Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 62 The Doll's Lament

With the ghost story notebook successfully contained by the handlers, all the ghost stories and anomalies that had permeated the entire Ring City University disappeared.

The operation was a success.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of ambulances that had been waiting outside the school drove into the university and began to treat the wounded from all over the country.

Ye Xun, whose jaw had been dislocated and who had been knocked unconscious, was bound by chains and escorted away under the supervision of three teams of handlers.

Li Yelai was somewhat surprised by this.

"Didn't they say he just became a psionicist? Just a level one psionicist. Even if he's been distorted by the power of the Void Realm, does he really need to make such a big fuss?" Li Yelai asked.

Just now, there were several experienced third and fourth level experts handling this. Li Ye felt he could handle a first level expert on his own, so why were so many powerful individuals on guard? Could it be that the other side has accomplices?

“It’s different,” Benlei replied. “Before his jaw was dislocated, he uttered the name of a certain being. And it even caused a reaction in the virtual realm. The danger level is very high!”

Li Ye recalled that after Ye Xun was pinned down, he seemed to have said, "The Great Thousand Transformations."

God of a Thousand Changes? Lord of a Thousand Changes?
"What is that?" Li Yelai asked. "Could it be the King of the Forbidden Zone? If he shouts 'King of the Forbidden Zone' here, will the King of the Forbidden Zone even hear it?"

"It's hard to say. It could be the name of some being in the Void Realm. After becoming a psionicist, he might have heard that name in the Void Realm." Benlei shook his head slightly: "With our level of knowledge, this is the most we can know."

A certain being in the virtual realm
Li Yelai's heart stirred. Was Ye Xun, like himself, also a psionic being who became a psionic being due to some kind of power?
"Master of a Thousand Transformations," Li Yelai will refer to the other party as for now. He wonders how the other party compares to Mr. Shadow.
“You should know that psionicists can be corrupted and tainted by the power within the Void Realm, causing their personalities to change drastically. They become bloodthirsty, hedonistic, and recklessly pursue mystery or immortality,” Benlei explained.

Li Yelai nodded upon hearing this; he naturally knew this.

He also saw many scenes when he became a second-level psychic.

It has a magnificent golden throne, where one can hold the power of life and death over all living beings.

There were beautiful girls in tattered clothes, dolls, cheese, and even heavy motorcycles among them, as if you could get them just by beckoning them.

The truth that can be seen by looking back, and that final illusion.
Those were all the effects of false forces. If Li Yelai had taken even one step back then, he would have been lost in those images.

"In reality, the environment within the Void Realm is even more bizarre, teeming with dangers of all sizes. They bewitch psionicists, turning them into their followers," Benlei said in a low voice. "Among them, some powerful beings are referred to as gods by the creatures of the Void Realm! Many forbidden objects are related to these gods! One theory is that the King of the Forbidden Zone is actually an extension of some Void Realm gods into the physical world. However, this has not yet been verified."

"Gods?" Li Yelai nodded thoughtfully.

He thought of the Ghost Immortal, a powerful being in the illusory realm, whose forbidden object in the physical world was the Ghost Immortal's altar. Perhaps Wang De was one of his followers.

I wonder if ghost immortals count as deities? And how different are they from the King of the Forbidden Zone?
What kind of being is Mr. Shadow, who devoured the ghost immortal?

Benlei continued, "So, if you find a psionicist praying to any being, don't hesitate, take him down immediately! He may have become twisted and could very well have become a follower of some being!"

"Although the beings in the virtual realm will most likely ignore him, they might also respond to him. If it's the latter, the situation will be very dangerous."

"There was once a member of the Church of Embers who, before being arrested, used an evil ritual to communicate with a being known as a god, and thus transformed into a twisted tentacle monster covered in fleshy tumors. It had no rationality, but was incredibly powerful, and it took us a lot of effort to surround and kill it at the edge of the high wall."

"I understand!" Li Yelai nodded seriously.

At the same time, he wondered if he could be considered a follower of Mr. Shadow.

It seems somewhat similar, because the psionicists, ethereal beings, or even forbidden creatures that one kills become sacrifices to the other. It has a hint of believers offering sacrifices.

Is Mr. Shadow a deity?
That's probably it, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to eliminate the ghost immortal so easily.

