Outside the base, late at night, all outsiders were cleared out. Only Ye Xiao, Bai Cheng and a few others, as well as Master Jin and a confused soul floating in the air were left in the warehouse of this small and dilapidated secret base.
In order to cast a spell to let Ye Xiao and others see Lin Tantan, Master Jin used up his last bit of magic and lay on the ground almost dead.
Ye Xiao stared at the thing in the air. Is this a soul? It's blurry and thin, with a faint face visible. Is Tan Tan like this too?
He tried to touch it with his hands, with his supernatural powers, and with objects, but he couldn't touch it.
Untouchable, and naturally unharmable. Unbroken by wind, unextinguished by fire, and insurmountable by water, this seemingly fragile thing is in fact incredibly powerful.
He glanced at Master Jin. Only those strange methods could be effective on it, otherwise he couldn't even see this soul.
He seemed to be lost in thought, then slowly spoke, "Lin Tantan."
Lin Tantan looked at him warily and fearfully. She instinctively wanted to escape, but was controlled by Master Jin and could not. Her soul flickered in and out of fear.
Ye Xiao asked, "You said that the five-element supernatural power that Tan Tan mentioned should have been yours?"
Lin Tantan hesitated for a moment: "Yes, of course it's mine, she used my body."
Ye Xiao slowly revealed a smile: "It's like this, Tan Tan is gone, which is a huge loss to the base. If you can return to that body, our base will have another five-element mutant again. I wonder if you can go back?"
This was Ye Xiao's first smile since daytime. He looked gentle and polite, but his eyes were unfathomable and extremely cold. People who knew him could even feel a chill in his smile.
Lin Tantan's soul's eyes lit up, and he could hardly contain his excitement. Then he remembered that he was not a five-element mutant at all. Then he wanted to care about him and wait until he could return to his body.
"Yes, I can do it!"
Ye Xiao said: "Tan Tan has been walking for more than ten hours. His body is stiff. Can you still go back?"
Lin Tantan said anxiously: "Let me try, I can give it a try."
Ye Xiao smiled with satisfaction again: "Very good, let's go."
He said to Bai Cheng, "I'll take them back first in my divine plane. You guys take your time. Bring back the principal criminal and the accomplices. I'm going to publicly execute them."
Bai Cheng opened his mouth, wanting to ask what he was going to do, but ultimately decided not to: "I know."
Ye Xiao asked Master Jin to take Lin Tantan's soul, and he took Master Jin and several other Taoists on the divine plane and quickly returned to the base. In order to ensure that Master Jin's life would not die for the time being, he called Mingze to come and save his life as soon as he landed.
Returning to the place where the body was placed, Ye Xiao walked in from the door. The lights in the room were dim. He glanced at the body, his body stiffened slightly, and then he immediately turned his head away and let Lin Tantan start.
Lin Tantan tried hard to get into that body, but she couldn't get back in. Damn it, this was clearly her body!
Ye Xiao said to Master Jin and other old Taoist priests, as well as those who concealed their identities and wanted to retire in the base, "Aren't you very capable? Give her a hand."
Master Jin's face was as pale as gold paper, and he was weak and silent. The other old Taoist priests, all in a state of extreme distress, looked at each other, and one of them trembled and said, "The corpse is stiff. How, how is it possible to do this?"
Ye Xiao sat down on the chair and said slowly, "It seems you also want to be corpses, Jin Liangyu, do you want to?"
He called Master Jin's name, and Master Jin shuddered. He wasn't afraid of death, but he was afraid of suffering before his death. His long and short gray hair was tangled and he took a deep breath, "Yes, there is a secret method."
Ye Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled with satisfaction: "It seems that you are still the most knowledgeable and talented."
Master Jin couldn't help but shiver again.
Ye Xiao said: "Let's get started."
He then said to Mingze beside him, "Watch out! Don't let our remarkable Taoist Master Jin die accidentally."
Mingze looked at everything in front of him in shock, his mind filled with doubts, but he didn't ask anything, just nodded and kept an eye on Master Jin's condition.
The sky gradually brightened up, and the room remained silent. When the first ray of morning sun appeared on the horizon, Lin Tantan finally entered the body that had been dead for a long time.
Then there was no movement.
Master Jin said, "This body... has been dead for a long time. Whether it can wake up again is also a question. Even if it wakes up, it will most likely be a living dead."
Ye Xiao supported his chin and replied calmly: "Can she still get out of this body?"
He didn't seem to care at all what would become of the body of his former lover. When Lin Tantan left and the temperature of the body cooled down, it became no different from a tree or a stone in his eyes.
Master Jin took a breath and answered honestly, "Based on my experience, it's impossible without help."
