Chapter 185: Chapter 185 – Battle in the Night

“It first started raining in Tianjing, and gradually, it started raining in all the other parts of the nation.”

“The same phenomenon had been observed in London, Tokyo, Sydney, Rio, and New York. It first started raining in these cities before it spread to other parts of the respective countries and even overseas. Due to the variation in the amount of cumulonimbus clouds in the sky, some cities experienced a heavy downpour, while some experienced only a light drizzle. It did not rain in certain cities, but as a whole, the phenomenon is in line with the trend we expected from our current observations,” a researcher said.

Ren said, “Just like Tianjing, the six cities whose Reiki Veins had already been activated suddenly became six stones which were thrown into a lake and formed ripples…”

Upon hearing Ren Throne’s metaphor of the phenomenon, all the researchers nodded in agreement and said, “That’s indeed the case.”

The researcher continued, “At the same time, we found that the average Reiki energy level measured at all 13 local and 29 international Reiki Observation Stations have been increasing gradually.”

Ren Throne looked at the wallpaper on his computer screen and said, “Is this what happens when all of the Reiki Veins around the world are activated at the same time…”

The researchers replied, “Indeed, today is also the deadline our pangolin comrade gave us. We expect a wave of people awakening in the next few days. Many people would be exposed to high concentrations of Reiki and hence, be Awakened.”

“Amongst those who are already Awakened, some of them may be fortunate enough to be Awakened once more, and their individual Awakened Ability would be enhanced to the next level. The first few days after the Reiki Vein of Xuan Nation was first activated, there were already a few of such lucky souls.”

Ren Throne wanted to say something but remained silent in the end.

He felt that the current situation did not seem like activations of Reiki Veins, but more like…

The activated Spirit Veins were activating those which were yet to be activated? It felt as if the rich were supporting the others to be rich?

However, such speculation was inconsistent with the facts as stated by Nine-tailed Fox of the Heavenly Palace. Ren Throne deliberated over it and decided not to raise his point—there was no need to complicate the problem further than it already was.

He did not want the government to have a prejudice against the Heavenly Palace when they had talks with them because of that reason. He wanted to meet people from the Heavenly Palace, and it would be best if he could meet Nine-tailed Fox.

Most importantly, he wanted to meet Naisser Ren.

————————

“You’ve got to learn the hard way if you don’t listen to your elders.”

Ren Suo squatted down in the passageway as he looked at the unconscious Gu Yueyan on the floor in front of him. He was completely speechless.

On her own accord, she rushed into the house looking for someone.

On her own accord, she opened the door to the room.

On her own accord, she was frightened by dozens of cockroaches.

On her own accord, she knocked against the wall and fell unconscious.

Are high school students these days all so capable of execution? Ren Suo recalled that back when he was in high school, he could only take a glance at his eye-candy openly when the entire school was engaging in radio calisthenics.

The problem now was what Ren Suo should do with Gu Yueyan.

It was not possible for him to send her to the school hospital—Ren Suo felt that if he carried the drenched Gu Yueyan there, he would not stand a chance to flirt with the young nurses there anymore.

Moreover, there was no need for him to do so, for he could treat her alone.

However, he wanted to try out his newly acquired ability first.

[Target type: Adult female, Human, a Primate]

[Physical condition: Traumatic injury to the hindbrain; in a special state]

[Progress of Practice: Tier 1, 33% (You have surpassed 99% of the world’s upright apes!)]

[Hindbrain: Strong impact suffered, using [Touch of Recovery] or [Ability: Heal] is recommended to effectively alleviate the condition]

[Core temperature: Currently wearing wet and cold clothes, remaining in this state for a long time may result in a cold. Taking the clothes off is recommended, wearing a clean set of dry clothes is optional]

…

What the hell, this girl was already 33% into her Practice as a tier 1 Practitioner!

Ren Suo himself was only 36% into tier 1! Moreover, the amount of time since Ren Suo started Practicing was at least twice that of Gu Yueyan!

He finally had a perfectly objective understanding of the definition of his ‘extremely poor talent’.

However, Gu Yueyan was not an adult yet, why was she called an ‘adult female’?

Ren Suo thought, ‘The definition of adulthood in nature should be… the ability to obtain food independently? Or was it the ability to live independently, away from one’s parents? Otherwise, was it the ability to reproduce?

