mental energy. Let's continue with D-grade beasts."

The lotus spirit and water wall were in place. This time, the lotus closed its petals and stopped releasing fragrance.

Qinchi moved a comatose D-grade sparrow inside.

The D-grade sparrow, about seventy centimeters long, tried to fly out through the opening above the water wall upon waking. However, every time it approached the top, a stream of water would pour down like a heavy rain, drenching the poor sparrow. After being hit over ten times, the sparrow simply cowered in one corner of the water wall, vigilantly guarding against the lotus spirit across from it.

The lotus bloomed, and in the fresh scent of the flowers, the sparrow fell asleep.

Xu Qiao skillfully probed with her mental energy, sealing the black memory fragment of the sparrow's recent survival crisis.

After completing this step, the lotus closed its petals, dissipated the fragrance, and shot a water needle at the sparrow.

The sparrow woke up, stood in place for a moment, then turned its round head to look at the two psychics sitting in the corridor, the lotus spirit across from it, and the exit of the water wall. It tentatively flapped its wings twice but ultimately stayed put.

Xu Qiao became more engaged.

Qinchi cooperatively replaced the sparrow with the second one, setting up the same experimental scenario. This time, Xu Qiao directly removed the memory fragment of the second sparrow being drenched.

Upon waking, the second sparrow flew out boldly but was knocked back to the ground by the water stream.

Xu Qiao conducted the same experiment with three other types of D-grade beasts, all yielding the same results. She repeated the "mental energy interference with emotions" experiment with four sets of subjects, also reaching the same conclusion.

Excitedly, she said to Qinchi, "If this method works on psychics, there will really be three ways to treat beastification."

Qinchi smiled, "Congratulations, you've invented a new mental therapy. You can try publishing a paper when we return."

Xu Qiao felt a bit embarrassed, "I don't want to take the credit, and besides, we don't have data from psychics yet. Just reducing the aggression of beasts for a while isn't very practical."

Qinchi replied, "Take it one step at a time. You're an excellent healer. If you can truly solve the problem of psychic beastification, your name will be remembered in the annals of the New Era."

Xu Qiao said, "...If you keep praising me like this, I'll start floating."

Qinchi chuckled.

Xu Qiao leaned back on the sofa and daydreamed for a while. Calming down, she asked Qinchi to replace the subject with a C-grade beast.

It would be wonderful if she could reach that level of excellence, but for now, she just wanted to complete these experiments and prepare thoroughly before helping Meng Qiuyan.

Qinchi reminded her, "A C-grade beast has stronger mental resistance and pollution. Go at your own pace and don't push yourself too hard."

Xu Qiao understood.

Qinchi moved a comatose C-grade rat to the corridor below.

Xu Qiao probed with her mental energy and was attacked by a shadow of a black rat. She transformed her mental energy into water blades to disperse the shadow and successfully entered a dark mental space.

The space was filled with rapidly moving memory fragments, and the black mist was thicker. Unlike the D-grade beasts, each memory fragment of the C-grade rat emitted low sounds: claws piercing the neck of prey, the prey's sharp cries and whimpers; claws tearing open the abdomen of prey, teeth gnawing on the prey's flesh; flying beasts swooping down from the sky, the sound of flapping wings mixed with the rat's hurried running and panting; a male rat climbing onto a female rat, the friction of fur and the collision of bodies.

Different sounds were transmitted to Xu Qiao's mind through her mental energy, sometimes one at a time, sometimes a mix of various sounds.

Xu Qiao finally understood why the lotus had felt uncomfortable with the black scorpion.

She suppressed her annoyance and gathered her mental energy into a large bag to capture the densely packed memory fragments.

The memory fragments seemed to dodge consciously, but they couldn't match Xu Qiao's speed.

When all the memory fragments were sealed in the bag, the noisy sounds disappeared, leaving only the thick black mist.

Transferring the black mist in batches was too troublesome. Xu Qiao thought for a moment, extended her mental energy to the edges of the space, formed a mental energy seal as large as the space itself, and transferred the entire mental energy chamber filled with black mist to the outside world.

This way, the rat's mental space was completely empty, and Xu Qiao could recover the mental energy used, with only the part used to break through the rat's mental barrier and resist mental pollution being consumed.

Xu Qiao sighed in relief, "Dealing with the mental pollution of a C-grade beast is relatively simple, but its mental barrier is stronger. However, based on all the experiments tonight, any beast that is calmed by the fragrance of the lotus does not set up a mental barrier against me."

In other words, other healers whose spirits do not have a calming effect can also attempt to interfere with the mental world of beasts, but they would need to forcefully break through the mental barrier first.

Qinchi said, "It's said that healers can hypnotize the spirits of psychics. Hypnotized spirits do not set up defenses."

