Chapter 205: Derangement
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Ma Xiaoru wasn't aware that her troubled thoughts had already been slowly nibbling away her sea of consciousness. The state of derangement started quietly from inside the cultivator and gradually manifested itself through changes in physical appearance. The whole process would take days on end, so when the cultivator noticed the apparent changes, it would already be too late.
After considering the situation, Samantha decided to clear the air with Ma Xiaoru. She felt that without Ma Xiaoru's consent, she would never feel the same while being with Wang Tong.
Even without talking to Ma Xiaoru, intuition had told Samantha that her best friend had already learned about the secret affair. The lack of communication was a telltale sign. She knew that she had been Ma Xiaoru's only support system, but then Ma Xiaoru should not even seek help from her since she was the main instigator of her distress. A sense of guilt rose inside of Samantha as she approached her room.
"Xiaoru...Xiaoru!"
Samantha rushed to Ma Xiaoru, who had passed out on the floor. As Samantha was about to move her body to the bed, she jerked her hand back immediately as if zapped by lightning. Although Samantha was not a METAL fighter, she guessed based on Ma Xiaoru's current condition that she was likely in the state of derangement.
Never touch a deranged!
Samantha informed house guards about the development, and soon lights were lit up in every room and workers were bustling about, trying to find any help.
"Miss Samantha, please remain calm and do not let anyone go near our lady. Have the house medic take a look first, and we will be there in a second."
Unable to do anything, Samantha felt useless and overwrought.
The painful look on Ma Xiaoru's face made her heart sink, "Could it be because of me?" She thought to herself.
When the masters of the Ma family had finally arrived, they immediately started to stabilize Ma Xiaoru's soul energy, despite the difficulty imposed by the powerful Tactics of the Enchantress.
Meanwhile, Wang Tong was enjoying a beautiful morning. He was surprised to see that Samantha's skynet was offline, and Ma Xiaoru was absent from class. It was difficult for him to imagine Ma Xiaoru skipping a single class, so he wondered what had happened to her.
Wang Tong had guessed many reasons for Ma Xiaoru's absence, but none had come nearly half as close to the reality. Eventually, he got a message from Samantha around noon. She sounded extremely worried for Ma Xiaoru, and told him about her suspicion that Ma Xiaoru had fallen into the state of derangement mainly due to their secret affair.
The message unnerved Wang Tong and made him reflect on how things could have developed to such a dire state.
According to Wang Tong, everything had been fine and dandy just a couple days ago. He could tell that Samantha felt extremely guilty and regretful, and her feelings made Wang Tong's heart ache.
Wang Tong knew that he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel anything for Ma Xiaoru. After all, it had been a tough choice to choose Samantha over Ma Xiaoru. Although he had never intended to hurt her, neither had he foreseen what was happening right then. Therefore, he never took any precautions to prevent such an event.
He blamed himself for not noticing the beautiful things around him as the memory of Ma Xiaoru flooded his mind. He remembered her warm smile every morning and her patient tutoring; the scenes appeared in front of his eyes like images from a projector.
Wang Tong felt regret, not for choosing Samantha, but for the fact that he didn't keep his distance from Ma Xiaoru and had given her false hopes.
"How can I help?" Wang Tong thought to himself.
Wang Tong decided to skip the class in the afternoon and visit Ma Xiaoru, despite the fact that he was about to skip Gansus's class.
"The Tactics of the Enchantress was the most dangerous tactics... Qait... I have the tactics of the Blade, and I remember that Mr. Wannabe told me that it was the best cure for derangement!"
After remembering the unique ability of his tactics, Wang Tong shot a dozen messages to Samantha, explaining why they should let him give it a try.
Wang Tong had helped Ma Xiaoru improve her level of cultivation before using the same tactics. Therefore, Wang Tong was very confident that his tactics would be helpful.
"If I can improve it, I can fix it!"
Ma Xiaoru's unpredictable and vicious sea of consciousness might seem horrible to others, but not to Wang Tong. He had already gotten used to danger.
Wang Tong's confidence did not amount to Ma Xiaoru's family's permission to let him give it a try. Curing derangement was not something one could just "give a try". Anything Wang Tong did would have consequences on Ma Xiaoru's physical and mental health.
Ma Xiaoru's father Ma Dutian's face looked tired and taut. He had come back from the Moon while working on a top-secret project that had the potential of changing human history. However, when he learned that his daughter was in danger, he rushed back to Earth right away.
