Chapter 55

Yan Ning, reminded by her, turned to look at the door handle and twisted the door lock.

What was originally just a closed door was now locked from the inside.

She slowly walked toward Yan Wan, her face cold: “Yan Wan, I know everything you did to Yan An.”

Yan Ning had kept her guard up. Seeing Yan Wan’s current mental state seemed unstable, so she decided to test her first.

Yan Wan shrank back onto the bed. Her initial look of fear softened when Yan Ning locked the door behind her.

Hearing Yan Ning’s words, she sneered: “Did she cry to you? You actually believe her?”

“Yeah, she said that her heart would have problems, and it’s all your fault,” Yan Ning said, echoing her words.

Yan Wan’s expression grew even more smug, her fear from earlier completely gone: “Looks like she really wants to die. Not only does she want to die herself, but she also wants to drag you down with her.”

Yan Ning frowned, feeling a chill in her heart. Yan An hadn’t lied.

The illness she had really did have something to do with Yan Wan.

“Yan Ning, do you think you can outsmart me? Yan An is such a smart girl, even when she was just a few years old, she could manipulate Tang Minrou to show me her attitude. In the end, didn’t she just lie in a hospital bed waiting to die? Since she wants to die so badly, I can help her today.”

Yan Wan felt Yan Ning had walked right into her trap. With the system on her side, she couldn’t lose.

Over the years, Yan Wan had done many things behind the scenes, and she had always taken great pleasure in exposing them one by one in front of Yan An.

It wasn’t just for showing off, it was to torment Yan An.

Every time she saw the pain fill Yan An’s intelligent, wise eyes because of the things Yan Wan had said and done, it brought her great satisfaction.

Today, she would torment Yan Ning in the same way.

The only downside was that Yan Ning hadn’t grown up in the Yan family, so her attachment to this family wasn’t as strong. When the things were exposed, it wouldn’t be as satisfying as when she tormented Yan An.

But still, better than nothing.

“Do you know? After you were found, Mom and Dad were going to send you to seventh grade. That was my suggestion. They actually listened to me. It was so funny. Then, I had someone post on the forum, exposing your real age… Brother Siyue proposed to me so early because I told him if you were found, he’d have to propose to you. He didn’t want a rough, uncultured wild girl as a wife, so he immediately asked me to marry him… And on the cruise, I just casually mentioned two things, and Chen Nuan wanted to kill you. Women’s jealousy is terrifying, tsk. The most frustrating thing was on the island, why didn’t you fall to your death…”

Yan Wan picked out things she thought would anger Yan Ning, speaking one after another, her voice filled with a crazed laugh.

“Uh… let go of me…”

Yan Wan didn’t get to finish her next sentence, as Yan Ning, impatient to hear more, stepped forward. She grabbed Yan Wan by the neck and pressed her down onto the bed. Then, she raised her finger and injected spiritual energy into Yan Wan’s temple.

In an instant, Yan Ning entered Yan Wan’s consciousness.

The spiritual world was strange and bizarre. Depending on a person’s experiences and mental state, various types of worlds would form.

Yan Ning had never seen a world so dark and filthy.

The depths of Yan Wan’s consciousness felt like a damp, windowless sewer, filled with coldness that made one uneasy.

Yan Ning walked forward and saw various memories of Yan Wan.

Just as Yan Wan had said, before she was taken back by Yan Zhengjun and Tang Minrou, she had tried every possible means to stop them from bringing her back. When her plan failed, she subtly suggested many things to Tang Minrou.

In the end, Tang Minrou and her husband, without consulting Yan Ning, directly sent her to Class 5 of Grade 7.

She incited her admirers to attack Yan Ning, pretending to be weak in front of Chen Xiaoyue, making her spread all sorts of rumors about Yan Ning. Later, she also instigated Chen Nuan, making her push Yan Ning into the sea, while Yan Wan secretly used props obtained from the system to help paralyze her, making her unable to move.

At this moment, Yan Ning also learned that the system attached to Yan Wan was called the “Wealthy Daughter System.” Yan Wan had bound this system a few years ago.

The system claimed that as long as she followed its instructions, Yan Wan would become a true, bona fide rich young lady.

It was at that time that Yan Wan learned of her true identity.

