Absolute Gate

Chapter 55 Swallowing Phobia

As the two pursuing forces fought like dogs, they were locked in a fierce battle.

Wu Zhong and the others are in a cave one kilometer underground.

The cavity, measuring 20 meters in length and width and 5 meters in height, was created by Yangchunsha using up all its energy.

This place should be safe enough, after all, it is surrounded by thick mountain rocks.

No matter how fiercely they fight, it won't affect this place.

The four people sat around a sofa, surrounded by lampposts, a small refrigerator, and a generator. There was also a machine next to them that was constantly spraying oxygen.

Although this will cause the air pressure inside the cavity to increase, it will not cause any harm to anyone for a certain period of time.

These were all brought by Xia Heng from other safe houses in batches via teleportation. Although he couldn't bring people, he could bring objects.

Everyone is resting here now, and a row of drinks, fruits, and beef jerky are laid out on the coffee table...

As for Yang Chunsha, she was wrapped in hiking clothes while eating hot pot; she was freezing.

After eating several large bites of hot pot mutton coated in chili sauce, I felt instantly refreshed and exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Luo Yi, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you drinking?" Xia Heng asked with concern.

In the warm cave, Luo Yi finally smoked a cigarette, but still didn't drink: "The journey was too bumpy, I was shaking so much, I couldn't drink."

"Huh?" Xia Heng was the most surprised.

A guy who drinks every day and drinks alcohol like water when he's desperate actually said he couldn't drink it because he was too shaky.

"Are you kidding me? Well, it's not bumpy anymore, so drink up."

Xia Heng opened a bottle of white liquor and handed it to Luo Yi.

As soon as the aroma of alcohol wafted out, his eyes widened and he sat up, greedily inhaling the fragrance.

"Good wine, good wine."

The group exchanged glances; indeed, it was Luo Yi.

However, Luo Yi took the bottle, but only smelled it and sipped his saliva.

He opened his mouth several times, raised the bottle, and then put it down again.

"Go ahead and drink, what are you doing?" Xia Heng said solemnly.

Luo Yi stared at the wine bottle, his hands trembling, his eyes darting around, his face pale, and his forehead sweating with nervousness.

"You're already experiencing withdrawal symptoms, so go ahead and drink it!"

Xia Heng was very anxious, his eyes filled with worry, as if he had realized something.

Only he knew best that for Luo Yi, alcohol was his lifeline, not a physical dependence, but a spiritual one.

So even the strongest body can't withstand it; this is mental illness! It's a powerful psychological addiction!
What must be a serious situation for someone to abstain from alcohol for two days in Luoyi, even with the alcohol right in front of their lips, they still can't drink it?

Seeing that Luo Yi was drooling, Xia Heng immediately grabbed his hand and tried to force him to drink the wine.

Luo Yi's pupils constricted sharply, and he shoved Xia Heng away abruptly: "What are you doing! You're making such a big move, are you trying to kill me?!"

His expression was ferocious, and he was unusually sensitive.

The movement was so big that the bottle flew off its feet.

But he reacted quickly, catching the wine in mid-air with his other hand, preventing it from spilling...

Wu Zhong couldn't help but say, "Then drink it yourself. What's wrong with you? Master Luo, tell me."

Loy's mouth was watering, and he let the saliva drip down his throat: "I... this wine is no good, it's too thick, it'll definitely get stuck in my throat."

"What the hell are you talking about?" All three of them found it absurd.

Luo Yi handed the bottle back: "Kid, get me another bottle, a good one."

Wu Zhong immediately complied, and several cases of wine that Xia Hengxin had brought were immediately replaced with the best bottle of liquor for him.

Luo Yi sniffed the wine, looking refreshed, then poured the wine on his face, revealing a smile, and actually washed his face first.

"You..." Wu Zhong's expression turned serious: "Is this your new mental illness? What kind of illness is it?"

Xia Heng's face was pale. He gently squatted down next to Luo Yi and said in a tone that was almost coaxing him, "Old Luo, have a sip. This wine is very mild, it'll be fine."

"You'll choke, cough cough cough..." Luo Yi said, and then he actually gagged.

Xia Heng patted him on the shoulder: "Trust me, it's okay. Just down it in one gulp. Do you think you, Lao Luo, are afraid of drinking?"

“Okay…” Luo Yi stared intently at the mouth of the bottle and slowly opened his mouth.

