Spatial Illness

The next morning.

The two members of the Ye Family were taking the high-speed rail back to their parents' home.

Ye Qing lay against his seat, looking completely dead inside.

"HAHAHA! You gave a kid a grilled sausage and got mistaken for a criminal and arrested? You're way too funny."

Ye Yuyan clutched her stomach and laughed without stopping. Not wanting to be too disruptive on the train, she held it in until tears welled up in her eyes.

"Do you know how much effort I went through to get out?" Ye Qing asked miserably, accusing her. "I called like crazy in the middle of the night, trying to find someone to vouch for me, but none of you three—neither you nor Mom and Dad—answered."

"So how did you get out?" Ye Yuyan asked curiously.

"With my silver tongue, after I painstakingly persuaded them..."

"That easy?"

"Then I called my buddy over to vouch for me."

"So you still couldn't get out on your own."

"I specifically dragged him out in the middle of the night to prove my innocence. I had to show some appreciation, so I can't watch BL with you next week." Ye Qing shrugged helplessly.

"Yes! Wild Boar Park!" Ye Yuyan corrected through gritted teeth.

"I promised Old Li I'd go see Magical Girl Detectives' stage play with him. I owed him one," Ye Qing explained.

"Magical Girl Detectives?" Ye Yuyan asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that famous magical girl group. They're putting on a stage play in Bailan City's central district next week. And I heard that national magical girl idol is coming here for a concert before long, too." Ye Qing spoke excitedly.

"You really do like magical girls," Ye Yuyan remarked with some feeling.

"In this world, people who don't like magical girls are the minority. They're practically heretics," Ye Qing replied.

From childhood, people were taught how wonderful magical girls were. In real life, they could even encounter magical girls and rely on their help.

Anyone who grew up in that environment yet didn't like magical girls should probably get their mental health checked.

This world's education about magical girls was perfectly adequate.

"Then... then you..." Ye Yuyan stammered. "Have you liked any of the new-generation magical girls lately?"

"Of course," Ye Qing replied without hesitation.

"Who?" Ye Yuyan turned and stared straight at Ye Qing with sparkling eyes.

"That loli magical girl from District 23, her name is..."

"Go die. Let the cops lock you back up." Ye Yuyan's tone instantly turned cold and merciless.

"What? I'm not into lolis. I also really like that mature magical girl from District 33—"

Before Ye Qing could finish, Ye Yuyan interrupted him again.

"Don't want to hear it, don't want to hear it! Is there no one from District 28? What about Bailan City?"

"Uh... uh..."

Ye Qing scratched his head awkwardly. Facing Ye Yuyan's murderous glare, he honestly gave his opinion. "There have indeed been some new-generation magical girls lately, but they barely have any exposure. I know who they are, but only to the extent of knowing their names, let alone liking them."

Magical girls were no different from ordinary idols; they needed exposure too.

They needed their achievements promoted, their public images marketed, television dramas, variety shows, advertisements, and so on, so that ordinary people could understand what they were like.

You couldn't possibly fully understand a magical girl's deeds and character just because she appeared out of nowhere once.

Even on the Magical Girl Forum, you could only find photos taken by passersby and bits of information about their exploits and heroic bearing.

If the media didn't make an effort, they couldn't enter the public eye.

In any case, magical girls didn't need to fear scandals. Their true natures were the best proof, and marketing their public images did more good than harm.

District 28's approach was far too restrained. Even without a crisis, they wouldn't let magical girls appear on variety shows. That was the difference brought about by different districts and different department heads.

"If I had to name one, Crimson Flame is pretty great. She's been very active lately." After thinking for a moment, Ye Qing picked the most active one.

"Hmph." Ye Yuyan snorted unhappily and stopped paying attention to Ye Qing.

What the...

She's mad again...

Girls are really hard to understand.

Completely baffled, Ye Qing lowered his head and started playing on his phone.

They got off the high-speed rail.

Each of them carried a bag of souvenirs, and they bought some fresh fruit along the way as the basic courtesy for going home.

There was nothing wrong with returning empty-handed to ask their parents for food, but Ye Qing and Ye Yuyan would have felt bad about it.

