"Save him," Lin Yilin said.
"Is it necessary?" Zheng Fan was reluctant.
"What is necessary?" Lin Yilin retorted.
"Alright."
Without further objection, Zheng Fan stepped forward: "Can this injury still be treated? People whose chests are broken by an Alien usually don't survive, do they?"
"What is an Alien, anyway?"
"Uh, I don't think I've told you about that movie yet. We can talk about it slowly when we get back."
"Okay. However, the injuries here only look severe. If Illusion doesn't invade reality, it's very difficult to cause harm to people on the reality side purely in the form of Illusion, except for possession and absorption," Lin Yilin said, beginning to instruct Zheng Fan to take out the materials she usually prepared for rituals.
Zheng Fan followed her instructions, not forgetting to continue chatting: "You say it's difficult, but that worm went through his chest to his back..."
"So it's just a false appearance, just an Illusion. Is that so hard to understand, Mr. Illusion?"
"Even if you're talking about Illusions to an Illusion... I'm a bit dizzy from being led in circles."
"In any case, you can look at the wound," Lin Yilin said helplessly.
Zheng Fan leaned over to examine it and was surprised by the result. To confirm, he even reached out and pulled at Lu Chongming's chest wound—in fact, there was only one relatively deep cut.
Although it was deep and bleeding, it certainly wasn't an injury where he was directly pierced by a worm.
"It really is..." Zheng Fan was shocked.
"Illusion, isn't it wonderful?" Lin Yilin said.
A human was introducing this to an Illusion.
After treating Lu Chongming's injury according to Lin Yilin's instructions, Lu Chongming quickly woke up, startled and breaking out in a cold sweat: "Was I just?!"
He clutched the scarred wound on his chest, then touched his backside, still shaken.
"Congratulations, the operation was very successful. You are now a girl," "Lin Yilin" said coldly.
Lu Chongming immediately covered his crotch with a look of horror.
"You lied to me!"
"You actually believed it, you fool." "Lin Yilin" sneered and stood up, "Consider yourself lucky that thing didn't kill you."
Lu Chongming looked at the worm residue nearby, only to see "Lin Yilin" wave her hand. The worm's corpse remnants, including some scattered unknown liquids around, were all absorbed, turning into a black bead in her hand, which she put away.
Just as she was about to leave this time, she suddenly heard a dull thud nearby.
She turned her head and saw Lu Chongming kneeling down dramatically.
"I'm sorry! Just now, it was as if I was possessed, I've been very offensive!"
Lu Chongming's mind was much clearer now. He couldn't imagine where his hostility had come from just now, almost attempting to lay hands on this young lady in front of him.
In any case, following his true feelings, what he should do now was apologize.
As for what would happen to him later... that could only be something he had to consider in the future; he couldn't blame others.
After all, he had dragged many people into that Illusion for his own selfish desires.
"Heh, good, you look much more pleasing to the eye. When your mind isn't clear, take a deep breath, young man." "Lin Yilin" couldn't help but chuckle, pointing to her own temple.
By the time Lu Chongming looked up again, he found that the "Lin Yilin" in front of him had disappeared.
He ran outside in a daze but couldn't find any trace of her.
"Hey, Little Lu, what's wrong? That agency girl didn't do anything to you, did she? I heard some sounds from inside..." Brother Wang quickly came over and asked.
Lu Chongming was stunned for a moment, then looked at Brother Wang and said: "Um, Brother Wang, I've been in a bad mood lately and had a bad attitude. I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's no big deal. You're so young, about the same age as my child, and you're much more sensible than him." Brother Wang smiled and waved his hand.
"Brother Wang, I'm leaving."
"Huh?" Brother Wang was startled at first, then reacted: "Yes, yes, it's time to go. Even if those agencies don't find anything wrong with you, it'll be hard if your supervisor makes you take the blame. It's good to leave now while you can. You're just a bit weak, but you're smart. At worst, you can join a gang or something."
"Mm, thank you, Brother Wang, for taking care of me during this time... Oh, by the way, Brother Wang, who was that lady from the agency just now?"
"I'm not too sure. Oh, by the way, she just gave me her business card, here." Brother Wang said, finding the business card and handing it to Lu Chongming.
Lu Chongming took the business card, bowed deeply again in thanks, and then prepared to leave.
"Hey, Little Lu, don't forget your lunchbox. Even if you're quitting and running away, you might as well eat this meal," Brother Wang called out to him again.
