Clearly, the pain Matsumoto suffered after being choked was not suffocation or pain, but the strangulation of his mental field by a mysterious and powerful force. The mental field is the most sensitive and powerful part of a superhuman. Once it is attacked, the pain is far greater than that of an ordinary person, not to mention the all-around instant kill when one has no ability to resist.
Although Yuqi was a girl, she was tall, not much shorter than Gu Xiaorou, and about the same height as Matsumoto. Her slender arms were very long, and her cool jade hands grabbed Matsumoto and easily lifted him into the air, as if she were picking up a tightly bound little bird.
Matsumoto felt his body growing weaker and weaker, the pain reaching its peak, and his consciousness gradually becoming blurred. His mental energy field had been pushed to its limit, but under the suppression of an even stronger external force, he could only futilely shrink into a fist-sized ball, unwillingly shrinking back. Even so, the powerful force did not intend to let him go, seeping through his body and into his body, wrapping around him bit by bit until it bound his mental energy field into a dumpling-like shape.
Consciousness was slipping away from Matsumoto's body. Tears, snot, and saliva flowed uncontrollably from his eyes, nostrils, and twitching mouth, quickly smearing his once clean face. The approaching death plunged Matsumoto into deep fear, but what drove him to despair most was his utter helplessness in the face of death.
Yuqi raised her two delicate, arched eyebrows, glanced at Matsumoto's disgraceful behavior with disgust, and released his neck with her slender hand. Matsumoto immediately fell to the ground like a dead dog, curled up into a ball, clutching his throat tightly with both hands, breathing heavily with a heavy, panting sound like a broken-down fan.
Yuqi suddenly took two steps back, staring in shock at her own hands, then at Matsumoto curled up on the ground, her face showing utter horror. She seemed completely unaware of what had just happened, her eyes shifting between lively and blank, looking utterly bewildered.
A hand slowly emerged from the void and gently placed itself on her head. Silver light, like quicksilver, flowed into Yuqi's body, instantly adding a touch of holy radiance to the already stunningly beautiful girl. As the silver light surged in, the girl's eyes gradually cleared. She parted her lips slightly and exhaled a wisp of black mist as thin as a hair. The black mist writhed in the air like a snake, trying to return to Yuqi's mouth, but the silver light coiled around it like vines, instantly turning the black mist into nothingness.
Ling Yun slowly revealed his form in the ward. He had been in an invisible state, but his mental energy field suddenly attacked through Yuqi's body. Matsumoto's strength was far inferior to his, and he was caught off guard. He didn't even have time to instinctively resist before he was completely imprisoned.
“Yun…” Yuqi looked at Ling Yun with surprise and joy. She was both aggrieved and excited, like a little girl who had seen her sweetheart. She couldn’t help but rush over and bury her head in Ling Yun’s arms. “Why did you only come now? I don’t know how I got through these past few days. I was so scared…” As she spoke, a line of crystal tears fell down her cheeks.
Ling Yun awkwardly embraced her round, fragrant shoulders, unsure whether to push her away or not. Fortunately, Gu Xiaorou wasn't there, so there was no need to worry too much. He could only comfort her by gently patting her shoulder: "It's alright, Yuqi. You were just being mentally controlled. I dispelled the controlling aura within you, and this guy named Matsumoto has also been imprisoned by me. Tell me about your experiences these past few days."
Yuqi simply nestled deeply in his arms, sobbing, releasing all the grievances and sorrow of the past few days. Mind control is not the act of creating a mindless puppet, but rather a state where the person remains mentally conscious yet is involuntarily controlled, unable to even express the thought of resistance or the most basic emotions. This is undoubtedly extremely painful. In just a few days, the girl had already begun to contemplate ending her young life, but under mental control, even death had become a luxury.
Recalling the heartless words she had spoken to Ling Yun on the phone, Yuqi felt as if her heart was being torn apart. When had she ever said such cruel things to anyone? She was gentle and refined; even when pursued by ordinary friends, she would only politely refuse. How could she have said that to Ling Yun, the boy she liked most? Overwhelmed with self-reproach, she was also moved by Ling Yun's selfless rescue despite the misunderstanding. Her voice hoarse, she said, "Yun...it's my fault. I made you misunderstand. I really didn't mean it then; someone was controlling me..."
