Mental disturbance
Faced with Morina's teasing, the already furious mechanic exploded on the spot.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!——Hey, hey, stop making fun of me, come and see what's going on with Ximu."
When Ruixia first saw the giant figure in the fog, she was struck by its grandeur. However, due to the limited light source, she couldn't immediately make out what it was. However, a preliminary analysis from the lens revealed that the object was inert and its energy structure was more like some kind of building.
But before he could study it more carefully, Xi Mu in the front suddenly fell into the water without any warning!
He was shocked and immediately wanted to call for help from Morina, but she was also lying on the back of the Mechanic Toad, muttering to herself, but refused to respond to him.
In desperation, he could only order the surrounding mechanical beasts to build a defensive barrier to surround her, then took out the processed waterproof lantern and drove his own mechanical beast to rescue Xi Mu who fell into the water.
It was extremely dark underwater, and the detection functions of the various equipment on her body were interfered with by some unknown reason, sometimes working and sometimes not. Ruixia spent a lot of effort to find the unconscious Ximu. She replenished the oxygen scroll as if it were free, and only then were they able to surface safely.
After returning to the surface, Ruixia discovered that the place where the long shadow entered the water was actually a simple pier.
Just as they were rejoicing, they heard Morina shouting in the distance, "Where are they? Where are they? Where have they all gone?" It sounded like everything had returned to normal.
After all, Ximu had not yet woken up from his coma, so Ruixia met up with Morina first, and the group planned to rest at this small pier first.
Unexpectedly, just after I put the person down and prepared to rescue him, Ximu suddenly woke up and... became a little strange.
Being stared at so closely by a girl, Ruixia was really shy and instinctively raised her hand to take away Ximu's hand that was holding her cheek.
Looking at the other person's wet face that looked like he was shedding tears through his dazed and even panicked eyes, the worry and reluctance in his heart overwhelmed these so-called manners and etiquette, and he gradually lost his resistance.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
He asked softly, patting the back of her hand, trying to soothe her silent and turbulent emotions.
The warmth of a living person was transmitted through the palm of her hand bit by bit, and Ximu was even still worried, so she put her other hand to Ruixia's neck - although she was quickly stopped by the other party with a red face, she had already got the answer and suddenly relaxed.
There is a heartbeat.
Alive.
Ruisha is still alive.
In an instant, it was as if all the strength was drained away. Ximu closed his eyes, suddenly lost his strength, and hit his head directly on Ruixia's shoulder.
Ruixia tried hard to stay calm and looked at Morina for help - but the latter had no intention of helping him out, and even squatted not far away, with a smirk on her face that said "It's okay, I understand", as if she had entered the show mode.
"Ximu..."
He even felt that there was a hint of pleading in his call.
Fortunately, Xi Mu didn't do anything unexpected this time. After leaning on his shoulder for a while as if to recharge her energy, she slowly sat up straight and explained, "...Just now, I seemed to be pulled into some kind of illusion."
Seeing that Ruixia and Moliina were safe and sound, without any signs of weakness or embarrassment after surviving a disaster, Ximu knew what was going on.
The so-called giant monster in the water and the decision between life and death were all things that happened in her own mind - but why only she had such a big reaction, and why such an illusion suddenly appeared, it was really unknown.
For some unknown reason, when Ximu was recounting his experience in the illusion to his teammates, he only talked about the part where he went into the water to rescue others, but inadvertently omitted the part where he exchanged his life for theirs.
But despite this, Ruixia still showed an uncomfortable expression while listening, and even pounded the ground in anger.
"This illusion is so vicious, it actually made me unconscious right away! This puts all the pressure of rescue on Ximu... Letting someone who can't use magic dive into the deep lake to rescue people again and again, and having such a terrifying monster constantly interfere nearby, is simply outrageous!"
...I'm angry.
Thinking of how Ruixia had gotten angry before because he disregarded her own safety, Ximu felt a little guilty for some reason and began to reflect on whether he had been too specific.
It seems that when communicating about these things in the future, we should be more cautious when it comes to the dangerous parts.
"No, this is too passive... When I have time later, I will have to train you. You must at least learn some basic mechanical operations!"
"Little brother, please spare us..."
Faced with Ruixia's indignant proposal, Molina, who was already examining Ximu's body, twitched her lips.
But she was just complaining casually, and quickly brought the conversation back to the point: "Hearing Ximu's words, I feel that this should be considered some kind of mental attack."
The inspection was just completed by then. Seeing that both of them turned their eyes to her again, the lively girl finally became serious and sat up straight.
"Because at that time, I seemed to have encountered something strange."
"You mean to say..."
Remembering that Morina had collapsed there for a long time without any response, Ruixia also reacted.
