Chapter 39: Treatment, Massive Energy Consumption

They went up to the third floor via the now-defunct escalator. After only a few steps, they heard Wu Dalang and the others shouting, mixed with a strange, beast-like roar—each cry piercing and chilling to the bone.

A flicker of pain crossed Gu Xu’s eyes. He was about to warn Bian Changxi when she hurried ahead, rounded a corner, and saw Wu Dalang and Qiu Yun struggling to restrain a crazed figure in the corner. The shelves and goods around them were toppled in chaos, but at least the mess didn’t block her view.

Bian Changxi got a clear look at the frenzied person.

It was a young man, tall and thin, with an ordinary face. Now, his skin was deathly pale with a bluish tinge, his eyes bloodshot and bulging, unfocused and filled with nothing but violence.

There weren’t many signs of rot or zombification yet.

As Bian Changxi got closer, she noticed clusters of dark gray spots on his skin, like mold. His flesh looked like it was about to slough off but hadn’t yet. On closer inspection, his neck and the backs of his hands had been scraped open during his struggles, leaving strips of flesh dangling gruesomely. In his bloodshot eyes, she could vaguely see some unidentified yellow substance starting to emerge, and his teeth and nails looked off as well.

Bian Changxi’s heart skipped a beat—he was indeed in the midst of turning into a zombie.

The people around him all looked up at Bian Changxi, eyes full of hope and urgency.

“Miss Bian!”

“Miss Bian!”

Bian Changxi suddenly felt immense pressure. She had never done anything like this before; knowledge alone was useless now. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out, sending a vine to wrap around the injured man—called “Shadow”—and channeled her energy into him, just as she had done when healing people before.

Her wood-type energy was gentle, resilient, and slightly cool, brimming with the vitality of nature itself. Bian Changxi immediately sensed her energy being absorbed by Shadow’s damaged tissues. Shadow himself paused, and before anyone could rejoice, Bian Changxi suddenly felt resistance. The vine exploded with a pop, and she was pushed back by the backlash.

Gu Xu, following close behind, caught her in time. Watching Shadow’s increasingly violent struggle, he asked, “How is it?”

Bian Changxi seemed to have realized something. After a moment’s thought, she said quietly, “My ability can repair his body, but there’s a strange, sinister force blocking me. I suspect it’s related to the virus.”

She looked up and continued, “From what I know, people don’t usually struggle this fiercely during zombification. This means his willpower is fighting the virus.” She glanced at Shadow, who kept trying to bite and scratch but would force himself to stop. “See? He’s resisting the virus’s control. But the body and the mind don’t always work in sync, so while he’s still fighting, his body is already failing. Once his body gives out, he’ll be gone.”

This realization had just come to Bian Changxi, and it matched almost exactly what the wood-type expert from her previous life had said. She felt confident in her judgment, but she couldn’t predict what would happen next.

She looked at Gu Xu and said, “I still think we should heal his body and give him energy. The rest is up to him. But the problem is, once his body recovers, he might go even more berserk. Can you hold him down?”

In Gu Xu’s team, aside from Shadow, three others had abilities. The two ordinary people could only stay out of the way. Bian Changxi and Lin Rongrong couldn’t help much either, and there were still plenty of ill-intentioned people downstairs. The situation was precarious.

Gu Xu exchanged glances with his teammates and, without much hesitation, said, “Let’s do it your way.”

“Then hold him down and expose the wound the zombies gave him.”

He had Qiu Feng, Gu Pei, and Lin Rongrong retreat to a safe distance, then swapped places with Qiu Yun, telling him to keep an eye on the people below. He and Wu Dalang—who was as strong as an ox—pinned Shadow face-down, exposing a narrow wound on the back of his neck, though it was already rotting deeper inside.

Bian Changxi didn’t waste words. She knelt beside him, pressed a half-digested crystal core—still half its original color—against the wound, and drove her energy into it. She encountered resistance again, so she gritted her teeth and pushed all her power through in one go.

Shadow began to convulse, then struggled even more violently, letting out guttural roars.

Bian Changxi felt her own energy being sucked away, almost drained in an instant. She quickly pulled back, forcing only the energy from the crystal core into him, while grabbing a fresh core with her other hand.

In barely half a minute, the old core shattered into powder. Both Bian Changxi and Gu Xu were shocked—at this rate, four crystal cores wouldn’t last long at all!

Bian Changxi hurriedly pressed a new core to the wound. Three minutes later, it too dimmed and crumbled.

Without a word, she placed a third, then a fourth.

The cores were being consumed rapidly, but the effects were obvious. The bluish-gray hue in Shadow’s flesh faded, the mold-like spots disappeared, and his once-loose skin tightened and regained its luster. His roars changed from beastly howls to the shouts of a normal human.

Gu Xu and Wu Dalang could feel Shadow’s strength growing by the second. They had to use their full weight to pin down his limbs, their faces flushed with effort.

