Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Irreversible Mental Damage.

In order to carry out her own enticement plan, Xia’er would need at least the assistance of one “Psychologist.”

However, Xia’er did not know any “Psychologists” she could trust — or rather, she hardly knew any Extraordinary Persons.

The only one who was somewhat close and trustworthy was Aivana, a first-rank “Listener.”

But from the previous Simulation, it seemed that Aivana had inexplicably stalled at the first rank.

Even Adelle had already completed the Replication Ritual and smoothly ascended to become a second-rank “Plague Doctor,” while the simulated Aivana had felt quite defeated because of this.

What method could be used to help Aivana complete her Replication Ritual?

For this reason, Xia’er needed to clearly understand what the perfect Replication Ritual for a second-rank “Psychologist” was, so she could better assist Aivana in formulating an ascension plan.

Currently, Xia’er was likely the person among them who had undergone the most Replication Rituals and consumed the most Potions, having some insights into digesting various types of Potions.

The best and fastest method would probably be for Xia’er herself to undergo the process in the Simulation, then share the successful experience with Aivana, allowing her to follow the same path in reality as she did in the Simulation.

Xia’er sat before her desk, took out a piece of letter paper, and began writing on it with a pen.

Soon, a Letter was written by Xia’er. The content mainly included greetings for Aivana, inquiries about the Potion and Replication Ritual for “Listeners” and “Psychologists,” as well as Aivana’s own challenges regarding the Replication Ritual and ascension.

Xia’er’s mental state hadn’t fully recovered yet, making now the perfect time to exchange thoughts with Aivana through correspondence.

After completing this, Xia’er also picked up a Potion — the Inspector Potion.

This was one of the five Potions Xia’er had purchased earlier at Derton Manor. Since Xia’er had already saved the Inspector’s data, this Potion was no longer useful. She might as well ask Aivana to help sell it and get some cash in return.

After all, she couldn’t keep spending Aivana’s money… Although in the simulation, Xia’er often chose to borrow money from Aivana when faced with problems, since it was one of the fastest ways to make money aside from predicting future horse races.

Xia’er placed both the written letter and the Potion inside her canvas bag, rolled the bag into a bundle, and fastened it with a few safety pins.

It wasn’t that she wanted to package things so roughly; it was just that these were the only tools she had on hand.

Xia’er stood up with the items in hand.

Her body and spirit had slightly recovered, enough that she wasn’t struggling to walk anymore.

She walked downstairs, opened the door, handed everything over to the maids across the way, instructing them to deliver it as quickly as possible back to Aivana’s Manor.

By the time Xia’er crossed the street and returned to the door of her rented house, the maids had already boarded the prepared Carriage and were rushing towards Aivana’s Manor.

As Xia’er fumbled in the dark to unlock the door with her key, intending to rest briefly while waiting for Aivana’s reply, as soon as she opened the door, two ethereal hands appeared before her eyes.

This was Xia’er’s “Prophet Vision.” Although this ability had initially made even cooking problematic for her, she had now grown accustomed to having a phantom act a step ahead of her.

Why had she raised her hands?

After hesitating for a moment, Xia’er preemptively raised her hands. Immediately after, she felt something sharp, like metal, pressing against her back.

“Raise… don’t turn around, go inside.”

A hoarse voice sounded behind Xia’er. Hearing it, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

What was this?

A home invasion Robbery?

Had touching the Potion bottle earlier led to this detached-from-reality but inconsequential Doom?

Although these minor troubles didn’t pose any real danger, they did indeed disrupt Xia’er’s original rhythm slightly.

Before Xia’er could take a couple of steps to retrieve the “Lethal Bloody Orchid,” a groan came from behind her.

“Ugh!!”

Xia’er turned around.

A middle-aged woman dressed in simple maid attire held a dinner knife, which was now pressed against the neck of a cloaked figure wearing a mask.

The masked individual, holding a dagger, couldn’t speak with the knife at their throat. Drops of blood dripped down from the cloak onto their waist, indicating they’d already been stabbed by the maid.

This was another maid, recognizable to Xia’er, sent by Aivana and living across the street.

Apparently, these maids had undergone professional training and were considered top-notch among ordinary people.

“Sorry, Miss Xia’er, I’ll deal with her right away.”

The maid gave Xia’er a look of apology, seemingly blaming herself for being ineffective.

“Wait.”

Xia’er raised her hand to stop the maid’s action. She pulled off the mask of the intruder, and the maid understood Xia’er’s intent, helping her remove the hood as well.

Blue eyes, golden-haired… Though average-looking, the height matched… Just her face needed changing; the cheekbones were too high, and the nose too flat…

After carefully inspecting the woman, Xia’er waved her hand and said, “Put her in jail, treat her.”

“Miss Xia’er, you don’t need to be so lenient with such scum.”

