Chapter 4 – Back From Afterlife
"What is wrong with you?"
Dean could clearly hear the strain in Zi's voice and could not help but ask with genuine concern.
"Little boy… I am in my heat period," Zi replied.
Dean froze.
"You are what?"
He was certain he had misheard, the words felt far too strange for the current situation.
"I'm in heat," Zi repeated, this time more clearly.
As those words echoed through the white room, a rectangular screen suddenly appeared on one of the walls directly in front of Dean.
On the screen, the interior of Room B-10 was clearly displayed, the six young women were still there, looking frightened, while the two enemy cultivators stood near the broken doorway.
Zi's voice carried a strange, almost appreciative tone.
"Wow… look at those beautiful ladies, little lad. I really am in heat."
Dean's expression turned complicated.
"What exactly are you up to?" he asked cautiously. After a short pause, he continued with a slightly awkward smile, "I've never been intimate with anyone in my life, but… I know it would be a good thing. So, what would you have me do?"
There was a brief silence.
Then Zi's voice returned, filled with clear confusion.
"Wait. What are you talking about?"
This time it was Zi who sounded startled.
"You have one crazy mind. Do you think I'm talking about getting intimate with those ladies?"
Dean scratched his cheek, still smiling.
"You said you were in your heat period, what else could that mean if not… you know." He let out a soft laugh. "Hmm… you know what I mean."
Even though he could not see Zi, Dean was certain his expression was being observed.
"But those ladies are out of the picture," he added with a wild grin. "They are under my protection for the time being. After I get out of here, I'll find someone else for you."
"Silly!"
Zi's voice rose in mild shock.
"When I say I am in heat, it means I am in the mood for killing!"
Dean's smile vanished instantly.
"What? To kill?!"
He stared blankly at the empty air, feeling as if his understanding of the world had just been flipped upside down.
"Do animals go into heat to kill or to mate? This is confusing…" he muttered.
Zi did not waste time explaining further.
"You still have a lot to learn, open your Knowledge Sea and grant me access. I will assist you in killing those two outside."
Dean hesitated only for a second, the situation left him with little choice.
"Okay," he replied, still feeling somewhat thrown off balance.
He closed his eyes and carefully opened his Knowledge Sea, allowing the mysterious presence access.
"Access granted."
Less than three minutes later, a new voice echoed — no longer distant and external, but clear and direct inside his mind.
"Assimilation complete."
Zi's presence now felt much closer, as if it had settled somewhere deep within him.
At the same time, a dark hole appeared in the middle of the white room. At first it was only the size of a fingertip, but it rapidly expanded until it became large enough for a fully grown adult to walk through.
"Little lad," Zi's voice instructed inside his head, "walk through the black portal, that will allow you to return to your body."
Dean stared at the swirling darkness for a moment before nodding.
"So this will lead me back to my body… I'm not dead after all. This is kind of mysterious."
"Yes," Zi replied with a trace of pride. "It is mysterious to you now. But there are far more astonishing things you will come to know now that you have me with you."
Without further hesitation, Dean stepped toward the portal. After observing the spinning darkness for a few seconds, he walked straight into it.
As he entered, a thought crossed his mind.
I wonder if everyone is still alright. It must have been about thirty minutes since I left.
The interior of the portal was pure black and filled with rotating circular patterns, three large rings of energy spun continuously. The outermost and innermost rings rotated in the same direction, while the middle ring spun in the opposite direction, creating a disorienting, vortex-like effect.
"Don't worry," Zi's voice suddenly spoke again. "They are fine. You have only been gone for about three seconds."
Dean's eyes widened inside the darkness.
"What?!"
The shock hit him hard.
"Are you trying to encourage me or is that the truth?" he asked quickly.
Before Zi could answer, a wave of dizziness washed over him. The spinning circles seemed to accelerate, and his sense of direction completely vanished.
In the next instant.
Dean was back inside his physical body.
He drew in a sharp, deep breath and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw from the corner of his vision was the short cultivator. The man was already moving toward the six young women with a wicked grin on his face, clearly intending to deal with them now that their protector appeared dead.
Dean's left hand felt strange, looking down, he realized he was already gripping the short cultivator's ankle tightly, a subconscious movement he had made the moment his consciousness returned.
"How is this possible…?" Dean thought, stunned by his own action.
The short cultivator froze mid-step.
"You're not dead?! How?!"
Shock filled the man's voice, only moments ago he had felt the last traces of life leave Dean's body. Yet now the supposedly dead youth was holding onto him with unexpected strength.
"I don't know how you're still alive," the short cultivator snarled, recovering quickly, "but this time I will send you completely to the afterlife!"
The other people in the room, both the tall cultivator and the six young women, were equally stunned. In their eyes, Dean had already died.
The short cultivator raised his sword high with his right hand, aiming to cut Dean down from behind in one swift motion.
Pow!
Before the blade could fall, a heavy punch smashed into the short cultivator's left ribs.
The force was so great that the man staggered three full steps sideways before managing to stabilize himself, what shocked everyone even more was that Dean still refused to release his grip. His left hand remained locked around the cultivator's ankle like an iron clamp.
"What?! You're acting all tough now?" the short cultivator forced out a mocking laugh, trying to cover his surprise.
Internally, however, he was alarmed.
How does this kid's punch carry so much force? It broke through my defense far too easily…
Before he or anyone else in the room could process what had just happened, Dean moved again.
Pow!
Paw!
Crack!
Two more punches landed in rapid succession, followed by a sharp kick that struck the cultivator's supporting leg.
The short man let out a choked sound as blood sprayed from his mouth.
"Pu… ah…!"
Agony twisted his face, the punches not only carried brutal physical force, he could also feel a strange energy being transferred into his body with every impact, disrupting his internal flow.
Dean's eyes were cold and focused.
The weak, useless boy who had been mocked only minutes earlier was gone.
In his place stood someone who had returned from the edge of death… and was no longer willing to fall so easily.