Chapter 67: Sixty-seven spirits, Deep links.

When Ning Li and Yuanzi reunited with the others, Yin Que was walking alone down a narrow corridor.

Ting Rui folded his arms behind his head.

“Commander, K’s been insisting on seeing you.”

Yin Que didn’t slow his pace.

“Then let’s go see him.”

The place where K was being held was a custom-made room, finely furnished and fully equipped, with a private bathroom, a bar, and an audio-visual room.

Aside from the lack of windows, it was no different from a hotel presidential suite.

As soon as the door opened, K launched an attack, but Pei Yujiao blocked it effortlessly.

K’s gaze darkened.

There was equipment in this room that suppressed his Spiritual Companion; here, he could only muster a quarter of his usual strength.

Otherwise, how could a brat like Pei Yujiao act so cocky in front of him?

Yin Que hadn’t put him in a prison, but this place was hardly any better.

At least a prison had fellow inmates; here, he was all alone.

He hadn’t seen Ning Li for two days now.

K’s face was gloomy, his eyes mocking.

“Yin Que, you despicable bastard! They’ve all been fooled by you!”

“Them?”

Yin Que sat down on the sofa in the living room, Ting Rui and Pei Yujiao standing to his left and right behind him.

As an Experiment Subject, K was no fool.

He knew how to judge the situation and wouldn’t fight head-on when at a disadvantage—a lesson learned from years surviving under the hands of Researchers.

“People in history were all deceived by you. Or did you change after your resurrection?”

Yin Que rested both hands on his knees, back straight.

He wore the Commander’s specially tailored uniform, an exclusive design in sharp black-and-white contrast, making his already handsome face even more striking.

He remained gentle and composed as ever.

Compared to K’s agitation, his calm was almost too much—precisely what K hated most: his emotional stability.

Because it only made K look irrational and lacking composure, always one step below Yin Que.

“How do the History Books record me?”

K let out a cold laugh and sat down on the sofa across from him, crossing one leg over the other in a carefree, unruly posture.

In contrast, Yin Que sat so properly it looked like he was attending some international summit.

“The History Books say you were gentle in your methods, that you showed compassion to the world—even to every flower and leaf. That you were one of the rare Commanders who blessed the people. But compassion? Ha!”

“Would compassion put me here?”

“What did I do, Yin Que?”

Yin Que’s gaze was steady.

“You all misunderstand me.”

The public put him on a pedestal, draping him with every sort of halo.

He had never regretted risking his life to protect tens of thousands of people, but that act was exactly what, in others’ eyes, added the Crown of Divinity to him.

He wasn’t that great.

Now, he too had his own selfish desires.

He still loved this world, loved every lovely being living in it, and he would still do everything to protect the weak, fighting on the front lines, never retreating—but some things had changed.

At the very least, the pure Spirit Pearl had become a thing of history.

“You’re being held here because you’ve been classified as a dangerous individual in need of strict control.”

K stared in disbelief.

“Ha? Blowing up the lab was a Principal Action with the boss! Why don’t you lock her up with me too?”

If Yin Que put Ning Li in with him, he wouldn’t even bother to complain!

Why the double standard?

This just made the Commander look even more two-faced!

Yin Que glanced at him; he didn’t say a word, yet seemed to say everything.

That look!

That look drove K mad!

All sense and caution were thrown out the window—he only wanted to have a good fight with Yin Que.

And as it happened, Yin Que was just as willing.

Neither of them used their Spiritual Companions; it was pure physical combat.

The sound of fists cutting through the air, the solid impacts, all made Ting Rui’s teeth ache.

He couldn’t help but glance at Pei Yujiao.

No wonder they say ginger gets spicier with age.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head—Pei Yujiao remained utterly unruffled, as if even a mountain collapsing wouldn’t faze him.

The Commander is actually brawling with someone!

How are you not surprised?!

Ting Rui muttered under his breath, “When I met the Commander, he was almost an adult. I heard he always stuck to etiquette since childhood—polite and steady, the teachers’ model student. Even at his most rebellious, the worst he did was stay up late playing games for a week. After that, he barely touched games again.”

Such self-restraint and discipline, always gentle and calm both in public and private, inside and out—yet here he was, fighting with someone!

Pei Yujiao kept his eyes fixed on Yin Que and K.

Both were top-tier Sentinels; a clash at this level might never be seen again after this.

He watched closely, learning from both, and quietly replied, “K kidnapped someone for over two months.”

Though the Commander never showed it, how could he possibly not mind?

If Xiao Hei hadn’t stayed by the Commander’s side, and if K weren’t relatively harmless, the Commander probably wouldn’t have held back this long.

This fight had likely been brewing for a while.

