Chapter 62 The Shadow at the Bottom of the Lake
Gao Pingle's spiritual world was actually a realm of ice and snow.
On the vast snow-covered plain, a huge lake is surrounded by pine forests covered in silver.
The lake was completely frozen over, and on top of the thick ice was a rather exquisite two-story glass house.
The house itself was quite normal in style, with an antique feel, but every tile and every door and window was dripping with shimmering silver liquid.
The water continuously flows onto the ice surface and spreads outwards, forming ice crystals.
The ice on the lake is constantly and perpetually thickening.
Qi An stood on the ice and immediately saw the enormous black shadow moving beneath it.
Even if the ice layer were to thicken eternally, it could not withstand the threat posed by the shadows.
As the dark shadow swam across the underground where the hut was located, the bright crystal realm was immediately plunged into a trembling darkness!
The world beneath Qi An's feet suddenly flipped, transporting him from the human world to the lake below, into a bottomless, dark void.
A boy's reflection is visible on the lake, while a tiny baby lies beneath it.
Such a tiny infant, stumbling and running eternally in this boundless, cold void, futilely trying to escape the pursuit of that dark shadow!
Qi An seemed to understand the origin of Gao Pingle's terrible mental state.
She stepped out of the void and into the corridor of his memories.
The child was only 12 years old and didn't have many memories, but his memory was extremely complex and difficult to explore, layer upon layer like a maze.
Qi An exerted all his strength to travel through the void once more.
She stood there in the void, stunned, the chill in her heart no less intense than the coldness in Gao Pingle's spiritual world.
Gao Pingle and she have many similarities. For example, he also has some physical abnormalities caused by non-enhancement, as well as the ability to efficiently filter toxins and he can also heal himself.
He could indeed sense the fallen insects, but the range and clarity of his senses were far inferior to Qi An's.
Gao Pingle's brain also has structural differences, some of which highly overlap with those of Qi An.
His mental strength is indeed high, otherwise he wouldn't have created a memory maze that even Qi An struggled with.
Gao Pingle also recalled an experiment.
He was soaked in the blood of the fallen insects and stayed with the barely alive White Priest for two whole hours before he underwent a level 3 mutation.
However, he underwent a level 3 mutation!
This mutation was passive; Gao Pingle could not control the pollution, and he feared it!
Qi An had seen Gao Pingle's birth record in the documents.
During Zhou Wen's pregnancy, the base was attacked, and her contamination level did indeed rise to 40%, but it was quickly brought down.
Takahira Rakuya was exposed to pollution entirely while still a fetus.
The desolate void and the terrifying black shadows felt familiar to Qi An.
Is this pollution?
Is it a nightmare formed after some terrifying entity behind the pollution is glimpsed by human eyes?
The snowfield and frozen lake appeared when Gao Pingle was conscious, while the beautiful cedar trees and the ice sculpture house were gradually built as Gao Pingle grew up and experienced life and love.
But before everything, before the world was born, the shadow existed!
Qi An thought, this must be the real consequence of being exposed to pollution during fetal development.
His mental strength was indeed greatly developed, and his body did show signs of evolution, but the shadow of pollution, the fear of being swallowed up at any moment, was forever rooted in his subconscious!
The infant in the void sometimes crawls, sometimes stumbles and runs.
He was terrified; every second of terror and despair felt like the last second of his life.
But he also knew that this was an endless cycle, a curse, and he... He suddenly bumped into two slender legs.
Qi An bent down, scooped him up in his arms with one hand, and stretched out his palm with the other.
The dark figure was lunging forward with great speed, but suddenly it felt like it had crashed into a heavy wall!
There were no heavy walls in front of them, only the woman's small hand, as small as a mustard seed.
The woman holding the infant was nothing more than a faintly glowing ant, yet the shadow was as large as a mountain, its oppressive aura swallowing the heavens and earth!
But no matter how much the entire void trembled and roared, it could not break through that transparent "wall".
With a wave of her hand, the dark figure was overturned.
The woman clenched her fist again, and the dark figure shrank continuously, like a piece of charcoal held in ice.
It shrank from a mountain into a mound, and then from a mound into the size of that ice sculpture hut.
The woman released her grip, and the dark figure vanished in an instant, as if fleeing in even greater panic.
The baby's eyes widened, the world turned upside down again, and the little boy on the frozen lake stared wide-eyed.
Because of the inner turmoil, the silver liquid on the glass house stopped flowing for a moment.
In that instant, the world became bright, both above and below the lake, clean and tidy.
Qi An ended the resonance.
She wasn't having an easy time; her forehead was covered in sweat because this purification was different from the usual ones. One involved brushing away the dust from the table, while the other involved digging her fingers into the tabletop, trying to remove impurities from the wood.
Qi An felt as exhausted as if he had just commanded a battlefield cleanup operation involving 1,000 people.
She pulled her hand away and stood up, but Gao Pingyue remained dazed.
He stood there, stunned, his eyes glistening with tears. The tears fell, more and more falling, until they merged into two waterfalls!
A fierce glint flashed in Zhou Wen's eyes. Her gaze swept over Qi An like a knife, then she pounced on Gao Pingle, scrutinizing him from head to toe, calling out to him with concern.
But Gao Pingle stood up, stumbled, and rushed towards Qi An, grabbing her clothes and bursting into tears:
"I don't understand... Waaah, what are you afraid of... but... but you know what I'm afraid of, right?"
You...I...you're different! Don't go, waaaah!
The little boy's speech was somewhat incoherent, but Qi An understood that he was not completely unaware of what was happening in the spiritual world, and might even have clear memories of it.
The boy was amazed that she had dispelled his deep-seated, soul-deep fears.
Qi An himself was surprised; how could she dispel it?
She was still different from Gao Pingle; she was still missing something.
Gao Pingle cried until she hiccuped, and clung tightly to Qi An, afraid that she would leave, causing a moment of chaos.
Everyone was astonished by the sudden outburst of intense emotion and stubbornness from the usually docile and timid little boy, except for Xiao Zhao, who was standing nearby thinking:
The "guinea pig" has come back to life!
After the vivid tears came the vivid laughter. When Qi An reluctantly sat down next to Gao Ping Le, the boy's still watery eyes couldn't help but curve into a happy smile.
Zhou Wen stared at Gao Pingle's smile for a long time, then suddenly burst into tears.
Filled with doubt, deep remorse, and utmost sincerity, she said to Qi An, "I'm sorry, Dr. Qi, thank you! Thank you!"
After a moment, Qi An said, "It's nothing, it's just work."
Wang Zhuoran, who was standing to the side, was also stunned for a moment. Then he came to his senses and shouted, "Nothing? How can you say nothing? What happened? How did you do it? What's the principle? What's the process? Is it the effect of... mental calming?"
"Yes." Qi An answered immediately, and swiftly reached out to grab his hand: "You can experience this mental comfort for yourself."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com