How could this be...
Shi Jingyi had actually begun to form some suspicions when she saw Guan Tong covering his eyes and telling the others to stay away.
She remembered that Guan Tong had once told her before that his eyes felt uncomfortable, showing signs of fever.
At that time, the two of them had discussed the matter, and she had advised Guan Tong to use that power as little as possible.
Because fear, it seemed, was the nourishment required by that power originating from the Demon.
In other words, this power that fed on fear was not fixed at a certain level. The more fear it devoured, the stronger it would continuously grow.
And this battlefield before them...
Shi Jingyi swept her gaze across the scene. Those thousands of Suroma dead with expressions frozen in terror were enough to prove that all these people had died under this power.
It was likely because the fear absorbed in one go had been too overwhelming, causing this power to grow too rapidly. As a result, Guan Tong could now barely control it, and his eyes could not return to normal, remaining locked in the "Scarlet Eye" state.
Shi Jingyi looked at Guan Tong. She would not blame him for casting aside her earlier advice—that would be far too harsh a demand on him.
Moreover, she knew that the fact Guan Tong had managed to maintain his sense of self this time, without completely losing control, was already a display of remarkable restraint. He had already done more than enough.
"...It's alright." she said. "As for the problem with your eyes, we can solve it slowly."
As she spoke, she continuously channeled her own Mind Power into his body through her palm resting on his shoulder.
This served both to check for any other injuries on him and to calm the surging Mind Power within his body at this moment.
Shi Jingyi's words gradually eased Guan Tong's emotions, yet the scorching heat at his eyes barely diminished.
Earlier, within the Shadow Domain, driven by rage, he had done something he had never done before.
Because making all these enemies die in extreme terror was the price he wanted them to pay, but achieving that was no easy feat.
So in that instant, a kind of reverse thinking suddenly struck him.
All along, he had been having his Shadow share the Five Senses with him for reconnaissance or other purposes. But why couldn't he share his own Five Senses with the Shadow instead?
Since this sharing channel existed, it should support bidirectional connection.
So he shared his left eye, the "Scarlet Eye," with his Shadow. In an instant, that eye spread throughout the entire Shadow Domain, and no matter where anyone looked, they could not avoid it.
Perhaps influenced by his emotions, he hadn't felt any discomfort at the time. It wasn't until he had frantically destroyed all the mechs and robots, turning the battlefield into a dead silence, that he realized his eye was still maintained in the scarlet state.
He tried to stop using this power, but what happened was that after shutting it off, it automatically activated again, his eye constantly switching between normal and scarlet modes.
By now, he couldn't even switch anymore. His eye remained locked in scarlet mode.
"Hm...?"
At this moment, Shi Jingyi, who was focused on using Mind Power to examine Guan Tong's body, seemed to have discovered something.
"Little Tong, the Mind Power in your eye area is indeed very abnormal, as if there's some kind of external energy. But that energy is mostly concentrated in your left eye, with very little in your right eye."
Shi Jingyi paused, then seriously offered her advice: "Since that's the case, why not try to manipulate this power to concentrate on the left eye? Maybe it will relieve the symptoms in your right eye!"
If all this internal energy were gathered entirely into the right eye, the left eye would have no chance to recover... At least that way, one eye could return to normal, and daily life wouldn't be overly affected.
Guan Tong listened and carefully sensed it, finding that Shi Jingyi was right.
Perhaps because he had only shared the vision from his left eye with the Shadow back then, his left eye was more severely affected, while the right eye was relatively better off.
With that thought, he tried following Shi Jingyi's approach, concentrating this fear power into his left eye as much as possible.
After seven or eight consecutive attempts, there was finally some effect.
Although the discomfort in his left eye intensified somewhat, his right eye seemed much better. He tried to switch, looking down at the reflective surface of a mech wreckage's metal plate.
In the reflected image, his left eye was still a patch of scarlet, but his right eye had returned to normal, with clear black and white contrast.
"Right eye... it seems to have recovered..."
Guan Tong muttered softly, his emotions feeling like a roller coaster that had gone a full loop.
When he first discovered his eyes couldn't return to normal, he nearly lost his composure, because that meant he could never look at others normally again.
For humans, eye contact is extremely important.
