Chapter 26

Meng Li lived in the eastern district.

Qin Chi was not familiar with the Southeastern Base, so he set up the navigation according to the address provided by Xu Qiao and immediately set off.

At one in the morning, the entire second ring road was silent, with only rows of dim streetlights standing like guards at street corners.

It was then that Xu Qiao had time to think about Meng Li’s phone call.

Her mother was seriously ill.

The eastern district had both hospitals and private clinics. Meng Li was not the type to trouble her teammates with a long journey in the middle of the night just to save on treatment costs. Therefore, her reaching out to them had to be related to her mother’s condition.

On the surface, Xu Qiao was just a C-level healer, her medical skills were not superior to other healers. Meng Li wasn’t seeking her out for her medical expertise.

Was it because of privacy? Did Meng Li’s mother have an illness that wasn’t suitable for other healers to know about?

With a direction in mind, the now-calm Xu Qiao looked at her neighbor driving the car: “Did Meng Li say anything when she contacted you?”

Qin Chi replied, “She only asked if I could reach you. I said yes, and she ended the call.”

Xu Qiao said, “It sounded chaotic on her end. She might not have had time to explain, but she said she needed your help. Even if you didn’t drive me, I’d have to trouble you tonight.”

Qin Chi glanced at her and smiled, “We’re teammates, no need to be so polite.”

Xu Qiao played along, “Alright, teammate Qin.”
—-
The road was empty, and the car sped along. Half an hour later, the black car had almost crossed the entire second ring road, from the western district to the eastern district.

As they approached the destination, Qin Chi slowed the car down.

Xu Qiao, who had been observing the surroundings, was surprised to see that the Meng family lived in a villa area.

The villas here were not as luxurious as those in the central district. Three or four-story villas were built close together, similar to the buildings in Ping An Community, but each had a small front and back yard, and the roads within the community were wider. As the car drove by, they passed a large playground.

To the north of the villa area was a rare public scenic spot in the second ring road—a low mountain about a few dozen meters high. The area had a dedicated team of horticulturists taking care of the plants. Residents could come here to hike and enjoy the scenery in their spare time.

Meng Li did not give Xu Qiao the specific building number but asked them to meet her at the back of the mountain.

A few minutes later, Qin Chi parked the car at the foot of the mountain. While putting away the car, he glanced at the darkened streetlights and surveillance cameras opposite and said to Xu Qiao, “There’s a problem with the electrical circuit here, possibly man-made.”

Xu Qiao understood his implication and stood beside him, looking towards the shadowy mountain.

Somewhere in the mountain, a cloud-like red flame suddenly appeared on the treetops, hovering in mid-air like a signpost for about ten seconds.

It was Meng Li’s signal.

Qin Chi asked, “Do you want to walk, or should I carry you?”

Xu Qiao responded, “Carry me, her situation is unknown.”

Just like in an emergency room, the quicker the healer arrived, the better.

Qin Chi nodded and extended his right arm: “Hold on tight.”

During their last mission, when an A-level mother lizard suddenly appeared, Qin Chi had carried Xu Qiao while flying with wind power. But the situation was urgent then, and Qin Chi had directly carried her, almost instantly changing locations. Xu Qiao hadn’t even had time to feel the sensation of flying or observe the mother lizard before she realized she was already on the ground.

Fortunately, Xu Qiao enjoyed watching forums and dramas and various videos related to superpowers, so she had seen how wind element users carried their companions while flying.

Hand-holding and embracing were common. If the superpower was strong and well-controlled, a wind element user could even make their companion fly without touching them. Qin Chi had used this method to get Sun Fushan and Meng Li out of the mother lizard’s attack range last time.

Considering Xu Qiao’s possible fear due to inexperience, Qin Chi considerately offered his arm for support.

Xu Qiao did need some time to adjust, so she tightly grasped her teammate’s wrist.

Qin Chi did not exert force, but Xu Qiao held on firmly, feeling the muscles and the hard bones beneath her teammate’s skin.

