Chapter 261: Seeing Me... Become Trash, Are You Happy?
Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Seeing Me... Become Trash, Are You Happy?
"Unless what? Are you starting to speak in half-truths now too?"
Yun Sheng turned to look at Bai Ye, her gaze meeting his incredibly complex expression. She frowned instinctively.
"Unless a guide with a special spiritual power channels him... or an SSS-level guide could give it a try. But SSS-level guides are exceedingly rare across the entire Star Alliance. They might not be willing to intervene, and even if they did, there’s no guarantee they could actually help him."
Bai Ye’s words clearly held a deeper meaning. Yun Sheng wasn’t stupid; she naturally understood his implication.
She narrowed her eyes and suddenly gave a self-deprecating smile. "You’re not trying to say that I can help him, are you?"
Although Lin Hao was her so-called brother, he had never given her a single good look since she returned from the Eighth Star Zone.
His taunts and mockery had come in endless waves. She didn’t suffer from a bleeding heart, so why should she take the initiative to do something so thankless—something that could easily expose her own secrets?
"Your spiritual power is still unstable right now; you aren’t fit to channel anyone. I’m just stating the facts. I’m not asking you to help him." As Bai Ye spoke, he suddenly took a step forward, closing the distance between them. He stared at her with a dark, intense gaze. "Yun Sheng, remember, your own safety is the most important thing."
Yun Sheng froze, wondering what he meant by that. She had assumed Bai Ye would try to persuade her to channel Lin Hao. Why did it sound like he was giving her a preemptive warning not to help him?
She opened her mouth, just about to say something, when a faint noise suddenly came from the hospital bed.
"Ugh..."
Lin Hao furrowed his brow, struggling to peel his eyelids open just a crack.
His ashen face was entirely drained of color, and his lips were dry and cracked. He stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds before his consciousness slowly returned. Turning his head slightly, he caught sight of Yun Sheng standing by the bed.
Immediately, a layer of ridicule surged into his lifeless eyes. His mouth twisted into a weak but still glaringly offensive smirk.
"Yun Sheng! What, are you here to laugh at me too? Seeing me... turn into trash, are you happy now?"
Lin Hao hadn’t been unconscious when he was brought to the hospital. He had heard the doctors say that the damage to his spiritual landscape was severe, and he might never be able to use his spiritual power again.
A Sentinel who couldn’t use his spiritual power—if that wasn’t trash, what was?
"Leave. Get out! I don’t want to see you!" His voice was frantic and hoarse, his chest heaving violently. He was so agitated it looked as if he might spring out of bed at any moment.
Instead of leaving, Yun Sheng sat down on the chair beside the bed. Looking at his pale profile, she suddenly spoke up. "Lin Hao, look at yourself. You can’t even get out of bed. What are you going to use to chase me away?"
Lin Hao’s body stiffened sharply. He turned his head back to glare at her, his eyes full of disbelief, clearly not expecting her to say such a thing.
Yun Sheng met his gaze without flinching. "You couldn’t stand me before. You targeted me at every turn, constantly calling me trash because I didn’t have a spiritual body. But now you’re lying here, unable to even sit up. What right do you have to give me attitude?"
Lin Hao’s expression worsened. His lips trembled as he tried to retort, only to find that he couldn’t force out a single word.
"You called yourself trash—those were your words, not mine. I didn’t think that. You’re injured right now, but it’s not like you’re completely beyond saving. If you give up this easily, then you really will be trash."
Hearing this, Lin Hao’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently. He looked away, staring at the ceiling as his eyes grew slightly red. He didn’t speak, but his tightly pursed lips and the fingers clenching the bedsheets betrayed his current emotions.
Right then, the ward door was pushed open once more.
"Xiao Hao, what’s wrong? Why are your eyes so red?"
Lin Yueyao walked in, leading Su Wan. She immediately noticed Lin Hao’s reddened eyes, her voice brimming with heartache and anxiety. Immediately after, her gaze darted to Yun Sheng, a barely perceptible glint flashing in her eyes.
"Sister, I know Xiao Hao used to target you and mock you, and you’ve always resented him for it. But he’s so badly injured now—how could you come over just to kick him while he’s down? No matter what, he’s still your brother."
Yun Sheng hadn’t expected Lin Yueyao to return so quickly. It seemed she hadn’t gotten enough of her little act out in the hallway, so she had changed scenes for an encore!
She scoffed inwardly but didn’t show a hint of it on her face. Standing up, she looked calmly at Lin Yueyao.
"Sister Yue Yao, I didn’t kick him while he was down. I just told him a few truths. He can listen if he wants, or pretend he never heard them if he doesn’t."
"Sister, what kind of thing is that to say!" Lin Yueyao’s voice rose slightly. "Xiao Hao needs our care the most right now. How can you treat him with this kind of attitude?"
Her tone was anxious and aggrieved, as if she were desperately defending her brother while simultaneously accusing Yun Sheng of being cold-blooded and ruthless.
The atmosphere in the ward instantly turned heavy.
Su Wan stood between them, looking from one to the other, her face full of dilemma and distress. She opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say. In the end, she could only walk to the bed and look at Lin Hao.
"Xiao Hao, what exactly happened? Did your sister... say something to you? Did she really mock you and say things to make you feel bad?"
Lin Yueyao and Yun Sheng looked at Lin Hao at the same time.
Lin Hao’s face remained pale. He pursed his lips and stayed silent for a few seconds.
Just when Lin Yueyao thought he would play along with her narrative, Lin Hao suddenly spoke up. "She didn’t mock me."
Lin Yueyao froze, her expression almost slipping. "Xiao Hao, you..."
"She didn’t mock me," Lin Hao’s voice was hoarse but clear. "She just told me a few truths. I was just upset about my injury, so I..."
He trailed off, but his meaning was already obvious.
Lin Yueyao’s expression instantly shifted, though she quickly reverted to her gentle, worried facade. "Xiao Hao, you don’t have to do this," she said softly. "Mom is here too. If you’ve been wronged, just say it. Don’t be afraid..."
"I haven’t." Lin Hao interrupted her, his tone growing impatient. "I said I haven’t, and I mean it."
Watching Lin Yueyao still trying to salvage the situation, Yun Sheng’s lips curved upward in a display of undisguised sarcasm.
"Sister Yue Yao, he already said I didn’t. Yet you insist that I mocked him. Are you saying this on purpose so that Mrs. Lin will take her anger out on me?"
Lin Yueyao’s face flushed, then drained of color. Her lips trembled, and her eyes grew red. "Sister, I-I didn’t mean it like that... I was just worried that Xiao Hao was upset..."
Yun Sheng looked at her expressionlessly. "So you sling mud at me just because you’re worried he’s upset?"
"Enough!" Su Wan suddenly spoke up, her voice laced with uncontrollable exhaustion and agitation. "Stop arguing, both of you. I’m already distressed enough with Xiao Hao in this state. Just stop fighting, alright?"
After speaking, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Bai Ye, who had been standing to the side without saying a word, and then looked at Yun Sheng. Her voice lowered, carrying a mix of complex emotions.
"Yun Sheng, come outside with me for a moment."