Chapter 38: So as Long as It’s Not Me, but That Bastard Yan Shenyun Instead…

Chapter 38: So as long as it's not me, then that bastard Yan Shenyun can go ahead...

When Shu Hanqing heard the words "taking responsibility," he was momentarily stunned.

The phrase carried too many ambiguous meanings, but between two people who could hardly be called close acquaintances, it seemed especially absurd.

What exactly was Yan Shenyun going to take responsibility for? And how?

"...Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Shu Hanqing asked, confused.

Yan Shenyun just looked at him calmly. "Because under those circumstances, your superpower was severely suppressed. If it hadn't been dealt with promptly, your mental sea could have collapsed at any moment. In my judgment, removing the Thunder Mark was the top priority. However—"

"Since you're so bothered by this now, I've already said I'll take responsibility."

In that instant, Shu Hanqing remembered what Mu Ye had said about Yan Shenyun.

Mu Ye had said that someone like Yan Shenyun was, at his core, deeply arrogant and stubborn. He would always weigh pros and cons solely within his own absolute rational logic, and would only ever care about his own opinion.

Yan Shenyun truly didn't seem to care much about what Shu Hanqing, the one actually involved, really thought.

Shu Hanqing did indeed want nothing more than to rid himself of those Thunder Marks that tormented him relentlessly.

But that didn't mean he could accept another man's psychic power residing in his body like a claimed territory, without any lingering resentment.

He couldn't accept the psychic connection Yan Shenyun had left behind, just as he would rather die than be entangled with Lei Zheng's lightning ability again.

This foreign energy within him was always a ticking bomb.

He didn't know exactly when it would detonate, at whose hands, and blast him to pieces.

Yan Shenyun remained cold, aloof, and noble.

In the dead silence, he leaned in a little closer to Shu Hanqing. Deep within those pupils hidden behind the thin-framed glasses, there was a faint, eerie green glimmer.

Up close, Shu Hanqing realized the green was so eerie it could barely be contained even by the cold lenses.

Yan Shenyun spoke slowly: "Did someone say something to you? Lei Zheng told you, didn't he?"

Shu Hanqing said, "...Yes, so I wanted to know if what he said was true."

And it turned out to be true after all.

Yan Shenyun: "The lightning ability in your body—its source comes from Lei Zheng, doesn't it?"

Shu Hanqing: "How do you know?"

"The lightning ability in your body—I used my psychic power to forcibly strip it from your psychic energy and channel it into myself."

Yan Shenyun said it as if it were nothing: "That day I ran into Lei Zheng, my inner power produced a rejection reaction that didn't belong to me. I knew then where its source came from."

Shu Hanqing stared at Yan Shenyun. He had tasted that feeling before. He knew all too well how devastating it was when foreign energy attached to one's psychic power was triggered—the way it snapped apart inch by inch along the depths of the soul.

When Yan Shenyun had agreed to help him remove the Thunder Marks, Shu Hanqing had assumed it was some kind of advanced medical technique. He never imagined that Yan Shenyun would choose the most primitive, self-destructive method—channeling those deadly lightning bolts into his own body.

"You..."

Shu Hanqing's voice caught in his throat. His gaze fell on Yan Shenyun's wrist, and he pushed up his sleeve.

That glaring black Thunder Mark, a symbol of destruction and brutality, was coiled on Yan Shenyun's skin like a vicious serpent.

It was exactly the same as the damn thing on Shu Hanqing's own back.

Yan Shenyun calmly pulled his arm back from Shu Hanqing's grasp, slowly tugging his sleeve back down to cover the mark.

The pattern only accentuated the already sickly pallor of his skin, lending it a quiet, profound sense of broken beauty.

"It's fine." Yan Shenyun's tone was even. "My mental sea is vast enough that I can slowly devour them bit by bit. It just... takes a little longer than usual..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Shenyun's body suddenly trembled slightly. He turned his head and coughed violently, weakly.

Shu Hanqing sat stiffly on the hospital bed, the cold defensiveness on his face shattering completely in that instant, replaced by a look of complexity and wavering resolve.

Yan Shenyun suppressed the coppery taste rising in his throat: "...You don't need to worry about me using my psychic power to do anything to you. On that point, I can swear by my life and all my faith."

"Once the lightning ability in your body has been completely stripped away in a few days, I will fully withdraw the portion of psychic power I've left within you. The reason I must leave a part behind now is simply that I need its power to suppress those lightning bolts."

Seeing that the man beside him showed no sign of stopping his coughing, Shu Hanqing could no longer afford to dwell on those unfounded misgivings and suspicions.

He quickly shifted sideways, sat up straight on the bed, and awkwardly patted Yan Shenyun's back.

"Stop talking—how can you possibly be fine like this?"

Shu Hanqing: "You're a pure psychic ability user. Your physical constitution is fundamentally different from ours. Once those Thunder Marks flare up, they're completely unreasonable—how could you possibly withstand them? How about... how about you just transfer them back to me now! I'm tough, and I've long since gotten used to the pain."

What kind of man was Yan Shenyun?

He was the prized treasure of the entire central base laboratory, guarded around the clock by countless security personnel—the living spark of humanity's future technology and superpower breakthroughs.

His health was of paramount importance.

Now he had channeled lightning into himself for Shu Hanqing's sake. If those violent forces suddenly flared up during some critical experiment, causing him such pain he couldn't continue, Shu Hanqing's guilt would be immeasurable.

