CHAPTER 7
Heaven is going to destroy me.
But not today!
A sentence suddenly popped into Sheng Qing's mind, followed by a flash of images of several goddess statues with snake bodies and human heads, finally settling on the water ripple symbol above the head of one of them.
What kind of miracles can fire and water create?
Water at low temperatures freezes into ice, and when illuminated by firelight, it becomes a mirror with a reflective function.
How do I summon water?
In the blink of an eye, a flowing ripple of water suddenly appeared.
Is it that easy?
How many secrets and surprises does this body still hold?
Sheng Qing focused his mind, carefully experiencing the wondrous rhythm of his thoughts in that instant. The flowing water actually began to freeze, eventually solidifying into ice, radiating a cold chill.
Pressing their advantage, a small cluster of flames ignited beside the ice block. The flickering light reflected off the gray sack covering the monster's head, while also transferring heat to the ice that had finally solidified.
Oh no, Sheng Qing's spiritual sense is not strong enough to control both water and fire elements simultaneously and maintain a delicate balance.
"Do you need more power?" A seductive voice echoed in my mind, like a devil tempting me to make a mistake. "Just nod your head and I'll give it to you."
Are you hallucinating again?
Sheng Qing's temples were soaked with cold sweat, and large beads of sweat fell, but he remained unmoved.
He held on, feeling as if an eternity had passed, but in reality, it was only a dozen seconds. Sheng Qing seemed to hear a silent scream, and the monster vanished from its spot.
Having drawn the ice and flames closer, Sheng Qing breathed a sigh of relief and carefully observed them, vaguely spotting the dark figure within the ice.
Is this the monster?
As if guided by a force, Sheng Qing used all her strength to smash the ice block onto the ground, shattering it into pieces. This attracted flames, causing steam to rise, and everything vanished.
Sheng Qing seemed to hear a soft chuckle, and his brows furrowed slightly. But upon closer listening, he heard nothing.
After waiting for a while without any further changes, they finally felt relieved.
"Use ice instead of mirrors!" Sheng Qing shouted at the top of his lungs into the courtyard, "Wait until the monster is sucked into the ice, then quickly smash it."
There was no reply from the Qin siblings. At the same time, the courtyard suddenly became very bright, followed by rustling sounds.
Sheng Qing smelled a burnt smell, mixed with the greasy smell of something sizzling as it was being roasted.
Did the Qin siblings summon flames to attack the monster?
Is it really that easy to break the deadlock?
What if those two dark holes, sealed in a cross shape with yellow cloth strips, were burned with flames and released something even more terrifying?
As Sheng Qing pondered, she focused her gaze on the figure of the fourth monster, which she needed to lure closer before she could execute her plan.
“It’s no use! It…it’s back to normal.” Qin Feiyu’s anxious and discouraged voice came from the courtyard, then her voice trembled. “It seems to have changed. Its hood is gone, leaving only a dark blob.”
"I was clearly watching it, so why can it still move?" Qin Feiyu's voice clearly became flustered.
"Hold on," Qin Feiyu, who was in the middle of the courtyard, tried to calm herself down and comforted him.
"I'll keep an eye on it for you, you come up first." Sheng Qing called out to Qin Feiyu, immediately shifting his gaze from the monster at the bottom to the monster with a cloud of black mist on its head.
It was too far away, and the view was blurry, so Sheng Qing couldn't see it clearly.
"Your method really worked! It disappeared!" Qin Feiyan's surprised and excited voice came from beside me.
A few minutes later, the Qin siblings were successfully reunited.
The bad news is that the mutated monster is still slowly moving under Sheng Qing's watchful eye.
The fourth monster had already bypassed the mutated monster and was gradually approaching it. Finally, it was defeated thanks to the tacit cooperation of the Qin siblings.
The three finally reunited, but the mutated monster continued to move slowly under their watchful eyes.
"Let's try the old method first," Sheng Qing suggested.
As expected, after persisting for quite a while, it did not work.
“Perhaps we should restore it to its appearance before it was burned,” Sheng Qing tentatively suggested.
"What do you mean?" Qin Feiyu asked疑惑地, then suddenly realized what was happening and clutched her chest. "What do you want to do?"
"Take off your clothes and cover its head." Sheng Qing added, "It's a last resort, after all."
"Or should we two girls take our clothes off?" Qin Feiyan said impatiently.
"I'd like to," Qin Feiyu muttered softly.
Qin Feiyan kicked Qin Feiyu in the butt.
"Hey, can't you give your brother some face in front of the girl?"
The Qin siblings were still staring intently at the mutated monster, but that didn't stop them from bickering and fighting.
Qin Feiyu's clothes, guided by the vines, fell steadily, completely covering the dark, swirling black mist atop the mutated monster.
"Wood element can be used like this?" Sheng Qing secretly marveled.
Almost simultaneously, the mutated monster actually stopped advancing.
The three used the same trick again, this time creating ice walls around the monster and adding fire to them as a precaution. The monster's reflection appeared on the ice walls and disappeared after a few minutes.
The Qin siblings quickly summoned even larger flames to burn the ice, and the ice water gradually evaporated and dissipated.
"I think I've passed this hurdle," Sheng Qing prayed silently in his heart.
The three of them passed under the door with the flashing sign at the same time, and with a flash of white light, they returned to the original entrance.
"Shall we try again?"
Seeing Qin Feiyu, who was wearing a simple green dress made by wrapping leaves around her upper body, Sheng Qing asked in a serious tone, her lips twitched slightly, and she almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Unsurprisingly, all three shook their heads in unison and refused.
