MY HIDDEN TALENT IS FORBIDDEN BY THE HEAVENS-Chapter 46: THE ONES WHO STAND
Chapter 46 — "THE ONES WHO STAND"
The King-tier monster moved first.
No roar.
No warning.
Just a sudden, violent charge.
The ground shattered as its massive body surged forward, each step detonating the earth beneath it. Trees were torn out of the soil and flung aside like debris caught in a storm.
It wasn’t targeting one person.
It was targeting everything behind them.
The injured.
The unconscious.
The ones who couldn’t run.
THE FIRST LINE
Ling Yifan felt it before he saw it.
The pressure hit his chest like a hammer.
"...No—"
He didn’t think.
Didn’t plan.
He moved.
Broken ribs screamed as he forced his body forward, spear dragging a jagged line through the dirt. His vision blurred, blood dripping freely from his chin, but he planted himself directly in the monster’s path.
Behind him—
Bai Qianlan screamed his name.
Chen tried to move and failed.
Long Hao shouted something he couldn’t hear.
Ling Yifan raised his spear.
Both hands.
Both arms shaking.
"STOP."
The King-tier ape slammed into him.
Not physically.
Not yet.
Its presence alone crushed down on him like a collapsing mountain.
Ling Yifan’s knees buckled instantly.
Bones cracked audibly.
But he did not move aside.
Blood exploded from his mouth as he dug the spear’s base into the ground, pouring what little remained of his power into it.
The spear glowed faintly.
White-blue.
Unstable.
Behind him—
Ouyang Xue’er inhaled sharply.
For just a moment—
She thought she saw something strange.
Ling Yifan’s hair—near his temples—
lightened.
Not fully white.
Just... pale.
Like frost brushing black steel.
She blinked.
The moment passed.
"...I’m imagining it," she whispered.
There was no time for anything else.
Ling Yifan staggered forward another step.
His body screamed in protest.
"I’ll fight him," he said hoarsely.
"You all leave."
The words cost him breath he didn’t have.
"I’ll stay," he continued, forcing the spear upright again.
"I’ll buy you time."
His vision tunneled.
The monster’s shadow swallowed him whole.
"...This is the only way."
The King-tier ape raised its arm.
A casual motion.
Enough to erase him.
BAI QIANLAN BREAKS
"No!"
Bai Qianlan rushed forward before she realized she was moving.
Ling Yifan didn’t look back.
"If something happens to you—" her voice cracked violently, "then what happens to me?!"
The words tore out of her.
Uncontrolled.
Unplanned.
Silence crashed down.
Bai froze.
Her face burned.
"I—I didn’t—!"
Illusions scattered chaotically, petals tearing apart like shredded paper.
Chen, coughing blood, turned his head slightly toward Ouyang.
They exchanged a look.
That look.
Chen laughed weakly.
"...Guess he really is that guy."
"SHUT UP!" Bai snapped, mortified and terrified all at once.
Ling Yifan shook his head slowly.
"...This isn’t the time."
"Someone has to die here."
He looked at Long Hao.
Long Hao stepped forward.
"...Then it won’t be you."
The Eclipse System howled.
[WARNING: HOST BODY AT CRITICAL THRESHOLD.]
[SEAL INTEGRITY FAILING.]
Long Hao ignored it.
He raised his hand.
This time, there was no elegance.
No control.
Void surged violently, devouring light before spitting it back out in distorted waves. The air warped, collapsing inward as if space itself were being squeezed.
He struck.
THE SECOND STRIKE —
Long Hao’s attack wasn’t a technique.
It was impact.
A compressed mass of void-light slammed into the King-tier ape’s torso.
BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!
The shockwave ripped through the clearing.
Trees flattened.
The ground folded inward.
The monster was pushed back.
One step.
Then another half-step.
Its heel dug a trench through solid stone.
Blood seeped from a shallow wound across its chest.
Not a scratch.
A wound.
"...It hurt him," Ouyang breathed.
Long Hao collapsed to one knee.
Blood poured freely now.
His arms shook uncontrollably.
