Chapter 188 - 187: Hateful Human

A Soul Beast is first a beast, and second a soul.

Soul Beast Skills leave their mark on a person, a mark not limited to the Spirit Domain or soul domain.

When Xu Jianjuan was reborn, she brought back not only her soul but also the Spirit Domain she had awakened in her past life.

It wasn’t that she had forgotten this; she had simply assumed Si Xu wouldn’t probe too deeply.

She never expected he would bring her to Pei Yin.

Unable to explain herself, Xu Jianjuan avoided their eyes and stared at the ground.

Pei Yin wasn’t having it. "All I did was fight a Soul Ghost Body. I never used any of my Skills on her."

Si Xu’s expression remained unchanged. "Same here. She suspects that the Soul Ghost Body affected her memory, but an examination revealed there’s nothing wrong with it—it’s just that a few pieces are missing."

Pei Yin didn’t believe a Soul Ghost Body could tamper with memories.

If they were really that powerful, the Imperial Capital Star would have been in trouble long ago.

He called out, "Ting Ying."

Ting Ying beat its wings and landed before Xu Jianjuan.

It spread its wings, its eyes locked on Xu Jianjuan.

Xu Jianjuan turned her head away. "I don’t want to see it."

Her fingers clenched tightly as she reluctantly lowered her gaze.

Pei Yin was taken aback. "Huh? You don’t want to? If you don’t want to, then what are you doing here? Do you like the smell of medicine in Zone 5 or something?"

"..." Xu Jianjuan pursed her lips, remaining silent.

Looking at Xu Jianjuan’s panicked, downcast eyes, Jian Yu had a strange feeling she knew what the other woman was thinking.

’She insisted on finding Si Xu because his Purification and Illusion only cleanse the mind and create beautiful, fabricated fantasies.’

’But Pei Yin could not only hypnotize someone and wipe their memories, he could also use his Soul Beast Skill to make Xu Jianjuan confess her deepest secrets with her own lips.’

Jian Yu spoke up hesitantly, "Her mental state isn’t good. Hypnosis might not be suitable for her."

Pei Yin put his hands on his hips. "I can only use my hypnosis three times a day. Why would I waste one on her?!"

His expression soured. "I just want to see if her memories are messed up because I accidentally wiped them. If she doesn’t want to, she can just leave! She’s acting like I’m trying to force her."

Jian Yu’s face tensed, and the look she gave Pei Yin wavered.

Pei Yin froze.

Like a puppy, he moved closer and hugged Jian Yu. "Don’t be mad. It’s not like I can’t talk nicely. Look at you, you get scared so easily."

A crimson light flashed in Si Xu’s eyes. He was so jealous he felt like he was going insane.

Ah Qi flew out, frantically chanting scriptures.

Si Xu controlled his breathing and shot a look at Pei Yin. "We should spar."

Pei Yin turned his head. "Tone down the bloodlust. Anyone who doesn’t know you would think you’re in some kind of evil cult."

Jian Yu poked Pei Yin’s shoulder. "Be serious."

Pei Yin straightened up, no longer leaning against Jian Yu.

He stared at Xu Jianjuan’s dazed expression. "Have you decided yet?"

"I’m sorry. Please, begin," Xu Jianjuan said softly.

’Her memories told her she shouldn’t trust Pei Yin and the others. Not a single one of them.’

’But what if it was her own memories that were untrustworthy?’

Xu Jianjuan raised her head and looked straight at Ting Ying.

A cold light flashed in Ting Ying’s blue-green eyes, and in an instant, it had completely captivated Xu Jianjuan’s mind.

It spoke in a shrill voice, "Master, when did I ever delete her memories?"

Pei Yin crossed his arms. "You’re asking me? I was going to ask you. Are your powers failing? Did you accidentally wipe her memory?"

Ting Ying tilted its head. "Was Master too tired that day, so his powers weren’t working right?"

Pei Yin lowered his arms. "Shut up."

Xu Jianjuan asked hesitantly, "Can the memory block be removed? I mean... can you give me my memories back?"

Pei Yin glanced at Ting Ying.

A fluorescent light glowed in Ting Ying’s blue-green eyes. "Brace yourself. You’re about to receive several memory fragments. You might feel dizzy."

Xu Jianjuan found a random place to sit.

Soon, her mind was pulled into a churning vortex of memories.

Xu Jianjuan closed her eyes, her expression dazed.

She heard a cacophony of voices, but their timbres were so familiar she could easily put a name to each one.

Ling Yanzhi: "The Alliance wants to protect her."

Si Xu: "In her condition, she can’t be allowed to appear before the public again."

Sheng Yue: "She has a remarkable talent for medicine."

Pei Yin: "Her talent doesn’t matter if she’s going insane. Look at her now—she’s completely unhinged."

Xi Yu: "Why doesn’t she trust us? Is it just because we were born nobles?"

Pei Yin: "And you’re so trustworthy? She’s just on the verge of becoming a psycho. You guys are the *real* psychos."

Duan Feiye: "We were using each other, I get that, but I didn’t expect her to be on guard against us the whole time."

Ji Shiyin: "Such a shame. Is there really no way for ordinary people to become Awakened?"

Sheng Yue: "For now, let’s do as the Alliance says. We’ll remove the memories that are causing her breakdown and tell her she’s been recruited by the Alliance. We can handle the follow-up work after that."

Xu Jianjuan’s breathing grew ragged.

She remembered cooperating with Pei Yin and his group on their research, using their power and resources while hiding under their protection.

She also remembered Wen Shuting frequently warning her in a worried tone, "You can’t trust them. They have so much power and status, yet they don’t care one bit whether we live or die. Chiefs like them would never value the lives of ordinary people."

