Chapter 194 Perceiver
"Su Han, how is Qilan doing?"
Bai Shan hurried over, with Su Han holding Bai Qilan in his arms. Her cheeks were pale, slightly leaning against his chest, her brows faintly furrowed.
"Overexertion."
Su Han carefully examined her and found that there were no injuries, but it seemed that the recent outburst had consumed too much of her spiritual energy and mental strength.
This situation had occurred before in some patrol and exploration teams.
However, for those of slightly higher strength like them, it was quite rare.
"Uncle Bai, I'll take her back first. You go and call for Master Cao."
"Yes, yes, I'll go right away."
Bai Shan's three-eyed mantis lifted him up, and he immediately rushed towards the direction of the hospital.
"Ji Mingyang, notify the patrol team to stand guard here and clean up."
With just a command, Su Han quickly returned to Villa No. 9 with Bai Qilan in his arms, went straight up the stairs, pushed open Bai Qilan's room, and placed her on the bed.
He frowned, suddenly regretting his agreement to let Bai Qilan inject the strengthening drug.
He sighed inwardly, thinking, 'Fusion of all things, this ability...'
Though Bai Qilan had not explicitly said, it was quite apparent that she knew the Fusion of all things was not a natural talent.
Many times his references to monsters, materials' names, and conditions when upgrading with Angel Envoy Fusion, all confirmed that the Fusion of all things was not a talent.
Even he himself did not know the source of the power when using this ability.
Bai Qilan was an extremely smart woman; she must have noticed this and thus inferred that Su Han probably had a great chance of awakening his own talent, which was why she wanted to explore on her own.
In the midst of his thoughts, Bai Qilan's actions replayed in his mind.
"Click"
The room door was pushed open, and both Cao Yubao and Zhou Ziqing had come.
"Leader."
"Mr. Cao, please check Qilan's body to see if she's injured, I beg you."
"Don't worry, leader."
Cao Yubao's expression was serious, as he and Zhou Ziqing immediately started to examine Bai Qilan's condition.
They had been treating Contractors for some time and had summarized a lot of experiences, and after a thorough examination, their serious expressions finally eased up.
"It's nothing serious," Cao Yubao said to Su Han, "It's just an overconsumption of spiritual energy and mental strength, but it's not severe. She just needs to rest for a while."
Overexertion, this condition was not uncommon in the reserves.
As part of the reserves for search and patrol teams, excellent training came with rewards, so many people would exert themselves to the limit to gain more powerful abilities.
"That's good."
Su Han also breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Shan looked at Su Han, then said to Mr. Cao, "Mr. Cao, I'll take you back. We've really troubled you this time."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."
Cao Yubao quickly waved his hand, Bai Shan sent the two out, and before closing the door, he said, "Su Han, please look after Qilan for me."
"Okay."
Bai Qilan was sleeping on the bed, Su Han tucked her in and sat down in a single sofa in the corner of the room, waiting quietly.
The room was very quiet, seeming even the experiments downstairs had paused. Bai Qilan slept peacefully, her brows softened, contrasting with her usual calm demeanor.
God knows how long it had been, Bai Shan had come by quietly once, seeing Bai Qilan safe and sound, he left again.
God knows how long it had been, as dusk fell, a rustling sound came from the bed; he was startled awake by the noise, and on looking, saw Bai Qilan had woken up.
Su Han stood up as Bai Qilan was already opening her eyes, pulling her hand from under the blanket and rubbing her temples.
Her delicately featured face regained its calm expression. She was somewhat surprised to see Su Han still there, but she softly asked, "How long have I slept?"
"I can't remember clearly, maybe six hours?"
Su Han approached the bedside and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Bai Qilan smiled, "Overexerted. After a good sleep, I feel much better. It was my own greed to want to see more."
She got up from the bed, stretched, sat up straight, and then stood up to face Su Han.
After awakening, she seemed to have become even more sensitive to the surrounding environment; everything had become clearer, beyond the perception of the ordinary senses—even sensing the slight unease in the man before her.
"To see more, wasn't your talent telekinesis?"
Su Han was taken aback; seeing Bai Qilan awaken with psychokinetic power almost sweeping away everything in the room, he thought that was her ability.
"Not entirely, psychokinetic power is just an incidental ability, nowhere near as useful as the real talent."
Bai Qilan pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked with a smile, "Would you like to experience it?"
Su Han was puzzled, but Bai Qilan had already taken his hand and whispered, "Don't resist."
A strange sensation rose from both of them as if their consciousnesses touched and clustered together.
Bai Qilan's face turned slightly red, using this method for the first time, she hadn't controlled it very well.
