Chapter 200: Dream Entanglement: He Was Waiting, Waiting for Her to Push Him Away, or to Nod

Chapter 200: Chapter 200: Dream Entanglement: He Was Waiting, Waiting for Her to Push Him Away, or to Nod

Her consciousness gradually sank into darkness, and Yun Sheng vaguely felt her body begin to float.

Before long, she found herself standing in a familiar, empty void.

Only this time, the gray mist in the dreamscape was thicker than ever before, weighing down on her, crushing her until she couldn’t breathe.

She didn’t even have time to look up and see who had appeared in her dream this time before a sharp, searing pain erupted from the depths of her spiritual landscape.

It felt as if someone were grinding a red-hot branding iron inside her head, the pain causing her to tremble uncontrollably.

She tried to scream, but no sound came out.

She tried to wake up, but she couldn’t.

Just then, someone walked up to her.

Yun Sheng heard no footsteps. The first she knew of it was when the person’s cool fingers were already pressing against her searing temples.

The pressure was light and steady, imbued with a careful restraint, as if they were afraid of hurting her.

The fingertips were calloused—the mark of someone who wielded a blade for years—but as they touched her skin, they were impossibly gentle.

He massaged her temples with a steady, unhurried rhythm, gradually kneading the sharp, searing pain away, smoothing it into nothing.

Yun Sheng’s spiritual landscape gradually quieted down.

The churning, searing pain was gradually soothed by those cool hands, as if something was gently enveloping her in a pleasant warmth, making her want to just sink into the feeling.

Feeling much more comfortable, she instinctively lifted her head.

The person standing before her was Bai Ye.

’He looks so haggard.’

That was Yun Sheng’s first thought.

Bai Ye’s face was even paler than the last time she’d seen him, with faint, dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t had a proper rest in a long time.

But his eyes were still serene, like a deep pool of water. He was gazing steadily at her, a complex emotion she couldn’t decipher swirling in their depths.

"You..." Yun Sheng’s voice was hoarse. She opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

Bai Ye pressed his thin lips together, not speaking either.

His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before moving downward, as if checking her for injuries.

His fingers were still on her temples. He didn’t pull them away, nor did he resume the massage; they simply rested there lightly.

"You were injured." After a long moment, Bai Ye finally spoke, his voice somehow even hoarser than hers.

Yun Sheng shook her head. "No, I just overexerted my spiritual power."

At her words, Bai Ye’s thumb gently caressed her temple a few times—an instinctive movement, as if he couldn’t stop himself.

Yun Sheng instinctively stiffened. It wasn’t out of rejection; it was just too pleasant. So pleasant that her nerves instinctively went taut.

Bai Ye sensed her stiffness and immediately pulled his hand back, his movement as quick as if he’d been burned.

"There were massive, abnormal energy fluctuations in Zone 10. What did you encounter? Was the situation that bad?"

’For even Yun Sheng to overexert her spiritual power, the trouble must have been immense!’

So, Yun Sheng told Bai Ye everything that had happened, from beginning to end.

The pollutant uprising, the Devouring Abyss Beast, Qi Yao losing control of his spiritual power, and Xing Che’s sudden appearance to help.

However, when she spoke of Xing Che, she instinctively left out the conditions she had agreed to.

’She had a feeling that mentioning it would cause unnecessary trouble.’

Bai Ye listened, then fell silent for a few seconds.

"I’ve already arranged for it to be verified," he said, his tone strictly professional. "We’ll send someone to take over Qi Yao’s duties as soon as possible and arrange for the Preparatory Guides to return to the Capital Star."

Yun Sheng nodded. Just as she was about to speak, she saw him take a step back, as if deliberately putting distance between them.

The distance wasn’t great, but it made her feel unaccountably uncomfortable.

’She was the one who rejected him. She was the one who drew the line. Yet now, when he deliberately stepped away just to avoid standing near her, she felt a tightness in her chest, as if she had lost something.’

She pushed the emotion down, took a deep breath, and responded, "Okay."

After speaking, Yun Sheng dropped her gaze and said no more.

Bai Ye didn’t speak again either, just stood where he was, maintaining that careful distance from her.

The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

There were only the two of them in this dreamscape. Just standing there foolishly without speaking was more than a little unsettling.

Yun Sheng stared at the tips of her toes, then suddenly asked, "Are you okay? How’s your recovery? Your spiritual landscape..."

She didn’t finish. In truth, she knew he wasn’t well from the moment she first saw him.

’Asking felt rather pointless.’

But Bai Ye didn’t seem to mind. He said faintly, "I’m fine."

But the moment he spoke, his spiritual power suddenly surged out of his control. Tendrils of it reached toward Yun Sheng, like a desperately thirsty person instinctively drawn to water.

Bai Ye’s body went rigid.

He gritted his teeth, trying to retract his spiritual power, but it was as if it had a will of its own. It rushed eagerly toward Yun Sheng, then began to circle her cautiously.

His attempt to forcibly retract it failed, and Bai Ye’s expression grew even more strained.

"...I’m sorry." His voice was terribly hoarse. "I can’t control it."

Yun Sheng watched him, saw the way he was desperately but fruitlessly trying to control his spiritual power, and her heart suddenly softened.

She didn’t dodge or push the threads of spiritual power away. She simply stood there, allowing them to gently wind around her fingertips.

The touch was feather-light, like warm water flowing over her skin. It was very pleasant.

Bai Ye’s pupils contracted slightly, and a complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

Gratitude, restraint, and a trace of yearning that even he hadn’t noticed.

Sensing that Yun Sheng wasn’t rejecting it, the threads of spiritual power immediately grew bolder.

No longer content to simply wind around her fingertips, they crept up her wrist, gently coiling around her arm, her spine... even tentatively trying to entangle with her own spiritual power.

Yun Sheng’s spiritual landscape had been pushed to its absolute limit before she passed out, and had been severely damaged by the pollutant’s final blow. Now, it was like a dry riverbed, every inch of it crying out in thirst.

Entangled by Bai Ye’s spiritual power, her own could no longer hold back.

Her spiritual power went out of control!

It instinctively surged to meet his, like parched land finally greeting the rain, greedily and frantically drawing on Bai Ye’s strength.

The two currents of spiritual power intertwined, tangling together, full of mutual craving. Bai Ye’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily, and a suppressed groan escaped his throat.

His fingers suddenly clenched, and a vein throbbed at his temple, as if he were using every ounce of his strength to keep himself from doing something more.

But his spiritual power was completely out of control. It wrapped around Yun Sheng, enveloping her entirely in its warm Holy Light.

Yun Sheng’s knees went weak. Just as she was about to fall, Bai Ye rushed forward and caught her.

An unnatural flush colored her cheeks, her breathing was quick and ragged, and her eyes were veiled in a thin mist, as if she were utterly lost in a passionate daze.

Bai Ye looked down at her. His shell of reason shattered in an instant, the calm facade stripped away to reveal the scalding, repressed emotions churning beneath.

The desire in his eyes was practically overflowing, yet he still didn’t move.

He was waiting. Waiting for her to push him away, or... for her to give a nod.