I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 537: Chapter 534: Healing Space

”What is this place?”

After passing through the flickering ball of light, Mo Ling found himself amidst a patch of blood-red flowers. Dark clouds filled the sky, locking dense moisture within their oppressive layers and making the air incredibly heavy. ℯℯ𝘭.

The patch of flowers wasn’t very large, and in the center of the crimson blooms stood that same withered body.

The moment Mo Ling arrived, the ball of light on the withered body’s head focused on him once again.

”Who are you?” a questioning voice emerged from within the ball of light.

It was a strange language, like the random plucking of strings, yet Mo Ling could somehow understand it.

’But how could this withered body have discovered me?’

Mo Ling looked down and realized that at some point, he had turned into his block-person form again.

’No wonder I was discovered.’

But why did he turn into a block person upon entering this space? Mo Ling thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. He decided not to answer and simply walked slowly toward the body.

”Were you sent by the Elder Council?” the withered body suddenly asked as Mo Ling approached.

’Elder Council? What’s that?’ Mo Ling had no idea, so he could only remain silent.

But the withered body didn’t seem wary of Mo Ling, allowing him to walk right up to its side.

”I seem to have failed...” it said to Mo Ling, a hint of dejection in its voice.

”How did you fail?” Mo Ling asked in return.

The withered body didn’t answer, simply pointing a finger toward the edge of the flower patch.

”You see, the flower patch seems to keep spreading outward. Propagation is the flowers’ instinct, and the wind will carry their pollen everywhere. I cannot cure such a ’sickness,’ nor can I convince myself that this is a ’sickness’ at all.”

’Sickness? The flowers spreading is a sickness?’ Mo Ling was completely baffled.

”Why would the flowers spreading be a sickness?” Mo Ling retorted. ”Don’t flowers naturally bloom more and more?”

Hearing Mo Ling’s words, the ball of light on the withered body’s head flickered.

”You are correct... But if the spread of the flowers isn’t curbed, they will encroach upon the living space of other creatures. They will be treated as a plague that spreads unchecked.”

”My only choice was to prevent them from getting water, so the flowers wouldn’t grow. But I always felt there was something wrong with this...”

The withered body looked at its own palm, lost in confusion.

”So you just don’t want the flowers to grow outside this patch, is that it?” Mo Ling finally understood.

”Yes.”

”And you’re agonizing over this?” Mo Ling asked, looking at the eccentric withered body with bewilderment.

”Yes. Do you have a solution? As long as it rains, the flowers will keep spreading outward, and I don’t want them to spread outward.”

Hearing this, Mo Ling suddenly recalled the dark clouds he had seen earlier.

’Could this withered figure standing before me be the culprit behind the drought on Hundred Flowers Island? It stopped the rain just to prevent the flowers from spreading?’

”Their pollen is carried far away by the wind. The moment it touches water, it grows everywhere,” the withered body said, troubled.

”Then build a greenhouse. Enclose them.”

”A greenhouse?”

”Yeah, like a plastic cover...”

Mo Ling went to great lengths to explain what a greenhouse was.

After hearing Mo Ling’s explanation, the withered body grew excited, but its mood quickly soured again. ”It’s no use. I don’t have the materials. That kind of plastic is something only humans have.”

’That’s true. Who knows what the hell this place is? Where would I find construction materials for a greenhouse for you...’

Mo Ling thought for a moment, then asked, ”Do these flowers need sunlight?”

”No,” the withered body replied.

”Then it’s simple. You don’t need plastic. Just find some dirt, build a wall, and surround these flowers completely. As long as you build it high enough, no pollen will escape.”

”But there’s no soil here either...” the withered body said helplessly.

”No soil?”

Mo Ling quickly looked at the ground and discovered that the ”soil” beneath the flowers was just a blurry coagulation, like an illusion pieced together from afterimages.

”What the hell kind of place is this? It doesn’t even have soil?” Mo Ling couldn’t help but complain.

”Isn’t this how a Healing Space is supposed to be? There is only the patient, us, and the manifestation of the disease.”

”Healing Space?” Mo Ling quickly looked around, then glanced up at the sky.

Only then did he realize that aside from himself, the withered body, and the blood-red flowers, everything here was an illusion pieced together from afterimages. Even the dark clouds in the sky, upon closer inspection, were just a blurry ”texture.”

”...”

Mo Ling slapped his blocky head, feeling utterly speechless.

’A place without even soil?’

’But this wouldn’t be enough to stop him...’

”Wait here. I’ll go get you some soil!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Ling’s figure vanished. A few seconds later, he suddenly reappeared at the edge of the flower patch.

Immediately after, a huge Block of soil was thrown onto the ground.

”Don’t worry, there’s more!”

Then Mo Ling’s figure vanished again. He reappeared a few seconds later and threw down another huge chunk of soil.

Just like that, his figure flickered faster and faster. Before long, the soil had completely encircled the flower patch, forming massive mounds of earth that nearly overwhelmed the small cluster of blooms.

”Is this enough?” Mo Ling asked the withered body, tilting his blocky head.

”E-enough... It’s enough... It’s too much.” The withered body still hadn’t recovered from its shock.

”Where... where did you get this soil?” it stammered, struggling to speak clearly as it questioned Mo Ling.

”I brought it in from outside. There’s nothing in here, right? So the only option was to bring it from the outside,” Mo Ling explained.

”Outside?”

”Yeah. Find a block of soil underground, pack it up, and drop it here. It’s simple. What’s wrong?”

”N-nothing,” the withered body’s voice trembled.

”But you’ll have to build the wall yourself. Otherwise, if I damage your flowers, you’ll blame me.”

”Of course.”

The withered figure walked over to the mounds of soil. With a wave of its arm, the soil began to coalesce into a high wall on its own. Mo Ling had thoughtfully placed the soil at the edge of the flower patch, so it didn’t take long for a tall wall encircling the flowers to be swiftly erected.

’Now I just need to clear the pollen outside the wall, and it can rain...’

The withered body still seemed to be in disbelief. It tremblingly waved its arm, and a gentle breeze stirred up clouds of pollen. But this time, the pollen could no longer escape, blocked by the high wall.

BOOM!

A clap of thunder pierced the long-suppressed dark clouds, and a downpour began.

The illusory raindrops passed through Mo Ling and the withered figure’s bodies, falling onto the patch of red flowers. The flowers stretched their bodies, growing taller and taller, but they still couldn’t get past the high wall.

Outside the wall, everything was calm as the rain PITTER-PATTERED on the texture-like ground.

The withered figure stood stunned in the flower patch, staring at the long-awaited rain.

Mo Ling tried to catch the raindrops, but his hands passed right through them.

”Should I bring you more soil? Other things are hard to bring, but there’s plenty of soil,” Mo Ling asked.

The withered body looked at the massive wall, waved its hand, and said blankly, ”No, that’s not necessary...”

”I still have to ask, how did you bring the soil in?”

”Didn’t I already tell you? It’s a three-step process.”

”Find soil, pack soil, and dump soil...”

Mo Ling calmly explained his procedure, while the ball of light on the withered body’s head shook nonstop, as if it had suffered some kind of massive shock...