’Yes. All nobles are greedy. Using each other was enough; she couldn’t expect Sheng Yue and the others to stand on the side of commoners.’

’Sheng Yue’s commoner brother, Duan Feiye’s so-called commoner cousin...’

’Xu Jianjuan couldn’t trust any of them.’

And so, when Pei Yin pulled up the report...

Xu Jianjuan immediately voiced her doubts. "Are you sure you didn’t grab the wrong one?"

Pei Yin glanced at it and nodded. "This is it."

Xu Jianjuan suspected they were deceiving her. Fueled by distrust, she didn’t ask them directly, instead quietly committing her doubts to memory.

They were clearly researching an Evolution Potion for Awakeners and the Half-awakened, yet they insisted on calling it a medicine that could let ordinary people Awaken.

With ingredients like that, an ordinary person would die in agony from being unable to bear it long before they could ever Awaken.

Xu Jianjuan didn’t want to waste any more time.

After acquiring a large amount of resources through them, Xu Jianjuan secretly modified the medicine on her own, reducing its danger to a minimum.

The rapid depletion of resources caught Duan Feiye’s attention. "What have you been doing in the lab? How did you use up so many materials?"

Xu Jianjuan hesitated for a moment before deciding to deflect the question.

She gave the modified medicine to someone else—a person of relatively high standing, who was also an ordinary person.

Most importantly, this person had promised that if the medicine was a success, they would help promote it, bring it to market, and allow everyone in their entire village district to receive it for free.

Not wanting the person to work for nothing, Xu Jianjuan said, "I’ll invest some money in you."

She sold off all the resources she had on hand and invested every last bit of the money.

The person said, "Don’t worry."

Don’t worry? Xu Jianjuan was losing her mind.

"Why are you using my name to sell the medicine!"

The person’s voice was meek. "You’re a student at Weis Lan Noble Academy. If I didn’t use your name, who would believe me?"

Xu Jianjuan was too furious to speak.

Because they trusted her, more than three thousand people in the village district dropped dead overnight.

"Recall them! No matter how many you sold, recall every single one!"

"Why didn’t you run any clinical trials?! You started pushing it and giving it to people before you even confirmed the medicine’s effects! Do you have any idea how many people you’ve killed?!"

The person was unconcerned. "Do you have any idea how much it would cost to recall them? There was a problem with *your* medicine, what’s that got to do with me? You’re the one who killed them, not me. Don’t worry. Aren’t you close with those chiefs? Just get them to intervene, and we’ll all be fine."

Xu Jianjuan replied furiously, "Then you can just wait for death. I’m going to confess to everything. None of you will get away!"

The death toll skyrocketed. Xu Jianjuan turned herself in and was quickly arrested.

She confessed to her crimes before they even had to interrogate her.

Xu Jianjuan truly no longer wanted to live.

She had come to Weis Lan bearing the hopes of so many people, only to personally send them to their deaths.

It was the last straw. She wanted to drag everyone involved down with her, including Wen Shuting.

Xu Jianjuan knew she was a poor judge of character.

But Wen Shuting and the others had carelessly introduced her to that scumbag; Wen Shuting deserved to die, too.

Public opinion exploded, putting pressure on the Alliance to deal with Xu Jianjuan.

At her weakest moment, the Soul Ghost Body appeared.

Xu Jianjuan didn’t get the release she awaited. Instead, Sheng Yue and the others came for her.

"Come with us."

She was imprisoned.

Every day, Xu Jianjuan stared blankly at the research equipment before her.

The voice in her head never stopped. Xu Jianjuan knew the Soul Ghost Body was trying to delude and brainwash her, but she couldn’t stop herself from being swayed.

’You were just trying to do a good thing, and it went wrong. What right do they have to imprison you?’

’They’re all demons. They deserve to die.’

’A class like the nobility shouldn’t even exist. We’re all human, so why are we divided into different ranks?’

’If you don’t fight your way to the top, are you just going to let those nobles oppress you? You’re not the one who’s wrong. They are.’

Xu Jianjuan covered her ears, not wanting to listen.

A few days later, Sheng Yue and the others came again.

Right in front of Xu Jianjuan, Pei Yin and the others discussed which parts of her memory they were going to wipe.

Xu Jianjuan cowered in the corner, showing no reaction.

’It’s all their fault! They used you and then threw you away. They claimed to be helping you, but in reality, they looked down on you. See? Now they’re imprisoning you. You’ll never get out.’

’They want to squeeze every last drop of value out of you.’

’These memories are all fake. You didn’t kill anyone. They’re the ones who tampered with your mind. Find a chance, kill them, and your real memories will return.’

It was as if Xu Jianjuan could see a glimmer of hope.

More than anyone, she wanted all of it to be a lie.

’That’s right. Pei Yin and his group could wipe memories, and Si Xu could even fabricate false ones.’

’It must have been them.’

Too impulsive to listen to the Soul Ghost Body’s advice to find an opportunity in secret, Xu Jianjuan had rushed forward and tried to stab Si Xu with a Poison Needle.

Only to be brushed aside in disgust.

Si Xu had said coldly, "Repulsive human. The Feather God despises you."

Beside him, Sheng Yue had looked up, his eyes regarding Xu Jianjuan as if she were trash.

Pei Yin had launched into a direct tirade, insulting her from head to toe.

The insults were too vile for Xu Jianjuan to recall.

She broke free from the memories and opened her eyes, her gaze complex as she looked at the three people before her.

Pei Yin still wore that same smug expression. "Memories back yet? Making sense now?"

Si Xu’s eyes were perfectly calm. Just standing there, he exuded an ethereal aura.

Jian Yu blinked her large eyes. The beautiful princess dress she wore made her look adorable and sweet. "Are you all right?"