Chapter Eleven: Psychic Assault

A ripple surged through the hospital room... If not for the sudden sharpening of Xiao Nan’s senses, he would never have noticed that his entire body, inside and out, had already been probed by the other’s mind.

“No anomalies?” Gu Junwu’s brows furrowed slightly, but in the next instant, he appeared nonchalant, asking, “I truly admire how you, Xiao, managed to escape with Zhang Xiaorou at such a critical moment. Could you describe the situation in detail?”

He cut straight to the heart of the matter.

Xiao Nan snorted inwardly, knowing this was a test. He couldn’t tell if the man truly suspected something or was simply following protocol.

He recalled the police interrogations he’d seen in movies and TV shows, where they would endlessly ask a suspect’s name, gender, and age, their tone harsh, and refusing to answer was never an option—despite already having traced the suspect’s ancestry back several generations.

The bespectacled man, however, was not so tedious and got right to the point.

As for what he was asking, Xiao Nan saw no need to conceal it.

He recounted the events as they happened: how he devised a way to break free, how he attacked the two guards, and how they escaped from the room—every detail clearly laid out.

He had never intended to hide any of this; in fact, it would be impossible. He remembered that when he left, the blood ritual chamber was still mostly intact. The marks left on the two thugs inside—the one with the scarred face and the bearded man—would reveal everything.

“Tiger’s Tail Kick, Diamond Elbow? Quite a vivid description.”

After hearing the account, the bespectacled man praised him warmly, even rising to his feet to imitate the two moves Xiao Nan described. His fists and feet whistled through the air, his movements lifelike, as if he had witnessed the scene himself.

“The fundamental boxing technique taught at Yuanjiang First High doesn’t include such deadly moves, does it? Where did you learn them, Xiao?”

“I mostly picked them up from my father’s manuscripts at home, just fooling around and practicing by myself. It was a matter of urgency at the time—I didn’t hold back.” Xiao Nan replied sheepishly, “I injured them… Is that a problem?”

In truth, one of them had died, but Xiao Nan kept that to himself, and the man didn’t seem to care.

“It’s all right. The thieves of the Longevity Society committed blood sacrifices to an evil god—their crimes are monstrous. Whatever means you used is acceptable.” Gu Junwu shook his head with a smile, showing understanding. “It was dangerously close, though. If that beast-headed monster had escaped the villa, who knows how many would have suffered. Fortunately, the City Guard arrived in time and destroyed it… though the shockwave was powerful enough to almost injure you, Xiao…”

I am already injured—am I not lying in a hospital bed? Xiao Nan shook his head but said nothing more.

This person was courteous, speaking to him like a friend rather than interrogating a suspect.

And yet, his mind was not on the conversation at all.

He was employing other means.

A very duplicitous fellow… Xiao Nan thought to himself.

Just then, he suddenly noticed the bespectacled man’s voice growing faint and ethereal, sometimes near, sometimes far…

His eyelids grew unbearably heavy for no reason, a deep fatigue welling up from within.

So tired… what is he saying?

Xiao Nan was startled, realizing that his earlier sense of alarm had been justified—his opponent was finally revealing his true intent.

In his ears, a voice boomed like a great bell: “Did you acquire the divinity? Was there anything unusual about your body or mind at the time?”

The voice was overwhelming, making his head spin and his vision blur.

He reflexively recalled the moment when that golden light had surged into his body, and the changes in the mirror-shaped birthmark, on the verge of admitting everything aloud.

It’s hypnosis…

No, it’s not that simple. It’s a mental assault, capable of forcing out secrets directly.

This was an uncanny power Xiao Nan had never encountered before.

Panic seized him. Without thinking, he bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. The searing pain, in that last moment of clarity, allowed him to focus on the bronze mirror-shaped birthmark.

His vision swam, and once again he saw the misty space; his mind cleared and he regained his composure.

A shadow hovered outside the mist, lunging left and right but unable to break in. This must be the mental probe of Gu Junwu.

…

“How bold.”

Just then, a woman’s cold, stern rebuke rang in Xiao Nan’s ears.

A chill so deep it touched the soul seemed to freeze his thoughts.

Within the mist, a bright moon suddenly appeared, rising high like a silver disc.

Its icy blue glow rained down, manifesting countless shafts of light.

The shadow, like snow doused in boiling water, let out a shrill, agonized scream as a portion of it was directly obliterated.

“Don’t misunderstand, Qin Shuang. I was merely conducting an inquiry—there was no malice intended.”

Gu Junwu’s voice was startled and anxious.

“You call it harmless to use the Soul-Seizing Prohibition to question a witness? Are you trying to fool a three-year-old?”

The woman’s voice was mocking, and the moonlight shone even brighter.

Someone is helping me to repel and destroy the bespectacled man’s invasive spiritual energy.

Xiao Nan realized with sudden clarity.