# Chapter 2786: Split Personality
These words made Gong Ying happy. Leveraging her advantage as a fellow woman, she leaned in to play with the cats and dogs alongside Ms. Ruo, sharing some amusing anecdotes. Ms. Ruo graciously laughed frequently in response.
Xu Huo stood behind, watching the two interact without any intention of joining in. He was like an invisible man—aside from the occasional glance from the two cats grooming themselves at the edge, no cats or dogs paid him any attention.
Once they had finished laughing and chatting, and Ms. Ruo had gifted the Ephemeral Flower to Gong Ying, Xu Huo finally proposed that he could paint a portrait for her.
"A portrait?" Ms. Ruo thought carefully. "I don't have a photo of him. It's been too long, and I can't quite remember what he looked like."
"That's fine," Xu Huo said. "I know a bit about psychology. Not remembering doesn't mean forgetting—his image is still stored somewhere in your brain."
Ms. Ruo considered this and didn't refuse. She agreed that during the portrait sessions, he could visit Whale Garden every day, though she was very busy and didn't spend much time at home.
"Of course, this can't be rushed," Xu Huo said. "We can take it slowly."
Not to be outdone, Gong Ying offered to assist from the sidelines, claiming she had also studied some relevant knowledge. While she might not be as skilled as Xu Huo, she was very interested in comparing whether the images they depicted would differ significantly.
Ms. Ruo had no objections, and Xu Huo had no grounds to oppose, so the three agreed to meet again the next afternoon.
As they walked out of Whale Garden, the smile that Gong Ying had maintained finally faded. She lowered her voice and said to Xu Huo, "Don't you think she's a bit mentally unstable?"
Xu Huo glanced at her. "Is that so?"
"A person who killed all her own family, yet she's clinging to a man who once saved her. With a face like hers, there must be countless people in this world willing to give their lives for her. That shouldn't be anything new to her."
"Makes sense." Xu Huo slowly moved away from Whale Garden.
Gong Ying caught up, grinning. "Don't be so petty. I just happened to bump into your gift. How was I supposed to know it was for Ms. Ruo? If I'd known in advance, I definitely wouldn't have chosen the same thing."
"But honestly, in that situation, at least you had a backup. I didn't buy any other gifts, so I had to take out what I had."
"Too bad Ms. Ruo wasn't very satisfied with either gift. So don't hold it against me. Let me treat you to dinner as an apology, how about that?"
"You talk too much," Xu Huo said flatly.
"Born talkative, can't help it." Gong Ying smiled sweetly. "You're here to clear the instance too, right? What souvenir do you need? Why don't we compare notes in advance so we don't clash again."
"If we do clash, you'd better be careful." Xu Huo glanced at her. "See you tomorrow."
With that, he vanished from in front of Whale Garden. Gong Ying lingered for a moment, looking somewhat regretful, but soon left as well.
Whale Garden was only so big—everything visible was out in the open. Since Gong Ying hadn't found what she was looking for, it meant her target probably wasn't an ordinary item either... Xu Huo's souvenir for this trip was "Heart," and the hardest one to obtain at that. Given the situation in Lake City, Ms. Ruo fit the requirements perfectly.
However, "Heart" here clearly wasn't born from romantic love. Unless it was love at first sight, true love takes time to ferment, which doesn't align with the practicalities of clearing an instance. So it must refer to something else—he just had no leads yet.
Gong Ying's observation wasn't wrong—Ms. Ruo's mental state was indeed somewhat problematic. But then again, abnormality was the norm. The person she mentioned who had saved her life had become an obsession. Who that person was didn't really matter—she just needed a reason to stay here.
What bothered Xu Huo was the subtle shifts in her emotional state multiple times during their conversation. This wasn't a good sign; it felt more like the unconscious switching of a split personality.
People with split personalities might not be aware of their other personalities, but Ms. Ruo showed no discomfort during the conversation. Whether she fully understood her condition or had simply grown accustomed to it, either way it meant earning her trust would be extremely difficult. It was like dealing with multiple people at once—any one of them going wrong could break the balance.
Take Xu Huo himself, for example. Although multiple personalities existed in his spiritual world, he was absolutely dominant overall, and these personalities couldn't autonomously take over his body. This was more like a manifestation of cutting spiritual power after spiritual evolution, rather than a pathological condition.
Ms. Ruo's state was much more erratic. She was unstable even during their brief conversation, suggesting some kind of compromise between her personalities. Even if these personalities gave her more power than ordinary people, from Xu Huo's perspective, without successful spiritual evolution, the drawbacks of multiple personalities far outweighed the benefits.
A single "Heart" split into many petals—none of them easy to pick up.
The next day, when he and Gong Ying arrived at Whale Garden one after the other, they found Ms. Ruo wasn't home. More precisely, she had opened the door and then immediately disappeared.
Guests shouldn't wander around, so the two waited in the living room. They waited until evening.
Ms. Ruo returned from outside, fresh lake mud still clinging to her shoes. She looked at them as if suddenly remembering, "I almost forgot—I made an appointment to see you. I'm so sorry. The weather was lovely today, so I went for a walk by the lake."
Since she put it that way, what could Xu Huo and Gong Ying say? Not only could they not blame her, they had to comfort her instead.
Ms. Ruo didn't invite them to stay for dinner, simply saying she was tired and asking them to come back at the same time tomorrow.
But the next day, they still couldn't find her—they couldn't even get through the door.
After being stood up twice, Gong Ying couldn't help saying, "Is she messing with us?"
This aligned with some of Xu Huo's suspicions—some of Ms. Ruo's personalities didn't want her portrait painted, likely out of self-preservation.
This time, Xu Huo didn't wait. He easily found Ms. Ruo underwater among the shooting stars, watching the river of light. The moment she spotted him, she sighed. "Why did you follow me? I don't really want to see you right now. How about this—tell me what you really want, and I'll give it to you. You're not going to stay in Lake City long anyway. Don't bother me while I'm watching the meteors, okay?"
"That might be difficult," Xu Huo said with a smile. "Even though it's your thing, you might not be able to produce it."
Ms. Ruo looked at him appraisingly. "What are you talking about?"
Through the river of light formed by insects, Xu Huo gazed at the person across from him. "Did you really have fourteen siblings?"