Chapter 368: Yang Yichen: It Can't Be Him

Two days and two nights.

This was not only Ying Duo and Luo Jinyou's first long trek in their lives, but also a spur‑of‑the‑moment escape.

Fortunately, Ying Duo's backpack was well stocked; aside from the batch of supplies moved from the Dome's reserve warehouse in Tianmian City, the provisions he had piled up were also enough to carry them far.

Energy, food, water, medical supplies—they lacked nothing.

That meant they didn't have to risk slipping into towns along the way to resupply, thus avoiding the chance of being spotted by Church informants.

Car broke down? Ying Duo fixes it.

Road conditions complex? Ying Duo navigates.

Encounter Aberrant Species? Ying Duo outputs, Luo Jinyou......

…helps take the hits.

"Left!"

As soon as Luo Jinyou's voice faded, a dark shape leapt out from behind the side rocks—a Aberrant Species resembling a jackal‑wolf, its size a notch larger than a normal wolf and moving at extreme speed.

It then barreled straight into a wall—a wall that suddenly rose from the ground, its surface shimmering with a jade‑like luster.

"Bang!"

The Aberrant Species collided solidly, producing a muffled thud; a few fine cracks appeared on the jade wall's surface, but they healed quickly.

Luo Jinyou pressed his hands to the ground, and the patterns on the jade surface spread outward from his palms.

Ying Duo turned and swapped to a gun; its design was odd, the barrel massive, its surface coursing with Ying Guang Lu Rune, and it was unclear even whether this thing could still be called a gun.

Ying Duo hoisted it onto his shoulder, aimed at the Aberrant Species staggering before the jade wall, and decisively pulled the trigger.

A pale blue beam shot from the barrel, instantly piercing the Aberrant Species' body.

The Aberrant Species didn't even have time to scream; it turned to ash, leaving only a faintly glowing Aberrant Species Core on the ground.

Luo Jinyou exhaled, released his grip, and the jade wall instantly collapsed into ordinary rubble.

"What kind of cannon was that just now?" he stood up, brushing the dust from his hands.

"Probably a gun? I just made it," Ying Duo said casually, stowing the gun back into his backpack.

Similar incidents occurred countless times over the past few days.

Sometimes lone Aberrant Species ambushed them, sometimes small groups surrounded them; Ying Duo's arsenal seemed inexhaustible, ranging from energy guns to explosive missiles, from melee blades to remote artillery, everything was present.

Meanwhile, Luo Jinyou's abilities mutated, yet in combat they gradually became more adept.

He discovered he could manipulate more than jade; precisely, it was a substance between jade and energy.

It resembled translucent jade, felt warm and smooth, yet was astonishingly hard, capable of withstanding most Aberrant Species attacks.

Although it consumed more, he found his stamina far greater than before; after two days and two nights with hardly any rest, he didn't feel tired at all.

"Is this the benefit of becoming an Aberrant Species..." Luo Jinyou muttered, no wonder Ying Duo was always so energetic.

Ying Duo gave no reply, merely continued to busily dismantle things.

After two days and two nights, they finally left the Church's jurisdiction.

Bai Mu Yun also managed to escape the temporal rift during those two days; the spot where he was ejected lay near the Dome's territory, and Fang Zhiyan sent Bai Mu Yun here to retrieve Luo Jinyou and Ying Duo, taking both back to the Dome Corporation headquarters.

Considering Luo Jinyou didn't know how to conceal his Mutation Feature, and Ying Duo was a freshly minted "big name," the two could only park the vehicle outside the city and wait for Bai Mu Yun to pick them up.

When Bai Mu Yun located them via the Team Channel's shared mini‑map, this was the scene he saw.

The patched‑up off‑road vehicle sat behind a massive rock, windows sealed, and on a relatively flat neighboring stone, the two youths sat facing each other.

On the ground between them was a crooked checkerboard, fifteen lines horizontally and vertically, the pieces small stones of two colors—ordinary gray‑white and ones painted Ying Guang Lu.

The Ying Guang Lu stones were forming a straight line on the board.

"Ying Duo, expressionless, placed the last green stone, 'I win.'"

Luo Jinyou stared at the board for three seconds, then tapped the gray‑white stone in his hand against the rock, chipping off the excess edge.

"Again."

Bai Mu Yun: "......."

He stood at a distance, watching the scene in silence for a long, long time.

Bai Mu Yun inhaled deeply and stepped forward.

The footfall startled Luo Jinyou; his body tensed instinctively, the gray‑white stone in his hand twirling slightly on his fingertips—a prelude to using it as a weapon.

Then he saw the newcomer's attire: a refined outfit, a delicate black suitcase in hand—clothing that didn't belong in the wilderness.

Ying Duo, still seated, said, "Here?"

He didn't lift his head, his tone even.

Bai Mu Yun walked up to them, lowered his gaze to the crudely drawn, especially the crooked lines and stones on the board.

It was unbearable to look at.

Bai Mu Yun stared directly at Luo Jinyou, the boy they had pursued as a target all the way; he now sat honestly on a stone, still clutching a stone, his expression complex as he looked at him.

Bai Mu Yun didn't know what mind‑altering brew Ying Duo had given him.

He only knew that in their original plan, Luo Jinyou was supposed to be taken away while unconscious, to wake up hostile and fearful, requiring a long time to accept reality.

Result?

Their preparations turned out to be completely unnecessary.

"Fine," he sighed, placing the black suitcase on the ground, "the stuff I brought for you."

——————————————

Meanwhile, Yang Yichen stood by the airship's porthole, gazing at the gray‑hazy sky outside, his brows knit.

A phone pressed to his ear, the voice on the other end speaking with a weighty tone.

"....... It's been seven days; according to the previous pattern, we should have returned by now."

Yang Yichen gave no reply; he obviously knew what it meant.

These Undead of theirs were completely trapped in this world.

"One more thing," the voice over there paused, seeming a bit hesitant, "Did you see the Church's latest wanted notice?"

Yang Yichen heard that, his brows furrowing tighter, "... I have seen it."

"That child named Ying Duo..." the person over there stopped mid‑sentence, "looks exactly like your brother."

Yang Yichen fell silent for a long time, because he had previously asked them to help investigate Yang Yixie's affairs, so they had basically all seen Yang Yixie's appearance..

Then he spoke, his voice calm to the point of indifference.

"That couldn't be him."

"But—"

"I know what you're thinking," Yang Yichen interrupted him.

"But Mutation alters the soul; if that really were Xiao Xie, his soul would have long been twisted by the Mutation, and there would be no chance of him becoming an Undead."

The person over there waited a good while before letting out a soft sigh.

"... Indeed, this is a blessing in misfortune."

Official research has not been without progress; it has already confirmed that Undead can only arise between identical souls in parallel worlds.

And Mutation twists the soul; once it falls into an Aberrant Species, they can no longer be called the same person.

As everyone knows, Co-Absorption is a cult composed entirely of Aberrant Species.