Chapter 281
The president's office is on the 32nd floor of Shengtian Group.
The deputy secretary-general was reporting to Yan Shuo when suddenly someone burst in with a bang.
Ever since the last board member who yelled at Yan Shuo was thrown out of the company by security and never appeared again, no one on the entire 32nd floor has dared to make a sound louder than 70 decibels.
The newcomer strode up to the desk, just as the worst premonition had come true: this person was here to cause trouble.
The deputy secretary-general's eyelids twitched, thinking to himself, "Who is this fool who doesn't know what's good for him?" But when he turned his head, he actually saw Cen Haiyue with a gloomy face.
What's going on?
Throughout the company, everyone knew that Lü Xiangcai was Yan Shuo's loyal henchman. Even the board's current uprising was less surprising than Cen Haiyue's attack on Yan Shuo.
He hurriedly asked, "Secretary Lü? Didn't you go on vacation? Why are you back so soon?"
Cen Haiyue didn't answer, staring intently at Yan Shuo: "Are you available now?"
Yan Shuo glanced at him coldly, ignoring him as well, and said to the deputy secretary-general, "Continue."
The deputy secretary-general felt as if he were being roasted over a fire.
Fortunately, Cen Haiyue didn't react. But the other party was clearly suppressing something, and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.
The deputy secretary-general quickly completed his report and request for instructions before leaving. As he closed the door, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had escaped from a tiger's mouth. At the same time, he heard Cen Haiyue's slightly angry voice echoing in the room.
"What exactly do you want?"
From discovering Xie Xubai's amnesia, to pretending to be nonchalant to keep him calm, and then returning home.
Throughout the journey, Cen Haiyue repeatedly questioned, repeatedly suppressed his unease, and repeatedly wondered if he was judging others by his own petty standards.
But Yan Shuo casually turned to the next page of the proposal without looking up: "Are you questioning me?"
Cen Haiyue's heart sank instantly.
Cen Haiyue's unwavering obedience to Yan Shuo was probably based on his firsthand experience of witnessing a company monster vanish into thin air.
Another 20% were actually out of respect.
Admittedly, Yan Shuo is not a boss who makes people feel safe, but most of the time he can be described as a wise and knowledgeable deity.
Whether it's a negotiation trap that a new secretary can't handle, a report that leaves employees scrambling, the melancholy of middle age, or the troubles of a five-year-old child getting cavities from eating candy on the street, He can always provide a suitable solution, and He is always generous with his answers.
This kind of instruction and guidance that requires no cost or reward from others is less a matter of Yan Shuo's kindness and more a matter of His indifference.
Just like straightening a roadblock or throwing a handful of millet to a bird, when people do these things, do they have any complicated desires or thoughts?
It was just something I did casually.
Therefore, Yan Shuo's failure to give a direct answer as usual at this moment is enough to explain the situation.
"It really was you who robbed Xie Xubai of his memories." Cen Haiyue met Yan Shuo's indifferent eyes directly, unable to suppress his anger any longer. "Why did you do this?"
Heaven knows what Cen Haiyue felt when Xie Xubai scrutinized him with those unfamiliar eyes.
He mustered all his strength to force a smile at Xie Xubai, and stammered out a reasonably plausible explanation. Before he could even process his fear and worry, what happened next hit him hard, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
Xie Xubai cultivates spiritual power, and the exertion of his strength is closely related to the depth of his self-awareness. Forgetting will seal off Xie Xubai's own power—the more he forgets, the more he seals off, the weaker he will become, until his abilities return to zero.
By the time they disembarked from the plane, Xie Xubai had completely forgotten about the game's trial and reincarnation system.
The young man didn't know how to harness his spiritual power, couldn't see the restless red whale swimming beneath his feet, and thought that evil spirits and monsters were just feudal superstitions used to swindle and deceive, making him seem no different from ordinary people.
The young man was curious as to why he was going on a trip with Cen Haiyue, a neighbor he had only met a few days ago. His impression of Xie Yuchun was that of a capable and decisive professor, his impression of Pei Yuheng was that of a capable and taciturn professor, his impression of Ping An was that of a puppy he had just brought home a few days ago, and his impression of Jiang Kaile and Chan Sheng was that of a somewhat outgoing teenager he bumped into on the roadside.