He vaguely understood that Ye Xiao wanted to use this method to trap Lin Tantan to death. As a wandering soul, he had no way to deal with Lin Tantan, but once he returned to the mortal body, wouldn't he have the final say?
If he died along with his body, then Lin Tantan would naturally disappear completely from the world. If he survived by chance... it would probably be even more miserable, right?
Just like me, I can't die even if I want to.
Master Jin felt powerless all over. He had learned how terrifying it was to be a powerful and vengeful person.
At this moment, Ye Xiao suddenly said, "Master Jin, I'm very interested in your abilities. Would you be willing to teach me?" He asked for your opinion, but his tone was like an order. He said casually, "I will provide you with seven meals a day, from high to low quality, according to the quality of the lessons you teach each day. What do you think of this idea?"
Master Jin was stunned, and so were the other Taoists. Then the sound of swallowing saliva could be heard one after another.
These people were hungry and thirsty. If there was food in front of them, they would definitely pounce on it without hesitation.
Moreover, there were only seven meals, but there were eight of them, so someone was bound to go hungry.
They looked at each other, and there was a hint of wariness and hostility in their old eyes.
Ye Xiao seemed to find their performance very interesting and threw out the next more tempting bait: "After I learn everything, I can let whoever teaches the best go free."
Taoists: "..." Their eyes showed more vigilance and brighter expectation.
If one can live, who would want to die, especially those Taoist priests who did not get involved in this incident and just want to enjoy their retirement.
Master Jin suddenly looked at Ye Xiao. This move was brilliant. It completely eliminated the possibility of them hiding their knowledge or teaching blindly. Moreover, everyone would rush to teach him with all their skills.
Even I myself no longer have the thought of committing suicide if I find the opportunity.
Yes, who would want to die if they could live? Besides, if I died, it would not cause any loss to the other party, because he still has seven other teachers!
Even though, even though he knew that no one would be able to let himself go no matter who he let go, but, what if?
Master Jin closed his eyes and surrendered completely.
…
Ye Xiao walked out and looked at the rising sun in the east for a long time. He couldn't help but think, she is gone, why does she still rise as usual?
Looking at this base that is still operating in an orderly manner, why does it still exist without her?
The urge to destroy raced wildly in his chest, colliding with his seething supernatural powers. Yet, his face remained expressionless. Another thought, calm and composed, swirled: She said she wanted to find him in the history books. He couldn't do that. Not only could he not do it recklessly, but he had to do it well. He wanted his name to become a symbol of this era, and he would strive for it for the rest of his life.
He closed his eyes, and heard footsteps behind him. Bai Cheng's voice rang out: "The people have been brought back."
Ye Xiao opened his eyes: "Well, make an announcement and broadcast it to the entire base."
"Okay." Bai Cheng said, and saw Qin Han hurried over, holding a stack of papers and handing them to Ye Xiao: "Chief, this is the list we just checked."
Bai Cheng asked: "What is this?"
Qin Han looked at him and then at Ye Xiao. Seeing that Ye Xiao had no intention of stopping him, he said, "Someone in the base is talking about... Miss Lin's background."
The man who blew himself up at the wedding shouted out that sentence before he blew himself up, which naturally caused everyone to wonder: Why did he say that?
Afterwards, Lin Tantan's death was so strange and obviously abnormal that someone actually spread the word, and it was suspected and accepted by some people.
Some people think that her five superpowers were all stolen from others in some way, and that her real superpower should actually be stealing other people's superpowers. Or some people think that she is not the real Lin Tan Tan, and there are many more bizarre speculations.
Once people's imaginations are opened, they can really be imaginative. This phenomenon has just begun. Qin Han reported it immediately after learning about it. He knew that if it was allowed to continue, it would be very bad for Lin Tantan's reputation.
Although, it is a posthumous name.
Bai Cheng frowned. As soon as he heard it, he knew that someone did it on purpose.
Lin Tantan is too capable, has too many privileges, and is a girl, so there are some voices of dissatisfaction with her from below.
Some people think that she is blocking their way, some people think that since she is a woman, she should not stand in such a high position, some people are simply jealous of her good life and her special abilities, and there are even many people who feel jealous of her relationship with Ye Xiao.
However, those voices were very few and very obscure, and would hardly be heard by others. Lin Tan knew a little about it, but she didn't care. In her words, there were people who were dissatisfied with Ye Xiao. People's hearts were so complicated. How could there be only one voice in a large base with millions of people?
Therefore, no one takes this kind of thing too seriously. Once discovered, it will be dealt with secretly. But this time, those people actually wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, which is really too much.
He looked at Ye Xiao, but saw that he was not angry at all. He just calmly flipped through the list and said, "Very good."
With just these two words, Bai Cheng knew that the people on the list were finished.
