...
"Doctor? How is she? How is she? My sister’s condition... can she still..."
The guest room door wasn’t closed, perhaps out of consideration for propriety. In any case, when Lin Zhaoyu and Su i, led by their junior sister Suyī, entered the courtyard, they happened to hear their third junior sister’s anxious urging.
Lin Zhaoyu’s brow relaxed, while Su i pressed her lips tightly together, their expressions seemingly reversed.
"Suyī, Master’s side, have you inford her?"
Su i’s icy voice made Qin Suyī tremble all over again. Lin Zhaoyu glanced at her, gently pulling her junior sister closer, and said softly:
"Don’t be afraid, Suyī. Did you tell Master that Fourth Sister might be saved?"
Feeling the warmth radiating from her Senior Sister, Qin Suyī’s emotions stabilized slightly. Staring at her Second Sister’s tightly pressed lips, she whispered very quietly:
"I... I didn’t enter the hall. I told Master from outside..."
"What did Master say?" Su i’s lips moved.
Lin Zhaoyu ruffled Suyī’s hair, then glanced at her Second Sister beside her: "Suyī is still young. Isn’t she usually closest to you? Why are you scaring her?"
Hearing this, Su i’s lips twitched upwards, but only slightly.
"Master... Master said she knew." Qin Suyī didn’t dare look at her Second Sister again, answering timidly with her head lowered.
"That’s it? Didn’t say anything else?"
"No... nothing!"
"And you didn’t say anything else either?"
"No..."
"Junior Sister!" Lin Zhaoyu bent down, using her sleeve to wipe the sweat from Suyī’s forehead and tidy her bangs, then gently patted her back: "Go to the training ground. Lingshuang practicing alone must be lonely."
She gave Suyī a gentle push backward. The girl nodded, seemingly understanding, then quickly glanced at her Second Sister Su i twice. Seeing no approval but also no objection, she slowly departed with small, shuffling steps.
Once her figure disappeared around the corner of the courtyard wall, Zhaoyu opened her mouth, wanting to say sothing to Su i, but Su i suddenly turned and pressed two fingers against her lips.
Eyes widening slightly in surprise and confusion, Lin Zhaoyu then heard the Raksha man’s sigh from within the wide-open room:
"Sigh... Miss, could you first tell how long your sister’s symptoms have persisted?"
"They started before Suyī ca to the mountain, so... about ten years now."
"Pfft—Cough cough cough cough! Cough cough cough cough cough!"
Peeking through the window, they saw the Raksha man nad Otto put down his water cup, pull out a silk handkerchief to wipe his mouth, rub his temples, and then slowly speak:
"Apologies, Miss Wanxi, are you certain it’s... ten years? No, I don’t an anything else, just... just given your sister’s symptoms... phew..."
Otto exhaled forcefully, stood up, and paced back and forth several tis, gathering his thoughts:
"Let put it this way. What Kallen ntioned earlier—the Black Death. That was the disease that swept through Europa years ago, killing nearly a third of the population. But its essence is rely Honkai energy... In your Shenzhou terms, it’s a lesser variant of pathological changes caused by excessive true qi.
"Even so, among the thousands of patients I’ve treated, only a dozen or so survived, and almost every one suffered lifelong disabilities. Only one person was completely cured.
"However, Miss Wanru’s illness isn’t the Black Death. In your terms, it’s called ’qi deviation madness’; in ours... ’Deadman transformation.’ You must have slain many people who suffered qi deviation, right? Such people are called ’Deadman’ where I co from. And unlike the Black Death..."
Otto’s words caught at the most critical point. He paced a couple more tis, right hand cupping his chin, seemingly considering a more tactful phrasing.
But in the end, he still couldn’t find one...
"At least in Schicksal records, there are no docunted cases of Deadman transformation being reversed. Moreover..."
He turned his gaze towards the silent Kallen. Kallen paused, then spoke up to elaborate:
"Moreover, we Valkyries often encounter comrades succumbing to Deadman transformation in battle. Our response is... before they fully transform and cause more harm, we kill them..."