...
Are you kidding me!
Cen Haiyue sternly questioned Yan Shuo: "You have control over this fake world, and no one can rival you except Xie Xubai! So you're weakening his power and deceiving his perception... do you want to rule this world?"
"World domination?"
Perhaps finding it too absurd, Yan Shuo finally humbled himself and looked up from the proposal, scoffing, "Besides the system and a fifteen-year-old chuunibyou, who would be so bored?"
Cen Haiyue squinted his eyes blankly.
Yan Shuo understood: "It seems that even though the system has been captured, you still can't fully understand what the [System] and [Infinite Game] mean."
Listening to his nonchalant tone, Cen Haiyue felt an increasing sense of crisis that the situation was getting out of control, and racked his brains to figure out what Yan Shuo's purpose was.
Everyone else remained the same, and the world itself didn't change much either. The only one who changed was Xie Xubai.
If it wasn't for power, money, or profit, why would Yan Shuo want to control Xie Xubai?
……etc.
control?
Cen Haiyue suddenly had an extremely absurd guess, his voice trembling: "...Don't tell me you're planning to trap Xie Xubai in this false world forever?"
He came from humble beginnings and spent most of his life in the world of pleasure and fame, so he was all too familiar with this kind of behavior of bullying men and women.
But it's precisely because it's so familiar that I dare not think about it.
In his heart, his close friend Xie Xubai was such a pure and upright person that anyone who dared to have such filthy thoughts about Xie Xubai would be torn to pieces!
However, Yan Shuo's next words shattered Cen Haiyue's last glimmer of hope.
Yan Shuo: "If I really intend to do that, what can you change?"
Like a stone thrown into still water, the air around Cen Haiyue was instantly sucked away. Before he could react, an immense pressure crushed him to the ground.
Cen Haiyue struggled to prop himself up, but a huge shadow crashed down on him like a tsunami, mercilessly pressing him back down!
Yan Shuo stood in front of him: "Do you feel like you're in a sorry state right now?"
He squatted down and said slowly, "But I think it's far from good enough, not even close to the way Xie Xubai looked when his soul shattered."
Cen Haiyue struggled to resist the oppressive force, and upon hearing this, his pupils contracted, and he abruptly looked up: "What soul shattering? Explain yourself!"
Cen Haiyue was unaware of this, and it should be said that most people had never witnessed Xie Xubai's soul shattering. After all, Xie Xubai shattered once in an unfathomable high-dimensional world and once in a desolate wilderness. If Yan Shuo had been even slightly slower, he would have perished without a trace.
...That's why Yan Shuo can't let it go.
Tentacles emerged from the shadows, taking over most of the office. As they surged, they roared like demons, sweeping away everything in their path and stirring up a damp, gloomy atmosphere.
Yan Shuo met Cen Haiyue's gaze without a trace of warmth, and gave a mocking smile: "You don't even know what a shattered soul is? That's right, after all, not everyone has Xie Xubai's high mental strength. The pain he experienced is engraved in his bones, and he can't forget it completely."
He glanced at Cen Haiyue's left arm, which was supporting his body.
Suddenly, a searing pain shot through Cen Haiyue's left arm. The pain was like lightning striking his internal organs and reaching the depths of his soul, causing his vision to go black, cold sweat to pour down his face, and him to collapse heavily to the ground.
Yan Shuo didn't actually harm Cen Haiyue; he merely recreated the sensation Cen Haiyue felt when his soul shattered. Even just those five seconds of experience caused Cen Haiyue excruciating pain.
It took him a long time to recover, his head covered in sweat. He immediately recalled what Yan Shuo had just said, his pupils trembling.
This... this is what it means to have your soul shattered? When did Xie Xubai experience such pain? Why does the other person never say?
"Close friend." Yan Shuo savored the word, the smile not reaching his eyes. "From the moment Xie Xubai entered the hospital, besides those dispensable financial support, what else have you done? You just took it for granted that he would be rescued, wallowing in self-pity and wallowing in the past, completely unaware of what happened to him or what he went through. Is this the close friend you so proudly call yourself?"
