Chapter 239: Reunion
Xu Zhi didn’t actually know how vast the Lower District was. Based on the limited information she had so far, the “Plains District” alone was roughly the size of Cloud City. As for how many other districts existed in the Lower District as a whole, she had no idea—there were simply too few channels through which she could obtain information.
The reason she considered Xiao Yi to be relatively close was that, according to her perception, the distance between them was about half a Cloud City—still within the Plains District. At its current speed, even while keeping a low profile, it wouldn’t take more than an hour to reach her.
After issuing the command to Xiao Yi, Xu Zhi resumed studying the changes brought about by her breakthrough. Aside from Xiao Yi, the clearest sensation she felt actually came from [Spell Words], which resided in her throat. When the former numerical levels transformed into streams of information entering her mind, Xu Zhi wasn’t surprised to find that [Spell Words] showed no change in its current “level.”
That made sense. Spell Words leveled up by consuming her supernatural energy, and she had only just recovered a small amount these past few days—barely enough for herself, let alone spare energy to feed into Spell Words.
As for the minor aberrant species, its condition was still not very good. She could only sense that its life force had stabilized somewhat, no longer like a candle flickering in the wind, but she couldn’t perceive anything more specific.
Perhaps its condition would only begin to improve once the seed sprouted—but what exactly was required to make that seed germinate?
For the three familiars that were relatively close, her perception was extremely clear. The other three, however, were much more vague, as if they were in a place very far away from her. When Xu Zhi tried to consume more supernatural energy in an attempt to sense them more clearly, a sudden burning pain flared in her palm.
Almost instantly, she cut off the connection and opened her eyes to look at her hand. There was a faint scar there—so light that one would never notice it without close inspection. It was the mark left by Midnight.
The scar, which had been completely dormant since that incident, now seemed to come alive in her palm. It glowed like burning starlight, scalding hot, like a thin stream of magma flowing beneath her skin. The burning sensation was intense, as if it were issuing a warning.
Cold sweat slowly dripped down her forehead. The pain lasted nearly a full minute before fading away, and the scar on her palm gradually concealed itself once more.
But Xu Zhi knew it hadn’t disappeared—it had merely finished its warning and gone back into hiding.
As the pain subsided, Xu Zhi quietly let out a breath. Qi Yanxin was right beside her, so she had to restrain herself with all her might and keep her aura from leaking out. If not for the sudden flare-up of that scar, she would have almost forgotten about its existence.
Still, thanks to that reaction, Xu Zhi was now almost certain that the place where the other three familiars resided was closely tied to Midnight.
Although she couldn’t locate them or send messages, she could observe their life status at any time. For now, their auras were quite stable, and their levels even seemed to have increased slightly compared to before. They appeared to be doing fairly well.
Confirming this, Xu Zhi relaxed a little. She figured that her current level was simply too low to cross “Midnight” and transmit information to them. Once her level fully recovered, she would try again.
With another increase in level, her self-healing ability had strengthened as well. More than that, she could feel her control over supernatural power reaching a new level. Her grasp of the “faucet”—the on-and-off control—had become much more precise. She no longer needed to focus intently to regulate the intake of supernatural energy; even in light sleep, that control would not be interrupted.
Compared to before, her mastery over supernatural energy had clearly stepped up another notch. She hadn’t been capable of such fine control in the past.
She wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion, but as the [Lamp]-attribute circuits within her grew more complete, every time she observed them closely, she would unconsciously enter a state of deep focus. The more she looked, the clearer the pattern became in her mind, and she even felt as though her “mental space” itself was growing broader and clearer.
“What a strange feeling.”
But it wasn’t a bad one. Each time after careful observation, her mental fatigue would ease. Sometimes, Xu Zhi even treated it as a form of “rest.”
After organizing all the post-upgrade changes and the abilities she could currently use, quite a bit of time had passed without her noticing. She could sense that Xiao Yi was now very close. Its speed had slowed down, probably because it had entered the army’s guarded perimeter.
It was already nine in the morning. Even though the military was conducting meticulous searches in the area, the nearby factory machinery hadn’t stopped at all. It seemed that unless everyone in the Lower District died, the factories would never cease operation.
Xu Zhi had long since grown used to the constant noise of the Lower District. Perhaps only during those few days when the fog descended did her ears ever get some peace.
Still, no amount of “getting used to it” could truly make such relentless noise ignorable. Xu Zhi could handle it, but for ordinary people, mental exhaustion was probably unavoidable. This was likely one of the reasons why supernatural beings were so rare in the Lower District.
Breakfast was delivered to Xu Zhi and Qi Yanxin every morning, but after eating, they had to return the trays themselves. Qi Yanxin always handled that task. After Xu Zhi finished the extra vegetables Qi Yanxin had deliberately given her, the woman came over, took the trays, and left the tent.
Once Qi Yanxin was gone, Xu Zhi turned her wheelchair, pulled the curtain down, and lowered her gaze to the ground.
Construction in the fringe areas of the Lower District was extremely poor—most places were nothing but wasteland. The military camp was currently set up on a barren stretch of flat ground. The Plains District was named as such precisely because it was so flat. Now, on the compacted dirt ground, a thin crack suddenly appeared. Soil bulged upward along the crack, then scattered to both sides.
A tiny black snake, no longer than a finger and extremely slender, slithered out. Its body was so small that it was even thinner than an earthworm. Even though it could shrink itself to this extent, Xiao Yi still chose to enter from underground to avoid drawing attention.
Almost the instant Xiao Yi appeared, Xu Zhi was wrapped once more in that long-lost sense of joy and intimacy that belonged to a familiar.
Usually so well-behaved and obedient, Xiao Yi completely forgot Xu Zhi’s past instructions telling her familiars not to cling to her too much. It slithered straight to Xu Zhi’s side, climbed up her arm along the wheelchair, then, as if unsatisfied, moved up to her shoulder. Lifting its delicate little head, it leaned close to Xu Zhi’s cheek.
Xu Zhi felt a cool touch gently brushing against her face. She didn’t stop it this time. Instead, she simply smiled and indulged Xiao Yi’s excitement and its almost frantic desire to stick close to her.
Estimating that Qi Yanxin would soon be back, Xu Zhi finally raised her right hand, extended her index finger near her cheek, and said softly, “Alright. Someone’s about to come back.”
Xiao Yi, a little reluctant, flicked its tongue, then obediently coiled its body and climbed onto Xu Zhi’s finger. After that, it quietly returned to the place it knew best, transforming into a black jade bracelet hidden within her sleeve.
