Chapter 191: Imagine There Is a Toothpick Between Your Toes
Sometimes, one really couldn't blame King Zhou for losing his mind over a fox spirit.
Ruan Mei carefully injected a microscopic trace of Rekka's cells into Tingyun's arm.
In a fraction of a second, the limb Tingyun had spent so much agonizing effort to regrow completely annihilated itself, dissolving into a mist of broken proteins.
Fortunately, the Foxian remained deeply unconscious. Ruan Mei was still firmly in the phase of treating her like a fascinating biological petri dish. Since Tingyun's current physiological state hovered precariously close to actual death anyway, the genius researcher figured she might as well push the boundaries to see if a miracle could be forced.
"What if... we introduced a minuscule fraction of his cells directly into her heart?" Ruan Mei murmured, her tone completely detached.
The heart promptly exploded.
"This is proving to be a slight headache."
Rekka's cellular structure was violently unstable. Neither living biomass nor inactivated synthetic tissue could contain it. Plant cells, fungal spores, advanced synthetic bio-membranes... all of them failed catastrophically.
No normal lifeform could withstand the sheer hostility of his biology. The moment his cells detached from the bizarre, chaotic equilibrium that governed his own body, they lashed out with lethal aggression against any foreign contact. The fact that he could walk around without melting into a puddle of aggressive organic matter suggested an impossibly powerful balancing force resided within him.
"Rekka, you need to come back."
It did not take long for Rekka to wander back into the laboratory to assist with the next phase of the experiment.
Naturally, the results ended in spectacular, unmitigated failure.
Herta even projected a puppet into the room just to offer her dry, sarcastic congratulations on Ruan Mei hitting a dead end.
Rekka stood outside the reinforced experimental chamber, pressing his hands against the cold, transparent alloy wall. Inside, suspended in a dense, glowing nutrient fluid, floated a figure entangled in a complex web of life-support tubes and monitoring wires.
Tingyun's body was locked in a horrifying, endless cycle. Her flesh constantly disintegrated at the cellular level, only to violently reform a second later, trapping her in a perpetual tug-of-war between life and death. Even though she remained entirely submerged in a comatose state, the sheer violence of the reformation process made her muscles twitch and spasm.
"Can I try to reshape her body?" Rekka asked, his gaze fixed on the Foxian drifting in the culture fluid.
Today, the cosmic roulette had blessed him with the power of Abundance. He figured he could attempt to stabilize the Foxian, a species already deeply intertwined with the same Path.
"Her consciousness waveband is crossing the critical threshold," Ruan Mei replied, not looking up from her scrolling data pad. "She will wake up within thirty seconds. You can wait until she regains awareness to attempt any treatment."
Inside the chamber, the viscous blue liquid began to churn. Violent bubbles surged from the filtration vents at the bottom. Tingyun's tightly shut eyelids fluttered. Her long, dark eyelashes clumped together, looking disarrayed and delicate under the heavy pressure of the fluid.
Having just been dragged back from the absolute brink of death, she still radiated an aura of deep suffering, painting the picture of a tragically fragile beauty.
Fragile?
In reality, the sheer density of the conflicting energies inside Tingyun meant she could currently reach out and casually twist a fully grown man's neck into a pretzel. She was about as fragile as a loaded warhead.
"Many thanks..."
Tingyun coughed softly, the sound transmitting through the chamber's external speakers.
"I do not know how I can ever repay you all."
As her vision cleared, her gaze drifted through the thick glass. It landed first on a pair of unnervingly pale arms, then traveled upward to the twisted, antler-like branches sprouting from a head, and finally locked onto a pair of slowly blinking, crimson eyes.
Not a single trace of fear surfaced on her delicate features. She simply watched the bizarre creature for several long seconds.
"This benefactor's appearance... is quite unique."
"...Thanks for the compliment," Rekka replied, his voice dry.
"I have seen quite a few followers of Abundance in my time, but I have never encountered one quite like you, Benefactor."
"You are taking this very calmly."
"Having walked along the razor's edge of life and death, my perspective on the world has naturally broadened a little." Tingyun's gaze lingered on his crimson eyes, tracking their erratic movements. "Besides, Benefactor saved my life. If I were to judge purely by appearances and start screaming in terror, wouldn't that be a severe lack of decorum? I wonder... how long have I been asleep? And what is the current situation on the Xianzhou Luofu?"
