"Little sister... Xiaolan... it's my fault... I'm sorry..." Bai Tao leaned against the wall, crying and shouting, thinking he had invited wolves into his home.
"Bai Tao, maybe the best thing you've ever done in your life is bringing us here," Chang Le, still holding Bai Tao's arm, laughed and tried to reassure him.
"This is really strange..." Shen Xingkong was still pressing down on Bai Tao's sister, his brows furrowed deeply. He could see that the golden needle had already been inserted into Xiaolan's Shenmen acupoint, but his abilities had not yet been triggered.
Last time, when he saved Mr. Sun in the hospital, he encountered a similar situation where it was difficult to trigger his ability in someone near death. But Bai Tao's sister was obviously alive, and sleepwalking wasn't exactly a terminal illness. So why couldn't her acupoints draw out the energy from his body?
The Shenmen acupoint was something Shen Xingkong was very familiar with. Located along the Heart Meridian of Hand-Shaoyin, he practiced enhancing his heart muscles and cerebral blood vessels every day by stimulating this acupoint. There was no way he could have made a mistake with it.
The Heart Meridian should govern both the heart and spirit, and sleepwalking should logically fall under its domain. Unless Bai Tao's sister's heart had stopped beating, there was no reason this meridian should be blocked. To be sure, Shen Xingkong checked her pulse. Although he hadn't fully mastered the skill of pulse diagnosis, he could tell her heart was still beating.
"Shen, can you hurry? I can't hold him much longer!" Chang Le, who was holding Bai Tao, was starting to struggle.
"Just give me a second." Shen Xingkong didn't even look back as he grabbed Xiaolan's pale and slender wrist and pushed the needle in a little deeper.
"Ah!" Xiaolan let out a piercing scream, her voice sharp enough to send chills down Shen Xingkong's spine.
Even more unbelievable, this seemingly frail girl erupted with surprising strength. She managed to throw Shen Xingkong off her, jumped off the bed, and bolted out the door like a wild animal.
"Oh no!" Shen Xingkong instantly realized the severity of the situation. He scrambled up from the floor and sprinted after her, all while panicking about one crucial fact—his golden needle was still embedded in Xiaolan's Shenmen acupoint.
"Hey, wait up!" Chang Le, who hadn't fully grasped what was happening, also let go of Bai Tao and joined the chase.
"Xiaolan! Xiaolan!" Bai Tao's voice was hoarse from shouting as he raced after them, despite the pain in his arm from being held by Chang Le earlier.
The four of them ran out of the building in a wild chase, with Shen Xingkong keeping his eyes locked on the fleeing white figure in front of him, silently cursing himself for not being more cautious earlier.
Xiaolan was running far too fast, like an ethereal ghost. No matter how hard the three young men tried, they just couldn't catch up to her. Out of desperation, Shen Xingkong came up with an idea. While running, he pulled out a regular needle from his pouch and quickly inserted it into his own adrenal gland acupoint on his ear, hoping to trigger a burst of adrenaline that would give him the extra speed he needed.
Unfortunately, the regular needle had too weak of an effect. After running for quite some time, Shen Xingkong still couldn't feel the adrenaline kicking in. Behind him, Chang Le and Bai Tao were already gasping for breath, their faces flushed as they struggled to keep up. Chang Le regretted not driving—they could have easily caught up with her in the car.
As Shen Xingkong ran, losing track of time and distance, he suddenly realized that Xiaolan had vanished. He skidded to a halt and looked around, noticing that both Chang Le and Bai Tao had also fallen behind, nowhere in sight. Those two weaklings had probably stopped to catch their breath.
Shen Xingkong's face turned pale. He was exhausted, but fear gripped him more than anything else. Xiaolan, having been triggered, could be anywhere by now. If something terrible happened to her—if she hurt herself or was hit by a car—he'd be responsible. And on top of that, his precious golden needle was lost somewhere on her.
"Damn it!" Shen Xingkong cursed under his breath, rarely one to swear. He sat down on the edge of the sidewalk, right in front of the sports stadium.
What now? His mind was a mess. After resting for a few minutes, he forced his aching body to stand up again, determined to find Xiaolan no matter what—it was a matter of life and death. His needle could wait; saving her came first.
He retraced his steps, thinking about the pursuit and convinced that he hadn't made a wrong turn. If Xiaolan hadn't somehow learned teleportation or invisibility, she had to be close by. He scanned the area with sharp eyes, sweeping across the empty streets and then focusing on the large entrance of the sports stadium.
This area was vast and open, especially the plaza in front of the stadium. With her wearing a white dress, she wouldn't have had anywhere to hide, so the only possibility was that she had run inside the stadium, which was publicly accessible and never locked.
With that in mind, Shen Xingkong approached the stadium, holding onto a glimmer of hope that Xiaolan would be inside.
The atmosphere in the stadium was eerie and quiet. There wasn't a soul in sight, only a single light casting a beam across the grassy football field. Shen Xingkong stopped in his tracks, his heart skipping a beat. To his surprise, Xiaolan was indeed there—but she wasn't alone.
Sitting on the grass beside her was another girl. The second girl had her arm around Xiaolan's shoulder, speaking to her softly with a look of deep affection. Shen Xingkong couldn't help but smile wryly. Of all the people to stumble upon, the other girl was none other than his class president, Li Yingni.
"Ahem." Shen Xingkong cleared his throat gently as he approached, not wanting to startle anyone.
Li Yingni looked up and froze for a moment when she saw Shen Xingkong. Then she put a finger to her lips and gestured for him to be quiet.
Shen Xingkong nodded, staying where he was, careful not to make any sudden moves that might scare Xiaolan off again.
"Little sister, do you have something on your mind? You can talk to me," Li Yingni said softly, her tone filled with kindness.
Xiaolan hugged her knees and buried her head between them, neither responding nor moving.
"I know, you've probably encountered something really bad, haven't you? Don't worry, you're safe now."
"Ahem." Shen Xingkong couldn't resist clearing his throat again and pointed to himself with a serious expression, signaling to Li Yingni that he might be the "bad guy" she was referring to.
Li Yingni's gentle gaze shifted to confusion.