Again, a kiss. And again.
Xu Chuyao tried to break free, but Shen Ning bit down tightly.
Whether it was because she’d done this too many times or what, she was now a little too skilled at it.
“Mmm, mmm, caw caw,”
Yao Yao’s attempt turned into a whimper.
When she finally managed to catch her breath and inhale fresh air, she realized Beiti had already left.
Only the two of them remained in the private room, with steaming hot dishes on the table.
“Why are you…”
“Wanting to kiss.” Shen Ning preemptively answered, “What’s wrong with that?”
Who told you your little tongue tastes so good, with such a delightful texture?
“It’s not about whether it’s okay or not, it’s just… didn’t we just kiss this morning?”
“You ate breakfast this morning, so why wouldn’t you want to eat again now?”
Xu Chuyao was stunned, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“That sounds like something I would say…”
“Exactly. You said it yourself.”
Yao Yao was struck by her own boomerang words, and the Broken Shadow simply couldn’t accept it.
“Whatever Yao Yao says can be used anywhere—even on herself,” the Milky Ning Reflection said cheerfully. “Her words truly are the truth.”
[Lady (Beti):; The delivery time is next week. I’ll send you the address and contact in a few days.]
Shengling Academy had always been lenient with the students’ schedules. There was no morning study or self-study; during the previous lockdown, strict rules were imposed on afternoon naps, but that didn’t last long.
Still, those who liked to nap always returned to their dorms on time every day.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on with Shen Ning recently?” Xu Chuyao pulled up the small blanket and spoke to her roommate lying on the other bed. “She’s been acting all lovey-dovey, wanting hugs and kisses all the time.”
Mi Xiaolu yawned: “Maybe she’s fallen in love with you.”
“No kidding,” Xu Chuyao snorted, “She’s loved me for a long time. Otherwise, how could she still be so happy to hang out with me every day, even after being bullied all the time? She must have caught some of that something.”
“Well, I don’t know. But who knows?” Mi Xiaolu closed her eyes. “It’s like you also inexplicably want to make her mad sometimes.”
Mmm, fair enough. Whatever, better just sleep.
Shen Ning was also asleep—or rather, more accurately, dreaming.
It was natural. For the past three years, every time she fell asleep, she had the same dream. Even after experiencing so much, it never changed. Sometimes, she thought maybe the nightmare wasn’t caused by psychological pressure.
Because now she knew: Liu Shu wasn’t really dead.
Li Shu wasn’t. Zhang Shuang wasn’t. Qian Shu wasn’t. None of them had fully left this world. Their souls were trapped somewhere, and under certain conditions, they could still communicate with passersby.
But ever since returning from Freiden Free City, the girl had tried calling out to them in her dreams, but she never received a response.
Until this afternoon’s nap, when the shadowy figure of a mutant stood still in the dream and spoke to her again.
“Er, Shen Ning, they… are a little afraid of you.”
The girl was stunned.
“But you said last time they were very dangerous. I thought…”
I thought you meant I was the one afraid of them. Why is it the other way around now?
“Because they just learned about your ability,” Liu Shu’s voice was deep and slow. “They didn’t expect you to be able to change so easily, to become like that—so intense.”
Shen Ning thought for a long while, reviewing all her experiences at the Fred Valley Research Institute, before realizing that what he meant might be emotions.
The girl didn’t know how to reply, because people could easily change their moods.
Want to be happy? Watch something funny. Want to feel sad? Watch something heart-wrenching. Want excitement? Go to a crowded place. Want intimacy? Dance a little. Want frustration? Go find a girlfriend… or look at some erotic pictures.
But they couldn’t.
Their emotions were very stable, like stubborn stones on a high mountain. Some people were forever cold, some forever hot, and some eternally pondering unsolvable philosophical questions.
But Shen Ning—her emotions were like a torrential downpour, uprooting all those stubborn old stones from the mountain and sweeping them away as an unstoppable abyss.
“Yes, that’s why they fear you.”
Liu Shu stood there with his head lowered, the calcification on his skull making it look especially large.
“All emotions resonate among us, and fear is the strongest. Layer upon layer of fear drives them to extinguish that fear.”
Hearing this, Shen Ning pointed at herself.
Of course, her presence was a danger to those things—not because of anything grand, but simply because she was fear itself.
“It’s okay, Liu Shu. I’ve already reached Third Stage; it’s very hard for them to hurt me.”
Third Stage elemental Spirit Power was a qualitative change. The clearest sign was purification ability. Even before Shen Ning could use Third Stage skills, she could already create sticky, turbulent windstorms that a first-stage mutant couldn’t endure, no matter how many there were.
Liu Shu shook his large head.
“Not in your world, little Shen Ning.”
The girl was stunned.
Her world? The real world? If not the real world, then where? Somewhere like this place?
