WEF - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: [Nirvana]

Ying's expression twisted as she thought for a long time, but she still couldn't find a logical way through.

She narrowed her eyes, abruptly changed the subject, and asked with apparent curiosity, "What is your Resurrection Ability?"

Ning Dali had already considered the answer to this question.

The known Resurrection-Type Abilities, [Revival], [Wraith], [Holy Light], [Life Swap], [Lucidity], and [Immortality], were all Two-Character Abilities. To blend in, the Resurrection-Type Ability Ning Dali had made up should also be a Two-Character Ability.

But both abilities she currently possessed were Three-Character Abilities. Could the Three-Character Ability [Old Liar] really grant her a Two-Character Ability?

By common sense, that was impossible, but Ning Dali could gamble on it. Losing wouldn't matter; winning would give her everything.

"Nirvana." She calmly delivered the answer she had prepared.

"Nirvana... sounds good." Ying nodded, raised her hand, and elegantly removed the Flame Shackles from her wrist. She turned her wrist and asked carefully, "Does the ability mean you can be resurrected after death, or that you cannot be beaten to death?"

Ning Dali could see that the Shadow King could no longer hold back and was about to hit her, or perhaps even beat her to death.

From the moment the motorhome exploded, Ning Dali had known exactly what kind of person Ying was.

Ying was reasonable, but not entirely. When she was no good with words and couldn't get the better of an argument, she could only follow the rules while using violence to vent her anger.

She was quick to ignite and explode, yet quite easy to control.

With the right technique, Ning Dali could use language to achieve all kinds of goals.

Among them, being beaten was the simplest, and it was what Ning Dali most looked forward to.

Ning Dali paused and first answered Ying's question. "Both effects," she said greedily.

Her [Nirvana] not only brought her back after death, but also made her impossible to beat to death.

Ying: "..." How aggravating!

With a stiff face, she said, "What devious luck, getting both effects. A defense with no blind spots, huh?"

Of course. Otherwise, how would it be called a custom-made ability?

After thinking this, Ning Dali did not forget to flesh out the setup and said, "Yes. As long as you leave me a complete corpse, I can return to my birthplace and be reborn through Nirvana."

This statement was crucial. It affected not only Ning Dali's future plans, but also whether Zhuang Yuezhen could successfully resurrect her corpse.

If no complete corpse was left behind, even Zhuang Yuezhen would be powerless. If Ning Dali dropped dead here today, she would be dead for good.

Ying apparently had not taken it in. She silently brought two fingers together.

Without a sound, the sky was veiled in shadow. Everything within sight was covered in a layer of dim shadow, and even the burning candles could not give off the slightest light.

This move looked far more impressive than those two light taps last time.

If she could learn it, she'd be a force to be reckoned with.

Ning Dali's heart leapt. She suppressed her inner joy and anticipation, forcing her eyes to show three parts fear, three parts shock, three parts regret, and one part fearless calm.

"Y-you, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly unleashing a big move while we're talking?"

At the sight of Ning Dali's complex, unreadable expression and the sound of her helpless tone, Ying gave a short, mocking laugh.

Hah, it's too late to be afraid now. There's no escaping this beating. If you don't take the hit, some people won't know the power and dignity of the King of All Shadows.

Invisible shadows bound Ning Dali from head to toe. She could not move, and could only watch with wide eyes as the Shadow King lifted the two fingers she held together slightly.

Suddenly, the shadows covering the entire sky and earth twisted violently, wrapped in a deep, dark, indescribable sensation, and transformed into a sharp arrow that shot toward the target.

The instant the arrow touched the surface of Ning Dali's body, the sun-bright radiance of her shield shattered like a lightbulb, bursting with a bang and going out.

Without the slightest pause, a "pfft" rang out.

The shadow arrow pierced through Ning Dali's chest, blood spraying wildly as her heart shattered.

Ning Dali's face turned paper-pale. The next second...

The twenty-four-hour cooldown has passed. I've kept myself in good shape. Activate!

The flow of time seemed to freeze.

Ning Dali's chest, pierced by the arrow, healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her shattered heart grew back and began beating again.

Thump.

The Shadow King had not even had time to smile. In the time it took to blink, she saw Ning Dali standing before her, completely unharmed.

If it were not for the holes and bloodstains on her clothes, everything that had just happened would have seemed like an illusion conjured by the Shadow King alone.

Ying's eyes flicked, and the two fingers she held together were just about to launch another arrow.

"Shadow King, I know I was wrong. If you hit me once more, I'll be reborn as a baby through Nirvana." Having achieved her goal, Ning Dali knew when to stop and spoke rapidly. "Then I won't be able to sit in a stroller to defect to Plague, will I? Ying, think twice for the sake of your plan."

The thought of becoming a baby... immediately diverted Ying's attention, and she excitedly rubbed her chin.

Ning Dali as a baby would be fun, and the things at Plague were just as important... So the plan was to get the thing first, then beat Ning Dali until she became a wailing baby.

At the thought of this new plan, the nameless fire in Ying's heart finally went out. She snorted twice, putting the Flame Shackles back on herself while letting out a laugh only she could understand.

"Not bad. Very good."

What's so good? Why are you laughing while putting on shackles? Have you gone mad from being imprisoned, or from escaping prison?

Ning Dali felt she could not quite keep up with Ying's way of thinking. She weighed the situation for a moment and did not answer rashly.

Ying looked at Ning Dali in a good mood, as though she could already see a miniature version of her face, and announced cheerfully, "You will go to Plague as an undercover agent. I can provide you with some appropriate help, but definitely not the on-call service you described. I also cannot keep you safe at all times."

"Only when you are in danger and have no choice but to seek my help may you beg for my assistance." Ying raised her chin and spelled out all her limits at length. "My help isn't free. Every time I help you, I'll take payment... by hitting you once, and it will be a vicious beating."

