"Wende... my tummy hurts."
Lying on the sickbed, her face pale white, a pitiful-looking March spoke to Wende in a miserable tone.
"Sigh... I told you not to go in."
Wende patted March's small head. Looking at Stelle, who still hadn't woken up, he sighed helplessly. He picked up the medicinal congee he had just prepared, blew on it gently, and then fed it to March, who was propped up against her pillow.
"Awooo... so bitter!"
March took a sip of the congee, and her little face, already pale from her illness, instantly scrunched up.
"There's no helping it... Compared to taking medicine, eating medicinal congee is already a light punishment. Besides, I even added brown sugar and honey for you. It's not that bitter."
Wende soothed March in a soft voice.
"Wuwuwu... do I really, really have to eat only this stuff for half a month?"
March looked at Wende pitifully, her eyes revealing an unprecedented level of despair.
"That's right... While my power can help mitigate the damage from that thing, you still need to take medicine and avoid greasy and rich foods to let your stomach fully recover."
Wende said with a sigh. Stelle was fine; she had just been knocked unconscious. After a physical examination, he discovered that the cookie seemed to have been absorbed by the Stellaron inside her body... Was this cookie on the verge of being homologous with the power inside Stelle...?
March's condition, however, was much worse. Her entire stomach had nearly been "corroded" by that cookie. Thankfully, he had induced vomiting first, then used the power of Yin and Yang combined with the power of Abundance to forcibly save her stomach. Still, it would need to be carefully nursed back to health.
"Waaah! What's the difference between this and just killing me! Wuwuwu!"
March burst into tears instantly. No delicious food! No milk tea or sweet things, and she had to drink this medicinal congee... At this point, she should have just ignored Wende and let Stelle have her way with him! Then she wouldn't have walked through that door!
"Sigh..."
Seeing the crying March, Wende's heart ached, but what could be done? One person cursed by coffee, another cursed by gourmet food, and a Mara-Struck individual with failing taste buds. The cookies the three of them made... could probably be presented directly to Herta as a Curio, right?
Sighing to himself as he fed March, Wende looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window. Something seemed to click in his mind, and his hand, holding the spoon, paused mid-air.
"That's right... didn't Jingliu eat one too? Then she..."
Wende's gaze instantly became vigilant. As March winced with a stomachache, he stood up, quickly closed all the windows in the room, drew the curtains, and locked the door from the inside.
"Hey, hey, hey! Wende, what are you... are you going to take advantage of our current situation, do something improper to us, that kind of outrageous... mmmph!"
As if sensing something, Wende decisively covered March's mouth and crouched cautiously by her bedside.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
March struggled, though for some reason, a flash of anticipation flickered in her eyes.
Clack... clack... clack...
A set of messy, somewhat unsteady footsteps came from outside the door.
Wende quickly closed his eyes. The chaotic energy within his body immediately differentiated into Yin and Yang qi, which swirled around him. With Yin and Yang balanced, he lowered his presence to the absolute minimum.
"Huh? Why hasn't he started yet?"
March, who had already closed her eyes, wondered in confusion.
Clack... clack! Knock, knock, knock...
"!!!"
Knock, knock, knock...
Seemingly not detecting anyone inside, the figure outside the door knocked a few times and then walked away.
"Phew..."
Wende let out a sigh of immense relief.
"So, what were you hiding from? That was pretty scary."
March pulled Wende's hand away. Seeing his relieved expression, she looked a little puzzled and nervous, though for some reason, her tone was tinged with a hint of disappointment.
"Uh... well..."
Wende felt a bit awkward. If March found out he was afraid of Jingliu, she and Stelle would definitely laugh at him, right? He might as well make something up.
"It's actually the wandering spirits of the Old District that roam at night. Haven't you heard Miss Meryl talk about them?" Wende said, putting on a serious act, his voice low and somber.
"Huh? Really? Don't scare me, I'm afraid of ghosts!"
March wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, looking terrified.
"Yes. So it's best not to go out in the middle of the night. Finish your congee. I'll stay here tonight, since Stelle isn't awake yet."
He turned his head to look at the still-sleeping Stelle, a little puzzled.
"I don't remember hitting her that hard."
He rubbed his hand. Could it be that the so-called [Order] had imperceptibly enhanced his physical constitution? That made sense. He had also eaten a cookie back then, and he only felt a terrible stomachache and dizziness...
Hmm... and this chaotic energy only became easy to control after he ate that cookie... Was this what they called awakening some incredible power in a near-death moment?
Wende had no way of knowing.
---o---
"..."
"..."
"Hahahahahahaha!!!"
"Your doing?"
"So dramatic. Only you could pull something like this off."
"No, no, no, don't wrongly accuse Aha! Aha really didn't do this!"
"In any case... it was excessively dramatic. And he did indeed awaken the power of chaos. Judging by the result, this is a good thing."
"This... isn't this a bit too rushed?"
"Hmph... then you'll have to ask the only one who could orchestrate such a thing."
"No, it really wasn't me! You two are really... really interesting! Hahaha! I'm going to go try one too!"
"Sigh... even so, the [Trial] must still proceed."
"A trial that uses the people of an entire planet as a wager... you are still too merciful."
"This is within the permissible scope of [Order]."
"Heh heh, the moment you appeared here, you no longer had to practice your Path. Or rather..."
"None of us need to follow... none of us need to be lost. We will cross that unreachable barrier and finally confront the possible [Him]."
"In the end, [**] will no longer have any reason to exist."