Beneath the tight black attire was a pale face. The high nose bridge and emerald green eyes indicated that the person was not Chinese. Ling Yun felt a chill. He had seen a person with supernatural abilities other than a psychic before, but he never expected that this person would be a foreigner. Moreover, judging from the way the person attracted ghosts, it was clear that the ghosts were under his control.
Ghosts are already incredibly powerful, so how powerful must the superhumans who control them be?
The unfamiliar superhuman stared at Ling Yun expressionlessly. Without saying a word, he took a step forward, grabbed his chest, and a blinding ball of light transformed into a sharp beam of light in his palm, shooting towards Ling Yun like a laser.
Ling Yun was startled and activated his mental energy field in time to block the beam. However, the power contained in the beam was astonishing. Ling Yun was shaken, and the beam only paused for a moment before breaking through the invisible barrier and striking Ling Yun's chest heavily.
Ling Yun swayed, taking a few steps back, his face as pale as paper. With a "pfft," he spat out a mouthful of congealed blood. Although the protective barrier had reduced the beam's power to the maximum extent, the remaining sharp force still penetrated his body, causing a slight tremor in his internal organs. The blood stasis created by the instantaneous rupture of countless capillaries was immediately expelled from his body by his powerful self-healing ability.
However, Ling Yun's heart sank. His opponent's attack was so ruthless; they clearly intended to kill him immediately. No matter how strong his self-healing ability was, it couldn't withstand the continuous destructive force. The defense he had just activated was his last remaining strength.
The unfamiliar superhuman moved swiftly and appeared before Ling Yun. Looking at the pale-faced, swaying boy in front of him, he slowly raised his palm. A cold light flashed from the edge of his palm, and the next moment, his hand, as sharp as a weapon, was about to strike down heavily towards Ling Yun's neck.
Ling Yun smiled bitterly, countless people and events flashing through his mind in an instant, before closing his eyes and awaiting death.
A slender, white finger, as delicate as a spring onion, suddenly tapped his back. The unfamiliar superhuman froze instantly. He slowly turned his head and saw a frail, ordinary-looking girl behind him with an expressionless face.
A blue light emanated from behind him, spreading across his entire back in the blink of an eye. The superhuman roared, no longer caring about dealing with Ling Yun, and leaped into the air, disappearing into the vast night sky in the blink of an eye.
Ling Yun stared at Gu Xiaorou in surprise, his mind suddenly going blank, unsure of what to say.
The girl parted her bloodless lips slightly, looking at Ling Yun as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing. Her body went limp and she slowly fell to the ground.
Ling Yun's heart trembled, and he hurriedly stepped forward to help the girl's delicate body, who hadn't yet collapsed. Her slender, soft body, carrying a faint, warm fragrance, leaned against his chest. Gu Xiaorou's eyes were tightly closed, her long, curved eyelashes trembling slightly; she had completely fallen into a coma.
Ling Yun lifted her delicate body into his arms and cautiously looked around. His hearing could detect the piercing sound of police sirens several kilometers away. Even in the suburbs, the deafening gunshots and explosions would surely alert passing vehicles. If even one busybody called the police, they would arrive quickly. Under the emperor's nose, security was highly efficient.
The superhuman who was attacked by Gu Xiaorou has disappeared. Ling Yun doesn't know what the blue light is for, but even just by seeing the superhuman's reaction, he knows that he is seriously injured and in urgent need of treatment. Otherwise, he would not have given up such a perfect opportunity to kill him with a single palm strike.
Unexpectedly, Gu Xiaorou was so powerful, sending the unfamiliar and powerful superhuman flying far away with just a finger. But why did she appear so weak, even weaker than him, on the night they first met? Ling Yun suddenly remembered Gu Xiaorou's earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magical technique), a high-level technique that he couldn't currently master. It seemed this girl was hiding a deep secret.
The most urgent task was to wake Gu Xiaorou; Ling Yun didn't know why she had suddenly fainted. He could only ask her anything after she woke up. Moreover, Ling Yun was shocked that Gu Xiaorou had suddenly appeared to save his life. Before this, he and Gu Xiaorou had rarely interacted. They had met through a fight, but that was all they knew. Although Gu Xiaorou hadn't shown him any hostility afterward and had even helped him several times, Ling Yun remained wary of her. He couldn't see through this mysterious girl, nor did he understand why Gu Xiaorou paid so much attention to him.
