Chapter 250: Too Hot, Too Clingy
Chapter 250: Chapter 250: Too Hot, Too Clingy
Bai Ye fell silent for a moment, his gaze flickering between the tangled mess of data on the screen and the figure curled up inside the pod.
Yun Sheng’s face was so pale it was almost transparent, and even her breaths were faint and trembling, like a piece of glass that could shatter at any moment.
He shut his eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing sharply. His voice came out deep and hoarse. "Fine. I’ll monitor the real-time data. You guys... pick someone to try first."
The moment the words left his mouth, Si Jin and Xing Che both looked up at him, a complex, unreadable emotion flashing through their eyes.
Xing Che clenched his fists, his heart in turmoil.
’He wanted to be the first to try more than anyone. He wanted to offer his spiritual power without reservation, to hold Yun Sheng, to comfort her, to make the pain stop.’
’But he also knew this wasn’t the time to fight over who went first. What Yun Sheng needed most right now was the most stable, most compatible, and most reassuring power.’
Xing Che gritted his teeth, suppressing all his urgency and reluctance. He snapped his head toward Si Jin, his bloodshot amber eyes exceptionally determined.
"Si Jin, you do it."
Si Jin gave him a long look. Without refusal or any unnecessary words, he simply gave a solemn nod.
At this moment, there was no need for argument or polite deference. It was already perfectly clear who shared the deepest bond with her, who could best stabilize her.
He slowly leaned down, his fingertips gently landing on Yun Sheng’s icy forehead.
The skin beneath his fingertips felt shockingly thin and unnaturally hot.
Si Jin closed his eyes, held his breath, and focused. A strand of calm yet gentle spiritual power slowly seeped from his fingertips, cautiously reaching for her chaotic spiritual landscape.
Almost at the instant of contact, Yun Sheng’s spiritual power, which had been on the verge of collapse, shuddered violently. Like a dying beast that had suddenly seen a sliver of light, it latched onto him frantically.
It was hot, urgent, and fragile, clinging desperately to his spiritual power and refusing to let go.
Si Jin’s body went rigid, the lines of his back as hard as cast iron. An utterly suppressed grunt escaped his throat.
’Too hot.’
’So clinging.’
Her spiritual power enveloped his without reservation, threatening to pull him down into that turbulent abyss along with her.
But Si Jin could only exercise extreme self-control, resisting the soul-deep temptation. With the most gentle, patient, and cautious touch, he began to slowly untangle her raging spiritual power.
Nearby, Bai Ye stared intently at the screen, his knuckles white and cold sweat beading on his temples.
Every fluctuation in the data frayed his nerves.
He held his breath, eyes glued to the spiritual power fluctuation curve, terrified of the slightest anomaly and ready to call an emergency stop at any moment.
Xing Che stood in the corner, his entire body tense, fists clenched tight.
’He couldn’t help. All he could do was watch helplessly and wait, his heart aching with anxiety. There was nothing he could do, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.’
Meanwhile, Yun Sheng, her consciousness adrift, was trapped in endless torment.
It felt as if she were being roasted over a fire. The depths of her spiritual landscape were turbulent and scorching, chaotic and painful. Her whole body burned. With no escape and no comfort, she could only struggle helplessly, agonizing in her agitation, on the verge of being torn to shreds by the violence within.
Who knows how long passed—so long that she was about to break completely.
Suddenly, a gentle and familiar power softly enveloped her.
It was like the most secure embrace in the dead of night, the warmest light in the depths of winter. Unhurried and calm, it held her steady, gathered her close, and bit by bit, smoothed her frenzy and soothed her anxiety.
Yun Sheng’s tightly furrowed brow finally began to smooth out.
Her tightly pressed lips relaxed slightly, and her turbulent spirit gradually calmed.
The torment and scorching heat slowly receded, replaced by a tidal wave of exhaustion. Wrapped in that gentle, stable presence, she slowly drifted into a deep sleep.
As Yun Sheng’s breathing calmed, the tense atmosphere in the room eased slightly.
Bai Ye stared at the slowly stabilizing curve on the screen. The tension in his shoulders eased almost imperceptibly, but his voice was still raspy.
"The data has stabilized... The spiritual power fluctuations are subsiding."
As he finished speaking, he belatedly felt a stickiness on his back.
Cold sweat had long since soaked through his clothes, clinging to his skin with a chill.
Every second of the standoff had been more mentally taxing than any hard-fought battle.
Xing Che’s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally fell. He let out a long sigh, and his tense body relaxed slightly.
He subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to check on Yun Sheng, to make sure she was really alright.
But Si Jin was still standing guard before the diagnostic pod, his aura lingering like an impassable barrier, firmly shielding Yun Sheng.
Xing Che stopped in his tracks. He looked at Si Jin’s unyielding back, then at Yun Sheng, whose brow was now smooth as she slept peacefully in the pod. Despite the urgency churning within him, he silently drew his foot back.
Si Jin didn’t relax his tense jaw until he had confirmed that Yun Sheng’s breathing was steady and that she was truly, deeply asleep.
He slowly leaned down, the pads of his fingers brushing her cheek with the lightest touch.
It was no longer icy as before, but gradually growing warm.
Si Jin gently wiped the cold sweat from Yun Sheng’s forehead and temples. His fingertips lingered for a moment before he slowly and carefully withdrew his spiritual power, bit by bit.
Only after all this did he straighten up and walk over to Bai Ye, his heavy gaze falling on the screen to examine Yun Sheng’s stabilized data.
The moment Si Jin moved away, Xing Che rushed over.
He leaned over the edge of the pod, his amber-gold eyes fixed on Yun Sheng. Only after confirming she was truly okay did he let out a quiet sigh of relief, the fierce glint in his eyes finally softening.
Si Jin stared at the steady, decelerating data on the screen before looking up at Bai Ye. His voice was cold and direct. "Yun Sheng has never had a situation like this before. Why did her spiritual power suddenly collapse during this preliminary check?"
Bai Ye’s fingertips still rested on the terminal interface, his brow deeply furrowed and his expression still grave.
"I just compared her current data with her archives from the First Research Institute on the Capital Star. Her total spiritual power has surged dramatically compared to her last test, far exceeding the safety threshold for a typical guide."
He paused, his tone growing even heavier.
"But the surge isn’t the key issue. Her spiritual power isn’t pure. It’s contaminated with a large amount of... foreign, violent spiritual power."
He looked up, his calm gaze sweeping over Si Jin and then lightly brushing past Xing Che at the side, making no effort to be discreet.
"As for why there’s so much foreign, violent spiritual power... you both know why."
Xing Che, who was leaning over the pod, froze, his fingers instantly clenching into fists.
The light in Si Jin’s eyes dimmed, and his heart sank.
Bai Ye slowly turned back to the screen, his finger calling up a chaotic residual waveform.
"She absorbed too much of that spiritual power, far exceeding what she could process on her own. Her spiritual landscape became too full, too contaminated, too chaotic—like a balloon being continuously inflated to its breaking point. All it needed was a trigger."
He looked up, his expression serious.
"I suspect the trigger was the previous battle with the men in grey. Yun Sheng was using her spiritual power at full capacity and most likely inhaled an induction agent specifically designed for guides without realizing it.
This type of agent is extremely subtle; its effects aren’t immediate. Coupled with the unique nature of her spiritual power, not only was she completely unaware, but we also failed to detect any anomalies at the time.
The drug’s effects lay dormant, waiting for a moment of mental relaxation... at which point it detonated, completely overwhelming her already overloaded spiritual landscape."