Chapter 220: Danger Approaches: The Fear of the Unknown

Shen Yan’s phone was still vibrating, the cracks in the green barrier spreading like spiderwebs across its entire surface. He gritted his teeth, holding on, his palms slick with sweat. Yu Xiaotang’s hand still gripped his arm, her knuckles white.

“It’s absorbing our Spiritual Power!” Luo Li leaped backward abruptly. The Demonic Fire she had just spat out halfway was swallowed whole by the Dark Shadow as it opened its metallic faceplate. Immediately after, a tremor ran through the crack on its back, and flames erupted from within, shooting straight toward Yu Xiaotang’s face.

Shen Yan yanked her behind him, the sleeve of his robe singed at the corner.

“Stop fighting! The more we fight, the stronger it gets!” His fingers slid rapidly across the screen, shutting down all external programs. The Source Code Interface automatically switched to low-frequency scanning mode, the Data Stream turning into fine ripples that no longer spread outward.

Yu Xiaotang gasped for breath, stuffing the remaining Talisman Paper in her hand into her Cosmic Bag. “Then what do we do? It’s coming again!”

The Dark Shadow crawled forward on all fours, slowly advancing. With every ten steps it took, the “Cracked Eye” symbol on its face brightened, and the ground beneath it twisted slightly, as if the air was being drained away bit by bit.

A buzzing sound echoed in Shen Yan’s mind. Suddenly, a string of garbled code flashed across the Source Code Interface, as if someone were typing on a keyboard inside his head.

“Something’s wrong…” He pressed his temple, cold sweat trickling down his sideburns. “This Code… why does it resemble the structure inside my body so closely?”

Luo Li crouched on a broken wall, her silver anklet gently swaying, emitting a high-frequency tremor. The symbol on the Dark Shadow’s head flickered, and its movements paused slightly.

“It works!” Her eyes lit up. “It’s afraid of this frequency!”

“Not afraid,” Shen Yan stared at the screen. “It’s responding. It’s receiving a Signal.”

Before his words faded, the Dark Shadow suddenly stopped, raised its claw, and once again pointed at Shen Yan’s phone.

A fragmented voice emerged from the metallic faceplate: “Syn…chron…ize… Source… Code… Core… Acti…vate…”

Shen Yan froze completely.

This wasn’t an attack Command.

This was a Program Wake-Up Protocol.

“It’s not here to kill us,” he said in a low voice. “It’s here to ‘connect’ to me.”

Yu Xiaotang’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Are you its USB Drive?”

“Something like that,” Shen Yan smiled bitterly. “It sees me as its Host Machine.”

Luo Li leaped down from above, landing to his right. “Shouldn’t you unplug the power now?”

“It’s not that simple.” He quickly pulled up the deep-layer Log and discovered that the garbled code was attempting to reversely access his neural link. “If I don’t cut it off soon, my entire being will be Formatted by it.”

He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue, a bead of blood seeping out. His fingertip traced a red streak across the screen, forcibly severing three sets of non-essential Data channels. A sharp pain shot through his head, as if someone had stabbed his temple with an awl.

“Stabilized for now,” he gasped. “But it’s still approaching.”

The Dark Shadow continued forward, not fast but without hesitation, as if following a preset, unchangeable path. Wherever it passed, Spiritual Energy withered, the ground turned ashen, and even the sensing talismans Yu Xiaotang had laid earlier crumbled into scraps of paper.

“Wherever this thing walks, it’s like death follows,” Yu Xiaotang shrank her neck back.

Just as Shen Yan was about to speak, he suddenly felt a shift in the airflow behind him.

A sword light descended from the sky like a cascading galaxy, cleaving straight toward the Dark Shadow’s head!

Boom!

The Dark Shadow was forced back three steps, the symbol on its face flickering violently as it emitted a sharp, alarm-like shriek.

Shen Yan whipped his head around.

Ye Zhao landed before him, her moon-white martial attire covered in dust, a few strands of hair loose, her sword tip touching the ground, her back ramrod straight.

“Step aside,” she said. “I’ll cover the rear.”

Shen Yan froze. “You came back?”

“Mm.” She didn’t turn around. “Don’t shoulder it alone next time.”

Yu Xiaotang grinned. “Sister Ye! I knew you’d come back!”

Luo Li snorted. “Finally didn’t drop the ball.”

Ignoring them, Ye Zhao raised her hand and swept it out. Sword Qi traced an arc on the ground, forming a semicircular curtain of light that blocked the black mist outside.

“Tranquil Spirit Domain?” Shen Yan glanced at it. “How long can it hold?”

“Three minutes,” she said. “You have three minutes to figure out how to deal with it.”

Shen Yan nodded and immediately opened his phone, reconnecting to the monitoring program. The others quickly adjusted their positions, the five of them forming a circle back-to-back, with Shen Yan at the center.

“It’s not a living creature,” he spoke rapidly. “No heartbeat, no breathing, zero Spiritual Power Fluctuation. But it’s executing a mission with a clear objective—synchronizing with my Source Code Core.”

