179L OP:
Mr. Spade’s mother has returned and is currently giving Mr. Spade a mental soothing. I still haven’t seen Mr. Spade or my Spiritual Body.
So, the suggestion from my jet lagged friend seems temporarily unusable. Still, I’m deeply grateful for the thought.
Perhaps I haven’t provided enough details about my state after my Spiritual Body vanished? Let me give you the full backstory.
This wasn’t my first time performing a mental soothing for Mr. Spade. Mr. Spade’s butler had told me that Mr. Spade had been acting strangely these past few days, so he asked me to give him a mental soothing, which I agreed to.
According to the butler, three days ago, Mr. Spade had engaged in a fierce battle with other Sentinels. Since then, he’d been restless, irritable, and refused to tell his mother what had happened.
I suspect he lost the fight and was too embarrassed to admit it.
After combat, Sentinels inevitably develop mental black spots to varying degrees. Seeking a Guide for mental soothing after a battle is standard practice. But Mr. Spade, determined to hide his defeat, would rather endure the mental chaos caused by the black spots than seek treatment. It seems he lost pretty spectacularly.
When I arrived at Mr. Spade’s residence, he was furious at the sight of me. He roared at the butler, “Who told you to call him here?”
Although Mr. Spade’s annoying level seemed to increase with age, he usually wore a sheep’s skin[mfn]披著羊皮 (pī zhe yáng pí): T/N: A part of the phrase 披著羊皮的狼 || 披着羊皮的狼 (pī zhe yáng pí de láng), (figurative, idiomatic) wolf in sheep’s clothing; (fig.) someone who seems to be friendly and harmless but is actually one’s enemy. A classic story from the ancient Greek Aesop’s Fables. The story tells of a wolf who disguises himself as a sheep and sneaks into a flock of sheep with the intention of preying on lambs, but is eventually discovered and killed by the shepherd. The fable reveals the philosophy that “evil people can disguise themselves as good people” through the wolf’s disguise and its failure, and warns people to be vigilant. At the same time, it emphasizes the principle of “one should be wary of others, but not have the heart to harm others”.[/mfn], treating others with polite and gentle manners, thus deceiving the eyes of many Guides.
However, he couldn’t fool me or Mr. Butler.
Having grown accustomed to Mr. Spade’s daily outbursts, Mr. Butler calmly informed me, “The Home Medical Robot has detected that Mr. Spade’s mental black spot level has risen to B+. Mental soothing is recommended.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
Ignoring Mr. Spade’s furious roars, Mr. Butler led us into the treatment room.
Despite his anger, Mr. Butler seemed to have some leverage over Mr. Spade, and thus he still followed us into the treatment room obediently.
Mr. Spade sat on the recliner, seething. “You come just because you were called? I don’t see you coming over this diligently normally.”
The last time we met, Mr. Spade and I had a fight—ever since he enrolled in Sentinel School, we haven’t been able to exchange more than half a word without disagreement, and our arguments had become even more frequent than his fights.
Though I often called him an ‘annoying jerk’, he was still a friend I’ve known since childhood. Besides, whenever he traveled for competitions, he always brought back souvenirs for me. ‘He who eats another’s food is bound by gratitude; he who accepts another’s gifts is bound by obligation[mfn]吃人嘴短，拿人手短 (chī rén zuǐ duǎn, ná rén shǒu duǎn): From the proverb 吃人家的嘴軟，拿人家的手軟 (chī rén jia de zuǐ ruǎn, nà rén jia de shǒu ruǎn), lit. the mouth that feeds from others is soft; the hand that takes from others is soft [as well]; when eating dinner given by others, one should have a soft mouth; when taking bribes, one should have a soft hand; one may be bound to others because of the things they give you. A Chinese proverb that describes how it is difficult to handle matters fairly after accepting favors from others. This proverb, through the concrete expression of “eating and taking” and “being bound by one’s words,” reveals the potential influence of material gifts on behavioral independence. Its core connotation emphasizes the nature of power-money transactions: those who accept gifts often act against principles due to the constraints of interests.[/mfn]’. I believe he just has a prolonged case of Chūnibyō[mfn]中二病 (zhōng èr bìng): (Internet slang, ACG) “sickness” in teenagers characterized by sophomoric, edgy and pretentious behavior; (neologism) strange behavior characteristic of a teenager going through puberty (loanword from Japanese “chūnibyō”). An adopted word from Japan, 中二病 (Chūnibyō), a Japanese colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have grandiose delusions, who desperately want to stand out, and who have convinced themselves that they have hidden knowledge or secret powers. It translates to ‘second-year syndrome’.[/mfn], but he’s a good person at heart.
