Chapter 18: Night Attack in the Mist: The Crack in the Data Scythe

Shen Yan’s fingers had just touched the phone case when the Talisman Paper tucked inside his collar suddenly turned cold as ice, a chill seeping through his skin into the crevices of his bones. He instinctively hunched his shoulders, and the Terminal Interface trembled violently, with green text scrolling wildly: “Warning: Detected high-dimensional invasion Signal, source—unknown Permission level.”

“Who opened a Backdoor for this thing?” he muttered under his breath, sketching half a line of Code with his fingertip in the air, trying to preload the Defense Module. But as “Dynamic Shield · Lightweight Edition” had just executed its first line, the System froze, and the Screen flashed a red box: “Error: core Function hijacked.”

The air began to twist, cracks splitting open on the ground, gray-white thick fog surging up from beneath, carrying a smell of rust mixed with burnt wires. Shen Yan retreated half a step, and Code Flow appeared on his glasses lenses—visible only to him—densely packed with garbled characters.

He gritted his teeth and rewrote the Command, preparing to switch to offline mode and forcibly Initiate the Backup Program, when suddenly a metallic grinding-like hum echoed from the fog in the distance.

A Dark Shadow slowly emerged, half of its face covered by a Bronze Mask, holding a scythe gleaming with a dim light. Fragmented Data remnants drifted along the edge of the blade, and with each step, space seemed torn open, leaving void cracks of “Error 404.”

“You tampered with Source Code you shouldn’t have touched.” The person spoke, their voice squeezed out like from a worn-out speaker, hoarse and cold.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted, his fingers rapidly tapping in the void, calling up the “Reverse Decompilation” Module, attempting to analyze the Energy Frequency of that scythe. But the scan results were blank, and the Terminal popped up a Notice: “Target uses Heavenly Dao-level unauthorized Command, cannot read.”

“Damn, this is directly rooting the Heavenly Dao System?” His heart skipped a beat, immediately switching tactics, upgrading the previously written “Cleaning Spell · Modified” into a “Data Purification Protocol,” intending to clear the pollution Code left by the opponent.

As the Code just began to Run, his head felt like exploding. Mental Power instantly drained to zero, his nose heated up, and blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. The Program crashed, the shield didn’t hold up, but instead rebounded with a chaotic flow, shaking his chest with discomfort.

The person sneered, swung the scythe, and the spatial crack rushed straight toward Shen Yan’s face.

Shen Yan wanted to dodge, but his legs felt like filled with lead. Seeing that dark crack about to strike his forehead, a burning pain suddenly surged at his neck, as if someone had branded him with a hot iron rod.

Immediately afterward, a purple-red Demon Power burst out from beneath his skin, automatically colliding with the residual Code within his body, instantly assembling a translucent barrier.

“Bang!”

The scythe struck it, the barrier lasted less than a second before shattering, but that instant was enough.

Wind brushed past his ears, a figure descended from above, kicking squarely at the black-clothed person’s chest.

“Shadow Erosion people, dare to touch my acknowledged Contract holder!”

Luo Li landed kneeling on one knee, her right hand supporting the ground, silver bell anklets clinking incessantly. She glared up at the person, her vertical pupils contracting into a line, cat ears bristling, tail raised high, fur puffing up like a dandelion.

The person was kicked back several steps, hand holding the mask, a fine crack splitting open at the mask’s edge, revealing a faint light.

Ignoring Luo Li, he stared intently at Shen Yan, squeezing out a few words from his throat: “You… should have… slept with me…”

Before he could finish speaking, several black-clad figures rushed out of the mist, seized him, and dragged him away. Just before disappearing, he turned his head and cast one last glance at Shen Yan.

In that instant, Shen Yan’s mind buzzed with a sudden shock.

The corner of that person’s mouth bore a dimple identical to his own.

“Wait!” Shen Yan wanted to give chase, but his legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees, vomiting a mouthful of bloody saliva. His vision blurred, his ears filled with the crackle of static, and even his breathing sounded like a broken bellows.

“Don’t move.” Luo Li gripped his shoulder, her voice cold enough to freeze. “You almost had your Spiritual Consciousness severed by the data scythe just now. If you act recklessly again, I won’t save you a second time.”

Shen Yan gasped for breath, wiping the blood from his mouth. “Who… was that guy?”

“The leader of Shadow Erosion, Ye Shi’er.” Luo Li frowned. “But the way he looked at you just now… it was off. It didn’t seem like he wanted to kill you. More like… he mistook you for someone else.”