"How could this be, I..."
Cen Haiyue felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
But his usually eloquent and eloquent mouth seemed to be tied in knots, unable to utter a single word in his own defense.
Yan Shuo raised his hand, and a small golden figure appeared in his palm.
The little man looked exactly like Xie Xubai, and the aura he emitted was as warm and gentle as his spiritual power, instantly dispelling the chill in the entire office. He quietly closed his eyes, resting his head in Yan Shuo's palm, his body slightly curled up, his chest rising and falling, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Cen Haiyue sensed Xie Xubai's mental fluctuations on the little figure and guessed that it might be the carrier of Xie Xubai's lost memories, so he couldn't help but touch it.
The next second, the black mist surged, and thousands of strands gathered together, like slender thorny vines weaving a cage for a canary, enveloping the little man and pulling him little by little into the abyss.
Cen Haiyue grabbed at empty air, and unable to stop him, his eyes flashed with a bloodshot red: "Yan Shuo!"
Yan Shuo laughed and said, "Instead of working yourself to death and torturing yourself to the point of wishing you were dead, what's wrong with staying in this fake world? Everything is here, friends and family are all here, there is no death, injury, or sin. He will be happier than ever before."
Cen Haiyue struggled fiercely, the silhouette of a red whale appearing behind him. His face contorted in rage, he roared, "Bullshit! You're clearly destroying his dignity! Xie Xubai would never allow you to do this!"
"Yan Shuo! You can mock me for being weak and ignorant, but you shouldn't be unaware of how much Xie Xubai has sacrificed along the way. How dare you erase all his efforts with just a simple statement that he's not worth doing good for? You—"
"Erase? No." Yan Shuo laughed.
A hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, and he spoke the last few words very softly: "Xie Xubai may not remember the suffering he endured and the achievements he made, but how can you forget them?"
As Yan Shuo uttered these words, an invisible force gathered in the sky above H City, then swept across all directions with a bang, and the whole world suddenly underwent a strange chemical reaction.
Some people, including Cen Haiyue, have clearer memories, and long-forgotten past events are resurfacing one after another.
Cen Haiyue couldn't care less about that right now.
Seeing Xie Xubai's memory carrier about to disappear completely, he almost went mad. The red whale in its true form roared, broke free from the oppressive restraints, and opened its blood-red maw to bite at Yan Shuo's hand holding the golden figure, trying to take it back.
Yan Shuo neither dodged nor evaded. The moment the red whale charged, he raised his hand and pressed down. Sharp teeth pierced his palm, blood splattered, and he broke the red whale's bones and slammed it to the ground. Hundreds of square meters of brickwork collapsed instantly, and dust billowed into the sky!
The red whale roars, and Yan Shuo laughs.
For a long time, setting aside Yan Shuo's god-like aura, the title of "evil god" was rather undeserved. He disliked suffering, was too lazy to bewitch others, and while he was decisive in killing, he was not bloodthirsty, not to mention that killing and cruelty are the nature of monsters.
Compared to other evil entities, it could practically be nominated for the title of "City Morality Model."
However, at this moment, an evil emanated from His smile, giving off a sense of madness that threatened to tear down the heavens and earth and cause them to perish together.
The employees below were at a loss, thinking it was an earthquake, and shouted for their lives to be saved.
Cen Haiyue glanced away absentmindedly, only to be caught by Yan Shuo's tail and flung more than ten kilometers away, crashing onto the mountain ridge!
Pain gripped his entire body. Cen Haiyue, feeling dizzy and disoriented, scrambled to his feet, swallowed a mouthful of blood, and charged back to Shengtian Group.
By this time, a crowd of onlookers had already gathered outside the group, drawn by the noise and commotion. Yan Shuo, probably annoyed, commanded the black mist to erect a hundred-meter-high wall, preventing Cen Hai from leaping inside.
The red whale, its eyes bloodshot, pounced on the black mist and tore at it frantically, its teeth shattering and blood gushing out.
Ignoring the obstruction of others, Cen Haiyue gathered his strength and slammed his fists into the barrier, cursing Yan Shuo with all his might.
