Chapter 162
At that moment, it was hard for Xia'er to discern what lay before her. Even the flickering light of the gas lamp, shrouded in the blood mist, appeared to be a pair of crimson eyes staring at her from the depths of a foggy abyss.
The mist around Xia'er thickened, to the point where it began to affect her breathing—strangely enough, she felt a sensation akin to drowning, as if blood had completely filled her lungs.
Fortunately, Nia's armor emitted a faint glow, guiding Xia'er and helping her maintain her sense of direction.
Following Nia, Xia'er stumbled up the stairs, the chains in her hands clinking together with a sharp sound.
It was only when Nia stopped in front of a dilapidated wooden door that Xia'er realized she had arrived at Aivina's room.
At this hour... it must be around three or four in the morning...
Nia slowly pushed the door open, and Xia'er seemed to recall something. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
Now, anything that appeared before her would undergo a bizarre transformation; whether it was a person or an object, they lost their original form in her sight.
Realizing this, Xia'er felt a strong aversion to seeing familiar faces morph into grotesque figures.
With her eyes shut, she took a few steps forward until her feet met the soft wool carpet, prompting her to stop.
In her ears, a murmur of obscure language echoed, as if Nia was engaged in some form of communication with Aivina.
About ten seconds later, Xia'er felt a soft hand grasping her own, gently pulling her forward.
A soft... hand?
A flicker of doubt crossed Xia'er’s mind.
The monsters she had seen before didn’t even possess the concept of a "hand"; most were a jumbled mass of insect limbs or tentacles, often accompanied by some desiccated bones.
Could it be that they only looked different, but felt the same?
Unable to resist, Xia'er squeezed the warm palm holding hers, confirming it was indeed the touch of a human hand.
Guided by Aivina, Xia'er sat at the edge of the bed, a gentle push urging her to lie down.
Perhaps it was the absence of the blood mist that calmed her heart, as she gradually found peace.
She felt a pair of hands brushing against her eyes, and as warmth enveloped her, a white light tore through the darkness.
“Xia'er?”
A familiar voice broke through her defenses, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Before her lay a gray-white world, where a faint blue, ethereal figure stood, waving a hand in front of her.
It was Aivina’s apparition.
“What happened? Xia'er?” Aivina's calm voice inquired, her gaze fixed on Xia'er. “Why is your spirit...”
My spirit?
Xia'er looked down, slowly raising her hands.
In this gray-white realm, she saw her own form sitting naked on a ground made of darkness, but her apparition was not a soft blue; it flickered incessantly.
With each flicker, the color of her apparition changed, and with each flash, her body underwent strange transformations—pink tendrils emerging from beneath her skin or delicate insect wings tearing through her back.
These changes continuously inflicted a sharp pain on Xiaer's spirit.
“Can you tell me what’s been happening these days?” Aivina asked, her voice softening. “And those strange... misfortunes?”
Whether it was Aivina's extraordinary ability affecting her or her own fragile state of mind, Xia'er found herself unable to suppress the urge to confide, recounting the events following the train explosion.
The bizarre rules forbidding contact with the extraordinary, the entrapment in the Dutton Manor disguised as a tribunal, the passive abandonment of all wealth by Opode...
The series of misfortunes, the two flips of the "luck coin," the pursuit by the savior goddess's "Bishop of Radiance," the short-distance crossing into another realm...
As Xia'er shared everything, her spirit and consciousness remained clear. She deliberately omitted details about the system and the stopwatch, focusing on the events of the day that could be shared.
With each revelation, she felt her mental burden visibly lighten, even the persistent sharp pain transforming into a barely noticeable dull ache.
Once she finished recounting everything, a refreshing sensation spread from her brain throughout her body, like a bucket of ice water poured over her on a sweltering summer day. Xia'er felt an immediate reduction in pressure, her thoughts becoming clearer.
So this is the healing ability of the "Listener"...
When she had been unconscious, she hadn’t felt much, only a sense of comfort. But now, it was clear that this was the true application of the "Listener's" power.
Meanwhile, sitting before Xia'er, Aivina listened to her story, her mood gradually darkening.
In just one day, Xia'er had experienced so much... even becoming a second-tier "Judicator" without Aivina's knowledge.
Aivina wasn’t particularly surprised by this; after all, the potion that made Xia'er a "Judicator" had come from Aivina herself. What surprised her was how deeply Xia'er had hidden it.
However, the events Xia'er had gone through just hours earlier were so overwhelming that Aivina found it hard to digest all this information in such a short time.
Xia'er harbored too many secrets. Even after revealing so much, Aivina sensed that there were still many hidden truths within her.
But now was not the time for Aivina to ponder these matters. She set aside her doubts, leaned closer to Xia'er, and gently wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
“You’ve done very well... now you just need to get some good sleep...”
“You’re lying on a meadow, and to your right is a cliff...”
“But you accidentally slip and fall, landing in a pool of water...”
“You wake up in a fright...”
Under Aivina's ethereal voice, which danced between proximity and distance, Xia'er began to feel a violent sensation of falling, followed by an incredibly real experience of plunging into water and gasping for breath, as if everything she heard was truly happening.
Xia'er struggled awake, bursting through the surface of the water in the copper bathtub, gasping for air.
She quickly scanned her surroundings, spotting Aivina watching her from the side, and took in her current location.
This was Aivina's bathroom, and she found herself stripped of clothing, lying in the bathtub.
Her spirit... had recovered?
**Chapter 108: Let the Misfortunes Come Even Stronger.**
“Are you okay?”
Hearing Aivina's voice, Xia'er gradually regained her composure and turned to face her.
Though her mind had cleared significantly, she could still see faint red mist lingering, yet most of the things around her no longer appeared distorted.
As Xia'er gazed into Aivina's dark purple eyes, an odd feeling surged within her.
Though Aivina's eyes were looking at her, Xia'er felt as if Aivina's gaze was not focused on her face but rather on something behind her.
Having already scanned her surroundings, Xia'er knew there was nothing behind her...
A most unwelcome thought flickered in her mind.
Earlier, when Aivina had healed her, it seemed she had also absorbed some of the mental pollution, experiencing a portion of the pain Xia'er had felt.
Could it be that this time, Aivina had also glimpsed the horrors of the other realm, leading to her own mental contamination and hallucinations?
Xia'er didn’t feel much guilt, as she had anticipated this possibility before coming. Now, all she could do was find a way to make amends.
Xia'er stood up from the bathtub, stepping out of the pure copper basin, and placed her slightly damp hands on Aivina's shoulders, concern etched on her face.
“Are you alright, Aivina? What did you see? Can you tell me?”
Just moments ago, Aivina had been trying to concentrate on the droplets of water in Xia'er’s hair, making an effort to avoid direct eye contact.
She was doing her best to maintain her composure, trying not to let her gaze slide down Xia'er’s perfect face—even though she had seen it before.
Table of Contents
