Chapter 187: Could She Have Misunderstood?

Chapter 187: Chapter 187: Could She Have Misunderstood?

Yun Sheng’s fingers tightened slightly.

She could feel gazes on her from all directions—some nervous, some curious, some worried, and one or two laced with schadenfreude.

Cheng Nian looked at her nervously. Yun Sheng patted Cheng Nian’s hand reassuringly before stepping out from the crowd.

Yun Sheng walked unhurriedly up to Qi Yao, stopped, and said respectfully, "Major General Qi."

Leaning against a rock, Qi Yao sized her up from head to toe.

His gaze wasn’t sharp, but it felt like an unsheathed blade pressing down on her, heavy and oppressive.

"Have you had contact with a Sentinel’s spiritual body before?" he asked, his tone casual.

Yun Sheng thought for a moment before replying in a low voice, "When I first returned to the Capital Star, I happened to encounter Major General Zhou Lin during a spiritual power outburst and saw his spiritual body."

This was the truth.

As for having seen the spiritual bodies of other Sentinels, she naturally couldn’t tell Qi Yao every last detail.

Qi Yao stared at her, his eyes growing sharper, as if trying to read something on her face.

"My spiritual body was staring at you just now. Weren’t you afraid?"

Yun Sheng paused for a moment, then shook her head. "I was, but you brought it under control."

"Is that so?" Qi Yao’s gaze didn’t waver. "But I’m curious about something. My spiritual body seemed very interested in you. Even though my spiritual power was unstable, this is the first time my spiritual body has ever been so out of control. It’s like you have something that’s very attractive to it, and its only thought was to rush over to you. Yun Sheng, do you know why that is?"

The inevitable question had finally come.

But Yun Sheng wasn’t the least bit flustered!

Qi Yao wasn’t the first person to ask her this question.

Compared to the pressure from Bai Ye and Xing Che, Qi Yao’s Level was a bit lower.

She lowered her eyes, putting on a look of deep thought. After a moment, she looked up, her tone tinged with uncertainty.

"Well... I’m not sure either. Ever since I was little, I’ve had a strong affinity with animals. Small animals have always liked me. I don’t know if that’s the reason. I’ve never been in contact with a Sentinel’s spiritual body before."

After hearing this, Qi Yao’s brow furrowed slightly, clearly unsatisfied with her explanation.

Seeing his expression, Yun Sheng suddenly changed the subject, a hint of genuine confusion in her voice.

"But speaking of which, Major General Qi, there’s something I don’t understand either."

Qi Yao looked at her but didn’t speak.

Yun Sheng met his gaze, her face a mask of innocence. "In the mine just now, why did those pollutants only attack you? From the moment we entered, they were hell-bent on lunging at you, while mostly ignoring everyone else."

She paused, her eyes sweeping over his blood-soaked and battered combat uniform. Then she suddenly lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

"Major General Qi, you don’t think... you were set up, just like I was? Perhaps you should also check... your equipment?"

As she spoke the last words, her tone was soft and careful, her eyes filled with a "this is for your own good" kind of concern.

The corner of Qi Yao’s mouth twitched.

He was covered in filth and blood, with tiny pollutant limbs still clinging to his boots. He was so disgusted he didn’t even want to look at himself a second time, let alone conduct a thorough inspection.

He looked up, met Yun Sheng’s innocent and sincere eyes, and asked coldly, "Who do you think would dare to set me up?"

Yun Sheng froze, as if stumped by the question.

She lowered her head and thought about it seriously before speaking hesitantly, "I... I don’t know. I just found it strange that the pollutants were only chasing you, and it reminded me of my own experience, so..."

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, as if she realized she had said something she shouldn’t have, and she quickly waved her hands dismissively.

"I was just thinking out loud, Major General Qi, please don’t mind me. It’s just that last time, I was chased and swarmed by those Shadow Stings because someone put Beast-attracting Incense in my shoes, so I was just guessing..."

She didn’t continue, just giving an embarrassed smile and taking a step back.

Qi Yao stared at her, his expression a sight to behold.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he looked down at his own wretched state, then back at Yun Sheng’s "I’m really just looking out for you" expression, and suddenly felt that anything he said would sound like he was trying to pick a fight with her.

After several seconds of silence, he finally looked away, his voice stiff.

"Alright, you can go back."

Yun Sheng acknowledged him and turned to walk away.

After a few steps, the corner of her mouth finally curved up in a smile, which she quickly suppressed.

’Check his equipment?’

’In the state his gear is in now, he probably doesn’t even want to touch it, let alone inspect it carefully!’

’Let him ask, let him doubt, let him figure it out on his own.’

In any case, she wasn’t the one in a wretched state right now!

Just as Yun Sheng returned to Cheng Nian’s side, a flurry of urgent footsteps suddenly sounded from the outer edge of the quarry.

A man covered in blood stumbled toward them. It was one of the Sentinels who had gone with Old Zhou to contact the camp.

"Major General Qi..."

He staggered closer, his combat uniform covered in claw marks and bloodstains. A wound on his shoulder was so deep the bone was visible.

"We... we were ambushed on the way! One S-Class, three A-levels... Old Zhou and the others are fighting to the death to hold them back so I could run back and report!"

The expression on everyone’s faces changed.

An S-Class pollutant and three A-levels... Even if Old Zhou and his team were all A-level Sentinels, they probably couldn’t handle that!

Qi Yao’s brows knitted together instantly, his jaw tightening.

He was silent for a few seconds, then grit his teeth and stood up from the rock.

"Zhao Heng, Guo Kai, protect these cadets!"

With that, he started to head out.

Zhao Heng’s face fell. "Major General! Your spiritual power hasn’t stabilized..."

"Right now, I’m the only one who can get there the fastest. If we delay, they might not make it out alive."

Qi Yao cut him off, his voice firm and decisive, but the spiritual power around him clearly began to fluctuate violently again, like a string about to snap.

Zhao Heng grew anxious. "Major General, in your current condition, even if you rush over, I’m afraid you’ll... before you even get there..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

Forcibly activating his power while it was unstable would, at best, worsen his injuries; at worst, he would go into an immediate outburst.

Qi Yao glanced at him, his gaze as cold as ice. "Give me your inhibitor."

Zhao Heng froze.

"Hurry!"

Zhao Heng grit his teeth, pulled two inhibitors from his jacket, and handed them over.

Qi Yao took them, twisted off the caps, and injected the contents into his arm without flinching.

A cold liquid flooded his veins. His brow furrowed deeply, and a suppressed grunt escaped his throat, but the surging spiritual power around him was quickly and forcefully pushed back down.

He tossed the empty syringes aside and shot outward at top speed, his figure vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Yun Sheng stood in place, her gaze darkening as she watched the direction where his figure had disappeared.

Standing beside her, Cheng Nian also stared in the direction Qi Yao had vanished and murmured, "Inhibitors have major side effects, don’t they? For Major General Qi to inject two doses at once in his condition... will he be okay?"

Ma Yu replied instinctively, "It’s probably going to be very bad... The consequences of forceful suppression with inhibitors are even more severe than no suppression at all. Major General Qi might be able to hold on for now, but when the drug wears off, the backlash will be even more intense."

Listening to their words, Yun Sheng’s gaze remained fixed on the direction where Qi Yao had disappeared.

’Could it be that I really misunderstood Qi Yao?’

’His outburst just now... wasn’t an act?’

’Then how did he get into such a severe state?!’