Somehow, she suddenly recalled a guess her girlfriend had mentioned last time—something called “Soul Space.” Her body involuntarily shivered.
“So what should I do…?”
Without Spirit Power as support, the girl became a little nervous.
“You’re not like us, little Shen Ning. You and all of us—we’re all different. If you turn their fear into respect, they won’t act recklessly anymore. Fear of an enemy is fear, but fear of a leader is respect.”
Meaning she had to become the boss?
“But I don’t know, Liu Shu. Here, I’m no different from you. Except for my emotions, I have no other abilities,” Shen Ning said helplessly.
But any normal person could have their own emotions. She was just a normal person who had accidentally wandered into this place.
“That’s enough, little Shen Ning. I once heard a saying.”
Liu Shu slowly turned his large stone-encrusted head. No facial features were visible except the lower jaw moving slightly.
“Er, Shen Ning, in the world of testicles, the one-eyed rules as king!”
Huff!
The girl opened her eyes wide and took deep breaths. The familiar ceiling came into view.
She had returned to the dormitory—or rather, she had returned to the real world.
“Good afternoon, but you overslept.” The Sexually Repressed Shadow lay against the wall watching her. “You slept well.”
Shen Ning raised a hand to wipe her sweat, but stopped when the back of her hand touched her forehead. After a few seconds, a gentle breeze replaced the manual action and blew the sweat droplets away.
The girl quietly breathed a sigh of relief, though it wasn’t a completely carefree one.
This power belonged to her, but only in the real world.
“What’s wrong?” The Sexually Repressed Shadow noticed her strangeness. “Did you have another weird dream?”
Hearing that something had happened, the other two reflections appeared as well.
“What happened?”
“I dreamed about Liu Shu again. He said…”
Shen Ning recounted her dream encounter, but the more she spoke, the quieter the Sexually Repressed Shadow and Broken Shadow became—until they fell completely silent.
“That’s the situation. I want to ask you all… but you seem unable to say anything.”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow shrugged: “Exactly. You know, the principle of space-time continuity.”
“Yao Yao said that.”
Those four simple words seemed to bring light and hope. Shen Ning and the two reflections quickly looked over, only to see the Milky Ning Reflection holding a cup of red tea, elegantly like a noble lady, say:
“Yao Yao said we’ll be picking up the crystals next week, which means you’ll soon come into contact with the crystals. So you won’t have the same dreams anymore.”
“To be honest, I just wanted to hear what kind of excuse you’d come up with to bug out,” the Sexually Repressed Shadow gave it a thumbs up, “but when I actually heard it, it still felt ridiculous.”
“Is there any connection?” It asked.
The wind by her ear was strong, blowing her bangs wildly. The girl shook her head hard, getting up to close the window, only to find the window and curtains were already shut.
Right, the wind was her own doing—she had forgotten for a moment.
Shen Ning stopped the artificial breeze, sat up, and said, “I’m not asking about that. I want to know how to achieve what Liu Shu described.”
Even the Milky Ning Reflection could only shrug: “I’m very sorry.”
Alright then, that made sense. If the walkthrough secrets were that easy, the reflections wouldn’t just sell you a 10% completion rate.
After sitting on the small bed for a while, the girl looked toward the window again. A faint breeze slightly pulled the curtain aside. Outside, the sun hung low on the mountainside.
“What time is it?”
“That I can tell you—4:30 in the afternoon. There’s about one class left before dismissal. Going?”
“No.”
It’s just one class; why bother? Skipping one class is truancy, but skipping half a day is called having something important to do.
“Shen Ning didn’t go this afternoon. Do you think Principal Lü suddenly decided to have her talk about her experiences in the business world?”
In the girls’ dorm, Xu Chuyao, having just returned and lain down, rolled her eyes at her roommate. “You already said it was a last-minute decision.”
There was no way Shen Ning could know in advance. She probably thought it was Yao Yao joking.
“Come to think of it, it’s a good thing she didn’t go. Otherwise, who knows what Principal Lü would have had her say. And I know.”
Xu Chuyao knew her girlfriend’s reporting style very well. If she had stood up there, words would have tumbled out haphazardly: “I realized I couldn’t run away, so I just killed them all,” or “I had no special thoughts—before I could think, they were already dead,” and so on.
“Speaking of which, Xiaolu, I’ll tell you a funny story about Shen Ning. Last time we went to Yaji City for guidance work, the school leadership enthusiastically asked us to give a two-minute talk, so then she…”
Just then, a white-haired girl spat and pushed open the door, rushing in to pin down Xu Chuyao and kiss her.
Mi Xiaolu, who was listening to the story, was stunned for a long time before realizing what was going on.
“So… do I need to go out?” she tentatively asked.
Shen Ning kissed her for about half a minute, then temporarily pulled away and said, “No, I’ll leave after I finish kissing.”
Then she resumed kissing.