Those around could not see the restrictions or the black mist; they only saw Cen Haiyue smashing the wall like a madman, as if he had lost his mind.
What's even more terrifying is his superhuman strength; he elbowed a 1.9-meter-tall man to the ground, scaring passersby into retreating and calling the police.
Until someone pushed through the crowd, hesitated for two seconds, then ran up and grabbed him: "Cen Haiyue, calm down!"
Cen Haiyue froze.
As if a raging fire had been extinguished by a bucket of water, he turned his head slowly like a puppet and looked at Xie Xubai, who was frowning with worry.
Seeing that he had calmed down, Xie Xubai released his hand following his gaze and explained, "You didn't seem to be acting right when you got off the plane today. I was worried that you might be sick, but no one answered when I knocked on your door, and you didn't reply to my messages either, so I came here to check on you at the company address you mentioned. What happened to you just now?"
Xie Xubai was actually a little confused.
According to his limited recollections, Cen Haiyue had just moved into their neighborhood a few days prior. They hit it off on the basketball court that very day, and the next day Cen Haiyue warmly visited his parents with gifts. The day after that, they made a heartfelt appointment to go whale watching in the waters off Weizhou Island.
Regardless of Cen Haiyue's personality, is he a social terrorist?
Xie Xubai was still pondering to himself when suddenly his vision blurred, and a stunned Cen Haiyue rushed up and hugged him tightly: "I'm sorry, I'm so useless, I'm so sorry..."
Hot tears streamed down my neck, seemingly capable of melting ice and snow.
Xie Xubai stood there stunned once again.
Before today, if anyone had told him that a grown man would rush up to him, hug him, and cry his heart out, he would have laughed and yelled back, "Get lost! If that really happened, I would run away so fast I wouldn't even see a shadow of him."
After all, he was just an ordinary college student; how could he possibly encounter such a bizarre movie plot? It must be human traffickers eyeing his strong physique and wanting to take him to a brothel.
Now that it has actually happened, Xie Xubai did not run away.
He looked at Cen Haiyue in front of him and felt inexplicably sad. He patted the other's back and used the tone of someone coaxing a primary school student in their mother's class: "Okay, okay. What have you done to wrong me? Are you talking about ending the trip early? It's not a big deal. We can go again when we have time. Or how about we set it for tomorrow?"
Then the onlookers saw Cen Haiyue, who had just been so ferocious that he had elbowed several people to death, transform into a weak man under Xie Xubai's encouragement.
The frail man was on the verge of tears, tightly gripping Xie Xubai's hand, his eyes bloodshot as he swore a vicious oath: "You wait, even if it costs me my life, I will take your [illegible] back!"
Where did they learn these melodramatic lines from prime-time soap operas? Are they acting out a revenge drama?
Feeling a little embarrassed by being watched, Xie Xubai subconsciously denied it: "Don't be silly..."
Turning his head, he saw that Cen Haiyue's eyes were red and about to shed tears again. He quickly forced himself to agree, "Okay, okay, let's take it back, let's take it all back."
The police arrived shortly after to mediate the dispute. After learning it was a misunderstanding, they reassured everyone and then left.
Xie Xubai, both amused and exasperated, pulled Cen Haiyue back to the residential area. The main characters of the lively event had all left, and the crowd gradually dispersed. The bustling company grounds fell into a deathly silence in the blink of an eye, just like the president's office on the 32nd floor of a towering building.
Yan Shuo stood in front of the French windows, looking down until he could no longer see Xie Xubai's figure.
With a casual lift of his hand, the mess left by the red whale was restored to its original state.
The employees downstairs were busy, some leaving get off work and others going to work, no one glancing up at the sky anymore, as if nothing had happened.
Yan Shuo sat back in his office chair, and just as he picked up the proposal, a pale white figure approached him.
"You're all old guys who've lived through several dynasties, why are you still throwing your anger around? You were the one who couldn't salvage the situation, and you were the one who watched Xie Xubai die. You've unworthy of the name of an evil god."
"What's the point of torturing that whale now? Aren't you just pushing it onto Xie Xubai? Are you so confident that Xie Xubai, who has lost his memory, won't fall in love with someone else?"
