Chapter 262: Chapter 259: The Last Obsession! (Three-in-One Chapter)
Chapter 259: The Final Lingering Obsession!
Sun Keke almost leaped up, her eyes instinctively searching for the source of the voice.
Lu Xixi and the others beside her were shocked. Lu Xixi immediately grabbed Sun Keke. "What did you say? What Chen Nuo?"
"I... I think I heard Chen Nuo calling my name."
Lu Xixi’s face changed. "Really?"
"Yes..." Sun Keke was about to answer but suddenly felt a bit uncertain. "I think I really heard it..."
"Could it be an illusion?" Li Yingwan and Niveer approached as well.
Sun Keke’s body suddenly shook again!
She blurted out, "Chen Nuo is calling me again..."
"What do you hear?"
"He says..." Sun Keke frowned, then tried hard to pronounce a Japanese name. "Sato Ryoko?"
As soon as this name was spoken, Lu Xixi truly believed it!
If before it might have been an illusion produced by Sun Keke’s extreme sadness and anxiety... Or if it had been some charlatan’s trick Wu Daodao and her disciple played to fool people...
But once the name Sato Ryoko was mentioned, it was undeniable proof! There was no escaping it!
Only three people present knew this name: Lu Xixi, Vanel, and Selina.
Lu Xixi, ecstatic, exclaimed loudly, "Quick! Listen to what else he’s saying!"
Then Lu Xixi pulled Li Yingwan, who was closest, away. "Everyone, back off a bit and be quiet! Let her focus on listening!"
Sun Keke squinted, trying to calm herself and listen. Then, suddenly, tears streamed from her eyes.
Her voice choked with sobs as she relayed, "He... he said... he’s actually been able to hear us talking these past few days... Oh, Chen Nuo, Chen Nuo... Are you okay? Please come back..."
Sun Keke was overwhelmed by tears. Suddenly unable to remain standing, she squatted down.
Lu Xixi, the calmest among them, felt a twitch at the corner of her eye but dragged Sun Keke back up.
"Now is not the time to cry! Listen to him! Is there any way for him to come back?!"
Sun Keke, startled, quickly pushed aside her sorrow and strained to listen.
"Chen Nuo says... first, process his discharge from the hospital and take him away... Otherwise, with all the commotion we’ve caused here, and if he suddenly wakes up fully recovered, it might attract unnecessary trouble..."
Lu Xixi immediately nodded. "Alright, we can arrange that immediately."
"Also, he says..."
Sun Keke’s expression turned strange.
"What does he say?"
"He says..." Sun Keke lowered her voice. "He asks if... when he gets out... you could promise not to hit him?"
Lu Xixi: "???"
This damn scumbag! He dares to bargain now?!!!
Taking a deep breath, Lu Xixi said gravely, "Alright. I promise not to beat him to death."
Hmm, not beating him to death doesn’t mean not beating him.
Sun Keke was stunned, then her expression grew even more peculiar. "He says... you need to put it in writing, make an oath..."
"Chen Nuo! You bastard!! If you have the guts, stay away forever! If you die tomorrow, I’ll have your body cremated!!" Lu Xixi seethed.
Sun Keke’s expression was also odd. She then continued, "Okay, he’s backed down. He... he... he says... he’s trapped very deep within the Consciousness Space. There’s... a barrier... He can’t get out. He says, to ask Little Deer... um, he needs your help..."
As she said this, Sun Keke suddenly froze. She abruptly looked around, her eyes searching everywhere, finally lunging towards the ICU door and shouting, "Chen Nuo? Chen Nuo? Keep talking! What exactly should we do?"
Sparks seemed to fly from Lu Xixi’s eyes. "What happened?"
"The voice... the voice cut off," Sun Keke said, panicked.
Lu Xixi stared at Sun Keke for a moment, then suddenly a thought struck her.
The red mark that had spread from Lu Xixi’s glabella had unknowingly faded and was now completely gone!
Empress Lu suddenly turned to look at Wu Daodao and her disciple.
Indeed, her gaze skipped right over Wu Daodao.
She stared at the young girl, who was called either Situ Beixuan or Erya. "Is there a problem with the Spell? Why did the voice suddenly disappear?"
Erya sighed softly and said leisurely, "This humble spirit-summoning technique naturally cannot allow someone to commune indefinitely."
"So?"
"My skills are limited. My spirit-summoning can only amplify a normal person’s spiritual perception for a short while. Now that the Spell’s effect has run out, she naturally can no longer hear him."
Lu Xixi took a deep breath. "Then, please use this spirit-summoning technique once more!"
