Chapter 152: Will You?

[Shen Ning: I’m going to have breakfast.]

Ten minutes later, Xu Chuyao stood at the entrance of Shengling Academy, watching her girlfriend as she ate a Snow Cake while walking toward her.

“It’s hard to imagine you still sleeping in like this. Aren’t you not fond of sleeping late?”

“I’m not against it. It’s just that before… well, it was because of Xu Chuyao.”

Shen Ning finished the remaining Snow Cake in her hand with a few bites, swallowed, and then looked at her girlfriend hesitantly.

“Why were you always so reserved with me back then?”

“Because I liked you, and also for other reasons,” Xu Chuyao said mysteriously. “Why are you suddenly asking this now? Have you asked before? I don’t remember, but anyway, you didn’t really care. Even if I bullied you every day, you still believed in me.”

“Then… if we hadn’t become a couple, would you have kept doing that?”

The question grew more and more excited.

Xu Chuyao reached out and gently touched her girlfriend’s face. “You feel it too, don’t you? No fever or anything.”

Shen Ning didn’t push away her hand nor dodge, but stood there and replied, “Just tell me, will you?”

“The truth?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I will.”

Xu Chuyao thought to herself, If I’m not up to no good, what else would I be doing? There’s nothing suspicious going on here. Her Spirit Ascension has stalled at second or third tier for a long time. Whatever is happening, she can only try her luck.

And still, it all comes down to that hobby.

“Will you keep doing it forever?” The girl looked hesitant. “What if you get married one day, and your partner doesn’t allow you to keep pestering me?”

Before her girlfriend could answer, she pulled her closer and said, “So even if we never become a couple, you still can’t marry anyone else.”

Xu Chuyao looked at her as if she had seen a ghost.

“What exactly is wrong with you?”

“Nothing, I was just asking casually. Now I’m done asking.”

The girl seemed noticeably calmer than before.

“Alright then, let me tell you about today’s experiment.”

The plan was simple: Xu Chuyao would bring a few mutated creatures here, then let Shen Ning interact with them and observe the effects of the emotional Doppelganger Reflections.

Soon, Xiao Si Nuo arrived.

“Commander Xu, Shen Ning, good morning. Am I late?”

Contacting Soulstones posed high risks to ordinary people, and after last time’s incident, Xiao Si Nuo’s wish to avoid trouble had been fulfilled. This time, the three quietly made their way to the rear of the old building.

Xu Chuyao drove her previously flashy sports car for about half an hour to the location, parked it in a safe spot, and told the other two:

“I’ll go inside to handle the mutants. You guys wait outside first.”

She thought it best to go in alone. Xiao Si Nuo’s strength wasn’t enough, and if Shen Ning got too close, she might inadvertently trigger the Crystal’s influence.

Just before entering, Xu Chuyao added, “By the way, Xiao Si Nuo, keep an eye on Shen Ning. She’s acting a little off today.”

“Huh? Off?”

Xiao Si Nuo glanced at the white-haired girl, who sighed helplessly and shrugged.

Off?

“You’re way more than ‘off’,” said the Sexually Repressed Shadow. “I really don’t know what she went through in her dreams, saying those strange and inexplicable things.”

Not only was this odd to Xu Chuyao, but even her classmates found it strange.

The Broken Shadow seemed to have guessed something, softly whispering:

“The most beautiful scenery in my life is seeing you—”

“We already sang that last time. Change the song. Besides, it’s not even noon yet!”

The girls bickered, while the Milk Tea Reflection silently prepared a cup of red tea and took a sip.

The aristocratic lady reflection, always fond of morning tea, sipped quietly.

As for Xu Chuyao, returning once more to this forsaken place in Gong Liang was never pleasant. Everywhere she looked were the ruined buildings left over from the last Doppelganger event, evoking an uneasy feeling.

Last time’s scare hadn’t been as frightening.

But Xu Chuyao was different now. If she encountered more mutants this time, she would make sure they understood the true meaning of Lightning’s whistle.

She walked deep into the back of the old building district and found the two wall panels she had sealed last time. Pushing them aside revealed two-thirds of the Soulstone, bathed in a faint and eerie glow amidst the ruined tower.

Xu Chuyao made a small cutting motion with her hand, like slicing snake meat, along the edge of the Soulstone.

“Just a little bit, a small piece.”

Sparks flew, sizzling!

Thanks to Lightning’s passive ability, any physical strike turns into elemental attacks. Her delicate hand knife channeled the lightning as it slid downward, cutting a small chunk off the Soulstone’s edge.

Precise and elegant, it didn’t disturb the main chunk.

Xu Chuyao quietly breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the small piece, and walked aside to smash it fiercely on the ground.

Clang!

A dazzling light burst forth. The first mutant quickly absorbed the shattered stone from the ground and rose up, blinking in surprise.

“Hey, can you hear me? Can you communicate?”

“Eyyyy—”

Communication was impossible. She could only hear its strange noises. But its emotions were stable, unlike before when any stranger triggered an attack.

