Chapter 34: Pure Heart
The moment the nightmare descended, the abandoned hut where Chu Yun and the other two lay became the lone "island" in the dead village. "It's calling," Li Ge's voice was grave, pointing out the window. "All the negative emotions of the sleepers are converging in one place." Chu Yun and Mo Li looked in the direction she pointed. In the small square at the center of the village, the visible gray-black mist emanating from the villagers intertwined and merged with the sticky, cold energy, slowly condensing into a concrete form. "It's harnessing the villagers' nightmares and life force to create a body capable of moving in the real world!" Li Ge immediately understood its intention. "We must stop it before it fully forms!" "How?" Mo Li asked, her hand already reaching for the tool pouch at her waist. "Directly attack that energy body?" "No," Chu Yun immediately denied. "The essence of that energy body is the combined life force of all the villagers. Attacking it would be equivalent to attacking the entire village simultaneously. We can't afford that." "Then we can only watch helplessly?" Mo Li's tone was filled with resentment. "Let's go check out the situation first," Chu Yun decided. "We can't get too far away, or else we won't have time to react if anything happens." Without hesitation, the three of them pushed open the door and stalked swiftly and silently toward the small square in the center of the village. Zhilan, who had been following them, silently clutched the hem of Chu Yun's shirt, her face filled with anxiety and worry. By the time they reached the edge of the square and hid behind a collapsed stone wall, the black mist had coalesced into a distinct silhouette—a massive wolf. Its body was composed of swirling, pure black mist, two balls of crimson flame burning in its eye sockets, imbued with a fierce and hungry aura. "Roar!" At that moment, the wolf finally fully solidified. It raised its head to the sky with a deafening roar. The roar didn't travel through the air, but exploded directly in the four people's minds, carrying a powerful mental shock. Chu Yun and the other two were fine, only feeling dizzy, but Zhilan, who was following behind them, groaned in pain, her face turning pale. "Zhilan!" Chu Yun immediately turned around and used his remaining strength to cast a weak protective barrier around Zhilan. The giant wolf seemed to have noticed these "uninvited guests." Its scarlet eyes slowly shifted, finally locking onto the stone wall...
The moment the nightmare came, the abandoned hut where Chu Yun and the other two were located became the only "island" in this dead village.
"It's calling." Li Ge's voice was extremely solemn. She pointed outside the window and said, "All the negative emotions of the sleepers are converging into one place."
Chu Yun and Mo Li looked in the direction she pointed. In the small square at the center of the village, they saw the visible gray-black mist emanating from the villagers, interweaving and merging with the sticky, cold energy, slowly condensing into a concrete form.
"It's using the villagers' nightmares and vitality to create a body for itself that can move in the real world!" Li Ge immediately understood the other party's intentions, "We must stop it before it is fully formed!"
"How do we stop it?" Mo Li asked, her hand already reaching for the tool bag at her waist. "Directly attack that energy body?"
"No." Chu Yun immediately denied it. "The essence of that ball of energy is the collective life source of all the villagers. Attacking it is equivalent to attacking the entire village at the same time. We can't afford the consequences."
"Then we can only watch helplessly?" Mo Li's tone was full of unwillingness.
"Let's go check out the situation first." Chu Yun made a decision. "We can't be too far away, otherwise if something changes, we won't even have time to react."
The three of them no longer hesitated, pushed open the door, and quickly and silently sneaked towards the small square in the center of the village. Zhilan, who had been following behind them, also silently grasped the corner of Chu Yun's clothes, her little face full of tension and worry.
By the time they reached the edge of the square and hid behind a collapsed stone wall, the black mist had coalesced into a clear outline—a gigantic wolf. Its body was composed of surging, pure black mist, with two balls of scarlet flame burning in its eye sockets, brimming with violence and hunger.
"roar!"
At that moment, the giant wolf finally fully formed. It raised its head to the heavens and let out a deafening roar. That roar didn't travel through the air, but rather exploded directly in the minds of the four people, carrying a powerful mental impact. Chu Yun and the other two were fine, only feeling a moment of dizziness. Zhilan, who was following behind them, groaned in pain, her face instantly turning pale.
"Zhilan!" Chu Yun immediately turned around and used his remaining dwindling strength to set up a weak protective barrier around Zhilan.
The giant wolf seemed to have noticed these "uninvited guests." Its crimson gaze slowly shifted, finally locking onto the four people behind the stone wall. In its eyes, these four still-conscious and conscious beings were a far more delicious "main course" than those sleeping corpses.
The giant wolf's hind legs sank slightly, and the muscles made of black mist tensed, making a standard pounce posture.
"Prepare for battle!" Chu Yun shouted, and immediately stepped forward, blocking everyone. His vitality was severely damaged, and he could no longer use the talismans as freely as before, but he still used his body to build the first line of defense.
Li Ge and Mo Li also sprang into action. Several silver needles, gleaming a cold, blue light, appeared from Li Ge's hand, ready to disrupt the giant wolf's movements with her ghostly medical skills. Mo Li quickly pulled a fist-sized metal sphere from her tool bag, constructed from countless precision parts. She fiddled with it a few times, and the sound of mechanical mechanisms creaking from within was instantly heard.
However, just as the battle was about to break out, a figure no one expected walked out from among them.
It’s Zhilan.
She gently broke free from Chu Yun's protection, and with her small figure, she walked out step by step towards the ferocious giant wolf without any fear.
