The two enormous black claws drew closer and closer, now less than a meter apart. Ling Yun was helpless. He had pushed his telekinesis to its limit, and if he withdrew it, the shadows would immediately rush in. At such close range, Ling Yun had no chance of avoiding them.
The ghostly claw had almost touched Ling Yun's face. "Am I going to die?" Ling Yun felt a chill in his heart, and for a moment he even had the thought of giving up on life.
"No, I can't die! I must live! I absolutely must live!" A defiant roar resounded in Ling Yun's heart like thunder, the stubborn young man unleashing a powerful belief once again at the most critical moment of his life. "I won't die! I must live! I must!"
A strong belief burned like a raging fire in Ling Yun's heart, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into an overwhelming fighting spirit.
Ling Yun's mind exploded, his consciousness went blank, and his mental energy field surged out like a level twelve storm, instantly shattering the shadow's pair of ghostly claws. Then, it pounced on the shadow, sweeping it away like autumn leaves being swept away by the wind.
Ling Yun closed his eyes, then opened them, his pupils gleaming with a chilling silver light.
Chapter Ten: Returning to the City
Having just experienced a life-or-death moment, Ling Yun felt as if something in his mind had shattered, and his telekinetic power surged dramatically. He instantly and completely suppressed the shadow's resistance, and at this moment, everything Ling Yun saw was a completely different world.
He saw his own invisible telekinetic power, which consisted of intertwined silver threads emanating from all parts of his body and extending into the distance. Countless silver threads formed a silver light net, and countless light nets were spliced together again to form a blazing ball of light, which struck the shadows heavily as if it were a tangible object. Every moment, mist dissipated under the entanglement of the spiritual force field ball of light.
Ling Yun also saw the true face of the shadow clearly; the world displayed under the mental field was crystal clear. It turned out that the ever-changing shape of the cloud-like body outside the shadow was entirely composed of that strange, cold aura. Ling Yun noticed that every moment, the same cold aura surged down from the entrance of the tomb, constantly replenishing the outer body of the shadow.
However, the mental energy field consumed the Yin-cold energy far faster than it could replenish it. The shadow darted left and right, emitting meaningless hissing sounds, desperately trying to avoid the mental energy field's attacks, but all of this was in vain. As far as Ling Yun could see, it was within the range of the mental energy field. No matter how fast the shadow was, how could it avoid it? It couldn't even escape.
The dark figure within the shadows was composed of condensed, chilling energy, forming a grotesque, human-like shape. It continuously channeled this chilling energy through the surrounding cold aura, then condensed it again. In Ling Yun's eyes, this chilling energy appeared as faint blue wisps of light.
The cold energy body contained faint but regular mental fluctuations. Ling Yun tried to communicate with those faint mental fluctuations using his mental force field. These mental fluctuations should be the main consciousness of the shadow, but he didn't know if it had any intelligence.
The shadow's mental fluctuations were very sensitive; upon contact with Ling Yun's mental field, it immediately recoiled, its meaning unclear. After several unsuccessful attempts to communicate, Ling Yun simply gave up. Since this shadow could abduct young girls from the city and drain their energy, it was definitely not a good thing. Since he could currently harm it, he might as well eliminate it completely to prevent it from entering the city again and harming humanity.
The shadow continued its futile struggle, but under Ling Yun's enhanced telekinetic power after his breakthrough, its efforts seemed utterly feeble. It couldn't understand why its opponent, who had been weaker just moments before, had suddenly become so much stronger.
Ling Yun was unaware that in that life-or-death moment, it was precisely because he unleashed his immense potential that his mental energy field experienced a qualitative breakthrough. Although he had acquired superpowers and had been diligently cultivating in his own way, he had never undergone the test of combat, so the growth of his mental energy field had been slow until today, when he finally made real progress.
A moment later, the chilling aura surrounding the shadow was completely dispelled by the mental field, revealing the menacing black shadow within. Deprived of the support of the chilling aura and now entangled by the mental field, the black shadow's previously solidified body began to loosen.