"Or are you just jealous? Jealous that Cen Haiyue can freely accompany Xie Xubai on his travels, while you're afraid to even glance at him for fear of disturbing his peace."
"Is Xie Xubai's shattered soul that frightening to you? It's not the first or second time. Have you forgotten? Back then, in order to awaken you from the impure seabed where you were blind and deaf, he was forced to tear his own soul apart."
...
No matter how much the white figure harassed and provoked him, Yan Shuo remained expressionless and unmoved.
The white figure suddenly fell silent, letting out a sorrowful sigh.
"President Yan..."
"I love being around people so much, and you're the only one left by my side before I die. How can you bear not to look at me? Look at me, Mr. Yan, look at me..."
Yan Shuo's fingers trembled, and he raised his head to meet Bai Ying's face.
Sickly, pale, and exhausted, as if a gust of wind could blow him away.
But faster than the wind was an extremely faint crackling sound, crisp as jade shattering and pearls sinking.
The white figure's face, identical to Xie Xubai's, cracked open, the fissure spreading from the center of his brow to his chin.
He closed his eyes in despair, and with a bang, he turned into ashes and vanished. The speed was so fast that Yan Shuo didn't have time to plug the cracks with his hands.
Yan Shuo maintained the position of raising his arms in the air for half an hour without moving.
Half an hour later, the white figure reappeared, saying in a gentle, watery voice, "See? No matter how many times the same thing happens, you can't stop it—you never can."
Inner demons.
Yan Shuo was no stranger to their existence. When he was young and naive, he had even entered other people's consciousness and eaten a few of them, each one more unpalatable than the last.
The last time it tasted so bad it made me nauseous; I'd rather starve than touch it again.
Now Yan Shuo wants to eat Bai Ying to settle things, but a doctor cannot heal himself.
Fortunately, inner demons are not always aggressive.
Occasionally, it would offer a seemingly kind reminder to Yan Shuo, like now: "Are you going today too?"
I'm going.
Yan Shuo put down the project proposal, quickly tidied himself up, and then appeared on the roof of Xie Xubai's house.
The moon was bright and the stars were few; the night grew deeper. The lights in the residential buildings gradually went out, but Xie Xubai's house remained lively.
As usual, Xie and Pei visited each other's homes, while Jiang Kaile and Chansheng stayed temporarily downstairs at Xie Xubai's house, relying on their respective guardians. At mealtimes, a large group of people, young and old, would arrive with food and drinks—braised goose, beef, steamed crab, and chicken soup—and eat to their hearts' content.
Watching TV together after dinner is a common leisure activity for the Xie family, and with so many people, it inevitably gets a bit crowded. The living room isn't small, but the sofa isn't big enough.
Fortunately, Zhao Fang recently won a second prize in a lucky draw when she bought a rice cooker. Coincidentally, the prize was a luxurious sofa with massage and extension functions, which just happened to fit the size of her living room.
Now everyone is here and there's room to sit down.
Xie Xubai was used to sitting next to the couple, so when Xie Yuchun and the others arrived, he naturally sat in the middle.
Originally, Zhao Fang had few relatives, and Xie Huaizhang had no contact with his father's family. Even during the New Year, they rarely had anyone to get together. Now, however, they have become a large and powerful family.
At first, Xie Xubai would maintain a reserved and serious demeanor because there were outsiders present.
Later, after getting to know everyone, he immediately revealed his true colors. He covered himself with a fleece blanket, peeled a tangerine and stuffed it into his mouth, then slumped down like an eel. Pei Yuheng had to lift him up and stuff a few cashews into his mouth before he could sit up straight with some muffled noises.
But soon, Xie Xubai would shrink back down again.
He wasn't afraid of being criticized for his poor posture, or perhaps he knew perfectly well that he was being spoiled and taking advantage of others, so he was very confident.
He also had a good appetite. He accepted all the sunflower seeds that Cen Haiyue peeled, and he happily accepted all the potato chips that the two classmates fed him.
Cats and dogs play with his hair, nibble on his fingers and clothes. He looks up, his eyes crinkling, or he pretends not to know and lets them "rub and pinch" him, or he reaches out and stuffs the furry balls into his arms, teasing them with giggles.