Ting Rui scratched his head; he never imagined he’d live to see such an irrational side of the Commander.

The brawl ended with Yin Que’s victory—K was so beaten he couldn’t even get up.

K’s combat skills all came from actual battles—he was wild and self-taught.

Yin Que, on the other hand, had famous teachers since childhood, with no fewer than a dozen combat instructors.

He absorbed the strengths of all and developed his own system through real combat.

Exceptional talent, combined with selfless guidance from numerous mentors, gave Yin Que the edge over K.

***

Ning Li.

After the fight, both his face and body were bruised.

K had hit hard, but Yin Que gave as good as he got.

After leaving K’s room, Yin Que planned to spend a couple of days alone, at least until his facial injuries were less noticeable before going to see her.

But Ning Li didn’t give him that chance.

After reuniting with Yuanzi and the others, she came looking for him.

She waited in his usual office for about half an hour before he came in, chatting with Ting Rui and the rest.

“Move those things to…”

He broke off abruptly the moment he saw Ning Li.

She’d been looking at her wristband, and on hearing him, asked instinctively, “Move them where?”

Only then did she look up and see the bruises on the left and blood on the right of Yin Que’s face.

Ting Rui was pressing an ice pack to his injuries.

She froze for a moment.

“What happened to you?”

Yin Que, always so calm and restrained, couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward.

He hadn’t fought at fifteen, but here he was at twenty-five, behaving even more recklessly.

“You fought with K?”

The bruises on his face were unmistakably K’s handiwork—she knew K’s fighting style all too well.

“We just sparred a bit,” Yin Que said, brushing it off.

Ting Rui and Pei Yujiao exchanged a glance and tactfully slipped out.

Ning Li sat beside Yin Que, leaning in to examine his injuries up close, their breath almost mingling as she assessed his condition.

If his face looked like that, his body was likely even worse.

She knew K’s strength.

And besides, K always had issues with Yin Que—neither of them would’ve held back.

K and she were both perfect Experiment Subjects.

The imperfect ones were either destroyed, went mad, or died.

Only the two of them had survived.

She sometimes questioned K’s EQ and IQ, but never his ability.

“You won?”

“Yeah.”

It was a hard-fought win, but a win nonetheless.

At least K was the one lying down, while he was still standing.

When Ning Li didn’t speak, Yin Que coughed lightly.

“I’m fine.”

“K hits… dirty. If you don’t treat your wounds now, they’ll only get worse in a few days.”

Yin Que turned to look at her.

“Aren’t you going to ask how he’s doing?”

Ning Li trusted him—he had a sense of proportion, and wouldn’t kill K.

As long as K wasn’t dead, there was nothing to worry about.

“No need to ask.”

Yin Que’s lips twitched upward, just a little, but he found it hard to suppress.

“Yin Que, let’s Deep Link,” Ning Li said suddenly.

Yin Que was about to take a sip of water.

At her words, his hand shook, sloshing water out of the cup.

But he didn’t care about that now.

“Ning Li, are you… sure?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

A Deep Link between a Guide and a Sentinel only occurred between those with extremely close relationships—like spouses or lovers.

Ning Li had entered other Sentinels’ Spirit Landscapes before, but she’d only ever healed their surface-level problems, never delved deeper.

She wouldn’t—and couldn’t—go deep into other Sentinels’ Spirit Landscapes.

A Deep Link was also a way for a Guide to heal a Sentinel.

It was more private, more secretive.

In a sense, it was no different from the “divine union” described in cultivation novels.

In that instant, both people’s thoughts, emotions, and memories would be shared.

So, even between couples or lovers, not everyone would choose to Deep Link, because it meant having no secrets.

Deep Linking required mutual trust and loyalty; it was a test of one’s character.

But the benefits were obvious.

A Surface Link could only heal mental issues, not physical wounds.

A Deep Link could do both.

For injuries like Yin Que’s, a single Deep Link could fix everything.

Seeing that Yin Que hesitated, Ning Li understood.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine…”

“I want to!”

Yin Que hadn’t responded at first only because he was too surprised.

“I do.”

How much memory would be shared?

But the sea of memories was vast; many memories were buried deep in the Spirit Landscape and hard to reach.

He would do his best not to peek into her memories and would pretend not to know her secrets unless she brought them up herself.

Ning Li didn’t think much of it.

Every second of memory was hidden deep in one’s Spirit Landscape.

Finding secrets among countless memory bubbles wasn’t so easy.

Her greatest secrets were buried deep.

A first Deep Link wouldn’t reach that far.

“Then, let’s begin, Yin Que.”

“Alright.”

Yin Que closed his eyes, completely opening up his Spirit Landscape, letting Ning Li’s spiritual power enter.