Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Curse Strikes

Late at night, inside a room within the castle.

Qin Le lay with her eyes tightly shut, her brows deeply furrowed, her body trembling slightly as if chilled by the cold. Suddenly, she felt a cool touch on her forehead. She snapped her eyes open, rolled over, and drew the pistol hidden beneath her pillow.

“Who are you?” Qin Le’s gaze was sharp as she stared at the shadowy figure ahead.

Her roommate, Yutou, was also startled awake. She raised her own firearm, aiming at the shadow.

Just then, moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the figure—a tall, slightly slender girl with green hair, none other than the elf, Aymeya.

Aymeya’s delicate features wore a sly, teasing smile. Her slender form was half-shrouded in shadow as she spoke softly, “Tsk tsk, Qin Le, you were crying. Did you have a nightmare? Want your big sister to comfort you?”

“Aymeya?” Qin Le was momentarily stunned. She reached up to wipe the corner of her eye and indeed felt a patch of dampness.

“What are you doing here?”

Seeing it was Aymeya, neither Qin Le nor Yutou lowered their weapons, nor did their vigilance waver. In this world of supernatural powers, Aymeya’s midnight intrusion into their room was anything but normal.

What was even stranger was that someone had entered, yet they hadn’t heard a sound.

“Obviously, I came to see if you were still salvageable.” Aymeya stepped out of the shadows, holding a transparent bead in her hand, her chin slightly lifted, her face full of pride and self-satisfaction.

“A few minutes ago, we were cursed—a kind of alluring psychic attack, apparently targeting those who’ve awakened supernatural abilities. But their methods are still too crude. Hmph, to think they’d dare cause trouble right under the future Grand Sage’s nose.”

“Cursed?” Qin Le’s brows knitted even tighter. She recalled the dream she’d just had, realizing something was indeed amiss.

The dream had been too real—sight, sound, touch, even pain were indistinguishable from the real world.

“What did you dream about?” Aymeya crept closer, her face full of curiosity.

For something to make this one cry, it must have been a terrifying nightmare.

Qin Le didn’t answer; she simply wiped her face, mind rapidly clearing, then asked, “How many casualties so far?”

There were only ten supernatural beings in the base—herself, Olina, Aymeya, Falcon, Iron Fist, and the remaining elite soldiers who had successfully awakened.

“I’m not sure yet. After lifting Olina’s curse, I came straight here,” Aymeya shook her head.

Having sensed something was wrong during the day, Aymeya hadn’t slept, remaining on alert for emergencies.

As she’d expected, something had indeed happened.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and an anxious voice called out, “Commander, emergency! Seven elite soldiers have suddenly entered a strange state!”

“Let’s go see.” Qin Le climbed out of bed and strode to the door, opening it to find several soldiers waiting outside.

One saluted and reported, “Commander, seven elite soldiers have fallen into an abnormal sleep and have all been sent to the infirmary.”

“Take me there.”

The group hurried out of the castle and made their way toward the medical tents.

The commotion had already alarmed the entire base; all soldiers except the civilians were awake. The base was on high alert, patrols multiplied, and every searchlight blazed.

The tense atmosphere gradually roused the civilians from sleep. Though they didn’t know what was happening, the soldiers’ nervousness and the constant flow of patrols made it clear something serious was afoot.

“What’s going on? Why so many patrols tonight?”

“Is there a monster attack?” some asked fearfully.

“What should we do?”

“What are you all doing? Back to bed! No one’s to leave their bunks without orders from the soldiers!” The room leaders, chosen from among the civilians, quickly restored order to the restless quarters.

…

Medical ward.

Guided by the soldiers, Qin Le entered a brightly lit tent. On the beds lay one soldier after another, eyes shut tight, faces contorted in pain.

A military doctor stood by each bed, wiping sweat from their brows. These soldiers were all elite, either having taken the Awakening Pill or succeeded in channeling spirits—among them, Falcon and Iron Fist.

Qin Le wasted no words. “What’s their condition?”

The chief, masked, shook his head. “Unknown. They’re in an abnormal sleep, can’t be woken, faces pained, bodies drenched in cold sweat—this is beyond modern medicine’s explanation.”