Nonetheless, in the description for each body part, there were actually suggestions involving the abilities Ren Suo could utilize to treat her. It appeared that the ‘data stream’ would also give professional advice based on the abilities Ren Suo possessed.

The only piece of information Ren Suo could not understand was what was meant by ‘in a special state’ in the ‘physical condition’ category? He pondered over it for a moment but decided not to think too much into it—it was perfectly normal for girls to have special conditions.

Ren Suo supported the back of Gu Yueyan’s head with his right hand and activated [Ability: Heal]. A ball of bright but not blinding white light emerged from his right hand and gradually seeped into the back of Gu Yueyan’s head.

He had not treated unconscious patients before, and neither did he know to what extent he should heal her. When he treated patients previously, he based the extent of treatment on inspecting visually and asking questions to understand their conditions.

Nevertheless, Ren Suo now possessed the ability of the data stream and could switch between the abilities to check if Gu Yueyan had recovered. In that way, he would not deplete all of his Reiki energy unnecessarily.

After five minutes, Ren Suo found that information about Gu Yueyan’s hindbrain injury had disappeared from the data stream, but she was still unconscious. Her breathing remained steady, so she must not have been putting up an act.

Ren Suo scratched his head and muttered to himself, “Tch… I should call Lin Xianyu to pick up this body…”

After all, Lin Xianyu was one of the few students Ren Suo was close to, and she did not seem like a blabbermouth. Moreover, he could silence her by treating her.

As for explaining the situation, he could leave it to Gu Yueyan.

However, before Ren Suo could even make a call to Lin Xianyu, his doorbell rang again.

“Ding Dong.”

“Ding Dong.”

“Ding Dong.”

The doorbell rang thrice in succession, but Ren Suo remained very calm and silent.

No matter who was the one outside the door pressing the doorbell, he certainly would not answer it. In the house of an adult male named Ren Suo, there appeared a drenched and unconscious high school student named Gu Yueyan…

Wow, it was thrilling just by thinking about such a scene.

Click.

Ren Suo, with a Practice progress of tier 1, 36%, and who had the high physical capabilities of someone who practiced the “Secret Records of Glorious Xuan”, possessed an acute sense of hearing. Amidst the pitter-patter of the pouring rain outside, he heard the sound of metal rubbing against each other–

Why was the person outside opening his door on his own?!

Wait, Ren Suo recalled that he had not closed his door just now, in order to avoid making himself open to suspicion. However, there was a wind coming from the passageway, and the wooden door on the inside must have been slammed shut. As for the security door on the outside, it might have only been partially shut as the wind was not strong enough.

The security door could not be opened from the outside, but the wooden door could be opened as long as it was not locked.

“Hold on! I am changing!” Ren Suo bellowed.

That was the only thing he could do to prevent the person outside from walking right into his house. There was no way it was Lin Xianyu who so coincidentally came to find him at that time.

He definitely could not ruin his positive reputation just because of Gu Yueyan.

The person outside stopped in his tracks, and Ren Suo took the opportunity to pick Gu Yueyan up from the floor and quickly walked to his bedroom.

He had to hide her for a few minutes while he dealt with the person who was outside. Open spaces like the living room were definitely not an option, and the guest room with a pile of dead cockroaches was not possible either. The only option left was his bedroom.

Should I leave her on the bed? Ren Suo thought as he looked at the drenched Gu Yueyan.

Ew.

He was disgusted by the damp clothes on the pretty young girl’s body, so he shoved Gu Yueyan under his bed. The floor of his bedroom was laid with coral velvet rugs which he cleaned often, so they were not dirty. It was most worthy of Gu Yueyan.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Ren Suo said.

Ren Suo hurried over and opened the door. The next moment, however, he was dumbfounded.

“Why do you all like to stroll in the rain and then visit my house?” Ren Suo asked.

“You all?” Qiao Muyi questioned in a strange tone as she walked into his house. She was drenched all over, but Ren Suo would have been unable to stop the second tier Practitioner from entering anyway.

Ren Suo quickly changed the topic and said, “No, I used the wrong pronoun… It’s already late, what brings you here?”

“I just ended work, so I rushed over to tell you something. Who would have known that it would start raining just as I was about to reach,” Qiao Muyi replied as she remained standing in the living room to wipe the rainwater off her face and hair with a tissue.

Ren Suo was helpless and asked, “What is it that you cannot tell me over the phone?”

