My Weekly Refreshing Mentor Spirit

Chapter 579 - 371: Solution to the Void’s Influence (2)

Fafnir was momentarily stunned, then her face blushed slightly. It was unclear whether she was thinking of something or was angry, as she flicked Little Dragon Lady’s forehead hard, then immediately brought out the second bowl of noodles and the egg: "Alright, alright, this is yours."

"Yay!" Little Dragon Lady excitedly poured vinegar into her noodles and mixed them up.

Then the noodles were served one by one. Little Dragon Lady was still adjusting her condiments; she preferred stronger flavors than others, enjoying salty and vinegary tastes, so the family would always prepare a small amount of special sauce for her, or she would just add more vinegar and soy sauce herself.

By the time she had finished mixing, Xue Dili had already eaten more than half.

"Teacher, how is it?" Fafnir looked at Xue Dili with a hopeful expression.

This was her first time cooking for her teacher; she remembered that this task was still listed in her system tasks.

"Very good." Xue Dili took a big sip of the soup and commented.

Fafnir immediately beamed with a joyful smile.

Meanwhile, everyone else’s noodles were a light color, but Little Dragon Lady’s bowl was already pitch black because of the soy sauce, and she eagerly picked up the fried egg and put it in her mouth.

In an instant, her whole body shuddered, and then she showed a distressed expression, as if she had put on a mask of pain in a membership-exclusive restaurant.

"What’s wrong?" Fafnir immediately asked.

"Sister Fafnir, have you tried it..." Little Dragon Lady showed a pained expression.

"Uh, I forgot..." Fafnir immediately realized that she had been lost in thought while cooking earlier, and her face turned awkward. But seeing that Xue Dili seemed to eat without any issue, she was reassured, saying, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s salty..." Little Dragon Lady said with tears in her eyes.

"Indeed, the salt is a little... off the charts..." Aunt also commented at this time, showing a difficult expression, putting down her chopsticks.

Fafnir fell silent immediately, picking up some noodles and taking a bite.

In an instant, the tip of her tongue reflexively pressed against her palate, as salty and bitter as a tide exploded on her taste buds, burning down her throat, even making her nasal cavity tingle with a rusty metallic taste.

She quickly covered her mouth, not spitting it out right there; instead, she silently walked over to the garbage can to vomit, then took a bottle of cola out of the fridge to rinse her mouth, finally feeling that the intensely salty taste subsided.

Afterward, she looked with a difficult expression at Xue Dili, who had already finished all his noodles.

"Teacher, you..." She looked incredulously at the empty bowl.

"I think it’s fine." Xue Dili said quietly.

Fafnir suddenly felt a pin prick her brain; her first reaction was that the teacher was accommodating her, encouraging her, but the second reaction was to think of a very frightening thing.

She immediately took out a sour plum candy from her pocket, which she hadn’t been able to eat because it was too sour when she bought it, unwrapped it for Xue Dili, and said: "Teacher, try this candy."

"Okay." Xue Dili ate the candy and tasted a hint of sweetness.

"Teacher, what does this candy taste like?" Fafnir seemed very serious in her question.

"Sweet, why?" This time it was Xue Dili’s turn to be puzzled.

And at this moment, Fafnir felt as if lightning had struck on a clear day, leaving her mouth agape and speechless.

Little Dragon Lady also seemed to realize something, perhaps guided by Xue Lingshu, she said: "Sister Fafnir, give me one of those candies."

Taking the sour plum candy, Little Dragon Lady ate it and immediately said: "Ugh... so sour, but I like this taste..."

Xue Dili was also stunned; he hadn’t sensed any sourness, only an extremely mild sweetness, like the light sweetness of eating a plain bun.

Then suddenly, he did taste sourness... but only a faint trace of it...

"Teacher... have you already lost your sense of taste?" Fafnir looked at Xue Dili, asking dumbfoundedly.

Xue Dili fell silent.

He opened his mouth, and a suspicion quickly formed in his mind.

Perhaps he had lost his sense of taste long ago, but the Flowing Light Sand gave him a false perception of taste, like when Fafnir handed him that candy, he instinctively assumed it was sweet, hence the sweet taste.