But that wasn’t the end. Kallen hesitated, then continued:
"And ordinary thods of killing don’t work, like piercing major arteries... Such common thods are ineffective. ’Deadman’ will still get up after such trauma, not losing mobility even after bleeding dry. Therefore, they must be eliminated thoroughly... Dismbernt is the most direct way, though we more often choose incineration."
"No wonder..." Lin Zhaoyu bit her lip tightly. Beside her, Su i sighed softly:
"No wonder... No wonder Master killing Yan Shiluo wasn’t enough back then; she had to burn his estate too..."
"You couldn’t possibly..." Lin Zhaoyu glanced at her unexpectedly: "You couldn’t possibly... So you’ve been bothered by this all along..."
Su i didn’t answer, just scoffed twice, glancing sideways at her Senior Sister.
Lin Zhaoyu fell into a longer silence. It wasn’t surprising that Su i cared about this matter. After all, her own parents were also killed by Master through near-brutal ans. She was only three then, but ntally precocious. Those mories... must be unforgettable...
And such cruel events didn’t happen only to Su i... Master told her, Lin Zhaoyu, that her parents died in a dark ritual by Nine Serenity cultists. But Master had disrupted that ritual, hadn’t she? Zhaoyu was six then; could she really have understood nothing...?
And Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sisters were all orphans brought back from the slain Yan Shiluo’s mountain estate. And Seventh Sister Suyī...
Thinking of the past, Lin Zhaoyu grew increasingly sorrowful. She gradually didn’t know how to face Master anymore.
And what about the others? They say the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. On Mount Taixuan, Master transcended worldly affairs, often just bringing people back and handing them over to her. Which junior sister or brother hadn’t she raised from childhood? Her feelings towards them were complex, as were her feelings towards Master. It was amidst this complexity that things gradually spiraled towards the point of no return.
But at this mont, she felt a sense of relief—if it was all their misunderstanding, then perhaps they wouldn’t have to...
"Hmph..." Su i seed to have anticipated this. She snorted coldly, turning her back to Lin Zhaoyu: "Qi deviation madness, incurable. Did we not know this already?"
Lin Zhaoyu was speechless.
"I don’t know what you think, but I cannot accept it. What I cannot accept isn’t the incurability, but... if you don’t even try to save them, how can you dare say it’s incurable?"
"Su i, you..."
"Didn’t your heart ache when you killed those ordinary people who suffered qi deviation..."
"I..."
"I never deny that Master might be right. But I hope the conclusion that ’madness must be purged’ cos after my own efforts to save fail, not as an idea forced upon by Master. This... only makes feel... Master rely sees us as tools, tools for exorcising demons. We don’t need our own thoughts, nor can we have them. We can only do as she says...
"And when we grow old, die, she can find new tools... Isn’t that how she treats Fourth Sister? Madness must be purged, but for her own disciple, couldn’t she at least try to save her once? No, she can’t, because we are just her tools for exorcising demons, not her family."
Like countless tis before, Lin Zhaoyu had nothing to say, only watching Su i walk further away...
But for so reason, her steps were extrely slow. She had started walking long ago, yet half a minute later, her suspended heel finally touched the ground.
At the sa ti, heart-wrenching sobs ca from the guest room:
"So... my sister... still can’t be saved..."
"I’m very sorry. I can only say... with my thods, I have no way to help Miss Wanru."
"Sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Otto..."
Lin Zhaoyu watched Wanxi lead Wanru up, about to leave. She suddenly felt sothing was wrong. It seed she, Su i, Wanxi, and Wanru were all imrsed in complex emotions dominated by sadness, overlooking sothing abnormal...
Wait! Just now, upon hearing Wanru’s symptoms had lasted ten years... that Raksha man seed very surprised. His usually elegant deanor and movents completely vanished in that instant as he spat out the water he had just drunk...
As if confirming her suspicion, Otto spoke at that exact mont:
"Young ladies, please wait!"
