Three days later.
Elder Wu’s finger, carrying the unique cold scent of disinfectant, gently pressed on Ling Chen’s bandaged left arm.
“Does it still hurt here?” Elder Wu’s voice was gentle, like warm sunlight brushing over ice, but the gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses was as sharp as a surgical knife, piercing through the lenses to fixate on every subtle change in Ling Chen’s facial expression.
Ling Chen’s brows furrowed ever so slightly, and a suppressed groan, tinged with pain, escaped his throat.
His body tensed imperceptibly on the sickbed, as if resisting the intense pain from the pressure. Fine beads of cold sweat immediately seeped from his forehead (Soul Jade Physique’s precise simulation), and his breathing became slightly hurried.
“It hurts…” he rasped, his voice like sandpaper, carrying the weakness of an unhealed injury and a hint of… fear?
“Hmm, although the bone has reconnected, the nerve and muscle damage will take time to recover.” Elder Wu withdrew his hand, nodding with satisfaction, a relieved smile appearing on his face.
He picked up a syringe from the nearby tray, its needle glinting coldly under the light. “Come, one more shot of nutrient solution to promote bone healing and nerve repair.”
The needle pierced his skin. Cold liquid injected into his vein. Ling Chen’s body “painfully” trembled again, his lower lip bitten tightly, as if enduring immense discomfort.
The Soul Jade Physique’s cold will, like the most precise filter, instantly enveloped, decomposed, and devoured the so-called “nutrient solution”! It was not a nutrient solution at all!
Instead, it was an extremely subtle mixture of a nerve stimulant and a muscle relaxant! The dosage was minuscule, but enough to cause temporary muscle weakness and mental disorientation in ordinary people after injection, making them more likely to inadvertently reveal secrets!
Old man… he’s indeed starting to probe! Trying to pry open his mouth with drugs?
However, injecting something like this into an Evolver was akin to an adult man drinking a bottle of low-alcohol beer.
Not even slightly tipsy.
Ling Chen sneered inwardly. The Soul Jade Physique instantly analyzed the drug components and simulated the “weakness” and “drowsiness” reactions that should follow the injection.
His gaze began to scatter, his eyelids drooped heavily, and his breathing became longer and weaker, as if he might fall asleep at any moment.
“Ling Chen? How do you feel? Are you a little sleepy?” Elder Wu’s voice, like a hypnotic spell, echoed in his ear, carrying a strange soothing power.
“Mm… a little… dizzy…” Ling Chen mumbled in response, his voice growing softer and softer.
“Don’t be afraid, sleep… you’ll be fine when you wake up…” Elder Wu’s voice was gentle, and one hand seemingly casually rested on Ling Chen’s forehead. A faint, electric-like energy fluctuation emanated from his palm!
He was using some kind of mental induction technique!
Ling Chen’s will instantly tensed! The Soul Jade Physique’s cold will, like the strongest fortress, silently isolated and dissolved that faint mental induction energy!
At the same time, he precisely controlled his facial muscles, his brows furrowing slightly as if troubled by something in his sleep, and his body twisted ever so slightly, emitting an uneasy murmur.
“No… no… bats… so many bats…” His voice carried the terror of a nightmare, fragmented and intermittent, “Biting me… so painful… run… can’t escape…”
He simulated the state of a severely wounded person plagued by nightmares, skillfully directing the object of “fear” towards the bats that had already “sacrificed” themselves. This perfectly matched his identity as a “Beast Control ability user” and his previous “tragic experience.”
Elder Wu’s hand, resting on his forehead, paused slightly. His gaze behind the lenses flickered, and the subtle inductive energy quietly withdrew.
He gently patted Ling Chen’s forehead (his actions still benevolent): “It’s alright… it’s all over… sleep well.”
He stood up and nodded to the assistant who was taking notes beside him: “Vital signs stable, nerve reflexes normal, drug response as expected. Continue observation.”
With that, he turned and left the ward. The alloy door slid shut silently.
Silence returned to the ward. Ling Chen remained “asleep,” his breathing steady. But the Soul Jade Physique’s cold will was like an awakened viper.
The old man… more cautious and insidious than imagined.
If Elder Wu’s mental probe had delved just a little deeper into his mind, he could have generated a small 【Bloodline Slave Mark】 and directly imprinted it into his brain through mental power.
Because Elder Wu had actively extended his mental power into his mind, it would have been withdrawn without a trace, and no one else would have detected his trickery.
Outside the ward. In front of the one-way glass observation window. Lin Wei stood quietly, her amber pupils reflecting Ling Chen’s “sleeping” figure on the sickbed.
She watched Ling Chen’s pain and weakness during Elder Wu’s examination, and his uneasy murmurs after falling into “drowsiness” from the injection… Everything seemed so real, so consistent with a severely wounded person’s reactions.
But… why? Why did that cold intuition in her heart, that instinctive perception of “abnormality” originating from the core of her Discernment ability, constantly prick her like a venomous thorn—Danger! Extreme danger!
“Wei Wei?” Chen Xue’s voice sounded from behind her, filled with concern, “What’s wrong? You look so pale?”
Lin Wei snapped back to reality, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes: “No… nothing. Just… a little worried about Ling Chen.”
Chen Xue walked to her side, looking at Ling Chen in the ward, her eyes filled with tenderness and affection: “Elder Wu said he’s recovering, though a bit slowly… but he’ll get better.”
Over these three days, Chen Xue had come once in the morning, noon, and evening on average, her ability somewhat overdrawn.
