Master of the Stars

Chapter 48: Schizo Disease (Part 1/2)

Nurse Hong rushed over and straightened the old man up together with Luo Nan. She spoke over and over: “It’s alright. It’s alright. There’s cushioning installed to protect him against falls.”

It was unknown if these words were meant to comfort others or herself.

Luo Nan supported his grandfather by the shoulder very gently and carefully. He didn’t dare to touch his grandfather’s arm, for he could feel that the twig-like arm would snap with just a tiny bit of force.

But Luo Nan felt something, a slight press against his chest at this moment. Luo Yuandao’s twig-like arm was sticking out, pushing Luo Nan away.

Luo Nan recalled that his grandfather didn’t like people other touching him, so Luo Nan didn’t dare resist. Then he saw that Nurse Hong had already fallen back in passing to pull some distance apart from them.

Luo Yuandao laughed at this time with the hoarse sound of his vocal cords rubbing against each other. He spoke in a strange but happy tone: “You may have destroyed my shrine. But you’re unable to stay in my nation for long…..”

Mo Peng stood to the side. His reaction had been slow due to his scare, so hadn’t been able to catch up to them. But in the end, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He rubbed his forehead with his hand to alleviate his embarrassment.

Luo Nan didn’t mind his grandpa’s bizarre thinking. He saw that his notebook, which he had carried under his arm, had already fallen on top of the messy ruins of blocks during the chaos. He knelt down to pick it up, but a howl entered his ear just as his fingertips touched the book:

“MY SPOILS OF WAR!”

Luo Nan was stunned as a black shadow swept the floor in front of him. He looked up not by instinct, but by the pull of Mo Peng. Luo Yuandao’s toe had swept over.

Nurse Hong controlled the balance of this old man in a fluster. Her mouth was pacifying him endlessly: “Mr. Grandpa. Your spoil of war is still here. It’s still here!”

She gave Luo Nan and Mo Peng a meaningful glance in a hurry. In response, the two could only withdraw backward to create some distance.

“Bring it to me.”

Luo Yuandao was clearly far crazier than before. His thoughts must have been quite energetic for him to boss people around.

Nurse Hu adjusted the balance device on Luo Yuandao. She wasn’t able to reach it for a time, so she indicated Luo Nan to come over: “It’s nothing. Mr. Grandpa means what he says……”

In other words, Luo Yuandao was already at the stage of declining logic?

Luo Nan took a deep breath, suppressing the pain in his heart. He picked up his notebook into the palm of his hand. Then he gave it to the old man.

Luo Yuandao reached out to grab it. This thick notebook’s weight was a bit heavy for him. His hand trembled when he held onto it. Nurse Hong wished to help him, but he refused crudely.

His trembling hand made it seem like he would drop the notebook at any moment, but in the end, he was able to flip open the notebook and gaze at the contents within.

Luo Nan knew clearly that Luo Yuandao’s current mental state was completely on an incomprehensible plane. But still, Luo Nan heart was filled with a nervousness like his homework was being graded.

He stared at the old man, wishing to see what the result was going to be in the very end.

“This is a load of crap! A load of crap!”

Luo Yuandao looked with an expression of disdain towards Luo Nan’s speedily sketched and messy lines as he flipped the pages. In a certain sense, this would be a typical response of a normal person.

Luo Nan was unable to describe the feeling he had in his heart.

But Luo Yuandao ceased moving in the next second. His gaze lingered onto the page, his eyeballs seeming to focus a bit.

Luo Yuandao had flipped to none other than the page containing the sketch of the prison that was covered with scrawls.

A full five seconds passed with Luo Yuandao not making a single movement.

Luo Nan’s felt the plucking of his heartstrings. He stared fixed at his grandfather’s ghastly face. A tiny and weak flame of hope seemed to have sparked in his heart. He leaned forward a bit in hopes of seeing his grandfather’s reaction just a bit clearer.

Luo Yuandao felt Luo Nan’s movement and glanced at him. Suddenly he spoke a few words: “You've also achieved the aura.”