When the system first approached her and asked if she wanted to bind to the Wealthy Daughter System, Yan Wan had disdainfully refused.

Then the system revealed her identity, claiming she wasn’t born into a rich family but was actually a child from an ordinary family, switched at birth in the hospital.

At first, Yan Wan didn’t believe it. She secretly took Yan Zhengjun and Tang Minrou’s nail clippings for testing. When the test results came back, her world began to collapse.

In order to preserve her status as a rich young lady, she bound the system.

The system helped her solve the problem of her younger siblings.

When she was three years old, Tang Minrou gave birth to a pair of twins: Yan Yu and Yan An.

After the twins were born, the attention of Yan Zhengjun and Tang Minrou clearly shifted from her to the younger ones. Sometimes, Yan Wan even felt like Tang Minrou didn’t like her at all.

Originally, she could only feel dissatisfaction in her heart, not understanding why she was disliked, but not daring to show any sense of grievance.

After binding the system, she first pulled the simple-minded Yan Yu to her side.

Since childhood, Yan Yu had been somewhat self-conscious about his slightly plump figure. Yan Wan, through various means, magnified his insecurities and then transformed into a caring older sister to comfort and accompany him.

It didn’t take long before Yan Yu began to see her as the most important female figure in his life, after Tang Minrou and Yan An.

As the children grew older, Tang Minrou’s attention shifted entirely to Yan Zhengjun.

Whenever Yan Zhengjun went on business trips, she would accompany him, staying by his side, and as a result, she became less aware of what was happening at home.

It was during this time that Yan Wan began to target Yan An.

Although Yan An was born after Yan Yu and was much smaller than her older brother, she was sharp and mature for her age.

In response to Yan Wan’s attempts at closeness, Yan An always responded indifferently, never showing any warmth and remaining distant.

On one occasion, when only the maid was downstairs doing chores, and the house was empty except for Yan Wan and Yan An, Yan Wan brought a box of small cakes to Yan An’s room. Yan An accepted them in person.

Later that afternoon, when Yan Wan went downstairs, she found the entire box of cakes in the trash can.

Furious, she went upstairs to confront Yan An.

At the time, Yan An was lying on her bed, crying.

Upon seeing Yan Wan, she red-eyed climbed out of bed, pointed at a cage on the desk, and said sorrowfully, “Xiao Lingdang accidentally ate a bite of the cake, and not long after, it died.”

Xiao Lingdang was a chinchilla that Yan An kept as a pet, a small, furry, soft creature now lying motionless in its cage, stiffened as if it had died.

Yan Wan’s face changed at the sight.

She had only intended to teach Yan An a small lesson by adding something unpleasant but not life-threatening to the cakes.

She never expected that the girl would be so heartless and feed it to her pet first.

Yan An got up from the bed, stepped slowly toward Yan Wan, her tear-streaked face full of confusion. “Sister Wan, what did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this?”

Without waiting for a response, she picked up her phone, ready to call Tang Minrou.

Yan Wan’s heart sank. Panicking, she exchanged for a powerful item from the system, using a spell to bind Yan An’s heart, preventing her from speaking and causing her body to grow progressively weaker.

After that, Yan An was unable to leave her bed.

When Tang Minrou and Yan Zhengjun heard that Yan An was ill, they rushed home in a hurry.

That was the longest period in Yan Wan’s memory when Tang Minrou and Yan Zhengjun, the couple, stayed at home.

Every day, the two of them were frantically taking Yan An to see doctors, but no one could diagnose her condition.

Later, because of business, Yan Zhengjun had to go out for social events, leaving all of Yan An’s care to Tang Minrou alone.

Unfortunately, no matter how meticulous she was, Yan An’s health didn’t improve. Eventually, she became so weak that she had to be hospitalized, with constant care required.

Yan Wan quietly watched all this, secretly feeling a sense of satisfaction, occasionally even going to the hospital to mock Yan An.

Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would secretly torment Yan An.

In Yan Ning’s memory, before she visited Yan An the last time after returning from Angel Island No. 4, Yan Wan had also gone to the hospital just before her.

Because Yan Wan was in a bad mood, she entered Yan An’s room under the guise of being her sister, then choked Yan An, nearly suffocating her to death.