From despair to hope, then back to despair—though life’s ups and downs are like this, for girls in their twenties like Wanxi and Wanru, it was still too cruel.
Despite this, when Otto asked them to stay, they clung to that fragile, almost non-existent hope and stopped, waiting for his next words.
And it wasn’t just the sisters who stopped. Su i, who had been leaving at an extrely slow pace, also halted, tilting her head slightly to listen to the sounds within the room.
"May I confirm one more ti, Miss Wanru’s illness has persisted for ten years, correct?"
"Are you saying... there’s a problem with the duration?" Even the slowest person would sense an issue after Otto’s repeated questioning, let alone disciples chosen by the Immortal for their aptitude—besides affinity for ’true qi’... they at least had functioning minds, right?
"Ten years ago... Miss Wanxi previously said the symptoms were already quite noticeable when your junior sister arrived on the mountain. May I ask, roughly how large was the area affected by the true qi corruption back then?"
"At that ti... I only rember it starting between the left shoulder and neck. When Seventh Sister arrived, the marks had just reached her cheek, not yet below the collarbone."
"Hmm..."
"Mr. Otto, have you discovered sothing?"
Another long period of silence followed. Suddenly, the sky darkened. Lin Zhaoyu and Su i simultaneously turned to look at the dimming red sea of clouds beside them, but could no longer find the setting sun.
Candles silently lit up within the guest room. The small points of light cast faint silhouettes of the people inside onto the plain white walls. The outlines flickered gently with the candlelight, and Otto’s long-silent voice finally sounded again:
"Ten years have passed. Now the mark approaches the right eye, not yet covering the entire right side of the face. The lower edge just passed the collarbone, still so distance from the heart. Once the pattern reaches the heart, death is certain. But at this rate, it will take roughly twenty to thirty years for the pattern to reach the heart. However, the right eye might soon be lost. Of course, this is assuming she doesn’t frequently channel Honkai... channel true qi in combat."
"Tw... twenty to thirty years?" Wanru asked tentatively.
The Raksha man’s shadow on the wall nodded. Extrely suppressed sobs soon filled the room.
But both Zhaoyu and Su i knew those sobs didn’t signify sadness, but the complete opposite emotion—
"Sister, I can still live for twenty or thirty more years! That’s not much different from ordinary people!"
Wanru’s voice was exceptionally excited. For a typical twenty-year-old, being told they would certainly die in twenty or thirty years wouldn’t be cause for celebration. But happiness or sadness isn’t quantifiable; it depends on individual expectations.
For soone who had lived in constant fear of death for ten years, being able to live another twenty or thirty years, a lifespan not drastically different from ordinary people, was truly sothing to be grateful for.
At least, in this mont, it was worth celebrating.
But...
"However, that’s not all I wanted to say."
Even during diagnosis, Otto found it hard to shake his flippant tone. But now, his sudden seriousness made everyone slightly uncomfortable... And it was hard not to realize the importance of his next words:
"Forgive my bluntness... Let confirm one last ti, this mark, has it truly only spread this little in ten years?"
"Ye... yes..." Otto’s repeated questioning made the sisters flustered, but after searching their mories for a long ti, they still gave an affirmative answer.
"Alright, forgive my bluntness... Heh, let rephrase. Where to begin... Let’s put it this way. Since childhood, I’ve read countless Schicksal archives. Coupled with years of treatnt experience, I can responsibly say that among the tens of thousands of Deadman transformation cases I’ve encountered or found detailed records of, there were eight hundred and sixty-five cases where the person lived more than a year after the marks appeared.
"The vast majority of these were because the marks started on extremities like hands or feet, and they underwent amputation. But even so, they quickly suffered secondary infection; not a single case survived past five years. And if we take the average, from the appearance of distinct marks to death, it generally doesn’t exceed two months."
"This... what does this an?" Wanru seed to understand sothing. Because of this, her voice trembled violently.
"If your mories aren’t mistaken, then there are only two possibilities. First, Miss Wanru, your adaptability to true qi is exceptionally good—but this is impossible. To be precise, if your adaptability were truly strong, Deadman transformation... qi deviation madness... wouldn’t occur in the first place. Do... do you understand what I’m saying?"
