Chapter 19 Green Chirp-Chirp Gui Banjing

　　Wei Yin was puzzled. Taking advantage of his “fool” persona, he reached out and thoroughly felt up the black panther’s head. That turned out to be great fun. He grabbed one ear and pulled it outward, and like modeling clay, it stretched into a huge fan.
　　Taowu had a good temper too. It let Wei Yin mess with it however he wanted. Once he was done, Taowu simply shook its head, turned back into a big black panther, and waited for Wei Yin—who still had not had enough—to start tugging again.
　　Wei Yin played with it for quite a while, long enough for Shangyang to wake up.
　　Last night, the moment Wei Yin was trapped in the nightmare, Shangyang had been yanked back into his consciousness cloud. It had been Wei Yin’s instinctive cry for help. The problem was that this injury originated in his physical body, so not only was there no way to fix it from inside the consciousness cloud, even the clouds themselves had turned black, rolling and churning like a dark sea.
　　The instant Shangyang was dragged inside, it was tossed around like a pufferfish caught in rapids. Worse still, although that bastard Wei Yin had no idea how to use mental power, the sheer scale of his mental power was enormous, and he had forcibly locked Shangyang inside.
　　Only after Wei Yin took the medicine and his body improved did Shangyang find an opening to jump back out. The instant it emerged, it fainted. It had genuinely passed out—the consciousness cloud was the source of a spirit form’s existence. After being thrashed around in there like that, it was already a miracle Shangyang had come out in one piece.
　　Shangyang had no idea whether other people’s spirit forms got tormented by their hosts like this, but it suspected this was a fate it would never escape in this lifetime.
　　Fainting was not all bad. It could count as catching up on sleep. But the moment Shangyang opened its eyes—tsk—it saw this disaster of a host.
　　The moment Shangyang woke, Wei Yin sensed it. At the same time, he also sensed the disgust radiating off Shangyang.
　　—What was that supposed to mean? Who had he offended?
　　Wei Yin was baffled, but with someone else beside him he still kept a delighted expression on his face and reached out to scoop Shangyang into his arms.
　　Shangyang rolled its eyes with all its might. “I understand that your head hurt, but if you ever drag me back into your consciousness cloud without warning again, bro, I swear I’ll spill every embarrassing secret you have right in front of your Lanser!”
　　Wei Yin looked confused. “When did I drag you in?”
　　Shangyang choked on a breath. After a long pause, it said faintly, “…Promise me we’ll start studying today, all right? Knowledge really is the ultimate productive force.”
　　Wei Yin still had no idea what Shangyang was talking about, but he agreed anyway. “Sure.”
　　While chatting inside his head, Wei Yin’s hands were not idle either. He carried Shangyang over to Taowu and smiled. “Yangyang, Taotao.”
　　Shangyang: “…Who the hell is Taotao?”
　　Wei Yin: “Your wife.”
　　Shangyang: “…”
　　Taowu received this “elegant title” without feeling that it damaged its dignity in the slightest. Shyly, it leaned its head toward Shangyang. The instant it got close, a pitch-black flower bloomed first across its dark forehead.
　　Shangyang stared. “What the hell is that?”
　　Wei Yin: “A chrysanthemum?”
　　Shangyang: “That’s not what I meant. I’m asking what this stupid giant cat is.”
　　Wei Yin was stunned. “The Major General’s spirit form. Your wife. Can’t you sense it?”
　　Shangyang: “Your family’s spirit form… Bah! Have you ever seen anyone’s spirit form look like this?”
　　Wei Yin: “But that’s how the Major General introduced it.”
　　Both of them were completely baffled. Their heads turned at the same time, and they looked blankly toward Major General Sain.
　　Before Major General Sain could say anything, a sudden “pfft” of laughter came from the doorway. Wei Yin turned his head and saw Damm.
　　Damm was leaning against the doorframe with a lollipop still in his mouth, looking exactly like some underage brat. When he saw Wei Yin looking over, he bared a row of white teeth in a grin and gave Wei Yin a thumbs-up. “Taotao is an amazing name!”
　　Major General Sain gave him a bland sidelong glance without speaking. Damm was not afraid of him in the least and continued laughing to himself.
　　Wei Yin remembered now. The Major General had said he would have Damm send Taowu back—send it back? Wait, could a spirit form really be separated that far from its host?
　　“Taowu is my spirit form, and also my exclusive mecha.” Major General Sain seemed to understand Wei Yin’s gaze and explained, “Its current condition isn’t very good, so it has been staying inside the mecha’s cockpit.”
　　Wei Yin blinked. Then his eyes went rigid.
　　Major General Sain’s exclusive mecha was the one and only S-rank mecha in the entire Empire. It was made from bio-dimensional alloy, stood more than eighty meters tall in mecha form, and could transform freely. At its smallest, it could fold down to the size of an earring. Its alloy shell had self-repair and memory functions too. Supposedly, it could replicate an entire spaceship so perfectly that the copy could pass for the real thing—and even fly. But the mental-power requirements were far too high. At present, only members of the Sain family could operate it.
　　So. An. S. Rank. Mecha!
　　Wei Yin stuffed Shangyang into Major General Sain’s arms, twisted aside, and threw himself onto the huge panther. Shamelessly hugging the panther’s forehead, he planted two kisses on it and grinned foolishly. “Yangyang for Lanser. Like Taotao!”
　　Shangyang: “…” Have. Some. Shame!
　　Taowu was overwhelmed by the favor. With a “crackle-pop,” a whole black floral wreath bloomed across its dark forehead, while its long, powerful tail slapped the floor again and again with loud smacks.
