Chapter 51: The Lost Lamb

“It’s alright, Ye Xi, I’ll be fine.”

Shen Ji interrupted their scuffle and gave Ye Xi a reassuring look before asking, “What do I need to do?”

Murong Xiaoxiao patted the rectangular table beside her and said meaningfully, “Strip. It’s best if you take everything off.”

Shen Ji’s pupils constricted as he exclaimed in shock, “Why do I have to take my clothes off?!”

Ye Xi was already burning with anger, and now it all erupted; she grabbed Murong Xiaoxiao by the collar with one hand.

She shouted, “What do you mean by that?”

Murong Xiaoxiao remained calm, spread her hands, and pouted, “Some acupoints on the body are extremely difficult to locate, so you must be stripped bare to ensure accuracy.”

“You wouldn’t want me to make a mistake and strike the wrong point, would you?”

Shen Ji crossed his arms, his expression fluctuating; although he was a man and wouldn’t technically lose out by being looked at, the way Murong Xiaoxiao was acting made him feel she was highly unprofessional.

To some extent, she was just looking for a bit of entertainment at their expense.

“Is it absolutely necessary to take them off?”

Murong Xiaoxiao pulled a pack of silver needles from the counter and explained, “That depends on whether you trust my technique or not.”

“If you don’t take them off, the success rate is 50 percent. If you do…”

“Actually, it’s still 50 percent.”

“But it will reduce the risk of you being left paralyzed.”

Shen Ji sighed, eventually making up his mind in his heart.

He removed his outer garments and laid flat on the table.

Ye Xi was currently overcome with both shame and anger.

She had never seen Shen Ji like this, yet this woman was going to see him first.

She wasn’t willing to accept this!

“You lot, do you have a lighter?”

Ye Xi blinked.

She knew that needles needed to be sterilized with an open flame before use, but she hadn’t expected Murong Xiaoxiao to have prepared absolutely nothing.

She grit her teeth, turned around, and said, “I’ll go out and buy one now.”

“Wait.”

Shen Ji called out to stop Ye Xi, who was about to head out.

He reached out a hand, and a ball of blue flame instantly floated beside him.

Ye Xi’s eyes were filled with shock as she murmured, “Is… is this your new talent?”

Shen Ji didn’t deny it, explaining slowly, “This is the unique talent of the King Flame King Seed. I only just figured it out recently.”

Murong Xiaoxiao licked her lips with interest and lightly traced her fingertip across Shen Ji’s chest.

“Is this a King Seed? How wonderful!”

Ye Xi glared fiercely at Murong Xiaoxiao, chillingly saying, “Start if you’re going to start, but don’t touch him!”

“Fine, fine. I was just confirming the positions before starting. Can you two not think of me as such a bad person?”

Shen Ji rolled his eyes and said flatly, “Stop wasting time. Come on, I’m ready.”

Murong Xiaoxiao’s gaze sharpened, and she completely dropped her playful demeanor.

A flash of red passed through her eyes, and her Bio-electricity talent was instantly activated.

The silver needles swept through the blue flame and struck directly toward Shen Ji’s heart.

The speed was so fast that Shen Ji had barely registered the stinging pain in his chest before the next needle arrived.

Shen Ji instinctively braced himself to shrink back.

Murong Xiaoxiao immediately interrupted, “Don’t move! If you move around now, the needles will truly take your life.”

“What I’m doing now is forcing you into a state near death; only in that single moment is the link between soul and shell at its weakest.”

Once she said that, Shen Ji gave up the urge to flinch, letting out a muffled groan from his chest to signal his compliance.

As one silver needle after another descended, Shen Ji felt not just the pricking pain, but a continuous sensation of numbness.

First his limbs, then his torso; his entire body seemed to fall into a state of paralysis.

He possessed consciousness, but he had no sensation.

Ye Xi’s palms were covered in fine beads of sweat as she paced back and forth around Shen Ji.

Murong Xiaoxiao was getting dizzy from Ye Xi’s movement.

As the next needle was about to fall, she suddenly realized she was about to miss.

In an instant, her hand hovered in the air, motionless.

Ye Xi immediately shouted, “What’s wrong? Are you finished?”

Murong Xiaoxiao moved her body mechanically, trying not to touch the other needles, and slowly lifted her hand.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief while complaining, “I told you not to pace around! I almost stuck that one in the wrong place.”

“Do you really want to spend the second half of your life taking care of a vegetable?”

Ye Xi frowned but didn’t blow up.

She realized this was a critical moment; she couldn’t disturb the woman, but rather had to cooperate as much as possible.

After all, Shen Ji’s life was currently in her hands.

Thinking of this, Ye Xi remained silent and sat calmly on the side, while A Ran patted her shoulder to signal for her to relax.

With the final needle placed by Murong Xiaoxiao, Shen Ji felt the sensation in his entire body vanish completely.

Even that last bit of numbness had disappeared.

At this moment, he felt an absolute silence in his heart, as if he were submerged in a boundless sea, with bone-piercing coldness coming from the depths of his soul.

If the past him had been sailing on a steady, large ship that isolated him from outside interference, then now, it was as if he had only been tossed a life buoy and left to drift in the ocean.

A boundless sense of confusion washed over his entire body.

He even began to forget his purpose for coming here, and at this moment, only one thought remained in his mind.

That was.

To go home—back to that world from before.

In that world, there were his family and his partners.

But ever since he arrived here, everything he had experienced in the past seemed to have nothing to do with him anymore.

Confusion, unwillingness, and resentment—all sorts of negative emotions began to intrude into the depths of Shen Ji’s soul.

“The lost lamb, have you forgotten the way back home?”

Above the surface of the sea, an ethereal voice descended.

Shen Ji fought to open his eyes, but there was nothing before him.

“Who is it?”

“The lost lamb, I am the Navigator who will lead you home. Are you willing to come home with me?”

The look of confusion in Shen Ji’s eyes grew heavier as he repeated two words over and over: “Home, home, home?”

The bone-piercing chill gradually vanished, and he felt as if he were wrapped in a warm current.

His intuition told him that he was moving—moving toward an unknown destination.

Was he really going home?

But was there truly a place for him in that world?

Without knowing when, Shen Ji suddenly found himself in tears, only because he realized he seemed to have forgotten something.

One figure after another in his mind began to blur, and this feeling became increasingly intense under the washing of that warm current.

“Don’t go, don’t any of you go!”

“I remember you!”

“The lost lamb, if you don’t turn back now, you will never be able to go back.”

“Let me go! Let me go!”

Shen Ji yelled at the top of his lungs.

“There are still people waiting for me there; I can’t go back just yet!”

“Then do you even remember, who it is that is waiting for you to return?”

Right, who could it be?

Was it that girl who barged into my life?

Or the girl who stuttered when she spoke?

Why, exactly, did they ever meet me?