"So... it’s..."
"I believe, apart from ’Immortal Phoenix,’ there likely isn’t any other answer."
"But, Master, she..."
Sobs echoed again within the guest room. Only this ti, whether it was relief or sorrow was harder to say.
"Hmph..." Su i snorted coldly again, but compared to before, it lacked conviction.
She wanted to say more, but suddenly heard Lin Zhaoyu’s increasingly rapid breathing.
Although her Senior Sister had beco increasingly harsh towards her lately, perhaps related to her instigating everyone against Master... they had once been like mother and daughter, sisters. At this mont, she silently stepped back two paces, turned, and asked with concern:
"Senior Sister? Senior Sister? Ah—"
Lin Zhaoyu suddenly grabbed Su i’s hand forcefully, then muttered neurotically:
"Junior Sister! Junior Sister! Do you rember what Master said... when she first taught us Taixuan Sword Ki?"
"Exorcise demons and vanquish evil?"
"No, no no no, you don’t know. Master initially had no intention of taking disciples. When she taught Taixuan Sword Ki, she said, ’This thod can strengthen the body and lessen the risk of qi deviation’... I rember now! I rember everything! Why did I forget before..."
Saying this, she flung Su i’s hand away and strode quickly into the wide-open guest room.
"Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, it’s getting late. Don’t disturb the guests’ rest. You three must be hungry too? I’ll have Suyī bring so food over later."
She smiled with narrowed eyes. Under the dim candlelight, her entire face was sohow stained with tears.
...
"What’s that Shenzhou saying again? Every family has its own troubles, huh..."
Confirming no one else was in the courtyard, Kallen softly sighed while gently stroking Vera, who slept soundly on her lap.
"Mm..." Otto responded lightly. He leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, exhaustion etched on his face.
"You seed particularly concerned about that girl’s condition. Was it because her situation was special?" Kallen’s voice was exceptionally calm, but the calr it was, the more flustered Otto felt.
"Not entirely. Firstly, I did suspect Immortal Phoenix’s involvent from the start. If that could be confird, and I could obtain the specific thod from the Immortal and bring it back to Schicksal, it might help those suffering from Deadman transformation...
"Secondly... I know soone who gave so... help. And what I did just now, he might be pleased to see."
"Oh." Kallen sniffled, then suddenly asked without pause: "Back on the Kipchak Steppe, the Honkai anomaly, was that your doing?"
"Yes." Otto’s answer was surprisingly frank.
It made sense. The timing was too coincidental. He had just arrived at the front lines when it happened, and the first person to detect the anomaly was Eleanor, who always obeyed him... It was hard not to be suspicious.
Kallen’s hand clenched her skirt. Looking at the sleeping Vera in her arms, her voice was faint but resolute:
"I’m sorry, Otto."
Then she picked up Vera and slowly walked out of Otto’s room.
And so Otto knew. Though the invisible barrier wasn’t enough to cause a complete break, it had made it impossible for them to return to how things were before.
Only... did this barrier truly appear only after the battle on the Kipchak Steppe?
No, Otto didn’t think so. The barrier existed from the beginning. From the first day he t her, it was destined that a soul as tainted as Otto Apocalypse could never be worthy of her, wasn’t it?
A golden light flashed in Otto’s hand, and a golden cube appeared.
"Wouldn’t you agree, Void Archives?"
No one could answer him anymore. The consciousness known as "Void Archives" had vanished.
Otto frowned. He suddenly noticed markings etched onto the golden cube, but the dazzling golden light made them blurry.
He changed his angle, squinting. It was two lines of small text—
[Hello there! User of the next era! Please don’t forget the na of the genius who created the great tool in your hands! It would be even better if you could cheer for her! (Don’t listen to the Magician, this isn’t a performance, why cheer?) —V]
[Within this space graspable by one hand lies all the knowledge of our era. Do not disappoint , my descendant. —The First Schariac]
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