Her consciousness felt as though it were wrapped in bubbles, drifting through a flowing liquid.
The concepts of time and space seemed blurred outside those bubbles of awareness, and even the concept of ‘myself’ was deliberately faded.
Amidst her hazy, lingering self-awareness, Chu You vaguely heard voices conversing in her ear.
“Qianqian, be careful when you go outside.”
“Chu Qingqian, file number 0993031785217. On behalf of the Northern Headquarters of the Swordbearers, I congratulate you… Having performed excellently during your probation, you are hereby promoted to a Bronze Sparrow Swordbearer.”
“Back already, Little Chu? I heard this mission was dangerous, but you did a great job!”
“Congratulations, Agent Chu Qingqian! After review by the headquarters leadership, your application for promotion has been officially approved.”
“Senior, don’t work too hard.”
“The children at the orphanage all look up to you as their idol now!”
“Come, come, Qianqian, sit… Elder Qin’s intention is to form another tactical team, with you serving as the captain. You will personally oversee the selection of members and tactical training.”
“Officer Chu, I might disappoint you.”
“Me? Joining the headquarters tactical team? Officer, you… you’re not joking, are you?!”
“We’ve moved up again; we’re now ranked eleventh! Hehe, Captain, if we work a bit harder, do you think we’ll get a team designation next month?”
“Night Hunt? That’s a good name. It’s decided—Yuchan will treat everyone to dinner tonight!”
“Captain…”
“Senior, come back with me.”
“Chu You? Is that your name now, Senior…?”
The voice stopped abruptly.
The bubbles wrapping her consciousness suddenly burst.
At that moment, the side of her that belonged to Chu You became increasingly clear, and the concepts of time and space rapidly returned to normal.
After an unknown amount of time, she felt the sensation of ‘weight’ once more.
“Xiao Ling, wake up!”
“Can you hear me? Xiao Ling… Xiao Ling?” An urgent voice called out in her ear.
The calls acted like a switch, fully activating Chu You’s dormant sea of consciousness.
She instinctively tried to open her eyes, but her heavy eyelids only managed to part into a thin slit.
Immediately, she winced, her brow furrowing at the harsh, white glare of the incandescent light above.
A wave of intense dizziness and blunt pain crashed against her brain like a tide.
The heavy, metallic taste of blood spreading in her mouth made her quickly realize that the identity given to her by the Realm of the Dead—Xiao Ling’s physical condition—seemed to be very poor.
“Xiao Ling, you’re awake!”
The female voice that had first called out to her carried a distinct note of surprise.
“Dr. Chen, come quickly! Xiao Ling is awake!” the female voice shouted toward the distance.
Following that, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, finally stopping beside the bed where Chu You lay.
“Xiao Ling?” A gentle male voice sounded in her ear, carrying the steady calm characteristic of a doctor.
“Can you hear me? Does your head hurt? Do you feel cold? Try to move a bit—just your fingers will do. Take it slow.”
Hearing this, Chu You knit her brows.
First, she gave an extremely slight shake of her head, then she began trying to mobilize this strange, heavy, and aching body.
She concentrated all her will on her right hand, and her fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly.
This tiny movement seemed to exhaust the little bit of strength she had just gathered.
She panted for a moment, her cracked lips quivering as she tried to speak.
“Dizzy…” Her voice was incredibly raspy, sounding like a broken bellows.
Every word she uttered felt as if her throat were being rubbed by coarse sandpaper, bringing a sharp, stinging pain.
She swallowed with difficulty, and the metallic taste seemed even stronger.
Attempting to speak again, her voice remained weak and fragmented.
“…Not cold…”
She paused, using all her strength to add the point that made her most uncomfortable.
“…Throat… hurts too…”
“It’s good that you’re awake, it’s good that you’re awake!” The first female voice, which sounded like a young nurse, was full of relief.
“You’ve been unconscious for nearly a day; you scared us to death! Don’t rush to speak. Your throat has been irritated and needs time to recover.”
