Chapter 81: Rending of Body and Soul (Part 2/2)
“Mr. Luo.”
He Yueyin addressed him differently, further emphasizing the end of the operation. She explained to Luo Nan: “Different mission objectives need different mission deployments. Different people to execute the mission is needed as well. The troops that faced off against Jack may not be suitable for facing the Human-Faced Arachnid and the power behind it. And, the society has an approximate lock on the enemy’s identity. There will be follow up measures executed to handle the situation. “
But right now there wasn’t……
Luo Nan knew that he shouldn’t be selfish and place his comrades of the Society in dangerous circumstances. And the existence of the Wraith Sign was something that absolutely could not be exposed. When all was said and done, he would need to think of a way on his own.
“Understood. I will return immediately.”
After confirming that Mo Lun would not leave this area for a while, Luo Nan ordered Ink to fly back.
But he never expected He Yueyin’s words to be the following: “Mr. Bai is right here. He can give you an examination on the situation with your sent soul.”
Luo Nan nearly made Ink knock itself unconscious against the bell tower.
He Yueyin had mentioned Mr. Bai while Luo Nan contacted her at the fighting arena. Luo Nan didn’t take it seriously at the time, but now his feelings were completely different.
Disregard the fact that Mr. Bai had been extremely passive when facing Mo Lun. On the mental plane, the mesh smoke style permeating attack was extremely exquisite. Luo Nan probably couldn’t hide Ink’s circumstances from this man.
It wasn’t a big deal to reveal his out-of-body state. But to hide it for so long and have it exposed was something very awkward to experience.
Luo Nan really didn’t have a good solution. He could only take things as they come.
While they were speaking, He Yueyin and the others began to clean the battlefield. Although the course of events was a bit complicated, all the participating members of the operation escaped unharmed. The atmosphere was quite relaxed.
Rui Wen, who was injured in a coma, was already lifted in a prepared ambulance for emergency treatment in order to reduce the radiation damage.
As for the other, Jack’s corpse was hauled back. A group of people surrounded the body studying it. It was called a corpse, but it was actually just the exoskeleton armor of a Deep Blue Walker. It didn’t matter whether it was inside or outside; it was all messy. Various human tissue, broken components, made it give off the feeling of a trash heap. It was impossible to see the might that faced off against Crag Burst and Giant Arm.
The flapping of wings could be heard in the air. Ink flapped its wings and flew in through the window of the abandoned floor. Compared to its same species, its large body and astonishing speed made it rather eye catching. It drew in everyone who was cleaning the battlefield to raise their heads and look at it.
Mr. Bai, who had been nursing his mind all this time, raised his head and looked. He wasn’t superfluous. An intent like light smoke spilled out from the depths of the void, locking onto the crow.
Luo Nan rushed to have Ink descend to the ground in front of the sitting Mr. Bai. At the same time, he greeted through the HexaEar: “Hi Mr. Bai. I’ve troubled you.”
He felt like he was a patient seeking an examination and that Mr. Bai was a medical expert, a profound doctor.
Mr. Bai split his lips into a laugh. This old man famous for his dream techniques had a casual, lazy attitude. He sat on the ground with a stooped back, looking like he could fall asleep and take a nap at any second.
However, eyes quite bright were underneath Mr. Bai’s half-closed eyelids. They headed together with the smoke cloud pervading on the mental plane to cover Ink’s body. Soon he went “Oh”.
He Yueyin and Crag Burst had already walked over earlier on. They maintained some distance to avoid disturbing Mr. Bai’s examination.
Seeing Mr. Bai’s response, Crag Burst, who had concluded that it was an attached soul early on, couldn’t help asking: “What is it? An attached soul? Or a sent soul?”
“I can’t tell for the time being.” Mr. Bai was actually quite forthright. Then he followed up immediately with praise: “It’s a little bit different than what I previously imagined. Little Luo knows what he’s doing with this method. The technique is quite meticulous. This standard’s not bad, not bad!”
Luo Nan didn’t really cover things up. Ability users on Mr. Bai’s level would just need to pay careful attention. The faintly glowing graphical structure could not be concealed under the wings of the crow.
