Chapter 341: Burning Bones as a Guide, Strange Changes Suddenly Occur

The manager recovered quickly, walked over, picked up the black communicator Phoenix had left behind, weighed it in his hand, and looked at it carefully, only then putting it into his pocket expressionlessly, his movements showing no ripples.

"This Phoenix's reach is truly long." The manager turned around, facing Lin Yu, his voice becoming steady again, unable to tell joy or anger, "Official people intervening so quickly, things will only get more troublesome. Liu family, Ouroboros, Hive... now there's another National Security Special Affairs Handling Office. This pot of porridge in Haicheng, it seems it's really going to boil over."

Lin Yu leaned against the cold wall, the pain from the wound on his back coming in waves; he didn't answer, his entire attention falling on the face of the woman on the stretcher who was gasping for air. Xuanyuan Qing's breathing was so weak it was almost imperceptible.

"She can't wait." Lin Yu's voice was very light, carrying a kind of unquestionable weariness.

He looked up at Xu Xiaochuan. This kid was grimacing, clutching his back desperately, and even through a layer of combat uniform, one could feel the abnormally scorching temperature under that skin.

"The things in the chip," Lin Yu pointed to the portable terminal with the screen still lit next to him, "and the 'balance' she mumbled just now, plus the reaction on you... perhaps, there is a method to try, but it's very risky."

He briefly and concisely recounted the bits of incomplete information he had glimpsed from the chip, especially the "energy node," "reversal balance," and the "sacrifice" hint that made one's heart feel cold. He didn't mention the two words "sacrifice," but the danger was self-evident.

Xu Xiaochuan listened until his face turned white, his lips trembling, subconsciously clenching his hands tighter, his knuckles turning white. This sounded like filling a pit with his own life?

Xuanyuan Qing on the stretcher seemed to sense something, her long eyelashes trembling a few more times, her chapped lips moving silently.

"I... try..." Her voice, so weak it was almost inaudible, drifted intermittently in the air, yet carried a kind of determination that could not be ignored. She herself vaguely felt that the scorching power on Xu Xiaochuan seemed to be her only chance of survival, even if that chance sounded so bizarre.

"The Liu family has also just received some news about 'Hive'," the manager interjected at the right time, his voice very low, "They seem to be using every means to search for other research materials left by Dr. Xuanyuan. In addition, the family head has already made arrangements at a hidden facility outside the city, where the equipment and manpower are far better than here. Transferring there, whether for cracking the chip or subsequent treatment, will be more certain."

Lin Yu shook his head, his eyes firm. "Right here." Moving Xuanyuan Qing in her current state was no different from sending her on her way.

The manager's eyes flickered, not insisting further, just bowing slightly: "Whatever Mr. Lin needs, the Liu family will do its best to arrange."

In the following time, this secret room filled with the smell of rust and blood quickly turned into a makeshift, shabbily simple surgical preparation room and... in a sense, a training ground.

Lin Yu began to try to guide Xu Xiaochuan to perceive and control the life-threatening mark on his back.

"Concentrate, don't let your mind wander!" Lin Yu's voice was low, carrying a kind of unquestionable forced calmness, "Feel that heat, yes, that heat that makes you want to curse! Don't resist it, try to... let it follow your intent, slower... even slower..."

Xu Xiaochuan gritted his teeth, sweat beads dripping from his temples like they were free. That power was simply not his own, barbaric, scorching, like a ball of out-of-control wild fire, rampaging between his skin, flesh, and bones. Every time he tried to guide it with his intent, it was like stirring hard in his bone gaps with a red-hot iron rod, bringing waves of heart-tearing pain.

"Damn!" Xu Xiaochuan couldn't help but growl, his whole face twisting, "This is more painful than taking a bullet!"

Several times, he almost fainted from the pain. The skin around the mark was red and purple, as if it were about to be burned through by that heat.

The outside world didn't stop either.

Pangzi sent intermittent news that that old bastard Zhou Minghui really hadn't given up; although he was tapped by official people, he secretly used his connections to gather some remnants of "Black Snake," starting to look for trouble for them everywhere. Pangzi's two inconspicuous shops were sealed, and many small thugs were turning around and inquiring near where they might be staying.

However, Pangzi didn't seem as cowardly as before this time; he had been operating for many years and had his own way of survival. Several fake messages were deliberately released, several batches of illicit goods were moved in advance, and even a few small punks were hired to deliberately lead the people sent by Zhou Minghui, driving a battered car, pulling a carload of stinky fish and shrimp around the city. He actually played the other party around, temporarily not letting them touch this true hiding place.

In the secret room, Lin Yu carefully disinfected the silver needles he brought, and flipped through several medicinal herbs with strange smells from the medical kit, mixing them together to concoct a thick, dark green ointment. He picked up a piece of chalk, found several metal scraps dismantled from somewhere, and referring to an ancient and incomplete chart in his brain, extremely focused, drew a complex, crooked energy convergence diagram on the floor and surrounding walls of the secret room. Although simple, it carried a kind of mysterious meaning that couldn't be explained.

Xu Xiaochuan, after countless failures and unbearable pain, finally managed to barely guide that scorching power with his intent for a very short time. Although that power was still unruly, it only flowed in a very small circle around the mark, weak as if it would go out at any time, and extremely unstable, but it was finally a breakthrough from zero.

Everything was ready.

Xuanyuan Qing was carefully moved to the center of the simple diagram. She lay quietly, like a fragile porcelain doll.

Lin Yu took a deep breath, feeling that everything he inhaled into his lungs was cold and heavy. He picked up the thinnest and shortest silver needle, held his breath, and found the Baihui acupoint on the top of Xuanyuan Qing's head.

Xu Xiaochuan also followed Lin Yu's previous instructions, nervously placing his palm against Xuanyuan Qing's back through the thin clothing, starting to concentrate all his spirit, trying to guide the manic and restless energy accumulated in the mark on his back.

Just as Lin Yu's wrist sank, and the needle tip was about to pierce Xuanyuan Qing's scalp!

Strange changes suddenly occurred! ===== CHAPTER 342 =====