Ye Xiao said, "Lao Bai, please clarify this in the announcement. I don't want to hear anyone discussing Tan's origins and identity anymore."
"I know what to do." Bai Cheng was silent for a moment, then asked, "Should we announce Tan Tan's...death?"
Unexpectedly, Ye Xiao said, "Don't announce it. Don't mention it specifically. The explanation in the future will be that she was injured and left the base."
Bai Cheng was a little surprised, but had no objection.
Two hours later, the base-wide broadcast sounded.
"In the year 2020, the second year after the apocalypse, on October 17th, at the wedding of the two leaders of the base, a group of extremely vicious enemies targeted the bride, our Ms. Lin Tantan, the deputy leader and director of the base hospital. They launched a unique attack using a long-lost and extremely evil Xuanmen formation."
"The other party's plan was as follows: Mastermind Zhao Fei kidnapped 755 survivors in advance as human sacrifices. Taoist priests including Jin and Kong, who were the masterminds, set up a formation in the Qiushan area of Xiaochuan County, Liang City. On the day of the wedding, Chen Wei, leader of the ZY103 combat team at the base, bribed by Zhang Fei, infiltrated the wedding ceremony and shouted unfounded slander against Ms. Lin. Taking advantage of the crowd's shock, he suddenly blew himself up.
"At the same time, at the formation site, Zhao Fei and his accomplices brutally slit the throats of 755 survivors and bled them as a sacrifice. Taoist priests like Jin activated the formation from thousands of miles away, leveraging Chen Wei's self-destruction to inflict catastrophic damage on Ms. Lin that is difficult for science to explain."
"Currently, the mastermind and accomplices have all been apprehended and have confessed to their crimes. The base will execute this criminal gang in three days according to the base's current laws..."
The clear, emotionally charged announcement echoed throughout the three main areas of the base. Word of Lin Tan Tan's accident had spread throughout the base, and many people still claimed she was dead, though others dismissed it as an exaggeration. Now that the base had announced the attack, there was no doubt it had happened.
The people were furious. Too many people who had benefited from Lin Tantan's kindness, who loved and admired her, even those who might not have truly loved her, were filled with righteous indignation. Everyone was angry and sad, clamoring to know Lin Tantan's current situation and demanding the execution of those responsible for her heinous crimes.
Later, a more detailed announcement appeared on the base's internal network, which explained why Chen Wei shouted that sentence. Firstly, it was because the method of attack this time was the mysterious Taoism, and Taoists naturally had a mysterious style. Secondly, it was an excuse for the villains to justify their actions. Thirdly, Lin Tantan was too outstanding, so outstanding that he attracted too much jealousy. Those people would rather think that Lin Tantan was a monster rather than an ordinary person.
The reason is not perfect, but people think after reading it - that's it, some people can think of any method and make any excuse to discredit people who are more talented than themselves.
This completely dispelled some people's doubts and speculations, and made it impossible for some people with ulterior motives to write articles.
"Forget it, forget it, the person is dead, there is no need to make such a fuss." A small group gathered together privately. The three people here are all dual-system psychics. Psychics themselves have a sense of superiority, not to mention dual-system psychics. However, the fact is that dual-system psychics do not have particularly good treatment in Zhengyang Base because there is a five-system psychic in their base.
Everyone, no matter how outstanding or special they are, whether they are dual-system psychics, have particularly strong psychics, are particularly young as psychics, or have a particularly unique understanding of psychics, will instantly become dim when compared to Lin Tan.
In other places and other forces, they should be the center of attention, but they will never receive such treatment in Zhengyang Base. Even though everyone respects and envies them, the one they respect the most, envy the most, and regard as an idol and role model the most is always Lin Tantan.
In difficult times, these people would not think about these things, but after the base was established, the pressure of survival dropped sharply, and people had time to think about all kinds of things and make more detailed and long-term plans for the future. Naturally, their minds began to wander, and then emotions such as unwillingness to accept or resignation became heavier and deeper.
These three dual-system mutants are typical examples.
They were overwhelmed by Lin Tantan, but the other party might not be aware of their existence. This feeling was too terrible, so once something went wrong with Lin Tantan, they couldn't control their urge to do something.
But they didn't expect the base announcement to come out so early to clarify.
The three of them looked at each other, and with some reluctance and discouragement, they chose to compromise.
A young man said coldly, "The base is really protecting her. There's definitely something wrong with her. I don't believe there are people with five abilities in the world, and they're all so powerful. We're dual-ability people, and we can barely handle both abilities, and there's bound to be one strong and one weak. Yet she's so strong... Even if she awakened her abilities on the first day of the apocalypse, it's only been less than two years. She can't have been born with these abilities. There must be something fishy going on!"
"How can we not protect her?" A young woman sneered, "She's not only the deputy chief, but also the chief's wife. Those people at the top treat her like a treasure."
