Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 129 The Obsession with Cheese

"Since we're both looking for a place anyway, why don't we do it together?"

Cheese sat in the driver's seat of the wrecked SUV, a warm-colored scarf concealing the wound on her neck, making her appear even more petite and charming.

The stifling sorrow on her face dissipated, replaced by a friendly smile. There seemed to be some emotion in her eyes.

Her words left Li Yelai unable to understand them for a moment.

Are we going to the branch office to find a place together?
Let's stay together.
Li Yelai subconsciously recalled the scene of Cheese, with a flushed face, wearing a white bathrobe, slumped half-reclined on the sofa.

At the time, Cheese had injured her arm and asked me to help her change her clothes. This made both of their hearts race.
Actually, Cheese usually talks a lot of witty remarks, but he has never had any romantic relationships.

If any intimate actions were to occur, her face would turn as red as an apple.

If Li Yelai had actually done something back then, he would probably have lost this friend completely.

Given Li Yelai's clear self-awareness, he believed this was another of Cheese's flirtatious remarks. They were probably going to the branch office together to find housing.

Thinking of this, Li Yelai took a deep breath, dispelling the images that were flashing through his mind. He then said, "I was just about to go to the branch office to inquire if there were any vacant family apartments. Shall we come together?"

'That makes sense, his sister doesn't like to interact with other people.' Cheese thought to himself, the light in his eyes dimming, and he replied softly, 'Then let's go.'

The two then walked along the broken road, talking as they went.

The people coming and going around me were mostly engineering teams or combat personnel, and occasionally I could see some psionicists.

The reconstruction of the giant city and the clearing of the remaining insect swarms are proceeding simultaneously, and it is unknown when the giant city will be restored.

"Since your house is destroyed, where is Xiaoyan living now?" Cheese asked.

“It’s a confidential area in the new city, where someone can take care of her. I’ll bring her back after I find a house,” Li Yelai replied.

Although Li Yunyan became a psionicist, the effects of the curse still prevented her from living a normal life.

Currently, she is still with the Spirit Absolute 'Nun'. It must be said, the nun has been a great help. Otherwise, Li Yelai wouldn't feel comfortable leaving Li Yunyan alone somewhere. However, as a Spirit Absolute, the 'Nun''s' identity is highly secretive. Even most of the team captains are unaware of her existence.

You might know about dolls, but you probably haven't actually come into contact with them yet.

Li Yelai didn't say much.

“I understand... a classified mission.” Cheese didn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he said, “To deal with the Fog of Calamity, the existence of human psionicists has been exposed to the public. The Great City will gradually inform the public about the existence of psionicists. At the same time, be prepared not to let the Church of the Embers take advantage of the situation.”

Li Yelai nodded. Before the disaster fog descended, most people in the giant city had only urban legends about psychics.

Just like Li Yelai, before encountering the Skinners, he was also unaware of these extraordinary beings.

The vast majority of people never leave the megacity in their entire lives.

The understanding of the disaster fog is more like that of a natural disaster specifically targeting humankind.

Those scavengers who frequently left the giant city knew more than the locals, but under the watchful eyes of the city, they all unanimously concealed it all.

After all, this isn't something worth publicizing. On the contrary, it might trigger some kind of panic.

Now, the calamity fog has descended, and the swarms of savage insects are devouring everything. At least for those survivors swallowed by the fog, the presence of psionicists has been revealed.

What the authorities need to do now is to help them gradually understand the existence of psionicists.

This is actually a very high risk, for psionicists.

From the outside, especially from the perspective of ordinary people, what an incredibly powerful force this is!

In the bloody battle against the insect swarm, people had long witnessed the power and uniqueness of psionicists.

Especially those high-level psionicists, like Yang Chen, who charged at supersonic speed to kill the Imperial Guard Insects; like Lie Yang, who mimicked the mythical Golden Crow; and like Jian Kuang, who wielded his sword to slay countless demons!

This is a fatal attraction for many people.

Of the millions of survivors, how many would want to become psionicists?
How many people truly possess psychic abilities?

What about those who don't have psychic talent but still want to become psychics?

If it is jealousy or resentment, it will lead to the corruption of the Church of the Embers!
The Church of the Embers only offered some high-risk catalysts, yet their people, eager for power, flocked to them.

Some people who have suffered injustice or man-made disasters will stop at nothing to become psionicists.

Imagine an ordinary person crushed by power. If they could gain extraordinary power, they would fight for that sliver of hope, even if death was the most likely outcome.

