ABRIWMTHM Chapter 34

Shi Xing continued to control the contraction of his barrier, trying his best to isolate the mental energy that Chi Yao was releasing within the range of his own barrier.

It was manageable in the main cabin, but as they walked towards the living quarters, the closer he got, the smaller the barrier shrank. Shi Xing increasingly felt the mental energy levels between the two of them were like a chasm.

He was still able to control it, it was not exhausting, but it was certainly not easy either.

However, all this had a major premise: currently, the mental energy Chi Yao was releasing was still very weak and in an unconscious state. He noticed it early; he…

Shi Xing was certain that some kind of unknown change was happening to his body.

During this time, after entering the first stage of maturity, Fu Qing had practiced with him, and for half a day every day, the two of them stayed together. An SS-ranked officer, even though Shi Xing sensed that kind of fluctuation, Fu Qing never noticed it even once.

Moreover, Major General Xiang Fei had also been stationed on their spaceship plenty of times, and with Xiang’s SS-level mental power, while they were together, he was also completely oblivious to the faint fluctuation that Shi Xing sensed.

Previously, Shi Xing might have doubted whether it was an illusion, but not anymore; he was sure of its existence.

Because everything that just happened proved that these were indeed the unstable mental energy leaking from the prince’s mental sea.

It was just that previously, it had been too weak, and only he captured it.

He…

Shi Xing suddenly had a sense of familiarity, as if he had experienced a similar change before.

But as soon as that thought arose, without time to think further, another wave of leaking mental energy erupted. This time the mental energy once again slammed into his barrier, and Shi Xing finally felt a bit of strain.

Almost instinctively, Shi Xing called out loud, “Your Highness!”

Ripples suddenly formed in the center of his mental sea; it wasn’t uncomfortable, but Shi Xing had an intuition that something was being conveyed outwards.

In the next moment, the pressure lightened abruptly.

The torrent of released chaotic mental energy came to an abrupt halt, and Shi Xing realized that Chi Yao had woken up.

Acting before thinking, he took advantage of the moment to further compress his mental barrier, and with both hands moving closer, the spherical barrier instantaneously shrank to the size of Chi Yao’s room, completely cutting off the source of the leaking mental energy from the outside.

Even though he was prepared, the subsequent wave of mental energy, although much weaker under Chi Yao’s control, still increased the intensity that Shi Xing had to bear when it once again struck against the barrier due to the reduced distance.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the back of his forehead.

Shi Xing knew that for safety’s sake, he should retreat now.

But currently, the consumption hadn’t reached the red line he had pre-set in his heart, and Chi Yao had already woken up; he… Shi Xing still wanted to try again.

Just as this thought arose, rationality and impulse hadn’t yet distinguished which was superior when another wave of mental energy slammed against the barrier. After several clashes, Shi Xing couldn’t explain why, but he just knew he could identify the subtle changes in the structure of this mental energy.

At the beginning, it was mainly the prince’s unconscious leakage of mental energy that impacted him.

After the prince woke up, the destructive level of his mental energy significantly dropped, and during the last two impacts, another wave of violent mental energy was sensed. Although it had dissipated almost entirely by the time it reached his barrier, Shi Xing still felt a sense of familiarity.

And he quickly realized why; it was the destructive mental energy left over from the beast inside the prince’s mental sea.

He was familiar with it because he had just resolved the invading mental energy in Major General Xiang’s body.

And these two types of mental energy belonged to the same beast.

With a flash of inspiration, a bold idea arose, and Shi Xing no longer hesitated; he opened Chi Yao’s room door.

“Your Highness!”

Pushing the door open, Shi Xing saw Chi Yao sitting on the sofa, dressed neatly and organized, clearly having been resting before the leakage of mental energy began.

Chi Yao also had beads of sweat dotting his forehead.

Woken abruptly, he hurried to control the mental energy of his mental sea. At this moment, Chi Yao was no longer composed, and it could even be said that he appeared slightly uncharacteristically flustered.

As their eyes met, at the moment he saw Shi Xing, Chi Yao’s pupils contracted in disbelief and exclaimed, “Shi Xing?”

“It’s me, Your Highness.”

As soon as he spoke, the barrier was once again compressed. The circular barrier that had initially enveloped the entire room finally revealed its true form in front of Chi Yao, shrinking down to appear inside the room.