Yan Shenyun smiled wryly: "Do you think it's that easy to move them around? Don't worry, I'm fine."

Yan Shenyun finally stopped coughing. Perhaps because he had been coughing too hard, an unusual flush had crept onto his otherwise pale face.

Just as Shu Hanqing was about to withdraw his hand, Yan Shenyun's slightly cool yet warm palm naturally turned over and rested on top of Shu Hanqing's hand.

Shu Hanqing was about to pull away.

In the dead-silent ward, only Yan Shenyun's calm, warm voice rang out: "Now that you're a member of the laboratory, as your supervisor, I will see my responsibility through to the end. I won't let you hurt anymore."

The warmth on the back of his hand was almost scorching. Shu Hanqing stared, dazed, at this cold, aloof genius scientist before him, and something deep in the most hidden corner of his heart seemed to be struck hard.

He suddenly felt that he had been projecting his own petty suspicions onto a man of noble character.

Yan Shenyun genuinely just wanted to help him, without any hidden, sordid, or despicable intentions.

And in Yan Shenyun's world, those experiments filled with cold instruments and azure reagents had always mattered more than anything else in this world—they were the sole anchor of his soul.

His thoughts were utterly pure. Before those complex data and formulas that others couldn't understand, he would often sit for over a dozen hours at a time, oblivious to the outside world, wholly absorbed in his own spiritual realm.

Among the displaced civilians outside, the name Yan Shenyun had long been elevated to that of a savior of the world.

This was not an exaggeration. In this era, without the support of Yan Shenyun's research, humanity could never have clawed its way out of the bloody mire of the apocalypse at such an astonishing pace.

Shu Hanqing felt he shouldn't use the filthy, vulgar things Lei Zheng had said to casually judge someone with such a pure heart.

Besides, what immense value could he possibly possess that would warrant Yan Shenyun going to such lengths, even risking his own safety, to channel lightning for him?

"Did Lei Zheng use some shady tactics to force you into this? Don't worry. Since you're here with me now, I've got your back—he wouldn't dare touch you at Central Base."

Shu Hanqing murmured a thank you.

But looking at the other's face, still sickly pale, the worry in Shu Hanqing's eyes was impossible to hide. He couldn't help but ask in a low voice again, "When that Lightning Ability you had transferred acts up, let me know."

Yan Shenyun agreed, then asked softly, "What about you? Are you really fine after falling from such a height earlier?"

Shu Hanqing said he was fine, that he was sturdy, and the fall hadn't hurt him at all.

Once Yan Shenyun confirmed he was okay, the two of them got up and headed out.

But they'd barely stepped out the door, hadn't even made it down the few concrete steps, when Lei Zheng appeared out of nowhere.

Without even saying hello, Lei Zheng viciously grabbed the collar of Yan Shenyun's immaculate white shirt, yanking so hard the fabric nearly ripped.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here!"

"Yan Shenyun, you're a sanctimonious bastard. I've told him all about the disgusting little deeds you've done behind everyone's backs!"

Faced with this outright humiliating attack, Yan Shenyun didn't even bat an eye. He just gave Lei Zheng a casual, indifferent glance, looking like he was in a pretty good mood, actually.

But to Lei Zheng, who was already about to lose his mind, this calm indifference was nothing short of a blatant, vicious provocation.

So Lei Zheng threw a punch, aiming straight at Yan Shenyun's face.

Shu Hanqing's face changed instantly. Without even a second to think, he caught Yan Shenyun, who was staggering back from the blow.

Yan Shenyun was a frail mental-type superpowered individual, as precious and delicate as could be—how could he possibly withstand the brutal force of someone like Lei Zheng, who'd crawled out of a pile of corpses?

Yan Shenyun steadied himself, raised his thumb, and slowly, almost dazedly, wiped the trickle of bright red blood from the corner of his mouth.

The blood stood out starkly against his pale skin, and Shu Hanqing saw it all too clearly.

The suppressed fury that had been building inside him all day exploded in an instant. He jerked his head up and snapped, frantic with rage, "Lei Zheng, are you a rabid dog? You'll bite anyone in sight!"

Lei Zheng: "Shu Hanqing... did you not understand a word I said to you? I'm standing up for you!"

Shu Hanqing blocked in front of Yan Shenyun, returning the glare coldly: "I understood."

"Then why the hell are you still defending him now?" Lei Zheng thought Shu Hanqing must have lost his mind.

Shu Hanqing: "That's none of your business. My affairs have nothing to do with you. Whether I live or die, who I'm with, whose words I follow—you have no right to interfere!"

From his blood to his flesh, from the taut veins at his temples to every bone in his body, Lei Zheng felt like he'd been set completely on fire, burning so hot that he trembled all over.

"So as long as it's not me, anyone else—even that bastard Yan Shenyun—is acceptable, right?"

Shu Hanqing stared at him expressionlessly, saying nothing.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Just fine! Shu Hanqing."

Lei Zheng gritted out three "fines" in a row, his gnashing teeth looking as if he wanted to kill Yan Shenyun. He spun around abruptly and stormed off, carrying a fury so heavy it seemed to scorch the very air around him.

Yan Shenyun said calmly, "He seems to have misunderstood us."

Shu Hanqing said, "...Don't mind him. He's always like this."