Chapter 512: Aurora Appearance

Ten minutes earlier.

The guest room.

Yang Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed. His phone was placed directly in front of him. Bright light filled every corner of the room as he gazed at his phone, lost in thought.

"Chen Ling, like me, can perceive magnetic fields... So, theoretically, anything he can do, I should be able to do as well..."

"But how do I do it?"

"I can sense the surrounding magnetic fields, but I can't precisely control electronic devices or interfere with communication signals like he can... Is my mental power still too weak?"

Yang Xiao closed his eyes and concentrated fully, manipulating the surrounding magnetic fields, attempting to make his phone unlock automatically...

But in the end, his phone screen only flickered erratically, like a bad connection, sometimes dimming almost to black, sometimes glaring brightly. Following a faint crackle of electricity, the screen suddenly went dark.

A faint smell of burning drifted from inside the phone.

Yang Xiao froze for a moment, then immediately picked up the phone with both hands, trying desperately to turn it on. But it was completely unresponsive, like holding a brick... Its battery was thoroughly burnt out.

A pained expression appeared on Yang Xiao's face.

He tossed the phone aside and paced back and forth in the room, sighing. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of several shadowy figures stealthily moving past below the window.

"Hmm?"

Yang Xiao immediately became alert. He pressed himself against the wall and secretly peered down.

There were eight figures dressed in black. They split into four groups, fanning out along the outer wall, seemingly searching for an entrance to the museum. Two of them pointed to a side door below his floor, pulled out firearms from their clothes, and silently entered.

"Assassins?" Seeing this, Yang Xiao's gaze instantly turned serious.

Yang Xiao had witnessed the entire infiltration process. At that moment, he was likely the first person in the entire museum to sense the approaching danger. He immediately reached for his phone to call Chen Ling, but seeing the "brick" smoking on the bed, his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Yang Xiao decisively abandoned that idea. He quickly pushed open his door and rushed out of the room, intending to inform Su Zhiwei and the others so they could evacuate quickly. But just as he reached the staircase, he heard footsteps creaking on the wooden stairs, approaching the second floor.

"Is it an assassin?!"

Yang Xiao's mind raced. He immediately changed direction, intending to go down the stairs on the other side. But then he heard the crisp click of a bullet being chambered, coming from *that* staircase as well.

"Two people are coming up from two different staircases... Are they trying to seal off all exits, like catching a turtle in a jar?"

The guest rooms were located in a separate wing on the east side of the museum. The second floor had only one straight corridor with ten rooms. Both staircases, left and right, were blocked. Yang Xiao was forced to retreat to his own room. If he remained in the corridor, the two assassins would immediately spot him the moment they stepped onto the second floor.

Just as Yang Xiao closed his door, one of the assassins stepped onto the second floor, his gaze coldly sweeping the area. He exchanged a brief nod with the other assassin who had also reached the second floor from the opposite side.

At this point, both assassins realized that this building seemed to be entirely guest rooms. This meant there was a high probability that Su Zhiwei was staying here, and their eyes gleamed with anticipation.

They began kicking open doors, one after another, starting from both sides. Their firearms were constantly aimed forward, and their gazes vigilantly swept their surroundings. Their movements were incredibly practiced, as if they had done this many times before, missing no corner of any room.

Bang—Bang—Bang—

The dull thud of breaking doors echoed down the corridor, and Yang Xiao's heart pounded.

Chen Ling hadn't returned yet, and Su Zhiwei was busy with her evening meditation. He was the only one on the entire floor... At this rate, they would eventually break into his room, and he would surely die.

"No... I can't just sit here and wait to die."

Yang Xiao regulated his breathing, calming himself quickly. His gaze swept around, seemingly brainstorming a solution... Finally, his eyes fixed on the light bulb above his head.

"Lights... light?"

Yang Xiao's eyes lit up. He glanced around the brightly lit museum, and an idea sparked in his mind.

"This is the only way. I hope I can buy them some time."

Yang Xiao hid behind the door. The sound of breaking doors continued from both sides, seemingly approaching his room rapidly. He slowly closed his eyes, dedicating all his awareness to perceiving the surrounding magnetic fields. The light bulb above his head gradually became like the phone battery he had just fried...

Perceive, touch, manipulate, then...

*Zzzzz—**Zzzzzzzzzzzzz—!!*

A faint electrical hum emanated from above. The next moment, all the lights in the entire museum suddenly flared blindingly bright. With a soft pop, every light overloaded and short-circuited!

The entire museum plunged into sudden darkness.

The sudden darkness startled the two assassins who were searching the guest rooms. Their movements halted simultaneously, and they instinctively tightened their grip on their firearms.

If before they could search recklessly with their weapons, now with their vision plunged into darkness, their situation suddenly became uncertain... They had to slow down, devoting more energy to ascertain their surroundings, as if they were in an unknown, dark jungle.

"It worked..." Yang Xiao murmured to himself.

This attempt made him vaguely grasp something new; his understanding of the surrounding magnetic fields seemed to have changed.

In the darkness, Yang Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly, faint wisps of light swirling in his pupils. He subconsciously raised his hands, lightly grasping at something in the void.

"Damn it, why did the power suddenly go out?" an assassin cursed in a low voice from outside the door.

"I don't know... Did something go wrong with the others?"

"Do you feel like there was an earthquake?"

"It's not an earthquake. Didn't you hear the sound from the main entrance? It seemed to come from that direction."

"The main entrance? But that's not... What exactly is happening??"

"Anyway, let's find Su Zhiwei first. How many rooms have you searched?"

"Four. You?"

"I'm searching the fifth one... Only one more left."

As they spoke, the two men arrived at Yang Xiao's door. They simultaneously aimed their firearms at the dark doorway. One of them kicked it forcefully, sending the door crashing open with a thud.

The unexpected lightness of the kick startled the assassin, who then called out:

"This door wasn't locked; it was open!"

Both men simultaneously raised their firearms, aiming into the dim room. Using the faint, hazy light from outside the window, they could barely make out the silhouette of a figure standing by the window, hands raised as if grasping at something intangible.

The next moment, embroidery needles floated up from outside the window behind him, hovering in the misty night rain. Besides these, there were also numerous scissors, dinner knives, and even rusted metal shards...

By the window, the shadowed figure slowly opened his eyes. A pair of pupils, swirling with faint auroras, gazed coldly at the two men.