After finding her cousin at the hospital, Ruan Shu said goodbye to her big brother and handed him the mooncakes she had brought.
“Brother Qingran, these are for you.”
The next second, Ruan Shu felt a gentle hand ruffling her soft, fluffy little head.
“Thank you, Shushu.”
Ruan Qingran’s voice had a distinctive coolness to it, a sound like jade tapping together, which was oddly pleasant to the ears.
He had tasted these mooncakes before, so after getting Ruan Shu’s approval, he shared some with his colleagues.
As a result, little Ruan Shu was rewarded with a bunch of snacks.
Holding her snacks, Ruan Shu sat quietly and obediently in Brother Qingran’s office, watching her online class for the day. Even if the content was dry and dull, she was fully absorbed.
Ruan Qingran watched her, a slight smile in his otherwise cool gaze. But soon, that smile faded, replaced by a trace of worry.
Yesterday, he had used even more advanced instruments to test Ruan Shu’s blood and a sample of her Jingshen, but he still found nothing unusual.
But he didn’t believe in coincidences, not like this.
“Shushu.”
“Hm?”
Ruan Shu looked up, her mouth stuffed full with a large lychee, her left cheek bulging as if she were a little hamster, sneakily hoarding food in her cheek.
Her beautiful blue eyes held a hint of innocence and confusion.
“Let’s go for another Jingshen test, okay?”
He squatted down to look at the soft little dumpling eye to eye, gently rubbing her snow-white hair.
“Okay,” Ruan Shu nodded obediently, without a moment’s hesitation.
Unable to help himself, Ruan Qingran gave her a light flick on the forehead. “Why don’t you have even a little bit of caution?”
Ruan Shu looked at him with her clear eyes. “Because you’re my brother.”
Her gaze was sincere, and her tone was filled with earnestness.
To be trusted so wholeheartedly by someone was both fulfilling and heartwarming. Ruan Qingran’s expression softened even further with affection.
“Let’s go.”
This time, the examination facility was much larger than the last. Ruan Shu simply had to lie quietly in a capsule-like machine, and when her brother told her to release her Jingshen, she scrunched up her face and focused hard, trying to release her “useless” little bit of Jingshen.
Yes, she thought of her Jingshen as just as “useless” as she was, because even after all her effort, her energy barely stirred within her mental sea.
Yet Ruan Shu wasn’t worried about her weak Jingshen in the slightest. She felt that having this life was already a blessing, so her outlook remained cheerful.
Meanwhile, Ruan Qingran observed the activity of her Jingshen with the machine. At first, he didn’t detect anything significant, but just as he was feeling frustrated, he suddenly wondered—why were Ruan Shu’s contamination levels exactly zero?
This thought sparked a bold idea, though he felt hesitant. So, he called Ruan Shu over and briefly explained the situation to her.
Ruan Shu looked even more bewildered. “Huh? There’s really no contamination in my body?”
Ruan Qingran nodded. “That’s right. So I’d like to try an experiment to see what happens when your body encounters a contaminant. But this is very…”
“Then let’s try it!” Ruan Shu’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him. “I’d also like to know why. And if—if someday I can help Dad or you guys with this, that would be even better.”
“Just tell me what you need me to do!”
Ruan Qingran was momentarily speechless. He didn’t need her to do much, only to hold an object that contained contaminants.
The X-contaminant was particularly aggressive. Whether through surface contact, inhalation, or ingestion, it would infiltrate the body and attach itself to the mental sea.
So, even if Ruan Shu just held something with the X-contaminant, it would stubbornly penetrate her skin and enter her system.
Ruan Qingran watched intently, feeling more anxious than he ever had in any prior operation.
On the monitor, tiny black dots representing the X-contaminant appeared, and Ruan Shu’s mental contamination level began to rise—from 0 to 0.1, then 0.2…
Then, he finally noticed something unusual. When her mental contamination level reached 0.5, something miraculous happened.
Small white dots started to appear. At first, there were only a few, but they actively pursued the contaminants and remained completely unaffected by them.
His eyes widened as he stared at the monitor, not daring to blink.
As the first batch of white dots appeared, more began to emerge, flowing together like streams converging into a river. With an imposing force, they chased after and devoured the X-contaminants.
The reason he described it as “chasing” was because as soon as these white dots emerged, they collided with the X-contaminants, sending them rolling around. The once-dominant contaminants were now being chased, scattered, and eventually consumed.
Ruan Qingran, who had been observing a Jingshen test but felt like he was witnessing a war, was left speechless.
He was both amused and relieved. It really did seem connected to Shushu, but this strange energy only appeared when she encountered the X-contaminant.
This also explained why her Jingshen contamination level was always zero.
She wasn’t shielding herself from contaminants; instead, the moment any appeared, they would be devoured by this strange energy.
Afterward, he tested it on himself. When he touched Shushu, he discovered that a small bit of this energy would seep into his own body through the point of contact.
Although only a tiny amount, it attacked the contaminants in his body, persistently pursuing and consuming them, like a single soldier taking on a vast army.
The speed was much slower on him than on Shushu.
But that didn’t stop the contaminants in his mental sea from actually decreasing.
When the white dots neared his mental core, he could feel his Jingshen becoming slightly more active.
The dots around his mental core then merged with it.
Ruan Qingran was astonished.
He concentrated and found that as the white dots integrated with his mental core, his energy became more vigorous, and he felt a familiar lightness and clarity.
His feelings grew more complex—so every past interaction with her had subtly healed his Jingshen, though neither of them had realized it. Even Shushu herself was unaware of what was happening.
Ruan Qingran wanted to see if Ruan Shu could consciously control this energy.
However, he knew nothing about this energy, so despite a few attempts, Ruan Shu couldn’t quite grasp how to control it.
“Shushu, try to use your Jingshen to make contact with me.”
This was his theory.
Jingshen could be a potent force; strong individuals could even solidify it into a tangible form. But for Ruan Shu, her “useless” Jingshen was completely intangible.
So, under her brother’s guidance, she made her first attempt at using her Jingshen.
It emerged hesitantly, like a tiny, cautious tendril, reaching out bit by bit. But as soon as it touched the outside air, it timidly shrank back.
Ruan Shu could sense this and blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed. Ruan Qingran, watching the readings on the monitor, could see it too.
It made him want to laugh, as her Jingshen seemed to mirror her personality—soft and timid. He truly had never seen anyone with Jingshen quite like this.