Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Xu Qiao was practicing her mental power in the room and wasn’t particularly waiting for Qinchi, but as she practiced, she heard a faint door opening sound.

Glancing at the time, it was exactly nine o'clock.

Xu Qiao couldn’t just ignore him completely. She put away the ice training ground she had created, changed into her outer clothes, tidied her hair, and sent a message to Qinchi before leaving: “I’m not asleep yet, want to come over?”

By now, Qinchi must have entered the guest bedroom, maybe even lying down on the bed directly?

With the sound of the guest bedroom door opening, Qinchi’s reply arrived: “Come on over.”

Xu Qiao smiled and pulled open the door.

The living room was dark, with only the lights from the two bedrooms spilling out into the corridor. Qinchi stood at the door of the guest bedroom, wearing black trousers and a white shirt.

Due to the height difference, Xu Qiao’s eyes immediately fell on the top two buttons of Qinchi’s shirt, which were usually left undone for comfort. Now, they were buttoned up, making the collar of his crisp shirt almost touch part of his neck, just above his Adam’s apple.

Xu Qiao’s memories spread, recalling that even when he went to The Second School, Qinchi never buttoned his shirt so tightly.

Fortunately, Xu Qiao understood his character well enough to know that Qinchi was showing respect for her; otherwise, she might have misunderstood and thought he was guarding against her taking advantage of him.

Shifting her gaze, Xu Qiao walked to the door of the guest bedroom.

At the beginning of the summer vacation, Lu Yang had secretly practiced his abilities in his room, damaging the walls and wardrobe. Soon after, he had the guest bedroom renovated, maintaining the previous simple style with plain white walls and a new set of solid wood furniture.

With an A-level mental entity, Lu Yang could easily earn enough credits during the winter and summer breaks to cover the tuition fees he lacked. When it came to Xu Qiao, the frugal military student wouldn’t be stingy with points.

The guest bedroom, which had been empty just a few minutes ago, now contained a single bed, two bedside tables, a wardrobe, and a desk and chair.

Compared to the design Qinchi had prepared for Room 102, the items he chose for this guest bedroom were simpler but still exuded a certain elegance.

Trying hard to ignore the faint scent of shower gel coming from him, Xu Qiao smiled and said, “You’re pretty quick, planning to sleep already?”

Qinchi: “I usually read for about an hour before going to bed.”

Xu Qiao: “Alright. You’re familiar with the living room and dining area, so no need for me to introduce them. Just let me know if you need anything, don’t hesitate.”

Qinchi: “Thank you. By the way, if you don’t mind, would you like to join us for breakfast and dinner these days? It’s a small compensation for our disturbance.”

Xu Qiao pretended to be upset: “See, you’re still being polite.”

Qinchi’s gaze was gentle: “This is just reciprocity. Of course, if my cooking doesn’t suit your taste, you don’t have to force yourself.”

Xu Qiao: “…False modesty.”

Qinchi smiled: “Then, good night in advance?”

Just as Xu Qiao was about to say “good night,” she suddenly remembered something: “You gave the luxurious and comfortable master bedroom to Grandpa and came to stay in this smaller guest bedroom. What does your mental entity think of this?”

Qinchi: “It has a good impression of both you and the lotus flower. It’s willing to cooperate with such small matters. Grandpa hit it, so it’s especially resistant to him.”

Xu Qiao remembered that the therapists Qinchi used to see weren’t gentle enough, so his mental entity appreciated her and liked the fragrance of the lotus flower.

The idea of an experiment resurfaced, and Xu Qiao pondered aloud, “The fragrance of the lotus flower is ineffective on B-level creatures because their hostility and bloodlust towards me are too strong. Since your mental entity has a good impression of me, perhaps letting it smell the fragrance for a while might have a calming effect?”

As a teammate, Xu Qiao wanted to help Qinchi resolve his mental entity issues as soon as possible. As a therapist, she wanted to understand the hypnotic effects of the fragrance on a mental entity of the same level with resistance.

Qinchi, however, knew that the fundamental reason the fragrance was ineffective on the fire dragon was the difference in levels between the two mental entities. If there was a hundredfold difference in strength between B-level and A-level mental entities, the gap between A-level and S-level could be thousands or tens of thousands of times greater.

But Qinchi could sense the fire dragon’s desire and knew that its willingness to cooperate with Xu Qiao’s treatment was something the current Xu Qiao couldn’t handle—the impact of the fire dragon’s mental world.

In this case, perhaps the fragrance of the lotus flower could help the fire dragon sleep better instead of being forced to sleep for a few hours under several times the mental pressure?

“Would it disturb your rest?” Qinchi asked.

