Chapter 36: Use Your Special Way to Continue ’Helping’ Me
’A direct confrontation is out of the question, and revealing my power is even worse.’
Yun Sheng’s gaze swept quickly over her surroundings.
This was the entrance to a community footpath. It was secluded, but not completely deserted.
The faint gleam of headlights streaked across the main road in the distance, and even further away, she could make out a few scattered pedestrians.
’Stall. Make a commotion. Lure someone over!’
It was the only way Yun Sheng could think of to protect herself without revealing her hand.
Chen Hao’s fist whistled through the air, aimed straight for her face.
Yun Sheng didn’t try to block it head-on. Instead, she feigned a panicked slip, her body lurching backward in an awkward fall, allowing the fist to graze past the tip of her nose by a hair’s breadth.
At the same time, she deliberately stumbled into a nearby lamppost, making a dull CLANG.
"Tch, you’re fast, aren’t you?" Chen Hao’s punch missed. He was surprised for a moment, then his surprise turned to fury. "Let’s see how long you can keep dodging!"
He lunged again, the pressure from his spiritual power intensifying. His punches grew fiercer, cutting off Yun Sheng’s escape routes.
Yun Sheng still didn’t meet his attacks.
She relied on her instinct for danger and that vaguely enhanced perception of hers. Though she looked like she was stumbling around, she always managed to evade his attacks by the narrowest of margins at the last possible second.
She kept "throwing" herself into the roadside bushes and illuminated signs, creating louder noises and a greater disturbance.
"You piece of trash! Is dodging all you know?!" Chen Hao grew more and more infuriated as he fought.
He was a D-level Sentinel, yet he’d failed to take down a nobody several times and was making a huge scene in the process. It was a blow to his ego.
It seemed the commotion had indeed attracted attention. The faint sound of footsteps was approaching from the distance.
"Damn it!"
A vicious glint flashed in Chen Hao’s eyes. He had completely lost his patience.
He held nothing back. Unleashing his spiritual power to its fullest, he balled his right fist, channeling all his strength into it. With the terrifying speed granted by a Sentinel’s physique, he aimed a vicious blow at Yun Sheng’s vulnerable abdomen.
If this punch landed, it would be enough to damage her internal organs and incapacitate her for some time.
"Let’s see you dodge this one, you piece of trash!"
The attack was fast and ruthless, sealing off nearly all of Yun Sheng’s possible angles of escape.
Just as the brutally powerful fist was about to connect, a dark figure erupted without warning from the deepest shadows behind and to the side of Yun Sheng.
It moved so fast the naked eye could barely track it.
A hand in a black tactical glove shot out, arriving first despite moving second, and clamped down hard on Chen Hao’s wrist.
The movement seemed casual, yet it carried an unstoppable, devastating force that snuffed out Chen Hao’s forward momentum and the power gathered in his fist an instant before it could be unleashed.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of a bone fracturing rang out clearly.
"AARGH!"
Chen Hao’s vicious sneer twisted instantly into a bloodcurdling scream.
The dark figure didn’t even give him a chance to react or get a clear look. Its other hand chopped down—fast, precise, and brutal—on the artery in his neck.
Chen Hao’s eyes bulged. His scream cut off abruptly, and he collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, completely unconscious.
The external Spiritual Force Field dissipated along with him.
It all happened in a flash.
Yun Sheng leaned against the cold metal of a bus stop sign, panting slightly.
She looked up at the dark figure who had suddenly appeared, resolving one crisis only to bring a far greater sense of unease.
The dim light of the streetlamp barely outlined his tall, straight-as-a-pine silhouette. His black combat suit blended almost perfectly with the night.
He slowly withdrew his hand, his posture casual yet radiating the indifference of a top predator.
Then, he turned around.
When those deep eyes—which seemed to burn with a cold, ghostly blue flame even in the dim light—fell upon her, completely unveiled, Yun Sheng’s heart seized, nearly stopping in her chest.
Si Jin!
’Has he... been nearby this whole time? Or is this a coincidence?’
Si Jin’s gaze locked onto her, heavy and unnervingly complex.
He strode closer, his military boots thudding on the pavement. Each step seemed to land on Yun Sheng’s taut nerves, until his tall figure completely overshadowed her.
An intense sense of danger made Yun Sheng’s scalp tingle, and she instinctively tried to back away.
But an arm suddenly tightened around her waist!
An arm like an iron band wrapped around her, pinning her firmly in front of him.
Through the thin fabric of her clothes, the heat radiating from his arm was startlingly hot, almost enough to scorch her skin.
"You... let me go."
Yun Sheng’s voice trembled uncontrollably. She pressed her hands against his hard chest, trying to push him away, but couldn’t budge him an inch.
Si Jin lowered his head, his gaze roaming over her face, which had gone slightly pale with tension.
A cold, lingering killing intent churned in his eyes, but deeper still was a probing look, as if he wanted to dissect her from the inside out and take complete control.
That gaze made Yun Sheng freeze completely, as if her blood were flowing in reverse.
’It’s over!’
When dealing with Chen Hao, if she had been truly desperate, she could have gritted her teeth and considered risking it all by using her "stolen" power.
But now, facing Si Jin himself, that little bit of stolen power she had was less than a spark. Using it would likely expose her immediately.
Just as her mind raced, desperately searching for a way out, Si Jin spoke.
"Last time, in the warehouse... when I woke up, people from the Tower were nearby, so I left. But later, I discovered something..."
Si Jin’s gaze fell on Yun Sheng’s slightly trembling eyelashes, then slowly moved back to her eyes, which were trying so hard to remain calm.
"I discovered that the cracks in my spiritual landscape, the ones that were driving me insane... they’d been mended. It was only a tiny bit, but the repairs were definitely there."
His thumb unconsciously caressed her side through her clothing, sending a shiver through her.
"You were the only one there at the time. Yun Sheng, what exactly did you do to me?"
Yun Sheng’s throat felt dry. She wanted to deny it, to argue, but under Si Jin’s all-seeing gaze, every excuse she had prepared seemed pale and feeble.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Si Jin didn’t seem to expect an answer.
He quirked his lips into a smile that held no warmth.
"If I press you for an answer, you’ll probably just spin a bunch of lies to placate me."
His tone was mocking, yet strangely devoid of anger. Instead, it held a sort of... detached interest, like watching a cornered prey struggle.
Si Jin leaned down slightly, closing the already dangerous distance between them until the tip of his nose almost touched hers.
"So, let’s try a different approach. Yun Sheng, how about... you cooperate with me?"
’Cooperate?’
The word sounded so absurd and dangerous coming from Si Jin’s lips.
’Cooperate with a Dark Sentinel wanted by the entire Star Alliance, one whose power is out of control?’
’I’d have to be insane to...’
But Si Jin’s next words were like a precisely aimed hook, snagging the most secret desire in Yun Sheng’s heart.
"I can protect you. Whatever you want to do, whoever you want to deal with, I can help. And you, in return, only need to stay by my side. Use that... special method of yours to continue ’helping’ me, to mend the cracks in my spiritual landscape."
Si Jin’s arm tightened, pulling Yun Sheng even closer. His hot breath brushed against her bangs.
"I’m not asking you to fix it completely; that’s impossible. I just need you to pull me back when I’m on the verge of losing control. So that I don’t... completely turn into a mindless monster."