Furthermore, within the church, the belief that becoming a psionicist allows one to take everything from the members has further exacerbated this trend.

Li Yelai knew of cases where people sacrificed their daughters and entire fortunes to become psionicists and for a highly risky catalytic drug.

Because he became a psychic, he was able to gain the respect and resources of countless members of the church.

This is a high-stakes gamble, a life-or-death gamble where Chen Xiaodao can win 20 million with just 20 yuan.

They believe they can too.

However, the vast majority of them lost their gamble, becoming victims and continuing to harm the giant city.

This is also why the authorities dare not easily reveal the existence of psionicists.

There will always be those who crave power, and the Church of the Embers will inevitably seize this opportunity to corrupt even more people, thus making the city even more dangerous.

Therefore, the authorities will need to be even more careful in guarding against the Ember Church hiding among the crowd.

"The Church of Ember. A scourge on humanity." Li Yelai suddenly thought of the oracle he had seen before. The giant sitting on the throne was one of the beings worshipped by the Church of Ember? If he were in the Church of Ember, he would be considered a big shot?

I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to become a mole in the Church of the Ashes.

Let them taste the bitterness of misfortune, and randomly take away a few lucky audience members.
At this moment, Cheese suddenly asked, "Is there any sign that your well of souls has been opened up?"

Li Yelai was taken aback, immediately stopped, closed his eyes, and looked at the Well of Souls. He then shook his head and said, "This is nothing! I, Calamity Mist, only reached my third awakening a few days ago."

A few days after Li Yelai's third awakening, he went to the Ark, and less than five days after returning, he directly arrived at the Disaster Fog.

It has only been a little over a month, which is not enough time for him to break through to the fourth level of awakening.

"Then I've finally surpassed you!" Cheese laughed, a little smug. She had fought swarms of insects multiple times in the Disaster Fog, and her Well of Souls was developing rapidly; she was already able to attempt the Fourth Awakening.

However, the psionicists passing by all stared at the two in shock.

They were all psionicists, with physical strength superior to ordinary people and extremely keen hearing.

Cheese's quiet complaint was overheard by them.

I heard it, but not much.

then
"What did you do to him? Holy crap!" A psionicist from the neighboring second border city exclaimed, his eyes wide. "Is the local culture of your third border city so wild? Is that something to brag about?"

"Can I listen for a few more minutes?" A female processor's eyes lit up.

"I can't believe this girl is a cross-dresser!" "No, no, no, gender doesn't matter. Women can be more like men too."

"This young couple is really having a lot of fun."

They chattered amongst themselves, and Cheese's face visibly flushed red. He then retorted, "I meant 'exceeding' in 'exceeding'...you filthy bunch!"

"Tch!" The psionicists left with great regret.

Seeing that Zhishi's face was still flushed, Li Yelai couldn't help but grumble, "You called me by misheard words? You got misunderstood, didn't you? This is so bad for you, a girl."

"If you keep babbling on, then it won't just be a misheard verse!" Cheese snorted, then struck a thuggish pose.

Li Yelai had no choice but to stop complaining and asked solemnly, "Are you about to break through to the fourth awakening?"

"Yeah, soon. Within a week," Cheese replied. "After all, I reached the third awakening before you. When you reached the first awakening, I had already broken through to the third awakening, and when you reached the third awakening, I was still at the third awakening. If you reach the fourth awakening and I'm still stuck in the same place, wouldn't that mean you've surpassed me?"

"Stop talking nonsense." Li Yelai stopped and looked at the cheese seriously, saying, "Are you really sure?"

The fourth awakening is a significant hurdle for psionicists. After the fourth awakening, psionicists can create their own psionic projection. At that time, psionicists can not only enhance their psionic power but also have a more powerful psionic regeneration effect.

Its combat power has more than doubled compared to when it was awakened for the third time.

However, the risks are also significant. The larger the Soul Well, the easier it is for it to be discovered by creatures from the Void Realm, or even by certain strange entities.

After the fourth level of awareness, the probability of being discovered is greater, which also means the probability of being distorted is greater.

“I know I've been able to awaken to the fourth level for half a month, but the risks of distortion in the Calamity Fog were too great, so I've been saving it as a trump card. I've been suppressing the Well of Souls. There's been enough time for it to mature.” Cheese smiled and replied, “If I fail…”

She paused, her eyes filled with an indescribable emotion as she looked at Li Yelai: "I'm afraid of pain, so please be quick when you take me away."

"You are such a vicious woman," Li Yelai felt very uncomfortable.

