When Su Hengying struggled to regain a sliver of consciousness from the boundless darkness and intense pain, the first thing she felt was an unfamiliar, warm sensation with the smell of disinfectant.
Beneath her was a soft hospital bed, not the cold, damp ground of the ruins.
Instead of the roars of mutated creatures and the roar of explosions, there was only the regular beeping of instruments and faint human voices in the distance.
She painstakingly opened her heavy eyelids, and her blurry vision gradually focused.
What met her eyes was a clean and tidy hospital room, with white walls and soft lighting.
She was dressed in a clean hospital gown, and her wounds were properly bandaged; although still painful, the feeling of weakness from life draining away had significantly lessened.
"You're awake?" a gentle female voice asked from beside her.
Su Hengying was startled and turned her head warily.
She saw a young woman with a kind face, dressed in a white nurse's uniform, standing by the bed, holding a clipboard.
"This is the Medical Center at the Panshi Fortress front-line base.
You're safe," the nurse said with a reassuring smile.
"Captain Lin Chen rescued you from the ruins.
You were unconscious for a day and a night."
Captain Lin Chen?
Su Hengying's mind recalled the last figure she saw before losing consciousness—calm, decisive, and possessing a kind of authority she couldn't comprehend.
He saved her?
Why?
She instinctively touched her chest; the guitar pick was still there, its cool temperature offering her some comfort.
But then, the memory of the frantic battle before she fainted surged like a tide—the skeletal giant, Zhuang Han's terror, and that strange warm current in her heart at the last moment...
Her face instantly paled a few shades, and her body trembled slightly.
That monster...that monster that came out of her body...did they see it?
Would they treat her as a monster?
Fear and unease instantly seized her.
The nurse seemed to notice her fear and gently comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, you're out of danger.
Your body is a bit...special, and you've used a lot of energy, so you need to rest well.
Captain Lin instructed us to take good care of you."
Special?
Su Hengying's heart sank.
They knew after all!
Just then, the hospital room door was gently pushed open.
Ling Chen (Lin Chen) walked in.
He had changed into a clean Central Special Operations Bureau combat uniform, his expression calm, showing no emotion, only a profound, unfathomable composure.
"How are you feeling, Miss Su Hengying?" Ling Chen walked to the bedside, his gaze calmly falling upon her.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of power.
How did he know my name?
Su Hengying was startled, instinctively clutching the corner of the blanket.
She had been using an alias since she escaped and had never revealed her true identity to anyone.
Ling Chen seemed to see through her confusion and said calmly, "Don't worry.
We checked your student ID among your belongings.
A new student at Beiying, right?
Your family is very worried about you."
His words were half-truths; the student ID was real, but "family worries" was purely fabricated, intended only to lower her guard and hint that they had the means to uncover her background.
Su Hengying pursed her lips, lowered her head, and dared not meet his gaze.
Family?
Those two who wished she would disappear?
How ironic.
"Do you remember what happened in Crying Valley yesterday?" Ling Chen pulled up a chair and sat down, his tone still calm, as if conducting a routine inquiry.
Su Hengying's body stiffened, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
How should she answer?
Admit that she summoned that terrifying bone monster?
Would she be arrested as an anomaly?
Or like her brother...Seeing her silent and trembling even more violently, a flicker of imperceptible light flashed in Ling Chen's eyes.
He needed her to speak, needed to understand the details and controllability of her ability.
"You don't need to be afraid," Ling Chen softened his tone, with a touch of well-placed "sympathy."
"We encountered Zhuang Han, the Hundred Forms Realm leader of the mutated creatures.
Your situation was very dangerous at the time.
We noticed some...unusual energy reactions appearing on you, which seemed to cause some interference to Zhuang Han.
This is very important; it might relate to how we deal with it."
He cleverly shifted the focus from "monster" to "interference with Zhuang Han" and linked it to a strategic mission, reducing her psychological pressure.
Indeed, Su Hengying looked up, a hint of confusion and disbelief flashing in her eyes.
Interference?
That monster...interfered with Zhuang Han?
"I...I don't know..." Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of a sob.
"I was so scared then...it wanted to kill me...and then...then I didn't know anything else..." She chose to conceal part of the truth, an instinct for self-preservation.
Ling Chen didn't press her, only nodded: "Post-traumatic stress disorder, it's normal.
You should rest well.
Regarding your...special situation, currently only I and the attending doctor know, and it's highly classified.
We will protect your privacy and safety until you've fully recovered and are willing to talk."
He stood up and offered a glass of warm water: "The base is temporarily safe.
If you need anything, you can tell the nurse.
We'll talk again when you feel better."
His demeanor was gentle and patient, entirely like a responsible officer concerned for a survivor.