Ling Yun nodded: "I know you were acting against your will. It just so happened that the person controlling you was also scanning me with their senses at the time. Luckily, I discovered it, otherwise I really wouldn't have known you were in Baiyun Hospital."
He gently pushed Yuqi away, saying, "Yuqi, what's going on with the Yang family? Isn't it just a typical power struggle among wealthy families? How come there's a superhuman involved? And as soon as I arrived in Hong Kong, a Japanese female ninja spotted me. Their reaction was really fast."
Yuqi glanced at Matsumoto, who was lying motionless on the ground, with disgust. "It was my uncle's doing. I found out as soon as I got back. I wanted to check on my father's condition first, but as soon as I got off the plane, my uncle came to pick me up with those Japanese men. They introduced me as representatives of the conglomerate that was helping our Yang family. I didn't pay much attention at the time. Then one of the Japanese men seemed to have tampered with my head, and I immediately became delirious. After that, I don't know why, but whatever that man asked me, I answered involuntarily. And whatever he asked me to do, even though I didn't want to, I had to do it, like a puppet..." As she said this, Yuqi's eyes couldn't help but show fear. Obviously, the scene was very strange, and she was still quite scared when she thought about it. What the girl was most afraid of was not anything else, but the possibility that the Japanese man had some ulterior motive towards her. If that happened, she would be doomed.
Ling Yun silently patted Yuqi's shoulder. He could sense the fear in Yuqi's heart. Although she had witnessed his amazing power and knew that she was a gifted person with a latent gene, Yuqi was still an ordinary person at heart. Naturally, she would have a strong reaction when she first encountered such inhuman power.
At this point, there was no need to ask too many questions. The matter was clear. From the conversation between Yang Ling and Matsumoto alone, Ling Yun could deduce the general outline of what had happened with a little thought. It was simply that Yang Ling was unwilling to remain in a marginal position within the family and wanted to plot to seize power. However, he couldn't do it on his own, so he somehow sought help from a Japanese supernatural being.
Yang Ling originally thought it was just a cooperation, and that he could give the Japanese some benefits when he took over the power of the Yang family. He didn't expect that he would end up like a dog instead of a tiger. The Japanese had great ambitions, and Yang Ling was just trying to make a deal with them. As a result, he got burned. Before he could even sit in the position of family head, he became a puppet of the Japanese supernatural beings.
However, this cannot be blamed on him. When any ordinary person faces a powerful superhuman, the absolute difference in strength determines the control over the situation. Yang Ling was merely a foolish opportunist. Or perhaps, the matter is not so simple. Maybe the Japanese ninjas had already set their sights on the Yang family. Even without Yang Ling, there would have been other gaps for the Japanese ninjas to exploit.
Ling Yun's eyes showed a hint of contemplation as he pondered the reasons behind the scenes within the wealthy family. Why would the Japanese target the Yang family? Was it merely for the Yang family's interests? It should be noted that although the Yang family's businesses were vast, spanning the entire country and even including listed companies overseas, in terms of strength, they were still far inferior to any large multinational corporation in the world. Although the Japanese ninjas were only a second-rate organization of supernatural beings, they were still representatives of a nation's power. They shouldn't be so short-sighted as to only target the Yang family. There were countless conglomerates in Japan larger than the Yang family, so there must be deeper reasons behind it.
Thinking this, he glanced at Matsumoto on the ground. This guy, who couldn't even control his basic instincts, was probably just a minor character. Using Soul Search on him probably wouldn't yield much information; instead, it would alert the enemy and make them more wary. He should be more cautious about the teacher Matsumoto mentioned, though he wondered if the psychic who scanned Ling Yun with his mental field was Matsumoto's teacher.
Yuqi approached the bedside with a heavy heart, looking at Yang Cheng, who was barely breathing. Although she had been diligently caring for her father these past few days, it wasn't out of genuine affection. It was her uncle, Yang Ling, who was using her for psychological manipulation to prevent others from discovering their deception. In reality, once in the ward, he treated her like a puppet, ignoring her completely. Therefore, even though Yuqi felt immense grief, she couldn't express it.
