Lin Xiao approached her chair and placed his hands gently on her head. He focused, delving into the second-level domain of his memory manipulation skill.
Li Jing, recognizing the power he was using, exclaimed in shock, "That's a Mid-level Domain!" Before she could say more, a sudden, intense pain shot through her brain, and she passed out.
Lin Xiao was startled but didn't stop scanning her memories.
He pushed forward, navigating through a labyrinth of her thoughts and experiences. Each memory felt like a delicate thread, and he moved cautiously, not wanting to disturb anything unnecessarily.
The deeper he went, the more he felt a tangible resistance. Finally, he reached a point that looked sealed off, a barrier dense and impenetrable like a wall.
Lin Xiao focused all his power and concentrated, channeling his energy to break through the barrier. It was a struggle, but he eventually shattered the mental blockade. What he saw next shocked him to his core.
In the newly accessible memories, Lin Xiao saw that when Li Jing and the other patients had disappeared into that portal, she had been taken elsewhere—somewhere that looked like outer space.
Instead of being on Earth, she was on the moon.
The Earth looked familiar, but the sun—oh, the sun—looked entirely different. It resembled the symbol on the face of the red moon.
It hung in the sky like a grotesque, mysterious symbol, nothing like the warm sun he knew. it was an unnerving blend of organic and geometric patterns.
Dark, spidery tendrils extended from its center, writhing and pulsing as if alive.
The core of the sun was an abyss of swirling darkness, surrounded by concentric rings of flickering, eldritch light that seemed to distort reality itself.
The sight was both mesmerizing and horrifying, a cosmic anomaly that defied natural order.
Lin Xiao was shocked, the image seared into his mind.
Suddenly, a system message appeared:
[Come in contact with a god -0.5 Intelligence]
Lin Xiao stared at the message, his mind reeling. "A god?" he muttered to himself. "Is the sun a god? What the heck is happening?"
As he tried to make sense of this revelation, his thoughts raced. He had always known that the supernatural world held many secrets, but this was on a completely different level.
After calming himself down, he started to scan further to find who had sealed Li Jing's memories. As he delved deeper, he uncovered more intimate details about Li Jing—memories she didn't even know about herself and her body.
Finally, he encountered another wall, much denser than before. This barrier was almost impenetrable. Lin Xiao tried and tried, but he couldn't penetrate it.
"What should I do?" Lin Xiao thought to himself.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. What if he compressed his domain and transformed it from a circular form into a straight line? A concentrated, linear approach might allow him to pierce through the dense wall.
Lin Xiao visualized his domain as a perfect circle, and then began compressing it. The circular domain shrank, narrowing into a sharp, focused line. The process was arduous, requiring immense concentration and control.
As the domain transformed, it glowed with an intense, ethereal light, humming with energy. The once broad and encompassing domain now looked like a luminous spear, sharp and precise.
Lin Xiao directed the linear domain toward the barrier and pushed with all his might. The concentrated force of the straight line met the wall, and to his relief, it began to crack.
The barrier, though formidable, couldn't withstand the pinpoint pressure.
With a final push, the wall shattered, and a flood of memories poured out.
With a final push, the wall shattered, and a flood of memories poured out. What Lin Xiao saw next shocked him even more than the image of the sun.
He saw himself—someone who looked exactly like him—erasing memories from Li Jing's mind.
The other "Lin Xiao" moved with an eerie precision, his eyes cold and calculating. He placed his hands on Li Jing's head, just as Lin Xiao had done moments ago.
But his touch was different, more forceful as if he was exerting an overwhelming control over her mind.
The scene played out in a dim, shadowy room, lit only by the glow of arcane symbols etched into the walls.
The other Lin Xiao's face was devoid of emotion as he systematically erased Li Jing's memories, his actions deliberate and methodical.
Suddenly, the other "Lin Xiao" looked up. His eyes locked onto Lin Xiao's with an intensity that felt piercing.
Lin Xiao's heart raced, and for a moment, it was as if the other version of him could see him, sense his presence.
Panic surged through Lin Xiao as he realized the gravity of what he was witnessing.
Before he could react, Lin Xiao felt a powerful force pushing him out of Li Jing's consciousness.
It was as if an invisible hand had grabbed him and hurled him away. He couldn't resist; the force was too strong, too overpowering.
His vision blurred, and the connection to Li Jing's memories snapped.
Lin Xiao found himself back in the present, gasping for breath. His hands were still on Li Jing's head, but she was now slumped in her chair, unconscious.
The faint glow around her had dimmed. Lin Xiao's mind raced, trying to process what he had just seen.
Who was that other version of him? How was it possible?
He gently shook Li Jing, trying to wake her. "Li Jing, wake up," he whispered urgently. "We need to talk."
Slowly, Li Jing stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She looked disoriented but quickly focused on Lin Xiao. "What...what did you see?" she asked weakly.
Lin Xiao hesitated, unsure how to explain. "I saw something... I'm not sure how to explain it."
Li Jing, still weak from the memory scan, said, "Try me."
Lin Xiao sighed, deciding to withhold the part about the other version of himself. "When you went into that portal, instead of teleporting with the other patients, you were transported somewhere else."
"Where?" Li Jing asked, her curiosity piqued.
Lin Xiao took a deep breath. "I don't know for sure, but it looked like you were on the moon."
Li Jing's eyes widened in disbelief. "The moon? That's impossible. Not even the strongest superpower users can send someone to the moon."
"I know it sounds crazy," Lin Xiao replied, "but you were there. And from there, you saw the sun. It looked... evil, mysterious. I don't know how to describe it."
As Lin Xiao tried to recall the image of the sun, a system notification appeared:
[Imagining a true god form -0.5 intelligence]
Lin Xiao was shocked and immediately stopped trying to visualize the sun.
"What happened? Why did you suddenly stop speaking?" Li Jing asked, concerned.
Lin Xiao, not wanting to reveal the existence of the system, lied. "I can't remember it either. It's like my mind won't let me."