Chapter 235: Stelle: The Sky is Falling, Tingyun Really Doesn't Recognize Me
"This is..."
Tingyun murmured, her voice drifting through the hazy, fragmented space. Confusion clouded her usually sharp eyes as she took in the desolate surroundings.
"The 'scars' left behind by the Destruction have taken root deep within your body," Leon's voice rang out, steady and calm, anchoring her in the chaotic void. "They will not simply fade away."
"Destruction..." A phantom ache throbbed in Tingyun's chest, a lingering shadow of the horrific power that had nearly unmade her.
"There is no need to fight it. That is too dangerous, and you cannot do it anyway," Leon advised, his tone softening just a fraction. "No need to resist it head-on. Try to accept it, to coexist with it... treat it like stroking your own scar."
He paused, the ambient light of the mental space shifting around him. "Let me help you. I can smooth over this 'scar'."
"Benefactor..." Tingyun broke into a faint, exhausted smile. "Thank you. But I want to try it myself first."
She took a slow, deliberate step forward.
To her surprise, the hideous, twisted phantoms of Destruction lurking in the shadows did not lunge at her. They simply stood there in eerie silence, watching her pass.
"How can... there still be so many?" Looking at the grotesque figures gathering thicker and thicker in the distance, Tingyun frowned, her fox ears twitching with unease.
"I told you, you cannot eliminate them." Leon's voice swept past her like a gentle breeze. "Since you chose this path, you will either fall into darkness alongside this 'scar', or—walk to me, return to the waking world, and learn to coexist with it."
"According to your meaning, Benefactor, even if I manage to wake up, these 'scars' that nearly killed me will remain on this body forever, difficult to heal..." Tingyun said softly, her gaze fixed on the path ahead. "This humble girl doesn't understand. Since you want to save me, Benefactor, why tell me this?"
"Because this is the path you chose yourself," Leon smiled, a hint of dry amusement in his eyes.
Completely erasing this "scar" would not be difficult for him. A snap of his fingers, a mere thought, and the lingering taint of the Lord Ravager would vanish. But since Tingyun had chosen to face this trial, he wanted to watch her walk it to the very end. When the day came that she truly wanted to smooth over the scar, she would naturally come looking for him again.
"The path I chose... was it like that from the very beginning?" Tingyun seemed to realize something, her eyes widening slightly. "If I had chosen to let you lead me through a 'rebirth through fire', I could have avoided these marks entirely, right?"
"Correct," Leon nodded, his expression unreadable. "Do you regret it?"
"Regret... perhaps a little bit." Tingyun smiled, a genuine warmth finally reaching her eyes. "But to be alive at all is already lucky enough. This humble girl dare not ask for more."
She looked toward the end of that chaotic, shadowy expanse, her gaze turning crystal clear.
"After all, being alive... is just like this."
"Survival and Destruction are no longer an either-or proposition for you. They have grown entwined on the same path," Leon said, his smile deepening as he watched her resolve harden. "And only by traversing this path can you walk out of the darkness—"
"Win this 'resurrection match'."
...In reality, before Yukong's anxious voice had even faded in the laboratory, the eyelashes of the Foxian beauty resting inside the nutrient pod suddenly fluttered.
"Ah?... She's back to life just like that?!" Stelle, who had been pressing her face practically against the glass to stare at Tingyun, was the first to notice. She let out a loud, undignified squawk of surprise.
"Huh? Such a coincidence?" March 7th blinked, completely stunned.
Didn't Ruan Mei just say she had no idea when Tingyun would wake up? And then her luck was so astronomically good that she opened her eyes right at this exact moment?
Ruan Mei's gaze slowly shifted toward Leon. Her elegant features remained perfectly calm, but a very faint, calculating gleam of understanding flashed in her eyes.
Although she didn't know what Tingyun had just experienced in her isolated mental world, based on her extensive understanding of Leon's capabilities, this miraculous timing was definitely his doing.
Ruan Mei had indeed mentioned that Tingyun might wake up in the next second... but statistically, the probability had been microscopic. According to her original biological calculations, it would take at least until the volatile power of Destruction inside the Foxian stabilized, followed by a rigorous series of consciousness-awakening interventions, before there was even a chance of her waking up. That process should have taken a considerable amount of time.
But now... Tingyun had woken up without any external medical assistance. Ruan Mei simply did not believe the girl could achieve this degree of self-recovery on her own. After all, before leaving the ecological ship, Ruan Mei had run a complete diagnostic test. Tingyun's physical and mental state simply did not possess the conditions to wake up so rapidly.
There had to be an external force guiding her.
