Published at 8th of October 2024 3:04 am

Chapter 1048: Awakening Her Awareness

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The two of them stood in the darkness, and suddenly everything fell silent. The dim yellow light from the roadside lamps stretched their dark shadows, making it difficult to discern their original shapes on the distant road.

Bohemia brushed her wind-blown hair behind her ears and couldn’t help but glance at Lin Sanjiu in the distance.

At that moment, Lin Sanjiu had just sat down beside the motionless Puppeteer. She rubbed her pants and then gently placed her hand on his forehead for a few seconds. She then raised her other hand and touched her own forehead. Since the dead person wouldn’t have a fever, Lin Sanjiu was satisfied and lowered her hand, looking in the direction of Bohemia and Dr. Hu.

Bohemia quickly averted her gaze. Somehow, she couldn’t meet Lin Sanjiu’s eyes.

“Before we came to this world…” Bohemia pretended to search for something while speaking softly to Dr. Hu, “she just found out that a friend had died. I’m not sure about the specifics, but it seems that he was the first friend she made after entering the apocalyptic world, and his death was hard for her to accept.”

“Did it affect her greatly?” Dr. Hu asked, furrowing its brow and pondering for a moment.

“She… was very agitated and filled with grief. She desperately wanted to kill the person responsible for her friend’s death and seek revenge. Later, that person died,” Bohemia didn’t know that Lyanna had ultimately been killed by another personality, so she didn’t know if Lin Sanjiu had successfully avenged her friend, “Afterward, we were transported to this world by the Great Deluge… Oh, I’ll explain what the Great Deluge is later. After arriving here, she seemed normal and never mentioned Luther, her deceased friend, again.”

Dr. Hu fell silent for a moment. “Were there any other traumatic events?”

“Yes. Magus seemed to be her friend too,” Bohemia thought and felt a chill in her heart, “Magus is trapped, and we can’t help her until we find a place to settle. Lin Sanjiu originally planned to find her as soon as we arrived in this new world, but one thing led to another, and we haven’t had the opportunity to do so.”

“Is she worried?”

Bohemia thought for a moment and shook her head. Then, as if explaining, she said in a low voice, “I think she should be worried, but she has never shown it—maybe it’s because we’ve been preoccupied these past few days.”

More details surfaced in Bohemia’s mind. She remembered that Lin Sanjiu had acted strangely toward a certain communication device she had in her hands. Sometimes she took it out, and other times she put it back, looking restless and at a loss—she seemed both afraid of receiving a communication from someone and afraid of not receiving one. But she never said anything about it. When they set off again, she seemed resolute as if she had no worries at all.

Could that also be a crisis involving a friend? If that were the case, there would be four people involved…

Dr. Hu let out a low sigh. “When things accumulate too much, the more you press down on the lid, the more likely it is to explode. It would be better if she could share everything… I’m worried that her mental instability is the result of a series of traumas that have built up and burst out.”

“Are you sure… that Puppeteer is really dead?”

“There’s no room for error,” Dr. Hu shook its head, “While most doctors might need to check the pupils, pulse, and skin, I have a unique ability to discern life and death. Just one glance is enough for me to know if someone is close to death or has already died.”

“Truly worthy of a doctor. What should we do now?”

Bohemia also started to feel distressed—she had completely forgotten that a few years ago, if Lin Sanjiu had suffered a mental breakdown, it would have been good news for her rather than bad news. After all, faced with a defenseless person, she could have used any means to recover her losses.

“Let’s assess the situation first.”

With a plan to take things step by step, they returned to Lin Sanjiu’s side. She sat cross-legged by the side of the road, her short hair messily tied up behind her head. In the dim light of the moon and the street lamps, her honey-colored skin faintly glistened with sweat. It seemed that even she found it difficult to carry a person all the way here.

When she saw the two of them return, she flicked her hand and a card appeared in her palm. “I don’t know if you’ll need it, but I have some disinfectant in my card inventory.”

“Put it in my bag,” Dr. Hu said, taking its time to pull out a miniature stethoscope that was custom-made for it. It took nearly ten minutes for it to put on the white coat. Dr. Hu used this time to drag out the conversation, while Bohemia asked indirect questions.

“Has he always been in this half-dead state?”

Lin Sanjiu waved her hand dismissively, acting as if she had already grown accustomed to it. “I’ve noticed that as long as a person has a slight will to live, their vitality is incredibly tenacious. Look at how I’ve been carrying him around, and there haven’t been any tears or bloodshed. In my opinion, his condition has already stabilized.”

“Huh?”

In a sense, it had indeed stabilized.

“Um, he hasn’t deteriorated further, but,” Lin Sanjiu suddenly turned to Meowie Hu and asked with a hint of hesitation, “His condition actually requires surgery, but without the necessary conditions, I’m worried that something might go wrong. I entrust you to continue to stabilize his condition. Let me know what you need, and I’ll find a way.”

Even if one isn’t a doctor, carrying a dead body all the way should have raised suspicions. However, it was clear that Lin Sanjiu hadn’t realized at all that the person lying by the roadside was already dead.

