Chapter 117

Chapter 19: Found the Person

　　It was raining heavily, splashing onto the narrow path in the mountainous area.

　　Normally, this kind of weather isn’t suitable for driving, but Ting Ting didn’t care at all. Once she got into the car, she stepped on the gas pedal and drove as fast as possible.

　　That distance had been extremely stressful for her earlier, and now her foot kept shaking as she pressed the accelerator, wanting to leave this desolate mountain as quickly as possible.

　　In the back seat, Yuan Xiaoling felt the increasing speed of the car and hesitated to speak.

　　”No worries,” Bai Ling beside her said softly, “She’s also Mental-type.”

　　Their Mental-type people absolutely don’t embarrass themselves when it comes to driving, after all, they have enhanced focus and dynamic vision.

　　After passing through half the urban district and gradually entering their own territory, Ting Ting finally relaxed a bit.

　　”Xiaoling, why didn’t you tell me sooner that we were here to cause trouble?”

　　She’s only Second-tier late-stage, and even then, she’s an auxiliary with spiritual perception. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have come along with Ah Lan, letting Xiaoling find someone else, at least bring a bodyguard. In a fight, someone needs to watch her back.

　　”I didn’t know either until just now,” Yuan Xiaoling shrugged her petite shoulders, “I thought we were just going to chat, go through some formalities, and come back. I didn’t expect Mr. Yun to be there too.”

　　You could say, the matching mechanism is like this.

　　Back at the hotel, Yuan Xiaoling immediately found Luo Zou Cheng and Wu Bian. Due to the heavy rain, they were both inside.

　　Yuan Xiaoling explained how she encountered the Yun Family earlier and about the declaration of war, instructing them to inform others early tomorrow morning to prepare mentally for battle.

　　”Direct declaration of war?” Luo Zou Cheng was very surprised, “What does the Yun Family want?”

　　They sent so few people, and most of them were mere henchmen. Even if they took over the entire Tianhai City, they wouldn’t be able to manage it.

　　”The things the Yun Family wants don’t exist in the material realm,” Yuan Xiaoling gave a mysterious answer, “They only want a fight.”

　　There’s no way, Luo Zou Cheng and the others don’t know about the Foundation Stone. Explaining from scratch would take us until midnight.

　　At this point, Wu Bian raised his hand, “I understand, I’ve seen Batman 2. They’re like the Joker, they just want to see the world burn, right?”

　　”Although the motives are different, it doesn’t matter how you interpret it,” Yuan Xiaoling thought for a moment and told him, “Also, you should watch less of these kinds of movies and more positive, cheerful, and uplifting ones.”

　　You’re already Fourth-tier and a Mental-type, you should focus more on psychological development.

　　Wu Bian scratched his head, “Aren’t superheroes positive and uplifting enough?”

　　”Superheroes are fine, DC isn’t.”

　　”…”

　　After giving instructions, Yuan Xiaoling and Bai Ling returned to their room to rest.

　　Taking off their shoes and socks, they used water elements to clean up — anyway, it was raining heavily, so opening the window to borrow a little water was easy, no need to use the Tide Agreement.

　　”Today was truly thrilling, fortunately, it rained; otherwise, he wouldn’t have found a way out,” Yuan Xiaoling controlled the water curtain while wiping her thighs and said to Bai Ling, “You too, being so rash, I said you don’t need to rush in.”

　　Fortunately, it rained. If it had been delayed even a little bit, Yun He and his group would have been wiped out. A sudden attack from a Fifth-tier Mental-type, a Fourth-tier Spiritual Energy Manipulator focusing on Xiaoling, couldn’t withstand that.

　　Then the news that Tianhai City has a Fifth-tier Mental-type would be exposed, the Yun Family would replace it with an even more powerful leader, and even more dangerous enemies… That wouldn’t be good.

　　Bai Ling pouted and didn’t say anything.

　　This is because seeing the tense situation, she feared acting late might result in Xiaoling getting hurt. But thinking about it, today Yuan Xiaoling’s performance…

　　”When did you learn all those things?” Bai Ling thought for a moment and described it with one word, “Confidently speaking.”