Upon hearing Xia’er’s words, the maid drew in a breath and reminded her, “Your kindness will only invite more Trouble.”

Goodness invites bullying, especially in this era of incomplete laws and systems. Kindness wouldn’t earn recognition; it would only attract more leeches.

In the maid’s eyes, Xia’er seemed like an innocent young girl. Even though she had almost been robbed moments ago, after the assailant was subdued, instead of thinking of throwing them into the river, she actually thought of curing them and sending them to prison.

To the maid, this red-haired beauty bowed her head slightly, as if pondering something, then looked up with a faint smile and said:

“No problem, do as I say. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll personally visit her in prison later.”

After saying that, the young girl closed the wooden door, leaving the maid standing there stunned.

Well, now the opportunity to quietly dispose of this scum is gone.

The maid grabbed the woman by the collar and sarcastically remarked, “You’re lucky to have met the ‘Holy Maiden’ of the Salvation Goddess Religion.”

And the would-be robber, who had thought death was certain just moments ago, now felt her racing heart gradually slow down.

She had always assumed that frail girl lived alone… Who knew hidden maids were protecting her? Was she the daughter of some merchant or nobleman? Here to experience life?

Anyway, within a few weeks, she’d be released from prison. Then, gathering enough people and armed with guns, they could definitely rob a large sum… As for that girl, whether as a hostage or sold outright, she could fetch a substantial reward.

Enough to ensure she never worried about money again after this one job.

Unfortunately.

Both the maid and the female robber had misjudged Xia’er.

Or perhaps, based on their understanding, they couldn’t possibly guess how extreme and Mad Xia’er’s thoughts truly were…

At this point, Xia’er had already walked back into the house and locked the wooden door behind her.

The encounter with that woman didn’t feel like Doom to Xia’er… Instead, it felt like the kind of Good Luck mentioned by her Simulated Self—following daily life leading to unexpected fortune.

Isn’t it just like how sleep comes with a pillow? Just as she had a new stitching plan, a good candidate was delivered to her doorstep.

Unfortunately, not a corpse.

Killing an ordinary person directly for stitching still carried a psychological burden for Xia’er — there was some, but not much.

After all, the other party had sown evil first; this could only be seen as their karmic retribution.

Xia’er returned to her room, lay down on the bed, closed her eyes to rest, and reviewed her recent Simulations from start to finish, checking for any overlooked details.

Lying there thinking, Xia’er gradually fell asleep.

But she slept for less than twenty minutes…

Xia’er woke up from the dream abruptly.

Almost as soon as she awoke, Xia’er had already forgotten what her dream was about, only vaguely remembering the faint purple mist that floated in it.

The lingering effects of the last “Spiritual Summoning” on Xia’er’s mind still hadn’t faded.

Gently rubbing her temples, which still throbbed with a dull ache, Xia’er got up and walked to the desk, beginning to silently recite the ancient An Su language dictionary.

Entering this state of high-speed learning allowed Xia’er to temporarily set aside her thoughts, forget the dull ache in her brain, and restore her mental energy more efficiently.

It was like adding lubricant to a rusted part so that it could turn again; each time the gears meshed, some rust would be worn away.

This kind of low-intensity thinking, such as learning a language under the system skill’s enhancement, was even more helpful for Xia’er’s mental recovery.

About ten minutes later, the sound of wheels and hooves on the cobblestone road outside the house broke her concentration.

Dut-dut-dut—

The knock on the door sounded. Xia’er went downstairs, opened the door, and took a new handbag from the maid.

After entering the living room and closing the door, Xia’er opened the handbag and glanced inside. It contained approximately 650 Su Pounds in paper bills and a letter tucked among the currency.

Xia’er had spent nearly 800 Su Pounds purchasing potions and replication rituals. The items purchased from Derton Manor came at a premium price, but they were guaranteed not to be counterfeit, though their quality couldn’t be considered top-notch.

Aivana managed to sell Xia’er’s potion for only 650 Su Pounds, which was a fair price without any additional payment or commission.

However, Aivana didn’t charge for her efforts either.

Xia’er opened the letter. It was Aivana’s reply, answering all the questions Xia’er had raised in her previous correspondence.

Aivana seemed very curious about why Xia’er had mentioned her promotion, as Aivana had just returned to the clinic today.

In the letter, Aivana briefly recounted her day, including her encounter with the extraordinary people who visited the clinic.

Though Xia’er already knew these details, she skipped over the casual chat and focused on Aivana’s discussion of the replication ritual for the Listener potion.

The digestion process for the Listener potion wasn’t like other potions, where a specific ritual involving murder or completing designated tasks could digest the potion.

Instead, its ritual resembled an exploration of secrets, seeking out hidden stories behind various individuals, and required the potion to be consumed beforehand.

