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Just then, as if hearing their conversation, Ye Lingling's long eyelashes fluttered violently several times. Then, with great difficulty, she slowly opened her eyes.
They were incredibly beautiful eyes, with pupils the color of pale glazed glass. They should have been clear and distant, but now they were clouded with an ashen aura of death, her gaze unfocused and wandering. She saw Mo Bai by the bed, and her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
Mo Bai leaned down, moving closer to her. His voice softened, carrying a strange, soul-soothing stability: "Ye Lingling, can you hear me?"
Ye Lingling gave an extremely slight nod, a movement so small it was almost invisible.
"Your martial soul is devouring your life. I have a way to save you, but the process is extremely dangerous. It requires you to trust me without reservation, handing over your body and soul entirely for me to guide. Are you willing?" Mo Bai's voice wasn't loud, yet it seemed to possess a power that questioned the soul directly.
Ye Lingling's scattered gaze struggled to coalesce into a tiny glint of light. She looked at Mo Bai's face close at hand—a young face, yet one filled with unquestionable majesty and an unfathomable aura. The instinct for survival and the longing to escape the "curse" that had haunted her life overrode everything else. With all her strength, she nodded once more.
A crystalline tear slid from the corner of her eye, sinking into the pillowcase.
"Good." Mo Bai straightened up and instructed Dugu Yan and Ning Rongrong, "Prepare. Take her to my private treatment room. No unauthorized personnel are to approach."
"Yes, Teacher/Master," the two girls replied in unison.
Mo Bai then looked at the healing teachers: "Gentlemen, the following treatment involves my secret techniques and is not suitable for observation. I trust you understand."
Though the teachers were filled with curiosity and shock, they naturally dared not disobey the orders of a Titled Douluo. They bowed and retreated from the ward.
Dugu Yan carefully used her spirit power to support Ye Lingling's weak body, with Ning Rongrong helping from the side. Mo Bai led the way out of the ward, heading toward the heavily guarded area deep within the academy.
The private treatment room was located beneath Mo Bai's residence. He had converted an original cultivation room, outfitting it with soul-tool technology and his own knowledge of formations. The walls and floor were carved with intricate silver soul-conduction patterns that could aggregate and amplify spirit power effects while insulating the room from any external fluctuations or mental probing. In the center of the room was a circular stone platform raised half a foot from the ground. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror and covered in formations.
The lighting here was soft and constant, and the air carried a faint scent of incense designed to calm the mind.
Dugu Yan gently laid Ye Lingling flat in the center of the platform. Ye Lingling was still too weak to move, only able to roll her eyes as she surveyed this strange, enclosed space. Her Nine-Heart Begonia still floated above her chest, its ashen petals trembling occasionally and shedding more specks of light.
Mo Bai walked to the platform and said to Dugu Yan and Ning Rongrong, "Guard the outside. Activate the outer soundproofing and protective formations. No one is permitted to enter without my permission—including you two."
"Yes." The two girls complied and withdrew. The heavy metal door slid shut soundlessly, sealing the room from the outside world.
In the treatment room, only Mo Bai and the dying Ye Lingling remained.
Mo Bai did not begin immediately. First, he walked to the wall and activated several core formation nodes. The soul-conduction patterns in the room lit up one by one with a silver glow, flowing slowly like living vines. The concentration and activity of spirit power in the air began to rise noticeably, forming a gentle, inward-converging field that enveloped the platform area.
Then, he returned to the bedside, looked at Ye Lingling, and spoke calmly: "Ye Lingling, the first step of the treatment requires you to remove all your clothing. Clothing will obstruct the full penetration of spirit power and the precise guidance of life force. You cannot move right now, so I will assist you. If you still agree, close your eyes."
Ye Lingling's body stiffened imperceptibly. To remove all clothing... in front of a strange man... Even though she was on the verge of death, even though this man was the mentor coming to save her, an intense sense of shame instantly flooded her pale cheeks, bringing a faint, weak flush.
She looked at Mo Bai. His eyes remained calm, devoid of any lewdness or desire, holding only a near-chilling, physician-like focus and scrutiny. It was as if, in his eyes, she were merely a precision "vessel" in need of repair.
The desire to live and the longing to escape her fate overrode the shame once more. She slowly and with great effort closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling incessantly.
Mo Bai reached out, his movements steady and efficient. He untied the ribbons at the chest of Ye Lingling's white nightgown, then slid the thin fabric off her body. Next came the close-fitting inner garments.
The girl's youthful yet elegantly curved body was completely exposed to the cool air and soft silver light. Her skin was incredibly white—a sickly, near-translucent pallor from a lack of sunlight, now appearing even more fragile due to the loss of life force. Her curves were slender and graceful, the buds on her chest standing slightly firm due to the cold and tension, her waist narrow, and her legs long and straight.
Ye Lingling kept her eyes tightly shut, her body trembling slightly from the cold and the extreme shame, her pale skin breaking out in goosebumps. She had never been naked before anyone in her life.