The moment that shapeless dark shadow pounced, He Yan was plunged back into total darkness, giving him a disorienting feeling of being cut off from air. The blackness now was even more pure and profound than before, instilling a boundless terror from the depths of his heart.

Only when he unconsciously opened his mouth and inhaled the chilly air down his throat into his stomach did he regain a sliver of the feeling of still being alive in this world.

Although he had regained his senses after breaking free from the barrier of that fierce ghost earlier, now with his body restrained by this unknown force, his joints felt as if crushed under frigid boulders, completely immobilized. The only parts he could move slightly were his fingertips.

Even his spiritual power was mired in a "swamp" more viscous than before. The fine threads of his spiritual power had great difficulty moving, let alone attempting to break free...

This was an entity many times more troublesome than the fierce ghost from before. If he still had a fighting chance against that ghost, then facing this unknown dark shadow, he was like a helpless child, powerless to resist.

A strong sense of unwillingness erupted in He Yan's heart.

He had not yet found his lover in this life. If he died here today, vanishing without a trace from this world, would his lover be intimately entwined with someone else somewhere beyond his sight?

Imagining that scene, his spiritual power surged explosively as if greatly stimulated. Those invisible fine threads suddenly became fierce and imposing. Riding a burst of momentum, his spiritual power threads miraculously broke free from the dark shadow's restraint, and the darkness before his eyes receded like the tide!

Of course, the price was that in the next second, his sea of consciousness transmitted dense, needle-like pain.

This was the consequence of overexerting his spiritual power...

He Yan couldn't help letting out a groan. Although he had broken the dark shadow's barrier, it seemed he had only hurt himself. The dark shadow appeared unscathed, evidenced by his body still being firmly pinned down, unable to move.

Enduring the intense pain in his mind, he slowly extended the fine threads of his spiritual power, reaching all the way to the ceiling. Through these threads, he looked down at his own body from above.

The blanket originally covering him had slipped to the floor at some point. His entire being was shrouded in dark mist, with only one thin, pale arm exposed, hanging lifelessly off the edge of the bed. Under the equally pale moonlight, the purplish-blue veins below his wrist could be clearly "seen".

After that earlier outburst, his spiritual power had reached its limit. Just controlling the spiritual power threads was very taxing. If this unknown dark shadow made a move against him, he feared he would have difficulty even putting up a bit of resistance.

A sense of powerlessness welled up in He Yan's heart. If only his spiritual power had fully recovered... no, even just a third would allow him to easily rip apart this dark shadow before him!

Lying down and accepting his fate was never He Yan's style. On the battlefields of his original world, it wasn't as if he had never encountered enemies stronger than his own forces. But relying on his calm mind, he had fortunately led his fleet to ultimate victory.

Although there was a huge disparity in strength between him and this dark shadow pinning him down, to the point that tactics alone could not compensate, rather than being a helpless fish on a chopping block waiting for the knife to fall, he might as well take the initiative to attack while the shadow had not yet made a move. Perhaps he could still gain a sliver of a chance at survival...

So after his spiritual power threads surveyed from the air for a few seconds, they targeted the location of the dark shadow's head - if this thing really had a "head" - and stabbed down without hesitation!

Contacting something like a spiritual power barrier, a flicker of hope ignited in He Yan's heart. It seemed this dark shadow of unknown species also possessed a sea of consciousness similar to humans!

In that case, he was not completely without hope of survival!

In his original world, the use of spiritual power had been developed to a terrifying degree. But based on what he had seen in the information here, in this current world, only a very small number of people could touch upon the edges of spiritual power. That "master" Yan Xixi found was one of them.

Having vast spiritual power was useless without methods of using it.

Sure enough, as he expected, although the dark shadow's spiritual power was immense, its defenses were not strict. He Yan could almost say he easily broke through the shadow's spiritual power barrier and successfully invaded its sea of consciousness!

Then... he abruptly froze.

Although the dark shadow's sea of consciousness was inexplicably cold, and its spiritual power sphere was much vaster than in the previous life, every inch of it was a place he had caressed countless times with his spiritual power threads in the past.

Encountering the spiritual power he had spent three entire lifetimes with, the moment He Yan's spiritual power threads touched the dark shadow's sea of consciousness, they instinctively shed all aggression and became pliant. Then, before He Yan himself could react, they reflexively intertwined with it.

Spiritual power threads also extended from the dark shadow's sea of consciousness, entangling with his.

With his partner's soothing, the intense pain in He Yan's mind from overexerting his spiritual power eased considerably in just a few seconds.

He Yan was a bit dumbfounded as he realized... this dark shadow, whose species was still unknown, was probably, perhaps, well... his lover in this life?

He found it hard to describe his feelings in that moment, only feeling an unshakable sense of absurdity welling up in his heart. His mind went blank for a long while before the tremors from the merging of their spiritual powers startled him back to his senses.