The bottle trembled slightly and tipped over in slow motion.

A white line immediately flowed out and fell into his mouth.

"Glug glug..." Luo Yi opened his mouth, took a mouthful of water slowly, but refused to swallow it, just panting and making gurgling sounds.

"Swallow it, it's okay, don't you believe me?" Xia Heng's fingers dug into the sofa, so hard that the veins bulged.

Luo Yi closed his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and stared wide-eyed.

Wu could see in his eyes an intense desire to drink, yet also a fear of swallowing the liquor.

That expression was so conflicted and urgent.

"puff!"

Luo Yi suddenly spat out the wine, then pretended to vomit.

He covered his mouth in terror, pointing inside: "Uh...it's stuck!"

Xia Heng hugged him and patted his back: "No... how could the wine get stuck? You threw up..."

Luo Yi caught his breath and said with lingering fear, "That was close! Luckily I threw up quickly, or I would have choked to death!"

"There's something wrong with this wine; it almost choked me to death just now."

Xia Heng took the bottle of wine and gulped down half of it.

Luo Yi looked at him with envy.

Xia Heng sighed and looked at him: "You're afraid to swallow, aren't you?"

Luo Yi shook his head: "It's not that I'm afraid of swallowing, it's just that it's really easy to get stuck."

"The altitude is too high, my throat is constantly itchy, I must have altitude sickness, or maybe the enemy is using magic to harm me."

"I can't drink it! I can't drink it! It would be ridiculous if I, a dignified Gold Mercenary, choked to death!"

Wu Zhongxin said he had no altitude sickness whatsoever, which is what Xia Heng was talking about.

"Swallowing phobia..."

"So you randomly switched to this mental illness... Does this kind of mental illness even exist?" Wu Zhong looked at the other two.

Yang Chunsha said, "Yes, there is a fear of swallowing. It causes hypervigilance, and any sensation in the throat is interpreted as a sign that one is about to choke..."

"He might not have even eaten yet, but he's already starting to worry and feel anxious, wondering if the food he's eating today will be too hard or choke him?"

"And eating is even more terrifying; he will be extremely afraid of swallowing anything, including saliva."

Wu Zhong was surprised and squatted down to press Luo Yi's shoulder: "Then tell me, Master Luo, why hide it? We only found out now..."

Xia Heng said in a low voice, "He wasn't deliberately hiding it, because this kind of fear becomes an instinct, and thoughts related to swallowing are not conscious."

“He experiences extreme anxiety when swallowing, which causes involuntary spasms in his throat muscles, making him feel like there’s a ball stuck in his throat…and this in turn confirms his fear, creating a vicious cycle.”

"Rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, cold sweat, nausea and retching... even a feeling of impending death! Even if he can't actually die."

“But all of this was a real experience for him, and he would actually believe that those things would cause him to choke to death. This is a mental illness... and an extremely severe one.”

"And because it has been transformed into an effect, this fear is absolute, and there is no possibility of any temporary relief."

Wu Zhong was heartbroken. A super alcoholic had contracted a phobia that made him afraid to even swallow his saliva.

No wonder he started drooling or spitting after giving himself the first hug.

"Why don't we just inject him with alcohol? His body should be able to handle it, right?"

Xia Heng frowned: "It's somewhat useful, but not much... His alcohol dependence is also a mental illness, a psychological addiction."

"If you can't feel the burning sensation in your throat from the strong liquor, the sensation of drinking it down your body, and you can't taste the flavor, then it's basically the same as not drinking it at all..."

"Well, unless it's injected into the esophagus, then it's more like it."

Wu Zhong pursed his lips. Yes, Luo Yi's body was not lacking in alcohol; he was not ill.

In fact, when he drinks, he rarely lets the alcohol actually enter his bloodstream, so he almost never gets drunk; he's just indulging in the pleasure of the mouth and the mind.

Withdrawal symptoms are also caused by strong psychological factors.

"It's better to be useful than useless, otherwise I think he might have a mental breakdown."

Wu Zhong was in low spirits, even though Xia Heng had emphasized to him that Luo Yi was aware of his own shortcomings and had even scolded him for it.

But Luo Yi was, after all, randomly contracted the dysphagia effect because of his first embrace.

"Whoosh!" Xia Heng vanished in an instant.

