Chapter 10: So-Called Friends

Am I dead?

That should be right.
Using my own body as a vessel to compress the “Ethereal Flame” to its limits, I probably died without even a speck of dust left.

My body feels weak and powerless, so tired that I can’t be bothered to lift a single finger.
But it’s a very comfortable feeling, as if I’m lying on soft cotton.
The wounds on my body seem to have vanished, and my right hand is safe and sound.
Apart from feeling weak, there’s nothing else unusual.

Could it be that this is heaven?
I, an Easterner, went to heaven after death?

The last memories still lingered in his muddled mind.
The “Ethereal Flame,” compressed to its extreme and then exploded, had shown Xia Lixing an unbelievably beautiful sight.
Stars, black holes, all things in the world.
The perceivable and the imperceivable, the once-existing and the never-existing.
From tiny cells to the boundless universe; from tangible objects to intangible energy.
Even space, time, birth, and destruction.
Xia Lixing saw everything he could see, and also everything he couldn’t.
That beautiful sight made Xia Lixing lose himself.
Until he lost consciousness, Xia Lixing’s mind was immersed in that mysterious world, unable to extricate himself.

And now, Xia Lixing’s consciousness was gradually returning, and the sensations of his body were becoming clearer.
His body felt weak, and there was a heavy feeling as if something was pressing down on him.
But at the same time, he felt as if he were sinking into a thick quilt, and a sense of laziness, a desire to continue sleeping, washed over him.

‘Am I lying on a cloud right now?’
‘Although it’s quite comfortable, it doesn’t feel any different from a regular quilt. Am I being too picky…’

In any case, lying in a soft and warm place, Xia Lixing really wanted to just keep sleeping like this.
But then he remembered the five members of the search team.
If he had gone to heaven, would the five of them be here too?

With this thought, Xia Lixing could no longer lie still.
The five members of the search team had used their own lives to create an opportunity for him, but he hadn’t been able to survive.
Although he had encountered a super A-rank Aberrant Beast, Xia Lixing still felt that he had let the search team members down.

In any case, he should get up and look for them first, to see if the five members of the search team were also in heaven.

Having made up his mind, Xia Lixing began to struggle to get his body to move, but the struggle was somewhat feeble.
For twelve years, Xia Lixing had never truly relaxed.
In the eyes of outsiders, he was a powerful and reliable ability user, and a cold and serious warrior.
But only Xia Lixing himself knew that deep down, his heart was constantly in a state of confusion.
His memories before the age of eight seemed to have never existed; it was as if he had been born along with the apocalypse.
Although everyone in the safe zone treated him like family, and he had made friends and diligently taught a group of juniors over the past twelve years, he had never truly opened his heart to anyone.

It was as if a voice in the dark was constantly warning him: don’t trust anyone.
This warning was like a seed that had taken firm root in Xia Lixing’s heart, and also like his inner demon.
So, although he seemed to have family and friends, in reality, he was always alone.
Even in the safe zone, he had to set up a guard when he slept, wary of a danger that seemed to exist only in his imagination.

When Hua Qiang had triggered his guard in the safe zone earlier, Xia Lixing’s fist had actually carried killing intent.
He had only managed to react in time.
Hua Qiang had thought it was a display of Xia Lixing’s perfect control.
Only Xia Lixing himself knew that he had almost killed Hua Qiang by mistake.

“Xia Lixing, you really piss me off sometimes, but you also make me feel sorry for you. You’ve never shown your true self to anyone, and no one has ever truly entered your heart.”

This was a remark from Xia Lixing’s best friend after a certain incident.
Xia Lixing felt he was right.

But none of that mattered now.
He was already dead and in heaven, so it didn’t matter if he slacked off a little, right?
No need to chase after power, no need to be confused anymore.
How about just being lazy in bed for once.

‘Just throw everything to the back of my mind for now. I can look for the search team members later. I’ve been working hard for twelve years, been confused for twelve years. I’m too tired. Just let me rest well.’

A ray of sunlight fell on the face of the person on the bed, illuminating the smile at the corner of their mouth.
This smile fell into Shun’s eyes, causing him to frown and lightly press his left chest.

His heart seemed to tremble slightly.
Shun could feel a faint pain suddenly coming from there, and for some reason, a little bit of sorrow.

“Ah! Lord Shun!”