Xu Chuyao examined the mutant’s rocky face carefully, a faint smile appearing.

Not attacking was good, but no smile meant she was still wary. If it wasn’t from last time’s emotional state, then why hold back?

Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind. A tall mutant, resembling a massive lightning girl, lunged at her, but was instantly struck by a powerful bolt of Lightning.

Sizzle!

It turned into a black smoke and vanished.

Xu Chuyao crouched to catch this unstable creature, then spun around to see that the other one was still standing unmoved.

Hmm, some mutants attack, some don’t?

As the events unfolded, Xu Chuyao confirmed her suspicion: the small Soulstone had produced seven mutants, four of which attacked her, while the other three remained calm and unmoving.

“If you don’t want to fight, can I just walk past?” Xu Chuyao pointed at her small knife.

Ku Xie Si City, Tian Ke Zuo Prison. People in long cloaks moved back and forth.

This time, he brought something more useful than last time.

The warden asked in alarm, pacing restlessly, and the team confirmed several details.

“Professor Swina is a dangerous criminal, even under Lord Salier’s orders…”

“Lord Salier guarantees that Swina will not leave Ying Ba Si City.”

“This… this is fine then.”

Although wary, the warden could not refuse the order. After multiple confirmations that Swina would not be allowed to leave Ying Ba Si City, he handed over the keys.

Half an hour later, a well-dressed Swina finally walked out of the prison and stretched in the sunlight.

“Swina, Lord Salier wants to see you,” a man nudged him. “Hopefully the intel matches this assignment. If so, you won’t have to return to prison but go straight to the public tomb.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll definitely need it.”

Monrose’s office was located at the border of Ying Ba Si City. The man quickly escorted Swina there.

In a large hall filled with ancient partitions, the two met Monrose, the old man with great authority. His aged yet clear eyes showed a fierce desire to survive.

“Tell me, what do you know?”

Swina smiled faintly, bowed first in thanks, then began: “Let’s talk about Shen Ning. She was the only survivor in the recent Crystal Stone Event and the only exception, basically irreplaceable.”

“We already know that,” Monrose replied in a dry voice. “Time is limited. Tell me something we don’t.”

“Of course, Lord Salier. Actually, at first Shen Ning did not escape the influence of the Soulstone. Doctors at Shengling Academy observed her long-term and concluded that the Soulstone greatly affected her personality, especially her indifference to killing, which kept plaguing the young girl.”

Swina was not simply guessing. Her detailed records were not made lightly; she had carefully observed Shen Ning’s behavior at the Academy.

The source of coldness was multifaceted. For example, she had poor relationships with classmates for three years straight and almost never socialized.

Classmates even gave her nicknames, but there was no real harm done, and Shen Ning herself never spoke of it.

“So—”

Monrose looked up, scrutinizing her.

He didn’t detect any hidden meaning in her words.

Swina continued: “Our research institute has studied mutants long-term and discovered they are not without emotions, but their feelings are frozen during the moments before death. More precisely, after being illuminated by the Soulstone until before their final transformation into mutants, they experience fear, despair, confusion.”

“But as time passes, these emotions fade away, like a smoothed stone slab. No one can grasp this process. The stronger the emotions, the more they lose themselves, becoming mere empty shells of souls trapped in the past.”

Old veins appeared on Monrose’s hands one by one.

“In other words, the Soulstone does not grant immortality.”

A soulless shell is equivalent to death.

He never expected that this dangerous criminal, carefully extracted, would bring bad news.

“They usually last several years. Lord Salier, even the average person can survive several years,” Swina comforted, then changed the tone, “But we have one exception.”

“Shen Ning,” Monrose said the name aloud.

“Yes. How does she do it? She has maintained a complete body for so long, and recently even emotionally improved.”

Since a few months ago, she had friends at the Academy, connections, a normal student life, even a romantic relationship.

Swina clasped her hands: “It’s incredible. She resisted and overcame the influence of the Soulstone.”

This time Monrose narrowed his eyes. “We want to find a way from her experience to prevent soul loss.”

“Yes, but it’s not that simple. Because, Lord Salier, your lady has one minor issue.”

“I don’t know her.”

“Of course, hehe, but Lord Salier,” Swina smiled, “if I’m not mistaken, you want to use the Soulstone’s power to preserve your soul. But in doing so, you probably want to maintain your current status, right?”

In other words, he wanted to be a ruler inside, unlike those Souls tossed around by outsiders, used in experiments, living a fate worse than death.

Monrose exhaled heavily. “What does this have to do with her?”

“It matters a lot, Lord Salier. Shen Ning is very, very special. Three and a half years ago, she should have died under that mine shaft with others. But she didn’t. Those who should have died, didn’t. I call her the living dead.”

Swina pressed her hands together.

“Unfortunately, as a living dead, she is the Chosen One and the only one in her Dead Nation.”

To put it plainly, Lord Salier, if you want power over that world, you have to first oust the woman who already sits on the King’s Throne.