Xu Qiao: “No, I usually go to bed around ten.”

Qinchi: “Wait a moment.”

He first took out two genuine celadon pots from his spatial storage. One was similar in size to the green bowl currently used by the lotus flower, suitable for placing on a table. The other was about fifty centimeters high and forty centimeters in diameter, suitable for keeping real lotus flowers in the living room or yard.

Seeing Xu Qiao’s surprised look, Qinchi explained, “Grandpa saw the flowers at my place and said he wanted to grow some plants for relaxation when he got back. Yesterday, he picked out several sizes of flower pots at the flower shop, including this lotus pot. The smaller one is for your mental entity; the bowl was a bit cramped for it.”

As he spoke, the miniaturized lotus mental entity flew out and landed in the small celadon pot held by Qinchi’s hands. A lotus leaf drooped over the edge, touching Qinchi’s hand briefly before retreating.

Water condensed into two sparkling words: “Thank you.”

Qinchi smiled: “If you like it, I can give you the larger pot too. I’ll get a new one for Grandpa tomorrow.”

When a mental entity awakens, its normal form is the one that consumes the least mental power when released. Enlarging or shrinking it increases the mental power consumption.

The lotus flower understood this. Upon hearing that the large pot was also for her, she immediately moved over.

In her normal form, the lotus flower had a diameter of over twenty centimeters and stood about one meter and sixty centimeters tall. Looking down, the four overlapping lotus leaves completely covered the water surface in the pot.

Xu Qiao said, “Should we move the pot into your bedroom? The fragrance will be stronger.”

Qinchi looked at the flower and said, “If the lotus flower agrees, of course.”

The lotus flower wrote to Xu Qiao: “Will you stay here with me?”

On its own, it wasn’t afraid of Qinchi but was wary of his mental entity.

Xu Qiao: “…”

Qinchi: “There might be a way to prevent my mental entity from coming near the lotus flower. Give me five minutes.”

He returned to Room 102.

Qin Jiuzhou, being older, had the habit of going to bed early and waking up early. Hearing his grandson's footsteps returning, he poked his head out in his pajamas but only saw his grandson’s back as he closed the bathroom door.

Qin Jiuzhou raised an eyebrow. Didn't he just take a shower? Why is he back?

Inside the bathroom, Qinchi stood still, taking out two chests of gold and placing them on the ground.

The gold bore marks from the Old Era, likely plundered from a sunken ship during the fire dragon’s pursuit of a strange beast in the deep sea after it took over a body. Similar gold and jewels filled about a hundred cubic meters of space, though no one knew how many sunken ships it had looted.

A golden-red flame appeared between him and the mirror, and the gold bars were lifted by the wind into the flame, quickly melting into a golden liquid before gradually forming the shape of a hollow gold sphere.

The fire dragon jumped out: "You want to hide me inside this ball so Lotus can’t see me?"

Qinchi: "Yes."

Fire dragon, annoyed: "So what if she sees me? With your current relationship, would Xu Qiao really get angry because you kept it a secret? Everyone likes dragons; she’ll definitely like me too. She might even fall in love with you because of me."

Qinchi: "…Zhao Feng’s excessive confidence and narcissism are exactly why Xu Qiao finds him so repulsive."

Whether the fire dragon admitted it or not, the Snow Wolf was very popular among girls, and Zhao Feng himself was also handsome, which led him to firmly believe that if he persisted long enough, Xu Qiao would eventually fall for him.

Fire dragon: "Then why do you insist on keeping it a secret?"

Qinchi: "The difference in levels is too great; she would feel pressured when we’re together."

The fire dragon didn’t quite understand, staring at the gold sphere Qinchi was layering, deeply frowning: "This thick? How much space will be left for me inside?"

Its normal size was over a hundred meters, and shrinking to five or six meters was already a great sacrifice!

Qinchi embedded five layers before stopping, ensuring the hollow spherical design allowed fragrance to permeate while the dense gold threads completely blocked external views.

With the “dragon nest” complete, Qinchi made a gold bird perch, a gold birdcage, and a long gold chain to secure the gold sphere to the cage, combining functionality and aesthetics.

Once the set of gold cooled in the wind, Qinchi gestured for the fire dragon to enter, reminding it: "Lotus fears fire. If you accidentally reveal your fire attribute, you’ll bear the consequences."

The fire dragon had personally heard Lotus’s aversion to fire users and reluctantly spewed two flames from its nostrils, its golden eyes approaching the gold sphere. It measured the hollow gaps while continuously shrinking until it became a barely visible golden-red dot, finally managing to squeeze into the center of the gold sphere.