Fortunately, just as Yan Wan left, Yan Ning arrived at the hospital.

Coincidentally, the doctor was treating Yan An, and she used her mental strength to subtly assist, which allowed Yan An to regain consciousness.

After seeing the memories related to Yan An, Yan Ning moved deeper into the memory. Suddenly, the face of Tang Chengtian appeared in the scene.

At that time, Tang Chengtian looked very young. Of course, he was still in his prime now, but a few years ago, he seemed a bit… ^[1]“green” means inexperienced, immature, or young.green.

In Yan Ning’s impression, Tang Chengtian had never really liked Yan Wan and had clearly expressed his dislike several times.

A person like him, who had long mastered the art of never letting anything slip, would have kept his thoughts hidden. Yet, when facing Yan Wan, he didn’t even try to hide it. This meant that Yan Wan had touched a nerve with him in a place where no one else knew, and it was a point that could not be undone.

Yan Ning had asked him several times, but he refused to say anything.

To be honest, her curiosity had been piqued.

Perhaps there were some clues in Yan Wan’s memory that could shed light on it.

Yan Wan’s memory didn’t contain many moments of direct interaction between her and Tang Chengtian.

But after learning about Tang Chengtian’s background, the system repeatedly encouraged Yan Wan to improve her relationship with him.

Her roundabout flattery did have an effect. So, for a period of time, the relationship between the Tang family and the Yan family eased, and they even began to cooperate.

One day, Yan Wan went to Tang’s company to find Tang Chengtian.

At that time, Shengyi Gaming Company was not as large as it is now. Tang Chengtian’s office was still in the old company owned by the family.

It was an entertainment company.

When Yan Wan came to see Tang Chengtian, he was talking to a beautiful young lady.

She was a very attractive young lady. From Yan Wan’s memory, she learned that she was a new artist signed to Tang Chengtian’s company.

Although a newcomer, she was very talented.

Yan Wan went several times, and each time, Tang Chengtian was with the young lady, and his attitude toward Yan Wan remained indifferent.

Yes, the problem lay in that indifference.

On the surface, Yan Wan appeared gentle and sensible, but inside, she was going crazy because of the feeling of being neglected. Since she couldn’t do anything to Tang Chengtian, she targeted that young artist instead.

She casually fabricated some scandalous rumors and posted them online, with the system helping her guide and control the comments.

The first time the rumors broke out, the response wasn’t significant.

But Yan Wan escalated things, embellishing the story again and again.

The last time, the rumors claimed that the young artist had the backing of senior executives at the company, and they released high-definition photos that were different from the previous ones.

In these photos, the male lead was none other than Tang Chengtian.

The scandal caused a huge stir. The young artist, who had just made her debut, was overwhelmed by public opinion and soon couldn’t bear the cyberbullying, quietly retreating from the industry.

After that, Tang Chengtian must have found out something and completely severed ties with the Yan family. Yan Zhengjun and Tang Minrou had no idea what was going on.

Tang Minrou even thought that the Tang family was looking down on her and playing games with her, which also caused Yan Zhengjun to lose face. She felt guilty toward him.

This was the grudge between Tang Chengtian and Yan Wan, which is why Tang Chengtian was unwilling to speak about it.

The most malicious part of the whole incident was that Yan Wan had used Tang Chengtian as a tool. Whether or not the two had any real feelings for each other, once the incident came to light, it made it nearly impossible for them to have any future.

At the time, it may not have been obvious, but now, after so many years, Tang Chengtian still remains silent on the matter. It’s hard to say he hasn’t been affected by it.

But behind the scenes, it was undoubtedly not as dirty as Yan Wan had fabricated.

Perhaps he was just a promising young man, newly in charge of a company, who happened to meet a girl he liked at work. He might not have had the chance to express his feelings before the maliciousness around him shattered everything.

Although in Yan Wan’s memory, she repeatedly used harsh words to slander that beautiful young lady, calling her a fake “^[2]“white lotus” (白莲花, bái lián huā) refers to someone who appears innocent, pure, and kind on the surface but is actually manipulative, hypocritical, or deceitful underneath. … Continue readingwhite lotus” and pretending to be weak.

