VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 955: Buried Sages

Truth be told, it was Vanilla’s first time in an asylum.

At her age, the world brimmed with things she’d never seen. An asylum? To a kid, it was as thrilling as an amusement park.

High walls encircled lush lawns, trees, stone paths, and small pavilions. It didn’t look like the scary asylums in horror films.

Visiting hours had passed. The vast lawn lay empty. Vanilla peeked around, spotting a display board by the path. Photos were pinned up, bold letters at the top: Annual Top Ten Outstanding Mental Patient Awards

In the last row, second from the end, was Ye Shisan in a hospital gown, his grin half-smirk.

Vanilla stared and giggled.

A woman’s voice came: “Kid, how’d you get in?”

Vanilla turned. It was Stout Nurse.

“I came with my uncle. He’s visiting a friend.”

“Him?”

Stout Nurse pointed. At a wall’s corner, Ye Shisan waved.

Vanilla’s eyes lit up: “Uncle Shisan!”

She bounded toward him like a rabbit, but stopped short. Something felt off. She glanced back—Stout Nurse was gone.

She spun around. Ye Shisan was gone too.

Her heart jolted. Her foot caught, and thud—she faceplanted.

The grass cushioned her fall. Vanilla sat up, rubbing her head, then froze. Something was wrong.

Somehow, she was deep in the asylum’s back garden.

What tripped her was a lump in the grass. She looked closer and shuddered—a human jawbone!

She tried to stand, but her legs were jelly. Scrambling back, she bumped into Stout Nurse.

“Kid, I need your help…”

“Eek! Ghost!”

Vanilla’s little soul nearly fled. She bolted, running blindly, only to trip again—thud.

She got up. That same jawbone! Her kick had dislodged it, revealing more in the muddy pit.

Stout Nurse appeared, sighing: “If I said it’s for Ye Shisan?”

Vanilla froze mid-escape. She turned: “What’s wrong with Uncle Shisan? If you’re scaring him, I won’t let you off!”

“Ye Shisan’s in danger. Do as I say, and he might escape.”

“Danger?”

“Go to the sixth tree by the corridor, west side. Gray-white powder’s under the roots. A special glass container’s buried in the flowerbed behind the red slogan on the wall. Then, in the doctor’s office past the corridor, grab a hot water kettle…”

“You’re making a bomb?!”

“Kid, you know chemistry?”

“A bit…”

“Heh heh…” Stout Nurse gave a strange laugh: “Not something a kid your age should understand. You’re no ordinary child!”

Vanilla puffed up her little nose: “Hmph! Whatever! I’m saving Uncle Shisan!”

She took a few steps, then glanced back. Stout Nurse stood by the bone. Vanilla asked: “Nurse lady, who are you?”

Stout Nurse smiled: “You don’t need to know. Hurry.”

Vanilla scratched her head and dashed off.

Stout Nurse watched her tiny figure, speaking to the bone: “Old Pi, the women around Ye Shisan aren’t ordinary…”

Minutes later, Vanilla, clutching Old Pi’s makeshift bomb, reached the battle’s heart.

Neither she nor Yi Qing expected Ye Shisan’s first move after breaking free would be to save You Long’er.

Even You Long’er, half-conscious as Ye Shisan freed her, didn’t realize she’d brushed death.

They fled, leaving a pile of burning, viscous sludge.

The magnesium-and-hot-water bomb hit over three thousand degrees, vaporizing most substances. But Elder Eon, no mere substance. After losing most tendrils, it doused the flames.

Its writhing body, scarred with black-red scabs, looked more grotesque than ever.

“Ye Shisan… I’ll never let you go!”

It eyed the stairs they’d fled, slithering forward, when a figure appeared—Stout Nurse: “Elder Eon, you’re lucky to live. What more?”

“Nether Crone, get lost! I’m eating that guy to recover!”

“And if I don’t?”

Elder Eon recoiled, tendrils bristling: “I’m hurt, but I can still devour you!”

“Oh? Can you?”

Behind her, a winged, four-armed man appeared—Little Ninth, Old Pi’s another persona, seeing all within thirty kilometers.

Beside Little Ninth, a tall, cloaked figure: A-Ben, the diviner: “Elder Eon, my augury says even if you win, you won’t escape humans.”

A massive Black Dog, nearly filling the corridor, growled silently behind.

One by one, Old Pi’s eleven personas appeared.

Elder Eon had never faced such a lineup. Hundreds of personas once clashed in Old Pi’s mind; after a massacre, twelve survived.

In its state, Elder Eon could take three, but eleven? Wounded, no less. How did Ye Shisan's sidekick figure out it feared fire?

Stout Nurse stepped forward as Elder Eon hesitated: “Old Pi’s last wish was we not harm Ye Shisan. You broke that. We can’t stand by.”

Elder Eon sneered, shrinking back: “I wanted one meal. I didn’t plan to touch Ye Shisan…”

“But that’s his woman. None by his side are ordinary.”

“Fine, my mistake. Now I need ten people…”

Elder Eon slunk into the restroom, silent.

Stout Nurse called into the dark: “This place is exposed. Humans will come. soon… Old Pi was right. As long as you’re here, this’ll come out.”

As she spoke, the figures vanished.