Chapter 92: Entering the Dream, She Wants to Save Si Jin
Her message was met with silence, like a stone sinking into the sea.
The color drained from Yun Sheng’s face, and the only sound in the room was her ragged breathing.
The panic from that inexplicable palpitation and the dead silence of the chat window slammed together in her mind.
’Si Jin is in trouble. And it’s definitely not something minor!’
With his power and composure, he would never have acted so strangely or left in such a hurry unless the situation was critical and beyond his control.
Yun Sheng forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to calm down and analyze the situation.
’Si Jin was able to send a message and even record a video, which means he must have at least some mobility and consciousness left.’
’But the pained exhaustion he was trying so hard to suppress in the video, the faint red glint in his eyes, his unnaturally pale complexion... all of it pointed to one terrifying conclusion.’
His spiritual power was extremely unstable, perhaps even on the verge of going completely berserk.
’Could his spiritual power have suddenly erupted, causing him to lose control, just like when I first met him?’
’But he was perfectly fine when we parted ways.’
’What on earth happened in that short amount of time?!’
Yun Sheng’s gaze snapped to her terminal as she tried to trace the source of Si Jin’s signal.
However, the message and video he had sent were routed through complex encryption and path diversions. The final source was listed as "Unknown Area." It was clear Si Jin had deliberately erased his tracks.
’He doesn’t want me to find him!’
Yun Sheng’s heart clenched, but a stubborn resolve rose within her at the same time.
’The more he pushes me away, the less I can just stand by and do nothing.’
She looked at the silent chat window again, gritted her teeth, and sent another message.
I know you probably don’t want me involved. You think I’m too weak, that I can’t help, that I’d just be a burden, right? Then at least... tell me if you’re safe. Please don’t make me guess like this. I’m really worried about you.
The message sent.
But still, there was no response.
The seconds ticked by, each one an agonizing eternity.
The night outside was thick as ink, as if it had swallowed all light and hope.
Yun Sheng clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.
’I can’t just wait like this. I have to do something!’
...
「Meanwhile」
Deep within a desolate, abandoned mine pit on the border between the Capital Star’s contaminated zone and no-man’s-land.
"Nngh... argh..."
Suppressed, pained groans echoed through the empty cavern.
Si Jin was kneeling on one knee, his back pressed against the cold, rough cavern wall. One hand was clamped to his forehead, veins bulging between his fingers. Cold sweat had long since soaked his bangs and shirt.
A tiny recording device floated in front of him, having just finished its recording.
The process of recording it had been nothing short of torture.
Every word spoken, every demonstrative gesture, had been forcibly wrung from his fraying sanity and his tattered spiritual landscape.
The searing pain and countless chaotic screams echoing from within his spiritual landscape threatened to consume him.
But as agonizing as it was, he had endured it all to fulfill his promise to Yun Sheng.
He had promised her this!
’If I really don’t make it through this time, if I can’t protect her anymore, I at least have to leave her with some way to protect herself.’
Just then, his terminal vibrated, its faint light piercing the dim cavern.
It was a message from Yun Sheng.
Si Jin could vaguely make out the words appearing on the screen. Her words of concern, like a gentle, warm current, only further seared his rampaging, chaotic nerves.
’I want to reply to her.’
’I want to tell her... I’m okay. Tell her not to worry...’
’But I can’t!’
The crimson in his eyes was visibly consuming the last vestiges of deep blue. Uncontrollable spiritual power surged and twisted around his body...
The cavern walls groaned and cracked, unable to withstand the corrosive, violent power.
His last shred of sanity was rapidly collapsing.
Only two, ever-fading thoughts remained in Si Jin’s crumbling consciousness.
The first was to stay away from Yun Sheng; he could not allow his out-of-control self to harm her in the slightest.
The second was the hope that she would use the video to gain the ability to protect herself.
When Yun Sheng’s next message came through, Si Jin struggled to lift a finger, wanting to touch the screen.
But his fingertip only sputtered a few wisps of dangerous black flame, scorching the air.
The last trace of clarity in his eyes was finally swallowed by a furious, all-consuming crimson.
"ROAR!"
An inhuman roar, filled with endless agony and a lust for destruction, erupted from Si Jin’s throat and instantly swept through the entire mine.
The spiritual power around him erupted, transforming into a terrifying storm of black energy that spread frantically outward with him at its center.
The recorder and the terminal were instantly pulverized by the rampaging force.
All communication was severed.
The cavern trembled amid the roar, rubble raining from the ceiling.
The figure enveloped in the black storm sank completely into boundless madness and chaos, ruled by nothing but primal instinct and the desire for destruction.
...
Even a cold shower couldn’t wash away her burning anxiety.
Yun Sheng hastily dried off, pulled on a pair of soft pajamas, and threw herself onto the bed.
With every second that passed, the danger Si Jin faced grew greater.
She desperately wanted to rush over to his rented apartment across the street to check on him, but it was too late. She was afraid of arousing the suspicion of the Lin Family members.
Even more, she was afraid of being spotted by whoever was secretly watching her, which would tip them off.
Right now, the only possible way to see Si Jin was by entering his dreams.
"It has to work... It has to be him..."
Yun Sheng gripped the corner of her blanket, closed her eyes, and silently chanted Si Jin’s name in her mind.
She even tried to mobilize her own faint spiritual power, reaching out to entangle with the stolen power that belonged to Si Jin, deep within her spiritual landscape.
Her spiritual power, as fine as a silk thread, reached out cautiously, barely brushing against and intertwining with Si Jin’s immense and dangerous power.
A tide of exhaustion washed over her, and her consciousness began to fade.
Slowly, Yun Sheng fell into a deep sleep.
She found herself standing in that familiar, empty dreamscape. At first, there was nothing around her, only a faint, heart-stopping turbulence of energy rippling from the distance.
Yun Sheng instinctively hurried in the direction where the disturbance was strongest.
Every step felt like walking on a taut string. She didn’t dare call out, afraid of disturbing something... and even more afraid that the one to answer wouldn’t be the person she hoped to find.
Finally, she saw him—a figure enveloped in a tempest of spiritual power.
His head was slightly bowed, and the aura around him was chaotic and dangerous, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Merely getting close was enough for the rampant spiritual power leaking from him to scrape at the edges of her consciousness like barbed icicles, bringing a sharp, stinging pain.
"Si Jin..."
Yun Sheng’s voice trembled, laced with a heartache she hadn’t even realized was there.
Before the words had even left her lips, the figure violently snapped its head up.
A pair of eyes, consumed by scarlet brutality and chaos, stared straight at her. They held no reason, no emotion—only a desire to tear everything apart.
The next second, like a predator locking onto its prey, the figure charged toward Yun Sheng at an incredible speed!
A tidal wave of rampant spiritual power, carrying an aura of pure destruction, crashed down upon her—a force powerful enough to shred her consciousness in an instant.
"Si Jin!"
Yun Sheng’s voice, sharp and urgent and choked with a sob, suddenly exploded through the void.
Miraculously, the terrifying attack—powerful enough to annihilate anything in its path—simply stopped.