Lingdang dragged a bean bag from the lounge next to the castle hall and nestled comfortably in the middle, lazily letting out a big yawn, her tail leisurely drooping along the edge of the sofa, then stared with big round eyes at Yu Sheng and Xu Jiali chatting.
No matter how you look at it, she seems quite healthy, even somewhat mischievous.
But according to Xu Jiali, this cat is actually in a state of intermittently being unable to distinguish reality from illusion — at its worst, she even scratched colleagues at the Special Service Bureau.
Luna leaned in, squatting beside Lingdang, curiously observing the cat girl.
"Energy reaction, unstable, vital signs, good."
The energy response from the scanning device slightly stimulated the sensitive nerves of the Spiritual Ability Users, Lingdang raised a hand, sharp nails reflecting light, threateningly waving in front of Luna.
Luna also raised a hand, her fingertip blade glinting coldly.
Lingdang immediately put her paw down, pretending to groom the fur on her tail.
"Old World Nightmare Syndrome, Spiritual Ability Users are most prone to this condition, especially those who have been active in Boundary Land for a long time," Xu Jiali took a sip from her cup and explained Lingdang's situation to Yu Sheng, "You know what Old World means, right?"
"I do know," Yu Sheng nodded, "It's the previous version of this Universe, wasn't there a Great Annihilation before, then the ancient Saints, known as the 'Captain' rebuilt the current universe from the remnants of the world post-annihilation, with the second Singularity Explosion as the boundary. Everything before and the universe's remnants are collectively referred to as the Old World, Director Baili explained this to me."
He paused for a moment before adding, "I've also heard about Old World Nightmare Syndrome before, but I'm not familiar with the specifics."
Xu Jiali nodded, "Simply put, after the second Singularity Explosion, much information about the Old World actually remained in this Universe — according to those scholars from Terra, this residue is a deliberate design. They retained some things that had completely vanished or were destined to vanish in the Old World, embedding them into the 'legal timeline' of the new world... I don't understand the principle, but that's basically the idea.
"In summary, these anchors are generally isolated from ordinary people, there's a saying... let me think... oh right, they exist outside the observation domain, meaning they are invisible and imperceptible to ordinary people, even if placed in front, due to inability to comprehend, there will be no interaction with one's flesh or mind.
"Yet there are always exceptions, like Lingdang, a Spiritual Ability User, who occasionally encounters such exceptions.
"They can perceive it, sometimes even get entangled with it when unlucky."
Xu Jiali lifted her hand, pointing at her spiritual servant.
Unknowingly, Lingdang had pulled out a can of fish, now opened, and was sticking a little fork into it.
The fox girl squatting beside her showed an irresistible gluttonous look.
"Spiritual Ability Users afflicted with Old World Syndrome usually experience illusions and nightmares. As the Algredians would say, echoes of the Old World resonate in the starry sky, and the sharp souls of Spiritual Ability Users occasionally resonate with these echoes, thus falling into illusions before the second Singularity Explosion..."
Xu Jiali continued, suddenly sighing.
"Actually, now these symptoms are quite mild. It was said long ago when the Ancient Saints had not yet departed from the real Universe, Old World Nightmare Syndrome was a big issue. Back then, the whole Universe was still 'close' to the Old World, so encounters with such resonance were not just 'having a nightmare.'
"Some people collapse mentally in hallucinations, some experience loss of control causing disasters, in the most severe cases, afflicted Spiritual Ability Users are said to become indescribable entities with Old World traits upon loss of control...
"But the good news was, back then the Ancient Saints were also very near, 'Gemini Stars' would provide protection to the souls of Spiritual Ability Users, maintaining balance between reality and illusion, saving most of those who lost control."
Yu Sheng and Erin listened attentively beside, while Little Red Riding Hood suddenly remarked, "I have seen some information in this regard before, but it was very vague..."
Xu Jiali waved her hand, "Those not frequently dealing with Spiritual Ability Users don't need to understand so much anyways, since those rampant days have long passed away. Even if Spiritual Ability Users today show symptoms of Old World Nightmare Syndrome, it's not as serious as before, and it can be treated with gray matter agents and some spiritual stability medications, just requiring some recovery time."
Yu Sheng generally understood the situation, he was somewhat curious about Lingdang's specific symptoms; however, before he could speak, a sound of metal falling suddenly came from nearby.
Turning his head, he saw Lingdang sitting blankly on the sofa, the half-eaten can now fallen at her feet.
An expression of emptiness quickly surfaced on her face, the big eyes of the cat lady suddenly lost their sparkle, a blackness continually creeping from her eye sockets, veins emerging on her cheeks, tiny spiritual energy sparks appearing at her ear tips, crackling away.
Xu Jiali stood up instantly.
"It's okay, don't panic," the towering two-meter-tall man quickly gestured to Yu Sheng while swiftly crossing to Lingdang, placing his hand on her head, "Kitty, don't be afraid, can you hear me? Deep breaths, walk towards the light...we are all here, we can all see you."