“Well, it’s because this is a very important matter, and I felt that it would lack sincerity if I told you over the phone since I am actually making use of you…”

Qiao Muyi looked around the living room and asked, “Did Dong Chengling look for you these few days?”

“No, why?” Ren Suo replied with a shrug.

Qiao Muyi said, “Well, it’s about Dong Chengling.”

“Indeed… Nevermind, you should finish what you were saying, but keep the long story as short as possible. What happened to Dong Chengling?” Ren Suo asked as he took a glance towards the bedroom. He felt as if Dong Chengling was the main character of the entire world. Why was everything related to her?

Qiao Muyi began, “The Lianjiang Countermeasure Division…”

Ren Suo looked at the bedroom as he waited for Qiao Muyi to finish what she wanted to say. However, after waiting for a while, Qiao Muyi still did not continue telling the story.

He turned to look at Qiao Muyi, only to find her trembling while squatting down and clutching her head. It was as if she had caught a cold.

“What’s the matter? Did you catch a cold?!” asked Ren Suo, slightly stunned.

“How is that possible, I am a second-tier Practitioner…” Qiao Muyi replied.

She exhaled an icy cold breath and continued, “It’s just because of some special reasons that made me extremely vulnerable now… If I continue wearing these clothes there might be undesirable consequences for me…”

“May I use your bathroom for a while? I also need a clean, dry set of clothes, it doesn’t matter if it’s yours!”

Ren Suo asked, “Is it very urgent? This is my house though, you…”

Qiao Muyi nodded and said, “It’s crucial. It’s related to my Awakened Ability!”

Considering that Qiao Muyi made such a request even though she was a female in a guy’s house and that it was related to her Awakened Ability which was the most important skill to possess in this new era, Ren Suo could not bear to refuse.

He went into his bedroom to retrieve a set of clothes and took a glance at Gu Yueyan who was under the bed.

Great, she was still fast asleep. ‘Please keep up the good work’, he urged in his heart.

Ren Suo could only hope that Gu Yueyan would not wake up before Qiao Muyi changed her clothes and left.

Qiao Muyi went into the bathroom immediately after getting a set of clothes from Ren Suo. In huge contrast with her usual self who would tease and annoy Ren Suo for no particular reason, Qiao Muyi did not say anything but only took a glance at Ren Suo before entering the bathroom.

Determination shone through the depths of her glance—her eyes shone beautifully like Dong Chengling’s—indicating that she was being serious.

Ren Suo immediately raised his hands in protest and said, “I will definitely not go near the bathroom.”

Ren Suo sat in the living room and listened to the clattering of the heavy rain outside and the trickle of water falling from the shower in his house. Somehow, he felt that something was amiss that night.

‘Tonight… is this the time when the Reiki Treasures around the world would be activated?’ Ren Suo thought. He pondered for a moment and confirmed his guess.

He thought, ‘Regardless, what does this have to do with me, a ruthless gamer?’

“Through the days and nights, as I tear the heavens apart, glorious light will shine and cleanse even the specks of dust on earth~”

Ren Suo’s mobile phone rang.

However, Ren Suo was relieved—at least, it was his mobile phone that rang, not the doorbell.

Ren Suo looked at the caller ID of the incoming call and found that it was an unknown number. He said, “Hello?”

“Ren Suo, I’m Dong Chengling,” the reply came from the other end of the line.

Ren Suo blinked. He replied, “… Good evening, have you eaten?”

“Yes, I have taken my dinner. What about you?” Dong Chengling asked happily.

“Not yet…” Ren Suo replied. It was only then that he remembered that he had missed his dinner time as he was playing around with [Data Stream].

“That’s great. It’s raining heavily in Lianjiang today, were you caught in the rain outside?” Dong Chengling asked.

What do you mean by “that’s great”?

Ren Suo replied without much thought, “No, I’m in my room in the teacher’s dormitory building.”

“That’s great,” Dong Chengling said.

A chill ran down Ren Suo’s spine upon hearing her reply. He felt as if the lonely souls and homeless ghosts of Sanzu River would emerge from the television, the Demon King from the Seven Hells would emerge from the kitchen, and the demons and monsters who decimated the lands would emerge from the balcony at any moment…

Ren Suo shuddered as chills ran through his entire body from the depths of his soul. The erector muscles of the hair on his skin contracted, giving him goosebumps, and his blood vessels dilated.

Dong Chengling said, “I am right outside your dorm room. I brought some dishes over, let’s eat together.”