I reminded myself that I shouldn’t get angry with patients and released my Spiritual Body, tucking it into his arms. “Lie down. I’ll give you a mental soothing.”
He glanced at me before reclining in the lounge chair, letting my Spiritual Body settle on his stomach. I extended mental threads, piercing through his mental barrier.
Mr. Spade’s mental barrier was exceptionally thick, requiring intense focus and concentration to penetrate. As a result, I didn’t notice when Mr. Spade released his snake. After I managed to enter his mental barrier, I took a breath and saw that Mr. Spade and I were encircled by his snake, its head and tail connected.
Mr. Spade’s adult Spiritual Body was about three meters long and as thick as my calf. It is sleek and smooth, but not terrifying. Its entire body is pitch-black and radiated a faint glows, it is a natural coolant in summer. The snake was generally docile, except for the time Mr. Spade had instructed it to scare my bird years ago. But since my Spiritual Body refused to emerge after encountering it, such behavior had largely ceased. Since I enrolled in Guide School, Mr. Spade had stopped childishly using the snake to frighten my bird. Instead, whenever he saw my bird, he would press himself against the wall, looking utterly dejected. Eventually, I couldn’t bear it any longer and placed my Spiritual Body on the snake’s head to help them get familiar with each other.
Therefore, when I saw Mr. Spade’s snake use its tail to bind my Spiritual Body, I didn’t think much of it. I withdrew my attention and entered Mr. Spade’s mental world to help him comb out the mental black spots. At first, everything went smoothly; Mr. Spade appeared relaxed. But the moment my mental threads touched the largest black spot within my field of vision, I ‘heard’ my Spiritual Body emit a piercing shriek. My vision went black, and Mr. Spade abruptly ejected me. I turned around and saw a bulge protruding in the area of the snake’s throat.
Having never encountered such a situation before, I reacted too slowly and could only watch helplessly as the bulge slid down the snake’s midsection.
Mr. Spade and I froze, exchanging bewildered glances for three seconds. Mr. Spade immediately instructed Mr. Butler to summon a doctor from the Sentinel-Guide Research Center.
Initially, I didn’t feel any discomfort. I watched as Mr. Spade walked to the window, picked up his snake, and tossed it outside the window, head-down. He shook it vigorously up and down, shouting, “Spit it out! Hurry up and spit it out!”
If it hadn’t been my Spiritual Body being eaten, I probably would have burst out laughing at the sight.
But since it was my Spiritual Body being devoured, I was furious. I assumed this was another one of Mr. Spade’s tricks and immediately posted online for help.
Mr. Spade shook the snake until sweat streamed down his face, yet he refused to stop. I began to feel symptoms like heart palpitations, chest tightness, and dizziness. Instability overwhelmed me, and I collapsed onto the ground.
Mr. Spade grew extremely nervous, he released the snake and rushed toward me, asking: “What’s wrong?”
I roared at him, “Spit out my Spiritual Body now!”
After losing my Spiritual Body, I first experienced heart palpitations, chest tightness, and dizziness, followed by profuse sweating and uncontrollable trembling. To all Guides and Sentinels reading this, do not think that consuming another’s Spiritual Body is some amusing game and attempt to devour others’ Spiritual Bodies.
At that moment, I thought I was going to die. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. Mr. Spade carried me to a recliner. “The doctor will be here soon. Just hang on a little longer. It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.”
I wanted to scream, ‘Fuck your ‘it’ll be okay’! A Guide without their Spiritual Body is doomed!’ But I couldn’t utter a word, only sob uncontrollably.
When the doctor arrived, he requested to examine Mr. Spade’s Spiritual Body. It was then we discovered that Mr. Spade’s Spiritual Body had vanished.
Yes, it was gone. Mr. Spade couldn’t sense the existence of his Spiritual Body at all, as if all connection had been ruthlessly severed by a knife.
After the doctor forced me to drink countless glasses of water and make countless trips to the bathroom, the previous symptoms gradually subsided. Apart from worrying about my Spiritual Body and feeling a lingering fear, my physical functions returned to normal. But Mr. Spade grew increasingly agitated.
He repeatedly asked the doctor, “How do I reconnect with my Spiritual Body?” and asked me, “Can you sense your bird?” The doctor insisted on taking both of us to the Sentinel-Guide Research Center for further analysis. During the journey, Mr. Spade attacked the doctor in the car, plunging into the early stages of mania.
