Chapter 24: Reliance

Chapter 24: Reliance

The cold blade pressed against his neck sent a bone-chilling sensation.

The edge slightly sank into his flesh, easily capable of slicing through Xu Qingran's nearly non-existent mental defenses, delivering a fatal cut. Yet, he remained calm, as if the lethal weapon at his throat was nothing more than a toy.

He even responded coolly, "So what?"

The blood he had encountered in the apocalypse might have been more than this young man had seen in his entire life. Detecting the unusual aura on the other was nothing unusual.

However, the person holding him captive seemed to relish his reaction, laughing behind him. The warm breath hitting the back of his neck made him uncomfortable, and for the first time, he truly understood what the 'creepy' laughter described in books sounded like.

It was sharp and unnerving.

The man lowered his voice, his tone ambiguous, "Just as you can sense my aura, I can also feel the messages conveyed by your soul."

Xu Qingran remained expressionless, offering no response.

The man continued leisurely, "Ever since I returned that day, I've been wondering, how could there be such a special and contradictory person in the world?"

"Your body is pure and delicate, like an angel fallen to earth, making one itch to destroy those broken wings. Yet, the soul within is like a demon that has fought its way out of hell, the scent of blood on your hands so thrilling it makes one tremble with excitement!"

Xu Qingran thought to himself, this must be the fugitive named Ming Hai mentioned in the news reports.

After a quick assessment, he concluded that this was the real psychopath.

He glanced at the knife at his neck and said coolly, "Is that so? But your hand holding the knife seems quite steady."

With that, he suddenly elbowed the person behind him.

Ming Hai reacted swiftly, as if he had anticipated the move, dodging the attack with ease. But Xu Qingran's action was just a feint; he seized Ming Hai's momentary distraction to smoothly break free from his hold.

The hand holding the dagger slashed forcefully, the special blade infused with mental energy narrowly missing Xu Qingran's neck. In the end, it left a deep red mark on his pale skin.

Even so, Xu Qingran managed to create some distance, temporarily pulling his precarious life back from the brink.

The knife-wielder wore a maroon hoodie today.

The hood on his head loosened from the intense movement, and with a gust of wind from the hilltop, it fell off. His already pale face looked even more ghostly under the moonlight, with deep, dark eye sockets and pure black pupils that were dull and lifeless.

Indeed, he bore a striking resemblance to the photo in the wanted notice.

Ming Hai slowly lowered the hand holding the knife, his admiration evident, "Your skills are impressive. I really want to have a thrilling duel with you."

"My mental strength isn't as strong as yours, wouldn't that put me at a disadvantage?" Xu Qingran raised an eyebrow, "I also appreciate opponents who fight fiercely. If you're willing to set aside your mental strength and have a pure physical fight with me, I wouldn't mind cooperating."

Ming Hai's eyes lit up, and he immediately released the sharp dagger, posing gracefully, "Of course, no problem."

Their gazes met in the air, one cold, the other insane.

In the blink of an eye, the two collided.

Ming Hai was a seasoned murderer; his success was entirely due to his overwhelmingly dominant E-type mental strength. Without the use of mental strength, he was more like a mad dog in hand-to-hand combat.

Without any technique, he could rely on his natural sense of a life's weak points, striking at the most fatal spots. Although Xu Qingran relied on supernatural attacks in his previous life, due to the diversity of the group, he often combined supernatural abilities with close combat.

Therefore, in this purely physical fight, the experienced Xu Qingran was more at ease. He could always anticipate and avoid Ming Hai's attacks aimed at his vital points. After several exchanges, he seized the opportunity and delivered a heavy punch to Ming Hai's most vulnerable spot on the abdomen.

It was a punch infused with his full mental strength.

Caught off guard by the sneak attack, Ming Hai staggered a few steps in pain.

His expression twisted with a mix of pain and laughter: "We agreed not to use psychic powers. You're not playing fair—that's a foul."

Xu Qingran chuckled lightly, looking down at the slightly bent figure: "Do I look like a rule-abiding, law-respecting citizen to you?"

When fighting a lunatic like this, you take every advantage you can get.

Only a fool would play by the rules, especially when the whole point was to mess with him.

Ming Hai laughed a few times with his head lowered.

A faint light flickered in his eyes, and in the next instant, he unleashed all his strength, charging at Xu Qingran.

Although Xu Qingran had anticipated this and tried to dodge, the current gap between his body and that of a Type E user was still too great. In the blink of an eye, he was slammed against the fallen aircraft.

The class-suppressing psychic power instantly pinned him down, leaving him immobile, only able to coldly meet his captor's gaze.