However, the moment he turned to leave, Su Hengying seemed to catch a fleeting, cold, instrument-like scrutinizing gaze deep in his eyes, which made her shiver involuntarily.
(Fear, confusion, strong self-preservation, misunderstanding and fear of her own power...a perfect state.
An uncarved jade, yet containing astonishing energy.
Needs to be slowly guided, to make her open up willingly, rather than forcing her.) Ling Chen walked out of the ward, calmly assessing internally.
Su Hengying's appearance, although it disrupted his plan to lure Zhuang Han into the canyon, provided an extremely interesting variable.
Her emotion-driven ability, which possessed both extreme destructiveness and hidden healing potential, as well as its subtle restraining effect on Zhuang Han, all held extremely high research and utilization value.
More importantly, her background as an orphan and her fragile mental state made her very easy to control.
Over the next few days, Su Hengying's life in the Medical Center was relatively calm.
The nurses took good care of her, and food and medicine were supplied on time.
Ling Chen occasionally visited her, each time simply asking about her recovery and chatting about trivial topics, never mentioning the battle that day or her ability, as if it were just an accident.
This "normal" treatment, however, made Su Hengying even more uneasy.
She was like a prisoner awaiting judgment, not knowing when the blade would fall.
She tried to sense the power within her, but it was like a dormant volcano, silent.
Only when the night was quiet, recalling her brother, her parents' indifference, and the hardships of wandering, would a cold throb arise in her heart—the lingering aftershock of the skeletal giant's agitation.
As for the healing warm current that flashed for a moment, she still had no clue, as if it truly was just an illusion.
She didn't know that her every move, even subtle emotional fluctuations, were under Ling Chen's close surveillance.
Hidden detectors in the ward and the trace of mental imprint Ling Chen left behind, like invisible eyes, constantly collected her data.
(Emotion is the key.
Extreme negative emotions awaken destruction, so...can extreme positive emotions, or a dying will to protect, awaken healing?
Need to create a suitable 'experimental' environment.) Ling Chen looked at the report, his fingertips gently tapping the table.
Meanwhile, the situation at the front-line base was turbulent due to Su Hengying, this "unexpected gain."
Li Fan, upon learning that Ling Chen had rescued an unidentified girl and placed her under special protection in the Medical Center, felt his doubts deepen.
He personally went to Ling Chen to inquire.
"Captain Lin, who exactly is that girl?
Her ability...I sensed a very evil and violent aura!" Li Fan's dragon eyes held scrutiny.
Ling Chen had already prepared his narrative; he replied with a "serious" expression: "Captain Li, preliminary assessment suggests she might be an extremely rare 'stress-induced ability awakened.'
Under extremely dangerous circumstances, her spirit received immense stimulation, activating a latent but highly unstable psionic power.
This ability often carries strong personal emotional colors, so the feeling will be relatively...extreme.
Her interference effect on Zhuang Han is very peculiar; perhaps it can become a breakthrough for us to deal with that monster.
But currently, her state is very unstable, requiring absolute rest and observation.
Rashly approaching or stimulating her could lead to an uncontrolled outburst of her ability, with unimaginable consequences."
He cleverly defined Su Hengying as a "research subject" and a "potential weapon," and used "instability" as a reason to restrict others from contacting her.
Although Li Fan was skeptical, Ling Chen's reasons sounded plausible and involved the strategy for dealing with Zhuang Han, so he couldn't forcefully interfere, only saying in a deep voice, "I hope your judgment is correct.
I will keep an eye on this matter."
Priest Barder of the Knights Templar also heard about this.
He held a high degree of vigilance towards anything "abnormal" or "unclean."
He sent his subordinates to try to approach Su Hengying under the pretext of "purification inspection," but Ling Chen firmly blocked them, citing "military secrets" and "the patient needing absolute quiet."
The relationship between the two sides became even more tense as a result.
This was the effect Ling Chen wanted.
To keep Su Hengying in a state where she was noticed by all parties yet isolated, making it easy for him to control her alone.
A few days later, Su Hengying's physical condition had mostly recovered, but her mental state remained highly tense and sensitive.
Ling Chen felt the time was right.
That evening, he came to the ward again, without any attendants.
"Feeling better?" Ling Chen sat by the bed, his tone gentle.
Su Hengying nodded, still not daring to look at him.
"Would you like to go for a walk?
The sunset at the base is quite beautiful," Ling Chen suggested, an unexpected offer.
Su Hengying was stunned for a moment, instinctively looking out the window.
The afterglow of the setting sun cast a warm golden hue over the cold metal buildings, and in the distance, the shouts of soldiers training could be heard, carrying a long-lost sense of "normal" worldliness.
She had been confined to the ward for too long and indeed longed to breathe the outside air.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently.