After changing entrances, the three of them successfully explored the entire building, dealt with a few minor monsters, and then planned to return to regroup.
However, the moment Sheng Qing stepped out of the building's exit, she sensed something was wrong.
The seemingly calm air suddenly became restless, as if bound and oppressed by an invisible force or pressure.
Sheng Qing turned to look at the Qin siblings. Their expressions seemed normal, but their movements clearly created layers of afterimages.
Something was making a silent noise in his ears. Sheng Qing tried to move his body, but his body was like an old and rusty machine that had not been used for a long time, clattering and sputtering.
Is it that my thinking is too fast, or that my thinking is too slow?
Thinking is getting faster, or perhaps it's getting slower.
Their necks seemed stuck and unable to straighten. The Qin siblings' dragging figures were like machines that had lost their signal, seemingly moving but not moving. In Sheng Qing's eyes, they were stuck and frozen.
This feeling is so unbearable, like being stuck in a quagmire, the more you struggle, the deeper you sink.
Sheng Qing could barely feel her own body anymore; she forgot to breathe and forgot to blink.
I feel like an ice cream cone being scorched under the blazing sun, slowly melting uncontrollably, and I can almost smell its cloying sweetness.
A figure appeared in my field of vision. Who was he?
Facial features were transmitted intermittently to the brain through the retina, but Sheng Qing couldn't recall them at all.
Two or three shadows, their expressions anxious, their mouths opening and closing as if they were saying something.
It's so noisy. Even though I can't hear anything, I really want to get away from here. It feels like I've broken free from some kind of restraint and am floating up lightly.
What are they doing? I watched curiously.
Suddenly, it felt like something tugged at me, and I fell again.
When Sheng Qing opened her eyes again, she was already lying on a familiar bed. In front of her stood Meng Yunxi, who was looking down at her with a complicated expression.
"What happened? How did I get here?" Sheng Qing felt a dry, itchy throat and coughed lightly a few times.
"Who exactly are you?" Meng Yunxi's expression turned cold and tense, her voice icy.
"I am Sheng Qing." Sheng Qing looked up, puzzled, at the other person's still tense face.
"I'm not asking for your name." Meng Yunxi leaned down against the bed, tightly holding Sheng Qing's left hand. "Why are they attracted to you?"
"What? You mean those monsters? Were they attracted to me?" Sheng Qing frowned slightly. Was he doubting him?
Hearing no reply, he paused and added, "I don't know." Then he struggled to pull his hand back.
Meng Yunxi remained silent, neither speaking nor letting go. She attempted to verify whether the seemingly innocent woman before her was lying by observing the frequency of her pulse.
"Let go. I didn't lie to you."
Sheng Qing rubbed her hands, which had been tightly clasped, now free, her skin slightly red. She looked dissatisfied.
Meng Yunxi stood up and left, but returned a moment later with a glass of warm water. She handed the water to Sheng Qing and looked away slightly.
"I'm really not lying to you. Besides, we're in the same boat now. Lying to you would only hurt myself. I'm not that stupid." Sheng Qing said sincerely, looking at Meng Yunxi with a puzzled expression.
Did he believe it?
Then he secretly pondered, simply concealing that absurd and bizarre cannibalistic dream wouldn't count as lying, would it?
"The water isn't poisoned, aren't you going to drink it?" Meng Yunxi stiffly moved the water glass closer to Sheng Qing's lips. "Do you expect me to feed you?"
"Ah, no need, no need." Sheng Qing hurriedly took the water glass, immediately took two sips, and felt much better in her throat and her mind became clearer.
What time is it?
It's almost three o'clock.
"We still have some time, shall we chat?"
"Aren't we chatting right now?"
Sheng Qing paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, right."
"I was sleeping in another room last night, so why am I back in your bed this morning?" Sheng Qing was genuinely confused.
“It has nothing to do with me.” Meng Yunxi glanced at Sheng Qing, moved her feet, and sat down on the sofa next to her. “This house is strange, or rather, the whole building is strange.”
“There’s something strange about the people and things in the house,” Sheng Qing added, recalling Meng Yunxi’s actions during the day.
As if she had thought of something, Meng Yunxi quickly glanced at Sheng Qing, then quickly looked away and turned to look elsewhere.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.
Sheng Qing coughed lightly, breaking the silence: "At night, you have the memories of the day, but during the day, you have no memories of the night. Is that right?"
Meng Yunxi nodded.
"So what kind of state are you in during the day?" Sheng Qing shifted to a more comfortable sitting position. "Completely unable to control my body?"
“Otherwise, what do you think?” Meng Yunxi countered, then analyzed seriously, “During the day, we are like puppets, performing a pre-written script.”
"If, I mean if," Sheng Qing hesitated, unsure whether to tell him about his situation.
Meng Yunxi was not in a hurry, and calmly met Sheng Qing's flustered gaze.
"I can control my behavior, and I remember everything that happened at night even during the day." Fine, I'll just tell you everything. Hiding things will only lead to missing crucial clues.
Meng Yunxi leaned forward slightly, her pure black eyes flashing with doubt and wariness before returning to calm. She spoke softly, "Perhaps you inadvertently touched something, causing you to gradually deviate from the original plot. So they have all been drawn to you, in order to eliminate this unstable factor."
"Ah!" Sheng Qing felt a chill creep down her neck, realizing she hadn't thought of this angle before. "You're not lying to me, are you..." she thought, involuntarily shifting her body closer to Meng Yunxi.
Seeing all of Sheng Qing's subtle actions, Meng Yunxi's lips curled into a fleeting smile.
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