Beixing, Pinglu City.
Deep in the mountains, Guan Tong sat alone at the entrance of the shelter, his eyes closed in thought.
Coal Ball seemed to sense its owner's poor mood and obediently lay to the side, occasionally lifting its head for a look.
Uenoshi hadn't returned to Beixing with Guan Tong but had gone to Sakura Prayer Country to manage her own Serpent Hair Society.
Before parting, the two had connected to the Mind Network, making communication much more convenient.
As for his phone, since it had been destroyed by the laser, he didn't plan on getting a new one.
After all, the few people he trusted most could currently be contacted through the Mind Network. For others like Chen Na and Xu Xiaotian, he planned to use private messages on Ascendant Home to reach them until they broke through.
This way, he could ensure maximum safety.
But more than these concerns, he now needed to plan what he should do.
An eye for an eye was a must.
If he hadn't had a crucial life-saving item this time, Guan Tong didn't know if he would have actually died—the probability was high.
He knew he had to blame himself for this too.
He admitted that at the moment of success, when he heard that "the bright moon has stopped rising," he had let his guard down and relaxed, failing to use Body Swap to leave immediately as originally planned.
But how could he have imagined that while doing something entirely beneficial for everyone, without infringing on anyone else's interests, he would be hit with a lethal attack?
When he first woke up, facing Uenoshi, he hadn't shown much anger. But he knew that from the moment that laser fired, there were things he had to do.
"Guan Tong, have you returned to Beixing?"
Shi Jingyi's voice rang out in his mind.
Guan Tong had previously told those he cared about that he was still alive, but he hadn't gone into much detail. Some things he planned to do alone, without involving anyone else.
But Shi Jingyi was, in his heart, the most special existence of all.
"I'm back," he replied through the Mind Network. "In the mountains."
Shi Jingyi: "Can we meet?"
Guan Tong: "...Alright. Where?"
Shi Jingyi: "How about Cangying Ridge? I know you don't want others to know you're in Pinglu right now."
Guan Tong still remembered Cangying Ridge. It had originally been a tourist attraction, then became a base for wilderness survival groups, and later, after a murder case involving academy student conflict, it was completely abandoned.
He agreed and said he would be there in half an hour.
As expected, the mountain path at Cangying Ridge was completely overgrown due to lack of maintenance, buried under weeds. It looked like no one had been there for at least six months.
After climbing the mountain, he found Shi Jingyi had already arrived. She stood on a large stone slab at a precarious point on the ridge, gazing into the distance.
Hearing his approach, she turned to look. Her white robes fluttered in the wind.
Guan Tong walked over and, for a moment, didn't know what to say. He could only manage, "How have you been lately?"
"I should be the one asking you that," Shi Jingyi said. Her aura was noticeably stronger than before. Even without actively channeling, the powerful shield formed by her Mind Power flowed continuously around her body.
Guan Tong thought to himself that she must have grown much stronger again.
"Do you know who did it?"
"No."
"Why would they do something like this?"
"They probably see me as a potential threat."
"A potential threat?" Shi Jingyi raised an eyebrow. "If they'd do something like this for that reason, then they're truly despicable."
...
Shi Jingyi stared at Guan Tong.
The first time she met him, she knew he was someone young but burdened with heavy thoughts. Now, she felt his burdens were even heavier.
"What are you planning to do now?"
"I..." Guan Tong lifted his gaze. Facing Shi Jingyi, he didn't want to hide his true thoughts. "I want to use Shadow to kill them all."
Shi Jingyi's lips pressed together slightly.
"Guan Tong..."
"Can't you see? They've already become devoted believers in the quota list theory. They think anyone who might compete with them for a slot is an enemy, a threat, someone to eliminate one by one!"
"I might be one of their biggest competitors, but after they get rid of me, it'll be someone else. Uenoshi, Chen Na, and you—do you think they'll let any of you go?"
Guan Tong couldn't help but be agitated. He truly hated these people.
"As long as these people live, others will suffer. So it's better to let me kill them all, and then..."
As Guan Tong spoke, the Shadow on his body became increasingly unstable, occasionally condensing into sharp spikes and pitch-black Shadow Blades.
Shi Jingyi's brows furrowed. She abruptly raised her hand and pressed down on his shoulder, snapping, "Calm down! Can't you sense that your power is at risk of going out of control?"
"I..."
Guan Tong, jolted by Shi Jingyi's reprimand, suddenly realized the changes in the Shadow. He too was shocked.
"What's going on? I didn't even manipulate them."
"Sit down!"
Shi Jingyi forcibly pushed Guan Tong down, making him sit on the stone slab. She then sat cross-legged in front of him and placed her hands on his wrists.
"Your Mind Power is extremely chaotic. Let me help regulate it. Don't resist."
"Alright... sorry for the trouble."
At this moment, Guan Tong had to admit that there was indeed something wrong with his body.
Shi Jingyi channeled her Mind Power into Guan Tong's body but was immediately met with resistance, as if it was completely beyond his control.
With her superb technique, she neutralized each attack one by one, gradually calming the mania raging within Guan Tong's Mind Power.
Once the situation stabilized, she continued regulating him while asking, "Has this happened before?"
"Before... it happened once."
Guan Tong remembered it clearly. That time, he and Shi Jingyi had been attacked by long-range missiles mobilized by "Big Sister" Jiang Lanying.
Shi Jingyi had been severely injured and unconscious. He had felt himself completely lose control as the Shadow went berserk, transforming into countless twisted monsters. That was also the first time he had used Shadow Domain in actual combat, annihilating that squad of Death Warriors in an unspeakably brutal manner.
He hadn't dwelled on that incident much afterward, thinking it was just an emotional lapse in control. But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Why is this happening? Did the last time also occur because you were attacked?" Shi Jingyi was deeply puzzled. "I've never seen an Ascendant unable to control their own Mind Power."
"The last time was indeed because of an attack too, but I don't understand why. Unless..."
Guan Tong suddenly thought of something, his face turning pale.
"What is it?"
"It's not the Mind Power—it's the Shadow. It... it died twice not long ago."
"Guan Tong, what are you talking about?"
Shi Jingyi couldn't understand at all. What did "the Shadow died twice" mean? Wasn't it Guan Tong's own ability?
"The way I stopped the bright moon was by having the Shadow materialize inside it," Guan Tong explained. "But the moment the Shadow materialized, the enormous mass effect of the bright moon simultaneously completely destroyed it!"
"...You mean, because the Shadow was completely destroyed—or rather, killed—twice by the bright moon, it's become unstable?"
That's very likely. Because last time...
Guan Tong recalled the previous Shadow rampage. That too had been triggered by a missile attack that nearly completely destroyed it.
But...
The question in his mind was voiced by Shi Jingyi.
"Why would it become unstable because of 'death'? Guan Tong, do you actually believe... that your Shadow possesses life?"
Guan Tong's heart trembled.
He suddenly remembered the first two characters he had written on the first page of the Wordless Book. They weren't "Shadow."
They were "Guan Tong."