Ling Chen personally accompanied her, walking out of the Medical Center and slowly strolling through the relatively safe areas within the base.
He didn't ask anything about her ability, but simply chatted, talking about daily life at the base, the front-line situation, and even some interesting anecdotes about Shengjing.
His words had a peculiar calming power, subtly relaxing Su Hengying's tense nerves.
When they reached an observation deck overlooking the distant wilderness, the sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the sky was painted a magnificent orange-red.
The desolate and vast scenery evoked an indescribable complex emotion in Su Hengying's heart—a sense of life's insignificance, confusion about the future, and a hint of...a fleeting Throbbing for beauty.
Just then, Ling Chen, seemingly unintentionally, sighed softly and looked into the distance, slowly saying, "This world is cruel, isn't it?
Beautiful things are always fleeting, while pain and darkness seem endless."
In his voice, there was a trace of genuine weariness, rarely revealed.
These words, like a key, instantly struck the softest and most painful part of Su Hengying's heart.
Her brother's smile, her parents' indifference, the hardships of wandering, Zhuang Han's terror...all the pent-up grievances and sorrow, at this moment, burst forth like a breached dam!
Tears streamed down her face without warning; she could no longer control herself, squatting down, hugging her knees, and sobbing softly.
It wasn't a wail, but that kind of extreme, suppressed, heartbreaking sob where even sound couldn't escape.
Ling Chen stood quietly beside her, neither comforting nor disturbing, just like a silent guardian.
But the will of his Soul Jade Physique, like the most precise sensor, fully captured every subtle change in Su Hengying's emotional energy at that moment.
(Sadness, despair, longing for beauty...extremely high concentration of negative emotions, but lacking aggression, turning inward...no signs of destructive form activation.
So...healing?)
He waited for a moment, until Su Hengying's crying gradually weakened, then slowly squatted down and offered her a clean handkerchief.
"It feels better to cry it out," his voice was unusually gentle.
"Losing someone important, that pain, I understand."
Su Hengying looked up, her face tear-streaked, at Ling Chen.
The afterglow of the sunset cast soft shadows on his face, softening his usually stern features considerably.
The unfathomable composure in his eyes remained, but at this moment, there seemed to be a hint of...understanding?
These words completely broke down Su Hengying's emotional defenses.
She thought no one in this world could ever understand her pain again.
"My brother...he..." she choked out, finally mentioning Su Heng for the first time.
Ling Chen didn't interrupt, just listened quietly.
Su Hengying, in broken sentences, recounted her brother's gentleness, her parents' indifference, the eerie funeral, and her fear of wandering...
She concealed the details of the skeletal giant, but the bone-deep pain of losing a loved one poured out unreservedly.
As she spoke, Ling Chen keenly sensed that the dormant power within her seemed to have a very faint fluctuation, completely different from its previous destructive nature!
The fluctuation was extremely subtle, like a flickering candle in the wind, carrying a warm, sorrowful, and yet attempting to soothe aura...it was precisely the nascent form of the healing attribute that flashed before Zhuang Han that day!
(Indeed...extreme sorrow and longing for the deceased are one of the keys to awakening the healing form!
Though still very weak, the direction is right!) Ling Chen sneered inwardly, but outwardly displayed appropriate sympathy and understanding.
"The living must always carry the hopes of the departed and continue to move forward," Ling Chen gently patted Su Hengying's trembling shoulder, a natural and comforting gesture.
"Your brother surely wishes for you to live well."
These words, like a warm current, flowed into Su Hengying's frozen heart.
She looked up at Ling Chen, and in her tearful eyes, for the first time, appeared emotions other than fear and sorrow—a faint hint of reliance and gratitude.
"Captain Lin...Lin Chen...thank you," she whispered.
Ling Chen smiled slightly, a smile that seemed especially sincere in the sunset: "Just call me Lin Chen.
From now on, consider this place your temporary home.
I will protect your safety."
Home?
This unfamiliar word made Su Hengying's heart tremble.
She looked at Ling Chen, this powerful and mysterious man, who had offered her a glimmer of warmth and a promise in her most vulnerable and helpless moment.
Although a hint of instinctive caution remained deep within her, a desire to be protected and accepted had begun to quietly sprout.
(The seed of emotional dependence has been sown.
Next, it's about watering it, letting it grow into the shape I need.
Vessel of sorrow...soon, you will become the sharpest blade in my hand, or...the most effective medicine.) Ling Chen looked at the hint of reliance in Su Hengying's eyes, his heart a picture of icy calm.
The sun had completely set, and night fell.
The lights of the base came on one after another, like stars in the darkness.
And a more secret and complex game of chess, centered around this sorrowful girl, had just begun.