Ling Yun was no longer a novice. After gaining his supernatural abilities, he witnessed a darkness and truth far more cruel than the surface of the world. Naturally, he wouldn't easily trust others. But tonight, Gu Xiaorou deeply moved Ling Yun. Perhaps not everyone is so complicated. Ling Yun glanced at the girl in his arms, and a warm feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time suddenly welled up in his heart.
He didn't know when it started, but he seemed to have stopped caring about worldly emotions, focusing only on cultivating his superpowers and the thrill of mastering that power. Were these things really that important? Perhaps what he had lost were often the most precious things, Ling Yun thought silently, as something tender surfaced in his heart, gently tapping at the sensitive heart of the young man.
……………
With Ling Yun's swift departure, the abandoned industrial base, scarred by fierce battle, became deserted. Unrecognizable car wrecks and collapsed factory buildings lay scattered among the corpses, leaving the police with a bizarre and inexplicable headless case.
Ten minutes later, in a quiet corner of a park near Jinghua University, a strange ripple appeared in the dark air. Then, the silence returned.
A few dozen meters away, a homeless man lay on a park bench, fully clothed, fast asleep, muttering meaningless murmurs. He turned over on the hard, narrow bench and fell into a deep sleep again.
Ling Yun sat within the bright and warm barrier, quietly gazing at Gu Xiaorou, who lay unconscious before him. A hand gently stroked Gu Xiaorou's smooth forehead. A faint silver light flickered on his hand as his mental energy field meticulously examined the extent of Gu Xiaorou's injuries.
There's no going back to school. Even if we don't know the exact time, it's definitely past the latest deadline for entering the school. Jinghua University has very strict management. Students are required to enter the school on time and go to bed on time. Violations of discipline will result in severe punishment.
Besides, Ling Yun couldn't just carry the unconscious Gu Xiaorou into the campus like that; he wouldn't be able to explain it. He also couldn't find a hotel or anywhere else to stay in the city. Either way, the soft, beautiful, unconscious girl was a huge problem. Left with no other choice, Ling Yun had to carry Gu Xiaorou to this deserted park near the school. Fortunately, after setting up a barrier, everything could be transformed. In fact, if Ling Yun wanted, he could even decorate the barrier to be as comfortable as a five-star hotel.
After a moment, Ling Yun slowly removed his hand from Gu Xiaorou's forehead, his expression gradually becoming serious. After examining her mental field, Ling Yun was surprised to find that in addition to her severe injuries, Gu Xiaorou's body was actually protected by a miniature barrier.
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Dreams
The energy of the mental field was distributed irregularly on the surface of the miniature barrier in the form of silver threads, like a tangled ball of yarn haphazardly wrapped around a ball, constantly providing energy support to the miniature barrier like electrical wires. However, the miniature barrier did not promote or benefit the body that was supplying energy. On the contrary, the surface of the miniature barrier constantly released an undetectable star-shaped substance. This star-shaped substance, like transparent smoke, passed through the internal organs and blood vessels and landed on Gu Xiaorou's injuries. The wounds, which were originally healing rapidly, slowed down and even regressed after the star-shaped substance landed. Thus, Gu Xiaorou's injuries would never heal. Moreover, once the mental field fluctuated in any way, the speed of the star-shaped substance would immediately increase, and the damage to the injuries would become even more severe.
Although the invisible telekinetic energy could easily erase these strange star-shaped substances, the increased energy supply actually stimulated the micro-barrier to release even more star-shaped substances.
Ling Yun tried to use telekinesis to activate the miniature barrier, hoping to find its structural points and break it from the outside, thus preventing the barrier from damaging Gu Xiaorou's body. However, the miniature barrier was cleverly arranged, enveloped deep within Gu Xiaorou's mental field. To break the barrier, he would first have to brute force open Gu Xiaorou's mental field, but in doing so, the girl would suffer the consequences herself.
This is like a malignant tumor growing inside a mother's body, relying on the mother's nutrients to grow stronger and then harming the mother in return. However, removing the tumor inevitably harms the mother.
Ling Yun gave a silent, bitter smile, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. This was the first time he had ever seen such a strange and troublesome method of attack. The doubts that had been lingering in his mind were suddenly resolved. No wonder Gu Xiaorou possessed high-level magical abilities yet always appeared so frail, and rarely used purely physical telekinetic attacks, relying mostly on mental attacks.