But... he himself didn't seem to have changed at all? He even treated Him with wariness. Aside from transactions, he had no need of Him.

Furthermore, even if the other party is a deity, one cannot summon Him.

He didn't even know Mr. Shadow's name. Could it be that he really had to set up an altar and chant "Makka Pakka"?

Will the other party become angry and embarrassed?
In Li Yelai's view, both sides had their own needs. Li Yelai needed to trade to save himself or others, while Mr. Ying needed Li Yelai to break the chains. It wasn't a relationship between a god and a believer. More like two strangers who disliked each other but were forced to cooperate.

Never mind, next time I see Mr. Shadow, I'll try to get some information out of him.

However, since becoming a psionicist, Li Yelai no longer dreams of Mr. Shadow unless there is a sacrifice.

However, I was freed from the torment of strange dreams.

But whether or not to contact Mr. Ying depends on the timing.

Seeing Li Yelai deep in thought, Benlei patted him on the shoulder and spoke again: "Of course, this situation is rare. Those beings have very high standards and don't choose their targets randomly. This time, you've encountered one. In the end, you still couldn't escape your inevitable formidable foe."

"Calling you here was definitely the right choice!"

"If Ye Xunzhen were to escape the school and wander the city, who knows how many innocent people would be affected. Thank you."

Li Yelai responded with a wry smile, content that his curse could at least help.

"Your merit point rewards should arrive in the next day or two," Benlei said. "Don't waste them. Prepare your merit points to buy potions. Third Awakening potions aren't cheap. Alright, I'm leaving now."

He then left with the group. He still had many things to deal with, such as how Ye Xun became a psychic and how he obtained the forbidden object. He needed to obtain all this information.

Li Yelai remained where he was, watching as the wounded around him were pulled away one by one.

Some medical staff tried to get Li Yelai into the ambulance, but Li Yelai politely declined.

After all, your own bad luck might still be ongoing, so don't cause trouble for someone else's ambulance.

So, Li Yelai put the Crimson Dragon Halberd inside the large black umbrella, then carried the umbrella and left on foot with Cheese, Xinghuo, and the others. He planned to go to the parking lot to catch a car back after the curse disappeared.

After receiving treatment from the specialist, Li Yelai felt much better. Although he needed to rest, he was not unable to move around.

Passing through the ravaged campus, Xinghuo sighed, "Three ordinary people who accidentally obtained forbidden objects caused such great harm."

“Although these strange tales don’t kill their targets immediately, I’ve heard that some students have still perished.” Shadow Stream replied in a low voice, “This power must never fall into the hands of those who disregard human life!”

Indeed, one was after wealth, one after women, and one after the pursuit of knowledge.

He dragged the entire school into danger. He even caused a death; he deserves to be dragged out and shot for ten minutes.

Li Yelai nodded in agreement, fully aware of the dangers of the forbidden items.

Leaving aside the Black Prison riots at the time, the Red Dart Merchant Guild's greed for gold coins alone had already caused no fewer than dozens of casualties.

Afterwards, more than a dozen high-ranking members of the Red Darts Chamber of Commerce were arrested, and the once-great guild never recovered. Such forbidden items must be strictly controlled by the authorities and must never fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives.

Otherwise, it is the innocent people who suffer.

"Unfortunately, not all forbidden items are under official control," the heavy cavalryman, who had remained silent until now, suddenly interjected.

Cheese nodded: "That's right. For example, the Ember Church that you've come into contact with is a powerful illegal organization that possesses many forbidden items."

At the Ember Church, Li Yelai and the others nodded slightly.

They were naturally aware of this organization; many people on the forum had explained it to them. Moreover, the human trafficking incident they encountered when they were still newcomers was actually orchestrated by the Church of Ember.

"Over the past few decades, the authorities have launched repeated crackdowns on the Church of the Embers. They have confiscated many forbidden items and killed many illegal psychics who disregard human life. However, they have never been able to completely eradicate them."

They roam the wilderness, disguised as civilians, infiltrating into massive cities; they are an organization far more difficult to deal with than imagined.

The authorities suspect that Ye Xun's acquisition of the Strange Tales Notes may be related to the Ember Church.

Of course, all of this depends on the follow-up investigation.