Yan Shuo sat on the ground, gazing quietly.
As night deepened and all was quiet, those who had visited each other returned home. Xie Xubai also finished washing up and went back to his room to sleep. Only then did he emerge from the shadows and approach the sleeping youth.
The young people were undoubtedly relaxed.
In the past, when he slept, he would always curl up, tense all his muscles, and remain motionless like an ornament, vigilant against any possible accident, with a calm or even cold expression.
Now he's carefree and relaxed, with a smirk on his face, he really does look like a carefree college student.
Yan Shuo tucked the blanket around him, stood in front of the bed, and bent down slightly.
He had never seen Xie Xubai like this before, and was quite intrigued.
Or perhaps he had seen it before; monks hundreds of years ago were just as unconventional and unserious.
But when faced with widespread suffering and devastation, the youth immediately harden, displaying a calm and sharp side that even the gods fear.
Yan Shuo watched for a long time without realizing it, so long that even his inner demons couldn't resist and began to tempt him.
"Kiss him, kiss him! He's sleeping so soundly, he won't notice."
"You've even thought about keeping a mistress in a gilded cage, so why don't you dare to even kiss her now?"
As night deepened, the thin gauze curtains reflected the bare shadows of the trees.
Silvery moonlight streamed into the room, and the tentacles surged in the shadows of the walls, like waves rising and falling under the moonlight, hesitant to speak.
It crept closer and closer to the sleeping youth.
Just as they were about to meet, Xie Xubai suddenly woke up and asked in a cold voice.
"who?"
No one answered.
Xie Xubai sat up, turned on the desk lamp, and looked around but saw nothing.
He frowned, muttering to himself that he was being paranoid, then turned off the light and went back to sleep.
After a long while, a small black octopus, about the size of a palm, finally emerged from the shadows.
The inner demon mocked Yan Shuo for being useless, but the little black octopus remained expressionless, pretending not to hear. It silently crawled to Xie Xubai's side, and with a wave of its tentacle, it unveiled the other's disguise.
Xie Xubai was still the same Xie Xubai, but in the eyes of the little black octopus, he looked completely different.
His body was no longer filled with a intact soul, but rather with a pile of scattered fragments.
The divine blessings shone brightly, holding these fragments together and struggling to maintain a relatively intact human form.
The whole scene was dazzling yet fragmented, like the afterglow of a supernova explosion scattering desolate light across the Milky Way.
Xie Xubai's shattered soul has not yet been fully repaired.
His memory wasn't as completely lost as Cen Haiyue had thought.
The little black octopus dipped its tentacles into the divine light.
Light lashes out at darkness, its surface sizzling and crackling like oil being boiled or roasted, sending chills down one's spine.
But He remained motionless, unaware of pain, and utterly indifferent.
Only when a shiny film covered the surface of its tentacles did the little black octopus reach out to piece together Xie Xubai's soul fragments.
This process is extremely lengthy and mentally taxing, since it's not like a jigsaw puzzle where you can just stick it on and call it a day.
The shattering of the soul also varies in degree. Some are like glass falling from a one-meter-high cabinet, with fragments that are still relatively easy to piece back together. Others shatter very evenly, into hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of pieces, like being thrown into a blender, resulting in destruction from the outside in.
Xie Xubai unfortunately fell into the latter category, and this wasn't the first time his soul had shattered, making him even more vulnerable.
Yan Shuo was like someone carving words on thin ice with a knife; the slightest misstep would...
"Crack".
His eyebrows twitched as if he'd been electrocuted, and he looked up at the white figure that had come close to his face.
Xie Xubai's face was shattered into pieces, fragments like shards of glass dripping down his gently upturned lips as he urged, "Why don't you continue?"
Yan Shuo closed his eyes, calmed his heaving chest, and continued piecing things together.
The crackling sound was like a persistent, intractable sore, continuing throughout the entire process.
The sound rang for as long as Yan Shuo struggled, from afar, from his hands, from his ears, from his mind, and from the depths of his heart.
About two hours later, Yan Shuo told himself to stop.