“Grandfather?” Luo Nan’s heart was beating hard. He couldn’t help thinking: He can tell? He can understand…..

He wasn’t able to hold back from advancing forward, but that withered arm pressed against his chest once more. Then Luo Nan saw a pair of crazy and cold eyes:

“You’ve come to kill me.”

“Grandfather!”

Luo Nan’s heart suddenly seized tight for Luo Yuandao had pushed him away with great force. Luo Nan stumbled from the mess of wooden blocks beneath his feet, nearly falling.

Luo Yuandao saw how Luo Nan trampled on the blocks and grew even more furious:

“MY SHRINE! YOU’RE PLUNDERING MY HOLY NATION! My students, my office workers, my technicians, my clergies, my politicians…… THEY’RE MINE. THEY’RE ALL MINE!”

Luo Nan, who had just been supported up by Mo Peng, was stupefied on the spot upon hearing these words.

Then he saw Luo Yuandao, who wasn’t even able to stand steadily at all, start to do something crazy. Luo Yuandao lifted his leg and had it fall down. He kicked the three relatively intact walls until they toppled down.

Nurse Hong saw that the situation was turning bad. She had already injected him with a sedative, but he was still uncontrollable for a time.

“Grandfather!”

“Grandpa!”

Luo Nan and Mo Peng were both terrified and shocked. They didn’t know what to do at all. Nurse Hong had already called for a doctor, but it would be impossible for a doctor to instantly appear.

Luo Yuandao trampled and overturned the entirety of his works. Then he raised his head towards the ceiling and howled with crazed laughter:

“It’s on fire! It’s on fire!”

“Let the flames burn! Burn through this cloak of darkness!”

“The new god wishes to trample on the bones of the old god! To ascend the throne!”

“Come then! Come then! Let’s see who’s the master of the universe!”1

This fierce and terrifying image was like an enormous hammer that pounded against Luo Nan’s and Mo Peng’s hearts in rumbles.

In the end, these two were merely 15 and 16-year old boys. They wanted to help, but they feared to make the situation worse. They were at a complete loss on what to do when faced with this scene, for this was an elder family member who had gone completely mad.

Eventually, the doctor had made his way over in a haste and behind the doctor was surprisingly Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing. Since Mo Peng and Luo Nan didn’t know what to do to help, they could only inch their way out of the ward like controlled puppets to stand stupefied outside.

A second really did seem like a year in this moment.

Actually, it wasn’t really long. It probably lasted ten minutes at most. Luo Shuqing walked out of the ward and faced the two stupefied people, laughing: “It’s nothing. Grandpa’s often like this. Only, he spoke more than usual this time.”

Luo Shuqing’s relaxed attitude made Luo Nan and Mo Peng feel much better. They wanted to ask the situation in detail, but they didn’t know how to ask.

In the end, Luo Shuqing looked at the time: “It’s getting late, and it’s also Grandfather’s resting time. Let’s all go grab some food. The food here is quite decent.”

“Oh, that’s right. Your grandfather has his outside walks at four in the afternoon. Do you want to go with him?”

“Sure!”

Luo Nan agreed immediately. Then he became a bit worried: “If I’m here, will he……”

“Who do you think you are?”

Luo Shuqing laughed again, then sighed to look at Mo Peng.

Mo Peng really was a bit unwilling to spend all his precious weekend time in the mental sanatorium, but Luo Nan had already expressed his confirmation so clearly. Mo Peng could only keep his mouth shut.

At most he would play some more of “Ten Days in the Wilderness”. Hmm. If he could pull Luo Nan into playing a few dozen of rounds in PvP and destroy him, now that would be quite refreshing.

Luo Shuqing chuckled: “Then it's settled. Oh right. I was just talking to the doctor and he recommended a deep sleep health pod. It can relax one’s mood and lower stress. Let’s give it a try as a family. This way we know what to do for our noon break.”

“Huh?”

Luo Nan and Mo Peng looked face to face with each other. Each had the same thought pop up in their mind: Was this sanatorium engaging in some fake marketing?

1. Another reference to the synopsis/title.