The handlers all hoped their friends would come to "send them off," as a final blessing. But Li Yelai felt this was too cruel.

Cheese smiled, saying nothing. She left Li Yelai with a hint: forget her once she dies.

'This won't cause you too much pain,' she thought to herself.

In fact, if psionicists maintain their current level and do not pursue more power, the risk of being corrupted will be greatly reduced.

But cheese has a reason why it must become one of the four senses, and why it must be kept at night.

She wanted to go outside the city to find the real culprit who killed her cousin.

Or rather, many of the relatives and friends of the championship team back then shared this wish.

The former champion team was extremely strong.

Since the establishment of the processing department in Border City No. 3, they have always been the strongest team.

Each captain has been crowned with the title of 'Champion'. And they are all exceptionally talented, possessing formidable fighting prowess!
The fourth champion led his team to attack the Church of the Embers and slay the evil projections within.

The fifth-generation champion once ventured deep into the penalty area and killed a dominant force within it, drawing the pursuit of the King of the Penalty Area.

The sixth-generation champion fought alone against eighteen powerful Void Realm creatures. Before dying from exhaustion, he banished fifteen of them.

Each generation of champions is an extremely dazzling powerhouse, and their sacrifices are a source of great sorrow for humanity.

Five years ago, the seventh champion was a powerful psychic who was about to break through to the eighth level of awakening.

She is seen as the successor to the Mad King.

The team members are all powerful individuals with six or five levels of awareness.

In terms of high-end combat power alone, one of their teams is comparable to an entire division.

However, after encountering the 49th Calamity Fog, the Champion Team suffered heavy losses, with the seventh-generation 'Champion' and many elite fighters sacrificing themselves in a desperate battle. The team successfully suppressed the 49th Calamity Fog!
However, the No. 49 fog subsequently re-emerged extremely quickly. The reason is unknown.

The remaining team members were forced to evacuate, but suffered a strange attack during the evacuation.

The surprise attack during this evacuation was extremely bizarre and impossible to defend against.

This resulted in the complete defeat of the champion team, which still possessed sufficient fighting strength.

Almost all of the elite troops were killed, and even Yang Chen had to kill the floating creatures himself.

This also led to the complete downfall of the champion team.

Yang Chen, the eighth-generation 'champion', and many of his family members share the same sorrowful wish.

That is to investigate the truth and kill the real culprit!

Cheese became a psionicist because of this, and she was determined to avenge her closest cousin. This was her obsession.

After a moment of silence, Li Yelai asked, "What about the potion? What are your plans?"

"Officially, there are three types of the Four Awakenings' Whispering Potion. But currently, only two are available," Cheese replied. "They are Spell and Illusion. As for the Jing family, due to their cooperation with Giant City, they are willing to share some potion recipes, including the Four Awakenings' Whispering Potion and Death Whisper. Both are support-type, so I haven't decided which one yet."

Spells can inflict negative effects on a target. Illusory sounds, on the other hand, can cause targets who hear the sounds to fall into a hallucinatory state.

Deathrattle is a command given to a target that triggers the instant after their death. It has more limitations, but if used properly, it can yield unexpected rewards.

None of the three potions have any offensive effects, and the cheese itself has two support abilities. If you want a strong offensive ability, there aren't many other options.

Li Yelai looked at Cheese and fell silent. He didn't want Cheese to take any risks, but he had no reason or right to stop her.

He brought back the recipes for three potions from the Ark's trade.

Third Awakening True Martial Path Potion: Breaking Force

Four Senses Whisper Path Potion - Dragon Shout
Sixth Awakening Zero Path Potion: Heavenly Fire Wildfire
As a reward for bringing back the recipe, the official team will provide Li Yelai with one of these three potions for free.

Among them, Dragon Roar is a potion from the Ark, a very domineering and aggressive delirious ability.

In a remote, forbidden zone of life, there exists a race of dragons who can control the weather with their roars.

This potion is what transfers this power into the psychic's body.

Both its offensive and support capabilities are strong.

Li Yelai could only sigh before saying, "If your mind is made up, I can give you a potion, but you must promise me..."

"Sending a Four Awakenings Potion? That's a huge favor. Do you expect me to repay you with my body?" Cheese was somewhat surprised by Li Yelai's generosity, but still joked.

"Don't talk about that, you need to survive first," Li Yelai sighed. "I don't have many friends."

Cheese withdrew her smile and nodded slightly: "Yes, I promise you."

Happy New Year everyone!
(End of this chapter)