Lu Chongming was startled at first, then looking at Brother Wang's honest smile, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.
His smile was a bit strained, but at least it wasn't a bitter laugh.
...
At Teng Jun's fake shoe store, Teng Jun watched as Lin Yilin suddenly came over carrying a large cardboard box, kicked open his anti-theft door, and then asked to borrow a large stew pot from him.
As luck would have it, Teng Jun's home actually had an old large stew pot.
Then, Lin Yilin washed the pot, added water and ingredients, and began to stew something.
She measured Teng Jun's height and weight, took his blood pressure, drew a tube of blood, and asked for his birth date and time, seemingly using these as a basis for concoction.
Zheng Fan watched from the side, and as for what he was watching, he naturally didn't understand.
This kind of ritual, performed entirely by feeling, seemed to be a skill from the White World, and very few people could master it.
The White World was so peaceful that no impurities were allowed to mix in. According to Lin Yilin, such ritual skills had long been strictly forbidden, and systematized supernatural and occult ritual skills had also been swallowed up by the White World long ago.
However, some people could bring these things back to reality through "abstract" operations.
It's like if the equation 1+1=2 was forbidden, she could calculate 1+3 - 8 ÷ e^(ix) × ζ(s). Whether the result equals 2 doesn't matter, because in the end, it just equals 2.
Lin Yilin could do this, and her adoptive father, Edman, also had this ability.
It's just that this also couldn't be taught systematically, after all, how the abstraction leads to understanding something is entirely individual, and if you don't get it, you just don't get it.
Fortunately, abstract rituals aren't like doing math problems. Even if your process is messy, as long as the answer is correct, you can get full marks.
According to Zheng Fan's abstract understanding after Lin Yilin's description, it probably meant that the "Lord" could really operate things and it would just equal 6.
However...
No matter how heaven-defying math problems are, you wouldn't add shoes to a stew pot to cook them.
"Miss Lin... Lin, are you...?" Teng Jun originally thought Lin Yilin was brewing some kind of magical soup that could help him take off his shoes.
But when he saw Lin Yilin scoop up a spoonful of water from the pot with a ladle, take a sip, smack her lips, and then casually grab a shoe and throw it into the pot, he was dumbfounded.
Not only was Teng Jun dumbfounded, but Zheng Fan was too.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Fan and Teng Jun asked in unison.
"Making soup."
"For external application?" Zheng Fan asked.
"For internal consumption." Lin Yilin looked at Teng Jun.
Teng Jun's mouth hung open, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
What the hell did you just add to the pot? And the stuff you brewed, you want him to drink it?
"Let me see, Mr. Teng Jun's weight and blood type, one shoe might not be enough." Lin Yilin said, putting down the material and searching in the cardboard box.
There were also strange requirements for the length and weight of the shoes, and in the end, three or four pairs were added piece by piece.
She turned up the heat, supplemented with other seasonings, and then simmered it slowly.
After a long time, a pot of pitch-black liquid appeared.
Zheng Fan looked at the contents of the pot and thought he was seeing himself through someone else's eyes, he couldn't help but touch his forehead to wipe away non-existent cold sweat.
So it was just shoe soup, he thought he was having an Illusion.
"Then... then, can I...?"
"No." Lin Yilin said expressionlessly, "The client cannot hinder the agency from resolving the commission. This is clearly stated in black and white on the commission contract. If there's a problem from drinking it, I'll be responsible, but before the result is out, sir, you have no right to refuse."
The Scarred Witch...
Zheng Fan felt this scene was very fitting for that title.
Teng Jun cried out that he would rather pay more money than drink this pot of stuff, but Lin Yilin was very displeased. She didn't want to work overtime for such a finicky reason when she could solve something straightforwardly.
Using an Earthworm to tie him up, prying open his mouth, our Binary Little Sister hoisted the large pot and poured it into his mouth.
The neighbors, upon hearing, could only cover their ears, sighing in their hearts, wondering if someone nearby had offended the gang again and was being subjected to extreme punishment.
...
"It came off." Lin Yilin casually threw the shoe onto the ground, clapped her hands, and behind her, Teng Jun lay on the ground as if dead.
Zheng Fan crouched beside Teng Jun, pretending to poke him.
It felt like from a psychological and mental perspective, it might be no different from being dead.
If Miss Lin Yilin were an Illusion, she could probably start possessing someone by now.