In any case, now that he had recognized this dark shadow as his lover, he shouldn't have to worry about his personal safety for the time being.

After being entangled for so long, their spiritual powers had long become inseparable. Just as his spiritual power had instinctively shed its aggression the instant it touched the dark shadow's sea of consciousness, it would be very difficult for the shadow to turn around and harm him.

After the vengeful ghost that came for revenge disappeared, although the dark shadow kept suppressing him, it didn't make a move for a long time, which also indirectly confirmed this idea.

However, He Yan, who thought this way, was quickly slapped in the face by reality!

Just as the two's spiritual powers were entangled, the dark shadow suddenly changed from its previous quietness. The passively enduring thin threads of spiritual power suddenly and overbearingly turned to entangle his, completely taking the initiative. At the same time, the volume of the dark shadow also surged, its edges constantly vaporizing and distorting, appearing especially frightening.

Midway, his shoulders and limbs were released, but he no longer had the strength to move.

He Yan had a momentary illusion that he seemed to be in the midst of black flames, being constantly roasted, burning from the epidermis to the soul.

How to describe that feeling?

Sticky, cold...

For a moment, He Yan's mind was clear, his consciousness telling him that this method was twisted and abnormal, that he should resist. But after experiencing a series of changes tonight, he was already very tired. Coupled with the dark shadow's spiritual power constantly soothing his aching spiritual sea, his vigilance was lowered to the point of being nearly nonexistent, so he couldn't think of resisting...

The next morning, when He Yan opened his eyes, for a moment he felt as if he was still trapped in last night's nightmare.

But the temperature in the room was normal, and the scorching summer sun shone through the light-colored curtains into the small rental room, very bright and warm, as if the cold that had penetrated the entire night was just his illusion.

That dark shadow should have already left...

He moved his body slightly, his bones very sore, and many parts of his body ached faintly.

The quilt was properly covered, but his body was still sticky and slimy with sweat and some other things sticking to his body, which was really uncomfortable.

He Yan: ".................."

He endured the awkwardness and sat up from the bed, raising his sore arms. When he saw the conspicuous marks on them, he "......" again for a moment, his expression twisting briefly. Then he lifted the quilt and swept his gaze over his whole body, taking a deep breath, his expression instantly becoming even more distorted.

After being silent for a while, he reached out and found a somewhat worn-out smartphone on the table. Clicking on the screen, the time showed 11:30.

...He should probably be thankful that he had no classes this morning.

But the afternoon was full of classes, starting at two o'clock, so there wasn't much time left.

He Yan got up with difficulty, washed himself inside and out with a black face, and found that although his body was uncomfortable, fortunately he was not injured, which was at least some consolation.

The temperature in early summer was not yet unbearably hot. In order to not expose the unsightly marks on his body, He Yan rummaged through the wardrobe for a high-collared shirt, buttoning it up to the very top. The ones on his neck couldn't be covered, so he could only stick band-aids on the two more obvious marks to barely conceal them.

Then he went out. Thinking about the pitiful savings of this body, He Yan could only go to a nearby small restaurant to eat some light food, then hurried to the school.

For some reasons that were not good to say directly, He Yan walked very slowly, slow enough that from time to time, people on the road would cast strange glances at him.

Moreover, in order to save money, the rental house Han Ziyu rented back then was not very close to the school. So he spent nearly an hour on the road before finally sitting down in the classroom at 1:50-something.

However, the chairs in the classroom were too hard. As soon as He Yan sat down, he felt a soreness there, and his nose instantly turned sour. "......"

After enduring a whole afternoon of classes with great difficulty, He Yan slowly walked out of the classroom, unable to help thinking that he must go to the pharmacy to buy some anti-swelling ointment later. It was too uncomfortable like this.

However, he relaxed too early, because he had just left the school gate and entered a small alley when he was stopped by a clear and beautiful voice from behind.

It was a tall beauty, none other than Yan Xixi, who had caused Han Ziyu's unjust death in the original trajectory.

Yan Xixi's smile was sweet. She had an extremely good appearance, a pair of curved crescent eyes that made it very difficult for people to refuse when she smiled, and also made people easily imagine that under such a beautiful shell, such a sinister soul was buried.

In her smile, He Yan saw a hint of reluctance and panic.

Presumably, after Yan Xixi invited that expert to cast a spell last night, seeing that he could still come to class in good shape today, she couldn't help but panic in her heart.

If it were normal, He Yan wouldn't mind misleading her with a few words in bad taste.

But he was very tired today and just wanted to return to his small rental house to have a good rest. He didn't want to mobilize any energy to deal with Yan Xixi, who harbored ulterior motives.

Yan Xixi probed seemingly unintentionally, "What's wrong? You look unwell today, are you sick?"

He Yan kept a straight face. "Mm."

Just as he was getting impatient, he suddenly felt a cold wind blowing through the alley, followed by a familiar, cold and sticky thing wrapping around his ankle.

He Yan: "......"