A few minutes later, they brought back a wealth of medical tools and then immediately operated on Luo Yi, putting a tube into his esophagus.

Xia Heng was not skilled in this set of movements, and he was unprofessional. He cut many places in vain, leaving the openings bloody and mangled.

Luo Yi grimaced in pain, but he wasn't too bothered; his self-healing ability was quite strong.

It was precisely because of his strong self-healing ability that Xia Heng's surgery was not smooth. It took a long time and he was covered in blood before he finally succeeded in taking over.

Luo Yi now looks like a Frankenstein monster with tubes growing out of his neck.

To make drinking easier, a funnel was inserted into the tube. As soon as a glass of wine was poured in, he was jolted awake and instantly became alert.

"Wow...that felt so good...my brain was practically shutting down before."

Luo Yi instantly straightened up, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

He laughed loudly, holding the funnel next to his mouth with one hand and picking up the bottle with the other, pouring the wine into it, his eyes fixed on the white line with intense intensity.

If you only look at his focused movements above the neck, you might mistake him for an evil scientist conducting a chemistry experiment with a beaker...

"This way of drinking is great, another bottle, please." He was practically drinking like crazy in revenge.

I drank two bottles in a row before I felt better.

He sat on the sofa with his right leg crossed over his left knee.

"Come on, have a drink with me. I've been abstaining from alcohol for two days! I feel like I'm sleepwalking." Luo Yi's voice returned to its original high-pitched tone.

Yang Chunsha's lips twitched: "So you've been sleepwalking the whole time you've been driving these past two days?"

Xia Heng breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm truly grateful to Master Luo for not driving off a cliff."

Wu Zhong scratched his head: "No wonder I asked you to fool people, and you still had to ask a newbie like me..."

Luo Yi slowly poured himself a glass of wine, held it to his nose and smelled it: "Fortunately, the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol addiction are not too severe. I just feel uncomfortable all over, like there are bugs crawling on my body, and my mind is not sharp."

"Come on, Xiao Wu, have a drink."

Wu waved his hand and said, "I told you, I've quit."

Luo Yi laughed and said, "Why would you quit? With your physical strength of twenty times and the immune function of an ordinary person of forty times, this wine is like water to you."

Wu Zhong shrugged and laughed, "I really don't like drinking this stuff, and I don't have an alcohol dependency."

"In the past, we were lucky to get a drink once a year. We were starving for three days straight, so where could we find food?"

"If I had to say, I'd be more likely to be dependent on spicy hot pot..."

Yang Chunsha, her mouth stuffed full of mutton, said, "Come and have some hot pot, or I'll finish all the meat."

Xia Heng glanced at her, then vanished in a flash. He reappeared carrying fifty kilograms of beef and mutton, which he slammed onto the ground with a thud: "You finish eating this."

"..." Yang Chunsha chuckled awkwardly, picked up her wine glass, and went to drink with Luo Yi.

After a few more drinks, Luo Yi gradually started to get tipsy, becoming extremely excited.

Given his physique, even if he drank more than two bottles of baijiu in a short period of time, he would still get drunk.

Xia Heng took his liquor bottle down: "We can't drink baijiu anymore, let's get down to business. The shadow you left behind, go and get the live streaming equipment I hid in the ice cave."

Before digging down the tunnel, Wu Zhong specifically instructed Luo Yi to leave his shadow outside.

This is an extremely covert detection method. In the dead of night in the snowy mountains and desolate wilderness, the shadowy creature can blend into the shadows of things, making it virtually impossible for anyone to detect it if it doesn't want to be discovered.

What's even more outrageous is that this shadow is capable of combat. When it's not integrated into the shadow, it's a three-dimensional entity, equivalent to Luo Yi's basic physique.

Luo Yichun's physique is six times that of an ordinary person, which is also the power and speed of the shadow.

Previously, it was thanks to Shadow's rocket that Long Kui was lured away, allowing her to engage in battle with the Tijuana squad.

At this moment, he was even holding a live streaming device, observing from the shadows.

"Zizzizi..."

Xia Heng appeared in his bio-armor form, with a small projector rising from his shoulder, its light projecting onto the dim rock wall.

Soon after, the screen displayed footage of the Longkui duo battling the Tijuana squad.

They ate hotpot, drank beer, watched the battle between the two sides, and analyzed intelligence.

……

(End of this chapter)