Chapter 151 High fever near death, praying to God is not as good as praying to…
Mainkuhn felt that his situation was not as serious as Wanye and the others thought.
Although my body is overheating from accommodating multiple consciousnesses, I'm almost used to it. I can even stay awake and move my hands and feet from the high fever. Isn't that almost like a normal person?
"Yuyoushen..."
"Cough cough..."
So don't look at me like that, like you're looking at a dying person...
"If this is your last wish, then we will accompany you to the very end."
[Shut up... I can still live, I still have so many people to save...]
Amidst the continuous and chaotic flashes of lightning, Mainkuhn was carried into the village house by Manye. Amid her husband's sobs, the frail young man raised his hand to his mother, and a snake slithered up his pale, weak wrist toward his heart.
"Mommy, Mommy?"
"Wife?"
"I, I am..." The wife immediately stopped yelling, shook her head groggily, and opened her eyes in a fit of rage.
"Hongyi! How could you take care of the children? Not only are Little Lily's clothes damp, but Little Butterfly has such a huge bandage on her face! Do you want to die?!"
"Mommy! Waaaaah!"
"Wife! Wife! It's all my fault, my bad wife! Waaaaah!"
Upon hearing this, children as young as a few years old and adults in their fifties burst into tears, tightly embracing their bewildered, yet-recovered treasures.
Only the youngest child, oblivious to everything, scratched the bandage on his face, unaware of the misfortune he had endured and the rescue he had received.
"Eeya!"
...
*Smack*
Mainkuhn, his downy ears drooping, leaned his head on Manyo's shoulder for support.
"Yugami!"
Wan Ye cried out in alarm. He tried to turn around, but could only see the young man's rosy forehead and half-open, beastly eyes.
[Orobas...you bastards, stop hitting me! You're going to blow my body to pieces!]
Mainkuhn cursed inwardly.
[Can't you just... merge with the other side directly?]
[It's not that easy! We are beings of obsession, resentment, and vengeful spirits, having lost our former rationality. We can no longer back down; only thunder and fire, martial arts and violence can subdue our mutual hatred. Sumo wrestling is the bare minimum... Bear with me! I will do my best to hurry!]
Mainkun, enraged and venting his anger: "You long-haired porcupine! Your intelligence is less than the smallest rat in the Grey River toilet! I'm going to beat you into a bubble and stuff you into an onion!"
[Your cursing sounds like a child's charming taunt.]
"Wild Spirit! Wake up! Don't faint again!"
In the real world, everyone was in a panic. Mainkuhn was hurriedly covered with the best blanket, the rainwater in his hair was wiped away, and his ferocious claws were gripped despite his trembling. Every hot breath was carefully listened to, and every slight groan was carefully analyzed.
"Yuyoushen..."
Wan Ye tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the young man's sweat-dampened forehead, and looking out at the still torrential rain, and the houses that finally revealed scattered lights and signs of life through the rain.
"Using one's own body as a boat to cross this calamity, even if this body capsizes, it will still bring all beings to the other shore. Such enlightenment is admirable, and also..."
"Heartache."
A very soft sigh opened the curtain on the wailing. The young child, with a pure and kind heart, could not bear to see the god who protected the village on his deathbed.
"Wild Wanderer! Wild Wanderer!" Little Lily sobbed, "You helped me, but how can I make you better?"
Is Mom's perfume enough? Is Dad's tea enough? Is my little wooden doll enough?
Everything in this world can be used to repay your love and your kindness, except for pain and death!
The child cried so hard that the adults couldn't bear to look away. In the end, the father hardened his heart and reached out to cover her mouth.
"Little Lily, Wild Wanderer isn't feeling well and needs some quiet..."
"No, uh!"
"obedient!"
The crying turned into sobs, becoming even more noisy and disruptive. Just as the father was about to pick up the child and leave, he was suddenly astonished to find the young man, who had just been delirious, slowly turning his head, looking in his direction, slightly pursing his lips, and revealing his canine teeth.
"Childlike innocence...why be so harsh?"
"Wild Wanderer, are you awake now?"
Youren immediately went forward to check on him, only to find that his pupils were unfocused and not concentrated, and he spoke as if he were having a final burst of energy before death, and he did not respond to his questions.
"Maybe they just like children. I remember many stories of wandering spirits bringing lost children home."
After a brief analysis, Wan Ye quickly told his father to put the person down.
"Little Lily, talk to him quickly, please don't let him fall asleep again!"
"Eh? Okay..."
Suddenly given such an important task, the child was clearly a little uneasy. She knelt on the tatami and stared at the young man in front of her, at a loss.
Although they were supposed to be chatting, for the time being, she only had one topic on her mind.
"How can I save you, Wild Wanderer?"
"..."
Mainkuhn responded with silence.
"Sayuri, Sayuri."
Her mother anxiously reminded her, "Talk about everyday topics that he can answer..."
"But...that's all I can think about... Waaah!"
The child was about to cry again, sobbing sadly. Mainkuen almost sighed as he forced a smile and tried to cheer the child up:
"Pray for me."
"!?"
The people who were listening intently were all bewildered, and the less devout among them were even more confused: how could it be such an unreliable answer?
It must have been a wandering spirit who couldn't bear to see a child crying helplessly, and offered this excuse and comfort on a whim.
