Ruan Mei brought the golden potion to the metal chair. At this moment, Jingliu's limbs were firmly locked onto it by metal shackles. Although the latter kept struggling nonstop, she still couldn't break free.
"Don't move, darling."
Ruan Mei pinched Jingliu's cheeks, forcing her to open her small mouth, then shoved the potion bottle inside—
"Hngh… mmm… glug—"
The potion was poured into Jingliu's mouth without reservation. Some even overflowed from the corners of her lips, flowing down her jaw, neck, and chest…
This scene looked as if Ruan Mei was doing something bad to Jingliu.
A drop of sweat slowly slid down Stelle's forehead. She suspected Ruan Mei was doing this on purpose, because she clearly could have used a splash potion instead…
"Cough cough cough—"
After forcing down the entire bottle, Jingliu immediately burst into a fit of coughing. Her mental state visibly improved at a speed noticeable to the naked eye.
"This should be about enough." Ruan Mei clapped her hands and said, "Miss Jingliu's subconscious will soon stabilize. Once you leave, your main body should know what to do next."
"It's over?" Stelle let out a breath. "That's great…"
[Mysterious Narrator of the Honkai: Star Rail World: And so, Stelle used the Clockie trick to leave the mindscape. However, the moment she returned to reality, the plot of this chapter came to an abrupt end.]
·····
This was Jing Yuan's thirty-third loop.
This time, he skillfully caught the ice sword Jingliu thrust at him with two fingers. At the same time, his other hand reached out and caught the miraculous little potion that Ruan Mei threw, preventing it from shattering and taking effect. Don't ask him why he did this; the answer is experience.
In the time just now, he had endured Ruan Mei's baptism of up to thirty-three different potions, including but not limited to freeze, paralysis, slow, burn, rupture, erosion, imprisonment, and a series of other negative effects.
But with his Effect RES… the result was obvious.
Jing Yuan felt that Ruan Mei wasn't helping him but was instead using him as a test subject.
Crack—
Just as he was thinking this, a crisp sound of glass shattering rang out. Ruan Mei had smashed another potion bottle on him.
Jing Yuan: ······
Splat, splat, splat—
The potion took effect. Jing Yuan began to show regular red damage-over-time effects.
"…Hm?"
However, at this moment, Jingliu's eyes suddenly regained clarity. She looked at the near-death Jing Yuan beneath her, full of confusion.
What… was going on?
She remembered that she had just been discussing the past with everyone. How did Jing Yuan end up almost dead in the blink of an eye?
—"Ah! Stelle! What's wrong with you?!"
March 7th hurriedly rushed over while carrying Stelle on her back. "Everyone, Stelle seems a bit unwell, so I'll take her away first. You guys continue chatting. If you need help, call Dan Heng…"
With that, March 7th carried Stelle and dashed away in a flash.
Jingliu only glanced at them once before looking away. She looked at Jing Yuan beneath her, reached out, and patted his face hard. "Jing Yuan, why do you look like you're about to die?"
Smack!
Unexpectedly, with this light pat from Jingliu, red death effects immediately burst out all over Jing Yuan's body, and he breathed his last.
"Jing Yuan" was defeated by "Jingliu."
Jingliu: ???
No, that couldn't be right? She had really only given him a light pat just now!
"Don't panic, I can still save him."
Ruan Mei pushed up her glasses and said, "Relax, this has nothing to do with you. I simply used a deadly poison potion earlier. Just use one bottle of healing potion and he'll recover."
"······"
"Oh no, I didn't notice earlier—the healing potions are all used up. Wait a moment, I'll order an 'express delivery' to bring the materials and mix another bottle. Don't worry."
After saying that, Ruan Mei opened her phone and started ordering takeout.
Jing Yuan: X__X
"Oh, I almost forgot." Ruan Mei looked up and asked, "We haven't eaten lunch yet, right? What do you want to eat? I'll order it together."
Jingliu looked worried. "Ruan Mei, this isn't the time to eat, is it? Jing Yuan isn't really dead, right?"
"He probably isn't… right?" Ruan Mei thought for a moment. "You know my biotech level. But… didn't you always want to take revenge on him before?"
Jingliu nodded. "That's right, but taking revenge doesn't mean I want to kill him."
Jingliu: "I believe in 'sustainable development.' You can't drain the pond to catch the fish. You understand what I mean, right?"
Ruan Mei had a sudden realization. "Understood. Emmm… today is Thursday. How about I order a family bucket?"
"Sure."
Jingliu looked around and noticed that Dan Heng and Blade were still fighting each other nearby. She couldn't help feeling puzzled. "I must have had a Mara-Struck episode earlier, right? Otherwise I wouldn't have missing memories from this period… Is my time running out?"
Ruan Mei thought for a moment. "Objectively speaking, time is running out. But that Miss Stelle just helped you greatly. Carefully sense it and see if anything feels different from before mentally?"
Jingliu was slightly stunned. She then gently closed her eyes. Scenes automatically appeared before her:
—"Master! I want to challenge you!"
—"Nooo! Master! Just until the point!"
—"My goodness!"
—"Master, I… I… I promise. From now on… cough cough cough— from now on I will forever be your only disciple. I won't dare to offend my superior again… cough cough cough— cough… Aaaah!"
!
Jingliu suddenly opened her eyes and said with some uncertainty, "I… I can remember happy things now?"
As an old-timer of the Xianzhou, she naturally understood the basic symptoms of the Mara-Struck State. But now she could actually recall good things. This was undoubtedly an extremely shocking fact.
"Mhm."
Ruan Mei smiled slightly. "The 'joy' region in your brain has been reopened to you. As long as you maintain a good mindset from now on—positive, sunny, cheerful, and optimistic—the Mara-Struck State will probably leave you."
"What about the physical mutations caused by the Mara-Struck State?" Jingliu asked again.
"Physical mutations?" Ruan Mei said lightly, "It's not a problem."
Hearing this, Jingliu's eyes brightened and the corners of her mouth curved up. "…Thank you."
"Heh… you're welcome."
Since two people were still fighting nearby, the two women went to the side to chat cheerfully, leaving behind Jing Yuan who was "X__X."
—"You're having a lot of fun pretending to be a woman, huh? Come on! Let me make you a real woman!"
—"Get lost! Don't pull my pants! I already said I'm not him!"
Dan Heng and Yingxing were still grappling and fighting. Because they were too focused, they didn't even notice when they stepped over Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan: X__X
[Mysterious Narrator of the Honkai: Star Rail World: Children, Jing Yuan is a strong person. There is no need to feel sad about his experience. After all, even he himself hasn't said anything about it up to now.]