Chapter 21: Provoking the Human-shaped Natural Disaster
A special dream?!
Yun Sheng’s mind was instantly thrown into turmoil.
’Bai Ye is suspicious, just as I thought. Is he testing me, or... did he really "enter" that dream too, and even see something?’
She abruptly clenched her fists under the table, her nails digging so deeply into her palms that the sharp pain was the only thing keeping her calm.
’I can’t panic. I absolutely cannot admit it!’
"A special dream? What dream? General Bai, I don’t understand what you mean. Why don’t you just tell me what it is you want to ask?"
Bai Ye stared at Yun Sheng for a few seconds before looking away. "If you don’t understand, then just forget I said anything," he said coolly.
He picked up his glass of water and smoothly changed the subject. "I heard from Director Cui that you’ve agreed to join the Tower’s preparatory program."
Yun Sheng felt a wave of relief, which was immediately followed by a new surge of tension.
"Yes. It’s an opportunity for me."
"Mm," Bai Ye grunted, his tone unreadable. "Since you’ve decided, do a good job. The rules in the Tower are different from the outside world."
"Thank you for the reminder, General Bai. I will."
That’s what Yun Sheng said, but inwardly she couldn’t help but complain: ’He’s so nosy.’
Just then, a service robot delivered their meals.
The aroma of the food temporarily eased the tense atmosphere.
Yun Sheng was genuinely hungry. Even under the oppressive gaze from across the table, she simply lowered her head and started to eat.
Halfway through her meal, a middle-aged man in the uniform of an Advanced Tower official hurried over and whispered something to Bai Ye.
Bai Ye’s brow furrowed. He said, "One moment," to Yun Sheng, then got up and walked with the man to a relatively quiet corner not far away to talk.
Yun Sheng was delighted to be free of his gaze and silently quickened her pace.
They were some distance away, so she couldn’t make out what Bai Ye and the official were saying until she heard a faint but familiar name.
Si Jin!
Yun Sheng’s heart gave a strange leap, and an indescribable sense of unease washed over her.
’Si Jin has appeared again?!’
She stopped trying to eavesdrop and focused on finishing the last of the food on her plate.
Just as she put down her bowl and wiped her mouth, Bai Ye finished his conversation and walked back, his expression even more grave and cold than before.
Seeing this, Yun Sheng immediately stood up and said preemptively, "General Bai, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be heading home."
Bai Ye looked at her without a word.
His stare made her scalp tingle; she just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
The moment she turned to go, Bai Ye’s cold voice finally sounded.
"Yun Sheng."
Her steps faltered.
"There are some people and some things you’d best never get involved with, not even out of curiosity. Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died."
Although Bai Ye didn’t name anyone, they both knew he was talking about Si Jin.
With her back to him, Yun Sheng’s fingers curled unconsciously.
She didn’t turn around, only replying stiffly, "...Thank you for the warning, General."
With that, she didn’t linger, quickening her pace as she left the restaurant.
Bai Ye watched her retreating back, his eyes dark and his expression unreadably complex.
...
The Tower headquarters was located in a relatively secluded administrative district. To get to the public transit station, one had to cross a short internal footpath.
Dusk was falling. The streetlights had not yet fully brightened, and the shadows of the trees swayed in the gentle breeze, casting shifting patterns of darkness on the ground.
Yun Sheng walked alone on the path, her pace quickening unconsciously. She just wanted to get out of this overly quiet area as soon as possible.
Just as she reached the halfway point, with no one else around, an extremely faint sense of spatial distortion rippled out beside her without any warning!
It wasn’t an attack, and there was no hostility. It felt more like... an uncontrollable leak of extremely unstable energy.
Yun Sheng stopped dead in her tracks, every muscle in her body tensing as she warily looked toward the source of the fluctuation.
Danger!
Her instincts blared alarms in her mind.
Yet, just as she was about to turn and flee, an incredibly strange impulse, completely contrary to all reason, rose within her.
’Go take a look.’
It was as if something over there was calling to her.
The impulse was inexplicable, yet exceptionally strong.
Yun Sheng gritted her teeth.
Reason told her to run, but that strange pull held her feet in place like a hook.
Finally, she took a deep breath and cautiously made her way toward the deep shadows.
The bushes were deeper than she had imagined.
When she pushed aside the last of the dense branches and saw what lay in the shadows, her pupils contracted and her breath caught in her throat.
A tall, well-built figure was curled up on the damp earth and fallen leaves.
Messy black hair obscured most of his face, but his exposed jawline was tense, and his lips were pale.
It was Si Jin!
’What is he doing here?’
’This place is less than a kilometer from the Tower headquarters. Has he lost his mind?!’
Yun Sheng’s heart instantly began to pound, nearly bursting from her chest.
Si Jin was an SSS-level Dark Sentinel, an extremely dangerous and uncontrollable "human natural disaster."
Bai Ye’s warning was no exaggeration. Escaping from Si Jin last time had been a stroke of luck.
’Luck might not strike twice!’
Without a moment’s hesitation, Yun Sheng turned to leave.
"Whine..."
Just then, an extremely faint whimper came from behind her.
Immediately after, something fluffy suddenly brushed against her ankle.
Yun Sheng froze and instinctively looked down.
A familiar-looking little wolf was gently nudging her pant leg with its black nose.
It was still making pitiful whining sounds and even gently nipped her cuff, tugging lightly as if to say, ’Don’t go...’
Yun Sheng was a complete sucker for anything fluffy.
Being "held back" in such a clingy way by the little fluffball before her, her heart was instantly struck, and she softened.
She looked at the pathetic little wolf at her feet, then at the unconscious Si Jin in the distance, and struggled with intense inner turmoil.
"Sigh..."
Yun Sheng sighed silently. She was resigned to her fate.
She picked up the little wolf, summoned her courage, and walked toward where Si Jin had fallen.
As she drew closer, she could see him more clearly.
Si Jin’s eyes were shut tight, his brow deeply furrowed. His breathing was weak and erratic, and his face was frighteningly pale.
On his exposed skin, faint, abnormal black markings were visible, spreading like cracks—a sign of his power running rampant and turning on its host.
He was gravely injured, and his condition was extremely unstable.
’What do I do now? Call the police? Inform the Tower?’
’No, that would be a death sentence for Si Jin, and I’d probably be implicated as well.’
’Just leave him here?’
’From the looks of it, he probably won’t last long. And what if he goes berserk...?’
Yun Sheng’s gaze fell on Si Jin’s furrowed brow and pained expression. An image from the original novel flashed through her mind—of him going to his death alone, ultimately perishing along with the contaminated zone.
’A former War God who once protected the Star Alliance, ending up like this...’
She bit her lip and made an incredibly bold—and possibly suicidal—decision.