"Right." Lin Qiye seemed to remember something. "Will the original body know what happens to this projection?"
"No. Although they came from the same soul, they cannot communicate with each other. Only if this projection dies will the original body know it has disappeared, but it will not know exactly what happened."
"That's good." Lin Qiye nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Merlin."
"It's nothing." Merlin smiled faintly.
He raised a hand and pressed it into the air. A dark crimson Magic Array rapidly took shape before him. A terrifying pressure of unknown origin descended upon the room, as though some existence had cast its gaze here—cold and eerie.
"Abyssal Magic belongs to the forbidden lineage and specializes in souls. You should leave first, or the power from the abyss might accidentally hurt you." As Merlin conducted the ritual for the Abyssal Magic, he spoke to Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye nodded, pushed open the door, and walked down the stairs into the courtyard. Li Yifei was standing beside Nyx, holding that day's medicine.
Seeing Lin Qiye emerge from the room, Li Yifei asked curiously,
"What happened?"
"Nothing. A rat got into the Psychiatric Hospital, and Merlin is teaching him a lesson." Lin Qiye waved a hand.
"Oh..." Li Yifei seemed somewhat disappointed. "A Zhu told me you tricked another kid—cough, cough—another orderly into coming here. I thought the workload might finally ease up. And that kid A Zhu isn't too bright; he can't even figure out mahjong. Why don't you pick a smarter one next time?"
Lin Qiye: ...
After saying that, Li Yifei furtively leaned closer to Lin Qiye and whispered, "I'm telling you, a couple days ago... I broke through to the 'River' realm."
Lin Qiye froze. "You broke through? What did you do?"
Li Yifei