"Zhilan! Come back! It's dangerous!" Chu Yun shouted hurriedly, wanting to reach out to pull her, but was stopped by Li Ge.
"Wait." Li Ge stared at Zhilan's back, his eyes filled with shock and confusion, "Look at her."
Chu Yun followed Li Ge's gaze and saw Zhilan radiating an extremely faint, yet pure, soft light. Unlike Chu Yun's power, that light was non-aggressive, filled with peace and warmth. The giant wolf, about to pounce, was momentarily delayed by the light.
Facing the giant wolf that could tear through steel, Zhilan's face showed no trace of fear. She just stood there quietly, looking into the pair of eyes burning with scarlet flames.
Less than three steps away, the giant wolf stopped. It seemed perplexed, puzzled as to why this tiny "food" wouldn't flee, but instead would stare directly at it. A threatening growl emanated from its throat, its sharp claws leaving deep marks on the ground.
Zhilan did not retreat. She slowly, slowly extended her right hand.
Her movements were so slow that Chu Yun and the other two could clearly see every subtle movement. She stretched out her defenseless hand towards the monster made of nightmares and fears.
Chu Yun's heart instantly jumped into his throat. He had already prepared for the worst. If the giant wolf made any unusual movement, he would attack immediately.
But the giant wolf did not move.
It just stared at Zhilan's outstretched little hand. In its scarlet eyes, the violence and hunger seemed to be replaced by an emotion it had never felt before.
Zhilan's hand finally, gently, placed on the giant wolf's forehead made of black mist.
There was no collision of energy, no light of magic.
At the moment of contact, a pure, warm, and kind breath emanated from Zhilan's palm.
Chu Yun and the other two clearly "heard" a voice. It wasn't something they heard through their ears, but rather something that resonated directly within their souls. It was a silent "communication" that transcended language and race.
"You... aren't afraid of me?" A chaotic and violent thought came from the giant wolf.
"Why should I be afraid of you?" Zhilan's thoughts responded gently like a clear stream, "You look... in pain."
"Pain..." The giant wolf's mind was a little confused. "I... I'm just hungry... I need... I need more..."
"You're not hungry." Zhilan's mind gently "stroked" it, "You're afraid. You're afraid of loneliness, afraid of darkness, afraid of being forgotten. That's why you want to grab more things and fill yourself up, right?"
"I..." The giant wolf's thoughts began to fluctuate violently, and its huge body began to flicker unsteadily, as if Zhilan had hit the deepest fear in its heart.
"It's okay." Zhilan's thoughts became gentler. "Look, I'm here. I didn't hurt you, nor did I abandon you. You are not alone."
She also stretched out her other hand and gently embraced the giant wolf's huge head.
"Go to sleep." Zhilan's thoughts were like the softest lullaby, "You'll be fine after a good sleep. When you wake up, you won't be afraid anymore."
"Sleep..." The giant wolf's violent thoughts, under Zhilan's soothing, actually calmed down miraculously. Its eyes, burning with scarlet flames, slowly, slowly closed.
The massive body, made of black mist, began to dissipate bit by bit from under its feet, transforming into pure black smoke and returning to the air. In just ten breaths, the once ferocious nightmare wolf completely and peacefully disappeared in Zhilan's arms.
The entire square fell silent again.
Chu Yun, Li Ge, and Mo Li stood there in a daze, watching the miraculous scene unfold before them, their minds blank. They had witnessed the most powerful Taoist magic, the most bizarre ghost medical techniques, and the most ingenious mechanisms. But they had never seen such an incredible, gentle, yet powerful force.
Zhilan withdrew her hand, turned around, and saw the shocked expressions of the three people. She smiled a little embarrassedly. "It's just a lost child. Just send it home."
Chu Yun was the first to recover. He quickly walked over to Zhilan and squatted down so he could look the little girl in the eye. His voice was filled with a deep awe that he himself hadn't noticed.
"Who...are you?"
"My name is Zhilan, and I'm from the Forest Ranger tribe." The girl answered seriously, repeating her previous introduction.
"The Forest Ranger Clan..." Chu Yun muttered to himself. He knew that the meaning behind this identity was far more profound than he had imagined.
"Zhilan," Li Ge also came over. She looked at Zhilan with eyes full of curiosity and inquiry. "Were you 'talking' to it just now?"
"Yeah." Zhilan nodded. "I can feel its mood. It's scared and lonely. Just like a wolf cub I saw in the mountains before that got separated from its mother. Just hug it and tell it not to be afraid, and it will calm down."
This innocent and pure explanation made Mo Li feel a deep sense of powerlessness. Her logic and calculations, which she was most proud of, seemed so pale in the face of this pure power of "empathy".
"Zhilan." Chu Yun looked at her and asked solemnly, "Can you comfort this 'monster' that turned from a nightmare?"
Zhilan thought about it, then shook her head. "I don't know. The one just now was like a little child, easy to appease. But if it was a very stubborn, very sad adult, maybe... it wouldn't be so easy."
She gazed into the depths of the village, a hint of worry in her clear eyes. "I can sense that in that darkest place, lives a very, very sad adult. The nightmares of everyone in the village come from him. He is the one who needs to be hugged the most."
Chu Yun and the other two were all shocked.
They understood. Zhilan's ability might be the biggest and most unexpected way to break the impasse in this operation.
"We must enter the dream." Chu Yun looked at Li Ge and Mo Li, his tone extremely firm, "Zhi Lan is our biggest trump card."
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