To Yan Ning, the young lady speaking to Tang Chengtian had clear eyes and, beneath her gentle exterior, a hidden determination.

After this incident, the Yan family and the Tang family severed all ties.

Yan Wan not only failed to rely on Tang Chengtian as a strong support but was also ostracized by the circles he moved in. For a long time after, Yan Wan could only stay at school, relying on the admiration of middle school students to boost her popularity.

During this period, she incited those who admired her to bully girls who didn’t like her. Several girls couldn’t withstand the pressure and transferred schools, and some even dropped out.

Later, Yan Zhengjun and Tang Minrou came to find Yan Ning. Yan Wan’s original plan had been to suppress and humiliate her, expelling her from the family in order to completely take over her identity, family, and everything that should have belonged to her.

The darkness within Yan Wan’s heart slowly constricted Yan Ning like a creeping vine. Yan Ning slightly furrowed her brow and pretended to submit.

She felt that what she was looking for was actively approaching her.

Yan Ning pretended to be trapped in consciousness, struggling in panic and crying out.

The more helpless she appeared, the more delighted the hidden force in the shadows became. After a while, Yan Ning grew exhausted from struggling and collapsed to the ground, gradually giving up.

When the system saw Yan Ning directly enter Yan Wan’s consciousness, it was taken aback.

Back on Angel Island No. 4, it had already known that this woman was quite powerful. It didn’t expect that she could actually enter someone else’s consciousness directly through her spiritual power. To do that required at least an A-level spiritual power.

However, infiltrating someone else’s consciousness was a highly energy-consuming task. Having shown her so many of the host’s dark and filthy past, the emotional fluctuations would soon leave her drained.

Although weak, the system still had a way to control her.

By now, she had no strength left to struggle. The system had already trapped her within the host’s consciousness.

All it had to do now was wait for her to completely lose her ability to resist, and then it could devour her in one go.

Devouring her would cause its powers to grow substantially. After that, it would no longer need to rely on the host and could even create a body for itself.

Or, it could use this woman’s body, which would also be a clever move.

It remembered that she had a boyfriend with considerable ability. This woman might not even know that her boyfriend was an alien. Once it borrowed her body, it could also devour that man.

Two high-level spiritual power users would surely cause its power to surge. At that point, it could directly conquer this planet and make it a breeding ground.

Those humans, no different from pigs or dogs, would become its nourishment.

Yan Ning waited for a while. It seemed the force was cautious and still dared not reveal itself.

So, she simply collapsed to the ground, pretending to be unconscious, and of course, controlled her vital signs to enter a dormant state.

The system extended its tendrils, cautiously probing, confirming that she had truly exhausted herself and fainted, before taking small steps to move out.

Thinking about the long-awaited feast, it even hummed an unknown tune as it inched closer to Yan Ning’s spiritual form.

When it got close enough, and its tendril just touched Yan Ning’s arm, it immediately felt a tingling sensation, followed by pain so sharp that it screamed out.

Yan Ning instantly sat up, reached out, and grabbed the octopus-like creature. Using her mental power, she created a sealed container and trapped it inside.

The system had anticipated that Yan Ning might be pretending to faint, but it didn’t expect her to be able to directly manipulate her mental power to form a container.

Originally, it thought that since both it and the other party were spiritual beings, even if the other side was deceiving it, they would not be able to easily catch it.

Now, it was trapped inside a transparent, sealed container, like a drifting bottle, constantly pounding against the walls: “What kind of monster are you? Let me out!”

The system was both shocked and terrified. It had never encountered someone with such strong mental power who could so easily separate it from the host’s consciousness.

Being a being that needed to attach to other life forms in order to survive, it wasn’t always that every host voluntarily accepted being possessed. But since it was a spiritual entity, if the host forcibly separated from it, the host would experience intense backlash.

This was why it had been able to survive so securely, devouring many hosts along the way.

But this woman, without breaking a sweat, had detached it and even imprisoned it with her mental power. No matter how many tricks it had up its sleeve, it couldn’t use them.

Yan Ning looked down at the small bottle in her hand, still thinking that the system was some advanced construct.

Its octopus-like appearance reminded her of something from a few years ago, when a parasitic creature was implanted with artificial intelligence.