Cats don’t cough much, but Meowie Hu still made an effort to cough twice.

Bohemia opened her mouth but found herself completely speechless. She exchanged a glance with the cat, and both of them wore expressions of wanting to say something but hesitated, afraid of accidentally saying something that might further disturb her. Unable to discuss in front of Lin Sanjiu and lacking an excuse to walk away again, they both fell into an awkward silence.

Lin Sanjiu’s gaze shifted, and she started to feel puzzled. “Dr. Hu?”

“Ah, um.” Meowie Hu couldn’t pretend to not understand human speech anymore. It scratched its head with its hind leg for a while and stuttered, “I—I’ll think about it. Maybe, maybe not.”

Bohemia lowered her head and stared at the road for a while. Suddenly, an idea came to her. She quietly stretched out her tiptoe and pressed hard on the white line on the ground. True to her expectations, it shook its head and wagged its tail in pain, causing a buzzing sound in the minds of everyone present. Seizing the opportunity while Lin Sanjiu was massaging her temples, Bohemia used her Higher Consciousness to grab hold of the white line and forcefully pulled it off the ground, turning it into a chaotic mess. When it floated in the air, it looked as if someone had smeared the scenery.

“What are you making a fuss about?” Bohemia pretended to be angry and turned her back to Lin Sanjiu, scolding the line, “Shut up!”

The chaos indeed fell silent—not because of the command, but because Bohemia used her consciousness to wrap her voice and quietly sent it into the chaotic mess.

“Since your voice can directly resonate in people’s minds, can you transmit your voice only to specific individuals, making others unable to hear it?”

The colors of the blurry chaos undulated for a moment, and then Bohemia heard its reply, “Yes, it’s possible, but it’s a bit difficult.”

With a quick sidelong glance, she noticed that Dr. Hu and Lin Sanjiu hadn’t heard those words.

“That’s great,” she said, half threatening and half enticing, “I have a plan. If you help me well, I’ll let you go.”

Bohemia’s plan was simple.

Their biggest problem at the moment was that they couldn’t directly tell Lin Sanjiu that Puppeteer was dead, fearing that it would greatly impact her mental state. If they could stage an “emergency surgery that ultimately fails to save him,” perhaps this process would help her gradually accept reality. Moreover, she wouldn’t have to face the news of Puppeteer’s death alone this time as she had Bohemia and Dr. Hu by her side.

Although this approach carried risks, it seemed they had no other choice.

Meowie Hu wasn’t a psychiatrist, and it felt as helpless as Bohemia regarding Lin Sanjiu’s mental state. After hearing the recap from the chaotic mess, Meowie Hu thought for a moment and nodded subtly at Bohemia—evidently, it also intended to try saving a lost cause.

Under Lin Sanjiu’s eager gaze, the little cat stood beside the corpse, pretending to examine it for a while.

“He’s in critical condition and needs immediate surgery,” Meowie Hu said while extending its claw tips, even carefully disinfecting them one by one, “You need to be mentally prepared as the surgery might not succeed.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Sanjiu grew nervous, took two steps back, and took a deep breath. She lowered her head, firmly staring at the road, seemingly afraid to witness the surgical process.

Bohemia also turned her head to the side, unwilling to witness the scene of guts and bloodshed. The chaotic mess, bound by her consciousness, floated up and down in the air, unusually quiet, seemingly sensing the heavy atmosphere.

The once terrifying Puppeteer, who had inspired fear in the hearts of many, now lay silently dead on an unknown road, like a weary stray dog that had reached the end of its journey… Even though Bohemia had no personal connection to Puppeteer, a wave of inexplicable sorrow washed over her from the depths of her heart.

When the surgical scissors “snipped” and cut through the skin, the sound that made one’s flesh crawl seemed to scratch deep into their bones. In the dim light of the moon on the desolate and lonely night road, Bohemia couldn’t help but shiver.

“I’m sorry,” after what seemed like a long time, Dr. Hu finally spoke, each word filled with extreme caution, “It’s my lack of medical expertise… You, you have my condolences.”

Even though they had planned to say that, Bohemia’s heart still trembled slightly. She raised her eyes and found that Lin Sanjiu’s figure seemed frozen—rigid and stiff, as if she could shatter with a single touch.

For a long time, she didn’t say a word, and even held her breath.

“Is… is that so,” when she spoke again, it seemed as if she hadn’t spoken in a long time. Lin Sanjiu’s throat was dry, and she had to clear it before she could continue, “I won’t blame you. He… he was already in critical condition. Can I see him?”

As she spoke, she took a step closer to the figure by the roadside.

“Yes, I’ve stitched him up,” Dr. Hu lowered its head, took two steps back, circumvented the corpse, and stood face to face with Bohemia, who had just approached. Lin Sanjiu “thumped” and knelt down, staring blankly at the body. For a while, no one said anything, and only the chaotic mess continued to float in Bohemia’s consciousness, gently undulating.

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