"It’s not difficult," Erya said with a slight smile. Then, just as a hint of joy began to show on Lu Xixi’s face, she quickly added, "However, I can only use the spirit-summoning technique once a day. To use it again, one must wait a full day—yes, twenty-four hours."
"..."
Lu Xixi was dumbfounded. Then, an exasperated expression appeared on the Empress’s face.
You call *that* "not difficult"?!
"We have to wait... twenty-four hours?!"
"Correct," Erya replied unhurriedly, retorting, "So, when I said earlier that my skills were poor, did you really think I was just being modest?"
"..."
It was only because Empress Lu was experienced and able to control her temper, and also because they still needed to rely on the members of the Qingyun Sect, both the senior and the junior. Otherwise, Empress Lu might have put on an on-the-spot performance of "A Supreme Expert Brutally Beats a Minor Child"!
「The hospital discharge procedures were quickly arranged.」
Although the attending physician, Director Luo, strongly objected and tried to dissuade them, stating that the patient’s condition was critical and that this hospital’s medical facilities were top-tier in Shanghai. He added that even if they wished to transfer to another facility, they wouldn’t find a better hospital locally.
But Niveer, acting as the group’s representative, was extremely resolute. In order to appease Director Luo and the hospital’s Minister Chen, Niveer had to tell a lie: she claimed she had already contacted the Royal Medical Academy in Britain and would immediately take the patient to the airport via private jet for treatment in Britain.
This reason was accepted by the hospital. Then, after they signed a stack of documents and liability waivers, the hospital processed the discharge.
Meanwhile, Lu Xixi had already arranged a destination. At a recently opened hotel in Pudong, Lu Xixi directly flexed her financial muscle. She booked an entire floor of the hotel!
When Minister Chen, out of courtesy, personally came downstairs intending to see them off, he arrived at the hospital entrance only to be informed by his subordinate that they had already departed.
"So quickly?" Minister Chen frowned. "How did they transport the patient? Did they borrow an ambulance from our hospital?"
"...They just moved him into a commercial van."
"That’s absurd!" Minister Chen glared, displeased. "The patient’s condition is so severe! He needs professional ambulance equipment to maintain stability during transport! They just took him away in a van? If something happens..."
"Minister, they signed the liability waivers." Director Luo sighed. "I couldn’t stop them... I had to let them go. In any case, once the patient leaves the hospital, any developments in his condition are no longer our concern or responsibility."
"That’s still not right," Minister Chen stamped his foot. "That’s a human life!"
"Well... there shouldn’t be any major issues, I suppose," Director Luo mused. "We took scans today. Although the tumor has grown slightly, in my experience, there’s no immediate danger of rupture. I just suspect that metastasis might have already begun... Hmm, he should be fine for a day or two."
"Then why did he lose consciousness before?"
"It was pressing on parts of his nervous system, causing a temporary loss of consciousness."
Minister Chen, frustrated, turned back to his office, thinking he should call Professor Morris in London to inquire.
「This newly opened and still quiet hotel was located in a somewhat remote part of the Pudong New Area.」
It was precisely because of its remoteness and lack of clientele that Lu Xixi had chosen it as their temporary base.
When the group’s van arrived at the hotel entrance, the hotel manager was already waiting with staff to greet them. A patron who booked an entire floor undoubtedly deserved the VIP treatment.
Just as the van came to a stop, one of the hotel’s assistant managers hurried over to personally open the door. "Welcome, esteemed guests..."
The first thing he saw was Vanel’s fierce, fleshy face. The assistant manager was taken aback and quickly stepped back a pace.
Then Vanel alighted, carrying Chen Nuo. Chen Nuo was dressed in a hospital gown, but an overcoat was draped over him, so it wasn’t too conspicuous; he was still unconscious. Davarishi held Chen Nuo with one arm, as easily as if he were merely supporting a drunkard.
The assistant manager and the hotel staff instinctively retreated a few more steps.
Then, the "Sisterhood Group," led by Lu Xixi, disembarked from the car. From the second van that followed, Selina emerged, leading Wu Daodao, her disciple, a made-up Brother Lei, and their companions.
Lu Xixi, her aura commanding, had Vanel carry Chen Nuo directly into the hotel. The assistant manager personally held the key card to the hotel’s best suite, with two attendants following. Lu Xixi casually instructed Niveer to handle the check-in procedures.
