Douluo Continent: Thunder Roar

Seeing her eagerness to prove her innocence yet unable to articulate it, and even confused about her own origins, Ling Yu's initial suspicions became even clearer.

He paused for a moment, not responding to her question about "that kind" of person, as that would only make her more embarrassed.

It seems that she has a serious skewed and incomplete understanding of her own situation.

Just then, Volibear's deep voice resounded in his mind's sea, carrying an all-knowing indifference: "Psychological suggestion? No... something deeper. Memories have been subtly disrupted and blocked, especially those concerning motives and certain key moments. No wonder no direct traces of mind manipulation can be detected; this method is more covert, as if a trajectory has been pre-set at the cognitive level, blurring the starting point."

Volibear's words confirmed Ling Yu's observations and gave him a deeper understanding of the root cause of Wang Dong'er's current chaotic state of mind.

She instinctively feared a kind of "moral judgment," yet was completely unaware of the fact that she was part of a larger "scheme," or rather, was being deliberately led to ignore it.

He looked at Wang Dong'er again. The girl was still hugging her knees, her eyes filled with helpless confusion and fear of his possible opinion. She looked less like a scheming imposter and more like a lost child who was afraid of being abandoned and blamed.

"I know," he said, his voice slightly gentler than before. Though still calm, it lacked the deliberate distance he had shown before. "You're not that kind of person."

These few words, like a warm stream, suddenly flowed into Wang Dong'er's cold and bewildered heart.

She abruptly raised her head, her eyes welling up with tears, but strangely, her panicked urge to defend herself had subsided considerably. He believed her… at least, on this point, he believed she wasn't acting out of despicable motives.

"I..." She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but felt a lump in her throat.

Ling Yu shifted his gaze to the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window, his tone returning to its usual calm, but his words made Wang Dong'er's heart leap again: "However, your situation may be more complicated than simply 'a woman disguised as a man'."

Wang Dong'er looked at him blankly: "More complicated?"

"Your memory of why you came here is hazy, and you can't even remember things from much further back, right?" Ling Yu turned back, his gaze calmly fixed on her. "This isn't normal forgetting. It's more like... some force has affected your clear understanding of your own experiences and motivations."

Wang Dong'er's pupils suddenly contracted, and she subconsciously hugged her arms tightly, a chill spreading uncontrollably from the bottom of her heart.

Ling Yu's words were like a cold and precise key, clicking open a layer of unease and unease in her heart that she herself had never been aware of.

Yes, why?

Why did she never truly and deeply ask herself, "Why did I have to come to Shrek?"

Why does the identity of "Wang Dong" play itself so naturally, as if it were innate?

Why are earlier memories—those childhood fragments that should be full of warmth or stories—always blurry, as if separated by a layer of fog that can never be wiped away, with only some scattered light and shadow and hazy feelings, but no solid details to grasp?

She tried to explore inward along this revealed crack, striving to concentrate her mind, to recall, to capture... Who made all of this decision? What happened before she came?

Just as her consciousness touched upon a deeply buried point—

hum!

An indescribable, violent tremor originating from the depths of her spiritual world suddenly erupted!

As if it had triggered some forbidden restriction, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared, accompanied by a vast and boundless yet extremely cold will, like a sleeping beast being disturbed and suddenly awakened for a moment!

"Ugh—!"

Wang Dong'er let out a short cry of pain, clutching her head with both hands, her long, light blue hair instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Almost simultaneously, deep within Ling Yu's spiritual sea, Volibear's deep, disgusted roar resounded:

"Insects! It's the scent of those nasty insects! A thousand times stronger than before! It's deep within her spiritual essence! Kid, quick! Before it's completely hidden after being disturbed—"

Ling Yu's eyes narrowed, and his Sharingan instantly activated. The three tomoe spun rapidly, capturing the fleeting abnormal mental fluctuations on Wang Dong'er's body and a faint, almost imperceptible, yet noble and majestic azure divine light.

However, before Ling Yu and Volibear could make a move, that vast and cold divine sense fluctuation came quickly and went even faster!

As if it had only been briefly disturbed by Wang Dong'er's unknowingly in-depth exploration, revealing a trace of its aura, it then seemed to realize something or trigger some kind of self-protection mechanism. The vast blue divine light and pressure receded like the tide, retreating into the deepest part of Wang Dong'er's spiritual sea, returning to silence once more, leaving no trace behind.

Wang Dong'er, who had forcibly touched the restriction, let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the side, immediately losing consciousness. Her face was as pale as paper, with only her brows tightly furrowed, revealing the pain and confusion she was enduring.

"...Tsk, she slipped away quickly." Volibear's disgruntled snort echoed in Ling Yu's mind, filled with deep disappointment. "Just a little bit more! But kid, one thing's for sure: just now, the 'insect' scent on that little girl was so strong it made a bear want to vomit! Although she's hiding again now, this is definitely not some simple memory concealment; it's a truly disgusting tactic!"

Ling Yu looked at the unconscious Wang Dong'er with a calm expression, but his heart was in turmoil.

That's ruthless!

He walked to Wang Dong'er's bedside, reached out and touched her wrist, carefully probing with his soul power to confirm that she was only temporarily unconscious due to a mental shock, and that her body was fine, only her soul power was somewhat disordered.

He gently laid her down and covered her with the blanket.

Spirit world.

Tang San, who was sitting upright on the throne, suddenly opened his eyes. In the depths of those originally calm and gentle azure eyes, a storm was now brewing, and a cold, sharp glint and fury flashed by.

The layout of the lower realm... has been triggered!

And in a way he never expected!

The restriction he left deep within Wang Dong'er's spiritual sea was actually triggered and touched from within!

Although the restriction itself is solid, it can be instantly countered and concealed, which also means that Dong'er is trying to find out the "reason" for her arranged fate!

How is that possible?

Given the guiding and concealing effect of the prohibition, she should have followed the established path instead of developing such profound and clearly targeted doubts!

What shocked him even more was that, through the feedback of the barrier being touched and his divine sense being slightly revealed in that instant, he saw the person who was in the same room as Dong'er!

She wasn't the "chosen one" whose destiny was supposed to intersect with Dong'er's in the path he had already arranged!

Instead, it was a completely unfamiliar black-haired boy!

What made his pupils shrink even more was that there was a faint aura on the young man that he was extremely familiar with and wary of.

That was the mysterious "Spirit of Nature" that had suddenly appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest not long ago, devoured the divine consciousness he had left on the auspicious beast, and indirectly caused the God of Destruction to notice his interference in the lower realm!

He mistook Volibear for some kind of naturally born powerful spirit.

It's him!

That variable!