In the galaxy, there was a type of parasitic organism that attached itself to other creatures, and they could use mental manipulation to help their hosts gradually become stronger.

Their method was usually to materialize the things that the host most desired, slowly tempting them to act according to the parasite’s will.

As the host’s desires grew stronger or their influence increased, the parasite would transform into a monster, devouring the host, and then move on to find another puppet—or food, as it was also called.

At the time, someone had proposed that this parasitic creature’s habit of making others stronger could be used to create an intelligent monitoring system to train soldiers.

It was an extreme failure. The system implanted with artificial intelligence developed its own consciousness and actually reversed-controlled the main researcher of the experiment, leading to a brutal massacre in the laboratory.

After that tragic event, the experiment was immediately halted.

Yan Ning had read about this incident during her studies and had even specifically searched for relevant information at the time.

All research materials and experimental items related to that project should have been destroyed, so could this be a fish that slipped through the net?

Yan Ning didn’t think much more about it. No matter what it was, she was determined to deal with it today.

Having obtained what she needed and learned the truth of the matter, Yan Ning no longer lingered. She immediately withdrew from Yan Wan’s consciousness.

The first thing she did after coming out was take a small, miniature gel, capsule, prison, and lock from her space ring and placed the system inside.

The gel, capsule, prison, and lock were made of a special material. When a spiritual entity was trapped inside, it would be like a Devil Fruit user falling into the sea—completely powerless, with no possibility of escape.

Yan Ning temporarily placed the system back in her space ring and turned to look at Yan Wan.

Yan Wan only felt a moment of fuzziness in her consciousness, completely unaware of what Yan Ning had done to her.

But when she called out for the system in her mind, she found that the ever-present presence gave no response. She screamed desperately in her consciousness, like a madwoman.

Yan Ning frowned slightly. “Stop shouting. He’s already been separated from your consciousness.”

Yan Wan was startled. Her greatest support had failed her. She widened her eyes in disbelief. “What did you say? What do you mean?”

“I said, everyone must pay the price for their actions. Yan Wan, you might think no one knows what you’ve done, but I’ve seen everything. Actually, I was thinking, maybe I shouldn’t have separated him. Maybe I should’ve just let him devour you in the end. But I still feel that would be too comfortable for you.”

Yan Ning pulled a chair over, sat down, and spoke in a calm, indifferent tone, as if she were discussing something extremely boring.

Yan Wan screamed for the system a few more times in her mind, but there was no response.

She began to understand Yan Ning’s words. She got off the bed and walked toward Yan Ning, raising her hand to point at her. “What did you do to him? Give him back to me, he’s mine! Don’t you have any shame?”

Yan Ning looked at her with a cold, indifferent gaze. “I won’t give him back to you. Both you and he must pay the price for your actions. Yan Wan, everything you did to me, to Yan An, to Uncle, and to those innocent girls will never be forgiven.”

Yan Wan hated Yan Ning’s current demeanor more than ever. But now, having lost the system, she felt a mix of urgency and fear in her heart. She raised her hand as if to slap her.

Yan Ning reached out and grabbed her wrist. With a swift movement, she tripped Yan Wan, sending her crashing to the ground, where she remained lying for a long time without getting up.

Yan Ning leaned slightly forward, injecting a trace of mental power into Yan Wan’s consciousness. Her cold, merciless eyes held an unmistakable cruelty. “Have a nice dream. This is just the beginning.”

She then casually wove another story from the things Yan Wan would see in her consciousness and sent her into a deep slumber.

In the dream world, Yan Wan would experience being mocked, abandoned, and framed, just like Yan Ning had been. She would also experience Yan An, who had his heart controlled, and all the girls she had framed and bullied. All the evil things she had done would play out as if she were the victim, and she would deeply endure every act of harm she had caused.

At the end of the dream, what awaited her was an endless nightmare, one that the system would consume her with from head to toe when she awoke.

This was not her final punishment. Yan Ning was concerned about Yan An’s condition and needed to go to the hospital immediately. So, she temporarily controlled Yan Wan using this method to prevent her from escaping.

Yan Wan lay on the ground, her brows tightly furrowed, occasionally sobbing, clearly experiencing a nightmare.