"...Still..."
"...not enough..."
The King-tier monster looked down at him.
This time—
Not confused.
Angry.
THE CAPTAIN INTERCEPTS
The ape raised its arm.
And brought it down.
"NO!"
Chen Wulian moved.
He shouldn’t have been able to.
His body was already shattered.
But he forced himself forward, planting himself between Long Hao and the descending blow.
CRRRRAAAAAASH—!!!
The impact crushed him into the ground.
Ribs shattered instantly.
Organs ruptured.
Blood sprayed violently.
Chen’s body convulsed.
Then—
He laughed.
Wet.
Broken.
"...I’m..."
"...the captain..."
Blood bubbled from his lips.
"...Don’t forget that."
Long Hao screamed.
Ling Yifan tried to stand—
Collapsed.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Final.
Chen lay broken.
Long Hao barely conscious.
Ling Yifan gasping for breath, hair damp with blood—and faintly pale at the edges.
Only two still stood.
Bai Qianlan.
Ouyang Xue’er.
They stepped forward together.
Bai’s illusions trembled like dying glass.
Ouyang’s frost spread thin, unstable.
They knew.
Standing here meant death.
The King-tier monster lifted its head.
Prepared to finish them.
Then—
Light fell.
Not fire.
Not lightning.
A white-silver radiance, sharp and absolute, descended from above.
The air trembled.
Shadows recoiled.
The King-tier ape froze mid-motion.
No hope rose.
Not yet.
Only interruption.
Only judgment.
The light intensified.
And the world held its breath.
[Chapter ENDS]
SIDE POV — BAI QIANLAN
I didn’t realize it at first.
That’s the part that still bothers me.
Ling Yifan was always just... there.Standing straight.Correcting people.Looking serious even when no one else was.
At the beginning, I thought he was a little annoying.
Too perfect. Too disciplined. Too quiet in a way that made conversations feel one-sided. I teased him for it once, smiling when he frowned just a little before answering seriously.
I remember thinking, Does he ever relax?
It made me laugh.
Back then, that was all it was.
The first time something felt strange was during training.
Nothing dramatic. No danger. No blood.
He adjusted my stance. Took my wrist lightly and shifted it a few degrees.
"Like this," he said. "You’re wasting energy."
His hand was warm.
Too warm.
I pulled back too quickly, heart skipping for no reason I could explain. He looked confused. I laughed it off, said something stupid, pretended nothing happened.
But later, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
That was odd, I told myself.I don’t react like that.
So I ignored it.
Then came the island.
The first night, when everything was quiet and wrong, I woke up suddenly. No sound. No movement.
But Ling Yifan was already awake.
Spear in hand.Eyes sharp.Watching the darkness like it might lunge at us at any second.
I remember lying there, watching his back.
How steady it was.How unmoving.
And without meaning to, I felt... safe.
That scared me more than the monsters.
The realization didn’t come during the fighting.
Not when he bled.Not when he stood in front of danger like it was natural.
Those moments were too loud. Too overwhelming.
It came later.
When he was injured.
When he couldn’t stand.
When I was the one holding him upright, feeling how heavy his body was, how shallow his breathing had become.
I remember thinking—
He’s always the one protecting us.
And then, softer—
Who protects him?
That thought stayed with me.
It didn’t leave.
When he tried to sacrifice himself, that was when everything broke.
Not shattered.
Cracked.
When he said, "I’ll stay. I’ll buy you time."
My chest tightened painfully.
Before I could stop myself, the words left my mouth.
If something happens to you—then what happens to me?
The silence afterward was unbearable.
My face burned.My heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest.
I remember thinking, Why did I say that?Why couldn’t I stop myself?
But deep down, I already knew the answer.
I fell for him slowly.
Without permission.Without realizing when it started.
And somehow...
I fell for the one person I probably shouldn’t have.
The one who would always put everyone else before himself.
The one who would stand until he broke.
The one who didn’t even realize how much space he had already taken in my heart.
And now—
I don’t know what to do with that feeling.
I just know it’s there.
And it’s not leaving.