"Yes...at that time, I suddenly heard Felicia's voice."
Molina clenched her fingers and clenched her fist. "She said she was trapped in a dark cell and wanted me to go back and rescue her... She said you were in cahoots with the mastermind behind this place, and that she was trying to lure me to your lair. She told me not to believe a word you said."
After these words were spoken, Ximu and Ruixia's expressions changed to some extent.
"……Then what?"
The black-haired boy asked cautiously.
"And then? Then I immediately cast a mind-clearing spell on myself."
Molina suddenly smiled and waved her hands exaggeratedly, with a look of ease and comfort written on her face as if to say, "Hey, why are you so nervous?"
"If you really had bad intentions, couldn't you just knock me out? I still remember some of you just coming at me without even saying hello. With my skills, either of you could easily kill me. Why bother trying to trick me by going through the woods and across the lake? You can already tell there's something wrong, right?"
The more she talked, the more she felt that she was indeed very powerful. Morina nodded with a proud look on her face, and she also unconsciously concealed the slightly sad part of it.
After all, she chose to believe them.
That means that at the same time, she also has to accept that her best friend might actually be dead.
Ruixia also tacitly understood and did not ask any further questions. After a light laugh, she continued the previous topic: "Is this where you realized there was a problem?"
"Yes, the illusion disappeared as soon as the spell was cast. The fact that it could be dispelled by a spell to clear the mind and awaken the spirit suggests that this must be some kind of hallucination-like mental interference, and it's not very advanced... But why is the illusion that Ximu saw so realistic and on such a large scale?"
At this time, Ximu looked at Molina, and seemed to have some idea in his mind.
"Is it related to the trauma I've suffered?"
"Hmm...it's not impossible. Generally speaking, magic that causes hallucinations is more likely to be discounted or weakened on those with extremely high mental strength. Conversely, the reaction will naturally be greater than that of ordinary people."
After saying that, she turned her head and looked Xi Mu up and down with some worry, then revealed a somewhat suspicious expression.
"Look, even the earrings I gave you have dimmed quite a bit, and they look a bit cracked here... Logically speaking, given your precarious mental state and the disturbances of such a vast illusion, you shouldn't be so unharmed, right? But when I checked on you just now, it seemed like your injuries were in better condition than before."
She tilted her head to look at Xi Mu, then touched the diamond-shaped earring, puzzled.
Ximu naturally didn't know the reason.
She had used magic once in the illusion, and although she did feel the backlash and pain at the time, judging from the current situation, it did not seem to have further aggravated her mental trauma.
Could it be that the magic weapon was damaged because it blocked most of the damage for her?
She didn't know if the damaged magic weapon could be repaired... If it could, then she could at least have a chance to use magic at the critical moment, maybe...
She was thinking secretly, but the moment she accidentally saw Ruixia, all the sentences she had organized suddenly fell to the ground, leaving her with a dull blank.
When Morina checked her physical condition earlier, Ruixia avoided the topic at her request. When the two of them talked about this topic now, he just listened silently without saying anything.
In fact, he should know everything.
The tree was so small at the time that even if he didn't deliberately eavesdrop, some words would always drift into his ears.
She looked so worried...
But since she didn't bring it up, he really didn't ask a single question.
"Are you...are you okay?"
For some reason, Ximu suddenly asked this question.
Ruixia was a little surprised and raised her eyebrows slightly, but she quickly smiled and sat closer: "I'm fine - why do you ask this suddenly?"
"We all encountered strange things..."
"Ah... yes."
He understood Ximu's meaning from just a few words. He touched his chin, feeling a little doubtful and unsure.
"Maybe it's because of the props I was carrying? The kind I told you about before, the ones that prevent mental interference—and I just happened to have replaced them with a new batch, so they're more powerful, so I wasn't affected?"
This is actually a question, but upon closer thought, there seems to be no other more reasonable reason.
The three of them sat by the dock and chatted for a while. After resting for a while, they decided to move on, and their eyes were all fixed on the two extremely wide and distant black arch bridges behind them.
The huge black shadow we just saw on the lake was actually this thing.
The bridge's ends connected to the pier, extending in their respective directions before finally converging in front of a building perched high above the lake. The bridge's design was classically refined, and at its highest point, the supporting piers seemed to float in mid-air, a feat clearly beyond the capabilities of ordinary craftsmen.
Taking a few mechanical toads for self-defense, the three of them chose one of the bridges. As soon as they stepped onto the bridge, a long row of blue flames suddenly ignited on both sides, stretching out like a pair of dark blue eyes.
"Is this... a welcome for us?"
The silver-haired girl regained her usual coldness. She turned around and exchanged glances with her companions, then took a step forward and was the first to walk onto this majestic yet strange long bridge.
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