“Mistook me?” Shen Yan gave a bitter laugh. “If he mistook me, how would I still be alive?”

Luo Li didn’t respond. Instead, she lowered her gaze to the mark on the side of his neck—the Blood Pact she had forcibly established back then. It was still faintly warm, its edges tinged with a dark red.

Suddenly, she reached out, pressed the back of Shen Yan’s head down, and leaned in close to the scar, sniffing it.

“There’s a smell,” she said. “Not Spiritual Power, not demonic aura… more like… the scent of burnt Code.”

Shen Yan was utterly confused. “You’re not trying to say that the scythe wasn’t aiming for me, but for the System, are you?”

“Pretty much.” Luo Li released her grip. “It wanted to delete you, but what it targeted was the ‘Source Code Spiritual Root’ Program. If you were truly gone, I bet it would be the first to cry.”

Shen Yan cracked a smile, only to cough up more blood afterward.

“So I’m a human-shaped USB Drive with built-in anti-theft protection?” He wiped the corner of his mouth. “No wonder his parting words sounded so strange—‘We should have slept together’… as if it were some unsynchronized dual-system Backup.”

Luo Li didn’t laugh. Instead, her expression grew even more serious. “Have you ever considered that maybe you two were originally part of the same System? He’s missing something, so he’s never been activated, while you… happen to be the Patch.”

Shen Yan froze.

Before he could think it through, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest, as if someone were twisting a screwdriver inside. He groaned, his body lurching forward, only to be caught by Luo Li.

“Don’t push yourself,” she said quietly. “Your Meridians are in chaos, your Spiritual Root is unstable. One more step and you might explode.”

“Then why did you let me stand and talk?” Shen Yan’s voice trembled.

“Because I don’t want to carry you,” Luo Li replied coldly. “You’re too heavy.”

Despite her words, she half-crouched down, one hand supporting him under the arm, the other wrapped around his shoulder, and hoisted him up with sheer force.

Leaning against her shoulder, Shen Yan caught a faint whiff of herbal fragrance mixed with the scent of Demonic Fire. He wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth, all he managed was, “Next time, could you be a little gentler? My body can’t handle being thrown around like this.”

“Thrown?” Luo Li sneered. “If I hadn’t kicked you just right earlier, you’d already be Data fragments by now.”

Staggering toward Medicine Valley, the two moved forward as the mist thickened, the path beneath their feet almost invisible. Shen Yan’s consciousness gradually faded, and Images began flashing before his eyes—

He saw himself lying on an operating table, surrounded by people in white robes, with a Screen overhead scrolling through incomprehensible characters.

A woman’s voice was saying: “Twin Spiritual Root separation successful. Body A sealed, Body B implanted into mortal vessel.”

Then the image cut off.

He gasped sharply, opening his eyes to find himself already at the bamboo hut’s entrance. Luo Li was dragging him inside, her movements rough as if hauling firewood.

“Were you… dreaming just now?” She noticed his body stiffen.

“Mm.” Shen Yan’s voice was faint. “Dreamt someone took me apart and reassembled me.”

Luo Li paused mid-step but didn’t turn around. “Seems that scythe wasn’t just attacking you—it was digging up memories.”

“So it really knows me?” Shen Yan asked.

“Not knows.” Luo Li pushed open the bamboo door and tossed him onto the bed. “Familiar. Like you know how many fingerprints your left hand has.”

Outside, mist swirled, bamboo leaves rustling softly. Lying on the bed, Shen Yan’s gaze gradually grew unfocused. He touched his collar—the strawberry Talisman Paper had already turned cold, a fine crack splitting its surface as if something had burned it from within.

He closed his eyes, his last clear thought being—

That thing had called him what he “should have been.”

Not “you are,” but “you should have been.”

Meaning that at some unknown time, someone had already written the script of his fate.

And he was merely an anomalous process that had accidentally jumped out of the loop.

The bamboo hut fell quiet.

Shen Yan’s breathing grew long and steady, the rise and fall of his chest faint. On the small table beside the bed, his phone screen flickered on and off before finally going dark completely.

Outside the window, a silver bell swayed in the wind, emitting an extremely faint, crisp ring.

Luo Li sat on the threshold, her right hand resting on her knee, fingertips trembling slightly. She looked down at her palm—a newly formed crack was there, slowly seeping pale purple blood.

(End of Chapter)