Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 84 The Opportunity for the Third Awakening
When Li Yelai woke up, he saw a ceiling that was both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar.

"Is this an official hospital?" Li Yelai barely recognized the place. It was the hospital he had entered after his first encounter with the skinners.

I was lying on a soft hospital bed, and my original windbreaker had been replaced with a hospital gown.

Li Yelai didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he felt somewhat weak.

But it's certain that the authorities brought me here. I just don't know if there are any wrecked ambulances among them.
He struggled to sit up, unbuttoned his hospital gown, and checked his injuries.

After being hit, I experienced severe pain in all my internal organs. I wonder how well I've recovered now.

The penetrating wound in his abdomen has healed, but it has left a shallow scar.

However, there were no signs of stitching on it, so it wasn't very obvious.

Li Yelai stroked the scar on his abdomen, feeling a little worried. It seemed like the area around his kidneys might have been ruined.
But it doesn't seem to hurt when you press it.

At that moment, someone pushed the door open and entered.

It was Cheese! She was wearing a loose sweatshirt, headphones, and carrying a bag of fruit.

When she saw Li Yelai wake up, a look of surprise flashed in Cheese's beautiful eyes.

However, upon seeing Li Yelai with his chest exposed while examining his wounds, he immediately teased, "Your brand-new kidneys, which haven't even been used yet, have already healed. Don't worry."

"You scoundrel, how do you know I didn't use it?" Li Yelai closed his hospital gown, started pointing at the cheese, and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

“It’s been three days.” Cheese placed the fruit on Li Yelai’s bedside table and said, “It’s been three days since the doll rescued you from the mall.”

“Three days.” Li Yelai was somewhat surprised, not expecting that he would be unconscious for so long.

His last memory was of Mr. Shadow refusing the deal and seeing the doll arrive at the scene.

It seems Mr. Shadow refused the deal because he realized the doll had arrived to help. This guy has some principles, doesn't he?

Cheese's expression was somewhat complicated as he said, "I really don't know what classified mission you've been given. But you'd better not take such a risk."

As a second-awakening psychic, the risk of you hunting down a third-awakening psychic alone is too great.

If the doll hadn't appeared in time, you might...
You may be special, possessing abilities that are difficult for ordinary people to understand. But you are not immortal. I hope you understand that.

The cheese's voice was no longer gentle, but carried a hint of severity.

Cheese knew very little about Li Yelai's ordeal. Her knowledge only included that Li Yelai fought an unknown Level 3 psychic, killing him at the cost of severe injuries, and that the house he was in had largely collapsed. Fortunately, the doll arrived in time to take him away for treatment. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

Just hearing about this achievement is enough to feel the bloodshed involved. Second awakening versus third awakening—it destroyed an entire shopping mall.
It's hard to imagine what kind of dangerous thugs Li Yelai was facing!
Li Yelai nodded silently; he naturally understood the crisis the situation had escalated. He also understood why Cheese was so angry.

He'd been forced into a deal with Mr. Shadow. Anyone else might have died.
"I will be careful, but at that time, we really couldn't back down," Li Yelai said, without explaining much.

Cheese's eyes flickered, but he stopped himself from saying what he wanted to say.

Then, softening his voice, he asked, "So, what did you gain after your battle with Sanjue?"

"Wait a moment." Upon hearing this, Li Yelai meditated and peered into the Well of Souls, and was surprised to find that after the battle with the Flying Gunner...

It seems that my own well of the soul has expanded and deepened considerably.
It seems like it's time to try for the third awakening!
As expected, dangerous battles are a great way to refine one's mastery of spiritual energy and accelerate advancement!

This gave Li Ye a pleasant surprise. He already possessed the Three Awakening Potions, and all he needed to wait for was for the Well of Souls to expand.

Now all the conditions have been met!

Before long, he will become a third-level psionicist!

“It seems I can try the third awakening now,” Li Yelai said. “And I’ve already prepared the potion.”

Cheese frowned slightly, his handsome brows furrowing: "Third Awakening? You're catching up with me so quickly?"

Cheese itself is only at the third level of enlightenment.

As a senior, he was quickly caught up with and even surpassed by his junior, Li Yelai.

This made Cheese feel both complicated and gratified.

After thinking for a moment, Cheese said seriously, "You should be aware of the risks of using potions. I suggest you wait until your body has fully recovered before using potions to try to advance."