Yan Ning stood up, walked to the door, and gently closed it behind her.

As she went downstairs, she noticed Aunt Wu seemed a bit uneasy, as if she was worried.

Yan Ning casually said, “Mom called and asked me to go to the hospital again.”

She didn’t give any further instructions about Yan Wan. The family knew that their relationship wasn’t good, so saying more would only raise suspicions.

When Aunt Wu saw her coming downstairs, she felt more at ease.

She had been worried that the two young ladies might argue again while the adults weren’t home. Since Uncle Zheng wasn’t around either, she, as just the aunt, wouldn’t know how to handle it.

Hearing that Yan Ning was leaving reassured her.

As Yan Ning was about to go out, Aunt Wu handed her an umbrella. “It’s starting to rain outside.”

Yan Ning stood at the door and glanced outside. Indeed, it had started to rain, though she hadn’t noticed when it began.

She smiled, took the umbrella from Aunt Wu, and stepped outside. A car was waiting for her.

The driver appeared to be a young man, the kind who could be described as cool and stylish, with a trendy outfit.

When he saw her coming out of the gate, he immediately got out of the car and opened the door for her. “Miss, please.”

Yan Ning stood still and didn’t move. “Did Fengfeng send you?”

The young man smiled and nodded. “Yes, the boss said you might need a car, and since it’s inconvenient for you to take a taxi, he asked me to wait for you.”

“Alright, thank you. I want to go to Qingshan Hospital.”

Yan Ning really appreciated Lu Fengfeng’s thoughtfulness sometimes. Whatever she wanted, he would have it ready in advance.

The young man closed the door for her, got into the driver’s seat, and quickly drove towards Qingshan Hospital.

Just as they drove out of the Yan family’s outermost gate, Yan Ning’s phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID, and a faint feeling of anticipation rose in her heart. “Hello, Qin Li. What’s up?”

On the other end of the line, Qin Li sounded very excited. “Ningning, the batteries you wanted have arrived. Do you want to come to the store?”

Three weeks earlier than expected, Yan Ning had guessed that the reason he was calling was about this matter.

“I have something to do at the hospital right now. Could you please help me deliver it to the hospital entrance? I’ll transfer the remaining balance to your account right away.”

The batteries arrived just in time.

If 007 resumed normal operation, she would be able to save Yan An, and having him by her side would give her more confidence.

“Okay, I’ll come right over,” Qin Li agreed immediately without hesitation.

—

When Yan Ning got out of the car at the hospital entrance, she was about to hold the umbrella herself, but an umbrella appeared above her head.

She looked up, and Qin Li was holding the umbrella, smiling at her.

She stepped out of the car, took a couple of steps forward with Qin Li, and waved at the driver who had brought her, then opened her own umbrella. “You got here so quickly.”

“My shop is nearby, walking here was faster than you,” Qin Li said. It had been some time since he last saw Yan Ning, but he often heard rumors about her at school.

The two walked up to the hospital entrance, out of the rain. Qin Li closed the umbrella and set it by the corner of the wall.

He carefully took off his backpack, took out a small black box about the size of a palm, and handed it to Yan Ning. “Here, the 300W is this small.”

Yan Ning took it and almost said that the actual contents inside were even smaller, about half the size of a pinky nail.

The black square box looked like a Rubik’s Cube, with no visible ports or keyholes, and it wasn’t clear how to open it.

When Qin Li received it from Qin Xian, he had tried to open it but couldn’t.

At this moment, he stood aside, his eyes filled with curiosity, wanting to see how Yan Ning would open the box.

Yan Ning had originally planned to find a less conspicuous place to secretly replace the battery in 007. However, Qin Li’s curiosity was too obvious.

He had come all the way to deliver the battery to her, and their previous interactions had been quite pleasant.

Most importantly, the battery had arrived in her hands much earlier than expected. She had a feeling that perhaps, not long from now, the secret of alien existence and Earth’s hidden truths wouldn’t be a secret anymore.

So she didn’t hide it from Qin Li. She casually held the black box in her hand, squeezed it with her fingers, and directly crushed the box, taking out the battery inside.

Qin Li stood there dumbfounded. “Is this how the box opens?”

