I'm quitting!

Chapter 41 Time is tight, and the task is heavy

The midday sun pierced through the gaps in the bamboo shed, shattering into golden streaks on the ground.

Mi Lanfang sat upright on a bamboo stool, her back straight, her blue dress pristine and spotless.

Mi Yuyao was placed on a soft couch in the corner of the bamboo shed, bound tightly with layers of spirit-patterned bindings. Her eyes were empty, staring straight at the ceiling—as if looking at something, yet as if looking at nothing at all.

The sesame ball shrank to the size of a fist, perched on Lin Xiaofan's shoulder, its nostrils flaring incessantly, and a line of text bubbles floated above its head: "This older sister...smells like rotten tree roots."

Lin Xiaofan frowned slightly, then turned to Mi Lanfang: "Valley Master Mi, before treating your daughter, I need to know her past in detail. The root of the inner demon lies in the human heart, not in the medicine."

Mi Lanfang's gaze lingered on her daughter for a moment: "Master, please ask."

"Everyone knows that Hundred Flowers Valley doesn't accept male disciples..." Lin Xiaofan carefully chose his words, "Your daughter..."

"Yuyao has no father." Mi Lanfang answered crisply and without the slightest embarrassment. "Hundred Flowers Valley has a thousand-year history, and the valley is full of female cultivators. If a disciple needs to continue the family line, the custom is to go out and find a husband—find a mortal man or a low-level rogue cultivator to come to the outer valley. After the child is born, the man takes the gifts from the valley and leaves, and from then on, they have no further connection."

She paused slightly: "Yuyao was also born to me through a marriage alliance... that man left the valley the day after she was born."

Lin Xiaofan nodded, making a mental note: she was fatherless in her childhood, was born entirely of female lineage, and her mother was the Valley Master... In addition, she was suspected of possessing some kind of secret elixir that could ensure that all her offspring would be female.

"How was her childhood in the valley?"

Mi Lanfang's fingertips curled up.

"I implemented the new methods, dealing with the die-hards day and night... Yuyao has lived alone in the backyard of the Valley Master's mansion since she was three years old, cared for by two maids. The disciples in the valley treated her with more respect than affection." She lowered her eyes, her voice slightly deep, "When she was five years old, she asked me—'Mother, all the other senior sisters have masters to teach them cultivation techniques, why don't I?' I said—'When you're older, Mother will teach you herself.'"

"And then?"

"Later..." Mi Lanfang's voice finally cracked for the first time, "I delayed for ten years... By the time I came to my senses, she had grown up, her cultivation had stagnated at the Revolving Illumination stage, she couldn't advance, and she didn't want to practice anymore. I asked her what was wrong, and she smiled and said—'Mother is busy, Yuyao won't cause trouble.'"

Lin Xiaofan remained silent.

Mi Lanfang took a deep breath and habitually picked up her teacup, only to find that the tea had already gone cold.

"What were the circumstances of the last time you saw her before she lost her mind?"

Mi Lanfang's movements suddenly froze.

After a long silence, she finally spoke: "That night, after I finished reviewing the official documents in the valley and returned home, I passed by her courtyard and heard some noise inside. I pushed open the door and went in... She was sitting on the windowsill, holding a pot of 'spiritual plant' in her arms—the Biluo Orchid. It was the first spiritual plant I taught her to plant when she was young... The flower had long since withered and died, but she had been keeping that empty pot."

She saw me, smiled, and said—

Mi Lanfang closed her eyes.

"If the orchid could bloom...would my mother spend more time with me?"

The bamboo shed was deathly silent.

A line of small characters appeared in Lao Xian's mind: [This girl's inner demons... no, the emotional soil in which they have taken root may be deeper than we expected.]

[The fact that Mi Yuyao was chosen as the host for the transplant was no accident... A woman who lacked maternal love since childhood, had extremely low self-esteem, and entrusted all her emotions to a pot of withered orchids was simply the perfect breeding ground for the transplant.]

Lin Xiaofan pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "Valley Master Mi, your daughter's inner demons didn't appear overnight... but I'm 70% confident."

Mi Lanfang suddenly raised her head, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

"However—" Lin Xiaofan abruptly changed the subject, "When I perform the treatment, I need to completely shut off the surrounding area, so... you cannot be present."

Why?