Ming Hai's gaze lingered on Xu Qingran's strikingly beautiful face, finally locking onto his eyes.

He tilted his head slightly, his hand tightly gripping Xu Qingran's neck, and said, "Your soul isn't fully formed yet, but by nature, it fits a Type E user perfectly."

"But it's strange—you're different from the other Type E users I despise. There's something irresistibly magnetic about your soul. It feels like if I keep looking at you, I might fall for you uncontrollably."

Ming Hai wasn't saying this to provoke or disgust.

Xu Qingran's soul stirred in Ming Hai, a Type E user, an overwhelming desire to possess and claim. He didn't understand why, but it was pure instinct.

Xu Qingran pursed his lips, meeting Ming Hai's infatuated gaze, and thought to himself that he didn't want this kind of love.

He was still calmly plotting his escape when Ming Hai suddenly tilted his head toward the direction behind him, his smile vanishing in an instant. Ming Hai grabbed him and shoved him aside, retreating in the opposite direction.

As if avoiding something.

Once he steadied himself, Xu Qingran looked up and saw a thin, bright line—like a fishing line—streaking through the air. The light's tail vanished into the night, and the next moment, the aircraft they'd been leaning against exploded with a deafening bang.

He froze for a moment, then stared at the scattered metal fragments on the ground, falling silent.

Damn, that was his only ride.

From the direction of the psychic attack emerged another tall figure. His black-and-gold trench coat fluttered in the wind, the Golden Wing emblem on his chest catching the moonlight. His blue eyes shimmered with a faint, rippling light.

At the sight of the newcomer, Ming Hai's eyes lit up with the fiery mix of hatred and anticipation that comes with facing an old rival: "Long time no see, General Shen Tingyu of the Empire's Golden Wing Battalion."

Xu Qingran was speechless.

He knew it—only that bastard Shen Tingyu would pull something like this, going for the kill without a care for bystanders.

"I heard you aced your way out of the Tower of Evil back then," Ming Hai laughed, shameless. "Look at me—I didn't even need to take the test to get out!"

"Rules are just window dressing for Type E users."

Shen Tingyu retracted the psychic gun he had just used, smiling lightly, his voice deep: "True. I should've ignored the Empire and the Tower of Evil's rules and killed you on the spot back then."

Ming Hai, a few years ago, was also one of the Type E felons captured and sent to Tower 2.

Shen Tingyu had fought with him before, but unlike other Type E users who were crushed, even after being beaten until his eyes trembled, Ming Hai would still crazily come back to him, continuing to get beaten, every encounter a bloody mess.

Eventually, he realized Ming Hai wasn't like the average Type E user.

At least his psychic potential surpassed everyone else's, making him particularly formidable. So, when confronted with his active provocations, he chose to ignore them, only to hear from the Tower Master some time later that he had killed several inspectors and fellow Type E users on the same level, and was sent to Tower 1 for punishment.

The next time he heard the name was when he recently escaped from prison.

The more talented a Type E user, the worse their impression of each other upon meeting.

Before Xu Qingran could even sort out the grievances between the two, he saw them wielding short knives for close combat, fiercely clashing. Even the usually gentle and restrained Shen Tingyu had lost his smile, his eyes glowing red with anger and disgust, intent on tearing the other apart.

Ming Hai was no different.

When the two blades imbued with psychic energy collided, the resulting psychic field was like a sweeping hurricane, sending sand and stones flying and shaking the grass and trees. It also pressed down on him, a low-level psychic pool bystander nearby, causing heart palpitations.

The system exclaimed, "Is this the duel between two super-strong Type E users?"

Xu Qingran asked, "Who is that Ming Hai?"

"There's not much recorded information, just that he's a super antisocial Type E, acting wildly and at will, devoid of empathy, and relishes the thrill of killing others."

Whether it was Shen Tingyu or Ming Hai, every strike of their knives was aimed at the other's major arteries, their killing intent never concealed. The collisions of psychic energy grew fiercer each time, making it clear that these two had only been toying with him before, not yet intent on killing.

Xu Qingran sneered. Did he have to thank these two for considering him so weak?

The fight was eventually dominated by Shen Tingyu, who had more training and combat experience. The thin and pale man was kicked so hard by him that he vomited blood, and in the moment he sought to catch his breath, he completely lost the chance to fight back, being beaten until he suffered internal injuries and broken bones.

Ming Hai was beaten into a curled-up position on the ground, and Shen Tingyu looked down at him from above, his cold and stern eyes heavy with weariness. He drew the psychic gun he carried, intent on ignoring the empire's rigid rules and killing the man on the spot.

