Chapter 69: She Waits for Him

You Xue was awakened again by the feeling of pain.

This time it was more direct and clearer, like a dense, intense pain caused by friction on the surface of her skin.

But when You Xue looked toward where the pain occurred, she could only see fair and smooth skin, without a single wound.

Fortunately, she could still endure this pain.

Then she got up from the bed, pulled open the bottom drawer of the bedside table, took out the painkillers inside, skillfully poured two into her hand, and swallowed them in one gulp.

‘Although I don’t know if painkillers can suppress pain from the spirit, taking two is definitely fine.’

She got out of bed cleanly.

After all, she didn’t want to relive the nightmare.

‘But… what should I do now?’

You Xue was uncertain.

She decided to sort out the current situation.

In the original story, the Nightmare Incident was not triggered by the Dark Crow Organization, but rather originated from the city’s high-ranking officials—specifically, Moonview City’s city lord, Jiang Chuan, and his desire for the power of dragons.

Within Moonview City, there was a secret institution dedicated to researching supernatural abilities and demon beasts while ignoring human ethics, named the Deep Prison Agency.

On the surface, it was an anomaly observation station under the city’s defense system, but in reality, it was a special laboratory used for human experiments, researching demon beast organ transplants, and investigating draconic powers.

In the original story, the Nightmare Incident was triggered by a Dream Mo that escaped from the laboratory.

This Dream Mo had been implanted with dragon blood, and it was one of the few experimental subjects in the Deep Prison Agency that could withstand dragon blood.

The Deep Prison Agency underestimated the effect of dragon blood on the Dream Mo, forcibly raising its power from that of a third-rank superpowered individual to a fourth-rank strength.

Many researchers were affected by the Dream Mo’s ability and fell into sleep.

The Dream Mo used this chaos to escape the Deep Prison Agency and wander into Moonview City.

Although You Xue had temporarily escaped the nightmare, as long as that Dream Mo remained, she still had the possibility of being captured back into the nightmare.

‘I wonder how Su Li is doing… He should be okay, right?’

‘After all, I came back safely, even if my spirit is a little damaged, it’s really nothing.’

‘But the later plot…’

The victims chosen by the Dream Mo were mostly those with supernatural ability energy who weren’t particularly powerful, so it could accumulate energy quickly.

Therefore, most of the victims of the Nightmare Incident were students.

That was why the powerful superpowered individuals were helpless against this incident—they simply couldn’t enter the dream.

After Su Li woke up, the Academy requested him to embed himself in the dream again.

Only by doing so could he cooperate with Xi Lin’s ability [Dream Guide of Huai’an] to locate the Dream Mo’s position in reality.

In exchange, the Academy promised to provide him with a batch of Magic Blockers that were extremely hard to obtain on the market.

To extend his childhood sweetheart’s life, he agreed to the Academy’s request.

After experiencing various events in the dream, the Academy successfully locked onto the Dream Mo’s real-world location.

That incident was then perfectly resolved.

But the current plot was already completely different.

You Xue found it hard to judge how this incident would end and whether Su Li should get involved.

She didn’t understand.

Too many things were becoming increasingly unclear.

For example, the strange priest at the end of the dream—she had no clue about that at all.

This was a real world.

The plot had already deviated from the original story’s track and was charging toward the unknown.

Thinking back to how she had confidently declared she would change this tragic story, she now felt she had been speaking nonsense.

In her previous life, she was someone who couldn’t do anything, having spent a worthless life on a hospital bed.

Under these circumstances, could she really believe she had the power to change the entire world?

‘…I can only keep on persisting.’

‘After all, there’s nothing meaningful for me to do.’

‘So, what should I do now?’

‘Wait.’

Su Li said he would come.

So You Xue decided to wait.

He would definitely come.

“Help?”

Su Li looked at Xi Lin in confusion.

She nodded seriously.

“Because so far, you are the first person to successfully wake up from the dream without losing your mind.”

Xi Lin’s eyes were earnest.

“As long as I attach my ability to your spirit and then dive into the dream where that demon beast devours spirits, I can locate it through my supernatural ability and then lock onto its precise coordinates in reality.”

Su Li listened quietly to her words.

“But I’m just a student. What if I encounter a situation I can’t handle?”

Cheng Yehai, standing nearby, chimed in.

“Right, right. This is too dangerous for students like us.”

“But…”

Anbian Du pondered for a moment.

“This is also the fastest way we can resolve this incident at present.”

Xi Lin lowered her tone and added.

“My ability is like a safety rope during rock climbing. Not only can it lock onto a location, but it can also pull your spirit back to a safe place when you’re in danger.”

Then Xi Lin lowered her head, her purple hair swaying.

“Although I can’t guarantee one hundred percent your safety, I promise you that as soon as there is any fluctuation in your spirit, regardless of whether this operation succeeds or not, I will pull you back from the dream at the first moment.”

At this moment, Anbian Du suddenly spoke.

“You are a student. We don’t want to put you in danger either, so if you refuse, I can understand. How about this: If you can cooperate with us to complete the plan, regardless of whether it succeeds in the end, the Academy will fulfill any reasonable request you make. Afterwards, the Academy can raise your resource allocation treatment to the same level as S-Rank, allowing you to grow faster.”

Su Li was silent for a moment.

He knew very well what S-Rank treatment meant: priority Ability Crystal quotas, access to higher-level Engraved Equipment, one-on-one guidance from a mentor…

But compared to the risk of possible death, he was still hesitant.

“I need to think about it…”

In the end, he didn’t explicitly say yes or no, and then explained.

“I’m a bit mentally exhausted right now. I need to recover first. Could I have some time to calm down and think it over properly?”

“Of course.”

Xi Lin nodded, her tone softer than before.

“This is only our request. Don’t put too much psychological burden on yourself. No matter what decision you make, the Academy will not make things difficult for you.”

So Su Li agreed to Xi Lin that he would give her his answer later, and then he and Cheng Yehai left the research building together.

“Cheng Yehai.”

After walking for a while toward the dormitories, Su Li stopped.

“What’s up, Brother Su?”

“I have some personal matters to take care of. You go back first.”

Cheng Yehai glanced at him, didn’t press further, and just nodded.

“Okay, I’ll head back then.”

Then he walked off toward You Xue’s dormitory.

He had to go find her.

He didn’t want You Xue to get hurt.