However, compared to other potions, the Listener potion’s effects were relatively mild and did not have strict time constraints.

If one must mention a limitation, it would be that one must complete the digestion before the whispers completely erode one’s spirit.

Therefore, Aivana worked alongside the investigation department of the police station, using the “detective” method to digest the Listener potion, eventually completing the final digestion with Xia’er’s assistance.

Moving from the Listener to the Psychologist was quite a leap.

This also required consuming the potion beforehand to gain partial abilities of a Psychologist.

The target for the digestion ritual changed from ordinary people at the first rank to extraordinary people.

One could continuously purify the spiritual pollution of a first-rank extraordinary person, slowly accumulating progress in digesting the potion—though this method had side effects.

The Listener’s treatment wasn’t cost-free; with each treatment, the Listener faced different whispers and suffered varying degrees of spiritual pollution.

And the Listener themselves could not resolve their own spiritual pollution, nor could fellow Listeners or Psychologists of the same rank dare to treat someone within their path, as they knew it would bring unimaginable, multi-type pollution.

Even if one successfully digested the Psychologist potion and became a second-rank extraordinary person, continuing to advance to the third rank would be almost impossible due to being assimilated by the third-rank potion, fundamentally altering one’s life form.

There was another method: directly curing or hypnotizing a severe case of spiritual pollution or brainwashing, specifically equivalent to a second-rank extraordinary person nearing madness.

Aivana’s current work treating the spirits of ordinary people was building experience toward this step.

So, Aivana was already preparing to consume the second-rank potion.

Xia’er looked at the envelope in front of her and pondered deeply.

She thought of a solution to the promotion condition: allowing Aivana, who had already consumed the second-rank Psychologist potion, to treat her after she entered the Other Realm…

The spiritual pollution of the Other Realm far exceeded the whispers of a second-rank extraordinary person’s potion, posing too great a strain on Aivana, easily leaving behind mental aftereffects.

Moreover, the simulated Aivana had already treated Xia’er once for Other Realm pollution.

But Aivana didn’t digest the potion because of it; instead, she was polluted by the Other Realm, significantly enhancing her spiritual vision and seeing the shadow of ravens.

Indeed, if it were effective, Aivana would have already treated Nia, whose pollution was also related to the Other Realm.

At this realization, Xia’er shook her head helplessly.

No wonder Aivana had been stuck for so long. Although Borough City continued to develop and expand, with a population of only 233,157 people a month later, finding a semi-mad second-rank extraordinary person to treat was incredibly difficult.

Even capturing a brainwashed cultist for reverse brainwashing was hard, as Xia’er had already exterminated all the cultists in Borough City.

But creating such a person would be simple.

Tara had many confidants who fit this description.

For example, Gemma, a second-rank noblewoman brainwashed by the cultists.

Allowing Aivana to independently remove the brainwashing by the Arrival Sect might quickly increase her potion digestion progress.

All of this still needed to be verified by the simulated self.

Xia’er opened the simulation and looked at the time inside.

[Future Day: 7Day (Sheng Year 741, July 1st, 20:00) (Consumes 10 Life Points)]

[Past Day: 3Day (Sheng Year 741, June 21st, 00:01) (Consumes 10 Life Points)]

[Old Day:***, ***Day (???) (Consumes 10,000 Life Points)]

Seven days later… She would have already met Tara.

Xia’er took out the “Manual of Infinite Forgetting,” continuing to write her speculations and the matter of assisting Aivana in completing the replication ritual.

Xia’er originally wanted Aivana to try brainwashing Tara to free her from the control of the Arrival Sect but reconsidered.

Tara was too fanatical, and her worldview revolved entirely around the Mother Goddess and the Arrival Sect. Forcibly altering her beliefs would likely cause her to suffer a mental breakdown.

It would be better to have some second-rank, less recently brainwashed confidants of Tara come over.

Soon, Xia’er finished writing all the precautions and placed the Sealed Object Manual back into the System Warehouse.

Although she could indeed use past-day simulation to return three days earlier and directly capture Jiti for Aivana’s experiment, doing so would lose the details collected by the simulated self regarding legal corpses.

Helping Aivana promote and attempting to trigger the Feather Pen sealed object—these two things must succeed in at least one way.

Next, she just had to wait for her spirit to recover a little more…

Xia’er pushed the book aside. She must now use the limited time to restore more spirit and attempt to sleep again.

Using study to restore spirit was a forced measure when normal sleep was no longer possible. If she could fall asleep, it would be better to rest a bit longer.

Xia’er lay down in bed, closed her eyes, emptied her mind, slowed her breathing, and gradually drifted off to sleep.

But this sleep lasted only half an hour before Xia’er abruptly opened her eyes in the darkness, her sclera tinged with a faint red hue.

It was then that Xia’er fully realized her spirit had suffered irreversible damage.