Not focusing too much on the sensation under her palm, Xu Qiao waited nervously.

A gust of wind suddenly rose from under her feet. Like an aircraft taking off, there was a moment of buildup before the wind lifted Xu Qiao off the ground.

The unfamiliar sensation of being in mid-air made Xu Qiao instinctively use both hands to grab onto the person beside her.

Qin Chi supported her with his right hand and held her other wrist with his left hand, feeling her arms trembling and the instinctive urge to cling to him. He asked in a low voice, “Do you want time to get used to this now, or should we find Meng Li first and practice later?”

In the dim light of the night, Xu Qiao, unable to control her trembling, felt her face heating up and lowered her eyelashes. “Let’s talk about it later.”

Qin Chi suggested, “Should I carry you over?”

Xu Qiao could only nod.

Qin Chi placed her trembling hands on his waist and, as she leaned into him, wrapped his arm around her waist and flew towards the mountain without wasting a second.

They moved swiftly, leaving Xu Qiao no time to think. It probably took less than a minute before they reached the airspace above where the flame had appeared.

There was no moon, but below them floated a dark red, eerie glow, reminiscent of the light from a cinema screen in a pitch-black theater.

Seeing the scene below, Xu Qiao involuntarily shivered.
—-
In a hollow in the mountainside beneath them, a three-meter-long deep red fire scorpion spirit was pinning down an equally large black scorpion. The fire scorpion’s pincers clamped onto the black scorpion’s body, and its stinger pressed heavily against the black scorpion’s tail.

The black scorpion, unwilling to be restrained, struggled fiercely, its massive abdomen and legs scraping and digging deep scorpion-shaped pits into the ground.

Xu Qiao’s attention was entirely drawn to the two scorpions, and she did not notice the sudden change in Qin Chi’s expression above her.

Meng Li was leaning weakly against a nearby tree trunk when Qin Chi landed with Xu Qiao.

Xu Qiao hurried over to Meng Li, concerned about her condition. “How are you? Are you hurt?”

Meng Li shook her head and looked at Qin Chi. “My mental strength is almost depleted. That black scorpion is not a beast; it’s my mother. I hope you can control her without hurting her.”

Qin Chi replied, “I’ll do my best.”

Meng Li then looked at the shocked Xu Qiao. “I don’t know why she became like this. I didn’t dare to find another healer, and I don’t know if a healer can cure her. I could only call you to try.”

Xu Qiao turned to look at the almost beast-like black scorpion pinned under the fire scorpion spirit. Its large yellow-brown beast eyes showed only cold killing intent, devoid of any human emotion. If there was any emotion, it was the hair-raising bloodlust.
—-
At only twenty years old, Xu Qiao had never heard of or experienced such a situation during her studies at the military academy or in her clinic work.

A spirit should exist in the mind of an ability user and could be released at will without affecting the user’s body. But Meng Li’s mother…

Qin Chi’s calm voice came from above, “I once heard a professor say that a very small number of ability users can be controlled by their spirits, exhibiting beast-like characteristics. If they can regain their sanity, they might be able to return to human form.”

It is difficult for someone to accept completely unfamiliar and inexplicable phenomena in a short time. But if someone can provide scientific evidence and previous cases, the brain will recognize this new phenomenon as “normal” and focus on solving the problem.

Qin Chi’s timely explanation quickly calmed Xu Qiao. She grasped Meng Li’s hand and said solemnly, “I’ll do my best.”

Meng Li wanted to say thank you, but her head suddenly throbbed. The fire scorpion spirit, already at its limit, finally couldn’t maintain its form and vanished helplessly.

This was why Meng Li had exposed her secret to another teammate. Xu Qiao, being just a healer, might have been killed by her irrational mother if she had come alone.

Without the fire scorpion spirit’s restraint, the black scorpion quickly crawled out of the pit, its pincers raised to attack the three humans blocking its path.

Qin Chi stepped in front of his two teammates, invisible wind clusters wrapping around the black scorpion’s legs and tail, holding it firmly in place.