However, she quickly calmed down and immersed her spirit in the consciousness space, instantly taking Su Han with her.
Suddenly everything around them became dark and boundless, and they stood above a black lake with darkness all around.
Su Han looked around in surprise, knowing this place wasn't the real world.
"I call this the Spiritual World."
Bai Qilan still held his hand, speaking softly beside him.
As her voice faded, ripples surged, and then, in this boundless dark world, streaks of purple began to appear.
The darkness gradually took shape, resembling buildings, with purple lights, bright and dim, moving around them.
Su Han immediately realized, "Is this around Shanhu Villa?"
Bai Qilan nodded and said, "My ability is mainly Spiritual Perception, sensing psychic fluctuations, using Spiritual Telepathy, and I also have a bit of Telekinesis. This is the Spiritual World; entities with spiritual energy can see more clearly here. The upcoming cleansing operation should be much easier."
"Let's exit first."
Su Han held her hand and suddenly said.
Bai Qilan was stunned, then heard Su Han say, "This state consumes a lot of your energy."
Both were holding hands, and Bai Qilan was almost unguarded. Su Han could vaguely feel the consumption of spiritual energy.
Bai Qilan suddenly smiled, nodded, and hummed an acknowledgment.
The Spiritual World faded away, and their consciousnesses returned to the real world.
"If I don't try to probe beyond the limits, the consumption is significant, but not immense,"
Bai Qilan released Su Han's hand and explained to him.
"Probing the boundary?"
"Perception has its boundaries. Within its range, I can sense spiritual entities and communicate telepathically with living beings, like this."
Bai Qilan's last words were unspoken, yet her voice arose in Su Han's mind, as if whispering in his ear.
"Usually, communication is possible unless there's mental chaos or resistance, and of course, if I'm strong enough, resistance won't matter."
The voice echoed in his mind, but perhaps feeling it odd, Bai Qilan returned to speaking face to face, "However, my boundary range isn't large. In the Spiritual World, it can cover the Tree Domain Territory, about five kilometers, but in my current normal state, it's only two kilometers, unless I'm communicating with other Spirit Sensers."
Bai Qilan didn't hide any details about her abilities, disclosing them to Su Han.
"Spirit Sensers?"
Su Han latched onto Bai Qilan's words, and she nodded slightly, "It's a name I've just coined for people with perception abilities like mine. I can sense and connect with them beyond this range in the Spiritual World—they shine more brightly than average people there. It's just a pity, at the moment of awakening I didn't see clearly who they were."
"You saw them in the Spiritual World?"
"Yes, but it was right after I had awakened. Now I can only vaguely sense them but cannot make contact. It might be because they haven't awakened yet, or they're hiding for some reason."
Bai Qilan offered her speculation; her Talent seemed to give her access to a network-like capability.
The spiritual energy constructed an informational world, but she too had no answers to its deeper secrets.
However, she still faintly remembered the locations of those few psychic lights, not in this city, but somewhere further away.
"There's a faint light of a Spirit Senser in the south of the city; I think it's Zhao Yaqian. Her aura is very familiar,"
Bai Qilan shared this information with Su Han. Given Zhao Yaqian's danger-sensing ability, a complete awakening as a Spirit Senser could be possible.
"They should also develop enhancement drugs in South City, and even without them, as strength increases, she should gradually awaken. That would confirm some things."
If South City gained another perceiver, their exploratory ability would grow stronger, although the broader impact might not be immediately apparent.
Other cities or distant places, even as the post-apocalyptic world worsened and the Psychic Tide grew stronger, would awaken more perceivers.
Yet the identities, allegiances, and situations of the cities might not change with connection. Too many variables were involved; nothing was certain, only to be explored slowly. If they could unite all forces with the help of perceivers, the results might be promising.
Su Han pondered for a while, then told Bai Qilan, "Don't think too much for now. If the Spiritual World is a network, then recklessly probing a greater presence is dangerous. Don't be rash over a bit of information—take it slow. You rest for a while; I'll have someone bring some food."
Su Han was just admonishing her, but he didn't notice the slight movement in Bai Qilan's eyes and the constant upward curve of her smiling lips.
Seeing the fussy concern from Su Han was new for her, but this peculiar sensation warmed her heart.
"I don't want to eat anything."
Bai Qilan shook her head slightly, her delicate face wearing a smile, her eyes filled with a soft glow. Su Han met her gaze and suddenly froze.
The next moment, Bai Qilan leaned in closer, and he instinctively supported her waist with his hand. A warmth transmitted between her waist and his palm, a faint fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose.
Breath becoming more rapid, Bai Qilan's lips pressed against his, kissing him.
"Turn off the lights."