Chi Yao looked up, and at that moment, he seemed to realize what was happening; his mind shook.

“What are you doing!?”

His tone could no longer be described as merely shocked; it was laced with a sharp reprimand.

Shi Xing honestly said, “I wanted to see if I could calm your mental sea before chaos completely erupted.”

Each word was clear to Chi Yao, but it took him a good ten seconds to synthesize it into a coherent thought.

Shi Xing said he wanted to use mental energy to help him calm his mental sea?!

At that realization, Chi Yao’s emotions surged uncontrollably, his mental sea, which was already on the brink of chaos, began to tremble again. The moment he noticed, Chi Yao exerted all his strength to suppress it, but with everything having its order, inevitably, another wave of mental energy slammed against Shi Xing’s barrier. Under the impact, Shi Xing’s body swayed slightly.

That minute movement was too glaring in Chi Yao’s eyes, making his chest involuntarily heave.

“Do you have any idea what you’re talking about?!!”

Chi Yao questioned sharply.

The emotional fluctuation again stirred the mental sea, and although he used more energy to focus on controlling it this time, the tumult of his feelings was akin to adding fuel to the fire against an already difficult suppression. Noticing the signs that his mental sea was slipping out of control, Chi Yao nearly shouted at Shi Xing.

“Get out!”

Shi Xing sensed the change and immediately replied with a serious tone, “Your Highness, your turmoil has intensified.”

Chi Yao’s neck veins bulged, “I said, get out!”

Shi Xing spoke at the same time, “My apologies to Officer Xu and Major General Fu.”

Chi Yao stared in shock for a moment, while Shi Xing noticed something else: his mental barrier couldn’t simultaneously defend and suppress after drawing closer to Chi Yao. Though it wasn’t obvious, he had indeed tried several times; because of the difference in mental power levels, the circular barrier could no longer be compressed.

The imagined method of directly injecting soothing mental energy into Chi Yao’s mental sea wouldn’t work.

He was too weak against Chi Yao; he couldn’t do it.

If he forcibly attempted, even if it drained his mental energy, it still might not succeed.

But…

Shi Xing took a deep breath. With the shift in his thoughts, the barrier also rapidly changed.

However, Chi Yao’s mental energy did not reject him; as long as he didn’t attempt to obstruct, perhaps there was still another method.

During the treatment of Major General Xiang, the mental energy of the beast dissipated incomparably before it could be drawn out the moment it was touched; now, he could hold some hope that, maybe, just maybe this time…

Chi Yao: “?”

The revered Emperor of the Empire didn’t have time to be angry as Shi Xing expanded his mental barrier.

He stood at the edge of the barrier. The moment his body came into contact with it, he drew out a multiple of his previous mental energy, merging it into the thickening barrier.

In an instant, Chi Yao’s mental energy penetrated the barrier.

Shi Xing shut his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

His hands rotated slightly as the barrier completed its final transformation, completely losing its defensive capacity. Chi Yao’s leaking mental energy finally swept out as if it were entering a void.

In the next moment, Shi Xing opened his eyes, clasped his hands together, and with his assisting movements, the barrier shrank rapidly.

Chi Yao’s attempt to forcibly take Shi Xing’s mental energy did not even get a chance to release; that layer of transparent barrier instantly contracted to the outside of his body, then unceasingly surged into him.

Within a very short time, it enveloped his entire being, wrapping around his mental sea like a hurricane, storming inwards in a circular manner.

Unresisting, the moment of contact, Chi Yao couldn’t even summon the thought of resistance.

It was simply too gentle.

It was the most soothing mental energy Shi Xing had ever encountered among all the therapists Chi Yao had met.

As the healing and calming force rushed into Chi Yao’s mental sea, even though he was prepared, Shi Xing couldn’t help but be startled.

For no other reason, even though he had imagined the worst-case scenario for Chi Yao’s mental sea area, at the moment he truly felt it, Shi Xing still wanted to say that he had underestimated it.

The mental energy that he expected to at least penetrate the outer layer of Chi Yao’s mental sea dissipated completely by halfway into the actual outer layer.

Shi Xing’s body swayed, and he stepped back two steps weakly, supporting himself on the desk corner for leverage.

Fortunately, it was still effective.

Very effective.

The chaotic mental energy that had lingered in the outer layer of Chi Yao’s mental sea for so long vanished in Shi Xing’s perception.

