I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 534: Chapter 531: Elder Council

Before long, the Elder Council had surrounded Red Spirit Flower Valley.

Healer Xi went to the valley entrance to receive the Elders, who had traveled from the center of the Hua Sheng Islands.

These Elders were all vastly experienced healers, held in high esteem among the Healer race and serving as its leaders. Xi even recognized the one among them who had chronicled the parasitic plants.

When the Elders saw the Red Spirit Flowers blanketing the mountains and fields, they immediately understood what had happened.

”Astonishing creativity... What a shame it was misguided.”

”But it is not beyond saving.”

The Elders looked at Healer Xi with pity:

”Xi, you are sick... Do you understand?”

Healer Xi never expected the Elders to say something like that the moment they opened their mouths.

’I’m sick? What sickness could I possibly have?’

Xi didn’t understand. He had only cultivated an ”antidote,” even if it had caused a bit of a commotion. Why would that be considered a sickness?

”Elders, please, look closely! The Red Spirit Flower is an antidote for the parasitic plants, and it’s incredibly simple to cultivate. All you need is...”

Xi was eager to explain the purpose of the Red Spirit Flower to the Elders, but they interrupted him.

”We understand. But, Xi, you must realize... an antidote can sometimes become a poison.”

”Imagine an island full of toxic weeds. To clear the land, rabbits are introduced. The weeds disappear, but now the rabbits have become a plague. To eliminate the rabbits, dogs are brought in. The dog population keeps the rabbits in check, but then the wild dogs become a plague. Poison and antidote are relative, Xi. As a healer, you must understand this.”

Hearing the Elder’s lesson, Healer Xi immediately understood their thinking.

”The Red Spirit Flower won’t become a poison! It can be controlled. I am their father! I won’t let it spread rampantly, and it won’t infect everything like the parasitic plants did...”

Xi went on and on about the Red Spirit Flower’s superior qualities, promising the Elders it would not spread.

But once again, the Elders cut him off.

”Xi, just look for yourself at what Hundred Flowers Island has become...”

The Elders took Xi to a hilltop, forcing him to see the state of Hundred Flowers Island with his own eyes.

Having spent too long in the valley, Xi’s perception of the outside world had grown hazy. But the sight before him now was still shocking:

Scarlet blossoms dotted the landscape of Hundred Flowers Island. They were like sores on skin, eroding the multicolored flowerbeds. Wherever they appeared, the original flowers were replaced, transformed into vibrant Red Spirit Flowers.

An Elder beside him looked out at the ravaged Hundred Flowers Island and said with regret, ”Xi, sometimes, vigorous life is not a good thing. It is because life is fragile that we treasure it so.”

”A vigorous life will occupy the living space of others. Like a plague, it becomes a scourge to all other life.”

”Fungal infections are a perfect example. The fungus is too full of life. It grows on and inside an organism’s body, spreading uncontrollably and causing immense suffering.”

”It is not as if the fungus subjectively desires to seize another’s space. But space is finite. Only one flower can grow in the same patch of soil. This is a law of life.”

”The pollen of the Red Spirit Flower drifts on the wind. It will gradually take over all of Hundred Flowers Island. Though it bears no malice toward other plants, their living space will shrink until they eventually die out.”

”Xi, you must understand, fungus has no malice either. But its growth affects other living beings. Bacteria, viruses, parasites... it is the same for them all. This is simply their way of reproducing. There has never been a right or wrong in it.”

”But this method of reproduction causes suffering in the afflicted. We are merely healers, not gods. Our duty is to cure diseases, not to contemplate the equality of all living things. Do not overthink it.”

As Xi gazed at the scarlet scars upon the flowerbeds, his conviction began to waver.

But the Elders continued their persuasion:

”Xi, as a healer, you should know how to deal with parasites. Could you tell us?”

”Of course...” Xi said, somewhat dazed. ”First, you expel the adult worms. To prevent them from resisting and attacking the host, the best method is to use a powerful agent to destroy them directly before flushing them from the host’s body. Then, you use a gentler method to expel the eggs and any remaining material. Finally, you restore the host’s body to prevent reinfection. That completes the treatment.”

Xi’s experience was vast, and he knew the treatment for parasitic diseases by heart.

”Very good.” The Elders expressed their approval, but then their tone shifted. ”You know how to deal with parasites, so why did you take such a divergent path when faced with parasitic plants?”

”Why would you think to use one parasite to fight another?”

”And such a powerful one at that! One that can achieve complete symbiosis with its host, even being passed down through generations to become a part of the host’s species. Even if the host species dies out, this parasite will still exist.”

”Xi, do you have any idea what you are doing?”

”You are not creating an antidote. You are creating a plague!”

The Elder’s words were deafening, striking deep into Healer Xi’s heart.

”I...” For a moment, he didn’t know how to explain himself.

Seeing that the time was right, the Elders stopped holding back and issued Xi an ultimatum: ”Eradicate every last Red Spirit Flower on this island.”

When Xi still showed reluctance, the Elders played their trump card. They told him that the parasitic plants had been completely wiped out.

”Completely wiped out?” Xi was stunned.

’If the parasitic plants were completely wiped out, why didn’t my companion come back for me?’

”Xi, I’m here...” Just as he was wondering, his companion appeared.

”After we wiped out the parasitic plants, I went to the Elder Council first. Sorry I’m late,” his companion said apologetically.

”They’re really gone?” Xi still couldn’t quite believe it.

”They’re really gone,” his companion confirmed again. ”We don’t need an antidote anymore...”

At that moment, Xi’s last glimmer of hope was shattered.

Since the disease it was meant to treat had been completely eradicated, the antidote was, of course, no longer needed. Xi had no reason left to keep the Red Spirit Flowers.

”I understand. I will clear the island of the Red Spirit Flowers.” A wave of sorrow washed over Xi’s heart.

Soon, that sorrow was transmitted to the Red Spirit Flower on his body.

”Father, what’s wrong?”

Xi didn’t answer, just stood there silently.

After a long while, he looked at the Elders again and said gravely, ”I’m sorry. I can’t bring myself to do it.”

The Elders had clearly anticipated this and began their interrogation:

”Xi, when you kill the parasites inside a patient’s body, do you feel any regret?”

”No.”

”When you eliminate the bacteria from a patient’s body, do you feel any sadness?”

”No.”

”When you annihilate those wantonly destructive viruses, do you feel any pain?”

”No.”

”Then why can’t you bring yourself to do it now?”

”Because the Red Spirit Flowers have feelings, Elder. They possess sentience. They are not like bacteria and parasites. I can persuade them, teach them. I am their father. I will make them stop expanding. I will cure them, just as I have done before...”

Xi knelt on the ground, the ball of light above his head once again shining with a resolute glow.

And the Elders formed a circle, quietly watching this healer who was ”sick beyond cure”...