Chapter 177 - Hospital Again

Chapter 177 Hospital Again

At first, Roland thought that it was only his imagination.

But as the ritual went on, the energy above his head became more and more obvious, turning from a tiny ball into the size of a basketball.

Among his family members, Roland sensed the energy waves quietly and occasionally peeped at it.

But he couldn’t see anything except the plumes of smoke that were slowly rising and disappearing

Roland’s father was right next to him. Sensing that his son was looking above now and then, he raised his head too, only to see nothing special. He asked, “What are you looking at? Is there gold up there?”

“There’s a huge spider.” Roland made up a random lie.

At this point, the energy was still expanding, and it was gradually emitting a strange aura that electrified Roland’s nerves and feelings.

For some reason, Roland began to feel thirsty, and the energy up there looked like sweet water.

Roland held back his desire and stopped himself from sensing it.

Who knew what it was? What if it was poisonous?

He had to choose a better time if he wanted to absorb it.

The ritual was going on. Because it had been simplified, his fourth grand-uncle finished the process in no more than three hours.

In front of the sacrificial table, his fourth uncle announced the end of the ritual after he completed the final song in a high-pitched but unique tone.

All the participants were relieved. Although the ritual was simplified, most people felt their feet go numb after three hours of standing.

They talked to each other and left the hall, but Roland didn’t. He asked his parents to go first.

According to the tradition, nobody was to leave the village until they had a meal together after the ritual.

Roland stayed in the hall and kept sensing the unique ball of energy.

He was thirstier and thirstier, and he couldn’t help but drunk up the bottle of water he carried, only to no avail.

However, he could still suppress his desire with self-control.

Fewer and fewer people were left in the hall, until Roland was by himself. A few kids intended to play here, but they ran off too.

After all, this old ancestral hall was remote and quiet. It could be creepy when few people were in it.

As the people left, the energy ball on the ceiling began to dwindle much faster than it took shape.

Roland frowned. If this thing disappeared, he would probably have to wait another year, until the next ritual, before it showed up again.

He looked around and found a tall bamboo ladder through which one could climb to the rooftop.

Roland walked to it and carried the ladder.

At first, Roland thought that it was going to be heavy, but he picked it up easily. He walked to his destination and erected the ladder next to the beam.

At this point, Roland sensed that the energy ball was only half its previous size.

He hurried to climb the ladder and sat on the beam.

The hall was big and the beam was thick. It would be fine even if another five adults were to sit on it.

In Roland’s perception, the energy ball was half a meter before him.

But he couldn’t see the energy ball or anything special. He could only detect it with his instincts.

The energy was shrinking to the size of a ping-pong ball.

Roland felt much less thirsty than before. He simply sat in silence and didn’t do anything.

After another while, the energy became the size of a finger, and it was shaking as if it would fall apart.

It was time.

Roland licked his lips and reached his hands out for it.

Earlier, he didn’t do anything because he feared that it was poisonous.

However, this thing was only one percent of its previous size, and it seemed to be disintegrating. It would be gone if Roland didn’t take any action.

Roland knew that a lot of things were poisonous only when their quantity reached a threshold.

He didn’t know whether or not the finger-sized energy ball was harmful, but he knew that it was much safer than a basketball-sized one.

He extended his hand and grabbed something invisible.

It was indeed invisible, and Roland wasn’t really holding anything in his hand.

But Roland somehow knew that he had captured that thing.

It was a complicated feeling.

Before Roland could be delighted or surprised, the energy ball broke the moment he grabbed

it.

It stabbed into Roland’s hand like shards of glass before it melted into his flesh and blood.

Roland sensed that a cold breeze was spreading throughout his body quickly from his right hand.

It was really cold.

He shook his head. He didn’t feel anything wrong except for the coldness.

Roland descended from the beam via the ladder and put the ladder back where it’d been.

He walked out of the hall. He was wondering what he had just touched, when he suddenly felt that his legs were wobbly. Then, he felt that he lost all his strength.