"Pray? Is prayer all it takes?"
But Sayuri was an innocent child, and she believed it. Her hands unconsciously clasped together, as if she were imitating the shrine maiden in her memory. "Who should I pray to? The general can't cure diseases."
"..."
Mainkuhn did not respond, whether because he was tired or unsure how to mend the lie.
After all, his childhood prayers to the gods have yet to be answered.
"Okay, hang in there, I'll start now!"
Little Lily assumed he was tired, so she immediately closed her eyes and began to study the Seven Reigns of the Mortal World.
"My esteemed Lord Oogami, please grant my wish. I wish that Lord Noyūyūjin be healthy and free from illness..."
"Your Excellency...Bartobas? In any case, please grant my wish..."
The adults listened intently to the innocent and devout prayers, feeling a sense of uncertainty, yet unwilling to interrupt this pure sentiment.
Unfortunately, no miracle occurred. As the names of the seven gods were recited one by one, the young man on the bed remained ablaze with heat, his brows furrowed as he struggled with the invisible battle raging within him.
"How could this happen..."
She was so anxious that she was about to cry again. Disappointment and deep worry were about to taint her young heart. Just then, her mother suddenly stood up, walked to her daughter's side, and knelt down.
"Don't be impatient, child."
The mother's voice was choked with emotion, but she tried her best to remain calm:
"Maybe... it's just that our prayers aren't loud enough. Mom and you together will be enough."
She looked sorrowfully at the unconscious young man, who had just been pulled back from the brink of madness and understood more deeply than anyone else how precious the salvation brought by this "wild spirit" was. Without hesitation, she clasped her hands together, tears silently streaming down her face—tears of gratitude and desperate longing.
"Please, I beg you, whatever the god may be, please bless this person..."
"..."
To whom should they pray? Which god is truly efficacious? Their father, too, bowed his head behind them, murmuring as if grasping at a last glimmer of hope:
"Hakutatsu's Fox Palace, Torakami's Chiyo..."
In despair, they even began to recite the names of monsters from history.
"..."
Mainkuhn somewhat regretted telling the lie.
He had been happy for so long that he had forgotten just how painful and profound the despair was when his hopes were dashed.
In his mental world, he could even hear Man-yo's whispers and the sound of Tomohito leaving in the rain.
"What if it works? I'll see if anyone's willing to participate in this ridiculous activity."
"Although this person is not from Inazuma, I earnestly request... if there is any karmic connection, please bless his kind soul."
"cut."
One of the two large snakes scoffed dismissively.
"It's a waste of effort. They might as well just pray to us to finish this quickly."
"Shut up, Orobas."
If his body hadn't truly given out, he would have beaten those two noisy worms up long ago.
"Seriously, how did it turn out like this?"
[At first, I just... didn't want to see the child cry anymore.]
Just then, Sayuri's tearful voice rang out again, filled with confusion and struggle, "We've prayed to all the gods and demons whose names we know... but it's no use... who else can we pray to?"
A deathly silence fell over the room. Yes, who else could they pray to? The seven rulers of the mortal world, the spirits of the past... it seemed that all the passageways had been closed, and all hope had been extinguished.
[Stop it, damn it... Don't worry about me...]
"Then let us pray to Lord Wild Wanderer."
[？]
Mainkuhn almost thought he was hallucinating, but then he heard his mother speak, word by word.
"Which god hears our voices more clearly than him? Which god understands our pain better than him? Which god is truly bearing all of this for us like him? He is the most efficacious god."
[？？？？]
Mainkuhn found it absurd.
“I think you have a misunderstanding of the gods. I am just a transnational criminal who can barely protect himself.”
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The giant serpent laughed wildly within his mind.
"Praying to a vessel that doesn't even have a soul? How ridiculous... Huh?"
"Lord Wild Wanderer, please grant our wish."
"Please, you must get better..."
The most devout prayer had been offered, and the great serpent of the ancient island god keenly sensed that something was amiss.
A faint yet incredibly clear golden light suddenly emerged from the depths of consciousness, which was nearly boiling over due to internal strife.
The power of human will?
"So small...so pure..."
"And yet, so...warm."
The two large snakes immediately released each other and surrounded the small point of light.
I miss those days so much.
What we experienced day and night on Haizhi Island was precisely this kind of aspiration.
My Coral Palace, my lovely little witch, my land, though not fertile, is truly beautiful, my home.
The home where I cannot rest in peace.
Tears suddenly streamed down their illusory snake eyes, mingling with the filth.
"...What's going on? What's that?"
Mainkun stared blankly as the two giant snakes suddenly ceased their battle, lying calmly facing the golden light, their expressions serene as if they were not the remnants of a demon god, but merely two ordinary fragments of souls.
Suddenly, one of the figures slowly faded away, quietly merging into one with the other.
The boundless heat suddenly stopped, and Mainkuen opened his eyes and sat up abruptly in the soft bedding.
"Mother!"
I heard the little girl's excited shouts.
"The wild spirits really answered our wishes!"
The high fever subsided and never returned.
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Author's Note: The "Zero Update" section is now complete. Next break will probably be... a Genshin Impact update? This is probably the downside of authors and readers playing the same type of game.
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