Feeling the seven-centimeter diameter center, the fire dragon angrily charged up and down.

The suspended gold sphere swung back and forth in the cage like a malfunctioning pendulum.

Qinchi carried the bird perch out.

Qin Jiuzhou, who had been watching, his eyes lit up, and he quickly caught up with his grandson: "Did you make this?"

The golden dragon spirit also flew out, its head pressing against the cage, staring intently at the gold sphere inside.

The fire dragon, furious, wanted to breathe fire but feared damaging the gold sphere, so it continued to collide around.

Qin Jiuzhou grew more puzzled: "Why did you put it inside there?"

Qinchi: "To give it to Xu Qiao for an experiment. I can’t tell you the details yet."

Qin Jiuzhou: "I see, no wonder it’s so cooperative. Little guy, behave yourself over there and don’t scare Xu Qiao."

Fire dragon: "…"

Qinchi left with the bird perch, and Qin Jiuzhou patted his golden dragon, smiling: "I’ll have him make you a big ball to play with later."

Golden dragon: "Remember to leave a door."

Chapter 101: Xu Qiao leaned against the wall in the corridor, afraid that passersby might see the figure in the living room, which remained dark.

Only when Qinchi approached did Xu Qiao clearly see what he was holding.

The birdcage hanging on the bird perch faced her directly. Placing the perch next to the lotus tank, the gold sphere inside was about a few centimeters higher than the lotus flower.

Qinchi: "It’s inside, and it promised to come out only after Lotus leaves."

Xu Qiao smiled and asked Lotus: "Can you stay here by yourself now?"

Lotus nodded its flower head: "Call me when you’re ready to sleep."

Xu Qiao watched as Qinchi moved the lotus tank to the desk and placed the bird perch beside it, then helped close the door.

In the enclosed secondary bedroom, the fragrance gradually became intense. Qinchi quietly flipped through a book, and the two spirits beside him remained silent.

Lotus, despite its efforts, couldn’t see inside the gold sphere, nor could the fire dragon. But the fire dragon wanted to say something, so it controlled the wind to draw water from the tank, forming words in front of Lotus’s flower head: "Good evening, little Lotus."

Lotus: "I’m not small, you are."

Fire dragon: "Sorry, I was wrong. Your flower head is indeed large, and your petals are large too."

Lotus: "Stop talking. I’m here for an experiment. Do you want to sleep?"

Fire dragon: "Yes, I’ll go to sleep right away!"

It obediently lay at the bottom of the sphere, its head, also shrunk, pressed against the gold, gazing at the sphere walls for a while before closing its eyes.

Lotus bloomed silently.

Qinchi could sense the fire dragon’s rare tranquility. After about half an hour, the fire dragon truly fell asleep.

He tried to retrieve the fire dragon.

This process ignored distance and barriers, and in an instant, the fire dragon returned to the crystal core, but it woke up the next second, looking pitifully through Qinchi’s eyes at the still-present Lotus, expressing its anger through mental vibrations.

Qinchi couldn’t release the fire dragon under Lotus’s watchful gaze, so he put down the book and smiled at Lotus: "It likes you more than I thought; it’s already asleep."

Lotus: "Really? Then I’ll try to enter its mental world?"

Qinchi whispered, "Its mental world is very complex. I'll ask for your help when I think the time is right, okay?"

Lotus flower: "It can be hypnotized, but not cured. Should we continue to use it for experiments in the future?"

Qinchi: "It hopes to continue, because it finds it very difficult to fall asleep on its own."

Lotus flower: "Like Aunt Meng's black scorpion?"

Qinchi nodded.

Lotus flower: "...Have you ever been heartbroken too?"

Qinchi smiled, "No, I've always been single. I've never liked anyone before. It's for other reasons that it suffers."

Lotus flower: "Got it. I'll tell Xu Qiao. Goodbye."

The lotus flower disappeared, and the lotus pot became empty again.

Next door, the lotus flower was much more lively after returning to Xu Qiao. It first shared Qinchi's secret: "He's so old and has never been in love."

Xu Qiao: "...He talked to you?"

The lotus flower explained the details as quickly as Sun Fushan would with text.

After reading, Xu Qiao sent a message to Qinchi: "Let Lotus hypnotize your spirit every night from now on. It's only about half an hour, not much trouble. Getting them to interact more now might make it easier if real treatment is needed later."

Qinchi: "Thank you."

After saying goodnight, Xu Qiao put away the lotus flower and climbed into bed. Just before falling asleep, a line of flowing water appeared in her mind:

"Never liked anyone before."

The lotus flower poked out a leaf: "Is there something wrong with this sentence?"

Xu Qiao: "...No, go to sleep."