Ning Dali's lips twitched. She lowered her head and did not dare look at the smug satisfaction on Ying's face.

"Then how am I supposed to let you know that I need help?" she said, her tone very humble.

"Shout 'Mom, help!' at the shadows," Ying said casually.

All the shadows in this world are her minions. Shadows are her incarnations, and wherever they exist is her domain.

How is that any different from being available whenever called? Ning Dali thought.

Wait, if shouting to the shadows for help can summon the Shadow King, doesn't that mean she has been monitoring everyone this whole time?

Ning Dali's heart sank. She stole a glance at Ying, then caught on.

Ying's ability can monitor everyone, but her brain cannot process so much information. Only the things they had agreed on in advance would draw her attention.

Otherwise, when Ning Dali ate steak yesterday, Ying would have crawled out of the shadows to report her.

"I know." Ning Dali composed herself. "What is the thing you want me to find from Plague? Can you give me a more specific description?"

"Don't ask. This isn't something you should know right now," Ying said, gazing deeply into the sky.

Ning Dali: "?"

Do you even know what nonsense you're talking about?

"If you don't tell me what it is, how am I supposed to find it?" Ning Dali frowned.

Ying still looked up at the sky and murmured, "It isn't that I won't tell you. Even if I did, you still wouldn't be able to understand. You don't have a Single-Character Ability, so you can't resist the Stupidity-Dampening Aura."

Ning Dali swallowed the curse that had reached her lips and said with a blank expression, "Speak plainly. Don't swear at people, and don't speak in riddles."

"Looks like you don't believe me." Ying shrugged. "Then let me ask you, where do the airdrops in the sky come from?"

She had asked Zhuang Yuezhen this question about airdrops before, but at the time, her answer had been...

Ning Dali's pupils widened almost imperceptibly. She imitated Zhuang Yuezhen's bewildered tone and said:

"Airdrops, from the sky?"

"See? The moment a question like that comes up, you automatically go stupid. Even if I tell you the answer directly, you won't remember any of it." The Shadow King's eyes shimmered with sympathy and compassion for Ning Dali. "So it's not that I won't tell you. Your level isn't high enough. This time, I really wasn't scolding you."

Ning Dali acted as if she had heard nothing and kept looking at Ying with a bewildered, clueless expression, trying to coax an explanation out of her.

"The gap between Two-Character and Single-Character Abilities is still too great." Ying shook her head. "After all, your abilities operate within a range. You can't understand what the world is..."

You understand even less what lies beyond the world.

The world?

On the surface, Ning Dali played dumb. Inwardly, she frantically turned over the information revealed by Ying's words.

The greatest difference between Three-Character and Two-Character Abilities is attack range. Is the difference between Two-Character and Single-Character Abilities also attack range?

Two-Character Abilities can only take effect within a certain range, while Single-Character Abilities can take effect throughout the entire world.

Then is the so-called Stupidity-Dampening Aura also the effect of some Single-Character Ability?

Has someone sealed off the wisdom of this world, stopping them from thinking about where airdrops come from?

At the same time, this ability cannot take effect on Single-Character Ability Users... In other words, these Single-Character Ability Users might know where airdrops come from.

They might not only know, but might also be secretly studying all of this, studying the world beyond this world.

Could that be the Federation?!

Ning Dali's heartbeat quickened despite itself, her newly grown heart pounding powerfully in her chest.

Only then did Ning Dali truly understand what Yuan really was.

In fact, Yuan had two lifesaving benefactors.

First was Zhuang Yuezhen. She did not want to expose her Resurrection Ability, so Yuan fulfilled her wish and kept the matter from everyone else. Even Ying was kept in the dark and failed to notice.

In the process, Zhuang Yuezhen did not need to do anything and naturally achieved her goal.

The other was Ning Dali. She wanted to obtain a Single-Character Ability, but had to fight for it herself, even having to spar with Ying and wait for an unknown Fate. Ning Dali had once suspected that Yuan was treating her differently.

Only now did it all become clear to Ning Dali.

Her wish had simply been too difficult.

She wanted to know everything about the Federation, find a way home, and discover why she had crossed over.

But the Federation was outside the world, beyond the range in which Yuan's ability took effect, so Yuan could only tell her the answer indirectly... Wait, no.

The thing Ying wanted to obtain from Plague was connected to what lay beyond the world.

So "helping" Ying obtain that thing was equivalent to helping myself return home?

No one could answer Ning Dali's question.

Yet somehow, Ning Dali knew that her thought was correct.

"Has the Stupidity-Dampening Aura gone yet?" Ying waved a hand in front of Ning Dali. "Come back, soul..."

Ning Dali abruptly came back to her senses and, still trying to look confused, asked, "Ah? You want me to find something, but why won't you tell me what it is?"

Ying: "... I can't be bothered to tell you. I'll give you two days to prepare. When the time comes, I'll send you where you're supposed to go."

"Go home, why don't you?"

Ying kicked Ning Dali once, sending her straight into the shadows.

After kicking Ning Dali away, Ying dragged a secretary out of the shadows.

"Get all our internet trolls mobilized. We have work to do," Ying ordered.

"Sis Yuan has been resurrected. Push this story to the top of the trending searches."

The secretary looked shocked. "Ah?"

Does news of Sis Yuan's resurrection still need internet trolls to generate buzz?

"Ning Dali resurrected her. Ning Dali has a [Nirvana], can't be beaten to death, and can also be reborn as a baby." Ying thought of her plan and said coolly, "Make absolutely sure this news reaches everyone in the shortest possible time."

Only if everyone knew the news might that unlucky bastard, Plague, hear even a hint of it.

Only then might Plague accept Ning Dali's offer to join them.

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