Just as it was about to be destroyed by Lingyun's mental energy field, its mental fluctuations began to boil violently like boiling water. Suddenly, the entire black shadow dispersed and instantly turned into countless particles, which, like moths drawn to a flame, merged into the light cluster of the mental energy field and were devoured in the blink of an eye.
Ling Yun was taken aback. Although he hadn't let his guard down against the shadow, he hadn't expected it to resort to such a strange tactic at the last moment. Was it trying to self-destruct in preparation for a mutual destruction, realizing it was no match for him?
However, Ling Yun immediately dismissed this idea, because although the mental field was subjected to the shadow's final suicidal counterattack, it remained stable. The shadow's final self-destruction of its chilling energy body had only temporarily blocked the mental field's attack and posed no threat to Ling Yun.
The next second, Ling Yun's expression turned grim, because he immediately understood the shadow's purpose. After dispersing all the icy energy to temporarily block the attack of the mental field, a black aura carrying a faint mental fluctuation flashed out from the gap in the telekinetic power. In the blink of an eye, it rushed to the bodies of the five girls lying in the corner. Without any hesitation, the black aura entered Li Lingling's ear canal. Before Ling Yun could react, the black aura had already entered Li Lingling's body and disappeared.
After the mental field dispersed the scattered, chilling energy that had lost its main body, the shadow completely disappeared. Ling Yun rushed to Li Lingling's side, anxiously touching her forehead. His telekinetic power entered Li Lingling's body without reservation. At this moment, his superpower was very different from before. In his eyes, everything about Li Lingling's body was completely visible, including any condition within her body.
He knew that the black aura was the last consciousness of the shadow, so he tried to use telekinesis to enter Li Lingling's body and expel the black aura. However, once the black aura entered Li Lingling's body, it rushed wildly and reached her lower abdomen dantian in the blink of an eye. Then, the black aura immediately dissipated, turning into invisible particles that merged into her flesh and blood and disappeared.
Ling Yun's telekinetic powers followed, but he found no trace of the black aura. After searching for a long time without success, he had no choice but to retreat helplessly. Ling Yun's expression was extremely grim. Although he had ultimately eliminated the terrifying shadow and saved the lives of five girls, the final turn of events was beyond his expectations, especially the fact that the shadow had entered Li Lingling's body; he didn't know what kind of impact it would have on her.
He sat dejectedly beside Li Lingling, his mind racing, trying to figure out what to do. Such a strange thing had happened in just one night. The boy's mind was in complete turmoil.
Suddenly, Ling Yun remembered the strange incident of the corpse driving the taxi before going to Li Lingling's house. Could this be related to this strange cemetery and this shadow of unknown origin? Ling Yun tried to connect the two events, his senses constantly generating vague fragments of information, but he couldn't make anything clear. After all, he knew too few clues to make any connection.
A soft moan broke Ling Yun's reverie. He turned his head and saw Li Lingling slowly opening her eyes, her pale face filled with confusion. It turned out that Ling Yun's telekinetic powers had failed to detect the black aura, but had instead awakened Li Lingling from her unconsciousness.
"Lingling, you're awake." Ling Yun was overjoyed and temporarily put aside his thoughts on the strange events. He worriedly touched Li Lingling's forehead, and his telekinetic powers re-entered the girl's body. Only after confirming that she was alright did he withdraw with relief.
Li Lingling blinked, and after regaining consciousness, she felt unusually weak. The tomb chamber had been pitch black, and she couldn't see anything; upon waking, she was overwhelmed by fear. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice beside her, and in the dim starlight, she saw the familiar face she had longed for day and night. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she sat up abruptly, hugged Lingyun tightly, and burst into tears.
Ling Yun was held in her arms, smelling the faint fragrance emanating from the girl's body. He felt a little embarrassed, not expecting Li Lingling to be so emotional. But even if Ling Yun were a million times more naive, he knew he couldn't push her away at this moment. He gently patted her somewhat bony back and comforted her softly, "It's okay, I'm here."
With tears streaming down her face, Li Lingling said, "Lingyun, I miss you so much. I thought I would never see you again. Please don't leave me."
