Chapter 318: Between Life and Death

The female knight with long golden hair, clad in armor and holding a weapon, stood quietly before Yu Sheng. In the distance was an endless wilderness of overgrown grass, and beside them was a bonfire that had once sheltered the children but had now cooled and extinguished.

But the female knight's gaze did not fall on Yu Sheng; she simply stood still in place, like a statue that had stood there long ago, her eyes fixed on the distance as if not focused on anything at all.

After a moment of surprise, Yu Sheng walked over curiously, but the golden-haired girl showed no reaction to his approach.

"...Hello?"

Yu Sheng tried to greet her, and even reached out to wave a hand in front of her eyes, but got no response.

Yu Sheng frowned, carefully observed her condition, and finally noticed something off.

Although this 'female knight's' body looked very real, her silhouette was faintly outlined with an illusory light, as if she were not entirely present here.

Yu Sheng circled around her twice and finally confirmed that what stood before him was merely some kind of phantom.

But he also had a feeling that she was more than just a shadow—even though she had no reaction to the outside world and simply stood there dully, he always felt... this shadow was 'alive.'

This feeling was very subtle.

Yu Sheng stopped, calmed his mind slightly, and tried to sense the situation inside the spaceship.

The 'Holy Coffin' was still running, and the artificial saint's body was still sleeping inside it, with no signs of 'resurrection.'

Yet her 'soul'... had come to this refuge wasteland.

Yu Sheng subconsciously thought, trying to analyze what was happening before him:

The artificial saint had been exposed to his blood, and more than once. Although she had been trying to resist the power in his blood, the result was that, like the children of 'Fairy Tales,' she had undergone the complete 'blood-bestowal' process;

Those who had undergone 'blood-bestowal' would have their minds protected. Once they encountered a fatal mental attack or contamination, their minds would be 'transferred' to this mysterious wasteland. Since the artificial saint had a human soul, after breaking through the mental shackles, it was reasonable that she could enter this refuge wasteland like a 'human';

The artificial saint's mind had suffered immense trauma during the process of breaking the shackles. The violent conflict between memory and cognition could have triggered the 'refuge' effect...

Yu Sheng felt that the situation before him could all be explained, but the only thing he couldn't understand was her phantom-like, dazed state.

After standing there thinking for a while, he decided to call in an expert.

"Ailin!!"

He called out in his heart, and after waiting less than two seconds, he indeed heard the little doll's noisy response: 'Hey hey hey, I heard you! What are you doing yelling suddenly while I'm asleep... Ah, what are you doing in the wasteland?'

With the last words fading, a ripple suddenly appeared in midair, and then Yu Sheng saw an oil painting frame emerge out of thin air. The little doll in the painting was staring with wide eyes, seemingly a bit annoyed at being called over right after waking up.

Yu Sheng didn't waste words with her. He reached out, grabbed the oil painting frame, and turned it in a different direction: 'Come take a look at this.'

'Hey, don't be so rough. Can't you be gentle to a lady...' Ailin immediately started blabbering, but halfway through her blabbering, she saw the golden-haired armored figure standing opposite. The latter half of her words got stuck. After a moment, she reacted: 'Wait! Who is that? Where did you pick up a local specialty this time?!'

Yu Sheng immediately had a forehead full of black lines: 'Do you think a living person like this looks like a local specialty?'

Ailin swayed the painting frame around: 'Then is this a proper lady you abducted...'

Yu Sheng saw that this girl never had anything good to say, so he directly interrupted: 'This is that "C-type buckle."'

Ailin's painting frame almost fell to the ground.

'What?!' The little doll practically pounced onto Yu Sheng's face. Even inside the painting, she jumped up: 'C-type buckle? She looks like this?!'

'Didn't I tell you before? She used to be a person,' Yu Sheng said, reaching out to push the painting frame aside and pointing at the golden-haired girl still standing there in the distance. 'This is what she looked like before. I fell asleep not long ago and found her here, but she has no reaction to the outside world. I called you over to see what's up with her.'

Ailin usually seemed carefree, but when it came to her own area of expertise, she reacted very quickly. By the time Yu Sheng was halfway through, she already understood why the 'C-type buckle' had appeared in this refuge wasteland. Turning around, she drifted over to the golden-haired girl: 'Got it. Symptoms like a brain disconnect, huh? Let me take a look.'

As she spoke, she circled the golden-haired girl twice, then assumed a thoughtful expression inside the painting, and then raised her hands—

Dense black threads, like hair, began to overflow from the bottom of the painting frame, like surging mud, like living tentacles. They swarmed and wriggled, extending outside the cursed oil painting under Ailin's control, intertwining in the air and winding toward the golden-haired girl's body.

