272: Overdraw mental strength

The instructions on the wall and the photographs of people indicated that this building was once a hospital.

Even in a small city like this, it was normal to have a hospital.

However, most of the rooms inside the building were empty, with only some hospital beds, tables, chairs, and cabinets left behind.

Gu Xiaoyue and the others even went up to the fourth floor, checking every room, but found nothing.

"This place is strange. If it's a clinic, there are too many inpatient rooms.

But if it's a relatively formal hospital, it has too few departments."

He Zhichen's finger lightly tapped the sign on the wall, feeling that the building was somehow eerie.

"Something is definitely not right. When we were on the first floor, it indicated a basement level. Let's go check it out."

When Gu Xiaoyue first entered the first-floor hall and realized it was a hospital,

she subconsciously assumed the basement level was a parking lot or a morgue.

Now that they had found nothing from the first to fourth floors, she thought it was worth exploring the basement level.

Just as everyone agreed, Gu Xiaoyue's eyes suddenly widened, then she blacked out and collapsed.

"Ding—Ancient Ruin selected portion has been received—"

A system's mechanical voice echoed in Gu Xiaoyue's dark world.

So, was she unconscious due to Mental Power exhaustion?

But why did she still feel conscious, just enveloped in darkness? What exactly was happening?

Gu Xiaoyue tried very hard to open her eyes, but she only had a faint consciousness, unable to control any part of her body.

Since she was still conscious, she should be able to hear everyone's voices after she fainted, right?

She couldn't.

She seemed to be sealed off from her five senses, drifting in the darkness.

After an unknown period, Gu Xiaoyue's ears gradually began to pick up the sounds of bustling traffic and vendors shouting.

She slowly opened her eyes. Before her was a red-clad girl with braided pigtails, hawking her wares. Behind her, an old man with graying hair was tidying his stall.

Everyone here was busy, and there were several "people" who retained characteristics of fierce beasts, as well as many pregnant women. Some were moving goods, others were engaged in trade.

The entire market was a scene of prosperity and lively activity.

Gu Xiaoyue wanted to go up and talk to them, but she found that a humanoid fierce beast, who was moving something, completely ignored her, even passing right through her body.

So she was still unconscious, and everything she was seeing and hearing now was a scene that had occurred in the market years ago?

And was everything she could see and feel due to her moving that part of the ruin into her Yu Beast Space?

The answer seemed to be yes.

Gu Xiaoyue no longer felt puzzled. She walked around the market twice, observing everyone's every move, and found nothing suspicious.

She found a relatively quiet spot, sat down, closed her eyes, and tried a few deep breaths.

The surroundings gradually quieted down. When Gu Xiaoyue opened her eyes again, the entire market was empty.

This was the tranquility of night, with a few lights and a half-moon making the market even more serene.

Occasionally, there were a few animal sounds, not loud, like the murmurs of wild beasts sleeping.

Gu Xiaoyue stayed in the market like this, watching the sunrise and sunset, and observing the busy lives of all the people and fierce beasts around her.

She herself was trapped here, forced to experience and even integrate into this market.

No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't wake up.

It wasn't until an unknown number of days had passed in this market that Gu Xiaoyue noticed everything around her beginning to blur. All the people and objects gradually became transparent, turning into afterimages.

After another period shrouded in darkness, she finally managed to wake up.

As she opened her eyes, Gu Xiaoyue saw Chu Li, Shui Lingyu, and White Gaze all guarding her bed.

Their eyes were bloodshot, indicating they hadn't slept well for days.

"How many days have I been out?"

She asked immediately, her throat hoarse from dehydration, only able to produce a faint, mosquito-like whisper.

"Five days."

Chu Li brought a cup of water with a straw and held it to Gu Xiaoyue's lips.

She took two small sips.

Five days without a drop of water, she had to be careful even when drinking water.

When the cool water slid down her throat, there was an indescribable feeling of comfort.

Gu Xiaoyue sighed deeply. Was it still too much?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I'd be out for so long?"

