Chapter 296: Fog Again
Because the situation was quite bizarre, Yu Sheng couldn't immediately figure out what the little doll meant. It wasn't until Aline stood in front of him, carefully cupping her tiny hands together, and then used the scorching beams from her fingertips to create a dazzling, blazing ball of light between her palms that he finally understood what she meant by "charged up."
Then he was completely dumbfounded.
To be honest, Yu Sheng thought his ability to accept things was already pretty strong. He could accept that Hu Li's stewed dishes greeted him, that the immortals of Thousand Peaks Spirit Mountain refined pills that tasted like grapes, and even that some of his readers shipped his male lead with an alpaca. But even so, he was still a bit bewildered at this moment.
[Chewing wires actually works.jpg?!]
At that moment, Xuan Che and Hu Li also ran over from the dining room to see what was going on, so the number of confused people increased by one.
The confused one was Xuan Che—Hu Li wasn't confused at all. She even came over holding her bowl. After seeing the electric light ball Aline was kneading in her hands, she unhurriedly took a sip of soup before calmly commenting, "So you're a Lightning Cultivator."
Yu Sheng almost lost it at that: "Lightning Cultivator my ass!"
"R-really?" Aline, who was easy to fool, looked up at Hu Li with a dazed expression. "Is this what a Lightning Cultivator looks like?"
Xuan Che, standing nearby, had already guessed what was going on from the scene. But perhaps because he had already endured so many shocks today, he only felt numbed. A thought lingered in his mind: "It's normal for such things to happen in this big house; don't let such a small matter disturb your Dao heart." After hearing Aline's question, he thought seriously for a moment before answering, "Where I come from, Lightning Cultivators aren't like this."
"In my hometown, anything related to lightning counts as a Lightning Cultivator," Hu Li said, shoving another spoonful of rice into her mouth and chewing as she spoke. "Aline, you have the talent to directly absorb energy from electric shocks. Next time there's a thunderstorm, you could give it a try. Who knows, you might become a Thunder-Struck Immortal."
Aline (Pro Max Smoky Black Gold Limited Edition 66.6cm) immediately jumped up, flailing and trying to bite Hu Li. After Yu Sheng stopped her, she still thrashed in the air. "You stupid fox, you did that on purpose! You usually call Yu Sheng the Civil Engineering Immortal and the Cooking Immortal, so why am I the Thunder-Struck Immortal?!"
While holding down Aline (too long, omitted), Yu Sheng confirmed that the little thing had really fully recovered. His main basis for judgment was how strong she was now...
After all the fuss, Yu Sheng finally calmed down the bouncing doll. He first cleaned up the ruined socket and checked that the TV was intact, then reset the tripped circuit breaker. Once the power was restored, he picked up Aline and carried her to the washroom, carefully washed her face, and spent a lot of effort combing down her frizzy hair.
After combing, her hair was still a bit fluffy, looking like Hu Li's tail in winter, with naturally curly tips. But there was nothing to be done about that; she would just have to wash her hair frequently over the next few days and wait for it to slowly recover...
After finally dealing with this mess, Aline once again became the center of attention.
"...So you really got fully charged just from one electric shock?" Yu Sheng still found it hard to believe. Seeing Aline kneading another ball of electric light, he couldn't help asking, "What's the principle behind it?"
"How would I know? I just realized my stamina was back when I came to," Aline said casually. Then she recalled the electric shock from earlier. "And I wasn't fully charged from that one shock. I think I was already mostly charged from the past day and night, and that last jolt just topped me off..."
"Uh, okay. I guess weird things happen around me often enough," Yu Sheng scratched his head. Then he saw Aline focusing laser beams between her hands again to ignite a new blinding ball of light. He belatedly felt cold sweat forming. "Anyway, could you please stop making light balls here? If you flinch, you'll probably blow a hole in the house."
"Fine," Aline said, dispersing the light beam in her hands. She looked a bit regretful. "I just finally recovered, so I wanted to practice my proficiency a bit..."
Yu Sheng knew the little thing was just showing off, but considering how unlucky she'd been lately, he didn't call her out.
"Let's put the principles aside for now. The main thing is we've finally found a way to quickly recharge you. At least we have an idea. Now we need to figure out how to make this process practical."
Aline looked up at Yu Sheng. "Practical?"
"Of course. We can't just destroy a socket every time or let you chew on wires," Yu Sheng rolled his eyes. "You saw it too—it trips the breaker, and you even got smoked."
