Death Has Rules (V)

After several seconds, or perhaps an even shorter daze, Gong Qi seemed to hear something. That faint sound seemed hidden behind the Blood Soul Temple Field's hailing praise of "Blood, blood, blood! Fire, fire, fire!" It was more distant, and even more jumbled and chaotic.

Gong Qi traced it upward with his thoughts. The chaos continued to intensify, like arriving at the center of a great city, surrounded by packed crowds. Close his eyes, and at every moment there would be the echo of noisy human voices. He was clearly probing the subtle and hidden, yet on this level, he was nearly drowned by the clamorous "sounds."

Fortunately, he was experienced. He promptly adjusted the mistaken direction of this round of sensing. Rather than pondering and analyzing the details within that cacophony, he sought to capture the commonality within the chaos.

Ronan—let's say it was Ronan—that damned young man, what standard had he used to gather such a vast Information Torrent?

In fact, if he thought carefully about it, there was a trail to follow.

The Blood Soul Temple Field, Madam Harold's burning Qi and Blood, the extreme conviction of blood and fire... There had to be some connection behind those manifested things.

The Thought Power, cries, prayers of believers?

No. Something more primitive, something that had not yet formed concrete logic. Then it was emotion. What kind of emotion?

It was... fear!

As he analyzed and sensed it bit by bit, until he seized the most crucial clue, Gong Qi's thoughts suddenly became clear and expansive.

That was right. Fear!

Within that chaotic information layer existed both the startled panic of helplessness and the violent savagery of a cornered beast. Reactions that were nearly polar opposites were unified by the most fundamental core. All of it accumulated and transformed