The evil god was not good at repairing and healing; His tentacles had begun to tremble. He could ignore his own condition and force himself to continue, but He could not allow Xie Xubai to suffer even the slightest further injury.
Then Yan Shuo reapplied disguises, defensive barriers, various restrictions, and cognitive interferences to Xie Xubai, layer upon layer, methodically and without complaint, just as He had done countless times before.
At that moment, a strong, lean hand reached out, grabbed the little black octopus, and pressed it against the bed.
Yan Shuo's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and stared at Xie Xubai, who had woken up at some unknown time.
However, Xie Xubai looked at Him with only unfamiliarity and wariness, as if He were dealing with a dangerous monster.
His sideburns were disheveled, his brows furrowed with exhaustion, and he asked in a low voice, "What did you do to my body?"
"Are you controlling this world? What are your goals?"
"explain."
Golden light burst forth, pressing in on the little black octopus's body inch by inch under Xie Xubai's cold scrutiny, leaving bloody marks.
The evil god does not need oxygen or breathing, but Yan Shuo felt all the blood rush to his head at this moment, making him feel extremely suffocated.
He gasped for breath and reached for Xie Xubai's hand: "Let me explain first—"
But he grabbed nothing.
All I could see was cold air, and above me, a ceiling shrouded in shadows.
Xie Xubai remained asleep in bed, his eyes closed, seemingly enjoying a good sleep.
A blinding flash of light swept past the window frame, and a car drove across the road, emitting a mournful honk or two.
The little black octopus opened and closed its pupils repeatedly. After a while, it rolled over, pinched its brow hard, and took a deep breath silently.
He looked at Xie Xubai, whose breathing was even, his brows relaxed and smiling, and he was sleeping soundly.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of annoyance, hardened his face, put his arm around the young man's waist, and lightly slapped him on the back.
The little black octopus transformed back into human form, and a bowl-sized shadow appeared beside it. Small tentacles wrapped around the system core emerged from it, greedily staring at Xie Xubai's face. Its suppressed and muffled voice could only be heard by Yan Shuo.
I've been holding back from seeing Bai Bai because you said...
Normal people don't need monsters in their lives.
Yan Shuo didn't say anything, but took the system core.
After being "played with" by the little tentacles, the core surface was already in pieces, no different from broken copper and scrap iron.
Although he couldn't hear any sound, Yan Shuo knew that the system was playing dead.
The system simulates a game system in human cognition to create this image in order to make humans deify it; it does not mean that it is actually a machine that does not feel pain.
Yan Shuo set up a soundproof barrier, picked up the core, and suddenly squeezed it.
With a crack, the already shattered system core was almost completely crushed into dust, and a high-pitched scream came from within.
Yan Shuo chuckled lightly.
He seized the moment when the system was on the verge of death, repaired its core with black mist, then kneaded and repaired it again, scrubbing and rubbing repeatedly, like a cat toying with a mouse.
In Yan Shuo's other hand, a mottled black mist floated, which was the spiritual sludge peeled from Xie Xubai's sea of consciousness.
Everyone's consciousness contains spiritual stagnation, like dust accumulating in the cracks of furniture or grease on the stove. If left untreated for a long time, it will become a burden that overwhelms the spirit.
Treatment is very complicated. If the patient is too assertive, they may even erode the therapist's consciousness. That's why highly skilled mental health therapists are extremely rare.
Xie Xubai captivated most of the apostles with his superb spiritual healing skills, saving countless souls from the brink of collapse.
As a result, he accumulated a huge amount of negative mental stagnation.
Yan Shuo crushed the system core with one hand and played with the stagnant matter with the other, wondering what to do since He didn't know how to handle this kind of thing.
The curtains swayed gently, and the moonlight illuminated His upturned lips. With a casual wave of His hand, He tossed the filth far away.
The silt floated lightly when it was thrown out, but suddenly accelerated and grew larger and larger in mid-air.
Like a jet-black meteor, it traveled at speeds approaching Mach 30 of a rocket, piercing through skyscrapers, traversing valleys and straits, breaking the silence of the night, and crashing to the ground with a bang!
The sirens blared loudly over the city, but only a portion of the population was awakened.