No one understood better than him that a Type E like Ming Hai would only be a future menace if left alive.

However, before he could pull the trigger, the man lying on the ground, clutching his wound and laughing while vomiting blood, suddenly produced a small mechanical device. He then pressed a button, and Shen Tingyu's movements abruptly halted, a splitting buzz emanating from his psychic pool, temporarily restraining the activation of his psychic energy.

"Ha, this thing really works on people with injured psychic pools," Ming Hai said, staggering to his feet, a fierce killing intent flashing in his eyes.

He bent down to pick up the knife on the ground, chuckling lowly, "That's why I said, General, you chose the wrong path when you left the Tower of Evil back then."

After saying this, he sought to take advantage of Shen Tingyu's weakened state to counterattack.

But when he looked up, he found that Xu Qingran, who had been watching from a distance, had somehow appeared before him, and in his moment of hesitation, kicked the weapon from his hand.

Ming Hai had been weakened by Shen Tingyu, and Xu Qingran didn't regard him seriously at all.

"Sorry, but if you want to kill him now, you'll need my permission first," he said expressionlessly, then delivered another ruthless kick, sending the man tumbling down the mountain.

After finishing, he stood at the cliff's edge and looked down. The forest below was pitch black, with poor visibility.

"Shen Tingyu," Xu Qingran called, then turned back to look at the man who hadn't moved, "At this height, he won't die, right?"

Shen Tingyu's attention had been scattered since Ming Hai pressed that strange mechanical device, and even his vision was affected, seeing everything in double. It wasn't until Xu Qingran called his name that his consciousness gradually returned, and he could slowly hear the words spoken to him.

After a while, he smiled faintly and replied, "Indeed, he won't die."

"If you chase after him, he might have already left."

Xu Qingran could only pout in disappointment, walked up to him, and was about to ask a question when the other spoke first, "Xu Qingran."

Shen Tingyu looked at him, the tenderness in his eyes blurred by the moonlight, its authenticity unknown.

"Can you help me with something?" he asked.

Xu Qingran was taken aback to hear Shen Tingyu ask for a favor and hesitated, "Depends on what you need."

"Simple," Shen Tingyu sighed lightly, "Let me lean on you for a bit."

Before Xu Qingran could even understand what he meant, the full weight of another grown man came down on him. Instinctively, he reached out to steady the other man's solid frame, and in his shock, he heard a soft whisper in his ear.

"I've just been pushing my spiritual power too hard these past few days. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be good to go."

Shen Tingyu had barely slept in over ten days.

On top of securing the Aquila system's defense line, he also had to deal with a bunch of petty tasks from higher-ups, running around non-stop with hardly any breaks. His slowly recovering spiritual pool was already on the brink.

On his way home, he ran into Ming Hai, who was on the empire's most-wanted list. After a brutal fight, he was nearly spent. On top of that, he got caught in Ming Hai's trap, throwing his recently stabilized spiritual pool back into chaos and pain. Looks like he'd have to take his next dose of inhibitor sooner than planned.

The problems with his spiritual pool were getting harder to brush off.

After a brief silence, Xu Qingran suddenly socked him in the gut.

Then, with a cold chuckle, he said, "No way."

Shen Tingyu winced slightly, biting back a groan.

But the hand holding him up didn't let go right away.

Xu Qingran still remembered what had just happened, "I remember someone who, the moment he saw the target, looked like he wanted to take me out too."

Shen Tingyu lowered his eyes and chuckled lightly, "Nah, that attack wouldn't have even scratched him. Even if you hadn't moved, it wouldn't have done a thing to you."

After saying this, he received another punch.

Shen Tingyu laughed in exasperation.

Someone was really using his weakness to let off some steam.

Xu Qingran's tone was cold and fierce, "And you wrecked my ship!"

"Hmm," Shen Tingyu responded, his voice trailing off slightly, "I'll compensate for it."

After saying this, he leaned against Xu Qingran and gently closed his eyes, allowing his spiritual pool to recover slightly.

The night was cool, and the faint, refreshing scent emanating from Xu Qingran, which matched his temperament, could still be smelled at the tip of his nose. With every breath, he could even sense the subtle spiritual power emanating from the depths of Xu Qingran's soul.

It was unexpectedly comfortable, without the anticipated dislike and rejection.

It was strange.

Even though they were so close, at the moment their spiritual powers intertwined, he suddenly realized that he didn't really want to kill Xu Qingran after all.

In the quiet atmosphere, he suddenly heard the person leaning against him speak again.

In a calm voice, he asked, "So? What was that about just now?"