Chapter 177 - Hospital Again (1/2)

At first, Roland thought that it was only his imagination.

But as the ritual went on, the energy above his head became more and more obvious, turning from a tiny ball into the size of a basketball.

Among his family members, Roland sensed the energy waves quietly and occasionally peeped at it.

But he couldn’t see anything except the plumes of smoke that were slowly rising and disappearing

Roland’s father was right next to him. Sensing that his son was looking above now and then, he raised his head too, only to see nothing special. He asked, “What are you looking at? Is there gold up there?”

“There’s a huge spider.” Roland made up a random lie.

At this point, the energy was still expanding, and it was gradually emitting a strange aura that electrified Roland’s nerves and feelings.

For some reason, Roland began to feel thirsty, and the energy up there looked like sweet water.

Roland held back his desire and stopped himself from sensing it.

Who knew what it was? What if it was poisonous?

He had to choose a better time if he wanted to absorb it.

The ritual was going on. Because it had been simplified, his fourth grand-uncle finished the process in no more than three hours.

In front of the sacrificial table, his fourth uncle announced the end of the ritual after he completed the final song in a high-pitched but unique tone.

All the partic.i.p.ants were relieved. Although the ritual was simplified, most people felt their feet go numb after three hours of standing.

They talked to each other and left the hall, but Roland didn’t. He asked his parents to go first.

According to the tradition, n.o.body was to leave the village until they had a meal together after the ritual.

Roland stayed in the hall and kept sensing the unique ball of energy.

He was thirstier and thirstier, and he couldn’t help but drunk up the bottle of water he carried, only to no avail.

However, he could still suppress his desire with self-control.

Fewer and fewer people were left in the hall, until Roland was by himself. A few kids intended to play here, but they ran off too.

After all, this old ancestral hall was remote and quiet. It could be creepy when few people were in it.

As the people left, the energy ball on the ceiling began to dwindle much faster than it took shape.

Roland frowned. If this thing disappeared, he would probably have to wait another year, until the next ritual, before it showed up again.

He looked around and found a tall bamboo ladder through which one could climb to the rooftop.

Roland walked to it and carried the ladder.

At first, Roland thought that it was going to be heavy, but he picked it up easily. He walked to his destination and erected the ladder next to the beam.

At this point, Roland sensed that the energy ball was only half its previous size.

He hurried to climb the ladder and sat on the beam.

The hall was big and the beam was thick. It would be fine even if another five adults were to sit on it.

In Roland’s perception, the energy ball was half a meter before him.

But he couldn’t see the energy ball or anything special. He could only detect it with his instincts.

The energy was shrinking to the size of a ping-pong ball.

Roland felt much less thirsty than before. He simply sat in silence and didn’t do anything.

After another while, the energy became the size of a finger, and it was shaking as if it would fall apart.

It was time.

Roland licked his lips and reached his hands out for it.

Earlier, he didn’t do anything because he feared that it was poisonous.

However, this thing was only one percent of its previous size, and it seemed to be disintegrating. It would be gone if Roland didn’t take any action.

Roland knew that a lot of things were poisonous only when their quant.i.ty reached a threshold.

He didn’t know whether or not the finger-sized energy ball was harmful, but he knew that it was much safer than a basketball-sized one.

He extended his hand and grabbed something invisible.

It was indeed invisible, and Roland wasn’t really holding anything in his hand.

But Roland somehow knew that he had captured that thing.

It was a complicated feeling.

Before Roland could be delighted or surprised, the energy ball broke the moment he grabbed

it.