Chapter 6: Soul Stripping!_1

Xu Changsheng's home was on the 39th floor.

After leaving the basement workshop, the wind hit him, and he sobered up a lot.

He had thought that it would be very quiet after two in the morning.

Unexpectedly, there were still a lot of people below.

There is a saying in E District: The night in E District is black, it is also red, but most of the time it is pink.

The neon lights added a touch of intoxication to the night.

Coupled with the cries of a few girls, it made one's heart surge with excitement.

Xu Changsheng stood below and watched the young ladies for ten minutes; there were indeed some attractive ones. Just as he was contemplating whether or not to 'rescue' one, his stomach suddenly growled a few times.

He hesitated for a moment, but still entered the elevator.

It wasn't because he was hungry.

It was because he remembered being poor.

Although he now had some assets, a house and a studio, clearly neither could be sold.

As for money, Xu Changsheng hadn't seen it in a long time.

His parents had died in an accident, and there was no compensation at all.

Moreover, a lot of money was spent on the rescue efforts, though it still ended with the loss of both lives and money.

Now, Xu Changsheng was just an intern, one without much money. Aside from his expenses, he still had to send money to the psychiatric hospital.

At that moment, Xu Changsheng suddenly remembered that it seemed it was almost time to pay at the end of the month...

Old Xu's inheritance was almost depleted!

Xu Changsheng sighed and stepped into the perilously unreliable elevator.

He was somewhat worried that the contraption would fall midway!

But obviously, climbing 39 floors would definitely be the death of him.

[Aged, slow, frustrating spiral lift: Although it won't malfunction, the ride is utterly devoid of any pleasurable experience and, moreover, the noise is truly annoying, with no recording value!]

Xu Changsheng looked at the message and was momentarily stunned before breaking into a chuckle.

The system was still quite interesting.

It didn't take long to reach the 39th floor.

Even though it was old and sluggish, it was much faster than in his previous life.

He opened the door to his room from memory.

The room was very tidy.

That pleased him.

Xu Changsheng wandered around the room, looking at pictures and learning much more about the original owner's memories.

However, he had not eaten dinner and was indeed getting hungry.

The human stomach is so capricious; it swells when you eat too much, it aches when you eat spicy food, and it gets hungry when you don't eat.

But as a doctor, he knew very well that eating too much in the middle of the night was obviously not a sensible thing to do.

Of course, he might consider it if his gastrointestinal functions were enhanced by fifty percent.

There were many letters in the room.

They were sent by his sister, Xu Liuliu.

The psychiatric hospital did not allow the use of VR (Virtual Reality) helmets and mobile phones, so they could only use this most traditional form of communication.

Xu Changsheng patiently read several of them.

"Brother, I don't know why, but I always forget a lot of things. They all say I've become stupid, and I don't know if it's true... it's just, I'm really afraid of forgetting you…"

"Brother, I made a new friend, he looks like Antarctic, the one we had when we were little, giggle..."

Antarctic was a dog that Xu Liuliu loved very much, and she used to sleep hugging it every night.

"Brother, I've been having nightmares every day recently, so scary. Last night I dreamt I was fighting with others, they had long guns that went through my chest, and I bled a lot... I wake up frightened every night..."

...

Letters were the only way Xu Changsheng and his sister Xu Liuliu communicated.

Every time Xu Changsheng would reply.

But... comforting the little girl was not really Xu Changsheng's forte.

Yet, not replying was clearly not the style of the original owner.

But, this... how to deal with nightmares?

Xu Changsheng hesitated for a long time, not knowing how to comfort her.

Suddenly, he had a brainwave and began to write a reply on paper.

"Every evening before bed, read a few lines from the 'Tranquil Scripture': The great way is formless, giving birth to heaven and earth, the great way is unfeeling, guiding the sun and the moon, the great way is nameless...if one can remain tranquil at all times, heaven and earth will naturally return…"

Hmm, the "Tranquil Scripture" should work, right?

In his previous life, when Xu Changsheng had bad dreams, a friend advised trying it, but later he found Italian books to be quite useful, so he never tried it. During that period, though, he did study a wide range of Buddhist and Taoist scriptures.

After finishing the letter, he prepared to take out his VR helmet to get to know the world better.

But he was really too sleepy, so he tidied up briefly and hastily went to bed.

But!

In the middle of the night, Xu Changsheng suddenly woke up with a start!

He sat up in bed, panting loudly.

At that moment, he was soaked with sweat as if he had just been fished out of water, even the sheets were drenched.

A suffocating sense of oppression tensed his nerves, leaving him gasping for breath.

Immediately, he hurriedly got up and staggered to the front of the bed, yanking open the window.

It was still very dark outside.

Bursts of cold wind blew in, and a severe headache began to emerge!

Then a feeling of emptiness and terror enveloped his heart.

What on earth was going on?!

Xu Changsheng held his head with both hands.

He simply couldn't understand what had happened.

[Ding! Host detected undergoing Soul Stripping, Current Soul Strength: 90 (Full value 100)]

Xu Changsheng's face changed instantly.

A soul attack?

What was the situation?

Lying on the windowsill, the cold night breeze blew across Xu Changsheng's face as he gasped for air and gradually calmed down.

What exactly had happened?