Why is it that in so many moments, two people don't need to say a single word, yet merely by locking eyes they can understand each other? It's because human eyes can convey emotions at so many levels, with such delicate information.
If he lost this ability, he could still survive, of course, but he would lack an important means of emotional expression.
Guan Tong didn't want to lose this emotional conveyance. He didn't want to be unable to even make eye contact with Shi Jingyi... Fortunately, it hadn't come to that.
"Let me take a look at your right eye." Shi Jingyi said at this moment.
Guan Tong was somewhat nervous, afraid that his right eye would switch back to scarlet mode, but with Shi Jingyi's encouragement, he still covered only his left eye and slowly turned his head to look at her.
When he saw Shi Jingyi's face, the sourness in his heart that he couldn't vent burst forth in an instant, and the corners of his eyes grew moist.
"Alright, your right eye is fine now." Shi Jingyi said with a strained smile. "It seems that before we find a way to restore your left eye, we'll need to find you an eyepatch to wear."
An eyepatch...
A thought stirred in Guan Tong's mind. A shadow crawled up his cheek, transforming into the shape of an eyepatch to cover his left eye.
He lowered his hand that was covering his left eye: "Something like this should work, right?"
"Mm." Shi Jingyi nodded. "Your shape-shifting shadow is really convenient. This eyepatch looks just like the real thing."
She wanted to crack a joke to help Guan Tong relax, but looking at Guan Tong with only his right eye exposed, the corners of her lips pressed together, unable to muster a smile.
Guan Tong was also silent at this moment, lifting his head to watch the black rain falling from the sky. The smell of gunpowder smoke and blood mixed together, like a nightmare.
He lowered his head and glanced at the ring worn on his left hand.
He slowly stood up and said to Shi Jingyi, "Jingyi, I still need to go to Antu... to find that teleportation gate."
All the enemies in Bandzhen had been eliminated, but there were surely remaining Suroma troops in the rainforest and at the teleportation gate. And even if those people hadn't made it to the main battlefield, Guan Tong didn't intend to let a single one of them go.
"I heard from Silver Fox that the authorities have already sent troops there." Shi Jingyi looked at him with concern, then spoke somewhat firmly, "Little Tong, you must rest first. In your current condition, continuing to fight will only make things worse."
"..."
At this moment, Silver Fox and the other three standing in the distance saw that Guan Tong had stood up and seemed somewhat improved, so they all walked over again.
As they approached and saw the shadow eyepatch covering Guan Tong's left eye, they all froze for a moment.
Silver Fox hesitated for a moment before asking, "Guan Tong, your eye..."
"Injuries to the eye should be treated with surgery as soon as possible." Bai Xuewu suddenly said. "Why haven't you returned to Beixing yet?"
Yang Ran chimed in, "Yeah, it's better to go to the base for treatment!"
"The base does have the best medical equipment, and also the best Ascendants with healing abilities and items. They should be able to help you." Zhao Ming said.
The four of them all cared deeply about Guan Tong. Except for Zhao Ming, the others had all been on missions with him before, so they shared a long-standing friendship.
Moreover, the situation on site had once again updated their understanding of Guan Tong's combat power.
Destroying an entire Suroma legion with over a hundred heavy war mechs single-handedly—it was no exaggeration to say that in their eyes, Guan Tong was practically a human-shaped nuclear bomb now.
Someone like that, even if not a friend, was best not made an enemy.
"The condition of his eyes is somewhat special." Shi Jingyi explained. "Ordinary treatment methods probably won't be of much use."
Guan Tong remained silent, saying nothing.
"Well then..."
Silver Fox had just started to speak when she saw Guan Tong give a slight nod to Shi Jingyi, then spread his shadow wings from his back, his body rising into the air and flying off toward the southeast.
He knew he needed rest, but now was not the time to rest.
Seeing this, Silver Fox grew anxious and wanted to chase after him—after all, her task was to assist Guan Tong in safely evacuating.
But Shi Jingyi stopped her.
"Let him have some time alone. He knows his limits."
Shi Jingyi's heart had actually already relaxed once she confirmed that Guan Tong hadn't lost his emotional control.
She knew that as long as Guan Tong hadn't lost his rationality, there was no need to worry too much.
What she needed to do now was give him enough personal space, and then find a way to solve his eye problem together.