Ma Xiaoru's parents, Ma Dutian and Wu Xin, didn't have much time to look after Ma Xiaoru due to their work, but they both loved their daughter very much. They were extremely worried when they heard the news of Ma Xiaoru's derangement.
Wu Xin was a top-notch six tier fighter, and Ma Xiaoru had inherited most of her mother's traits. Ma Xiaoru's father, on the other hand, was mediocre as a fighter, but he was incredibly intelligent and was the most successful businessman, the owner of the tech behemoth FFC. General Li Feng had planned the division between tactics and technology. He knew that only by dividing the power to different households could there be balance and peace on Earth.
The Li Family had inherited all the secrets of the martial arts while the Ma family chose to be the keeper of the most advanced technologies. It was worth noting that house of Ma had never invented anything since they were merely keepers of the existing ones. They release new "breakthrough" following a predetermined timeline given by General Li. To that end, house Ma reverenced General Li even more than the Li Family.
General Li's decision was brilliant. Should he leave all his knowledge and power to his own offspring, peace and prosperity would not last half as long as the Confederation. Sure, a mighty authoritarian empire might rise, but it would soon fall because of corruption and chaos. Because of General Li's wise decision to balance the great powers, there had not been large-scale warfare for three hundred years. A peaceful and prosperous confederation was the prerequisite for defeating the Zergs.
"Xin, don't worry too much. Her condition is being stabilized. Let's wait for the masters from House Li."
"Something or someone must have done this to Xiaoru! I need an explanation!" Wu Xin demanded as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
"I know only bits and pieces. We should focus on bringing Xiaoru back first." Ma Dutian answered with a solemn face.
"Boss, the Li's have arrived."
"Come in please."
Samantha waited nervously beside Ma Xiaoru. She watched as the masters from House Li marched into the room. It was the first time she saw Li Shiming.
Following Li Shiming's lead were Li Ruo-er and a few elders who were masters of the Tactics of the Enchantress.
Li Shiming and Li Ruo-er stood beside Ma Xiaoru and watched the other masters channeling and calming Ma Xiaoru's soul energy.
In about an hour, the crisis was finally averted, and the masters stopped their channeling.
"Master Li, would there be any complications later?" Wu Xin asked, looking worried.
"I don't think so. Instead, I want to congratulate you and your husband about Xiaoru's progress. We detected that she has reached the fifth level of the tactics. Her sea of consciousness was disturbed by some kind of stimulation, and the disturbance was amplified by the new depth of the tactics she had just reached, thus resulting in a temporary trauma." The master said calmly with a smile.
After hearing that his daughter was safe, Ma Dutian untied the knots on his face and turned to Li Shimin and Li Ruo-er while saying," Good job you two!"
"Don't mention it! You should complement Ma Xiaoru instead. She defeated me at the tournament. My brother still makes fun of me for that!" Li Ruo-er said with a mischievous smile.
"Is that right? Shiming, don't make fun of your sister, she had obviously let my daughter win! Ha Ha." Ma Dutian laughed loudly.
"I had been practicing the Tactics of the Enchantress even since I was a child, and I just entered the fifth level very recently. Xiaoru, on the other hand, has proven to be a much faster learner than me. She achieved the same level in just five years. I believe today's accident would serve a good lesson for her to think twice before forcing everything down into her mind as fast as she wanted." Li Shiming said, his voice filled with respect and sincerity.
"Brother Ma, although I was able to stabilize her condition this time, it doesn't mean that it wouldn't happen again. Should it happen again, the disturbance might do great harm to her soul energy."
"What should we do then and what has caused all this? We should ask Samantha!" Wu Xin Stood up and was about to walk to Samantha, but her husband stopped her.
Ma Dutian then turned towards the masters and said," Dear masters, please take a rest in my mansion for now. We will carry on from here. Please, treat it as if it's your own home."
"Haha, don't worry about it uncle Ma! Your house is so much more fun and comfortable than ours!" Li Ruo-er couldn't wait to try the advanced appliances and equipment. The mansion of the House of Li severely lacked comfort to keep fighters' biggest enemy, laziness, at bay.
Compare to Li Ruo-er, her brother Li Shiming was much more mature and reserved. Wu Xin couldn't help noticing what a fine young man he was, and thought that he must be a good match for her daughter.