Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

...

Outside the bedroom of a requisitioned noble mansion at Thistlefort.

Chaoyang, Ailuodi, and Xue Quan were quietly waiting in the corridor. At around eleven o’clock at night, the door finally opened, and several doctors wearing white coats came out. The lead doctor took off his mask and nodded to the three people looking over, "It’s finished, the surgery went better than expected."

"Thank you for your hard work, Chief Chen," Xue Quan thanked him repeatedly.

"You’re too kind, it’s our duty to ensure the completion of tasks entrusted to us by the organization, no matter how difficult it may be," the doctor, referred to as Chief Chen, humbly replied.

These individuals were all professional doctors called in from the Disease Prevention Center, reportedly top-notch surgeons from the military hospital. Judging from the results, they indeed lived up to their reputation.

Without any electronic monitoring equipment, relying solely on experience for the administration of the anesthesia, and with only oil lamps for illumination, performing major surgery under such conditions was, if not as difficult as reaching the heavens, at least extremely challenging.

"How is the patient now?" Chaoyang asked.

Although Chief Chen could not discern the young man’s origins, the fact that he stood alongside Comrade Xue Quan suggested his importance, "The anesthesia has not worn off yet, but her heartbeat and blood pressure are normal. We will also leave an anesthesiologist here in case of any emergencies. From the injury, her chest was penetrated from the back, there were blood clots in the lungs, but fortunately, there was no pneumothorax. I can only say this person is incredibly lucky; the back muscles tightly squeezed the arrow shaft, creating a relatively sealed environment. I have performed thousands of surgeries, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a case."

"In summary, as long as there’s no infection of the wound afterwards, the patient is highly likely to recover. Of course... her movements might be impacted to some extent, depending on her recovery."

Is it good luck? Chaoyang didn’t think so.

It must have been Shandela’s instinctive response, honed over years of training, that caused her to tighten her back muscles upon being struck by the arrow, preventing the wound from worsening. This was the ability of a master warrior; an ordinary person would likely have died on the spot.

"Thank you. May we go in to see her?"

"Of course, just taking a look should be fine."

Upon receiving affirmation from the doctor, Chaoyang and Ailuodi walked into the bedroom together. The room was obviously somewhat stuffy, with nearly fifty oil lamps arranged around, and despite the windows being opened for ventilation, the warm air would not dissipate quickly. Shandela lay on the hard bed in the center of the room, her eyes tightly closed, her complexion somewhat pale.

"Don’t worry, her life force is still strong, she won’t die anytime soon," Ailuodi said after observing for a moment, "Don’t forget, she was badly injured by the seaweed monster back at Magnificent Castle and was able to move freely after only a week."

"Yeah, it’s good that you’re here," Chaoyang responded instinctively.

Calling on an angel wasn’t just about monitoring vital signs; in case the anesthesia failed and the patient woke up prematurely, Ailuodi could use her singing to "mentally hypnotize" them, forcibly calming them down to avoid more severe consequences.

Fortunately, the doctors were highly experienced, and this situation did not occur.

He did not notice that his remark made Ailuodi unconsciously cover her mouth.

"Ahem... By the way, was Miss Sandeila chased here by the rebels?" the angel changed the subject, "I remember she went to the Royal Capital with that colonel, right?"

"Logically, that would be the case, but I questioned the eyewitnesses, and they all confirmed that Sandeila had come from the north."

"From the north?" Ailuodi thought about it; that area was covered by vast, uncultivated forests with only two dirt roads leading to towns outside the forest area, hardly a route one would take from the Royal Capital.

"The route from Thistlefort to Shengxia can be taken by train or by hitching a ride with a merchant’s caravan. But her shoe soles are covered in mud, clearly indicating she ran the entire way. Perhaps something happened that forced her to flee from the north."

"Eew, did you seriously examine her shoes?" Ailuodi said with disdain.

"Indeed, on second thought, that wasn’t necessary. I have a more straightforward and direct method to uncover the truth. It works even if she is asleep."

"You mean the Dream Entering Technique?" the other quickly realized.

"Exactly." Chaoyang extended his hand and placed it on Shandela’s head—he had an inkling that she must have encountered some urgent affair, something that compelled her to make her way to Thistlefort despite her injuries. If it were just her identity being exposed and being pursued by Duke Longjiu, she would likely prefer dying outside rather than bringing trouble upon Paradise, "Do you want to join me?"