A surprised cry from behind brought Shun back to his senses.
He turned to see a girl in a nurse’s uniform, bowing in a flurry.

“No need for formalities. What’s the situation?”

“Th-that is, her vital signs are stable. Other than still being in a coma, there are no other problems. A detailed examination hasn’t been done yet, but at least we can confirm there are no external injuries.”

The little nurse talking to Shun blushed, but her speech was quite fluent.

Shun nodded, intending to leave.
He had only come to see if the person he had brought back had woken up.
After all, that person might be the only one who knew what had happened in the battle outside the city.

“Yo, Shun. You came straight here after bringing back news of the beast tide? Can’t you go prepare to deal with the beast tide?”

A voice that sounded lazy no matter how you heard it made a rare look of helplessness appear on Shun’s face.
From outside the door, a woman in a white coat walked in.
Her somewhat messy blonde hair was simply tied into a ponytail.
Her shirt, though clean, was wrinkled and faintly smelled of alcohol.
Her long, slender legs were wrapped in brown jeans, and her belt wasn’t even fastened properly, making her pants look a bit loose.

This woman, who looked like a punk, had a chocolate stick in her mouth, and the glasses on the bridge of her nose did not make her look even a tiny bit more refined.
With a roguish smile on her face, she leaned against the doorframe and patted the little nurse’s shoulder.

“You’re not needed here anymore, go get some rest.”

“U-understood, Teacher Stephen.”

After dismissing the blushing little nurse, Stephen took out a few sheets of paper from a special pocket in her white coat and handed them to Shun. “The information on the emblem’s owner. I really didn’t expect it to be that guy.”

“You’ve been drinking again?”

Casually taking the papers, Shun asked as he flipped through them.

Stephen seemed to be troubled as she ruffled her hair. “Ah… how should I put it, that guy was a pretty good friend. Now that he’s most likely dead without a trace, I don’t feel too good either. Besides, I only had a few drinks. How long has it been since you threw the emblem to be checked?”

Shun’s hand, which was flipping through the papers, stopped.
He looked at the somewhat familiar face on the paper and sighed softly.

“So it was him.”

‘Those cold and determined, yet lonely and confused eyes, haven’t changed even after all this time.’

He let go of the papers, letting them float down naturally.
The few sheets of paper were sliced to pieces by an invisible blade in mid-air, then inexplicably vanished.
For a moment, Shun’s face seemed to hold a trace of sorrow, but then he returned to normal, his voice as emotionless as ever.

“So, what brings you here?”

Checking the information of an emblem’s owner was something any staff member could do, but Stephen had delivered it personally.
Shun didn’t believe she was just in a bad mood and had come to vent to him.
If Stephen came personally, there must be something else.

“This, ah, I came for that child. An abnormal coma, I think I should use my ability to help.”

Biting off the chocolate stick in her mouth, Stephen said in her signature nonchalant voice, “I want to know quickly what happened to that kid, Xia Lixing. Right now, the only one who knows Xia Lixing’s whereabouts is that child.”

Shun was silent for a long time, then moved aside to let Stephen pass.
As Stephen passed by him, he spoke softly, his voice no longer cold, but with a hint of fatigue and an imperceptible gentleness.

“This child was protected by Xia Lixing. Whether you can save her or not, I’m counting on you.”

As if startled by Shun saying so many words at once, Stephen turned her head and stared at him blankly.
Shun walked out of the room, raising his hand in a gesture of farewell.

“Do your best, ‘Light of the Heart.'”

“Thank you for your kind words, Lord Shun. It would be even better if you didn’t call me by that stupid title.”

The figure in black had already disappeared, and Stephen’s whisper seemed more like she was talking to herself.
Taking out a chest emblem from her pocket, Stephen lowered her head and was silent for a long time.
When she looked up again, she took a deep breath, and her entire demeanor seemed to undergo a drastic change in that instant.

“So you’ve already discovered this child’s abnormality, as expected of an S-rank ability user. But next, it’s a battle that belongs to me alone.”

Glancing at the heart rate monitor, where the line was becoming increasingly flat, Stephen chewed up the last half of the chocolate stick and gently placed her hand on the forehead of the person on the bed.

“Since you were saved by that little guy Xia Lixing, your life no longer belongs only to you. I don’t care why you’ve given up the will to live, but sorry, I’m dragging you back today, whether you like it or not!”