It wasn't as if they couldn't make it out in the world. Having grown up and still constantly asking for things would definitely leave a bitter feeling in their hearts.

Knock, knock...

With her free hand, Ye Yuyan knocked on the front door, while Ye Qing obediently carried the two bags of souvenirs in both hands.

The door opened. They had expected to see their cheerful mother, with their frail and sickly father beside her, warmly welcoming the siblings in as usual.

But the scene was vastly different from before. Father Ye no longer looked as weak as he had in the past, yet the exhaustion between his brows was impossible to hide.

"Dad, what happened?" Ye Yuyan's voice trembled, carrying a hint of tears.

"Come in first. We'll talk inside." Father Ye tried hard to smile, but his forced expression looked somewhat ugly.

Every month, Ye Qing and Ye Yuyan made time to visit their parents twice.

That meant this sudden change had happened within the past half month.

Ye Yuyan hurried after Father Ye into the room, while Ye Qing entered at a slower pace and familiarly placed the things they had brought on their usual spot on the floor.

Suppressing his unease, Ye Qing mentally prepared himself and stepped into Father Ye and Mother Ye's room.

Mother Ye lay weakly on the bed. With Ye Yuyan supporting her, she sat up against the headboard.

"Mom, what exactly happened?" Ye Yuyan asked, holding her mother's hand.

"Spatial Illness. Your mother has Spatial Illness," Father Ye said, explaining in detail. "We thought it was just a minor problem, but after the diagnosis these past two days, we found out it was Spatial Illness."

"How could that be? Couldn't you buy the medicine?" Ye Yuyan asked anxiously.

Spatial Illness was a disease unique to this world.

Spatial Rifts leaked unique elements from other worlds, and those elements were lethally harmful to certain people.

The outside world was unimaginably vast. There would always be Spatial Rifts that brought otherworldly atmospheres that made different groups of people uncomfortable and ill.

Put another way, it was like being unable to adapt to the local environment.

Only, the consequences of this inability to adapt were a little serious.

"Bailan City is temporarily out of stock of medicine that suppresses Spatial Illness. I heard it was sent to support other districts, while District 28's remaining Spatial Medicine isn't sold to the public. They said their limited supply can only be reserved for personnel who assist magical girls, as well as magical girls themselves, just in case. We simply can't buy any medicine right now, and we don't know whether this Spatial Illness will get worse." Father Ye truthfully described what had happened, his eyes already moist.

His wife had fallen ill, yet he could do nothing.

There was no greater helplessness or sorrow for an adult than that.

It was unfortunate—completely unfortunate. Only the worst possible luck could bring together so many coincidences into such a misfortune.

Ye Qing merely listened quietly from the doorway until he understood the general situation, then left the room.

He took out the ingredients they had bought to bring home.

He no longer cared what they would discuss in the room and went into the kitchen to begin cooking.

In just half an hour, he filled the table with dishes.

"Food's ready, food's ready! Nothing gets solved on an empty stomach. Eat first, then we'll talk." Ye Qing called out cheerfully.

Ye Yuyan anxiously helped Mother Ye out of bed, while Father Ye followed them out of the room.

All three had somewhat swollen, reddened eyes. Ye Qing took the initiative to pull out their chairs.

"Ta-da! I made Mom and Dad's favorite healthy dishes. It's been ages since I cooked—hard work, huh? Looks like I haven't lost my touch."

Ye Qing showed off the full table of food and slicked back his hair in an oily gesture.

"Pfft, you're so narcissistic, Little Qing. Just don't make it too salty or too bland and turn healthy vegetables into unhealthy vegetables for Mom and Dad," Ye Yuyan said with a soft laugh.

The heavy atmosphere eased somewhat.

Everyone took their seats. Ye Qing kept messing with Ye Yuyan, joking around at the table, and laughter occasionally rang out.

Simply drowning in sorrow would not solve anything; it would only add to the sadness.

A timely change of mood was better for both body and mind.

Besides, it wasn't time to despair yet.

Looking at his adoptive parents' smiling faces, Ye Qing silently thought so.