Chapter 172 - Deepened Connection
The trip to Earth began in the middle of the night and ended on the next day, exactly at the same time. So, their surroundings were almost pitch black, save for the light from the lanterns hung at equidistant places.
The operation theatre had already been brightly lit thanks to all the lanterns the servant Sii had lit. it wasn\'t anything spectacular. There was a large granite slab in the centre, rectangular in shape, big enough for even the tallest in their Clan to lay with enough space above his head and below his feet.
There was a table set aside, and placed atop it was an array of tools, mostly Magic Artifacts that she used on a daily basis. The operation theatre had a set of tools necessary to do a variety of procedures. So, Mu\'Tua didn\'t need to bring anything of her own.
As the operation theatre could only be used after obtaining permission from the Clan Head, there wasn\'t any worry of the Magic Artifacts inside getting stolen. Besides, stealing them had no practical use. They couldn\'t be wielded to fight, and even if they were sold, no one would buy in fear of offending the Mu Clan.
As Re\'Kha lay flat on the granite slab, Mu\'Tua stood beside, nodding once at the servant who moved to the back and pulled out a certain apparatus. The apparatus had a crane, attached to a large rectangular plate.
Rollers were attached to the platform under the crane, used to move it all over the place. And finally, attached to the rectangular plate were soft glowing stones that emitted a gentle blue radiance. There were the same that had been embedded on the walls in the chamber that lead to the portal to Earth.
Almost a hundred had been embedded in the small plate, causing it to emit a beam of gentle blue light onto the rectangular slab on which Re\'Kha lay. Moreover, the rectangular plate wasn\'t flat but was slightly convex, allowing the light to shine everywhere, giving Mu\'Tua greater visibility for her inspection and possible operation.
If she couldn\'t see properly, then she wouldn\'t be able to do a proper job of treating Re\'Kha. Besides, performing surgery while depending on the light from the lantern was foolish. The light it emitted usually created patches of darkness as most of the fabric and other materials had a tendency to absorb the light it emitted.
That was why Mu\'Tua depended on the stones for illumination. The light it produced wasn\'t absorbed by most materials, making it perfect for the task. Besides, it didn\'t require any fuel to emit light.
"Be ready to assist me, whenever necessary," Mu\'Tua said to Sii who immediately grabbed hold of a palm-sized plate and stood ready. The plate was embedded with around ten stones that glowed the same as the others.
She was supposed to use the plate to light up the sides of the areas Mu\'Tua inspected. This way, all bases would be covered. Moreover, she was also ready to pick up any tool and give it to Mu\'Tua when necessary. Having accompanied her on numerous occasions throughout her life, the servant Sii was well-versed in her job.
"Let\'s perform a basic check now," Mu\'Tua said as she took a needle-shaped Magic Artifact and pierced it through the feet of Re\'Kha, activating it as she seeped in her Water Qi. She first inspected her meridians.
Upon noticing nothing amiss in it, she pierced the needle in another place on the foot, seeping her Water Qi into a blood vessel. She formed a network using her Water Qi, trying to sense for any impurities in her blood and other parts of her body using the blood vessel as the medium of transportation.
Finally, her tinge of Water Qi reached her eyes, getting blocked by a cloud of Ghost Qi, one that was even denser than before. Moreover, it also seemed sentient, immediately pouncing on her Water Qi and destroying it.
As she had seeped in her Water Qi while using the needle-shaped Magic Artifact as a medium, Mu\'Tua hadn\'t taken any damage in the frontal assault. Without any hesitation, she continued pouring in her Water Qi, gently steering it towards her eyes once again.
The Ghost Qi pounced upon it once again, destroying it. And, the way it destroyed the Water Qi while taking the least damage basically confirmed the level of its sentience; it was pretty developed.
\'This is bad, it has developed significantly as compared to before. A visit to Earth hasn\'t severed the connection, rather, the fear she experienced while in there had been converted into Ghost Qi in her body. And, all of them have accumulated in her eyes.\' Mu\'Tua sighed as her expression collapsed, replaced by a feeling of sadness and regret.
"I caused you harm," Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Your trip to Earth has actually worsened the development of the Ghost Qi in your eyes. The fear you experienced there has accumulated in you, turned into Fear Qi when it had accumulated enough, and was later turned into Ghost Qi by the Ghost Qi left in your eyes. Because of this, your connection with the Blinded Ghost had strengthened instead."
"Then," Re\'Kha frowned, "Isn\'t this for the better? We can use this opportunity to lure it towards me."
"If only that was easy," Mu\'Tua sighed, "But, I guess you should be able to sense its position the moment it appears within a certain range. That is based on the documents I had read over the past few days."
"That\'s great then," Re\'Kha nodded "I still have hope to reclaim my eyes if that is the case."
"Will you be able to return on your own?" After retracting the needle-shaped Magic Artifact, Mu\'Tua sighed, "I will go and talk with the Clan Head now. The two of us will try to devise a plan to make sure the Blinded Ghost cannot possess you. We have already thought of the process based on historical documents compiled by our predecessors. We\'ll finalise it in a couple of days and get back to you."
"Thank you, Grandma." Re\'Kha smiled, trying to cheer up the other party as she began to walk towards their house, "You\'ve been a lot of help to me."