Wen Que could see the white mist trying its best to heal Nan Yue, but most of it could not break through the outer layer of black mist.
Jiang Siyan pursed his lips tightly, sweat soaking his bangs. A metallic, sweet taste rose in his throat, but the physical pain only stimulated him further, making him feel even more focused.
The black mist grew thinner, and everyone saw the wretched state Nan Yue was in. She was bleeding all over, looking as if she had been fished out of a pool of blood.
The white mist suddenly surged, with more than half of it rushing into the black mist to envelop Nan Yue's body.
As soon as he touched her, Jiang Siyan could sense just how poor Nan Yue's physical condition was.
A sudden wave of panic gripped his heart. "Nan Yue!"
She should stop!
She couldn't continue!
Nan Yue continued to devour the black mist, the pain of her body being crushed by a giant boulder spreading through every limb and bone.
She could see nothing and hear nothing. A sensation of being consumed, far more agonizing than before, took hold of her.
It had been a long time since she had felt the fear of pollution. Her current state was even more disastrous than before she had entered the mission.
She felt as if she were being swallowed into the belly of some unknown, massive creature. Loud, chaotic whispers echoed in her ears. Her head throbbed as if it were splitting apart, yet her body was unable to move.
Fear and despair, accompanied by a foul stench in her nose and mouth and intense physical pain converted from mental agony, came one after another.
Every second felt as long as a year.
Each time she felt she was about to die, she forced herself to endure it.
After an unknown amount of time, the feeling of being more dead than alive finally vanished, replaced by a surging power.
Nan Yue's body went limp, but she didn't fall onto the carpet. Instead, she tumbled into a warm embrace.
"Nan Yue!"
A gentle power, like flowing water, was slowly healing her, though the exhaustion in her body could not be cleared away so easily.
Everything before Nan Yue's eyes was pitch black.
She had lost her sight.
"I'm fine."
Nan Yue patted the hand Jiang Siyan used to hold her, letting out a sigh of relief.
She had won the gamble.
She had to absorb the pollution from Wen Que, both for Wen Que's sake and her own.
There wouldn't be another boss who would wait so obediently for her to absorb their pollution. After this, her abilities should undergo a world-shaking transformation.
"It's temporary. It'll be fine once we leave the mission."
Nan Yue didn't care about the blindness. Her five senses were incredibly sharp. Back at the academy, she had repeatedly taken first place in training sessions involving the loss of five senses.
No one liked that training, but Nan Yue loved it. While others were resting, she would train over and over again.
At the time, she hadn't known the thing inside her was pollution; she had thought it was an evil ghost.
Every night, she struggled to survive in agony. She might lose her sight, or perhaps her hearing...
She wanted to live.
Even if that evil ghost suddenly appeared during a mission and took away her senses, leaving her in unbearable pain, she still wanted to live.
At the time, everyone thought Nan Yue had masochistic tendencies. Only Nan Yue knew she was doing it all to stay alive.
So, the current situation was quite easy for her. She had even absorbed Wen Que's pollution, and she felt so cheerful she wanted to sing.
But she didn't, because she keenly noticed that Jiang Siyan seemed a bit unhappy.
Was it because he had overextended his abilities to heal her?
Nan Yue suddenly felt a bit guilty. Jiang Siyan really had been dragged into this by her.
"Nan Yue!"
A soft body lunged at her. "My legs are back!"
After Nan Yue absorbed all the pollution, the mutations in Wen Que's body disappeared, and she returned to being a normal human.
The eeriness of the castle also vanished. Gu Xiang Kai had already used iron thorns to bind the incredulous Wen Chu.
Zhu Xi Ning pushed Wen Que aside. "Enough. Can't you see Nan Yue is blind? She can't see your legs."
Wen Que froze, only then noticing that Nan Yue looked like she had been fished out of a sea of blood. Her clothes were entirely crimson, her eyes were tightly shut, and two lines of blood tears were exceptionally prominent on her pale face.
"You..."
"I'm fine. It's only temporary."
Nan Yue sighed. This second personality of Zhu Xi Ning's really was fiery.
"We can leave now."
"Wait."
Zhu Xi Ning looked at Wen Chu, who was punctured by the iron thorns like a tattered rag. "Let me give you a little gift."
Small ants crawled along the iron thorns, biting through Wen Chu's skin and burrowing inside. Amidst Wen Chu's screams, Zhu Xi Ning smiled like a blooming flower.
"This won't paralyze you. These ants will devour your internal organs and lay eggs inside your body, generation after generation without end."
Nan Yue thought to herself that the idiom wasn't exactly meant to be used that way.
Jiang Siyan held Nan Yue tenderly, but the gaze he directed at Wen Chu from behind his glasses was cold to the extreme.
"I'll give you a gift as well."
A stream of white mist burrowed into Wen Chu's body. The holes torn open by the iron thorns began to heal slowly.
Wen Chu rolled on the ground continuously, his body both itching and aching. He could feel the sensation of ants crawling through his blood vessels and muscles.
He was driven mad by the pain, yet he couldn't even manage to faint.
He thought he would go insane, but he remained perfectly conscious.
"Do you know what kind of pain your sister lived in every day?"
With Jiang Siyan's help, Nan Yue stood up and slowly walked toward the exit.
A black mist, thin as a needle, pierced into Wen Chu's brain. It wasn't the pain Nan Yue had felt, but Wen Que's pain.
As soon as the pollution exploded in Wen Chu's head, his entire body froze like a stone statue.
His face turned a sickly blue-white, and his eyes bulged out. He suddenly let out a non-human howl.
"Since you can't die and you can't go mad, you should enjoy it properly."
Nan Yue and the others slowly walked out. Gu Xiang Kai walked at the rear, spreading his iron thorns to prevent any unexpected situations.
Wen Que cried the whole way, lingering close to Nan Yue's side.
She didn't know why she was crying. It seemed she felt bad for Nan Yue, and perhaps she felt bad for herself as well.
"Wen Que, listen to me."
"We can only accompany you to the garden gate. I don't know what you will encounter after we leave."
"But do not forget what we told you before."
Nan Yue spoke slowly but solemnly, and Wen Que listened intently.
"Is the booklet still with you?"
Wen Que nodded repeatedly, then realized Nan Yue couldn't see and quickly said, "Yes, I hid it in my blood vessels."
She pulled it out from her person. After the mutations in her body vanished, the booklet had fallen out.
"Keep the booklet safe. Go and fight for the rights and freedom that belong to you."
Nan Yue stopped at the entrance of Eden Garden. The gates were wide open.
"We will meet again."
Nan Yue kept her eyes closed and gave Wen Que a gentle smile.
"Go forward. Don't be afraid."
Wen Que felt a gentle hand give her a light push, and she stepped out of Eden Garden.
She stepped out of the manor that she had hated and that had imprisoned her for so many years.
Nan Yue and the others could not see where Wen Que went after leaving Eden Garden, but presumably, it was somewhere better than here.
"Let's go as well."
Su Hong couldn't wait to follow Bai La La out. Only Huo Fuyu, Nan Yue, and the others remained.
Huo Fuyu looked at Nan Yue and raised his hand.
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