"Tingyun, are you really awake?" Yukong's voice trembled violently, her usual authoritative demeanor crumbling as she pressed her hands against the cold pod wall.
"Sister... Yukong..." Tingyun's voice was barely a whisper, carrying the heavy, disoriented haziness of someone dragging themselves out of a century-long sleep.
Her gaze moved sluggishly, passing over the familiar faces of Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan... before finally landing squarely on Leon's face.
"Benefactor..." she called out softly, her tone laced with deep gratitude.
"Hey! Tingyun, are you calling me?!" Stelle immediately shoved her way to the front, leaning in with her eyes sparkling with absolute expectation.
"Um... who are you?" Tingyun blinked, her gaze entirely unfamiliar and laced with polite confusion.
"Oh no—!!!"
Stelle clutched her head, her face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated devastation. She looked as though the sky had just collapsed directly onto her shoulders.
In her excitement, she had completely forgotten the cruelest irony of their journey on the Luofu: the one who had truly spent time with the Astral Express, the one who had guided them and affectionately called them "Benefactor," was the Lord Ravager Phantylia, not the real Tingyun resting before her.
Seeing Stelle dramatically deflate like a punctured balloon, the corners of Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan, and Yukong's mouths couldn't help but twitch upward. They didn't quite know how to evaluate this absurdly comedic situation amidst the heavy atmosphere.
It was as if Phantylia had stolen a specific chapter of Tingyun's life, and in that stolen life, Stelle, Caelus, and March 7th were her closest companions.
Even Tingyun pursed her pale lips slightly. Although she didn't know the gray-haired girl throwing a tantrum outside her pod, this individual... certainly seemed a bit interesting.
"Are you feeling more awake?" Leon stepped forward, his smile gentle and reassuring. "Congratulations, you have achieved the initial victory in this tug-of-war. This is an excellent start."
"I... this is..." Tingyun let out a delicate yawn inside the nutrient fluid, her mind still struggling to process reality.
"Simply put, you were attacked by Lord Ravager Phantylia, and logically speaking, there was zero possibility of your survival." Ruan Mei stepped up to the console, her voice returning to its usual clinical detachment. "You were unfortunate to fall into her hands, with both your physical vessel and your mind being violently eroded by the 'Destruction'."
"But you were also incredibly lucky. Phantylia wanted to take everything of yours for her own use, a parasitic process that required time. That arrogant delay is what saved you from being annihilated on the spot."
"Rising from the dead and merely escaping death are often separated by only a thin line, yet they are worlds apart," Ruan Mei concluded, leaning closer to inspect the pod's vitals.
"My body... feels a bit strange." Tingyun frowned slightly, shifting her weight. She focused especially on her lower back; the sensation there was completely alien compared to her memories. It was as if she had grown tails... more than just her usual one.
"Apologies, but I cannot let you fully regain your physical sensation just yet, otherwise the pain would be unbearable," Ruan Mei explained smoothly. "This body was severely eroded by the 'Destruction', and the resulting trauma will accompany you for a very long time."
"To prevent 'the embers from flaring up'and consuming you again, I made some necessary'fine-tuning' to your biology—especially regarding your tails. You will need to learn to adapt to it." Her tone was as calm and matter-of-fact as if she were reciting a grocery list rather than experimental surgical records. "The price for a survivor is often misfortune; this is simply a matter of helplessness."
"In any case... thank you all for saving my life." Tingyun looked at Ruan Mei, then turned her gaze back to Leon, speaking with solemn sincerity.
"No need to thank me," Ruan Mei shook her head dismissively. "I only preserved your vessel properly. The one who truly made you wake up was yourself."
Tingyun was slightly stunned, her fox ears drooping as her gaze fell entirely on Leon. "Benefactor?"
"No need to thank me either," Leon said softly, his tone carrying a hypnotic rhythm. "Sleep a little longer. When you wake up again, you will forget the heavy details of this transition."
As if acting on command, Tingyun's eyelids grew incredibly heavy, and she slipped effortlessly back into a peaceful, healing sleep.
"Brother Leon!" Stelle immediately marched up to him, her face scrunched up in bitter grievance. "What's the big idea with Tingyun calling you Benefactor?!"
It made absolutely no sense! Tingyun clearly didn't know the Astral Express crew, so how on earth could she recognize Leon right off the bat?
"Is there a possibility," Leon smirked, casually pointing a thumb at his own chest, "that it was I who awakened her consciousness?"
He patted Stelle's shoulder, his eyes dancing with mischief. "Since I was the one who pulled her out of the dark, she naturally recognizes me as her true Benefactor. Better luck next time, trailblazer."
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