“How does it synchronize?” Pei Yue had arrived at some point, holding three silver needles, positioned slightly to the rear, ready to provide support at any moment.

“Don’t know.” Shen Yan frowned. “But it reacts to specific frequencies. Just now, Luo Li’s silver bell caused it to lag for half a second.”

“I can try again,” Luo Li flexed her wrist.

“No.” Shen Yan shook his head. “It’s already adapted to the first frequency. The second attempt will be less effective.”

Yu Xiaotang suddenly raised her hand. “I have an idea! What if I draw a fake Source Code signal to trick it into turning?”

“A Mirror Image decoy talisman?” Shen Yan’s eyes lit up. “Possible! But it has to be convincing, no Latency.”

“Leave it to me!” She immediately pulled out Talisman Paper and a cinnabar brush, stuck out her tongue, and began writing swiftly.

Pei Yue spoke up then. “I can use Resonating needles to stimulate your meridians, generating synchronized fluctuations to interfere with its Signal reception.”

“Good!” Shen Yan immediately ordered. “Luo Li, take the high ground and prepare to suppress. Yu Xiaotang, draw the talisman. Pei Yue, apply the needles. Ye Zhao, main defense. I’ll handle field control.”

The five of them moved swiftly.

Yu Xiaotang laid three sheets of Talisman Paper on the ground in a row, the ink still wet as they began to glow. Pei Yue lightly flicked her Silver Needles, inserting them into the acupuncture points on the wrists of the other four. Their bodies trembled slightly as their Spiritual Energy Fluctuations became uniform. Luo Li leaped onto a broken wall, her cat ears perked up, Demon Power condensing into a sphere. Ye Zhao raised her sword tip slightly, Sword Qi swirling around it.

Shen Yan stared at his phone, waiting for the Data to stabilize.

“Ready!” Yu Xiaotang shouted.

“Release!” Shen Yan commanded.

The three sheets of Talisman Paper lit up simultaneously, simulating an identical Source Code fluctuation.

The Dark Shadow indeed paused, its head slowly turning toward the Talisman Array.

Now!

Luo Li spat out a compressed sphere of Demonic Fire, striking directly at the Rift on its back!

Boom!

The fireball exploded. The Dark Shadow emitted a piercing shriek, its body swaying, fine cracks appearing at the edges of the fissure.

“It’s working!” Yu Xiaotang jumped up.

But the next second, the Dark Shadow abruptly turned its head, its gaze locking onto Shen Yan.

Its limbs left the ground as it soared into the air. The fissure on its back opened wide, black mist surging out, rushing straight toward the five of them.

Ye Zhao swept her sword light horizontally, barely blocking most of it, but a few tendrils of mist broke through, touching Yu Xiaotang’s left arm. Her skin instantly turned ashen, as if scorched.

“Ah!” She groaned, dropping one sheet of Talisman Paper.

Pei Yue immediately pulled out needles to seal the acupuncture points, preventing the black energy from spreading.

“This is rule erasure,” she said, her face pale. “One more hit, and her Spiritual Veins will be crippled.”

Shen Yan stared at the screen as Data scrolled frantically.

“It has a weakness,” he suddenly said. “Right at the Data intersection. Every time it releases the dark mist, there’s a brief conflict in its internal Protocol—a 0.3-second Latency.”

“That’s short,” Ye Zhao said, gripping her sword hilt tightly.

“But it’s enough,” Shen Yan took a deep breath. “Next time it attacks, everyone focus all your power on the Rift. I’ll create a System conflict.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Pei Yue asked.

“Restart the local Protocol,” he replied. “Treat myself as a Compiler and forcibly inject an Error Instruction.”

“You’ll suffer backlash,” Ye Zhao immediately objected.

“I know,” he smiled. “But right now, I’m the only one who can communicate with it.”

No one spoke.

The wind swept ashes across the battlefield, leaving it in dead silence.

The Dark Shadow slowly landed, the symbols on its face glowing blindingly bright, as if entering its final stage.

Shen Yan raised his phone, green light flickering at the Tip of his Finger.

“Get ready,” he said.

Ye Zhao raised her sword tip, Luo Li’s Demonic Fire reignited, Yu Xiaotang bit her finger to replenish her Talisman Spell, and Pei Yue held her Silver Needle at the ready.

The Dark Shadow tensed its limbs, the crack on its back fully opening as dark mist churned, ready to erupt.

Shen Yan pressed his finger against the screen.

The Source Code Interface popped up with a Warning:

【High-risk operation Detected】

【Force Refactor Core Protocol?】

【Confirm/Cancel】

Without hesitation, he tapped Confirm.

Green Code cascaded down the screen like a waterfall. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Come on, let me see who wrote you.”

The Dark Shadow lunged.

Sword light, Demonic Fire, Talisman Spell, and Silver Needle—four forces simultaneously blasted toward the Rift.

Shen Yan stood in place, phone held high, his entire body enveloped in green light.

A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

(End of Chapter)