Chapter 337: The True Depths of Consciousness

Wait, then what's the difference between that and sending their own child to the brink of the Mutation?!

Wen Jing yun almost instinctively tried to rush over and pull Luo Jinyou away from Ying Duo, keeping him farther from the sole Mutation Source present.

But in the blink of an eye, she saw the little fellow already climb up from the sofa, wobble over to Ying Duo, extend his small hand, and grab his hem.

"Brother," Luo Jinyou looked up, "are you cold?"

Ying Duo lowered his head and gave him a glance.

He reached out and took little Luo Jinyou's hand off his own hem.

"Not cold."

Wen Jing yun stared steadily at the little fellow for a few seconds, then let out a sigh.

"You shouldn't linger here."

She said directly to Ying Duo.

"Because the little Jinyou you see now is likely just a fragment of memory."

Ying Duo said nothing, but his golden eyes narrowed slightly—a sign that Yang Yixie was listening intently.

"Consciousness Space isn't the kind of 'other world' you imagine; it's more like a massive library that stores all of a person's memories, emotions, and cognitions throughout their life..."

"But here, it's not where his consciousness currently resides."

Ying Duo lowered his head and glanced at the little dumpling at his feet, who was looking up at him.

Little Luo Jinyou, seeing Ying Duo look at him, immediately broke into a soft smile, reached out again, and this time clutched Ying Duo's sleeve.

"Brother, play with me."

Ying Duo didn't move.

"So that means I ran to the wrong place?"

"Not entirely." This time it was Luo Wen yuan who replied.

"Your ability to enter here shows that you are important in little Jinyou's heart; Consciousness Space will select the most Core, safest memories to protect the Invader, but the problem is, no matter how long you stay here, what must happen outside will still happen."

Yang Yixie was silent for a moment, then asked.

"Then was the report you just gave me reliable?"

Luo Wen yuan was startled for a moment, then realized what he was referring to.

"You mean the analysis report about your hair? That should be reliable."

He explained.

"We are merely projections within little Jinyou's memory; everything we can tell you is what little Jinyou remembers. If, in reality, little Jinyou has seen a detection report about you, that information resides in his memory, and we can naturally access it."

Ying Duo nodded; as long as his earlier dash around wasn't in vain, that's fine.

Then he spoke, asking a question that went straight to the Core:

"Then how do we find his true consciousness?"

Wen Jing yun's gaze fell on the little dumpling at Ying Duo's feet, clutching his pant leg.

"Through him."

She said.

Yang Yixie lowered his head and glanced at little Luo Jinyou.

Little Luo Jinyou was looking up, his face innocent as he returned his gaze.

"... Invade his consciousness?" Ying Duo asked, his tone flat.

"You could say that," Wen Jing yun nodded.

"This little Jinyou is the Core node linking all of his memories; he is the projection of the most original 'self'. If you can enter his consciousness, you can follow the thread of memories to find the true little Jinyou."

Her voice grew more solemn.

"But you must know this is extremely dangerous."

"The deeper you go, the closer you get to the 'present', the higher the concentration of Mutation factors; you may encounter already mutating fragments of consciousness halfway, and those things will attack you, even try to corrupt you."

"After all—"

She glanced at Ying Duo's tuft of Ying Guang Lu hair.

"You yourself already have a Mutation Source; the deeper you go, the more your own Mutation factors will resonate with the mutations here. Then you won't just fail to save him—you might also get pulled in yourself."

Luo Wen yuan whispered from the side, "So this plan is theoretically feasible, but the practical difficulty..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear.

Basically it's a death sentence.

Ying Duo listened, then simply nodded.

Then he crouched down, meeting little Luo Jinyou eye to eye.

Little Luo Jinyou blinked his big eyes, "Brother, will you play with me?"

Ying Duo gave no answer.

He only extended his hand and placed it on little Luo Jinyou's crown.

Wen Jing yun suddenly realized something was wrong, "Wait! I haven't told you exactly how—"

It was already too late.

Although manipulating so‑called supernatural energy was unprecedented for Yang Yixie, in this world those energies are like a part of the body, as if he was born knowing how to wield them.

Ying Duo's palm emitted a faint Ying Guang Lu glow; the light spread like rippling water, instantly enveloping little Luo Jinyou's entire body.

Little Luo Jinyou froze for a moment, then obediently closed his eyes.

The Ying Guang Lu silhouette began to turn transparent, like a poorly‑signalized projection, flickered once and vanished into the air.

After a few seconds, only little Luo Jinyou lying on the sofa remained in the lab.

"This kid is so reckless—how did he even survive to be this old?" Luo Wen yuan twitched his mouth, unable to hold back his urge to complain.

"If I weren't reckless, I wouldn't have ended up directly in Xiao You's Consciousness Space." Wen Jing yun just twitched the corner of her mouth, extended her hand, and found her body gradually dissipating.

It's like a pebble dropped into a deep pool; even though it stirs ripples, it will eventually return to calm.

——————————————

【Sss— sss sss—】

【System Prompt: You have entered a high‑danger zone!】

【Welcome to ￥*#*@*, this is the farthest edge of ** will, danger level: High, recommended level: Lv.???】

Yang Yixie stared at the few lines of system prompts that popped up before him, his brows slightly furrowed.

More garbled text.

Just like the message Fang Zhiyan had sent earlier, these characters that should have carried information were forcibly scrambled by some force, leaving only a blurry mosaic.

But he had no time to dwell on it.

Yang Yixie, through Ying Duo's eye, saw for the first time the true appearance of this so‑called "Consciousness Depth."

It was—

Chaos.

He didn't even know how to describe it.

The entire world was filled with red‑black squares of varying shades, stacked upon each other, eventually forming a wasteland with no discernible edge.

The sky had no color.

No, it would be better to say the sky possessed countless colors, but those colors were frantically flickering and devouring each other in a way that completely defied physical laws, like a broken screen forcibly stitched together.

Ying Duo lowered its head.

Yang Yixie found himself standing in a pool of "water."

Though he temporarily called the thing water, the liquid's color was dark red, like coagulated blood, yet also like some slowly writhing living creature.

The liquid had barely risen past his ankles, icy and bone‑piercing, but when Yang Yixie tried to lift his foot forward, he could clearly feel the viscous resistance.