"Fine, I suppose I’ll reluctantly accompany you," the angel shrugged and placed her hand on top of Chaoyang’s, "Just to make sure you don’t wander around someone’s memory and see things you shouldn’t."

What did she mean by things you shouldn’t see? Chaoyang rolled his eyes; she didn’t think the Dream Entering Technique could peer into bathing and sleeping memories, did she? The brain wouldn’t remember such trivial matters.

"Whoosh..."

The two heard the sound of waves crashing against rocks.

"Oh, isn’t she from inland?" Ailuodi raised an eyebrow, "Seems like she quite likes the sea."

Shandela’s memory maze was a lighthouse standing in the sea, below were rugged cliffs, the waves striking these stones back and forth, as if they would never calm down. This scene reminded Chaoyang of Magnificent Castle’s Distant View Tower, which was also Shandela’s place of work. However, the Distant View Tower backed onto a defense camp and was closely connected to land, whereas this lighthouse stood isolated above the vast sea, exuding an overwhelming loneliness.

"She may not realize that the time spent at Magnificent Castle is the main part of her life experience," Chaoyang said softly. He descended to the top of the tower with an Angel and then down the internal staircase. This journey didn’t face much resistance, on the contrary, the lighthouse seemed to be guiding them forward... The inside of the tower was very clean and tidy, with a brightly burning torch every half level, illuminating their path ahead.

It was unclear whether Shandela’s mental defenses were lower, or if she didn’t mind having visitors.

Reaching the bottom of the tower, the memory fragments here were quite clear, indicating they were formed recently.

The two saw a city hidden among mountains shrouded in a blizzard and heavy snowfall.

"Does the Old Continent still have places like this?" Ailuodi said in surprise.

In her memory, humans naturally resisted the cold, the higher the altitude, the less developed it was, and it would be remarkable to even have villages, but the city spread before her eyes was not at all inferior to Magnificent Castle...

No, in terms of scale, it should be much greater.

Next was a grand banquet. Various characters took turns making appearances, but due to the constraints of memory, it was difficult to identify who these people were, they could only be sure of one thing, that Shandela was not a prisoner brought here against her will, but a guest of honor.

Then a familiar-looking woman flashed by. Chaoyang quickly remembered, he had met her once before.

Was that her old friend, Elise Ben?

At that moment, Ryan also appeared in Shandela’s memory—even though the image was still blurry, Chaoyang could recognize the lieutenant colonel from the Kingdom Army. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Looks like they were still together." Ailuodi remarked, "Then why did only Miss Sandeila end up running to Thistlefort in the end?"

Chaoyang shook his head and continued into the next segment of memory.

The scene swiftly retreated backward, the owner of the memory navigating through alleys—she occasionally looked back, the snow-covered city walls growing more distant from her. But someone was chasing her, the black figure’s faint silhouette illuminated by the moonlight.

"Damn, she just ran away? There’s no process in between at all..." Ailuodi frowned.

Chaoyang also felt puzzled; just a moment ago in her memory, she was a guest, so why was she fleeing for her life in the next? There must have been a major turning point in between, so why were there no vivid memories left in the memory maze?

Could he have missed something?

Shandela ran frantically until the snowy mountains were completely behind her, the surroundings once again becoming lush and verdant.

Just then, the memory abruptly shifted, returning to the city! And this time, the scene was much clearer, and they even heard voices!

"With the right method... even divinities can perish!"

"Remember this, my name is Kokomoqi, the Magic Goddess born from the realm of nothingness."

"Thistlefort has fallen! We must retaliate!"

"This is the only chance to stop the war."

"... Be careful on the road."

The memory segments they had already seen reappeared, this abnormal phenomenon deeply astonished Chaoyang! Theoretically, memory segments are arranged in chronological order, the earlier it is, the newer it should be. After all, it’s not possible to go back in time, so experiences shouldn’t be repeated twice!

Ailuodi suddenly showed a gentle expression, "I understand now. During the last period of time, she kept recalling those previous memories, turning them into new ones, which is why this happened. I guess it must not have been easy. She needed to replay them over and over in her mind for the brain to accept these intentionally created memories."

"Why would she do that?" Chaoyang was puzzled.

"Because Miss Shandela has seen you use the Dream Entering Technique," the Angel said. "That way, even if she was fatally injured, she could still pass the message on."