She stretched out her hand, a soft silver light emanating from her palm, gently pressing against the one-way glass, as if she could transmit healing power through it. “My light… doesn’t seem to have much effect on him… but at least… it can help him sleep more peacefully, right?”
Lin Wei looked at the silver light flowing from Chen Xue’s palm. That warm and sacred light, under the perception of her Discernment ability (she had not completely shut down her ability, only suppressed the part targeting Ling Chen), now presented an extremely complex energy structure—countless tiny, star-dust-like silver light points, circulating and converging in a mysterious trajectory, emitting soul-soothing fluctuations.
This light… it was beautiful, very warm.
However… when her gaze fell on Ling Chen again, a faint “discordant feeling” captured by her Discernment ability, stuck in her throat.
Ling Chen’s body, under the “comfort” of the silver light, indeed showed relaxed and soothed physiological reactions (simulated by Ling Chen). But his mental fluctuations… beneath that “calm” enveloped by silver light, were like the deepest ocean trench: cold, dead silent, and utterly still!
It was as if that warm silver light was merely shining on ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, unable to penetrate an iota!
This “inconsistency” between appearance and reality made her feel an indescribable… strangeness.
“Xiao Xue…” Lin Wei’s voice carried a hint of imperceptible tremor. She hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “When… when you used your silver light to heal him… did you feel… anything… different?”
“Different?” Chen Xue turned her head in confusion, looking at Lin Wei, “No… it just… felt very warm, very comforting… like… like holding someone very, very tired, wanting them to rest well…”
A blush spread across her face, and her voice grew softer and softer.
Lin Wei looked at the pure concern and trust in Chen Xue’s eyes, and the doubts and fears in her heart, like ice and snow exposed to sunlight, instantly melted away. Yes… Xiao Xue’s feeling couldn’t be wrong. Her silver light was the purest healing power.
It must be herself… too nervous.
It must be the after-effects of that mental backlash, making her overly suspicious.
She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the unease in her heart, and gave Chen Xue a forced smile: “Mm… maybe I’m overthinking it. He… will get better.”
Inside the ward. Ling Chen’s “consciousness,” like the most sensitive radar, picked up every word, every subtle emotional fluctuation from Lin Wei and Chen Xue outside the door.
The fortress’s attention had been successfully diverted by his successful disguise.
Qin Weiguo, though still harboring doubts, was temporarily appeased by Lin Wei’s “uncertainty” and his own “severely injured” state. Elder Wu, that insidious viper, had yet to find a flaw.
Lin Wei… this biggest variable, due to fear and trust in Chen Xue, and her affection for him, had temporarily chosen silence.
And most importantly… the information about the “reverse scale pendant,” like a lighthouse in the darkness, pointed him in the direction of his next step!
The time… had come!
Late at night. The fortress’s alert level had dropped to yellow. The sound of gunfire from the city wall had completely ceased, only the footsteps of patrolling soldiers echoed in the empty streets.
Inside the special care ward. Monitoring equipment emitted regular, monotonous “beep beep” sounds. Ling Chen remained “asleep,” his breathing steady.
But in the depths of his consciousness, the Soul Jade Physique’s cold will, like a raging dragon breaking free from its shackles, instantly boiled! His will, like invisible lightning, penetrated the thick alloy walls and the fortress’s energy barrier, spanning tens of kilometers of space, precisely piercing into the deepest shadows within the Linghui Academy Ruins!
Zhuang Han!
The giant beast lurking in the darkness suddenly raised its head! Scarlet beast eyes shot out terrifying brilliance in the darkness! The ink-black blood patterns on his left face and the scarlet blood patterns on his right face instantly lit up like ignited lava! A violent and chaotic will was instantly subjugated by a cold, supreme command!
Command issued:
Target confirmed: North of Lishan, east burial pit of Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, “Dragon Abyss” entrance.
Core item: reverse scale pendant (shaped like an ink-black dragon scale, with dark gold halo flowing at the edges).
Action time: 72 hours later, 3:30 AM (30 minutes earlier than the military exploration team).
Action route: Broken Dragon Gorge secret passage (coordinates already transmitted via mental link).
Mission requirements:
Enter the burial pit first, at all costs!
Clear all obstacles within the pit (ghouls, mutated beasts, or… members of the Oracle organization who arrived early)!
Obtain the reverse scale pendant!
If encountering the military exploration team… create an “accidental conflict,” seize or destroy! The reverse scale pendant must never fall into military hands!
After obtaining it, immediately withdraw! Return to the designated coordinates via the preset route and lie low! Await further instructions!
Authorization: Temporarily lift the “Energy Restriction Seal”! All Bone Eater Realm power allowed! Partial “Beastification Liberation” allowed!
The command, like a cold brand, instantly etched itself deep into Zhuang Han’s soul! That violent bestiality, upon receiving permission for power release, instantly boiled like ignited dynamite! A suppressed, rumbling growl escaped his throat!
Power! Slaughter! Execute the Master’s will!
Scarlet beast eyes fixed on the direction of Lishan! His massive body slowly rose in the shadows, bone spurs rubbing with a teeth-grinding sound! A terrifying aura, mixed with savagery, loyalty, and destructive desire, like an invisible storm, quietly brewed deep within the ruins!
PS: Please give me good reviews, a five-star rating for this unfortunate author, because the word count is up, but the rating isn't high enough, so the bookstore isn't giving me enough exposure ꒰ ( ⌯ ˃ ̶ ̥ ̆ д ˂ ̶ ̥ ̥ ̥ ̆ ू ) ꒱ (Currently 51 chapters, but 210,000 words, you can calculate the average word count…) Please, for my hard work, I beg you~