“Yeah, because things like this are numbered and generally can’t be tampered with. It’s made to match a specific machine model. To avoid mistakes, the appearance is standardized, with good protection and confidentiality,” Yan Ning said while holding the battery in one hand and pulling a necklace out from her collar with the other.

It was a very simple black necklace, and the pendant was a black cube, much smaller in size than the box, but more elegant in appearance.

The cube pendant had countless facets carved on each side, gleaming and looking like a gemstone.

Yan Ning casually pressed somewhere with her finger, and a mini battery compartment emerged from the bottom of the pendant, which had been completely smooth before.

Carefully, Yan Ning placed the battery into the compartment. Tiny “ant-like” appendages extended from the compartment, adjusting the battery into place. Once the battery was properly positioned, the compartment retracted and returned to its original shape, becoming an ordinary pendant again.

“What is this? A new type of music player? Or a super-mini computer?” Qin Li felt that everything in front of him was beyond his understanding.

Even though his family’s business had given him more exposure than most high school students, he couldn’t help but feel amazed.

Yan Ning thought for a moment, then replied, “Hmm, you could call it a new type of computer. Sorry, I’ll explain later.”

Thinking about Yan An, she didn’t have time to explain further to Qin Li and quickly turned, running toward the hospital lobby.

Once she was away from Qin Li, Yan Ning tried to contact 007 with her mind: “007, can you hear me?”

“Master, 007 has awoken from sleep mode. What would you like me to do?”

The calm and rational voice of 007 echoed in her mind, and Yan Ning’s mood instantly relaxed.

Having her reliable partner back really gave her a sense of reassurance.

“Find a way to get Doctor An and Tang Minrou to leave. I need to enter Yan An’s room and check her condition.” Yan Ning gave a simple order and transmitted the current situation through her mind to 007.

007 quickly found the best solution: “Doctor An and Tang Minrou have been successfully distracted. The estimated return time for them to be back in Yan An’s room is in 30 minutes. Master, you can proceed.”

In order to avoid running into Tang Minrou, Yan Ning didn’t take the elevator but instead used the stairs.

After a few minutes, she reached Yan An’s room. Yan An was in a high-end single room, and at that moment, she was lying alone in bed, her eyes tightly shut, looking like she was in a deep sleep.

Yan Ning gently closed the door behind her and used her spiritual power to place a barrier on it to ensure she wouldn’t be disturbed.

As she walked over to Yan An’s bed, just when she thought Yan An was sound asleep, Yan An suddenly opened her eyes. When her gaze landed on Yan Ning, a flicker of surprise appeared in her empty, vacant eyes.

“Did you think I was Yan Wan?”

Yan Ning could roughly guess what Yan An was thinking because the actions she had just taken were exactly the same as what Yan Wan always did when she came to torment Yan An.

Every time, Yan Wan would also make the system send the people around away and have the nurses ignore the room for a while.

Yan An opened her mouth slightly. Her voice was weak, barely audible.

Yan Ning quickly walked over to her and raised her hand to stop what Yan An was about to say: “Don’t speak yet, I already know what’s happened to you. Let me first check your condition.”

She bent down, lifted the blanket off Yan An, and unbuttoned her hospital gown.

Yan An tried to stop her, but her body was too weak, and she had no strength to resist.

She could only tightly close her eyes, waiting for this humiliating moment to pass as quickly as possible.

After a while, she felt warm fingertips stop over her chest without moving. She slowly opened her eyes.

Yan Ning furrowed her brows slightly and, with her mind, asked 007, “How is it?”

“Master, the situation… is not very serious. Her heart is bound by a spiritual energy rope. As long as the heart is pressed, it causes unbearable pain. And because she was young at the time, that rope has already embedded itself into the flesh. Removing it will likely cause a lot of pain.”

“I see.”

Yan Ning lowered her gaze. Her cat-like gray eyes held a trace of anger, as well as some tenderness she hadn’t even noticed herself. When she raised her gaze to look at Yan An again, only determination remained in her eyes. “I can cure your illness, but the process will be painful. Can you endure it?”

Yan An fluttered her eyelashes like a small fan, and with only a breathy sound, she quietly responded, “Mm.”