Chi Yao felt it too.

“What did you do?”

Chi Yao frowned, his tone still serious.

“I pressed the healing and calming mental energy into your mental sea.”

After a pause, Shi Xing revealed a tired smile and said happily, “Your Highness, the chaos has been interrupted!”

Chi Yao was momentarily speechless.

Only realizing afterward, with the disappearance of that residual mental energy, his mental sea was now unprecedentedly calm compared to previous days.

Chi Yao: “……”

Chi Yao: “…………”

Shi Xing: “You’d better self-regulate while it’s still possible; after a while, once the coercive calming effect of the healing energy passes, the fluctuations of the inner sea will still extend to…”

Before Shi Xing could finish, Chi Yao had already sprung into action.

Though his breathing was uneven amidst the movements, if it hadn’t been for the lack of ability to focus on two things at once… Chi Yao forced himself to concentrate, first resolving his own danger, then dealing with everything else.

Everything else that was irritating, and people.

Once Chi Yao had determined that the violent mental energy had mostly disappeared and the small amount that remained was eradicated, he activated his mental fibers to concentrate on stabilizing his mental sea.

Minutes passed, and affirming that the chaos would not recur, Chi Yao finally opened his eyes.

Seeing the scene before him, he gasped.

In just that short time, Shi Xing had slumped from leaning against the desk to completely bonelessly collapsing into a chair.

Uncertain if he was fainting or waking, Chi Yao called out, “Shi Xing!”

“Shi Xing, are you alright…”

Unexpectedly, Shi Xing rubbed his eyes and sat up at once, his voice thick with fatigue. “Um, Your Highness, are you better now?”

His tone was drowsy. “I’m so tired, I want to sleep.”

Chi Yao: “……”

Another strange silence. When Shi Xing lowered his hands from rubbing his eyes, he noticed the atmosphere was off.

Chi Yao was looking at him, but… that gaze was flat, too cold and hollow.

Like…

—“Don’t ask too much; just listen to the prince.”

—“The prince has always been strict; be careful not to get scolded later.”

—“You’ve never seen the prince angry; when you do, I assure you, you won’t want to see it a second time.”

When Shi Xing had inquired about Chi Yao’s condition from Fu Qing, Fu Qing had warned Shi Xing not to meddle too much.

Seeing Chi Yao’s expressionless face, Shi Xing suddenly had an epiphany, jolting fully awake.

Did the prince just say something to him?

It seemed like, during the intensifying chaos, he had told him to get out?!

Recalling more details, if he wasn’t mistaken, hadn’t the prince’s neck veins bulged…

Shi Xing: “……”

Shi Xing attempted one last self-rescue, “Your Highness, I—I remembered your instruction; I only used a little over half of my mental energy, and I didn’t overstrain. This time, I discovered it early; the strength of the mental energy you released is weak…”

As he spoke, under Chi Yao’s expressionless gaze, he became quieter and quieter, “I’m just a bit tired from using too much ability…”

The final two words were nearly inaudible, “Really.”

Shi Xing couldn’t help but lower his head, shrinking back into the chair.

In his peripheral vision, Chi Yao still didn’t speak, but rare enough, his chest heaved for a moment as he took a deep breath.

As if he were enduring something.

Shi Xing: “…………”

After a moment of silence, the two of them spoke simultaneously.

Chi Yao: “You…”

Shi Xing closed his eyes, feeling sheepish, he called out, “Your Highness…”

The former’s word constrained anger as it squeezed out from his throat, while the latter’s two words were timid and pleading.

Chi Yao: “……”

Shi Xing: “……”

In the next moment, Chi Yao turned his head away and opened the communicator, Xu Jin connected.

As soon as the latter called out the prince’s title, he was interrupted.

Chi Yao quickly ordered, “Both ships stop immediately, send the medical team over, all of them, bring instruments, check Shi Xing’s body.”

“What just happened…”

“No, where’s Fu Qing?”

“Did you let him be responsible for Shi Xing acting this way?!”

Noticing the intensity of Chi Yao’s tone, he altered his tone, “Get him over here now!”

If Shi Xing couldn’t see that Chi Yao was furious, then he was truly blind.

Moreover, perhaps, it seemed, as if…

He had upset the prince so much…?

His mind blank, only four words floated in Shi Xing’s heart—

It’s over, it’s over.