Even though he had seen Ailin's abilities many times before, watching these 'threads' spread out from the cursed oil painting still made Yu Sheng's mouth twitch. He frowned subconsciously and muttered: 'I say, can't you adjust the aesthetic of your skills? This looks a bit too creepy.'

Ailin turned the painting frame around, controlling the threads while squinting at Yu Sheng: 'Did I say anything when you spray blood on whoever's face you feel like?'

Yu Sheng said nothing.

Ailin continued using the threads to examine the 'phantom' before her.

This process didn't last long. After just a few minutes, Yu Sheng saw all the threads begin to retract into the painting frame.

'Did you find something?' he immediately stepped forward and asked. 'What's her condition?'

'Her mind is incomplete, severely torn,' Ailin wiped her hands inside the painting (even though there was nothing to wipe, she probably thought it looked professional). 'Strictly speaking, what's standing here is just a fragment. There are many other parts... I couldn't find them.'

Yu Sheng's brow immediately furrowed tightly.

Although he wasn't an expert in this area, just from the little doll's few words, he could tell how serious the situation was.

But he still held onto a sliver of hope: '...Can it be cured?'

Ailin's eyes twitched. She looked at Yu Sheng with some difficulty: 'Your car is broken, missing a windshield. You take it to a repair shop—that can be fixed. But if all you have left is the windshield, and you take that windshield to the repair shop and ask them to work hard on it, then I suggest you find a psychiatrist. The car can't be fixed, but your condition might still be covered by insurance...'

Yu Sheng: 'If you can't do it, just say you can't do it. Do you have to put it like...'

As he was saying that, a flash of golden light 'swished' past the corner of his eye.

The female knight raised her sword at a speed completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Then she leveled the blade and slapped it downwards cleanly. With a 'clang,' the supposedly illusory blade solidly struck the painting frame. Ailin let out an 'Ow, ma!' and was directly smacked to the ground.

Not only had Ailin not reacted, but Yu Sheng hadn't either. He was stunned for a moment, and when he looked up again, he found the female knight had returned to her previous dull standing posture, as if she hadn't moved at all.

Only Ailin, still embedded in the ground, could prove that the scene just now was not an illusion.

The next second, Ailin popped out of the ground with a 'boing.' While shaking the painting frame to shake off dirt, she leaped up and down inside the painting: 'Who! Who swung a big hammer! Who ambushed me!'

Yu Sheng finally snapped out of his shock. With an incredulous expression, he raised his hand and pointed at the golden-haired girl standing there dully: 'Her.'

Ailin was stunned. She turned the painting frame to look, then turned back to Yu Sheng: '...Are you kidding me?'

'It was really her. She suddenly moved just now. I saw it clearly,' Yu Sheng said sincerely. 'She even held back. She didn't use the blade; she slapped with the flat of the sword.'

'I... she...' Ailin stared wide-eyed. She turned and rushed to the golden-haired girl's side, circling to check twice, but her face still bore the expression of 'Are you f***ing kidding me?' 'How is this possible! It's impossible... I already checked, and look, she's just standing there blankly again!'

Yu Sheng was actually just as confused as Ailin. Even though he had seen it with his own eyes, he was still bewildered. He also went to the girl's side and tried to talk to her, but got no response, just like before.

'No, my checkup is definitely correct. Her mind is torn apart. At least what's standing here is just a small part,' Ailin floated by Yu Sheng's ear, muttering. 'But according to you, she really did move just now... That means she can still think and act? But that's unreasonable... Wait, could it be related to the part that remains in reality?'

Yu Sheng frowned: 'What do you mean?'

'Isn't she still dying in reality?' Ailin said casually. 'Even strictly speaking, she has already died once. She went through the process of communicating with the dead with you. But because the life form of the 'artificial saint' is too special, and because she came into contact with your blood, you gave her life based on the standard of a 'puppet.' Could it be because of this? Not quite dead, not truly alive, with her body in a state between life and death, causing her soul and mind to split into two halves? One half is here receiving 'deathbed refuge,' and the other half that isn't dead is actually still over by the Holy Coffin?'

Yu Sheng's face gradually showed a contemplative and surprised expression as he stared at the little doll before him.

Ailin: 'Why are you looking at me? I just said it off the top of my head...'

Yu Sheng was honest: 'I just didn't expect you to suddenly be smart occasionally.'

Ailin thought for a moment, then flew into a rage: 'Yu Sheng, screw you!'

But Yu Sheng ignored the little doll's subsequent rage. He reached out one hand, grabbed the painting frame that was floating around everywhere, and casually tucked it under his armpit. Then he looked at the golden-haired girl standing in the wilderness, lost in a long contemplation.

A state between life and death... huh?

(End of Chapter)