Meanwhile, the fox girl closest to Lingdang also reacted, immediately sketching some symbols in the air, a spell of Immortal Technique for clearing mind and calming soul falling onto Lingdang.
At this moment, Yu Sheng, Erin, and Little Red Riding Hood also rushed over.
Although Xu Jiali said it was okay, the scene was still a bit scary. The little puppet quickly climbed beside Lingdang, raising its head to look at Xu Jiali, "What's going on? Is it serious? Do we need to find a doctor?"
"Just a brief illusion, she will wake up soon, and she took medication in advance, so she can also hear surrounding sounds," Xu Jiali quickly said, "She is a Gyprolian, when symptoms manifest, the most likely illusion is being isolated by a black barrier, vanishing from everyone's perception — so as long as she can hear the surrounding sounds, sense the environment, she will recover soon."
At this moment, Hu Li quickly sketched a few shimmering talismans in the air, muttered a few words of a spell Yu Sheng couldn't understand, and then struck Lingdang's back with a flash of spiritual light.
The Cat Lady let out a yelp, nearly knocked out, her eyes brightened, the bulging veins faded, and the rampant spiritual energy sparks around her dissipated, quickly bringing her back to clarity.
The fox girl patted her chest, exhaling a long breath: "Luckily, I haven't forgotten my family's Clearing Mind Spell technique…"
Erin watched in shock: "Your family's 'ancestral' Clearing Mind Spell mainly relies on being freaking powerful, doesn't it?!"
The fox girl puffed out her chest: "I'm a body cultivator!"
Little Red Riding Hood looked at her buddy with a strained face, just about to say something, when she heard Lingdang let out a long sigh.
The cat-headed girl clutched Xu Jiali's arm with a look of lingering fear: "Boss, I was scared to death, meow. It suddenly went dark around me. I felt like I was eating one second and the next second I just vanished from this world..."
Suddenly, she paused, as if she remembered something, and hurriedly looked down: "Ah, my can... where's my can?"
Hu Li, at the side, pinched the last piece of fish between her fingers and tossed it into her mouth, licking the inside of the can with her tongue, looking satisfied: "The canned food's not bad."
Lingdang's eyes widened instantly, and she was about to burst out from under Xu Jiali's hand: "Mine! That can is mine!"
"I used two Clearing Mind Spells to wake you up!"
"What Clearing Mind Spell... by the way, why do I feel sore, like I've been hit?"
"How would I know—"
"Because that silly fox's family Clearing Mind Spell mainly relies on being powerful."
"Meow aow—!"
The castle hall, which had finally quieted down, instantly turned chaotic again, as a cyber fox-dog battle erupted against a spiritual power cat-headed girl, with Xu Jiali and Yu Sheng unable to hold them back.
Erin quickly climbed onto the nearby windowsill, squatting on the ledge to watch.
"It's quite lively, huh."
Luna: "Mm, yeah."
Little Red Riding Hood stood on the side, veins popping on her forehead as she watched the scene, several times wanting to speak but stopping short, unable to react to how things suddenly turned out this way. But thinking twice, things connected to Yu Sheng and his gang always tended to turn chaotic halfway through, so she swallowed back her words to mediate, choosing to join Erin and Luna on the side to enjoy the view.
After all, a cyber fox-dog battle against a spiritual power cat-headed girl is not something you see every day.
… And then that lazy sofa got blown up by Lingdang.
The white foam beads inside the sofa flew across half the hall.
A few mass-produced puppets holding small buckets and mops had just cleaned up this place, now stood in a row, dumbfounded, in the corner of the hall, watching the white foam plastic flying all around.
Erin, squatting on the windowsill and enjoying the commotion, had a stunned expression.
"… I just freaking cleaned it up!"
Luna: "Mm, yeah."
Fifteen minutes later, Yu Sheng moved a chair to sit by the window, watching Lingdang, Hu Li, and a few mass-produced puppets tidying up the crime scene.
"Moderate physical activity can relieve the aftereffects of Old World Nightmare Syndrome flare-ups," Xu Jiali said in a leisurely manner beside him, "and letting her do some work helps distract her from constantly thinking about catnip."
"… Is catnip really the trigger for her episode this time?" Yu Sheng asked thoughtfully.
"Who can say for sure? That stuff does have some effect on Jipuluo Spirit Ability Users," Xu Jiali sighed, "this disorder is quite troublesome. Although it's easier to treat now, the cause of the episodes remains unclear, especially for Jipuluo Spirit Ability Users. You know, they have feline characteristics, not true cats, but somewhat neurotic like cats… except for that 'King'."
"You mentioned earlier that spiritual ability users who are active in the Boundary Land for long periods are more prone to episodes?" Yu Sheng thought for a moment, asking earnestly, "And this time Lingdang also had an episode after returning to Boundary Land?"
"Yeah," Xu Jiali replied casually, then suddenly noticed something, turning her face slightly with a frown, "the way you're asking… could there be another issue?"
Yu Sheng pondered for a moment: "It's hard to say just yet..."
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