The young British noblewoman, flush with cash, paid for a ten-day booking of the entire floor in one go. The hotel was actually only rated three stars. In 2001, a time when five-star hotels weren’t as ubiquitous, a three-star hotel was already quite good. Moreover, being newly built, its facilities and hardware were relatively new and of good quality.
On the top floor of the hotel, Lu Xixi declined the assistant manager’s offer to accompany them further and politely asked them to leave.
"We prefer not to be disturbed. Without our permission, please do not allow anyone to enter or leave this floor. This includes your staff; please do not come up uninvited."
"..."
Although the request was somewhat peculiar, given the power of money, the assistant manager immediately agreed wholeheartedly. He then gave instructions for the elevator access to their floor to be restricted; it could only be activated by swiping a room key card for that floor.
「In the spacious suite, Vanel had already placed Chen Nuo on the large bed in the master bedroom.」
The young man was still fast asleep, his complexion deathly pale, devoid of any color. The back of his hand showed a bruise from an IV insertion, covered with a piece of medical tape.
Lu Xixi then had everyone leave the bedroom, leaving only herself sitting by the bed. Empress Lu took a deep breath, concentrated, and slowly extended her Spiritual Force Tentacles into Chen Nuo’s consciousness.
The moment she probed, Lu Xixi keenly sensed that the original Chen Nuo’s Consciousness Space was extremely weak. Moreover, within the Consciousness Space, the flow of spiritual power was almost stagnant, yet it stubbornly maintained a flicker of vitality. Lu Xixi tried to stimulate it with her own spiritual power, immediately eliciting a reaction from Chen Nuo. In his slumber, Chen Nuo seemed to hum, and his eyelids twitched a few times.
Lu Xixi now had a better understanding. She stopped stimulating his spiritual power and instead slowly increased the amount of her own spiritual power she infused. Within his Consciousness Space, she carefully maneuvered around Chen Nuo’s own spiritual power and began to explore.
The original Chen Nuo’s Consciousness Space was already exceedingly fragile. Lu Xixi sensed that his Consciousness Space seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment, its barriers so thin they might rupture with the slightest touch. If that happened, it would undoubtedly result in brain death. Lu Xixi dared not be reckless and proceeded with utmost caution, meticulously searching.
As her Spiritual Force Tentacles delved deeper into the Consciousness Space, Lu Xixi began to frown. She had ventured quite deep into the Consciousness Space... yet she had found nothing.
Others might not have paid much heed to Chen Nuo’s last words relayed by Sun Keke, but Lu Xixi, a Controller big shot, had sharply perceived the subtlety within them.
How could there be a prison binding someone within a Consciousness Space?
「Within a swirling chaos, Lu Xixi seemed to project her spiritual power into a tangible form, an entity that floated swiftly through this chaotic void.」
With no reference points and no sense of direction, this method of searching was highly inefficient. Lu Xixi quickly infused more spiritual power, conjuring countless projections of herself—"Lu Xixis"—that scattered throughout the Consciousness Space in every direction.
Who knows how much time passed.
One of the "Lu Xixis" seemed to have unwittingly drifted into an extremely deep, labyrinthine region of this Consciousness Space...
Suddenly, this Lu Xixi projection uttered, "Hmm?"
The Spiritual Force Tentacles she had extended forward seemed to be repelled by some strange force!
Instantly, from countless corners and myriad mazes within the Consciousness Space, all the other "Lu Xixi" projections vanished! They all instantaneously merged into this single "Lu Xixi." This "Lu Xixi’s" figure instantly solidified, transitioning from a semi-translucent state to a much more substantial one.
She focused, and slowly took a step forward...
「Chen Nuo could think of no other solution.」
His brief contact with Sun Keke earlier had already consumed a third of his "soul power." His projected body, once relatively clear, had become much more transparent and seemed to have shrunk by nearly half its size. Chen Nuo dared not risk another attempt.
Just at this moment, Chen Nuo suddenly felt a jolt! He abruptly looked up!
"??!!"
In the void, far away, a giant eye was staring at him!
Startled, Chen Nuo immediately drifted backward, but he quickly stopped himself. The eye seemed to retreat slightly, and then... he could make out two eyes, and the lower half of a face! Though it was so enormous it was almost blinding...
"Lu Xixi?"
Chen Nuo felt like he was about to cry!
Lu Xixi frowned, looking at the strange, semi-transparent black orb before her.
Deep within Chen Nuo’s Consciousness Space, there’s such a peculiar object?
She reached out, cupped it in her hands, and examined it closely. She saw a familiar projection—Chen Nuo—inside the orb, desperately jumping and gesticulating towards her.
Lu Xixi: "..."
