Archer's Adventure Manual

But the man's normalcy didn't last long; he soon returned to his dazed state. Loran tried to return the ring to him, but he slapped it to the ground.

Lin Wen and the others watched all this with furrowed brows. Anyone with eyes could see that these villagers had encountered something unusual and terrifying.

Loran thought for a moment, then picked up the ring from the ground. It might be a crucial clue. He then said with a serious expression, "The problem might not be as simple as we think."

Noah sighed, "Indeed, in this world full of magic, people can wield the power that magic brings, but they also have to bear the disasters that magic brings."

"Given their current condition, I'm afraid the only thing they can do is see the village doctor in Luolin Village."

After some time, Loran and his group finally returned to Luolin Village. Their anxious hearts were somewhat relieved, as they were now at least relatively safe.

When the village chief of Luolin Village saw Luo Lan and her companions return, he greeted them very warmly.

He also saw the condition of several survivors who had been brought back, and quickly took them to the village doctor.

The team members who had completed their mission decided to follow and take a look.

The village had very limited resources, and the church was unwilling to be located in such a poor place. The only people who could provide treatment were a few people with some medical knowledge.

"Chatur, five new patients have arrived. They were just rescued from the goblin camp by adventurers, and they seem to be in very strange condition," the village chief said to the man inside as he entered a house.

"Okay, I understand. Tell them to wait a moment," Chat said while checking the villagers' injuries.

After examining the villagers, Chat found only superficial wounds. He then took out some powder and rubbed it in, and a gentle green light instantly filled the villagers' wounds.

The wound miraculously healed in a short period of time.

The villagers were very moved and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Chatter!"

Chatter smiled slightly, "You're welcome."

Lin Wen's eyes widened as she leaned closer to Finita and asked curiously, "Hey, Finita, was what he just used the same magic trick you showed us before, the one called... Healing?"

Finita stared intently in Chatter's direction, nodding seriously. "Yes, yes! But this gentleman's magic seems to be at a very high level! Much better than mine!"

"Oh?" Lin Wen looked at the village doctor with some surprise.

The village chief brought the five survivors to Chat, who looked somewhat worried after seeing their mental state.

Loran and the others watched quietly from the sidelines. They were eager to know what changes had occurred in the villagers' bodies.

Chatter went into a small room, took out a piece of black bread, and then placed it in the hand of a villager.

He stared at the villager and asked, "What are you holding in your hand?"

The villager paused for a moment, then looked somewhat dazedly at the object in his hand. He licked his lips, his face filled with longing. "My lord, may I truly enjoy this piece of roasted meat?"

Chatter frowned slightly and asked again, "Okay, but I need you to introduce yourself."

Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately straightened up.

"My lord, I am your most loyal knight! I am willing to dedicate my life to you!"

The onlookers, including Loran, stared wide-eyed. What was going on?

No wonder this person was muttering strange things on the road; it turns out that his cognition and mental state have become disordered?

"Eat," Chatter said calmly.

The villager quickly began to eat heartily, appearing to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

Chat then used the same method to test the other villagers.

Everyone's symptoms are very similar: they all have a distorted perception of objects.

Some people held up a black loaf of bread and insisted they had a piece of wood; others said they had a stone; still others said it was a stick...

In short, according to them, this piece of black bread could be anything, but it could never be black bread.

The village chief asked with some concern, "Could it be... that they, like that woman before, have also experienced a cognitive distortion?"

"That's right, their understanding of things is flawed. They know I'm sitting in front of them, but in their eyes, my identity is quite different."

"He thought I was a lord, and she thought I was a stable boy..."

"This is utterly baffling. They can clearly sense the existence of this thing, yet they mistake it for something else entirely unrelated. Perhaps only the priests of the church could solve this problem..."

Chatter said with a hint of helplessness.

As Lorraine listened to Chatter's explanation, she thought about it carefully and realized that these symptoms were exactly what one would call a mental illness.

And all five of them went insane? That's outrageous... Could it be that goblin shamans have the ability to drive others insane?

Chatter continued to examine the last person, the man who had reacted to the ring Lorraine had found.

At first, the man behaved much like the others, exhibiting the same bias towards objects.

But just as Chatter was about to make a final decision, the man's eyes cleared for a moment, and he murmured, "Mary...Mary, I...I miss you so much..."

Chatter noticed the man's unusual behavior and quickly asked, "Sir, can you hear me? Are you conscious?"

But the man did not respond. He just smiled at Chatter, and kept smiling until finally his eyes went blank again.

"This..." Chatter looked at the man in front of him with a complicated expression. He felt powerless. He had no idea how to treat these patients' symptoms.

"Mary was his wife, and his wife gave him a ring," Lorraine said at this point.

Chatter, curious, looked in the direction of the sound and discovered it was one of the adventurers on this trip. He quickly asked, "How did you know?"

"Just like before, he regained a brief moment of lucidity on his way back, and that's when I asked him the question," Loran said, taking out the ring as he spoke.

"Hey, he only briefly regained consciousness after seeing this ring. Does this mean that things others cherish can awaken their consciousness?"

Chatter seemed thoughtful. "Sir, why don't you try again?"

So Loran placed the ring on the man's hand again, but this time there was no reaction; the man's eyes remained vacant.

"It's no longer working... It seems that my lucidity is only temporary. Forgive my limited abilities, but I really can't figure out the mechanism of this disease. More importantly, who could possibly infect someone with this disease..."

Chatter's tone was full of worry.

Loran and the others couldn't help but worry, after all, you never know when such a thing might happen to them...