　　A smile rested at Major General Sain’s lips. Holding Shangyang in one arm, he used the other hand to pull Wei Yin upright. “Mm. Let it keep you company. Get up and wash first. We’ll go downstairs for breakfast.”
　　“Okay~” Wei Yin was delighted, practically bouncing with every step.
　　After they went downstairs and ate breakfast, Luo Mengmeng arrived. The girl had two enormous dark circles beneath her eyes, but her eyes themselves were practically shooting green light.
　　“Major General, the results are out!” Luo Mengmeng held a thick stack of paper, all covered in handwriting. After speaking, she rustled the pages into order and handed them to Major General Sain.
　　Major General Sain accepted them. He stared in silence for two seconds at the handwriting that looked as though spiders had crawled across the paper, then set the stack aside and told Luo Mengmeng, “Just explain it.”
　　Luo Mengmeng did not mind. “I got lucky. The very first matching experiment worked. The medicine’s composition is like this…”
　　Wei Yin listened until his head was full of fog, then simply lowered his gaze and continued ingratiating himself with Taowu. One moment he pinched its ears, the next he stroked its head, then he made Taowu lift a paw and contribute its paw pads. He even fed Taowu food. Taowu indulged him too, pretending to chew twice, then secretly letting the food drop out from beneath its chin. It lifted the rug, buried the evidence underneath, and destroyed the corpse.
　　Shangyang: “…” Actually, aren’t you two the matching set here?
　　Five minutes later, Luo Mengmeng gave her conclusion. “At first glance, this medicine appears to suppress addiction, but in reality it stimulates the potential of the consciousness cloud. After taking it, Madam’s symptoms really do visibly settle down. But in fact, that is only because it suppresses his perception and makes him numb and unresponsive. At the same time, it induces violent disturbances in the consciousness cloud. So every time Madam takes the medicine, he looks calm, but he is actually suffering terribly. It’s only because his perception has been suppressed that he can’t show it… except for what happened the day before yesterday…”
　　Major General Sain waved a hand, signaling Luo Mengmeng not to mention that incident.
　　Luo Mengmeng changed the subject and continued. “In other words, the medicine he takes each time is actually what caused Madam’s current condition. The suppressive effect lasts twenty-four hours, making Madam continuously look exactly the way they claimed he was. Fortunately, after all this time, Madam’s consciousness cloud did not dissipate. Instead, he developed resistance to the medicine. Otherwise… Madam probably would have been gone long ago.”
　　Major General Sain’s hand suddenly clenched into a fist.
　　Luo Mengmeng hurriedly added, “But there’s good news too. The aftereffects of this medicine can be eliminated. As long as Madam is properly cared for, he can recover in a few years at most. Exactly how far he can recover, though, is hard to say.”
　　Wei Yin: “Divine assist!”
　　Shangyang: “Done playing?”
　　Wei Yin: “Eh. Taotao has no fur. The feel isn’t quite as good.”
　　Shangyang: “…”
　　After receiving this news, Major General Sain’s expression finally brightened as well. Damm joined in the excitement for no reason. “So Madam isn’t an idiot?”
　　Wei Yin turned his head at exactly the right moment and looked at Damm with an unhappy expression.
　　Damm laughed. “He’s even getting mad. Don’t you think he really does look different from when I went to pick him up? Young Master An, how old are you?”
　　Major General Sain glanced at Damm, his gaze firing invisible knives.
　　Damm raised both hands in surrender, still smiling. “I actually suspected something before too. Some of his unconscious movements didn’t look like those of someone completely numb and unaware. I thought that old woman Morgan was up to something. I never expected it to be this.”
　　Major General Sain frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
　　Damm looked helpless. “I wasn’t sure. Besides, every doctor you had me bring said there was nothing wrong with him. What was I supposed to do as a layman?”
　　Major General Sain looked at him with disdain, then turned and took Wei Yin’s hand. With all that heartache and nowhere to put it, he settled for stroking Wei Yin’s head again.
　　Wei Yin looked up at Major General Sain, his expression reluctant, his entire face practically announcing, “I’m unhappy.”
　　“What’s wrong?” Major General Sain looked back at him and asked with a smile.
　　Wei Yin glanced at Damm, then puffed out his cheeks and said, “Lanser, I’m seven years old. I’m not stupid.”
　　Shangyang: “…” Your mental age has officially been nailed down at seven.
　　“Mm. I know Wei Yin isn’t. Wei Yin is very smart.” Major General Sain was extremely pleased by Wei Yin’s words. Since waking up today, Wei Yin’s speech had already become much more fluent. Unlike yesterday, he no longer had to stop and think before every sentence. Now he had even “accurately” reported his own age. This was major progress.
　　It really did seem to have been caused by Kalida’s medicine.
　　Luo Mengmeng was pleased too. This proved her conclusion was correct. But there were still things she needed to warn them about. “Major General, Madam’s condition probably won’t be very stable during these first few days, so please don’t be too anxious.”
　　“I understand.” Major General Sain nodded. “Once Wei Yin’s condition stabilizes, give him an examination.”
　　Luo Mengmeng: “Yes.”
　　Damm thought of something else and said, “Should we tell Amanda? She stormed out in a rage before. No idea who’s going to be unlucky this time.”
　　Major General Sain smiled. “This can’t be spread outside for now. As for Amanda, let her do what she wants. Better than keeping her here to cause trouble.”
　　Damm thought for a moment and nodded. “True. Oh, right. I have some unofficial gossip about Madam…”
　　Author’s Note:
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　　[Setting]
　　Visibility of spirit forms.
　　It is not limited to Sentinels and Guides. Anyone with sufficient mental power can see them.
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　　Question: I fried some little fish and couldn’t finish them. No microwave, no oven. How do I reheat them next time? (If I fry them again, they’ll burn.)