Chapter 9: Return to Yuyuan
1371 Words
The feather-gray sea surface is like a wet nightmare, without wind or waves, but it hides some kind of violent mental shock. Evelyn's consciousness seemed to be stripped of her body and suspended in this deep "Yuyuan" space.
She heard the voice again-
"Return to Yuyuan... my contractor."
The voice was low, ancient, and seemed to be made by the friction of countless feathers. It was like some kind of god sealed in sleep, tearing the reality with the last trace of mental connection.
"Who... are you?" Evelyn tried to stabilize her mind and tried to locate the source of the voice in this mental space.
However, the only response to her was the dense and endlessly growing black feathers around her.
They swam strangely in the air, like a feather-like parasitic thought, trying to erode her consciousness.
[Divine Seal Resonance: 72%. ] [The mental resistance threshold is about to be overloaded. 】 【The main monitoring officer's authority is intervening...】
A series of system prompts flashed in her spiritual sea of consciousness like a tide.
Just as the black feather approached, a strong light fell from the air, tearing the entire Yuyuan like a sharp blade.
"Evelyn, evacuate the thinking domain!"
Cyrus's voice was like a cold command, pouring into her core of consciousness.
The next second, her nerves suddenly shook, and she was forcibly pulled out of the illusory Yuyuan space, and her consciousness returned to reality.
She opened her eyes suddenly, cold sweat had soaked her shirt, and her fingertips were trembling slightly.
There was still a faint mental aftershock in the air, and Cyrus stood by her bed, one hand on the silver-black adapter, and the other hand tightly grasped the seal light pattern that appeared in the palm of his palm.
"Can you hear me?" he asked in a low voice.
Evelyn nodded, her throat dry: "I saw... Yu Yuan, and another face."
"That's not your illusion." Cyrus said in a cold tone, "There is a physical entity trying to remotely invade your divine seal core."
"Who is it?"
"We don't know either." He paused, his voice slightly lowered, "but its mental fingerprint comes from the long-forbidden 'old body code' - Black Crow."
Evelin's eyebrows twitched slightly.
She knew a little from Alpha's information that the so-called "Black Crow" was a type of "deep out-of-control person" that Alpha had arrested a hundred years ago. They were corrupted by the old god contract, their minds were completely dehumanized, and they had the ability to pollute reality.
And the Black Crow - is one of the most dangerous mutants.
"You mean, there are descendants of the Black Crow lurking outside, and they are targeting me?" She tried to make her voice more stable.
"Not just lurking," Cyrus looked at her, his eyes rarely carrying a hint of worry, "it... is calling you."
"Calling?"
"That Yuyuan is not a simple illusion, but a remnant of some divine channel. Your divine seal is not completely closed, and its response to the old acquaintance band is much stronger than we imagined."
Evelyn was silent for a moment, and suddenly looked up: "What if I don't respond?"
"It will keep trying." Cyrus turned and walked to the console, "until you respond."
"What if I respond?"
He paused and whispered: "You are no longer you."
The room fell into silence.
Just then, there was a knock outside the door.
"Report, the system layer found an unregistered signal intrusion log, and the source is located in 'Yuehen Port'."
"Yuehen Port?" Cyrus' eyes moved, "Isn't that an important base of your family in the southern region?"
Evelyn's face changed slightly.
"Indeed. My uncle controls that port, and there is also an underground feather crystal warehouse... You suspect..."
"The Black Crow may have called more than once." Cyrus said in a deep voice, "It may have bypassed you and tried to use someone you are familiar with as a 'bridge'."
Evelyn's heart tightened.
She recalled the black feather figures that had never appeared in her consciousness but reappeared in her dreams on the top of Feather Gray Mountain that day - they did not come out of thin air, but some kind of subconscious warning.
"I want to go to Moonscar Port."
"No, you are unstable now." Cyrus refused bluntly, "Your God Seal band may be activated again at any time. Going there rashly is equivalent to exposing you to unknown risks."
"But if I don't go, those people... my family, they will be in danger."
Cyrus stared at her and was silent for a few seconds.
"I'll go with you."
He finally said.
…
The next day, Evelyn and Cyrus boarded the Alpha-exclusive "Daywalker" train and set off for Moonscar Port on the southern border.
On the way, the train passed through a large area washed by "spiritual erosion". Outside the window was an endless plain of feather bones, strangely white, as if the whole world was covered by a mountain of corpses with fallen feathers.
Evelyn looked out the window and suddenly asked, "Have you seen a black crow before?"
Cyrus did not turn his head: "Yes."
"What does it feel like?"
"Like seeing another self."
"What do you mean?"
"Because it knows what you are afraid of, it will use your dreams, memories, love and hate to weave countless wings, and create an illusion that will never go out in your consciousness."
"How did you escape from it?"
"I didn't escape." Cyrus said calmly, "That time, it felt that I was "not worthy of the contract."
Evelin was stunned.
She suddenly realized that the man in front of her, regarded as an "iron-blooded psychic" by Alpha, had approached the deep sea of Yuyuan earlier than her.
He did not fall asleep, but walked out of the nightmare and became the "divine seal container" in another direction.
...
It was dusk when the train arrived at Yuehen Port.
This port city has a complex structure: the old city is built along the hillside, consisting of white-walled cottages made of layers of feather crystals; and the new city is the experimental blockade area transformed by Alpha, which is completely wrapped by the mental barrier.
Evelyn returned to the family villa on the top floor of the old city. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, a middle-aged man came forward.
"Miss Evelyn... You are finally back." The other party had a complicated expression, with restrained joy in his eyes.
"Uncle Hawke." She recognized this loyal butler who had been taken care of by him since childhood.
"The head of the family just left a few days ago, saying that he was going to a 'hidden meeting', but he didn't tell me the details. A few days ago, the other courtyard suddenly lost the signal, and I thought it was attacked. Fortunately... you are safe."
Evelyn glanced at the courtyard and suddenly found a faint feather crystal fragment somewhere.
She squatted down, touched it with her fingertips, and a familiar but cold divine seal wave penetrated into her palm.
She raised her head: "Here... someone has activated the 'low-level black feather seal'."
Cyrus also squatted down to check and nodded to confirm: "The remaining structure belongs to the secret technique of the old feather clan, which has a one-way peeping function. It seems that your uncle may have already come into contact with something... that should not be touched."
Evelyn stood up, with a cold light in her eyes.
"I'm going to the feather crystal warehouse."
"Let's go." Cyrus responded concisely.
But just as the two turned around, a strange black shadow suddenly jumped up from a corner of the courtyard!
It was a man wearing a torn feather robe and with a blurred face. His hands were wrapped with black feather prints, but his body showed the familiar spiritual curves of Evelyn.
"Uncle?" She recognized the path of the spiritual flow in an instant and could hardly believe it.
The man let out a low roar that was almost like a beast: "Return to... my feather abyss."
The black feathers surged, and the entire night seemed to be torn apart.
And Evelyn's divine seal trembled violently at this moment!
- Writer