"The essence of the 'Mind Demon Therapy' is to guide the patient's soul to repair itself. When outsiders are present, her energy will instinctively gravitate towards her loved ones, disrupting the treatment rhythm," Lin Xiaofan said without changing his expression.

Mi Lanfang remained silent for a full ten breaths.

He finally stood up, took out a jade slip from his sleeve, and placed it on the table.

"This is the complete inheritance of the Spirit Cultivation Secret Technique... Regardless of success or failure, it belongs to the master."

She walked to the soft couch, bent down and tidied her daughter's disheveled black hair, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Yuyao..." she whispered, "Mother has entrusted you to this gentleman... You must behave well."

Mi Yuyao continued to smile blankly, completely oblivious to the outside world.

Mi Lanfang turned and stepped out of the bamboo shed, her back as straight as a pine tree, without ever looking back.

Having successfully distracted the mother, Lin Xiaofan immediately shed his composed and calm "master" demeanor and exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Old Xian, Ma Qiu—this round, we have to give it our all."

The void trembled slightly, and a salted fish materialized out of thin air. The RGB lighting effect automatically subsided, transforming into a deep blue scanning beam that slowly traveled around Mi Yuyao's body.

From the veteran's perspective, the data stream was pouring in: [Bad news... Your plan needs adjustment]

"Speak."

[The original plan—suppressing with a calming pill, establishing a channel with talismans, infusing the soul with wood energy, and nurturing and consolidating—is temporarily blocked… Before the parasitic seed is removed, once the primordial wood energy enters the body, that thing will be directly absorbed as fertilizer.]

"Can I just pull it out?"

[Her roots and soul are intertwined; forcibly pulling them out would be like turning her brain into mush. But if you personally enter her soul, locate the core of the seed from within, and use subtle manipulation of ice and fire to peel it away root by root... it's theoretically feasible.]

"Enter her soul?"

Similar to last time, I transformed into a soul conduit to guide your consciousness into her sea of ​​consciousness. However, that time it was a transfer of true essence, and the compatibility between our souls was excellent. This time—it's hard to say.

Lin Xiaofan's gaze darkened: "Then let's begin."

[Don't you want to think about it anymore? Your consciousness has entered her soul, which is tantamount to throwing yourself into the heart of a host species. Once the backlash begins, you will be trapped in her sea of ​​consciousness and gradually assimilated, becoming a walking corpse just like her.]

"If we wait any longer, we won't even have a chance to think about it."

Before the words were finished, the hemp ball suddenly swelled to half a person's height, its silvery-white down covering its body like layers of armor, and crouched guarding the bed.

A text bubble solemnly appeared: "Maqiu, stay put! Bite anyone who comes!"

Lin Xiaofan smiled slightly and gently stroked the little guy's head with his palm.

"Old Xian, build the bridge."

After speaking, he sat cross-legged beside Mi Yuyao.

The salted fish's body began to dissolve, transforming into a flowing, semi-transparent blue light band, one end connecting to Lin Xiaofan's brow and the other to Mi Yuyao's forehead.

The blue light pulses three times.

Lin Xiaofan's consciousness was suddenly pulled out of his body—

I plunged into an endless darkness.

He opened his eyes again.

The gray-white wasteland stretched to the horizon, and all was silent.

The sky was a chaotic, leaden void, devoid of sun and moon, with no light source—as if the entire world were being barely sustained by a dying gray lamp. Beneath his feet, the earth cracked, from which seeped a dark green viscous liquid, emanating an eerie aura of decay mingled with the fragrance of flowers.

This is Mi Yuyao's soul space.

[Stable connection]

Old Xian's voice came from afar, muffled as if through a curtain of water.

[It should be noted that this is ultimately their home ground. Although the Fierce Radiance Body and the Seed of the Dark Sun can still be used, their power will be reduced by at least 30%.]

Lin Xiaofan looked around, his gaze finally settling on the center of the wasteland.

There stands a "tree".

No—it cannot be called a tree.

It was a colossal pillar formed by countless intertwined dark green vines, about ten zhang tall and thick enough to fit a city gate. The surface of the pillar was covered with suckers, densely packed, each one rhythmically contracting and expanding, like countless greedy little mouths sucking.

A huge flower bloomed atop the pillar, its color a bewitching dark red, its petals layered like scales. Deep within the flower's heart, a human figure was vaguely curled up—a projection of Mi Yuyao's divine soul core.

