Pfft—
The special-effect revival spray entered her mouth, but instead of improving Jinhsi's condition, it stimulated her to spit out another mouthful of blood.
Noah's white casual clothes were stained with a patch of dark red.
"I'm sorry for letting you see me in such an embarrassing state... I know my own situation..."
As if in a brief return of light, some color returned to Jinhsi's face. Her words came rapidly, as if using all her remaining strength.
"This body, long in Overclocking, might... not make it through this time. Cough—Noah, thank you—"
Jinhsi's gaze shifted from Noah's face to the distant red dragon-shaped mountain range, her eyes conveying an indescribable mix of attachment and regret.
Cold.
So cold.
She heard her heart beating with all its might, her body's organs desperately struggling, yet still unable to prevent the loss of warmth.
Finally, her dying body gathered its last energy to her brain. All memories reversed from this moment backward.
Once, when Jinzhou fell, someone rescued her from the Fractsidus's domain of sound. When she retroacted Jinzhou and was in despair on the verge of death, he said:
"Magistrate Jinhsi, you must live well!"
"Jinhsi—you must live well!"
Noah called out heavily, switching his role to Verina. The heavy time flow pressed upon him, but he ignored it, urging the healing resonance energy within his body.
Warm and gentle energy, like the spring sun, slowly flowed into Jinhsi's body. Wherever the energy passed, her originally cold skin gradually regained warmth.
The more he healed, the more Noah felt horrified.
Words could hardly describe how broken this body was—chaotic and shattered meridians throughout, severely damaged tissues and organs.
Jinhsi's body was like a withered tree burned by fierce flames, its internal channels blocked by black ashes, endless nutrients obstructed and unable to penetrate deeply.
Beside him, Changli pressed her lips tightly, not daring to interrupt. Her fists unconsciously clenched.
Time passed unbeknownst how long before Noah finally stopped outputting resonance ability and switched back to Rover.
"Did you save her?" Changli asked with a trace of hope.
"This kind of injury is almost impossible to heal, but... she's still alive."
Noah shook his head, removed the Static Mist bracelet from his wrist, put it on Jinhsi, and activated its mechanism.
Baizhi had once said this bracelet could suppress the effects of Overclocking; now it seemed her words were true.
He gently princess-carried Jinhsi and handed her to Changli, his expression icy cold.
"Let's go—"
Changli looked down at Jinhsi, whose brows remained furrowed even in sleep, feeling as if her heart was being cut by knives.
"Where to?" She suddenly realized her voice was somewhat hoarse.
"Truthseeker's Pass, retrieve the core, Mianloong Chamber, find the Sentinel. Time is urgent."
Noah exhaled deeply.
"Now, we can only pin our hopes on the Sentinel."
According to the original Wuthering Waves plot, due to the Fractsidus's schemes, the Sentinel Jué was forced to hide in the Mianloong Chamber.
This also activated the defense mechanism built by Hongzhen's residents for the Sentinel.
To unseal the Mianloong Chamber and face the Sentinel directly, players needed to obtain the core from Truthseeker's Pass, then return to the secret room and use the mechanism to unseal the Mianloong Chamber.
Changli didn't know why Noah was so certain about these steps to find the Sentinel.
But along the way, she had already witnessed the correctness of Noah's decisions; now, there were no other choices.
"Mm, I'll follow you."
One white and one red—two figures trudged through the snow, moving swiftly.
Countless Red Spider Lilies condensed where they had left. Phrolova's figure slowly appeared.
"He's grown stronger again, using power completely different from last time."
Phrolova pressed her lips, her deep crimson eyes shifting, thoughts swirling.
"It seems they know the Sentinel's location?"
A Red Spider Lily slowly emerged in Phrolova's hand. She plucked a petal and casually tossed it out.
The red petal drifted in the wind, never landing, following Noah and the others' pace unhurriedly.
This was her usual method: scattered petals could serve as her eyes, remotely observing others' every move.
In the next instant, a violent, blazing golden sword light slashed down, mercilessly shattering that petal.
"Damn it! He actually discovered it."
Phrolova covered her eyes, somewhat displeased as she gritted her silver teeth.
"I don't believe your perception is truly that sharp."
Another Red Spider Lily petal flew out.
This time, the petal's path was more covert, maintaining a great distance and almost skimming the snow.
"Good, not discovered." Phrolova's lips curved slightly, as if completing a remarkable challenge.
In the next instant, she shuddered in shock, her figure dissolving into Red Spider Lily petals and scattering quickly.
Because Noah had actually traced back along the petal's direction!
Too frightening.
On the other side, Noah sheathed Emerald of Genesis. His cold expression softened slightly as he proceeded toward Truthseeker's Pass again.
"What did you just go do?"
Changli couldn't help asking.
"Scare off a potential threat."
Noah answered casually, stepping over the rock wall in a few strides to the entrance of Truthseeker's Pass. He punched and shattered the Insulation Barrier.
Quickly entering Truthseeker's Pass, Noah casually dealt with several Tacet Discords automatically generated by Court of Savantae mechanisms, then turned to Changli.
"You two stay here and don't move. I'll be back soon."
Without waiting for Changli's response, Noah had already left, leaving Changli holding Jinhsi, looking around at the setups inside Truthseeker's Pass.
With just one glance, she spotted the mystery behind a stone door.
Luminary Patterns.
An extremely reliable mechanism, difficult to break by brute force. Though solving Luminary Patterns was tedious, with patience, it wasn't too hard.
So, Noah went to solve the Luminary Pattern mechanism?
Why did it feel like he was very familiar with this place?
Changli could hardly describe this sense of incongruity. Clearly, both she and Noah were visiting Truthseeker's Pass for the first time, yet Noah acted as naturally as if returning home.
No, she couldn't just stand here like a vase; at least she should help search for the Luminary Rocks to solve the Luminary Patterns.
Changli slowly walked through Truthseeker's Pass holding Jinhsi, her gaze scanning back and forth, seeking the Luminary Rocks to solve the patterns.
A pile of dusty documents caught her attention. She gently set Jinhsi down, picking up the most prominent file.
["Monitoring Report on Spectral Anomalies of Individual C-001"]
Reading carefully, the more she read, the more alarmed she became.
"The Sentinel—severely injured, having lost one aspect of chronal power. This injury has caused Her to lose the ability to restore time flow, leaving only stagnation and retroaction."
"Moreover, Her injuries are continually worsening, and She will eventually perish from them!"
"No wonder the time flow on Mt. Firmament is chaotic—it turns out this is the reason..."
Changli suddenly understood the origin of Mt. Firmament's forbidden status.
Once, Mt. Firmament was invaded by a Tacet Discord outbreak, nearly wiping out Hongzhen's residents.
The Sentinel descended from the sky, using chronal power to save them.
However, the chronal power used to save lives could not be retracted, gradually becoming chaotic, making Mt. Firmament enterable but not exit-able.
Once the Sentinel perishes from Her injuries, the chaotic time flow will spread until engulfing all of Jinzhou. Then, Mt. Firmament's present would become Jinzhou's future.
This... what should be done?