Chapter 170
Chapter 170
“You truly are a spineless coward.”
“Just to survive, you actually dared let me enter your mindscape.”
Xu Min’s mental body shook its head with a smile, regarding Qin Lan with even greater contempt.
He looked around impatiently. “Where are those secrets you mentioned? Do I have to search for them myself?”
“Bring them out!”
A beautiful, aloof teacher secretly sampling Pink Mood in the middle of the night?
Even Xu Min’s interest had been aroused.
“Don’t rush, Brother Xu. Let me find them…”
Qin Lan smiled obsequiously, acting weak and timid. Like a tour guide, he led Xu Min toward a corner of the space.
A mass of strange substance floated silently there.
Xu Min was too strong. Qin Lan could not defeat him and had no chance of victory whatsoever.
But someone else could handle him–or more precisely, something could.
“Hmm? What is that?”
Xu Min was stronger than Qin Lan, so he quickly noticed what made the “mass” unusual.
He paused, surprise flashing through his eyes.
“Another consciousness?”
Qin Lan hurriedly nodded. “Yes, Brother Xu. These are memories Yin Manqing left in my mind. They contain everything she learned in her lifetime–including the things she never taught you!”
“They also contain the unbearable memories she hid with the greatest care!”
Qin Lan introduced it enthusiastically. “She said that once I became strong enough, I could open this thing and obtain her inheritance.”
“Unfortunately, I still don’t know how to open it.”
Xu Min snorted and mocked him.
“You can’t even do that? What a useless fool!”
“All you need to do is alter your mental frequency. She didn’t even teach you that? Heh… It seems she never trusted you either.”
For an expert of Xu Min’s level, changing his mental frequency required no more than a thought.
That was why he had been able to read Qin Lan’s thoughts upon their first meeting without Qin Lan noticing.
He connected himself to the “mass” without the slightest effort.
…
Outside, in reality.
“Cough, cough…” Qin Lan struggled to his feet and brushed the dust from his body.
Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, and his physical condition was appalling.
The good news was that Xu Min’s condition was worse.
[Endless Nightmare].
The unsolvable cursed artifact possessed an independent consciousness and could act on its own.
It was controlled by that mysterious voice, which claimed it was a “surprise gift” left for Qin Lan.
Now it had become a prison trapping Xu Min.
A dream built from memories…
Even someone as powerful as Xu Min would not escape it anytime soon.
[I can’t believe you thought of that…]
Yin Manqing finally spoke, admiration and emotion in her voice.
In that desperate situation, even she had only thought of burning away everything she had to hold Xu Min back. She had never imagined Qin Lan would find another road to survival.
[How did you know he would believe you?]
Yin Manqing could not resist asking. [How did you know he would follow you into your mindscape?]
Qin Lan clutched his chest and panted for a moment. “Wasn’t it obvious…?”
“You’re a beautiful older woman… I’ve seen your mental body, remember?”
Qin Lan sounded utterly certain. “I refuse to believe that guy followed you from childhood without ever entertaining a single improper thought.”
“He looks exactly like a repressed four-eyed creep with a mother complex.”
“His cold, gorgeous teacher–the woman he’d yearned for all his life–secretly used Pink Mood? He’d only resist that bait for one possible reason: if he were gay.”
[You…]
[Are quite the character.]
Yin Manqing struggled for a long time before finally forcing those words through gritted teeth.
Qin Lan approached the dazed and motionless Xu Min–or rather, Xu Min’s physical body. He poked the man experimentally.
“This should be the best opportunity to kill him, right?”
“I just need to pound him into meat paste, right?”
Yin Manqing gave him a terrible answer.
[It won’t work.]
[Someone at his level can already send his consciousness outside his body.]
[Even if his flesh is destroyed, he can spend some time rebuilding it. It would merely consume some energy.]
[Besides, he’s cautious. Only part of his consciousness entered your mind. He is temporarily unable to move only because the cursed artifact trapped that fragment…]
[Once he realizes escape is difficult, he can even choose to destroy that portion of his consciousness and sever the connection.]
[Damaging his body might provoke him into making that choice sooner.]
“Fuck, is he really that ridiculous? Is he a person or a Bluetooth device? He connects whenever he wants?”
Qin Lan grew frantic. “So all I can do is run?”
[You have little time. Running is your only choice.]
[I don’t know when he’ll decide to disconnect, but it probably won’t take long.]
Qin Lan was deeply dissatisfied. He spat viciously onto the ground.
“These mental-power assholes are fucking disgusting…”
“What kind of brain-dead invalid chooses mental power as their main specialty?”
[Insult me if you like, but why did you include yourself?]
“Even if killing him is useless…” Inspiration suddenly struck Qin Lan, and his gaze moved to Xu Min’s wrist. “We should at least collect some interest, right?”
[You mean…?]
“His storage bracelet.”
Qin Lan’s eyes burned as he stared at the storage bracelet on Xu Min’s wrist, an item clearly eighteen levels above his own. “Someone at his level must carry a few good things, right?”
[Good point!]
[But be careful. Let me see what’s inside first, and I’ll check for hidden tracking marks while I’m at it…]
Yin Manqing’s mental fluctuations extended and cautiously touched the bracelet.
About three seconds later, her excited scream erupted inside Qin Lan’s head.
[Quick! Tear off his bracelet!]
[Take it and run! Take it and run!]
[Stop wasting time!]
Qin Lan jolted. Yin Manqing had clearly spotted something valuable. Without hesitation, he yanked hard and tore the storage bracelet from Xu Min’s wrist.
Then Qin Lan turned and fled without a moment’s delay.
“The wind is tight–time to scram!”
Although he was seriously wounded, his escape speed remained largely unaffected.
Half an hour later, Xu Min, who had remained standing blankly in place, released a muffled groan. His body swayed, then collapsed.
“Ugh…”
His mind felt as though it were being torn apart. The pain was dreadful, and nausea churned faintly in his stomach.
“He tricked me… How could something so terrifying be hiding in that bastard’s mind…?”
Xu Min clutched his head, his voice grim.
He knew he had fallen into a trap.
His abrupt awakening had not come from destroying part of his own consciousness, as Yin Manqing had predicted.
Qin Lan had simply run too far away, forcibly severing his connection to that fragment of consciousness.
In fact, if not for that, he would have remained trapped inside those layers upon layers of dreams for a long time.
“They didn’t touch my body… At least they were smart.”
Xu Min panted for a moment, then sneered. “It seems that brat isn’t stupid. He knew that if he destroyed my body, I would–”
“What the fuck?!”
“Where the hell is my bracelet?!”
Xu Min stared at his bare wrist. A cold breeze swept across it, sending a chill straight through him and making his scalp prickle.
He had actually forgotten about that.
“I’m finished! I’m finished!”
“My bracelet… and those items inside it…”
Xu Min swallowed. An expression combining terror and despair spread across his face.