They had tried everything, even small doses of medication, yet nothing could rouse the soldiers.

“Aymeya, is there any way to save them? If you can lift the curse, I’ll give you whatever reward you desire.” Qin Le turned to Aymeya for help.

Their knowledge of the supernatural was woefully lacking. There were barely a handful who had just gained such powers—this situation was far beyond their ability to resolve.

“Sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” Aymeya shrugged. “The curse can be broken, but only before it takes effect. Now that it has, whether they survive depends on themselves.”

When the curse struck, Aymeya had also been affected, but quickly dispelled it with the Night Church’s relic, the Orb of Serenity. After fending off the mysterious enemy’s attack, she realized things were more complicated than expected.

This wasn’t a traditional curse, but more akin to a temptation—luring out the darkest or most painful memories, leading the victim’s spirit into corruption. Whether they became fiends or not was another matter, but failing to withstand it would surely drive them mad.

Realizing this, Aymeya had lifted Olina’s curse and rushed straight to Qin Le’s room.

She explained the curse’s effects and concluded with a helpless sigh: “Time is short. Saving you two was already my limit.”

“Damn!” Qin Le couldn’t help cursing. Ever since arriving in this world, he had suppressed his true self to fit the role of a test subject, and hadn’t vented his anger or cursed like a normal person in a long time.

It was normal for elite soldiers to die in battle—Qin Le had seen too much of it. He might grieve for fallen comrades but rarely got angry. Yet to die so inexplicably—it was something he simply couldn’t accept.

Yutou, who had come along, clenched her fists, her face betraying uncharacteristic emotion. The surrounding soldiers and doctors were equally frustrated.

An invisible, untouchable attack from an unknown enemy left them feeling helpless and suffocated.

Suddenly, Qin Le remembered the necklace from before and blurted, “Aymeya, use your necklace—the one that wards off psychic anomalies.”

“The Chain of Life? You already broke it.” With that, Aymeya pulled from her magical, Doraemon-like pocket a string of dull, cracked wooden beads.

“It’s not completely ruined, but now it’s just an ordinary string of beads. But don’t be too disheartened. This curse, though troublesome, isn’t as deadly as most.”

No sooner had she spoken than a faint mist seemed to rise from the bodies of the sleeping soldiers, a pale glow appearing on their foreheads.

“Soul snaring?!” Aymeya’s face paled with shock. “What madman would dare use such evil sorcery?”

She’d thought this was just some unknown enemy testing advanced humans, but the opponent was far more ruthless and reckless than she’d imagined.

The clever elf began to consider if she ought to flee with Olina.

Qin Le’s brow furrowed. “Is the enemy attacking again?”

He didn’t know what soul snaring was, but the name alone sounded ominous—probably trying to steal the soldiers’ spirits.

“That’s right. The enemy is trying to snatch their souls through their dreams.” Aymeya glanced at the tormented faces. “Psychic magic is too dangerous—it requires entering the inner world, which I haven’t learned. At most, I can protect one person.”

“One?” Qin Le’s expression darkened even further.

Seeing her look, Aymeya sighed. “Let me choose. I know this big guy a little better—he taught me how to use a gun.”

She walked over to Iron Fist’s bed and began to prepare, when Qin Le suddenly asked, “Aymeya, if the inner world is inaccessible, does that mean psychic spells won’t work?”

“Of course. Unless the caster can put their hand on the target’s head—well, a foot would do too.” Aymeya replied.

As soon as she finished speaking, an oval red portal, beyond her comprehension, suddenly appeared—two meters tall, a meter wide.

Qin Le ordered the doctors, “Take them back to the Xuan Law.”

Whether it would work or not, desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers, at the doctors’ direction, quickly carried the beds through the portal.

…

In a pitch-black cavern, icy water dripped from stalactites to the ground.

At the deepest part of the cave, green ghostly flames floated in the air. Several figures dressed in black stood motionless, silent as corpses.

Suddenly, the tallest of them shuddered, opening a pair of blood-red eyes. A hoarse, ugly voice rasped out, “The target’s soul has vanished from the inner world.”