She propped herself up to a sitting position. "I must have caused you a lot of trouble these past few days. I'm awake now, so you all should go rest."

"Sister, we went back to the ruin again these past few days.

Nearly half of the buildings are gone, it's so strange!"

White Gaze frowned slightly as he reported the situation to her.

Chu Li and Shui Lingyu exchanged glances, then the two of them helped White Gaze, urging him to rest early.

Xiao Yue had just woken up, and White Gaze was already talking about things that would make her worry. Getting him to leave was the best strategy.

After pushing White Gaze out of the room, Chu Li and Shui Lingyu returned.

Chu Li held a bowl of thin porridge, and Shui Lingyu carried several slices of fruit.

"Thank you, I—"

Gu Xiaoyue looked at them apologetically. More than these, she felt she should be eating hua yu fruit.

She had overdrawn her Mental Power and was trapped in the ruin's illusion, unable to escape. Therefore, what she should be replenishing most right now was Mental Power!

Chu Li and Shui Lingyu both thought Gu Xiaoyue's expression was due to causing them trouble, and became even more eager to feed her.

Unable to refuse their kindness, Gu Xiaoyue ate a little of everything, then, citing that she couldn't eat too much after just waking up, told them to stop fussing.

She took out two hua yu fruit from her Yu Beast Space and had Chu Li squeeze out the juice.

After Gu Xiaoyue drank it, her parched Mental Power was slightly replenished, and she let out a long, comfortable sigh of relief.

"These past few days I was unconscious, did you encounter anything strange?

Or did I say anything in my sleep?"

"After you fainted, let alone talking in your sleep, even your breathing and heartbeat were very weak.

We almost thought you suddenly—"

Chu Li choked up mid-sentence. Her condition really seemed like sudden death!

Even if he had to die himself, he absolutely could not watch Gu Xiaoyue lose her life in front of him again.

"Besides He Zhichen, almost all of us occasionally heard singing coming from the ruin, especially White Gaze. He said the singing seemed to never stop.

Zheng Yi couldn't hear it for the first two or three days after she returned, but she could hear it again these past two days, and she felt like the temple was calling her back.

If White Gaze hadn't stopped her, she might have actually gone back.

She herself said that staying there made her feel very comfortable, a comfort that made her forget all worries—"

Shui Lingyu continued Chu Li's words, describing the situations they had encountered these past few days.

Originally, due to Gu Xiaoyue's fainting, they all retreated from the ruin and had been staying in the mud house where White Gaze and Zheng Jie lived.

There were other mud houses around, but they all felt it was more convenient to stay together and look after each other, so Chu Li contributed his Youming Tiger.

Now that it was late, Duan Yao, Qian Ce, Charlie, and He Zhichen were all resting in the Youming Tiger's hidden space.

During the day, they would take turns guarding Gu Xiaoyue.

Occasionally, they would also wander around the ruin, but they specifically avoided approaching the temple.

"So only He Zhichen couldn't enter the ruin alone, and White Gaze and Zheng Yi had a stronger reaction to the ruin?"

Gu Xiaoyue asked, her doubts confirmed as Chu Li and Shui Lingyu both nodded.

She seemed to be able to figure out why White Gaze and Zheng Jie had been caught in a "ghost wall" around the ruin at first.

"If I wanted to go in alone now, I'm afraid I'd also be sent back to the starting point—"

Gu Xiaoyue lowered her eyes, murmuring softly.

"This ruin has a restriction placed on it. Not only will no fierce beasts approach it—

But if your Mental Power isn't strong enough, you can't enter the interior of the ruin!"

Before, all of them had gone in together, and He Zhichen had essentially snuck in.

As for Zheng Jie, she and White Gaze's Mental Power weren't strong enough before, so they couldn't enter.

But over time, with their pet beasts training and upgrading, Zheng Jie's own Mental Power also increased significantly.

Even if it wasn't as obvious as when a Beastmaster's level increased, it was still enough to meet the threshold for entering the ruin.