　　In front of two different interest groups, she handled it effortlessly, not at all like an 18-year-old female university student.

　　”You don’t understand,” Yuan Xiaoling said proudly, “This is called wisdom.”

　　Even though Xiaoling hasn’t recovered her memories from the last decade, she can fully imagine herself in the previous timeline without any superpowers, the family’s strength unable to help in Tianhai City, and her beauty not yet reaching its peak.

　　In such a dire situation, Xiaoling could still dominate Bai Ling, repeatedly walking on the edge of danger and testing limits.

　　Without abilities, she could achieve that; now being Fourth-tier and a complete version of the ultimate cute and sexy beautiful girl, dealing with these things is far too simple.

　　Bai Ling also thought about these things and actually agreed somewhat.

　　”In short, although the Yuns declared war, it shouldn’t happen this fast. Even if they want a blitzkrieg, it’s impossible to make moves in such heavy rain,” Yuan Xiaoling patted the pillow, “Given the situation, let’s sleep first.”

　　Bai Ling thought the same, so she quickly hugged Yuan Xiaoling.

　　”Just to clarify, hugging is okay, but no eating… Ow!”

　　Zzzz

　　Buzz buzz buzz.

　　The rain outside the window was still falling, the sound of splashes became softer, but what woke her up from this white noise was the vibration of her mobile phone.

　　Yuan Xiaoling turned over, escaping from Bai Ling’s mouth, rubbed her eyes, and picked up the phone.

　　”Who is it…”

　　She always turns on silent mode when sleeping, only important messages trigger vibrations. Now looking at the screen, the message window showed three words: “Qiao Lili.”

　　Wow, it really is important news.

　　Yuan Xiaoling instantly perked up, sat up, and carefully read the message.

　　[“Haha, I found it, I found it! Although these pieces of information seemed like stones sinking into the sea, as long as I retrieve them quickly and give myself a bit more time, I can still pull them out.”]

　　[“I figured out the identities of those people in the video you sent. By piecing together countless scattered bits of information and my predictions of social relationships, I finally managed to uncover them, something AI can’t do at all.”]

　　As usual, Qiao Lili started by boasting about herself, then sent over the information about those people.

　　Before joining Four Squares Academy, these people had significant differences in age and occupation. A driver in his thirties, a middle school student in his teens, and a chef in his forties.

　　The final result was that the latter two died, and only the driver successfully escaped.

　　[“You probably don’t know where the guy who escaped is now.”]

　　Qiao Lili’s final message was a photo. There wasn’t a single person in it, only a distant view of a hospital with the words – Tianhai City Third Hospital.

　　What’s that?

　　Yuan Xiaoling crawled next to Bai Ling and reached out to push her.

　　”Wake up, wake up! Anyone who doesn’t get up at this time is a lazy dog, a useless person society doesn’t want, and someone who only makes rice expensive!”

　　Bai Ling had woken up earlier but wanted to lie down longer. However, hearing the last sentence, she couldn’t help herself.

　　”I don’t eat rice,” she said, “I only eat dumplings, steamed buns, and rabbit meat.”

　　”You’re quite proud!”

　　And aren’t these three the same thing!

　　After barely waking Bai Ling up, Yuan Xiaoling asked her, “What is Tianhai City Third Hospital?”

　　”A mental hospital.” Bai Ling answered immediately.

　　As a native of Tianhai, she was relatively familiar with this name.

　　Yuan Xiaoling thought for a moment and slapped the bedsheet, “Alright, let’s head to the Third Hospital.”

　　Bai Ling slightly startled, reaching out to touch Xiaoling’s Dabeitù.

　　”What are you doing?”

　　”Are you crazy?”

　　”You’re the one who’s crazy. The clue we’re looking for is in the Third Hospital,” Yuan Xiaoling huffed, “Besides, to check if I’m sick, why are you touching here?”

　　Does Dabeitù get a fever?