Finally, the older one said, "Don't say such things again. After leaving this room, we are all grieving over the loss of our deputy leader. Her death is a huge loss to the base, and our day of success has come."
The other two laughed, and the female psychic suddenly said, "But the announcement didn't mention her death."
The young man said, "He's definitely dead. I saw it at the wedding. He's definitely dead."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door behind him was suddenly broken open violently, and the door panel shattered on the ground. The three of them were immediately furious: "Who is it?" and released their supernatural powers at the first moment.
But all the supernatural powers were easily blocked, and they also saw the person who came in. Suddenly, they were all dumbfounded: "Leader?!"
Ye Xiao lifted his long legs and walked in slowly. The soles of his shoes made a crisp sound as they stepped on the ground, as if they were stepping on everyone's hearts, the kind that could crush their hearts if they stepped a little harder.
Ye Xiao looked at the three of them and said, "You seem to be having a great time chatting."
He heard it!
The three of them exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with fear. The older psychic said with a pale face, "We, we're just chatting casually."
"Just chatting, that's a good topic you found. Do you have any opinions about my wife?"
The three of them were speechless. Ye Xiao walked around the room by himself, flicked the flowers in the vase on the table, and picked up an orange from the fruit basket.
They are all specially supplied, and this kind of treatment is not available to ordinary people with special abilities.
He played with the orange and said, "Why aren't you talking? Let's just chat casually. Don't be nervous."
It would have been fine if he hadn't said it, but once he did, the three of them became even more uneasy. They had never seen Ye Xiao like this before. He could be either approachable or majestic and stern, but there was always a sense of righteousness about him. Even with a slight smile like this, he gave people an extremely cold and dangerous feeling, which was something they had never experienced before. A chill rose uncontrollably in their hearts.
The young psychic forced a smile and said, "We feel sorry for Miss Lin..."
Before he could finish his words, his shoulders suddenly felt heavy, and an indescribable force pressed on his shoulders and even his head.
His body sank down, but the strange thing was that he should have fallen to his knees in this situation, but he didn't. He just stayed there, and the pressure went down his body. His bones were shaking, and all his joints were creaking, as if they were being squeezed by a huge force.
The young mutant screamed "Ahhh" twice and wanted to speak, but his neck suddenly shrank. It was actually shortened by the huge force above his head, and continued to press into his chest. At the same time, his spine was creaking, and his hip and knee joints were constantly squeezed. Due to the extreme pressure, blood began to ooze out of his body.
Under the horrified gaze of the other two dual-system psychics, his entire body shrank little by little, and the 1.8-meter-tall man was finally shrunk to only about 1.6 meters.
Finally, no one knew which bone could no longer bear the weight and broke, and he finally fell down. However, at this time, he had become a bloody man, and his whole body was extremely deformed.
No sound came out of his throat, only a vague murmur mixed with blood.
The other two were so weak at the knees that the female psychic collapsed to the ground. She then hurriedly got up and begged for mercy: "Chief, we were wrong. I just said nonsense. I respect Miss Lin very much. She is my idol. I have learned a lot from her. When I had trouble balancing my two powers, she personally taught me and praised my high level of understanding."
Her mind was in a mess at the moment, and she just wanted to talk to Lin about the relationship so that Ye Xiao would soften his heart, but the older psychic could clearly see that the more she talked, the colder the look in Ye Xiao's eyes became.
He felt a chill in his heart, knowing that Ye Xiao would not let them go.
He lowered his head and when Ye Xiao's attention was on the female psychic, he suddenly launched an attack.
One of his special abilities is earth-related, and the other is ice-related. The earth layer instantly piled up on Ye Xiao, and the ice cones pierced towards his vital points. The temperature in the room suddenly dropped several degrees.
However, all his attacks were knocked back, sending him flying. He got up in shock, only to see Ye Xiao standing there unharmed. He gritted his teeth and said, "Kill him! He won't let us go!"
As two dual-system psychics, they don't believe that they have no way to deal with him.
However, the fact is that a minute later, the room collapsed and was in a mess. Ye Xiao still walked out in a clean suit, leaving behind three people who were half-dead like ants.
Many people in the base suffered that night.
If they were people with special abilities, they would have been severely injured and their special abilities would have been destroyed. If they were ordinary people, they would have lost their jobs and homes. At dawn, these people were driven out of the base, taking their relatives and friends with them. It can be said that if one person gets into trouble, the whole family will be implicated.
People were discussing what was going on anxiously. The base always gave a clear explanation of what mistakes these people had made, but some well-informed or perceptive people secretly guessed that it was not that simple. So a rumor gradually spread that these people who were driven out all told Lin Tan that their leader's wife was disrespectful.
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