In the dim isolation ward, Lu Qi gritted his teeth, controlling himself not to attack the tiny fairy.
His mental power was unstable, and the small snake's form fluctuated in size, with blood still slowly seeping from between its scales.
Alice hovered in mid-air with her eyes closed, hands stretched forward, brows furrowed, with beads of sweat constantly dripping from her forehead.
Her mental power struggled to enter Lu Qi's mental sea, like a small boat sailing on a turbulent, thunder-and-lightning-filled ocean.
The power of the sea was dangerous and strong; once out of control, it would lead to a point of no return.
Lu Qi's own mental power was extremely powerful, one of the rare S-class.
Alice's mental power strength was also S-class.
Theoretically, such same-level mental power guidance shouldn't be this difficult.
Alice had guided S-class mental power individuals before, but had never encountered a situation like this.
Not only was it difficult to pass through Lu Qi's mental power barrier, even simple guidance inside was extremely challenging.
She would quickly be ejected from the mental sea.
There was no way to achieve deep, thorough guidance.
And what Lu Qi needed most right now was deep, thorough guidance.
Alice was experienced; she knew this situation was caused by the patient's extremely high vigilance and resistance to her.
Mental power guidance requires the other party to completely trust and open their mental sea to be effective.
This was actually the second mental power guidance session.
In the first session, Alice had tried several times before entering Lu Qi's mental sea barrier.
And this time... there was no improvement at all!
It was even harder to enter than last time.
Alice opened her eyes, her violet pupils reflecting the image of the Singing Snake: "General Lu Qi, your resistance makes it impossible for me to guide you."
"You could try trusting me."
Also, please have a stronger desire to live.
As a mental power guide, Alice was more sensitive to patients' emotions and desires.
The powerful Singing Snake before her had a heart as still as dead water, with an indifferent attitude towards treatment.
Such a psychological state was all harm and no benefit for mental power guidance.
Suddenly, Alice felt a brief pain in her mind.
She knew her mental power connection with Lu Qi had been severed.
Lu Qi's voice, panting heavily, came through the darkness: "I'm sorry, could you please leave for now..."
He was losing control a bit.
Alice looked at the Singing Snake with pity for a few seconds and said softly, "Alright."
As she turned, her gaze lingered for a second on the box on the table labeled "Perfect Sweets Shop".
The isolation ward door opened a crack, and the fairy fluttered out on glowing wings.
Then the door closed.
As if shackles had been released, the Singing Snake writhed in pain, rolling from the bed to the floor.
The Singing Snake's massive body slammed against the sturdy walls, leaving deep impact marks.
Its long, flexible tail thrashed about wildly, making a mess of the room's facilities.
Yet it never touched the sweet box in the corner.
White scales, like faintly glowing gems, scattered on the floor, along with fire-red feathers that had fallen from its wings, landing in the now empty sweet box.
Lu Qi knew Alice's guidance was effective.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have reacted this way.
But such treatment was painful.
He needed to constantly restrain himself, to avoid attacking the mental power guide like before.
This was a fairy, not a thick-skinned beast person.
If the fairy were injured or killed, it would become an issue between two countries.
Just as Alice said, he couldn't trust anyone.
The weather in Kashida had become increasingly stuffy these past two days; Mimi said it was because the rainy season was approaching.
The sky was no longer cloudless as before; occasionally a few clouds would linger, blocking the fierce sunlight and casting patches of shade on the ground.
The Perfect Sweets Shop had slightly fewer customers than before.
They say everyone's gone to stock up on supplies.
Cats don't like rain. Many beast people choose to stock up at home in advance and apply for work-from-home to get through the long rainy season.
Yun Manman even encountered many feline beast people coming to the shop to pack up loads of sweets.
After her kind reminder that "refrigerated items can only be preserved for three days, absolutely no more than five days," these beast people collectively put on their dejected cat faces.
Even their ear-like hair and tails drooped, becoming listless.
Some beast people came to ask questions like "Will the shop be open during the rainy season?" and "Will delivery services be suspended?"
They left satisfied only after receiving Yun Manman's affirmative answers.
Beast people accustomed to daily sweets couldn't do without the sweet shop anymore.
They couldn't imagine how to endure the dull, long rainy season without these sweet flavors.
Yun Manman had to work overtime urgently, dragging Yin Qian along to make many easy-to-preserve small desserts, such as cookies, egg rolls, and various small biscuits.
Sales were excellent.
After softening the butter, adding powdered sugar and light cream, beating it until fluffy and white, then adding flour and mixing evenly with a scraper, she piped it onto baking trays using a piping bag.
The piping tips were cut by Yun Manman from discarded metal sheets, producing particularly nice shapes.
The baked cookies were golden, with a rich buttery aroma, crispy and crumbly - perfect snacks to satisfy cravings.
The entire sweet shop was filled with the overwhelming scent of butter, making every customer who entered unable to help but swallow hard.
Yun Manman's hands were tired from squeezing the piping bag.
Another day dominated by cookies. (╥﹏╥)
"Excuse me, are you the owner of the Perfect Sweets Shop?"
A girl's soft voice and the sound of fluttering wings rang out near Yun Manman's ear.