Rekka gave her a brief, chaotic rundown of the recent disasters and resolutions aboard the giant ship. Tingyun listened quietly, nodding at a slow, measured pace.
"I see. I understand now."
She had truly been asleep for a very long time. Yet, surviving a direct encounter with a Lord Ravager was a miracle in itself. She had no right to complain.
"Now that you have passed the critical danger period, your body has acquired a self-healing factor that far exceeds that of an ordinary Foxian," Ruan Mei stated, stepping up to the glass. "Your current regenerative ability is more than sufficient to keep you alive under extreme physical trauma. Of course, this is entirely due to the lingering power the Lord Ravager left behind inside you. While we possess the theoretical means to extract it, the physical toll of that procedure is not something your body can survive right now."
"Many thanks, Benefactor." Tingyun shifted her attention back to Rekka.
At that exact moment, Rekka was entirely preoccupied. One of his extra, mutated arms had wrapped itself securely around his own neck. He was actively trying to see if he could tie his own limbs into a functional knot.
"Don't look at me," he muttered, struggling with a particularly stubborn joint. "I haven't even figured out how to fix my own issues yet."
"I feel that this appearance of yours, Benefactor, is not an issue at all. Rather, it is a sign of deep good fortune." Tingyun smiled, her lips curving into a gentle, polite arc.
"Deep good fortune?" Rekka paused his self-strangulation, looking down at his writhing, pale arms. "Your criteria for good fortune are incredibly unique."
"I have traveled the stars for many years and conducted business with all manner of people. Some appear glamorous and pristine on the outside, yet are entirely rotten to the core. Others possess terrifying, monstrous exteriors, yet harbor a heart warmer than anyone else's. Benefactor saved my life. Naturally, the more I look at you, the more pleasing you appear to my eyes."
"I only helped a tiny bit at the very end. Ruan Mei did all the heavy lifting to keep you breathing."
"It was merely a transaction between myself and a merchant," Ruan Mei corrected smoothly.
Right. A merchant with a very difficult name.
"Benefactor, please do not decline the credit," Tingyun insisted gently. "I am a Foxian. We believe strongly in repaying kindness and settling our debts. Your refusal makes me uneasy. It makes me worry that you might eventually ask for some impossibly rare treasure that I cannot provide."
"Don't worry about that. How is your body actually feeling right now?"
"As for how I feel..." Tingyun lowered her gaze, examining her own fair, delicate hands. On the surface, they looked exactly as they always had. Yet, deep within her chest, a faint, violent impulse of pure destruction throbbed in time with her heartbeat. "My body feels a bit heavier than usual. At the same time, I feel as though I possess an endless reservoir of energy."
Ruan Mei tapped a final command into her data pad and finally looked up. "It is best if you just lie down and remain perfectly still. Otherwise, you might collapse from the sheer shock of the pain."
"Your pain receptors are currently ninety-five percent blocked," the genius researcher added, her tone clinical. "I strongly suggest you continue lying in that medical bed."
"The power of Destruction is continuously tearing your body apart at the cellular level, while the power of Abundance is constantly rushing in to repair the damage. The raw intensity of the pain generated by this endless cycle would normally be enough to send a denizen of Abundance into instant, lethal shock."
"Then... does that mean I cannot move around at all? I must simply lie here?"
"You can understand it that way," Ruan Mei said, meeting her eyes. "Assuming you do not wish to experience the sensation of being sliced into a thousand pieces simultaneously."
Tingyun obediently lowered her head back onto the medical rest.
If feeling only five percent of the pain already caused her muscles to ache this much, what would it feel like if the block were fully lifted?
The easiest way to understand it was to imagine placing a toothpick vertically under your toenail, and then violently kicking a solid wall.
A horrifying thought. Best not to dwell on it.
Who ever said words could not adequately convey physical agony?
"I'll be going now. You rest well in there," Rekka said, turning away from the glowing tank.
Before he could take a step, Tingyun's voice called out through the speakers.
"Benefactor, please stay for just a moment."
He paused, glancing back over his shoulder.
"I still do not know your name, Benefactor..."
"My name is Rekka."
"Rekka..." Tingyun repeated the syllables slowly, testing the weight of the word before smiling brightly. "That is a good name. I will be sure to remember it."
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