　　Today, Ting Ting refused to drive under any circumstances, saying she needed at least some time to recover. Ah Lan saw her like this and also backed off, feeling something was off.

　　But this works too. Since Yun He has already declared war, if they launch a surprise attack, a weak driver is most likely to get injured accidentally.

　　Thus, Bai Ling took over the driving responsibility, and the two girls set off lightly equipped. Just in time, the rain stopped, leaving the roads slippery, but the car sped along.

　　The Third Hospital was a bit far from the beach. During the drive, Yuan Xiaoling recounted the data.

　　”Gong Tao, 34 years old, was a driver before joining Four Squares Academy, driving around Tianhai for several years. He was pretty ordinary until shortly before joining, suddenly driving recklessly, always pushing the speed limit, and gaining minor online fame.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling flipped through the messages on her phone, “After the night of Four Squares Academy, he was the only one who survived and escaped. He might be the only surviving witness currently residing in the Third Hospital as a mentally ill patient.”

　　Bai Ling raised an eyebrow, “Mental-type Spiritual Energy Manipulator, highly likely.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling was curious, “How do you know?”

　　”With so many people involved in the Four Squares Academy incident, only he survived, which is likely due to the special properties of the same attribute. And suddenly becoming an extreme driver is also a supporting evidence.”

　　Yesterday, it was mentioned that the fine tradition of Mental-type Spiritual Energy Manipulators is driving.

　　Driving fast, flying cars, driving big…

　　After a while, the Third Hospital arrived, Bai Ling parked the car, and the two girls walked inside together.

　　The Third Hospital is a well-established psychiatric hospital in Tianhai City. Though not a great place, it’s quite popular. After the heavy rain stopped, the sun came out, and many patients moved small chairs to cool off in the yard.

　　Yuan Xiaoling immediately spotted a thirty-something man with glasses and a balding head sitting in the front row. Without the glasses, he looked exactly like the driver named Gong Tao in the file.

　　No, it was him himself, having gained a bit of weight during his stay at the Third Hospital. At this moment, he was sitting at the front, talking confidently to a group of fellow patients:

　　”Tianhai people believe that the source of spiritual energy, what is it? It’s ‘Wake~ Wake~’. Right? So there’s a term called spiritual awakening. I often say the term ‘awakening’ holds secrets, ‘wake-wake’, are you awake? Wake~wake~, is it really awake?”

　　”It’s amazing! It’s not something clear-cut, so if you search online, the internet tells you spiritual awakening happens randomly, once awakened, it’s awakened, if not, it’s not. There’s no method.”

　　”I once worked at my company, and there was a leader, an official, who was over forty years old. That leader walked over and asked me, ‘Is it really awake? Are the spiritual energy users really awake?'”

　　”He stunned me, completely stunned me.”

　　”Think about it, it’s a random event, randomness has no answer, so there’s a saying circulating online, ‘Once awakened, it’s awakened, not awakened, it’s not.’ It’s random, if it can’t wake up, it won’t, you shouldn’t be superstitious.”

　　Yuan Xiaoling stood there listening for a while.

　　Seemed to understand, but also seemed not to.

　　She noticed that the surrounding mental patients were quietly sitting on their chairs, writing and drawing on paper, seemingly understanding everything, so she peeked at the closest patient.

　　She discovered a small red flower drawn on the paper.

　　Isn’t it, what does spiritual awakening have to do with a small red flower?

　　Suddenly, Yuan Xiaoling realized, lightly slapping her intelligent little head — Why bother thinking about this, if you really figure it out, wouldn’t that mean you should be hospitalized too?

　　”Who are you?”

　　A nurse from the hospital approached them.

　　”This is a psychiatric hospital. Please don’t enter recklessly, or you might get hurt.”

　　They walked forward, trying to escort the two girls out.

　　Bai Ling’s eyes flashed with bloodlight, instantly launching a mental invasion, “We need to talk to Gong Tao.”

　　”Alright, please wait in the visiting room for a moment, I’ll bring him over right away.”