When Little Dragon Lady said it was really sour, he instinctively felt a hint of sourness...

Xue Dili now understood that he had lost the ability to sense taste, and it was all fake taste perceptions given by the Flowing Light Sand...

"Teacher, what exactly happened? You were like this last time you came back, and you started habitually fake smiling then, as if you had changed completely. This time, even though you aren’t fake smiling anymore, why did you lose your taste?" Fafnir’s voice came, and it seemed to carry a sobbing tone as she looked dumbfoundedly at Xue Dili, while everyone else showed a face full of concern, and Aunt seemed to snap back into reality with a look full of worry in her eyes, and Xue Lingshu also pulled himself out of the flowerpot, looking worriedly at him.

For some reason, seeing his family’s concern, Xue Dili suddenly felt as if the endless void in his heart seemed to expand, and he turned his head silently, saying: "Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious; I’ll be fine soon."

"Teacher, what actually happened? I’ve experienced losing taste and smell when I felt I was dying, when I couldn’t control the Evil God within me, but Teacher, what happened to you?" Fafnir’s voice truly carried a sobbing tone, and upon closer inspection, her pupils glistened, although she tried to hold it back.

Quickly, an arm was wrapped around by Little Dragon Lady, who said clumsily: "Daddy, go to the hospital if you’re sick..."

Xue Dili continued to turn his head, quietly saying: "Sorry, it’s just a minor illness; the Interstellar Corps members have already looked at it, it’ll get better soon..."

Then, unwilling to see the worried faces of his family, he took out the Flowing Light Sand in his hand, forcing a smile: "Look, this is the Treasure given by the Interstellar Corps; having this by my side will heal these old wounds, just an old ailment. Barak knew about it; I’ve had this problem for a long time, and my taste was never keen."

Saying this, he didn’t fake a smile but instead gently patted Little Dragon Lady on the head: "See, my emotions have returned; it was just the relapse of an old injury that brought about low spirits, making me fake smile to not worry you, but now everything’s fine, and as for taste, that’s a minor matter."

Fafnir didn’t know what to say, she could only tightly clutch her fingers, and at this moment, she thought about the Interstellar Corps and those uncles and aunts over there, deciding she had to find a way...

And Xue Dili waved his hand as if nothing was wrong, quietly leaving the house.

After Xue Dili left, the room fell into a silence. Fafnir simply said, "Sorry, Aunt, regarding breakfast, it’s bothering you, I must go back to my hometown to find information about the teacher in this aspect..."

"Mm..." Aunt nodded with concern.

Her slightly cloudy eyes looked at Fafnir, patting the child’s head: "Fafnir, do a good search, he can’t bear this alone, Ah Xue, sigh..."

Fafnir could only silently nod.

At this moment, she finally understood what had been said before, that the teacher was someone warm on the outside but cold on the inside; even though he silently endured pain and injuries, he would absolutely never speak of it to another person.

Simply tending to his wounds quietly and then taking that thorn-filled road again.

It had always been like this from the start; it seemed he never cared about himself, and for him, he always came last...

...

Xue Dili quietly bought a piece of chocolate and ate it.

The sweetness was identical to his memories, but he carefully looked at the name of the chocolate.

Liquor-filled chocolate...

Only when he saw this did a hint of alcohol taste appear in his mouth. Before he saw that it was liquor-filled chocolate, with the previous few pieces he ate, he hadn’t felt even the slightest bit of alcohol taste.

"Perhaps, by nature, I am still an Undead..." Xue Dili thought.

"Once, I became an Undead, maybe this nature never changed, just like before, now in essence, I am still an Undead, just like back then, only without taste..." Xue Dili thought quietly.

"Do you need fruits?" In his mind, memories about the 10th Apostle suddenly resounded.

"With just a fruit, you can fully grasp the authority and advance further in that authority."

This was the Apostle telling Xue Dili how to master the authority.

Yes, with just a fruit, he wouldn’t have to suffer the backlash of the Self-Destructor’s authority...

He could return to normal, regardless of emotions or taste.

Just needing, a fruit...