"What do you mean, something in his hands?"
The group sat together as Paimon munched on a little cake, mumbling her question to Zhongli through a mouthful.
Unable to stand the mess on her face, Lin Ze pulled a tissue from the table and gently wiped the cream off her cheeks.
Zhongli lifted the porcelain cup on the table, skimmed the foam off his tea, took a sip, and began slowly:
"If I am not mistaken, Doctor Strange had objects made of metal or minerals inside his hands during the treatment. Those foreign objects obstructed the healing effect of Barbara's song."
"Her song restored the damaged nerves, but the pathways that should have been formed by his own body were occupied by those foreign objects. The surging healing power forced the rapidly regenerating nerves to squeeze in and reclaim their places. Had Barbara not stopped quickly enough, this gentleman's hands might have been 'burst apart from within.'"
!!!
"Oh my goodness... Mr. Stephen, I'm so sorry..."
Zhongli's explanation left Barbara even more dejected.
"Barbara..."
Paimon quietly pushed her cake toward Barbara and comforted her softly. "You didn't want this to happen either, Barbara. It was just an unfortunate coincidence."
"But..."
Barbara wanted to say more, but Lin Ze stopped her. "One failure is all right. At least we found the problem. Mr. Stephen, what exactly did they put inside your hands?"
"Steel pins, bridging hardware, and various other things."
Stephen had never expected the materials originally used to treat him to become the greatest obstacle to his recovery.
"I tried all sorts of things to restore my ligaments and nerves."
The man lowered his head and sighed. "If that's really what's preventing Pastor Barbara from treating my hands, then... then I'll have everything inside them removed!"
"Mr. Stephen, you..."
His