The man called Dr. Chen seemed to lean down, using cool fingers to gently pry open her eyelids.
He performed a quick check of her pupil response with a flashlight.
The beam of light intensified Chu You’s dizziness, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes.
“Consciousness is clear, and pupil response is normal. Dizziness and throat pain are normal symptoms; they’ll fade with time…” Dr. Chen’s voice was close, sounding reassuring.
“Xiao Ling, do you remember what happened? How were you injured and brought here?”
Chu You’s heart sank.
‘What happened?’
She only knew that she was Chu You, and that she had entered the Realm of the Dead of her own accord to find Lin Mo and the others.
But regarding Xiao Ling’s memories, there was only a blank void, as if shrouded in thick fog.
She could only infer things based on her body’s feedback and the surrounding environment—this seemed to be a temporary medical point.
The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant, blood, and dust.
The noises outside were somewhat chaotic.
She could vaguely hear vehicle engines and muffled commands being shouted; this place was still at the rear of a battlefield.
She opened her mouth, but in the end, she only produced a few meaningless airy sounds before painfully shaking her head.
This time, it wasn’t just the pain in her throat, but also the confusion brought by the memory gap and a faint, imperceptible sense of wariness.
Seeing this, the nurse quickly picked up a water cup with a straw from nearby and carefully brought it to Chu You’s lips.
“Don’t worry if you can’t remember yet. Come, have some water first. It’ll feel better once you’ve moistened your throat.”
The cool liquid slid down her burning throat, bringing a brief moment of relief, but it also made her more clearly aware of the weakness of this body and the pervasive pain.
As Chu You sipped the water in small gulps, her mind raced.
‘Who is Xiao Ling?’
‘Where exactly is this?’
‘How much time has passed since the temporal node where Lin Mo and the others are located?’
‘What exactly does the Realm of the Dead… want me to see through this identity?’
“Qin Ya, look after Xiao Ling for a bit. I’m going to check the other wards…”
Dr. Chen briefly checked Xiao Ling’s condition, his voice sounding slightly heavy.
“After the Aberrants bypassed the defense line and raided the rear, our losses were too heavy… We didn’t bring many pieces of equipment during the temporary relocation. The medical conditions are terrible.”
At this point, Dr. Chen sighed deeply, his tone full of remorse.
“If conditions were just a bit better, those few severely injured soldiers might not have…”
“Dr. Chen, don’t blame yourself…” The nurse called Qin Ya consoled him.
“No one expected the Aberrants to raid us like that. It happened so suddenly; you’ve already done your best.”
“I know, but it doesn’t feel right.”
“It will pass, Dr. Chen. Don’t think about it anymore. There are still many injured who need you.”
“Yeah. Thank you, Little Ya. I feel a bit better…” Dr. Chen’s tone finally improved.
“I won’t chat any longer; I have to get busy.”
“Okay. Bye, Dr. Chen.”
The sound of Dr. Chen’s footsteps receded into the distance.
The information revealed in the conversation between the two wasn’t much, but it was enough for Chu You to figure out what had happened here.
‘Aberrants bypassed the defense line and raided the rear?’
‘How did those simple-minded things manage that? Were they being commanded?’
Most importantly, the combat tradition of the Huafu Army was to establish defensive positions based on terrain.
Usually, they wouldn’t crudely concentrate their forces on a single line; instead, they would divide their forces into at least two defensive lines, leaving behind reinforcement and reserve forces.
To be able to break through layers of defense and strike directly at the headquarters in the rear…
‘Could it be that the defense plans were leaked?!’
At this thought, Chu You’s breathing suddenly hitched for a moment.
She didn’t have a very deep understanding of this blocking action that had once occurred in the BH02 traffic line clearance area.
The information she knew was basically what Lin Mo had mentioned during their previous meetings.
But now it seemed…
Perhaps the materials in those records weren’t entirely truthful.
There were definitely some unknown secrets hidden here!