Her spiritual power rapidly condensed, causing her projection to shrink swiftly until it was roughly the same size as the orb. She reached out to touch the orb, attempting to enter, but her spiritual power was immediately repelled by an icy force. Lu Xixi frowned, looking at the Chen Xiaoguo inside the orb, who was waving at her.
Lu Xixi focused her thoughts for a moment... then solidified a wisp of her spiritual power into a sharp needle and thrust it towards the orb!
BUZZ!!!!!
Suddenly, Chen Nuo felt the entire void space around him tremble violently! To Chen Nuo’s horror, amidst this violent tremor, he felt his body, soul, and spiritual power rapidly begin to dissipate!
"Stop! Stop!! Stop it, quick!!!" Chen Nuo desperately waved his hands and shouted.
「Sun Keke, who had been sitting on the sofa outside the bedroom, lost in thought with her eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open!」
The moment she opened her eyes, she was terrified! Unbeknownst to her, her body had lifted off the sofa and was hovering more than ten centimeters in the air, still in her original seated posture!
After the initial shock, Sun Keke abruptly dropped back onto the sofa. She then leaped up, looking back at the sofa in panic, then down at herself.
"What just happened...?"
There was no one else in the living room; Sun Keke was alone. Wu Daodao and her disciple were settled in an adjacent room, while Vanel and Selina took turns guarding the elevator entrance. As for the other girls... now that they had options, they naturally didn’t want to stay in the same room. With so many rooms on this floor, each took one to avoid the discomfort of being around each other.
Meanwhile, Brother Lei was holed up in a room, diligently memorizing his lines, trying to understand his character, and preparing to get into his role.
Sun Keke felt a surge of nervousness and fear. Her mouth was dry, and she instinctively reached for the water glass on the coffee table. But her fingers had barely extended, the thought just forming in her mind...
WHOOSH!
The water glass on the table flew into Sun Keke’s hand automatically!
Sun Keke was startled, her fingers failed to grip it, and with a CLATTER, the glass fell to the floor, the spilled water even splashing onto her clothes, drenching them!
Sun Keke stared blankly for a few seconds before letting out a terrified gasp.
BANG!
The bedroom door burst open, and Lu Xixi rushed out.
"I... I..." Sun Keke opened her mouth but was at a loss for words.
Lu Xixi, however, paid her no mind. She said in a low voice, "Sun Keke, come here and sit down!"
"Huh?"
Sun Keke was taken aback but found herself already being pressed down onto the sofa by Lu Xixi.
Lu Xixi took a deep breath, then said softly, "I’ve found Chen Nuo."
Saying this, the Empress extended her hand. In her palm, cradled in a strange glow, lay an object. It was a single black grain of rice!
Sun Keke, forgetting everything else, stared wide-eyed at Empress Lu’s hand, as if witnessing a magic trick. "This... you’re saying this is Chen Nuo?"
"Chen Nuo is inside this," Lu Xixi frowned. "But to get him out, we’re missing one thing."
"Ah?"
"This thing is inside your body."
Sun Keke was startled, only then realizing Empress Lu’s hand was already touching her cheek.
"What are you doing?"
"Lie down and don’t move! This thing is definitely inside your body, let me find it!"
"Ah! No! You... Ouch!!"
「Li Yingwan and Niveer used their room key to enter the suite together.」
The moment they opened the door, they saw Sun Keke lying supine on the living room sofa, her hair disheveled, apparently struggling fiercely. Lu Xixi was straddling Sun Keke, one hand firmly pinning both of Sun Keke’s wrists, while her other hand seemed to be groping all over Sun Keke’s body.
The two younger girls: "???"
Lu Xixi lifted her eyelids, glanced at the two girls standing in the doorway, and snapped, "What are you looking at? Get out!"
Li Yingwan and Niveer reacted in perfect unison, swiftly pulling their heads back.
BANG! The door was slammed shut.
Standing in the corridor, the long-legged girl and the girl with the peach-shaped bottom exchanged glances.
"That..."
"Um... we didn’t see that wrong, did we?"
"... It seems like it."
"So... the two of them have already formed an alliance?"
"Use your brain, you idiot! Is *that* how people ’form an alliance’?!" Niveer retorted furiously.
Li Yingwan blinked. "Well, it’s hard to say..."
Niveer was also stunned.
That... actually kind of makes sense!
After all, she’s a minor noble from Britain.
And another nickname for Britain is the ’Rotten Country,’ isn’t it!
"It’s over! First, it was Great Devil Number One and Great Devil Number Two... and now they’ve actually formed an alliance?!" Niveer gulped, staring intently at Li Yingwan.