The floor shook violently, and tables and chairs rattled and crashed. The seventeen-year-old high school student jumped out of bed in fright, his mind still reeling. He leaned against the wall and screamed, "Ah! My head! What's going on? Mom and Dad, get up! It's an earthquake!"
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. The old woman, dressed in her pajamas, stormed in, turned on the light with a bang, and roared, "What are you doing making such a racket in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
The high school student's face was covered in falling dust. He coughed and brushed the dust off while staring at his mother in disbelief: "Didn't you feel anything with such a loud noise?"
Her father also walked over at that moment, and upon hearing this, he shared the same bewildered and confused expression as his wife: "Huh?"
The ground was still shaking, and the sound of an explosion came from outside the building, followed by a blinding flash of light.
Ignoring his parents' suspicious gaze, the high school student rushed to the window, pulled back the curtain, and looked out. The next second, he was horrified.
In the darkness of night, a monster that blotted out the sky stood in the center of the city. It was at least fifty meters tall, with a ferocious and terrifying face. It was neither a bull nor a tiger. Its tail snapped a building in half!
However, there was no large-scale exodus of people, and the monster's attacks did not seem to have any effect on them.
Only a few hundred people seemed to be able to observe the disaster that was happening here, rushing over in a hurry. It happened so suddenly that some of them were even still wearing their pajamas and slippers.
"This time it's an S-class monster, we can't handle it!"
"Call more people and set up a local area network to share intelligence! Haven't you gotten in touch with Lao Zhang and the others yet?"
"They're going back to their hometown to visit relatives. They just boarded the high-speed train an hour ago. It's going 300 kilometers per hour through a tunnel, and the signal delay is worse than my blood pressure. How am I supposed to contact them?"
"Does it really have to be this time?!"
"No more tickets if you're late!"
"……Depend on!"
"It must be killed within 24 hours, or the destruction it causes will materialize, and everyone here will die!"
...
For some reason, seeing them fighting bloodily, a thought popped into the high school student's mind:
I have to go help.
Her body reacted faster than her brain; she leaned forward, pushed off the windowsill with her feet, and jumped.
A cold wind brushed against her cheeks, and she heard her mother calling out her full name from above.
At that moment, she remembered that she lived on the fifth floor. Falling from that height would definitely be fatal, but her body felt light, like a bird spreading its wings and soaring.
Finally, she landed safely.
Hundreds of meters away on the street, a high school student saw someone distributing equipment and hurriedly shouted, "Mom and Dad, don't worry! I'll be right back!"
He rushed forward.
The real battle is like a snowball rolling downhill, quickly escalating to a fever pitch, and not a minute more can be wasted.
By the time the high school students arrived at the temporary supply point, the monster had already destroyed most of the city block, with flames roaring into the sky, and it was preparing to move on to the next area.
The high school student didn't have time to examine it closely; she grabbed an energy gun and deftly pulled the safety pin. She turned to rush into the fray, but a support staff member suddenly grabbed her: "Wait! Tell me who you are?"
who I am?
This question stumped the high school student, causing her passionate mind to suddenly cool down, leaving her looking blank.
Logistics staff are terrified of encountering this situation, as there have been several accidents before.
With his memories just returning, he's still confused about his own combat skills and abilities. Going to fight an S-class monster at this point would be suicide!
He patiently but quickly guided her, "I know you're anxious, but you must calm down first, look carefully at that monster, imagine the scenes of your previous battles, and then tell me, where is this place, and who are you?"
Where is this place...?
"right!"
"This place...this is..."
The high school student looked up in confusion.
The sky was still the same sky, always gloomy in winter, with occasional snowfall. But the appearance of the monster shattered something, making it somewhat distorted.
The high school student looked at his hands, and many images flashed before his eyes.
These hands are fair and clean, turning red when pinched. They were once used to write furiously at school desks, accept milk tea, carry spicy hot pot, and take beautiful makeup photos with a mobile phone.
He was once pulled tightly from a fang trap, covered in mud, his fingers cracked and bleeding, calluses forming on his knuckles. He went from being clumsy to skillfully manipulating various tools to save someone.
"This is a dungeon." Her voice, which had been trembling slightly, grew increasingly steady and calm. "We are players."
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