Now that the mind control had been broken, upon seeing Yang Cheng again, she could no longer hold back and burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably on the hospital bed: "Dad, wake up! Open your eyes and look at me! I'm your daughter, Yuqi! Open your eyes and look at me!" Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. Born into a wealthy family, she was a pampered daughter, and the Yang family had no rule that women held power. Therefore, from childhood to adulthood, no one had ever made things difficult for this most beautiful princess of the family. Yang Yuqi had always had a smooth life, like a delicate flower in a greenhouse. Although exceptionally talented and intelligent, she had never experienced setbacks. Now, with her family facing a devastating change and her father on the verge of death, she was overwhelmed with grief and completely lost.
Ling Yun glanced at Yang Cheng lying on the bed, a sudden thought striking him. Although Yang Cheng appeared pale and sickly, terminally ill and seemingly beyond cure, it didn't seem to be a simple case of illness causing his weakened state. With just a slight application of his spiritual energy to Yang Cheng's body, Ling Yun could sense that Yang Cheng's temperature and pulse were relatively stable, and although his heartbeat was weak, it was steady and strong. In any case, these were not signs of a terminally ill patient.
"Let me see, Yuqi," Ling Yun gently lifted Yuqi's shoulder, "Perhaps there's a chance your uncle's condition will improve."
Yuqi stopped crying and looked at Lingyun excitedly, "Yun, you know medicine? That's great! Please help me save my father." At this moment, she was completely disoriented. Seeing Lingyun, she immediately regarded him as her pillar of support, and she didn't even care whether Lingyun really knew medicine or not.
Ling Yun gently placed his hand on Yang Cheng's exposed, withered, and sallow wrist, seemingly taking his pulse, but in reality, he had already probed Yang Cheng's body with an invisible spiritual force field. He was deeply afraid that Yang Cheng's weak body could not withstand the stimulation of the spiritual force field, so he only used the lowest level of telekinetic power, the probing power was barely perceptible, so that he could check the condition of Yang Cheng's body without worrying about stimulating his weak body. If Ling Yun's telekinetic control had not reached an extremely high level, it would have been very difficult to do this.
Suddenly, Ling Yun's expression turned strange, and his brows furrowed involuntarily. Yu Qi was watching her father and him with a tense expression. Seeing his strange expression, her heart skipped a beat. She thought her father was beyond saving, and asked in a trembling voice, "Yun, do you think there is any hope?"
Ling Yun shook his head: "I haven't figured it out yet, I need to take another look." As he spoke, a glint flashed in his eyes, which had already entered his Eye of Illusion. His strange expression just now was because when his telekinetic probe entered Yang Cheng's body, before he could examine the meridians, it suddenly vanished without a trace, as if an unnamed giant mouth had suddenly appeared inside Yang Cheng's body and swallowed up his probe telekinetic power.
Ling Yun narrowed his eyes slightly. This Yang Cheng was indeed a bit strange. It was certain that there was an unknown existence hidden in his body that could devour the mental energy field. If the output of the mental energy field detection was increased, it might be possible to pull out the unknown existence in Yang Cheng's body. However, that would inevitably use Yang Cheng's body as the battlefield. But judging from Yang Cheng's current physical condition, it would probably be difficult for him to withstand such an impact.
Under the illusionary eye, a layer of faint black mist appeared on the surface of Yang Cheng's body. The black mist entered through his seven orifices, wrapped around Yang Cheng's meridians and internal organs, and finally formed a blurry yet fierce unknown entity in his lower abdomen.
Ling Yun's expression immediately turned serious.
"Witchcraft?" he muttered to himself involuntarily.
Chapter 224 I Won't Allow You to Die
The ice crystal fragments reflected dazzling, seven-colored light under the aurora, resembling tiny pearls no bigger than a pen tip. Unless the temperature exceeded 100 degrees Celsius or surpassed the caster's power, the ice crystals would never melt; this was mystical ice formed by extreme cold, as hard as steel.
