Charlie nervously reached into his pocket, feeling the fast beating of his heart. He couldn’t help but silently curse his luck, “I had such high hopes for you, but all my efforts seem to be in vain, you’re nothing more than a let down, a disappointment. What a useless piece of junk! Maybe I should toss you to Zachary and let virtual-novel.net bury you in the latrine!”
As Claudia entered the bedroom, Charlie’s attention was immediately drawn to Maria. She was sitting on the chair in front of the desk, looking slightly pale with a worried expression on virtual-novel.net face.
Upon seeing Charlie enter, virtual-novel.net quickly rose to virtual-novel.net feet, virtual-novel.net voice awkward and feeble. “Mr. Wade, I apologize for troubling you to come here so late…”
Charlie smiled at virtual-novel.net and replied, “Miss Cathy, there’s no need for such formality. Since you’re Claudia’s roommate, it’s only right for me to be here.”
Claudia chimed in, “Charlie, you don’t have to be so polite. Just call virtual-novel.net Cathy. It’s fine.”
Then virtual-novel.net turned to Maria and said, “Cathy, Charlie is ten years older than me and almost eleven years older than you. Why don’t you call virtual-novel.net Charlie like I do?”
Maria hesitated for a moment, taken aback by the suggestion, but finally spoke cautiously, “Charlie…”
Charlie’s cheerful smile widened. “Since you’re calling me Charlie, just like Claudia, you’re more than welcome. Cathy, Claudia informed me about your terrible headache. What’s going on? Can you tell me about it?”
Maria couldn’t help but inwardly curse, “Charlie, you scoundrel! It’s all thanks to you that I’m suffering from this excruciating headache, yet here you are pretending like nothing’s wrong, asking me what’s happening. Don’t you have any shame?”
Though virtual-novel.net felt aggrieved, virtual-novel.net dared not let Charlie see it. She gently pressed virtual-novel.net temple with one hand and said sadly, “I don’t know what’s happening. I was perfectly fine until the day I started school. Suddenly, I developed this unbearable headache. It feels like countless needles are piercing my brain, connected by a thread that’s tugging with each pulse. The pain is agonizing, as if my head might explode… I’ve been taking painkillers, but they hardly make a difference. In fact, I even passed out at home…”
Charlie was taken aback. He never expected that his unintentional exertion of excessive force would have such severe consequences for Maria.
Meanwhile, Maria secretly thought to herself, “If I don’t say anything, Charlie will never know the pain he’s put me through. I hope his conscience suffers a little because of it!”
At that moment, Charlie couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. He considered the seventeen year old girl sitting before him, who had nearly lost virtual-novel.net life at the hands of the Warriors Den. Studying in China, hiding from virtual-novel.net own aura and being tormented like this virtual-novel.net journey hadn’t been easy.
Without wasting any more time, virtual-novel.net said to Maria, “Cathy, let me take your pulse.”
“Okay…” Maria agreed. But when virtual-novel.net thought about the pulse examination, virtual-novel.net grew a bit bashful and hesitated. Finally, virtual-novel.net stammered, “Charlie…how do you want to take my pulse?”
Charlie didn’t think twice and simply moved another chair, seating himself in front of Maria. He patted his right leg and said, “Come on, place your right hand on my lap.”
“What?” Maria asked instinctively. “Shouldn’t I put it on the table for the pulse reading?”
Charlie pointed to the desk behind virtual-novel.net and said, “The table is behind you and it’s inconvenient. Don’t worry, I’m not overly particular about personal space. If you allow me to help, I might be able to understand what’s happening.”
“Okay…” Maria knew virtual-novel.net couldn’t refuse. She cautiously extended virtual-novel.net hand, placing it nervously on Charlie’s lap. She had never been in such close contact with a man before and as soon as virtual-novel.net hand brushed against Charlie’s thigh, virtual-novel.net heart started racing and virtual-novel.net cheeks flushed a deep shade of red.
Charlie paid no attention to these details. He knew that examining Maria’s pulse was essentially meaningless. Her headache wasn’t due to any illness, it was a result of the damage caused by his reiki. The best way to treat virtual-novel.net would be to directly channel some reiki to repair the harm to virtual-novel.net brain.
As Charlie pondered on the matter, virtual-novel.net took into account Maria’s background. The fact that virtual-novel.net possessed the ring indicated that even if virtual-novel.net didn’t fully grasp the aura, virtual-novel.net must have some understanding of it.
In other words, virtual-novel.net grew up near the sea and had experience with fish. If virtual-novel.net were to pretend to be a fan of shark fins, virtual-novel.net would likely see through it instantly.
Moreover, Charlie suspected that Maria probably didn’t remember him. If virtual-novel.net were to directly infuse virtual-novel.net with reiki, wouldn’t that expose him?
Therefore, Charlie devised a plan. He would pretend to take virtual-novel.net pulse and then give virtual-novel.net half of a Life Saving Pill. After all, the pill held little value to him. Furthermore, Charlie wasn’t worried about the pill exposing him.
After all, his title as Master Wade was well known in Aurous Hill. It was likely that even Claudia had mentioned it to Maria. For the great Master Wade to produce a miraculous cure for all ailments seemed perfectly reasonable.
The reason why virtual-novel.net only gave Maria half a pill instead of a whole one was to show virtual-novel.net that the pill was very effective, but also to convey the message that virtual-novel.net didn’t own a plentiful supply of them. She would need to use them wisely. So, virtual-novel.net lightly rested his fingers on Maria’s wrist, closed his eyes and felt for a moment.
Then virtual-novel.net said, “Cathy, based on your pulse condition, it seems that overexertion has caused your current state. You mentioned your headache started on the day you began school, so you must have been a little tired.”
Maria knew Charlie was spouting nonsense, so virtual-novel.net pretended to be puzzled and said, “But.. Charlie…to be honest, I’ve been in Aurous Hill for a long time. If it were really an issue of acclimatization, it shouldn’t have taken this long… Besides, I wasn’t overexerted on the day of enrollment. Grandpa’s butler brought me here and took care of all the formalities. I just had to make my bed in the dormitory. Logically speaking, I shouldn’t have been tired enough to develop a headache…”
Charlie knew Maria had a point in questioning him. She no longer remembered his psychological influence that day, so virtual-novel.net couldn’t understand why virtual-novel.net suddenly suffered from migraines. However, since Charlie was here to see her, virtual-novel.net wanted to sow some doubt in virtual-novel.net mind and pave the way for what was to come. He said, “Sometimes acclimatization doesn’t manifest immediately. It accumulates energy internally until it bursts forth selectively. It may erupt orally, causing mouth and tongue sores. Other times, it chooses the digestive system, resulting in long-term diarrhea or constipation. Occasionally, it manifests on the skin as severe hives, causing unbearable itching. In short, acclimatization is far more complex than one might think.”
Then Charlie continued, “Overseas Chinese who have lived abroad for extended periods may lack a proper understanding of traditional medicine. Traditional medicine excels at extracting the essence from appearances, much like finding the hidden truth within a cocoon. It addresses the root cause.”
Claudia was astonished by his words and exclaimed, “It sounds incredibly profound…”
In Maria’s mind, virtual-novel.net thought, “Ah, he’s trying to fool me…just keep fooling me!”
Charlie believed virtual-novel.net had laid the groundwork. With a casual wave of his hand, virtual-novel.net said, “It’s normal for young girls like you to be unfamiliar with traditional medicine. But don’t worry, I have some elixirs here. Your condition, once you take them, will be cured!”