The answer is obvious: overuse of the mental field will aggravate Gu Xiaorou's injuries. Just like tonight, the girl obviously used her full strength to drive away the strange superhuman who released the ghost. However, the consequence of using the mental field at full strength was that Gu Xiaorou's new and old injuries flared up at the same time. As a result, her body's self-protection mechanism immediately caused her to fall into a coma, thereby reducing the consumption of protective energy.
Even when injured, superhumans possess healing abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people. Of course, Ling Yun's special self-healing ability is even more extraordinary. From the industrial base to the barrier now, in just a few tens of minutes, his injuries have been completely healed, and his superhuman abilities have recovered by more than half.
Ling Yun sighed softly, feeling somewhat at a loss for what to do. Waking Gu Xiaorou from her coma wasn't difficult; even without doing anything, the girl would naturally awaken after a certain time. The real headache was figuring out how to break the miniature barrier within her body.
"I have no choice but to seek help from Elder Yu," Ling Yun thought. At least for now, Elder Yu was still omnipotent, which gave Ling Yun a bit of a trump card. There should be some supernatural techniques for self-healing within the barrier, but so far, most of the supernatural techniques Ling Yun had learned were for attacking or assisting in attacks.
The unconscious girl suddenly stirred, her slender body curling up in a pitiful embrace, like a frightened kitten, evoking an indescribable sense of tenderness. Her bloodless lips moved silently, uttering barely audible unconscious murmurs.
Ling Yun's heart stirred, and his mental energy field, like warm seawater, slowly enveloped Gu Xiaorou. He clearly sensed an abnormal change in the girl's mental energy field. This change wasn't a fluctuation that occurred before facing danger or launching an attack, but rather an unconscious psychological activity. If this were an ordinary person, it could be explained in two words: dreaming.
Superpowered individuals possess powerful mental fields and normally do not need sleep or rest, so they naturally have no dreams. However, Gu Xiaorou was seriously injured, and her physical functions had dropped to an unprecedented level. Ling Yun's warm mental field enveloped her, making her subconsciously feel incredibly safe, and she fell into a deep sleep, where she actually began to dream.
Just as Ling Yun was about to withdraw the gentle mental energy field, the girl immediately sensed something. Unconsciously, the mental energy field transformed into countless soft silver threads, which resiliently wrapped around Ling Yun's mental energy field, as if reluctant to let him leave.
Ling Yun was slightly taken aback, but his expression immediately softened. His mental energy field transformed into a gentle silver hand, lightly touching the sensitive silver threads of the girl's mental energy field, trying to reassure her. Under the caress of the hand, the silver threads gradually calmed down.
At this moment, the clear barrier slowly began to become hazy and misty, like a mirror in a steaming bathroom, shrouded in a thin layer of sealed water vapor. Everything was indistinct and unclear. Ling Yun's senses became dull, and his mind was dizzy, as if he had stepped into a strange world.
When the misty fog dissipated, the scene before Ling Yun suddenly changed dramatically; the warm and bright barrier vanished. The unconscious Gu Xiaorou was also gone. He stood in a courtyard filled with starlight, staring blankly at a mother and daughter gazing at each other.
The mother was a young woman in her thirties, beautiful, elegant, and noble. Her almost flawless face stared expressionlessly at the little girl in front of her: "Xiaorou, if you can't become stronger, you won't be able to survive in this world, and your mother won't be able to protect you."
The beautiful, ethereal little girl opened her large, doll-like eyes wide, nodding as if she understood but not quite. Beads of sweat glistened on her small, delicate nose. Her two dainty little feet stood in mid-air, with two iron stones, each weighing over a thousand pounds, hanging from her feet. The little girl had to exert all her strength to maintain her balance and avoid being dragged to the ground by the weight of the iron stones.
The young woman slowly took a few steps back, flicking her jade-like fingers in the air. With each flick, a transparent vortex the size of a longan flower emerged from her fingertip and shot towards the little girl with a whoosh.
The little girl struggled to move her small body slowly through the air, trying her best to dodge the bullet-like vortexes. However, the heavy iron rocks severely restricted the little girl's ability to move, and except for a very few, almost all the vortexes hit the little girl's seemingly delicate body hard.
The little girl frowned, her fair face contorted in pain. Clearly, the vortex was more than just a tickle. Ling Yun witnessed a vortex collide with the girl and fly off at an angle, snapping a thick wooden stake used to hold the fence in the courtyard in two.
The mother seemed to have no pity for her daughter, raining blows on the little girl one after another. The little girl bit her pink lips, her face full of stubbornness, and although tears welled up in her eyes from the pain, she refused to let herself cry.