His legs shaking, he hurried to sit down on the stairs.

He touched his forehead. His body temperature was normal.

He touched his chest, only to notice that his heart was beating fast, and the air he breathed out was hot too.

Was that thing really poisonous? Roland smiled bitterly. At this moment, the world was swirling before him, as if he were drunk or having a stroke.

It’s really poisonous?

Roland smiled wider. He had been prudent enough to grab that thing when it was in its minimal size and was about to disappear.

However, it turned out to be fatal nonetheless.

At this moment, Roland saw a child. Though he couldn’t see the child clearly, he recognized him to be one of his nephews. He hurried to call him: “Deshui, fetch some water for me. I’m feeling queasy.”

The simplest solution for poisoning was to drink water.

After a shock, the boy immediately ran back to the village.

The world was spinning faster and faster. Roland struggled to take out his phone and tried to make an emergency call, when his head became dizzy and he fell into darkness.

After he didn’t know how long, Roland opened his eyes.

He saw a white ceiling, as well as a fan hanging there.

He looked around and saw iron bunks and white sheets. He also smelled intense disinfectants.

Ugh… I’m in the hospital again.

With a bitter smile, Roland was about to sit up when his mother came in. Seeing that Roland was up, she approached him and said angrily, “Don’t sit up. Just lie there.”

His mother seemed angry, but she was actually relieved.

Roland looked around again and saw nobody but himself in the ward. Also, there was an IV in his arm.

“What happened to me?

“You scared me.” His mother’s eyes were bloodshot. “Back in the village, Deshui ran to us and shouted that you passed out. We came to you and couldn’t wake you up. We called an ambulance and sent you to a hospital, but the doctor found nothing wrong after all the tests. He said that your symptoms are like those of oxygen intoxication and that you only need some rest.”

Oxygen intoxication? De-adaptation to high altitude?

Roland’s eyes widened. “It’s not like I came down from Mount Everest. Why would I get oxygen intoxication?”

“That’s what we said too.” His mother snorted. “But the doctor couldn’t find any illness after the examinations.”

Roland was lost for words.

At this point, Roland’s father came in with a male doctor.

Unemotionally, the doctor looked at Roland’s pupils, examined his tongue, and tested Roland’s body temperature, before he said, “It seems that you’re fine. Go back now. It’s only a waste of money if you stay here.”

Roland’s mother said worriedly, “Doctor, why don’t you let him stay here for the night. His illness was too weird.”

“We really can’t find any problem. It probably should only be oxygen intoxication. He’ll be fine after a few days’ rest. Staying here won’t make him recover faster.” The doctor left after he said that.

Having no choice, Roland checked out from the hospital with his family.

He didn’t feel much when he was in bed, but the moment he got up, he felt weak and dizzy.

It was past 21:00 after he returned home. Roland had some porridge and then crawled into the game cabin.

Soon, he fell asleep and entered the game.

In the game, he felt that his body was as strong as before, utterly unaffected by his weakness in reality.

“So, the soul is really not affected by the body?” Roland warmed himself up as he murmured to himself.

Then, he saw that people were talking in the guild system and the other guys of F6 were pinging him.

Schuck: “I saw the girl Li Lin mentioned. Her name is Night Tide Sands, right? She’s not bad at all.”

Brazil: “I think so too. She’s definitely going to make a great wife. Most importantly, she behaved normally when she saw Schuck.”

Husseret: “She’s beautiful and graceful, almost as good as Schuck’s wife.”

Raffel: “Keep it up, Roland. We’re expecting to celebrate your wedding in a year.”

Were they at the saber arts club this afternoon? Roland scratched his head and replied in the guild channel, “She doesn’t like me. Don’t talk as if we’re a couple!”

He then turned off the guild channel and found Vivian. “I’m traveling to Isnas later. You’re going to run the Magic Tower and the manor for me.”