I had no reaction, except for an empty feeling inside.
The doctor explained that the root cause of Mr. Spade’s manic episode was the escalation of his mental black spot’s severity, with the disappearance of his Spiritual Body merely acting as a trigger.
Upon arriving at the Research Center, Mr. Spade’s aggression intensified. He broke free from his temporary restraints and attempted to attack the medical staff, ultimately being subdued with a sedative injection and strapped to a bed in the isolation room. Meanwhile, I entered the second stage: profound insecurity.
I was so anxious that I couldn’t bear to be alone. My parents were away on a business trip, and the medical staff were busy attending to Mr. Spade, whispering among themselves as they studied him. Not wanting to disturb them, I stayed alone in the room next to the isolation room, my thoughts galloping like a wild horse freed from its tether. They raced from ‘What if my Spiritual Body never returns?’ to ‘Will I die if it doesn’t come back?’ and then to ‘If only I hadn’t agreed to perform mental soothing for Mr. Spade’ and ‘If I hadn’t released my Spiritual Body during the process, none of this would have happened’.
I knew I was on the verge of Guide Separation Depression, but I couldn’t control my thoughts. One fundamental way to alleviate this Guide Separation Depression is to seek companionship from familiar people to reduce the feeling of detachment from the world. However, my friends were preparing for their Guide-related knowledge assessments these couple of days, and I didn’t want to disturb them. So I contacted another Sentinel friend, Mr. Club. It wasn’t until the middle of the night that my Sentinel friend rushed over from his mission in the suburbs to accompany me.
That’s roughly the situation.
It looked like the author decided to use suit card names for the character’s aliases.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 05″]
前因後果 (qián yīn hòu guǒ): cause and effects (idiom); entire process of development; the entire sequence of events (including its cause and outcome); cause and result; generally refers to the entire process of things.習以為常 (xí yǐ wéi cháng): to be accustomed to; used to; Refers to a certain thing frequently done, or a certain phenomenon often seen, it feels very common.
話不投機半句多 (huà bù tóu jī bàn jù duō): when the conversation is not congenial, to say even half a sentence is too much; when words get sour, adding words is useless (idiom); in a disagreeable conversation one word more is too many; if we don’t see eye to eye, even half a sentence is too much; when two people disagree, they can’t agree on anything, so they simply remain silent; when two people have different opinions and cannot communicate effectively, they simply remain silent.
專心致志 (zhuān xīn zhì zhì): to be wholly focused; with single-hearted devotion; be wholly absorbed; be with great singleness of purpose; be preoccupied with sth; to put one’s whole heart and soul into something, describing being single-minded and focused. From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》): 今夫弈之為數，小數也；不專心致志，則不得也。弈秋，通國之善弈者也。使弈秋誨二人弈，其一人專心致志，惟弈秋之為聽。一人雖聽之，一心以為有鴻鵠將至，思援弓繳而射之，雖與之俱學，弗若之矣。為是其智弗若與？曰：「非然也。」, Now chess-playing is but a small art, but without his whole mind being given, and his will bent to it, a man cannot succeed at it. Yi Qiu is the best chess-player in all the kingdom. Suppose he is teaching two men to play. The one gives to the subject his whole mind and bends to it all his will, doing nothing but listening to Yi Qiu. Another one, although he seems to be listening to him, has his whole mind running on a swan which he thinks is approaching, and wishes to bend his bow, adjust the string to the arrow, and shoot it. Although he is learning along with another one, he does not come up to him. Why? Because he isn’t as intelligent as another one? Not so.
面面相覷 (miàn miàn xiāng qù): to look at each other in blank dismay (idiom); to look at each other (in fear) without knowing what to do; gaze at each other in speechless despair; look at each other in astonishment/embarrassment/surprise; Describes that people look at each other out of fear or helplessness without speaking.
當機立斷 (dāng jī lì duàn): to make prompt decisions (idiom); to be decisive and make a decision promptly at a critical moment; make a quick decision equal to the occasion.
大汗淋漓 (dà hàn lín lí): to sweat profusely; dripping with sweat; perspire profusely; be covered with sweat; be dripping/running/streaming wet with sweat; sweat all over.
各司其職 (gè sī qí zhí): each person attends to his or her own duties; each performs its own functions; each person does his or her own job; everyone fulfills their responsibilities; everyone fulfills their duties. Its core meaning emphasizes that each individual should focus on fulfilling their own responsibilities.
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