Li Yingwan jumped in fright, instantly reacting and taking two steps back. "Wh-why are you looking at me like that! What the hell?! You’re not thinking of ’forming an alliance’ with *me* like that, are you?!"
Niveer’s expression changed, and she immediately shook her head, denying it vehemently. "I haven’t! I never thought of that! Don’t talk nonsense!!"
The two girls fell silent for a moment, their gazes flitting about evasively, then accidentally meeting again.
"Ah!!"
Both screamed, then simultaneously whipped their heads away from each other and fled towards their respective room doors, opened them, darted inside, and slammed them shut.
BANG! BANG!
The corridor returned to silence.
「Inside the room.」
Sun Keke lay gasping for breath, her face flushed crimson. Her eyes, glazed over, stared blankly at the ceiling, sweat drenching her forehead and body.
Lu Xixi had already stood up, a satisfied smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"Found it!"
Lu Xixi withdrew the spiritual power she had used to scan Sun Keke’s entire body and finally extended her hand. A tiny white grain of rice, emitting a faint white glow, rested in the Empress’s palm alongside the black grain. They flowed gently, like two tiny fish swimming, yet they seemed distinctly separate, never touching.
Strange things, the Empress frowned.
"You... what did you just do to me?" Sun Keke asked weakly, looking at Lu Xixi with a hint of terror in her voice.
"You’ve seen this thing before, right?" Lu Xixi sat down next to Sun Keke.
Upon seeing it, Sun Keke’s expression changed instantly. "Huh? This is... Ah! This is the thing Boss Guo gave me!"
Lu Xixi nodded. "Yes... Now, tell me in detail about the origin of this item. It’s very important!"
「A moment later.」
"So, this thing... the man surnamed Guo who runs the ramen shop gave it to you... and you thought you’d accidentally lost it?"
"Yes."
"It seems this thing has actually been inside your body all along, merely broken down and integrated into your consciousness," Lu Xixi said, frowning. "If Chen Nuo hadn’t told me, I would never have guessed that the Key to solving this problem was with you all this time."
"Chen Nuo told you? The Key?" Sun Keke’s eyes widened.
Lu Xixi pondered for a moment, feeling it was too complicated to explain. So, she simply said, "Alright, you don’t need to ask about the rest. In any case, with this, Chen Nuo should be saved!"
Sun Keke was stunned for a moment, then suddenly recalled her own strange experience from moments before. "Just now, I think... something was wrong with me."
"Hmm?"
"I..." Sun Keke quickly explained what had happened.
Lu Xixi listened, then paused. After pondering for a moment, she said, "I understand now... However, it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing for you."
Lu Xixi continued slowly, "This item can be used for reincarnation via Body Seizing. Chen Nuo just told me. However, there’s a restriction: it only works between close blood relatives. Chen Nuo was trapped in one, and you received the other. It was originally because his spirit was supposed to possess you after his death. But thankfully, you two are not blood-related, so... what a relief! However, although Chen Nuo’s soul couldn’t use this item to reincarnate into your body, his power was continuously being absorbed by it, and this power was then transferred into your body.
So... Sun Keke, your spiritual power has increased by leaps and bounds these past few days! The fact that you went without sleep for days yet didn’t feel tired or fatigued was a sign. Just now, you unconsciously made yourself float using uncontrolled spiritual power... That’s a manifestation of spiritual power externalization. Because you haven’t properly trained in using these powers, you don’t know how to control them, which leads to such power leakage. But overall, this is beneficial for you.
Congratulations, Sun Keke... Although you don’t yet know how to control your power, you can now be considered an Ability User."
"Ability User?" Sun Keke was stunned. "Like... like you and Chen Nuo?"
Lu Xixi shook her head. "You’re still a long way from our level, but you’re already much stronger than ordinary people. Moreover... the power Chen Nuo transferred to you... didn’t just increase the quantity of your spiritual power. It also helped to illuminate deeper levels and broaden the expanse within your Consciousness Space. Hmm... To put it simply, you could say it has helped light up your skill tree. If you’re interested and train your spiritual power diligently in the future, you’ll quickly become a Mentality Series Ability User."
「Lu Xixi’s method was simple... Chen Nuo had told it to her.」
Place the white grain of rice into Chen Nuo’s physical body! Then... he, being inside the black grain, could logically return to his own body! Completing a form of "Body Seizing"!
Before that... there’s another matter that needs to be done first.
Um...
The final lingering obsession of a pitiful young man.