Dark Gu Xiaorou stared intently at the tiny particles, invisible even to the naked eye, lost in thought. The real Gu Xiaorou should be dead; under such an attack, her body had been completely disintegrated, making survival impossible. Yet, Dark Gu Xiaorou suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if the real Gu Xiaorou, though her physical body had crumbled, had preserved her consciousness intact.
At least, she could sense that Xiao Rou's aura hadn't dissipated. There was an invisible yet close connection between the two, like twins on opposite sides of each other. This intangible aura could only be felt. It existed silently and discreetly beside Gu Xiao Rou in the darkness.
Dark Gu Xiaorou frowned silently. She desperately hoped this was just a hallucination caused by overly sensitive nerves, but it wasn't. Superpowered individuals rarely experience vague hallucinations. If they do, it only proves that the hallucination isn't truly a hallucination, but rather that another force actually exists and has caused this unknown situation. And the unknown often signifies danger.
Impatience began to grow in Gu Xiaorou's heart in the darkness. She took a few steps on the open high ground, and even merged her figure into the dark space several times. But the more she did this, the more she felt that there seemed to be a pair of clear eyes silently watching her.
It cannot be explained, yet it exists; it cannot be perceived, yet it is known.
"I know you're not that easy to kill. Come out... Stop playing tricks here." Finally, Dark Gu Xiaorou could no longer suppress her growing impatience and spoke coldly. As if she had suddenly become enraged, a blinding silver light flashed from her hands, and countless dazzling silver orbs flew out from her hands, which left afterimages, and bombarded the ground where shattered ice crystals were scattered.
A cloud of dust, tens of meters high, suddenly billowed up from the ground, even obscuring the entire sky. One deep crater after another appeared before the darkness in front of Gu Xiaorou. The soft black ground could not withstand the powerful impact, and a section of the ground, tens of meters long and wide, collapsed, revealing a huge, dark crack whose depth could not be determined by sight. Suddenly, fiery red magma shot out from the bottom, scattering countless fiery red and dazzling sparks in mid-air.
Suddenly, Gu Xiaorou's long hair began to scatter automatically, and her incredibly graceful body slowly floated into the air. A cold question flashed in her bright, beautiful eyes. Her sensitive mental field made her suddenly realize that a strange yet familiar aura was constantly gathering in the space.
"Is that you, Gu Xiaorou?" Dark Gu Xiaorou asked softly. Her agitated emotions had subsided without her realizing it, and her expression had become completely calm, filled with a solemnity and gravity as if facing a formidable enemy, and even a hint of expectation.
Countless glittering bright spots suddenly appeared in the pitch-black sky, like billions of stars gathered together. Then, slowly, all the bright spots began to rotate clockwise around a fixed direction, as if there was an invisible black hole at the center of the bright spots, attracting billions of stars together. From a distance, it looked like a funnel-shaped Milky Way stretching across the infinite void.
Specks of light shone on Gu Xiaorou's face in the darkness, revealing her breathtakingly beautiful face as her long hair swayed.
Under the influence of an unnamed force, the bright spots slowly coalesced, and the perforated shape changed from a cone to a rectangular cube. Then, countless lights flashed suddenly, their blinding brilliance illuminating half the sky in an instant. The light then vanished abruptly, leaving behind a clear, transparent cube in the void, emitting a cool, luminous glow against the backdrop of several aurora borealis beams.
Dark Gu Xiaorou's pupils suddenly contracted. She had realized that the crystalline cube was the ice crystal she had just struck and shattered. But now, the shattered ice crystal had actually recovered. What kind of power was this? Could it be that the power of the real Gu Xiaorou had reached the level of resurrection?
Or has she truly grasped the secrets of the space?
Within the crystalline ice stood an exquisitely beautiful figure, her grace unparalleled and her beauty beyond compare. She was completely naked, her eyes slightly closed, her jet-black hair, as smooth as satin, neatly cascading down her back. Her flawless white body radiated a milky-white, holy glow, like a goddess descending from heaven, or a beautiful phoenix rising from the ashes. Countless tiny runes continuously emanated from her dazzling body.