A true return of ten thousand times

"Mengyao, don't be nervous. Let me take a look first."

Qiao Xi's voice was gentle. "There are obvious ligature marks and soft tissue contusions on the body surface, and slight edema in the throat."

As she spoke, she pulled a medical kit from her personal backpack and took out a sterile cotton pad.

"The most troublesome part is that she suffered a rather violent shock and is already showing mild symptoms of dissociation."

In reality, Li Mengyao wasn't the only one who had been shaken.

Shen Qingci was the same.

She usually maintained a good mindset, but right now, she wasn't doing so well.

"..."

She sat to the side, her face looking very pale.

She couldn't stop her mind from replaying Lin Yue's smile.

As soon as Chen Yu sat down, he looked out the window at the snowy scenery.

A massive villa estate stood there.

Their small bus was currently stopped in the middle of a highway that stretched out from the estate.

The surrounding area was empty, with no sign of any other vehicles.

"This parking spot is number seven, which means Gate Seven."

"Lin Yue isn't on the same route..."

Chen Yu immediately understood their current situation; he couldn't find Lin Yue.

He felt somewhat helpless.

Zhang Longqi and Liu Zixuan, whom he had worked so hard to protect, were both dead.

Lin Yue had also left the team.

This caused his points to miss out on three 1.2x multipliers; otherwise, the rewards would have been even greater.

While the women were gathered around Li Mengyao,

Chen Yu first took a quick look at his personal rewards:

[ghost mirror fragment (approx. 1/2 of a complete lens)]

Description: A lens with irregular edges. Inside, a dim, misty substance seems to flow slowly. It originates from a Ghost Mirror within the villa that was possessed by a certain vengeful ghost.

Effect: After active activation, within the reflected area (maximum coverage of approx. 3m x 3m), everyone's talent energy will enter a state of stagnation for 30 seconds.

Note: Cooldown time is 72 hours.

This was an item-type weapon.

And it was a direct PvP item for dealing with humans.

Except for passive talents like constitution and strength... skills and energy would all be affected and fall into a stagnant state.

In this state, one could only engage in a 30-second battle of pure physical brawn... it suited Chen Yu perfectly.

Even if Doctor Strange were hit by this move, Chen Yu could probably punch him to death.

"Senior, what was your score? What were your rewards?"

Chen Yu asked in a low voice.

In fact, Shen Qingci was already a red luan, and they had a physiological connection as high as Lv.10.

However, his red luan talent returns, especially those involving missions, always arrived a bit late.

Shen Qingci snapped out of it and rubbed her temples. "My score was 39 points. I got... four ghost mirror dross. Let me see what they're for..."

As she spoke, she pulled four shiny bits of dross, each the size of a piece of earwax, from her personal backpack.

"?"

Chen Yu found it hard to keep a straight face. Shen Qingci only had 39 points... he had a full 866 points, and just a moment ago, he even thought it was a bit low.

Come to think of it, compared to his senior... he had only killed a few more people, smashed a few more things, slaughtered a few more ghosts, and... put that way, it seemed reasonable.

He really hadn't kept track of how much he'd done in the villa.

He probably accidentally racked up a lot of points during those activities.

"Here, take a look."

As soon as Shen Qingci finished speaking, she realized she had used a casual tone, and her expression suddenly changed.

Chen Yu: "..."

It was clear that Lin Yue had left a massive shadow over her.

Chen Yu took the shiny dross, and the information surfaced... [ghost mirror dross]

Description: Tiny fragments of a lens, their surfaces covered in a murky luster. They are the remnants of a shattered ghost mirror fragment, still retaining some of the Ghost Mirror's cold characteristics.

Effect: Can be thrown at a designated area. Upon shattering, it will form an interference field with a radius of approximately 1.5 meters for 1 minute. Any talent energy within the field will be weakened by about 50%.

Note: No cooldown. Effects do not stack, but duration can be stacked.

Chen Yu: "..."

It was essentially a completely weakened version of the ghost mirror fragment, worthy of a low score of 39.

In reality, it was just that Chen Yu had been eating too well.

On the path of apocalyptic survival, being able to hold an item already put one ahead of 70% of the population.

His nitpicking here was a bit like asking 'Why don't they eat meat?' while others were starving.

Thinking back to his past life, which item hadn't been carefully budgeted and used only when absolutely necessary?

Besides, the ghost mirror dross wasn't completely useless; it had its own advantages:

Namely, no cooldown and stackable duration!

As long as he had enough dross!

He could forever enjoy a 50% advantage. After all, Chen Yu didn't have any energy-based talents... what was even better was the upcoming talent return.

Li Mengyao + Shen Qingci would result in a massive explosion of rewards.

Chen Yu was already imagining... future combat scenarios.

No matter if it was fire, ice, or poison gas, he'd start by throwing out a few pieces of dross and activating a golden body card!

Then he'd just go in and hack away!

If all else failed, he still had the ghost mirror fragment to hold out for 30 seconds. He'd basically be a God of War on Earth!

Of course, the prerequisite was that Chen Yu had to keep his backpack somewhat open to avoid being forced to synthesize the ghost mirror fragments... "Hmm... not bad!"

The corners of Chen Yu's mouth curled up slightly; he was very satisfied with the gains from this trip.

Shen Qingci looked at his profile. After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "About Lin Yue... aren't you afraid?"

Chen Yu turned his head. "Afraid of what?"

Shen Qingci pursed her lips. "She's SSS-rank with eerie abilities, and... her obsession with you has become perverted. It's not something a normal person can understand. We're in the same school; as long as she's alive, she'll come looking for you sooner or later."

Chen Yu remained silent for a few seconds.

Coming looking for him sooner or later... yeah, that was indeed quite scary.

He wasn't afraid of being screwed over by a yandere like her, but he was more afraid that this group of girls would fall victim to her.

One had to know that Lin Yue's Crystal Armor... no, it was her crystal ability, which was SSS-rank in strength.

He didn't know exactly what the awakening item was.

Regardless, its strength could easily crush a steel blade, and its power was terrifying.

In terms of pure combat power, none of these girls except himself could withstand her.

Even the current strongest among the girls, Shen Qingci, was absolutely no match and would die within a few exchanges.

"It's simply unimaginable..."

Shen Qingci shook her head.

Just then, the return Chen Yu had been waiting for finally arrived—

[red luan Identified: Li Mengyao]

[red luan Number: 5]

[connection nature: asymmetric attachment]

[connection depth: Lv. 15]

[Current Effective Multiplier: 150x]

[red luan Harvest: ghost mirror dross x5]

[Talent Return: ghost mirror dross x750]

...[red luan Identified: Shen Qingci]

[red luan Number: 6]

[connection nature: physiological connection]

[connection depth: Lv. 10]

[Current Effective Multiplier: 100x]

[red luan Harvest: ghost mirror dross x4]

[Talent Return: ghost mirror dross x400]

Just as Chen Yu was waiting for the dross to enter his personal backpack... another voice rang out:

[red luan Identified: Lin Yue]

[red luan Number: 7]

[connection nature: twisted love]

[connection depth: Lv. ?]

[Current Effective Multiplier: 10,000x]

[red luan Harvest: ghost mirror dross x8]

[Talent Return: ghost mirror dross x80,000]