Chapter 88 Her Consciousness

’Xiao Tian Lan? Honghong? Anyone?!’ She cried out.

But all there was, was pure silence. So loud that it felt torturous. Xue Yao suddenly felt terribly lonely.

Ever since entering the Beast World, she had been surrounded by danger, unreasonable creatures, and a system that seemed determined to turn her life into a ridiculous breeding mission. She had laughed, cursed, cooked, fought, and pretended not to care about many things, but beneath all her shamelessness, she had never forgotten the reason she was struggling so desperately to survive.

She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her family again. ’Mama...’ Her thoughts softened as she remembered Lin Shuying’s face. ’I really tried. I didn’t want to be a hero. I just couldn’t leave those little idiots behind.’

A faint blue light suddenly appeared in the darkness.

Xue Yao stopped struggling. ’What’s that?’

Two thin blue rings emerged before her, their surfaces covered in faint, moving patterns. They looked strangely familiar, like the light that had appeared in her eyes just before the mother bird’s final attack. One of the rings was fractured, while the other flickered weakly as though it might disappear at any moment.

Xue Yao stared at them suspiciously. ’Don’t tell me these are some kind of heavenly handcuffs? I haven’t even committed a crime! Well... stealing an egg doesn’t count, right? Besides, I was planning to return it after finding out what was inside!... ahem hem... well that’s a lie.’ She grinned shamelessly at herself.

The rings gave no response. Instead, a small blue spark detached from the damaged ring and drifted toward her.

Xue Yao instinctively tried to dodge, but her consciousness remained trapped in place. The spark touched her forehead, and a strange sensation spread through her spiritual sea. It was neither painful nor comforting. For an instant, she felt as though something hidden deep within her had woken up, only to fall silent again.

Then the darkness trembled. [System Warning: Host’s life signs remain critically low.]

[Emergency monitoring activated.]

[Warning: Severe damage detected in host’s physical body.]

Xue Yao nearly burst into tears of joy. ’System! You heartless thing! You’re finally back! Hurry up and save me! I promise I won’t call you a useless piece of junk for at least three days! And does this mean Tian Lan is awake?"

[System Notification: Host is currently unable to perform physical actions. And Tian Lan hasn’t awakened, this is just an override she made in case she couldn’t guide the host herself.]

’Do you think I don’t know that?! Oh, and it is just an override; doesn’t that mean Tian Lan can’t currently help me out?’

[System Notification: External healing energy detected.]

Xue Yao froze. ’External healing energy? Someone’s treating me?’

For a moment, the image of a silver-haired man standing over her flashed through her fading memories. She remembered his hand stopping the mother bird’s beak, his furious golden eyes, and the sound of his voice.

’Lie Lang...’

She was grateful that he had arrived in time, but gratitude did not mean she had forgotten what he had done to her. That unreasonable wolf had nearly strangled her to death! If he thought saving her once would make her obediently forget everything, he could keep dreaming.

’Still...’ Xue Yao sighed inwardly. ’If he really saves my life, I suppose I can postpone beating him with my drumstick.’

After considering it carefully, she added, ’For one day.’

The blue rings flickered again. This time, the system’s familiar notification appeared before her.

[System Warning: An unidentified energy fluctuation has been detected within the host’s spiritual sea.]

[Analysis failed.]

Xue Yao stared at the message. ’Unidentified energy? What unidentified energy? Don’t tell me I’ve picked up another troublesome thing without knowing it!’

Before she could demand an explanation, the blue light suddenly spread outward, swallowing the system screen and the surrounding darkness.

Her consciousness vanished once more.

.....

By the time Lie Lang reached the White Moon Wolf Clan, the news of Xue Yao’s injuries had already spread through the clan.

The guards stationed at the entrance barely had time to bow before their Alpha swept past them with a bloodied human in his arms. Several maids gasped in horror, while the physicians who had been summoned by Han Luo hurried toward the healing chamber with their medicine boxes.

Lie Lang carried Xue Yao directly into the chamber and carefully placed her on the prepared bed. The elderly physician waiting beside it immediately stepped forward, but the moment he examined her pulse, his expression changed.

"Alpha, this..."

"Save her."

The physician swallowed and checked her condition again, his brows drawing together. "Her internal injuries are extremely severe. Several bones are broken, and her meridians have suffered extensive damage. More importantly, her body has been burned by the spiritual energy of a peak Spirit King beast. Ordinary recovery pills can stabilize her for a short time, but they cannot completely remove that energy."

Lie Lang stood beside the bed, his gaze fixed on Xue Yao. "What do you need?"

The physician hesitated before answering. "A high-grade healing treasure would be best, but even then, recovery will take time. We must first remove the remaining destructive energy from her body. If we rush the process, her damaged meridians may not withstand it."

"Then begin." Lie Lang ordered, his voice cold as ice.

"Yes, Alpha." The physician nodded in respect.

The physician immediately instructed his assistants to prepare the necessary herbs and medicinal water. Several maids hurried forward to help, but when they reached for the coat covering Xue Yao, Lie Lang’s expression changed slightly.

"Be careful," he warned.

The maids froze.

Lie Lang looked at the burns covering her arms, then slowly stepped back to give them room. "Don’t cause her any more pain."

The elderly physician bowed and began his work.

Outside the healing chamber, Little Ancestor sat on a stone bench with the four pups gathered around him. None of them had the appetite to eat, which was particularly alarming considering that Mu Dou usually treated an empty stomach as a life-threatening emergency.

"Do you think Sister Xue Yao will wake up tomorrow?" Mu Dou asked quietly, rubbing his swollen eyes.

Tie Tou looked toward the closed doors. "She has to. She’s too stubborn to die."

Xiao Feng nodded vigorously. "That’s right! She even dared to hit an S-rank beast with a chicken drumstick. How could someone like that die so easily?"

Little Ancestor hugged his knees, staring at the ground. "When she wakes up, I’m going to tell her she can have all the chickens she wants. I won’t even complain if she eats the biggest one."

A-Hui glanced at him. "Even the one you’ve been raising?"

Little Ancestor’s expression immediately became pained. That chicken was particularly fat. And he had been saving it for a special occasion.

After struggling with himself for a long moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "Even that one!"

The four pups stared at him in admiration.

Such sacrifice! Their Young Master was truly generous!

Inside the healing chamber, however, Xue Yao remained unconscious, unaware that she had just acquired the promise of an exceptionally fat chicken.

And while the physicians worked desperately to stabilize her injuries, the faint blue light hidden deep within her spiritual sea continued to flicker.

One ring remained fractured. The other slowly turned.

Neither the physicians nor Lie Lang knew that anything unusual was happening.

But for the first time since the mysterious power had appeared, it began spinning.

And somewhere within the darkness of Xue Yao’s consciousness, a faint blue spark pulsed once more.