"How could that be? Look, we're perfectly fine here. I've come to save you." Ling Yun gently comforted the girl, while considering how to explain these things that ordinary people couldn't understand to her.
"Am I dreaming, Lingyun? You are the hero who rode on auspicious clouds and came to save me." When Li Lingling heard her beloved say that he had come to save her, she was overjoyed. She stopped crying and was no longer afraid. She just hugged Lingyun tightly, feeling infinitely happy.
Ling Yun held the soft, fragrant woman in his arms, but felt a little breathless. He hadn't felt this tense even when fighting the shadow. He whispered, "Lingling, this isn't the time to talk about this. Let's get out of here quickly."
"Oh," the girl replied with a hint of disappointment, but she was unwilling to let go of Ling Yun. In her fragile heart at that moment, Ling Yun was the warmest and most trustworthy support, and she didn't want to leave him for even a second, even if she didn't know where he was.
Ling Yun was a little helpless, so he had to half-support and half-carry her to her feet. Li Lingling was still leaning limply against his chest, as if she had no bones. Ling Yun thought that she had been drained of her energy by the shadow, and that she was too weak to stand steadily. So he could only let her lean on him.
In the darkness, Li Lingling smiled sweetly. The girl dreamed of a day when she could nestle against the chest of the man she admired. She thought this scene could only happen in her dreams, but unexpectedly, it came true in this dark place.
"Where is this? Lingyun?" Li Lingling seemed to have just remembered this question.
"Uh, it's inside a tomb," Ling Yun replied vaguely.
"A tomb?" Li Lingling was startled and hugged Lingyun tightly. "How did we end up in a tomb, Lingyun? I'm so scared."
"Well... it's a long story. Let's get out of here quickly," Ling Yun explained vaguely.
"By the way, Lingyun, do you know how I got here? Let me tell you, don't be afraid, I can't believe such a thing could happen in the world." Li Lingling suddenly seemed to remember something and began to recount her experience of being gripped by the shadows to Lingyun. Her voice trembled slightly, clearly still shaken by the memory. She had never encountered or heard of such an experience in her life, and naturally felt boundless fear.
“Let’s talk outside, Lingling. There are several other girls here, not just you. I’m taking them with me,” Lingyun interrupted her, gently putting his right arm around her waist.
"Are there other girls too?" Li Lingling asked with a hint of surprise, feeling another wave of happiness as her sweetheart embraced her.
Ling Yun had finally learned his lesson and ignored her questions. While carrying Li Lingling, he used his telekinesis to support the bodies of the girls, slowly floating towards the entrance of the tomb. Although these girls were very light, each of them weighed about a hundred pounds, and with Li Lingling added, they weighed a total of five or six hundred pounds. If Ling Yun's mental strength hadn't made a breakthrough, they definitely wouldn't have been able to move together.
"Lingyun, what's going on? Am I seeing things? They... they can move on their own?" Li Lingling was also shocked to see several girls' bodies being lifted upwards by an invisible telekinetic force.
Ling Yun sighed, knowing that after this adventure, he could no longer hide his supernatural abilities from her. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Lingling, this is my secret. I'll tell you after we get out, okay? But you have to promise me you'll keep it a secret."
"Okay, I understand. Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret." The girl was both surprised and delighted, nodding repeatedly. She never expected her sweetheart to have such a secret, and she wondered if sharing his secret would make him see her as his closest person. Thinking of this, the girl's heart was filled with sweetness.
In the blink of an eye, Ling Yun had delivered the four still unconscious girls to the top of the cave. He then put his arm around Li Lingling's waist and leaped up. The cave entrance was several meters above the ground, and Li Lingling felt as if she were floating on clouds as she reached the entrance. She couldn't help but admire Ling Yun even more.
Descending from the towering tomb, Ling Yun realized that the thin mist that had enveloped the cemetery had dissipated, and the pervasive chill that had hung over it had largely dissipated as well. Although it was still night, the small cliffs beyond the cemetery were clearly visible in the distance. Clearly, destroying the ancient lampstand had stripped the cemetery of its power to gather chilling energy.