For a healer to treat a patient, they either had to touch the patient’s body or release their spirit.

With the black scorpion likely to break free from the wind clusters and its attacks being poisonous, Xu Qiao cautiously stood behind Qin Chi. Eleven lotus petals appeared out of thin air and sequentially attached to the black scorpion’s head, spine, and tail, forming a line.

Xu Qiao could feel her mental strength draining. The petals were using wood-type healing abilities, but after three minutes, there was no change in the black scorpion, which continued to struggle menacingly against the wind clusters.

Xu Qiao directed the petals to give their all, knowing her teammates could only see the healing effects and not discern her level. If she succeeded, she could pretend she had used all her strength.

The eleven petals tried their hardest, each surrounded by a faint white halo, but it was still to no avail.

Meng Li saw the sweat forming on Xu Qiao’s forehead and looked at her mother, now a terrifying black scorpion, tears rolling down her face.

Was there really no way?

Qin Chi could easily control or even kill the black scorpion, but he was powerless when it came to “healing” and could only observe rationally.

Xu Qiao ignored them; whether as a healer or Meng Li’s friend, she wanted to cure the patient in front of her.

She knew that a complete spirit could exert the best healing effect.

At that moment, the lotus in her mind conveyed a desire to try.

There were no cameras here, only Meng Li and Qin Chi.

Xu Qiao believed that Meng Li would keep her secret, just as she wouldn’t tell others about Meng Li’s mother’s “beastification.”

And Qin Chi…

Xu Qiao was willing to trust his character and team spirit. Besides, Qin Chi had never seen her spirit in its original form. The elderly neighbors who chatted with him might mention that her spirit was a lotus flower, but they wouldn’t know exactly how many petals it had, right?

Xu Qiao was very certain she had never shown her lotus in front of the neighbors. Lu Yang had seen it, but he definitely wouldn’t mention such details to Qin Chi.

Before making a move, Xu Qiao turned around and looked at Meng Li.

Meng Li misunderstood and forced a smile, “It’s okay…”

Before she could finish, her pupils widened slightly as she saw a patch of green appear behind Xu Qiao. Lotus leaves, round like parasols, spread out, transforming the area where the black scorpion was into a pond filled with lotus leaves.

Slender lotus stems emerged from the mist, with layers of lotus leaves arranged at different heights, swaying gently with Qin Chi’s wind.

Amidst the lush greenery, Meng Li searched for a long time before spotting the white lotus, just a corner of it, peeking out from the clustered lotus leaves.

Meng Li was stunned, both by the extravagant manifestation of her teammate’s spirit power and by this lotus pond under the night sky.

Standing in front of Xu Qiao, Qin Chi was submerged in the humid mist and waist-high lotus leaves.

As a fire element user, Qin Chi instinctively resisted the mist, but he remained rational, not moving an inch, and instead instinctively looked for that lotus flower.

The fire dragon in his mind was more excited than ever, with its golden-red scales nearly climbing up Qin Chi’s wrist, which he suppressed instantly.

The lotus on the black scorpion’s head felt a slight heat, thinking Meng Li was eager to save her mother and tried to release the fire scorpion without exploring further.

The thirty-three-petal white lotus with a hint of pink bloomed freely before the black scorpion, its dense healing aura enveloping the entire three-meter-long scorpion.

The black scorpion smelled the fresh floral scent, which, along with the mist that engulfed it, slowly seeped through its hard shell.

The yellow-brown beast eyes gradually closed in a drowsy manner, as if searching for a more comfortable place, the black scorpion attempted to climb onto a nearby lotus leaf.

But it was too large.

The black scorpion slowly shrank in size until it was the size of a fist, curled up in the center of the round lotus leaf, and fell asleep.

Xu Qiao walked alone into the lotus pond. As she passed through the layers of lotus leaves and arrived at the side of the lotus flower, she parted the round leaves in front of her and saw a woman lying on the ground with long curly hair. Her skin was pale and showed signs of fatigue, yet she was incredibly beautiful.