Chapter 103: Hold On a Little Longer

Dawn. Mist hung thick in the air.

In a dim, gloomy stretch of forest, everything was damp; the leaves were an unusually vivid green, so deep and lush they seemed about to drip water.

In the underbrush lay a thin, frail figure, her body streaked with grime and faint traces of blood. She lay motionless in the grass, the lush growth nearly burying that slender form.

Not far off, on a tree branch, a black panther crouched in silent ambush. Its body was lean yet powerful, its pupils cold and piercing, the yellow irises glowing with a phosphorescent light in the dim forest.

The panther had been watching its prey on the ground for some time; when it saw the prey had not moved for a long while, it prepared to strike.

It leapt lightly from the branch, movements deft, making no sound at all; its elegant, streamlined body moved like a pool of black water flowing.

After leaping down, it lunged at the human shadow on the ground, jaws gaping wide, its mouth bristling with sharp fangs.

The shadow, jolted by the danger, woke with a start. The instant her eyes opened, she saw a black blur flash toward her like lightning. Without time to think, she twisted her body sharply and dodged the pounce.

But her body was already at the very limit of weakness; the motion was too violent, and a burst of golden stars exploded before her eyes.

When the first pounce failed, the panther twisted its body and lunged again.

Yang Yi gathered her will, only to find her psychic power utterly unresponsive. In a flash she remembered—oh, I have no psychic power anymore, I'm just an ordinary person now—damn it, why am I still not dead!

This time the distance was so close there was no way to dodge. Yang Yi instinctively thrust out both hands and clamped the panther's throat, keeping its fangs from biting down.

In the struggle, she caught a glimpse of her own hands—the wounds were somehow completely healed. But this was clearly no time to be observing. The panther's razor-sharp claws raked at her body; her shirt was torn apart in an instant, and a long gash opened on her, flesh splitting wide.

The pain cut to the bone. Her body was already frail; her vision went black and she nearly fainted.

This panther was not large—about fifty kilograms—and even without psychic power, in normal circumstances Yang Yi would not have been without some chance to fight back. But right now she was at the very edge of collapse, on the verge of losing her life to this small black panther.

The panther sensed her weakness too, broke free of her hands' grip, and lunged for her throat.

Suddenly, several barks rang out from the distance. The panther seemed utterly terrified of the sound; without hesitation it turned and fled into the forest.

Yang Yi's whole body went slack; golden stars burst before her eyes, her mind turned to mush, and she was on the verge of passing out the next second.

But an instinctive wariness kept her holding on—she could not faint! Where is this? Is it Earth? Wasn't I on the desert planet? How did I end up here? My psychic power is gone again? Right—the life source I absorbed to break the altar was all spent; without His consent, the psychic power won't recover…

Her head spun, cold sweat poured off her, and her mind sank into a haze.

A few barks came, accompanied by human footsteps. Someone was shouting something, calling a dog's name, already close at hand.

Right—she was just an ordinary person now. If she met a decent person, fine; but if… she recalled the human experiments Ved had made public…

A hunting dog burst through the underbrush, tongue lolling, bounding toward her in excitement.

"Timus, come back!" someone barked sharply.

Her mind was sinking deeper into fog; she could barely think anymore.

Drawing on the last shred of clarity, she used a small ability left behind by the Fecundation race to shift her features slightly. At last she could hold on no longer, and passed out.

%%

In the darkness, she was threading through a thorn-like forest, with swamps all around.

A sullen-faced little girl kept chasing her, and she kept running. Yet the girl always seemed to know exactly where she was hiding, always finding her the very first instant.

She was exhausted; she didn't want to run anymore; she was too tired.

If she wants to kill me, then let her. She thought.

So she dropped onto the muddy path, and little Yang Yi immediately ran over and slapped her hard across the face.

"Idiot! Coward! Get up, keep running! If you hadn't passed out on the desert planet, would we have fallen on hard times again, just to keep Him from devouring our souls? Why are you always such a coward? Why do you always want to give up! Sharing the same body as you disgusts me to no end!"

Yang Yi had no choice but to get up again and run along with her.

Her throat felt as if it were on fire, her feet weighed a thousand pounds, her body was as heavy as a great stone being rolled, sinking endlessly downward.

As she ran and ran, she had not a scrap of strength left. The scenery before her eyes blurred, the howling wind around her faded, and all she could hear was a cicada-like ringing in her ears.

"I… I… really can't… Yang Yi…" she panted in ragged gasps, hair plastered to her forehead, sweat streaming down like water. "…too tired… I… can't hold on…"

"Even if you can't hold on, you have to hold on! I'm nothing like you, you coward!" Little Yang Yi was in no better shape, but she didn't complain at all; instead she cursed with ever more vigor.

"…How about… the body… you take it…" she was as worn out as an old dog that had run a thousand miles, unable even to finish her sentences. "…I want… to rest…"

"You despicable, shameless wretch! A maggot in a latrine! Useless coward! The psychic power's gone, and only now you think of handing it over to me!" Little Yang Yi was absolutely furious. If enemies hadn't been chasing them from behind, she would almost have stopped on the spot and beaten her black and blue with hands and feet.

She ran along, grinding her teeth. "Right now this body is a useless wreck! Hand it to me so I can suffer? Run into some alien creature or an Awakener, or take a bullet, and I'd be done for on the spot! You really are…"

Little Yang Yi, still running, reached out and slapped her again.

She lowered her head, silent, letting her hit and curse as she pleased.

"And besides, right now He's got the upper hand, and the two of us together barely have any power to resist—and it's all your fault, always having to play the hero. What does it matter to us how many of them die? We have no duty or obligation to save them. Why are you always so sanctimonious? —Look, now you've dragged us into this mess, when we were the ones with the upper hand to begin with!" Little Yang Yi spoke, her grief turning to rage, and she struck the back of her head hard twice.

She hung her head, sullen and silent, saying nothing, only struggling to lift her heavy legs and keep up with her pace.

"Now you want to rest? What were you doing earlier? If you give up now, only I am left—how could I possibly resist Him? Wouldn't that just be delivering myself to Him as a meal?" As she spoke, Xiong Xiong flames of fury blazed in her eyes, and she burst out cursing: "You! Short-sighted wretch! Lower than pigs and dogs! Wolf-hearted, dog-lunged! Ungrateful, treacherous thing!"

Then let's hold on a little longer… she thought.

Sweat from her forehead ran into her eyes, stinging them painfully; it ran into her mouth, bitter and salty.