After reaching adulthood, the manic phase would appear at regular intervals.
Zuo Qi’an had long since grown accustomed to the burning pain that wracked his whole body. As long as he locked himself in the confinement room and endured it, he could get through it.
But this time, he felt as if he couldn’t hold on anymore. His head felt like it was being gnawed at by millions of ants.
Unable to bear it any longer, he could only slam his head against the rigid wall, using the pain to numb the torment.
“Bang—”
“Bang bang—”
“Bang bang bang—”
It would be best if he could knock himself unconscious—that way he wouldn’t have to endure the needle-like stabbing pain in his head.
As the pain intensified, his consciousness gradually seemed to corrode, growing murky and unclear.
“Sha sha—”
The sound of footsteps rang out, approaching from afar before finally stopping somewhere nearby.
Zuo Qi’an was immersed in pain and didn’t notice the unusual sound.
Or rather, such a faint sound couldn’t rouse his alertness at all in this moment.
His hearing, his sense of touch, his every nerve were all focused on his brain, which felt close to splitting open.
This was the scene that greeted Sheng Anlan when she entered the room.
In the room, Zuo Qi’an was charging headfirst at the wall, completely ignoring the fact that he was already bleeding.
Although she had long prepared herself mentally for the fact that he was a Beastman, Sheng Anlan was still somewhat shocked the first time she saw his true form.
After all, a human figure had been standing before her just a moment ago, and now he had turned into a white Shiba Inu.
“Its” tail hung low, its head kept slamming against the wall, and its snow-white fur was stained with dark brown blood.
Judging by the color of the blood, the wound must have been there for some time.
Sheng Anlan recalled what Qiao Mo had told her, and thought that this injury must have been caused during his battles with xenobeasts on the Trash Planet.
And because of the constant slamming against the wall, blood from his forehead seeped down—a shocking sight.
Sheng Anlan had raised a small Samoyed in her previous world, so she had a certain understanding of canine habits.
The fact that Zuo Qi’an’s tail was drooping now meant he must be feeling absolutely miserable—that was the reaction it signaled.
She had originally been unsure how to get along with Zuo Qi’an, but the moment she saw the white Shiba Inu in his true form, her heart instantly settled.
She didn’t know how to deal with Zuo Qi’an, but she knew exactly how to deal with a Shiba Inu.
Sheng Anlan made a swift decision and walked toward the white Shiba Inu.
Recalling how she had cared for her Samoyed, she reached out and stroked the white Shiba Inu’s neck.
Feeling someone touch its neck, the Shiba Inu’s body gradually softened, no longer as frenzied as before.
But its head still ached terribly, and it kept shaking its head from side to side.
Seeing that the white Shiba Inu’s mood had eased, Sheng Anlan carefully slid her hand from its neck down to its ears, stroking gently, and then, while the Shiba Inu wasn’t paying attention, she led the dog away from the wall.
Although the Shiba Inu was now away from the wall and no longer engaging in near self-harm, its head still kept shaking.
It looked as though its head hurt badly.
Recalling what Qiao Mo had said, Sheng Anlan guessed this might be a reaction caused by the Mental Power rampage.
According to what they had told her, as a Female-type, she could use Mental Power to heal him.
But how was she supposed to release this Mental Power?
When she came in earlier, she had thought that simply placing her hand on Zuo Qi’an’s head would be enough—after all, she had read similar novels on the Blue Planet, and the female leads basically all did it that way.
But right now, even though her hand was already resting on his head, Zuo Qi’an showed no reaction at all.
Sheng Anlan looked down at the white Shiba Inu, whose head kept shaking and whose body was restless and agitated. If he kept twisting like this, she suspected his neck would snap.
It hurt just to think about it.
A faint pang of pain surfaced in Sheng Anlan’s mind.
The emotion flashed through her head, and before she could pull it back, she felt as if another scene had appeared in her mind.
Under a pitch-black starry sky, the ground below was utterly desolate—not a single blade of grass grew anywhere, and rubble and barren earth could be seen everywhere.
Where was this?
Why would such a scene appear in her mind?
Before she could figure it out, a rustling sound rang in her ears.
Then a massive body appeared before her eyes—about two meters long, with a triangular head, a pair of scythe-like forelimbs, an all-black body, and a long, hook-shaped beak. It lunged at her with a ferocious glare.
The creature was enormous. Just from its size alone, Sheng Anlan was terrified, let alone the fact that it was attacking her with such aggression.
She swallowed hard and scrambled backward.
But she was still too slow. The creature was longer than her body; with a single twist, it was right in front of her, then opened its gaping maw and came at her.
Sheng Anlan closed her eyes, her heart in her throat, her face a picture of despair.
Yet the next second, the Zerg didn’t pounce on her.
Instead, the sound of fighting rang out in her ears.
She looked up—Zuo Qi’an had, at some point, returned to his human form and was battling the Zerg.
How had his body suddenly recovered?
And his tail wasn’t injured anymore?
Sheng Anlan was about to step forward to help when she found she couldn’t get close at all.
Something seemed off here.
White moonlight shone down on the Trash Planet, casting long, slanted shadows of the sudden giant insect and Zuo Qi’an across the desolate ground.
Only then did Sheng Anlan notice that although she was right there at the scene, her shadow was nowhere on the ground—as if she had never appeared at all.
As she puzzled over this, the sounds of fighting grew louder. Sheng Anlan followed the noise with her eyes: at some point, Zuo Qi’an had leaped onto the giant insect’s back, pulled out a sharp blade, and stabbed it straight into the insect’s heart.
The giant insect struggled a few times, then collapsed to the ground.
Although Zuo Qi’an had defeated the giant insect, he hadn’t come out unscathed—bright red blood appeared on his abdomen, and his head grew muddled and disoriented.
Only then did Sheng Anlan realize: she seemed to have entered Zuo Qi’an’s Mental Map.
No wonder she could see everything happening to him, yet her own figure was nowhere in sight.
So she hadn’t actually gone to the Trash Planet at all, and what Zuo Qi’an had encountered there wasn’t a xenobeast, but a large Zerg.
Zuo Qi’an clutched his head, struggling in place, and a pain like needles piercing instantly transmitted into Sheng Anlan’s mind.
She exerted a slight force, and the pain vanished. A gentle stream of Mental Power poured out from her mind, slowly flowing into Zuo Qi’an’s Mental Power.
The Mental Power that emerged naturally brought improvement to Zuo Qi’an’s mental world, and the images of combat flashing through his mind gradually gained strength.
Sheng Anlan realized that this might be what Mental Power soothing was.
She stroked Zuo Qi’an’s head, letting more soothing Mental Power seep through. The dark world gradually began to take on color.
The Shiba Inu’s head stopped shaking, slowly calming down, and his body began to transform back into human form.
Sheng Anlan watched as the person below her regained his human form, then helped Zuo Qi’an onto the bed.
Seeing a medicine box placed on the nightstand, she opened it, took out white gauze and medicine, and began applying them to his injured forehead.
After bandaging the wound, she was about to leave when the person on the bed began to grow restless again.
Sheng Anlan quickly released some more Mental Power toward him, but this time, the mental consciousness sea seemed somewhat different.
Sheng Anlan’s brows furrowed slightly.
Was this what the original owner had done to him?
How perverted.
How shameless.