Potions carry great risks; the user may be affected by their power. They must be used under the safest possible conditions.

“I know,” Li Yelai readily agreed.

Then, Cheese stood up and said, "I need to discuss this with the captain. You continue to recover well, and don't forget to let Xiaoyunyan and the captain know you're safe. They're very worried about you."

Li Yelai nodded.

"Also, the doll saved you." Cheese looked at Li Yelai, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Thank her properly."

Her eyes held a complex expression, then she glanced at the time and left.

Less than ten minutes after Cheese left the ward, the ward door was pushed open again.

It was a girl dressed as a frog mascot, carrying a thermos in one hand and an advertising sign in the other.

For some reason, the doll's body stiffened upon seeing Li Yelai wake up.

Surprise and shyness made the doll's cheeks flush slightly. If Li Yelai's gaze could see through the hood, he would have seen the doll's bright red face.

[Oh, you're awake (ω)] The doll seemed a little shy, but tried to remain calm as it asked, [Are you feeling alright? [_?]]
'What's she shy about?' Li Yelai asked, somewhat puzzled. But he still smiled and said, 'Thank you so much, you saved my life. Everything is fine, just feeling a little tired.'

[Okay, that's good. As for the fatigue, it's probably due to the effects of that bitter-tasting extraordinary medicine. While it quickly repaired your injuries, including your internal organs and ribs, it also drained a lot of your energy, causing you to fall into a deep sleep. It's good that you're awake now (〃'▽'〃)]
"A bitter-tasting medicine?" Li Yelai was taken aback, and after a moment of thought, he realized what it meant.

That likely refers to the medicine Li Yelai was carrying. It was an extraordinary medicine from the forbidden zone, Black Source City, possessing powerful restorative abilities.

As for the taste, Li Yelai himself really didn't know.

After all, he had only ever given cheese a drink, and even then, it was poured into coffee.

I bet even the cheese itself couldn't taste whether the medicine was bitter or not.

"Then how did you know that the medicine was bitter?" Li Yelai asked subconsciously.

It appears the doll fed him the medicine, but he has absolutely no recollection of it. He also doesn't know what the medicine tasted like.

For some reason, the question made the doll pause, seemingly fidgeting a little, before the words from the advertisement appeared: "[Because I don't know how effective the medicine is, I didn't dare give it to you directly, so I just tasted it a little. Sorry (ω)]"
If Li Yunyan were here, she would probably smile smugly and shout, "This is the smell of lies!"

'Because you tasted the medicine, you're a little shy? Hahaha.' Li Yelai chuckled inwardly, then casually said, 'Don't worry about it. If it weren't for you, I'd be finished.'

Indeed, if the doll hadn't arrived in time, Li Yelai would have had no choice but to let Mr. Ying make the deal, which would have been equivalent to losing a life!
The doll nodded sullenly.

"By the way, how's that enemy? Is he really dead?" Li Yelai continued to ask, still wary of the Flying Spearman's tenacious vitality. He was afraid his Overlord Throwing Halberd hadn't been able to finish him off.

[He's completely dead; the logistics department has already collected his remains (｀)=3]
The doll was unusually angry and terrified.

She was genuinely terrified at that moment.

Especially when they saw Li Yelai at that time, his muscles and internal organs were damaged all over his body, blood was flowing incessantly under his bronze mask, and his abdomen was pierced by an anti-psychic weapon. His injuries were extremely serious.

An overwhelming sense of fear swept over her; she had almost, almost lost him completely.
Enraged, she tore the gunslinger's corpse to shreds. The pressure, hundreds or even thousands of times greater, smashed the gunslinger's body into countless pieces.
However, this put the logistics team at a disadvantage.

An unnamed medical team leader from the logistics department commented: 'You think you're so high and mighty, you've scattered corpses everywhere, have you ever considered our feelings?'

Upon hearing this, Li Yelai continued, "Were the people inside the mall safely evacuated?"

He was very worried that he would implicate other innocent people because of his actions.

[They were all successfully rescued. Although a few were injured, they are all out of danger. You did a great job, but it was too risky. (._.`)]
She learned from the rescued family of three that the doll was telling the truth.

Li Yelai abandoned his plan to deal with the gun-wielding assassin and instead chose to risk his life to rescue the people!

This earned the respect of all the processors who learned of this intelligence.