"That makes sense," Aline blinked, feeling he had a point. But she was still puzzled. "So how do we make it practical? Are you going to install a charging port on me?"
Yu Sheng was stunned. "...Can you have a charging port installed on you?"
"Of course not!" Aline said with complete confidence. But she quickly added, "However, I can try a few more times and work on adapting. I just didn't react in time. Now that I think about it, if I had been prepared, maybe I could have guided the charging process... But you need to stop using those cheap sockets."
Yu Sheng thought it over seriously. From the perspective of home electrical safety, he decided not to listen to the little thing's nonsense.
"I'll get you a charger later. I'll put a light bulb in the circuit, and add a residual-current circuit breaker," he said seriously. "Then I'll leave two connectors on the charging end. When your spiritual power runs out, just go touch the contacts..."
Aline immediately cheered. "Great!"
Hu Li also nodded repeatedly, though she probably didn't understand at all. "Benefactor's idea is good."
Xuan Che didn't say anything. He just stood quietly nearby, watching Yu Sheng and Aline discuss the charging plan. His heart was as still as water, his eyes calm. In the end, he even felt a hint of enlightenment—he didn't know what he was enlightened about, but he felt enlightened. He even felt that nothing in this world could shake his Dao heart anymore...
Then he glanced at the time and took his leave of Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng was a bit surprised. "You're heading back already?"
"No, I'll be staying in for a few more days," Xuan Che quickly explained. "My master has given me some other tasks. But if you have any instructions, for example if something happens in that strange room, feel free to call me."
"I thought you might stay here," Yu Sheng said frankly. "I have plenty of space. I can clean up a room for you anytime."
Xuan Che subconsciously looked around the room, recalling all the strange things about this house, and all the absurd things he had seen and experienced since stepping through its door. From the perspective of stabilizing his Dao heart, he felt it best not to accept Yu Sheng's invitation.
Although he had just experienced a moment of enlightenment and felt his Dao heart was now incredibly stable, who knew what other ridiculous things might pop up in this big house.
Seeing Xuan Che's serious expression and hearing that he still had other tasks from his master, Yu Sheng didn't insist. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he prepared to see him out.
But before that, he suddenly remembered something. "Ah, I almost forgot. How do I contact you?"
Hearing this, Xuan Che reached into his bosom and pulled out a small mirror that shimmered with a purple-gold glow.
As soon as Yu Sheng saw the mirror, his heart stirred. He realized this was another cultivator's magical artifact. He started guessing what this thing could do and how he might use special means to contact this mirror. He thought maybe he could even learn a flashy skill from this handsome guy.
But just as he was halfway through his imagination, he saw Xuan Che swipe his hand across the mirror, tap it a couple of times, and bring up a QR code...
Xuan Che wore a humble smile. "Scan this and add me on Border Communication."
Yu Sheng: "..."
All his excitement instantly cooled, and he belatedly realized how "Four Thousand Defiant Disciples" usually contacted him.
After exchanging contact information, Yu Sheng saw his guest to the front door.
But just as he was about to open the door, Xuan Che suddenly felt something. He looked up at the living room window not far away.
"The fog outside is so thick!" he said in surprise.
Yu Sheng's hand was already on the doorknob. When he heard those words, he immediately stopped, his eyes snapping wide as he looked out the window.
Outside the window, thick fog permeated everything. The almost tangible mist flowed through the streets, blurring the entire block.
Aline immediately darted to the nearest windowsill. "Holy shit, it's back?!"
Xuan Che had only made a casual remark, but he didn't expect such a strong reaction. He immediately sensed something was off. "This fog... is there something strange about it?"
" has been a bit unsettled lately, mainly because of this fog," Yu Sheng said seriously, observing the mist outside. "Fog City—that's the new name the Special Operations Bureau gave to this dense fog anomaly. They've issued danger warnings to all Spirit World detectives and investigators within the Borderlands. Normally, this fog doesn't appear in the real world, but my house is a bit special. It seems to attract this kind of supernatural situation easily. This isn't the first time the windows have fogged over."
Hearing this, Xuan Che frowned slightly. This eminent senior thought his own house wasn't supernatural?
Yu Sheng didn't know what the other was thinking. After a brief thought, he continued, "But you don't need to worry. This fog only appears outside the window. You need special methods to actually enter the mist. If I open the door normally, you can still leave normally."
Xuan Che's response caught him off guard.
"Since that's the case... I would like to go see inside that fog."