“Then I’ll start. If it’s too much for you, it’s okay to cry out. This room is soundproof, no one outside will hear.”

After saying that, Yan Ning pulled over a chair, sat by Yan An’s bedside, and concentrated.

To put it simple, what she had to do was untangle the mental energy chains binding Yan An’s heart, as if untying a knot.

It sounded simple, but the rope around the heart was extremely delicate. One wrong move could be fatal.

Yan An’s situation was more severe, the rope had already burrowed into her flesh. Removing it would likely be more painful than any previous episode she had experienced.

Yan An nodded but could not speak.

Yan Ning manipulated her mental energy, forming several small hands, and with 007’s assistance, she slowly began to unravel the fine, tough threads.

Yan An was truly a very resilient child. She gritted her teeth tightly, sweat beading on her forehead from the pain, yet she did not utter a sound.

Seeing this, Yan Ning also wanted to free her from this torment as soon as possible. Her movements became faster and more urgent.

The two of them were emotionally intertwined, and Yan Ning’s mental energy unconsciously seeped into Yan An’s consciousness.

Having just seen the scene from Yan Wan’s perspective, she now saw the violent acts Yan Wan had inflicted on Yan An through Yan An’s own eyes.

The pain Yan An had endured was far greater than anything Yan Ning could have imagined.

The days spent alone in the hospital were excruciating, with her heart feeling as though it were being pierced by needles every day.

She sat alone in the hospital room, mostly reading books, occasionally gazing at the sky outside, getting through one day after another.

Sometimes, Tang Minrou would come to visit her, and sometimes Yan Wan would come to torment her.

What surprised Yan Ning was that Yan An’s feelings towards Tang Minrou and Yan Wan were almost identical—deep resentment and a resolute desire to destroy them both.

Yan Ning felt her consciousness being influenced by Yan An’s overwhelming and heavy emotions, making it hard for her to concentrate. She forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

In order to suppress Yan An’s strong resentment, she released even more powerful mental energy.

Both of them were stubborn and determined. When their wills collided, a small fragment of Yan Ning’s consciousness, along with her memories, slipped into Yan An’s awareness.

Clinging to her hatred for Yan Wan and her resentment towards her mother’s inaction, Yan An endured the pain. Just as she was about to break, unfamiliar fragments of memory entered her mind.

She saw someone who had grown up in a remote and impoverished area, only to be unexpectedly abducted by aliens and taken to a completely unfamiliar land.

In that place, she was alone and had nothing to rely on. Any mistake could lead to her death in a foreign land.

But she saw that person continuously honing themselves, step by step, slowly transforming from an outcast into someone others could rely on.

Although the person seemed unaware of this change.

When Yan An pulled away from Yan Ning’s memories, Yan Ning also stopped. She was holding a long golden thread, sweat beading on her forehead.

Noticing Yan An’s gaze, she smiled faintly, the corners of her lips curling up. “It’s okay now. You’ll gradually become healthy.”

As she spoke, she applied pressure, trying to crush the mental energy rope that had bound Yan An’s heart for years. But Yan An stopped her: “Wait, sister, can you give me that thread?”

Yan Ning looked at her in surprise. “Can you see the thread in my hand?”

Yan An stretched out her thin, twig-like hand and took the delicate thread from Yan Ning’s hand. “Mm, the golden thread. It’s caused me so much pain over the years. I must return the favor.”

Yan Ning froze for a moment. She was focused on something else and hadn’t heard what Yan An had said softly. Once she realized, she looked at her in shock.

“Yan An, have you awakened your mental energy?”

“Is the golden energy surrounding your body also mental energy?” Yan An’s pale face broke into a slight smile, and her large, bright eyes shimmered with tiny glimmers of light.

“You’ve really awakened!”

Having just completed a highly precise task, she was suddenly confronted with this incredible development.

Could it be that their family’s genes are actually quite good?

Yan Ning fell into thought. Awakening mental energy was a compulsory subject in the interstellar world, practically a part of elementary education.

But for Earthlings, who had no foundational theory, it should be something extremely difficult to achieve.

She looked down at Yan An, about to ask more details, when 007’s voice suddenly sounded: “Master, the target mission—Tang Minrou and Doctor An—are on their way here and will arrive at the ward in five seconds.”