Wu Menghan frowned. After listening to Xiaxiaoling’s description, she closed her eyes and sensed carefully.
A faint trace of Magic Element radiated from her body; clearly, Xiaxiaoling had used Mana just now.
With this discovery, Wu Menghan’s brows furrowed even tighter.
Xiaxiaoling hadn’t been in contact with Magic, having only seen her cast it a few times at most. How could she use Magic out of thin air?
Or was this related to what happened last night?
Thinking of this, Wu Menghan recalled the scene. After Xiaxiaoling was healed, she had remained unconscious; it must be related to that.
“Teacher Xia, don’t worry yet. I’ll take you to see Irena.”
Although her relationship with Irena had dropped to a freezing point, Xiaxiaoling’s well-being was the priority now, so she couldn’t care about that.
***
Elsewhere, inside a high-end residential complex in the Old Town.
Irena stealthily bypassed the cameras and successfully entered the complex using Mana.
Following her memory to Xiaxiaoling’s doorstep, she knocked gently.
Vivi, who was sitting inside the house in a daze, was stunned by the sound from outside.
She instinctively checked the time. It was just 12 o’clock. Even for a lunch break, Xiaxiaoling shouldn’t be back at this time.
Besides, Xiaxiaoling had keys and wouldn’t knock…
Her confusion didn’t last long before she heard a familiar voice from outside the door.
“Vivi, it’s me.”
“Oh, oh, coming, coming.”
Vivi snapped out of it, hurriedly got dressed, and went to the door.
Click~
Nothing happened; the door didn’t open. Vivi frowned, realizing only then that Xiaxiaoling had locked the door when she left.
It couldn’t be opened without a key unless she picked the lock.
Scratching her head in frustration, she looked around.
Xiaxiaoling should have left a spare key at home, maybe hidden somewhere.
“Irena, wait a moment. I’m looking for the key. They locked the door.”
With that, Vivi dashed toward Xiaxiaoling’s room.
Irena had no choice but to wait anxiously.
***
Minutes passed—ten minutes, twenty minutes—until half an hour later, Vivi’s voice finally came from inside.
“Found it!”
With a click, the door opened.
Vivi was wearing a pair of small pink slippers and a fluffy white pajama top.
She didn’t look like she had put much effort into her appearance; since she found herself locked in, she hadn’t planned on going out anyway.
She simply stayed home in a daze or practiced Magic.
Irena saw her like this and found it a bit amusing. She stepped forward, patted Vivi’s small head, and asked softly.
“Have there been any more instances lately where you couldn’t control yourself?”
Vivi moved her head away in annoyance, glaring at Irena crossly.
“I told you, don’t touch my head!”
“Mm-hmm, fine, fine.”
Watching her withdraw her hand, Vivi puffed out her still somewhat flat chest proudly and spoke slowly.
“There hasn’t been anything unusual these past two days, except there’s always someone talking beside me from time to time.”
Irena pondered with a frown. She hadn’t encountered this situation before, but for now, it seemed this presence was related to Vivi’s instincts.
“How about this: try increasing the dosage for a while, and I’ll go back and do some more research.”
“Ugh… alright.”
Vivi nodded, feeling a bit dejected. In reality, that dark shadow felt more like a figment of her imagination.
It had no physical form and couldn’t affect reality, and its appearance was not much different from Vivi’s own.
The only difference might be that it knew more details and information about the Slime Girl, and seemed to understand more things.
“Sigh, alright, there’s always a way to solve things. By the way, can you tell me about Wu Menghan’s current situation?”
“My Sister…”
Vivi pursed her lips. Instead of answering Irena immediately, she led her into the house and shut the door behind them.
After finding a comfortable spot for Irena to sit, Vivi finally spoke softly.
“Irena, I feel like my Sister’s mental state is already having issues. Can you help find a doctor to check on her?”
Irena frowned and shook her head helplessly.
“I don’t have any connections. I haven’t been in this world for very long, and the people I’ve dealt with most are the police here.”
“Sigh, alright.”
Vivi sighed helplessly. In her current state, even if she wanted to hire a psychiatrist for Wu Menghan, she had no money.
Plus, looking like she did now, no one would probably come to help her at all.
She felt a bit sorrowful. Irena, noticing this from the side, suddenly thought of someone.
“Vivi, you could go to Xiaxiaoling, or her sister Xia Yu. Their connections seem to be quite extensive.”
At these words, Vivi’s eyes lit up.
Right, why hadn’t she thought of Xiaxiaoling and Xia Yu?
Both of them had good backgrounds and financial strength; there would definitely be a way if she asked them.
But if she did that, she would owe them even more favors.
Oh no, this is bad; I won’t be able to repay these favors.
“If all else fails…. you could always offer yourself to them?”
A voice suddenly appeared in her head. Vivi was startled and looked around, but found nothing.
“Irena, did you just hear a voice?”
“Eh? No. What’s wrong?”
Irena tilted her head, her face full of confusion, clearly not having heard the voice just now.
Vivi swallowed hard, recalling that blood-colored shadow in her mind.
“Oh, what are you afraid of? I am you, and you are me. I’m just giving you a suggestion.”
“And… I think if you were to offer yourself now, Xiaxiaoling would definitely not refuse~”
“Shut up!”
Vivi tapped her head, a few rosy clouds surfacing on her cheeks.
Seeing her like this, Irena’s lip twitched. Could it be that Vivi’s mental state was also having issues?
Cough, of course, that was just a joke.
Irena reached out and patted her back, guessing that the entity Vivi mentioned had appeared again.
She then took a few pieces of Candy out of her pocket and stuffed them into Vivi’s hand.
“Give these a try. It’s better than nothing.”
“Okay~”
Vivi took the Candy, opened the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.
A faint, sweet taste filled her mouth; it was much better than the previous “Candy.”
“How is it? This improved version is pretty good, right?”
“Umm… are you sure you’re not just tricking me with real candy?”
“I’m not.”
Vivi looked into Irena’s eyes; she didn’t seem to be lying. But the shadow standing not far away still signaled the Candy’s effectiveness—or lack thereof.
“It seems…… it’s not working very well…”
“Ah? No way?”
Before she could finish her sentence, a click came from outside.
The two of them looked toward the door simultaneously and saw the doorknob slowly turning.
Could it be…… Xiaxiaoling and Wu Menghan are back?!