After hearing Mr. Bai talk about it, He Yueyin and Crag Burst then discovered the situation.
He Yueyin hesitated for a moment before speaking: “…… Format?”
Much thanks for swallowing the word “Archetype”.
Luo Nan sighed a hidden sigh of lament. The degree of awareness of Yan Hong’s Archetype Format was truly deeply rooted within Burners, within ability users. This was something that would need quite a bit of time to change.
Crag Burst scratched his head, speaking: “I don’t recall seeing this figure in the beginning, but I saw it when we came rushing over here.”
Luo Nan rushed to explain: “I only comprehended it just recently. The main thing is that it’s a conditioning state.”
He Yueyin set the tone with a single sentence: “Are there any dangers with this?”
“Reason says that the more order it has, the less dangerous it is. But we can’t make a rash conclusion.”
Mr. Bai stood up upon speaking: “How about this. We’re pretty much done with matters over here. I don’t really have anything to do. How about I go on a trip with little Luo to the hospital and do some testing, some looking, some comparing. It would all be good.”
He Yueyin responded: “That would be the best. I’ll arrange a car.”
Although Mr. Bai looked to be disheveled, as soon as he moved to action he moved truly like thunder and wind. And there was He Yueyin, who was sprightly and efficient. Luo Nan didn’t have the time to speak further before he was brought onto a flying car headed to Xia City’s Renai Hospital.
The rest didn’t really matter. The one thing that made Luo Nan worried was the increasing distance between him and the Wraith Sign. Luckily the connection between the two of them remained stable and hidden so far.
Mr. Bai asked Luo Nan several more questions in the car. The main of which was how did Luo Nan construct the connection between him and the crow, how did Luo Nan control it, and other similar details.
Luo Nan saw that this was his chance. He took the initiative to describe Ink’s history and he spoke not completely truthfully: “Back when I sensed Ink and locked onto him, it seemed that I became aware of the out-of-body state……”
This was a pre-concealment of the likely exposure in the future.
But Mr. Bai clearly didn’t think too much about it. He just laughed in delight after hearing Luo Nan: “Out-of-body state? Kids shouldn’t bite off more than they can chew. You have yet to awaken. Even if you go out of your body for a short time, you’ll instantly be scattered into the wind…… Your soul will fly away and disperse with nothing left to be saved!”
“It’s that dangerous?”
“From ancient times until now, the price is disastrous.” Mr. Bai shook his head and sighed, “In our ancestor’s time, the out-of-body state was said to call and attract dark gods. It was quite forbidden and was considered quite reckless to do so. The people who did left the world tragically. Since you have this sort of awareness, you might as well read the books on it that the Society collected and revised. It is good to have a reference, to develop what is good and discard what is bad.”
“I’ll keep this in mind.”
Luo Nan finally understood why Crag Burst, He Yueyin, and Mr. Bai didn’t think about the out-of-body line of thought. They considered his circumstances using common sense. They never imagined that Luo Nan would have the Wraith Sign by his side acting as an external fuel tank; it could act as his lifeline giving him more time in the out-of-body state.
While Luo Nan and Mr. Bai were conversing, Luo Nan’s soul body flew at demonic speeds to arrive half a step earlier at Xia City’s Renai Hospital.
It was undoubtedly an impossible task to rely only on Ink, a mere crow, to let Luo Nan recover his consciousness. To avoid things from becoming awkward, Luo Nan would need to settle the matter ahead of time.
The subtle connection to Luo Nan’s main body didn’t need a specific response. Luo Nan’s mind just stirred and his soul body headed back inside his main body.
The mental plane and the material plane converged in this moment. Like a rock being cast down from high above, it jolted with a thump, bringing out circles and circles of ripples.
During the surge that was brought by entering his body, Luo Nan opened his eyes and gazed at the ceiling of the hospital with its monotonous pattern. He grinned and chuckled, but then his expression froze on the spot.
Luo Nan felt a stabbing pain in the space between his eyebrows in the next instant. A small hole split open in the thin layer of skin on his forehead and blood seeped out from within.