If it really is the Church of the Embers, we might have to launch another siege operation.

"Starfire and Shadow Stream, you haven't reached your second awakening yet, so don't be nervous for now," Cheese said. "Little Night and Heavy Cavalry, you've already reached your second awakening. You might participate in the upcoming operations. Be careful."

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

Afterwards, the group arrived at the parking lot and, after confirming that the curse on Li Yelai had disappeared.

The group then boarded Cheese's SUV and left the school.

This marked the end of Li Yelai's five-day university experience.

These five days allowed Li Ye to experience a youth he had never enjoyed before, and his relationship with Cheese and others also became much closer.

This made Li Yunyan, who could only stay at home, somewhat envious.

She could only learn about the situation through the chatter of the operators via the spare communicator that Li Yelai had left at home.

However, she learned from the chat group that Cheese and Li Yelai had been alone together in the dormitory for a long time. Many staff members were devastated.

She immediately started gossiping: "Bro, you and Cheese Sister have been alone together for so long, are you sure nothing's happened?"

"No, I was uploading intelligence when she fell asleep in bed. I woke her up and then went to cook. The roast chicken in that cafeteria is really delicious!"

"She was still asleep in your bed?" Li Yunyan asked in utter surprise, "You woke her up like that?"

"Otherwise?"

"So when you sleep at night, do you have any thoughts about the smell on your blankets?"

"No, I chatted with Xinghuo for a while and then fell asleep." Li Yelai, who had just returned home, put down her large black umbrella and shrugged. "Seriously, I just went through a tough battle, and you were only talking about this? You really are my sister!"

"I heard from your colleague that you beat up that weirdo with incredible power. What else can I say? Besides, you were alone with a beauty like Sister Cheese, and she even fell asleep in your bed. What else can we talk about?" Li Yunyan widened her eyes and complained, "You're so stubborn, aren't you?"

"Mom, look at your son!" Li Yunyan called out to the photo in the living room. The beautiful woman in the photo still had a gentle smile on her face, just like always.

Li Yelai could only shake his head at Li Yunyan's complaints.

He wasn't unreasonable; he was a normal man.

He simply has a clear understanding of himself and doesn't overthink things.

The next day, Li Yelai received the mission reward for this operation.

Forty merit points and thirty thousand Giant City Coins.

This allowed Li Yelai to successfully break through the 200-point mark, reaching 205 merit points. He was still 95 merit points away from obtaining the third awakening potion.

Li Yelai's savings also approached 200,000 Giant City Coins!

This was only the apparent improvement; in reality, Li Yelai gained other benefits as well.

He slew many monstrous statues and killed the overlord of supernatural tales.

Therefore, ten more Shadow Army soldiers were formed, significantly increasing the Shadow Army's support power.

I wonder how powerful the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain technique would be if the Shadow Army numbered in the hundreds.

Meanwhile, through his battle with the security captain, Li Yelai became more proficient in the tactics of switching between different face masks.

Xiang Yu's facial mask has a weakness that can be exploited. This weakness can disrupt the opponent's weapons and defenses, dealing devastating damage. If you can accurately attack along the black lines, even an opponent wearing power armor can be killed with a single spear thrust.

The Huo Qubing mask, enhanced by the Shadow Army, can strengthen various attributes: Mountain enhances defense, Wind enhances speed, and Thunder enhances impact, making it a well-rounded enhancement.

Both have their advantages, but since you can't use both Facebook accounts simultaneously, you need to find the right time to switch between them.

Through this battle, Li Yelai became increasingly adept at switching between different modes.

Indeed, only real-world experience can lead to rapid improvement.

Li Yelai pondered this in his heart, then hurried to the branch office.

He plans to go to the training ground today and have a good workout!

Ideally, one should practice switching between facial makeup as fast as the face-changing technique in Sichuan opera.

The faster Li Yelai is, the higher his margin for error in battle.

However, just as he was about to arrive at the training ground, he suddenly felt his arm being grabbed.

Turning around in surprise, I saw a frog.
No, it's a frog doll.

She was holding Li Yelai's wrist, quietly looking at him.

For some reason, Li Yelai sensed something in the frog doll's adorably ugly eyes.
A hint of resentment?
(End of this chapter)