The Strange Illness

"Dad, Mom, I'm home!"

The guards at the entrance had meant to stop Xie An, but when they saw him and heard what he said, they hurriedly called out, "Old Master, wonderful news! The Temple Master is back! The Temple Master is back!"

Xie An's parents soon heard the commotion and came to wait for him at the doorway.

"Son, you're home! You're home! Mom will make your favorite meat pies."

Xie An's father was rather quiet. The two of them strolled around the courtyard together.

Following the few scattered impressions in his mind, Xie An tried to find something familiar in the Xie Family.

Unfortunately, a hundred years had passed, and the Xie Family had long since changed beyond recognition.

The room he had lived in a century ago was the closest to his memories, and even that was only seven or eight tenths the same.

Xie An shook his head with some regret and said to his father, "The house has changed quite a bit."

"Mm. The clan leader sent people to renovate it. Every year for the holidays, he sent over a heap of things, but I turned them down. What brings you back this time?"

Xie An shook his head. "It's nothing. I just felt like coming back for a look."

Remembering the system's task, Xie An asked his father, "Oh, right. Is there a child named Xie Xie in the family?"

Xie An's father thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I do remember him. I think he's from the second branch. He seems to have awakened Twin Martial Souls, but his father is away from home most of the time, and his mother is seriously ill."

Xie An confirmed that this was indeed the Xie Xie from the original story. After dinner, he said goodbye to his parents, thinking he should go see the future member of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Xie Xie was now a boy of seven or eight, looking after his sick mother by the bed.

"Mother, don't worry. I have Twin Martial Souls, and the family thinks highly of me. When I grow stronger, I'll find the best healing-type Soul Master on the continent to cure you."

The boy's mother looked like a middle-aged beauty. Though her face was unmistakably sickly, she still smiled gently at her son's words. "All right. My Xie Xie is such a good boy. You'll find a healing-type Soul Master for Mom one day."

Young Xie Xie didn't notice the weakness in his mother's voice or realize she was close to death. He continued excitedly telling her about what had happened that day.

"There's something wrong with your mother's illness."

Xie An pushed open the door and entered. The two inside stared at the unfamiliar man in surprise. Xie Xie's mother, still struggling to sit up, asked uncertainly, "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Xie An," he replied.

"Mom, Mom! He looks exactly like the portrait in the Ancestral Hall!" Xie Xie exclaimed excitedly.

Xie Xie's mother hurriedly struggled to pay her respects. "Greetings, War God Temple Master."

At his mother's prompting, Xie Xie bowed as well.

[ Ding! System task complete. ]

[ Subsequent functions unlocked. ]

"May I ask how you came to be ill? I know longing can sometimes cause illness, but yours clearly wasn't caused by longing."

Xie An gestured for them to rise and asked.

"I wouldn't dare deceive you, Temple Master. I became ill from missing my son's father. Later, the first branch sent me a new medicine from the Spirit Pagoda. They said it could suppress longing. It didn't cure me, but my condition didn't get any worse either."

The middle-aged beauty answered respectfully.

With his spiritual power, Xie An could tell that Xie Xie's mother hadn't improved at all. In fact, her condition had grown more severe.

If anything, it seemed like morphine from his previous life: it dulled the pain, but did nothing to treat the illness.

"Medicine that suppresses emotions? Interesting. I didn't realize the Spirit Pagoda had started researching that already."

"I wonder if Evil Soul Masters were involved. Never mind, I'd better investigate."

Xie An murmured to himself. His figure vanished from the room as he used the power of his Half-God Position to cure Xie Xie's mother and extract the remaining medicinal effects from her body.

The two in the room exchanged bewildered looks. Half a quarter of an hour later, Xie Xie was delighted to see his mother's cheeks flush with color, her sickly pallor gone.

"Mom, you're better!?"

Xie An hovered above Eastsea City. He didn't inspect the system right away. His vast spiritual power swept over every corner of the city like an invisible tide.

Before long, he found something suspicious in the West City Underground Black Market: the same medicine Xie Xie's mother had taken was being sold there in secret.

After using it, many unemployed drifters first became listless, then extremely agitated.

"Hey, how much are you selling that medicine for?" Xie An suppressed his aura and appeared beside the vendor in an instant.

"Five thousand Federal Coins, take it or leave it. You can also pay with rare metals like Mithril."

Xie An was about to ask more when a middle-aged man behind him tugged at his sleeve and sent him a telepathic message.

Which family's young master are you? Don't touch that stuff. It's addictive. Got too comfortable a life, have you? The Spirit Pagoda is involved in this. You want to get yourself killed? Hurry up and leave.

Xie An sensed no malice from the man, so he let himself be led away.

"What family are you from, kid? You look no older than twenty. How dare you come to a place like the black market?"

Once they reached a secluded spot, the man finally stopped and turned to Xie An, scolding him.

Xie An looked extremely young. He wore no gold or silver, but his clothes were still beyond the means of an ordinary person. He also lacked the caution typical of underworld folk. The man assumed he had to be some rich young master out for a thrill.

"I heard from a few friends that there's some unusual stuff for sale here, so I thought I'd come try it."

The middle-aged man was even more certain of his guess. The kid was obviously some young master who'd come to buy a little something after being egged on by his troublemaking friends.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't just try something like that!" The middle-aged man pointed at several homeless people huddled in a nearby street corner. "See those drifters? Most of them ended up that way because they took that medicine."

The middle-aged man paused, then lowered his voice. "Besides, the Spirit Pagoda may be behind the medicine. It might even have something to do with the War God Temple Master."

Xie An frowned, thinking, How did I end up being the one this gossip is about?

"Could you explain how this involves the Spirit Pagoda, or even the War God Temple Master?"

The middle-aged man waved his hand without answering. His expression was stern as he said, "Stop asking, kid. Go home and focus on cultivating. Knowing about some things won't do you any good."

"When you're out in the world, don't believe everything people tell you. The world isn't as beautiful as the books make it seem."

The middle-aged man clasped his hands behind his back, putting on the air of a wise elder.

"Do you have any evidence for what you're saying? The Spirit Pagoda serves the people of the Douluo Continent. How could it be involved in something like this?"

Xie An pretended to be a hotheaded young man and asked indignantly.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't have proof. I once saw someone from the Spirit Pagoda deliver this medicine to the Xie Family. And what is the Xie Family? It's the family of the War God Temple Master!"

The middle-aged man stopped there.

"Ah, why am I telling you all this? Go home. Knowing too much is dangerous."