Xu Qiao replied, "Yes, it's the hypnosis technique developed by the S-grade criminal healer in the early days of the New Era. After that case, psychics were wary of letting healers touch their cores, and healers were hesitant to offend psychics. The records of that hypnosis technique should have been destroyed, at least I can't find them in the library or the base network."

Qinchi glanced at the ceiling.

The hypnosis technique still exists, but it is protected by permissions. Professor Wu suggested hypnotizing his fire dragon spirit, but Qinchi released the fire dragon, and it refused to cooperate.

Qinchi explained, "From what I understand, hypnosis also requires the cooperation of the spirit. Spirits think like humans; some may compromise under various threats or inducements, making them susceptible to hypnosis. If the spirit refuses to comply, no hypnosis technique will work."

Xu Qiao sighed, "Even the most stubborn spirit is easier to communicate with than a beast. B-grade beasts can resist the influence of the lotus fragrance, so hypnosis probably won't work on them either. Tomorrow, let's catch a B-grade beast and see how strong its mental barrier is."

Qinchi asked, "Why must you use a B-grade beast for the experiment?"

Xu Qiao replied, "...I want to know if I can interfere with the emotions of a beast of the same grade." And then treat B-grade beastification patients.

Qinchi: "The risk is too great. Your mental body has only been at B-level for two years. Those B-level beasts have lived for who knows how long. Even if you manage to break through their mental barriers by chance, you could easily be backlashed by their overly aggressive mental worlds."

Xu Qiao fell silent.

Qinchi: "Just to help Meng Li's mother, the experiments you've already conducted on beasts are enough. What’s lacking are experiments with psychics. If you want to delve deeper into the research of beastification treatment, for your safety, you should wait until you reach A-level or even S-level before attempting it."

These words were like a bucket of cold water, promptly cooling Xu Qiao's feverish mind.

Yes, her safety was the most important thing. After all, she only had Aunt Meng as a patient right now. Once she cured Aunt Meng, she could always catch B-level beasts for experiments when she reached A-level. Besides, she didn’t need to rush to publish papers and gain fame.

"Alright, I'll listen..."

Suddenly, a soft door opening sound came from not far away.

Xu Qiao turned around.

Meng Li, dressed in battle armor, walked out.

Xu Qiao checked her communication bracelet and realized it was already eleven o'clock at night.

Watching Meng Li close the door and walk over from the corridor, Xu Qiao whispered, "Why so early? It’s not your turn for another hour."

Meng Li glanced at the spot where the lotus flower's mental body and the water wall had once been, her cold black eyes meeting Xu Qiao's. "Sorry, I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been listening to your experiments the whole time."

Everything Xu Qiao did, every risk she took, was for her mother. Meng Li couldn’t stand idly by.

Xu Qiao was first surprised, then smiled. "It’s fine, the experiment results were quite good."

Meng Li released the fire scorpion's mental body, a tiny fire scorpion that quietly rested in her palm.

Meng Li: "I’ve talked to it. You can use it to test the calming effect of the lotus, or you can directly enter its mental world. It won’t resist at all."

Xu Qiao stood up in shock. "You..."

Meng Li rarely smiled at her, interrupting, "We need a psychic for the experiment, either my mother or me. I guarantee the fire scorpion will be more cooperative than the black scorpion. If your experiment works on the fire scorpion, treating my mother won’t be a problem."

"Xu Qiao, that’s my mother. I’ll do anything for her, and I trust you, so this isn’t a risk."

Xu Qiao felt a lump in her throat and was about to hug Meng Li when the lotus flower's mental body jumped out, landing in Meng Li's palm. The small flower head affectionately pressed against the fire scorpion.

The lotus, complete with its leaves, seemed to give an enthusiastic embrace. The fire scorpion instinctively tried to crawl backward but was stopped and lifted by a leaf, which gently placed it deep within the lotus petals.

Both Xu Qiao and Meng Li watched the two mental bodies interact, neither noticing a thin red thread fall from the ceiling, disappearing just a few centimeters below.

Qinchi stood up and said softly, "Discuss among yourselves, I’ll go inside first."

Xu Qiao quickly made room for him.

In the living room, Sun Fushan slept in his own tent, his regular breathing audible.

As Qinchi passed by, a small green turtle poked its head out, watching him enter the bedroom before retreating.

In the bedroom, Qinchi controlled the wind to draw the curtains. The fire dragon eagerly emerged, "I can also be used for her experiments!"

It loved the fragrance of the lotus and wasn’t the least bit resistant!

Qinchi placed a hand on the dragon’s head, tapping the hard scales with his index finger. "At its current level, it would be killed upon entering."

The fire dragon held a mouthful of fire, unable to spit it out for a long while.

What was in its mental world?

Endless days of monotonous reading and training, countless fierce beasts, and dozens of S-level land or sea beasts. Regardless of their strength, just their monstrous forms would likely scare little Lotus to tears.

The fire dragon dejectedly lay on the floor.