The roots of the entire behemoth resemble a spider web, covering the entire wasteland and deeply penetrating every inch of the cracked earth.

Seed transplantation.

"I still retain my whole self... it's not the worst," Lin Xiaofan murmured to himself.

He activated his Radiant Body, conjuring an ice-blue short blade in his right palm, its blade wreathed in golden flames. He slowly approached the giant pillar, attempting to sever the outermost vine.

The instant the ice blade fell—

The entire giant plant was suddenly awakened.

Hundreds of vines twisted at the same time, making a sharp "crunching" sound, as if thousands of snakes were shedding their skin at the same time.

The severed vine spurted a dark green sap from its cut surface, which ignited upon hitting the ground, corroding the cut surface and creating pits that emitted poisonous smoke. Even more horrifying was that the severed vine completely regenerated within three breaths, growing even thicker than before.

"Damn! It can regenerate just because it's a strip-shaped object?!" Lin Xiaofan frowned.

[That's not all... With each strike you make, it pushes its roots deeper into the soul—it's expanding its territory by using the pressure you exert.]

Lin Xiaofan sheathed his blade and retreated, his mind racing with deductions.

He then used his Ice and Fire Micro-Manipulation technique—his left hand used a cold current to freeze a vine stem, making it brittle, while his right hand used golden flames to precisely vaporize the cross-section.

This time, the vine did not regenerate immediately. However, the host plant immediately mobilized more than ten vines around it to pull out at once, forcing him to abandon his skillful manipulation and dodge with all his might.

He then tried to peel it away from the interface between the vines and the soul—but the parasitic roots were too deep, like trying to pull a century-old tree out of concrete. With each inch he peeled away, Mi Yuyao's soul space trembled violently, and cracks even appeared in the sky.

That was a sign that the soul was about to collapse.

[Boss!]

Old Xian's voice was heavier than ever before.

[Your consciousness is being rapidly depleted within the Divine Soul Space. At this rate, you can only last for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. If there is still no solution by then… you must withdraw!]

The wind on the wasteland has changed its flavor.

It is no longer a mixture of decay and floral fragrance, but a more primal and profound aura—as if magma deep within the earth is stirring.

The giant, parasitic vine seemed to sense the intruder's weariness. Instead of its aggressive writhing, the vine slowly closed up, wrapping the human figure curled up in the flower's center even more tightly.

It's showing off.

Showing off one's prey.

Lin Xiaofan stared intently at the projection of Mi Yuyao's soul within the flower's stamen, his fists clenched tightly: "Damn it—if I don't kill you today, I'll change my name to Lin Dachao!"

"Old Salty," he spoke again, his voice chillingly calm, "what is the true nature of this bastard?"

According to the scan results, the core driving force behind the parasitic infestation is the "parasitic instinct"—it specifically targets the host with the most vulnerable soul and the deepest emotional emptiness, embedding its roots into the host's emotional void, coexisting under the guise of "filling the emptiness." Seemingly gentle, it actually nibbles away at the soul in secret, patiently waiting for the day it replaces the original host's soul.

"So its existence necessitates a host?"

"What if... I gave it a 'more appealing' host?"

Old Xian's voice suddenly froze.

"Are you crazy?"

"Old Xian, the human brain is actually surprisingly fragile. Being a little crazy, isn't it a form of self-protection?"

Lin Xiaofan smiled slightly.

That smile reminded Lao Xian of an old saying: "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

The jade he possessed was himself.

[Your soul strength far surpasses that of Mi Yuyao. If its defenses are removed, the host will indeed instinctively be attracted to a stronger host. However, the problem is—once it transfers into your soul, given the activity of your Radiant Dao Body and the Seed of the Aoyang, its growth rate within you will be more than six times that within Mi Yuyao's body!]

"But it takes time to take root." Lin Xiaofan's gaze was sharp as a blade. "Within Mi Yuyao's body, its foundation is already solid, and its roots are almost integrated with her soul. I can't uproot it. But if it transfers to my soul—that would be a completely new beginning, and our only chance."

[The premise is that you have to remove it before it takes root! With your spiritual capacity, you can at most buy yourself some time—]

"Ten seconds."

Lin Xiaofan said the number for Lao Xian.

"Today, either I become a walking corpse, or it turns into ashes!"