However, the price was that Li Yelai had to endure the anti-psychic weaponry and nearly died.

If the javelin had been thrown a little higher, it probably would have...
Li Yelai breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that everyone is alright. The gunman is dead, and no civilians were killed. This is the best possible outcome.

As for the Spirit Slayer, Li Yelai didn't ask; he needed to keep his undercover identity a secret from the doll.

So Li Yelai thanked him again, saying, "Thank you very much."

[It's alright, don't be so polite (っω｀)]
[From the examination, your injuries have fully healed, but you were injured by an anti-psy weapon. How do you feel?]
"It's pretty good, but I'm a little weak," Li Yelai replied.

"These are just aftereffects of the recovery period. Just eat something to help you recover," the doll replied this time, not using the billboard. Its voice was soft and expectant: "Try the porridge I cooked."

Li Yelai naturally wouldn't let the doll's kindness go to waste, and finished all the porridge the doll brought.

After the doll left satisfied, Li Yelai contacted Li Yunyan to tell her about his current situation and reassure her.

After confirming her brother's safety, Li Yunyan suddenly exclaimed, "Brother, brother! Sister Cheese and Sister Doll have been visiting you every day for the past three days. You're quite the lucky guy!"

"Are you sick in the head?" Li Yelai mercilessly attacked his little sister, thinking she was overthinking things.

"You're so stubborn, aren't you?"

After exchanging a few words, the two of them...

The ward then returned to quiet.

A while later, Yin Huo, having received news that Li Ye had woken up, arrived at the ward.

He sat on the edge of Li Yelai's bed, ate the fruit that Cheese had brought, and handed a cell phone to Li Yelai.

Li Yelai took the phone and saw a picture.

In the scene, a man wearing a bronze mask, wielding a halberd, and riding a magnificent dragon steed leaps from the subway tracks. In the distance, a blurry figure of a gunslinger swiftly passes by.

Is this a photo of Li Ye chasing after the gunman? Was it taken by a passerby?

Li Yelai froze: "Have I been exposed?"

“No.” Yin Huo shook his head and said, “This photo doesn’t reveal your official identity; it’s just that ‘Copper Mask’ is chasing the Flying Gunner!”

"This photo will circulate briefly around the city, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will definitely reach that guy with the black umbrella within a month."

"He never doubted your identity in the first place, and with these photos, he'll value you even more. Because you're genuinely carrying out the transaction he assigned you."

“You need to make good use of this and continue to gain his trust. This is very important.”

"Furthermore, the Flying Gunner is a third-awakening psionicist, yet he was hunted down by you, a second-awakening user. The Ark's assessment of your strength will also improve. This is a good thing."

After thinking it over, Li Yelai understood Yin Huo's plan.

From Black Umbrella's perspective, Copper Face accomplished his mission admirably and even demonstrated formidable strength in combat against opponents of higher levels. This is indeed a good thing.

Then he asked, "How is that Spirit-Severing Person?"

Yin Huo responded: "The girl was seriously injured, with varying degrees of damage to her limbs. Although she has passed the critical period, she still needs to rest."

Li Yelai said, "Please tell her that the beast who harmed her paid a far heavier price!"

That's true; before he died, the Flying Gunman's body was like a broken doll. He had been severely punished by Li Yelai.

“I will.” Yin Huo nodded. “She accepted the giant city’s invitation and agreed to receive a prosthetic arm. She will continue to fight for humanity! At the same time, she is very grateful to you. You are one of the people who saved her.”

"Because of the intelligence you brought, Border City No. 3 now has its first Spirit Slayer!"
Your achievements are remarkable, but they must not be known to the outside world. Even the existence of the Spirit-Slayers is currently unknown to our colleagues.

Aren't you resentful? You did so much, even nearly dying from injuries, yet no one knows of your heroic deeds.

Li Yelai shook his head; this was entirely expected.

As a covert agent, he had long since lost any chance of fame.

The city's officials cannot let the outside world know that they possess a Spirit Slayer. Otherwise, it would expose Li Yelai's identity as a spy.

What is there for him to be resentful about?
If it were for the sake of this fame, he would expose his identity as an undercover agent, thus losing the ability to extract intelligence and avenge his comrades. That would be what would make Li Yelai unwilling!

Yin Huo nodded: "Very good, I understand now why Yang Chen values ​​you so much."

(End of this chapter)