After a while, Xu Changsheng finally felt a bit better.

Half an hour later, he sat slumped on the floor.

Everything just now was like a dream.

It seemed as though nothing had happened.

Xu Changsheng quickly opened the system and finally found abnormalities in the property bar!

[Host: Xu Changsheng!

Soul Strength: 90/100 (Continuous Soul Stripping state).

Physical Strength (Strength, Stamina, Endurance, etc.): 6.

Reaction (Speed, Agility, Response, etc.): 6.]

Upon seeing this, Xu Changsheng's brows furrowed.

The more new terms that appeared, the more curious he became about this world.

He could understand Physical Strength and Reaction.

But what was this so-called Soul Strength?

Why had he suddenly lost 10 points?

And what was the Soul Stripping state?

Did this world already possess studies on the soul?

Too many doubts immediately robbed Xu Changsheng of his wish to sleep.

Why had his soul suddenly decreased?

Had he been contaminated by something impure?

And this Soul Stripping state, did it mean that he would lose 10 points of Soul Strength every day?

At that thought, Xu Changsheng felt terrible.

If that were true, he didn't have many days left to live.

Xu Changsheng hastily began analyzing various matters, hoping to find some clues.

"During the day, everything was normal. There were no effects, but at night, just now after falling asleep, I lost 10 points of Soul Strength!"

"But today, I only had surgery and didn't touch anything else!"

"That's not right! There's a problem!" Xu Changsheng suddenly remembered something else, "Why did I transmigrate here?"

"Could it be... something to do with the original owner?"

"That's right! Could my transmigration relate to something that the original owner did? It's very likely that the Soul Strength of the original owner had already started deducting, giving me the chance to come here!"

"From this perspective, it's almost certain that the original owner offended the wrong person or touched something he shouldn't have."

"Perhaps... I should find clues about my predecessor!"

After a series of speculations, various clues made Xu Changsheng break out in a cold sweat.

It won't be long before... I might also die, right?

Now, Xu Changsheng was worried about one thing; would he lose Soul Strength every night he slept?

At that moment, how could he feel sleepy?

Xu Changsheng began a meticulous examination, checking for anything special on his body.

However, after several thorough searches inside and out, he found nothing!

He searched online for clues related to "Soul Stripping" and "Soul Strength," but to no avail; it was all unhelpful and meaningless.

Xu Changsheng became increasingly anxious!

He picked up the phone, intending to consult someone he knew, but after hesitating, he put it down again.

For one thing, the people around him were ordinary, with no chance of coming into contact with such things.

Furthermore, he felt that behind this Soul Stripping, there were too many clues hidden.

Xu Changsheng forced himself to calm down.

After half a day of turmoil, it was already dawn.

Xu Changsheng looked at the time, tidied up, took a bath, and headed towards the August Research Institute.

He decided to get an MRI and CT scan to see if there were something in his head, perhaps.

Moreover, the equipment at the August Research Institute could detect some special things, like peculiar invasions.

Xu Changsheng decided to figure things out after he got there.

On the way, he often saw people who had passed out drunk on the streets and on park benches.

As he passed by, he could smell the strong odor of alcohol.

The passersby seemed to have grown accustomed to the sight.

The subway station featured many more elements of technology.

But overall, it was not much different from his previous life.

One difference was that the advertisements were much more attractive than before.

The spokespersons had also become more intriguing.

"City Hero: Peculiar Evolver: Luo Xia!"

"City Hero: Mechanical Modder: Li Wei!"

"City Hero Contest now officially recruiting!"

"What are you waiting for? Want to become the next City Hero? Why not sign up?!"

In the naked-eye 3D images, two individuals were fighting in the air; their real, hard-hitting combat felt much cooler than those special effects blockbusters.

Xu Changsheng watched the advertisement with interest.

It was the first time he discovered that a well-made advertisement could be captivating.

In his last life, putting together such combat effects would require tens to hundreds of millions, which was no easy feat.

However, what truly interested Xu Changsheng

was the appearances of Luo Xia and Li Wei.

Luo Xia's limbs could change shape at will, which was truly magical. During his aerial combat, he even sprouted a pair of wings from his back!

As for Li Wei, her body, to be more precise, was more like a robot, yes, like Iron Man!

When she took off, blue flames burst from the soles of her feet, and her arms could produce firearms and various blades.

This kind of humanoid mecha was really charming!

Xu Changsheng also indulged in his imagination.

To be honest, he quite admired Li Wei's husband and Luo Xia's wife, as they were braver than Xu Xian and Ning Caichen.

But what truly caught Xu Changsheng's attention was the huge LOGO on Li Wei's body!

That was... Transient Technology Company!

Similarly, Luo Xia's clothes were also emblazoned with the "August Company" logo!

Clearly, city heroes were no longer just individuals.

They represented the interests of two major corporations.

But on second thought, it made sense; the level of expenditure on such things was not something the average person could afford.

Li Wei's full-body modifications all hailed from money.

The same went for Luo Xia; his hands and even his body must contain a large amount of peculiar elements.

Xu Changsheng reckoned that his system could also help him become a powerful being.

But the prerequisite was that he had to survive!

Thinking that his life might only last another 10 days, no... now just 8.5 days, Xu Changsheng felt an added pressure in his heart.

...