Ruan Shu eagerly went to find her grandfather, offering to help treat his Jingshen.
“Grandpa, let me try! Qiuqiu is really powerful!”
Holding his precious granddaughter, Ruan He couldn’t help but dote on her. “Qiuqiu? Who’s that?”
“It’s my Jingshen! Grandpa, let me tell you, my Jingshen is like a little ball with a tail, just like a tadpole. It’s super cute and loves to sleep and roll around on fluffy clouds.”
Why did Ruan He feel that the more he listened, the stranger it sounded?
“Wait, what did you say? What does your Jingshen look like? And what cloud?”
Ruan Shu blinked and decided to just draw it out on a piece of paper. Her drawing was spot-on, capturing the adorable little ball of Jingshen she saw in her mental sea perfectly.
She even drew the plump cloud, looking soft and inviting—perfect for lying down on.
Ruan He took the drawing and stared at it in silence.
This… this thing is Jingshen?
He looked at Ruan Shu, who looked back at him innocently. “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”
Ruan He: “…Nothing.”
This was a big problem. Whose Jingshen looks like this?!
“Hold on, let me call your brother.”
Better to get someone specialized to deal with this kind of issue!
While waiting for Ruan Qingran to arrive, he quietly accepted his adorable granddaughter’s Jingshen treatment.
The little ball extended itself, turning into tiny Jingshen tendrils, poking around and stretching out.
Once it understood its master’s intent, it patted its chest with confidence, promising it could handle such a minor task. Cleaning up dirty things was its specialty!
But as it approached the entrance of someone else’s mental sea, the Jingshen tendril, which had been so confident, suddenly shrank back in hesitation.
This little thing—it was always like this, making bold promises, but once it actually faced the task, it would get all timid and scared.
Ruan Shu had to coax it with encouraging words. Only then did the little creature enter her grandfather’s mental sea.
The moment it entered, the little ball was utterly shocked. It had never seen anything like this before—this mental sea was nearly blocked by filth!
Compared to today, yesterday’s task was nothing!
Ruan Shu saw it too, and her heart ached.
Her grandfather’s mental sea was terribly polluted, to the point that she couldn’t even see his Jingshen.
Ruan Shu was angry.
‘Little ball, go! Attack them!’
Her fierce, albeit childishly fierce, voice rang out in her mind. The little ball lifted its head and charged in, ready to fight!
Not only did it tackle the task on its own, but it also summoned its little followers to join in, devouring the filth as they went!
White specks of light gathered and emerged from Ruan Shu’s Jingshen tendril, immediately chasing down the polluted elements like a full-on brawl.
The polluted entities tried to fight back, but the white specks were their natural nemesis. Dare to resist? They’d devour you!
Under the continuous radiance and relentless assault of Ruan Shu’s Jingshen tendril on the filth, they finally carved a path through, and Ruan Shu could at last see her grandfather’s Jingshen threads.
What should have been a vast web of threads, like her brother’s, was now reduced to fewer than ten remaining “living” strands.
Even those that survived were barely holding on, not entirely polluted but on the brink of snapping.
Seeing this, Ruan Shu felt a pang of heartache. Her brother had told her that if Jingshen became completely polluted, the person would turn into a mindless beast.
She didn’t want her grandpa to become a beast!
With Ruan Shu’s determination, her Jingshen tendril, fear set aside, surged forward with a flood of milky-white specks.
More and more light dots gathered, flowing toward the Jingshen threads, devouring the polluted elements while simultaneously mending the damaged parts of the threads.
Ruan He felt a sudden jolt of warmth that flowed from his scalp to the depths of his soul. The healing process was not only painless but comfortingly soothing, leaving his entire being relaxed.
It was like soaking in a hot spring, even his Jingshen threads felt like they were being bathed in a warm, gentle bath.
He recalled his younger days, standing alongside the Empire’s warriors, fighting to protect the entire Star Beast Clan, fearless on the battlefield.
Though he was old now, he still wanted to return to the battlefield.
But he had been no match for the pollution of his Jingshen.
Against such pollution, no amount of strength could prevail.
As his Jingshen gradually withered, he had retired from the marshal’s position, becoming an ordinary old man.
No longer able to use his Jingshen, he quietly awaited the arrival of death.
Ruan He kept a gun with him at all times, ready to end things himself before he transformed into a mindless beast when his Jingshen was entirely drained.
He had resigned himself to this slow approach of death, never expecting that someone already halfway in the grave would encounter such a turning point.
Ruan He kept a careful eye on his granddaughter, prepared to stop her if things seemed amiss.
“That’s enough, Shushu.”
Ruan Shu retracted her Jingshen, feeling an overwhelming emptiness, as if her Jingshen had been completely drained.
Ruan He immediately took out a potion and fed it to her.
“This is a potion specifically for replenishing Jingshen.”
After drinking it, the small, drooping Jingshen ball in Ruan Shu’s mental sea perked up, sensing the taste of nourishment. It eagerly wagged its little tail, diving around to consume the “food” all around it.
Since it was the only Jingshen entity in the entire mental Sea, it didn’t have to worry about any competition.
It devoured joyfully.
The previously exhausted energy was gradually restored, and at last, it didn’t feel so tired.
Still, it needed a good rest.
So, the little Jingshen ball nestled back into the fluffy cloud and didn’t come out again.
Ruan Shu perked up a bit too.
“Grandpa, I’m fine. I feel much better now.”
“And how are you feeling?” she asked, her face full of concern.
Seeing her worried expression, Ruan He laughed heartily, though he was deeply touched inside.
He patted his adorable granddaughter’s soft hair. “Grandpa feels better than ever, all thanks to Shushu.”
Ruan Shu beamed, proud and happy that she could help her grandpa.
After drinking some milk juice and nibbling on fruit, she finally didn’t feel so drained.
By the time Ruan Qingran arrived, Ruan Shu was already back to making her felted wool dolls.
“Shushu.”
Ruan Shu looked up and set down her materials, hurrying over.
“Brother~”
Ruan Qingran picked her up. “Grandpa says your Jingshen takes the form of a ball. Is that how all your Jingshen looks?”
Ruan Shu blinked, “I only have one little Jingshen ball.”
“WHAT?!”
Ruan Qingran almost lost his balance. Only… only one strand of Jingshen?
No, according to his little cousin, it was just one Jingshen ball!
“You’ve checked carefully? There’s really only this one?”
Ruan Shu nodded. “I’ve checked, and I even asked the ball. It said it’s the only one.”
Ruan Qingran: …What do you mean, you even asked it?!