The fourth core lasted longer, as if Shadow’s body was nearing saturation and absorbing energy more slowly. Time ticked by. Night fell, and with no power in the supermarket, the darkness deepened. The second and third floors were deathly quiet, while outside, the zombies’ howls and pounding on the doors grew ever louder, making the whole building tremble with each impact.

Bian Changxi’s whole body was stiff from holding her position, her breathing growing rapid. She realized she wasn’t just healing Shadow’s body—once her wood-type energy entered him, some of it was used for healing, but even more was tangled up with another force.

She sensed tiny, black, sesame-seed-like things, densely packed, elusive and cunning. They devoured Shadow’s body, consumed his energy, and tried to merge into every cell—like evil, intelligent sprites expanding their territory. When Bian Changxi’s energy entered, they turned to tangle with her instead.

Was this the zombie virus?

She even felt that if she wasn’t careful, these things would follow her energy back into her own body, multiplying and destroying like parasites.

The thought made her shiver, and she grew even more cautious. She tried to avoid direct contact with those things, realizing there was another force in Shadow’s body fighting them. Her job was to support him.

She carefully controlled her glowing green energy, weaving it through Shadow’s body like fine threads of water, forming a net. Without her past-life experience, she could never have managed such delicate control. Even so, her body was reaching its limit, and worst of all, she could feel the crystal core in her hand was nearly spent. Once the fourth green core was used up, she’d have no energy left!

Even after living a second life, she still couldn’t use other types of crystal cores.

In her desperation, she suddenly remembered—she still had a second-tier green core."

"**Chapter 40: Failure? The Jade Bracelet Shatters**

Should she use it or not?

Bian Changxi was torn with indecision.

If she didn’t use the second-tier green core, she’d run out of energy crystals and would truly be powerless to help Shadow. She didn’t know if he’d survive, but she had a strong feeling that those black specks wouldn’t let her get away unscathed.

But if she did use it, her foundation was too weak. The energy in a second-tier crystal was overwhelming, far beyond what she could handle, and Shadow wasn’t even an ability user. If she channeled that much energy into him, it might kill him on the spot!

Unless...

With a soft “crack,” the fourth crystal finally turned into a dull stone and crumbled to dust. Everyone’s face fell. The worst-case scenario had happened after all.

It was like a monster had broken free from its restraints. At almost the same moment, Gu Xu and Wu Dalang sensed Shadow’s condition becoming agitated, while Bian Changxi felt those black specks surge into her palm all at once!

She hurriedly gathered the last of her powers to resist, while with her other hand, she quickly pulled out the second-tier green core.

The emerald glow was strikingly beautiful in the darkness. Even a layperson could sense the immense energy contained within.

It was the vibrant, flourishing energy of life, but also carried an undercurrent of unknown danger.

Gu Xu, having been taught by Bian Changxi before, immediately recognized it as a second-tier crystal.

He looked at Bian Changxi’s face, hazy in the green light, wanting to say something but holding back. His handsome face was tense. No matter what happened today, he owed Bian Changxi a huge favor.

But Bian Changxi wasn’t so optimistic. She knew that if Shadow didn’t survive, whether it was Gu Xu or the others, they’d all hold a grudge against her. At this point, moving forward would be a favor, but retreating would make her an enemy. Besides, she didn’t want all her efforts to go to waste, nor did she want to bow to those hateful, unknown black specks.

Gritting her teeth, she clenched the crystal in her palm.

The energy inside the crystal was dense and impure. To put it simply, when an ability user absorbed it for cultivation, they had to refine it within their body, purifying and taming it for their own use.

Shadow couldn’t withstand second-tier energy, but if Bian Changxi acted as a filter, refining and smoothing out the energy before passing it on, things might be different.

It was a good idea in theory, but as Bian Changxi held her breath and tried to draw the crystal’s energy into her body, a massive surge of power crashed in without mercy, like a tidal wave bursting through a dam—impossible to stop.

Her mind buzzed, and she felt as if she was being swept away by a blinding white flood, unable to see anything. The pain in her body intensified to the extreme. If she were to describe it using the ancient martial arts systems from novels, her powers usually flowed through certain meridians, but now the foreign energy was so fierce and domineering that it forced its way in, expanding and tearing at her meridians. Bian Changxi felt like she was being ripped to shreds, and she could barely keep from vomiting blood.

She was terrified—she had overestimated herself. If this continued, her powers would be severely damaged, just like in her previous life.

Meanwhile, Gu Xu and Wu Dalang saw her whole body convulse, the crystal in her right hand blazing with green light. Then, as if conducting electricity, her left hand—pressed to Shadow’s neck—also began to glow. Shadow groaned and convulsed violently.

But that wasn’t all. Something on Bian Changxi’s left wrist began to vibrate, buzzing twice. In an instant, her sleeve tore apart with a rip, and a white, ring-shaped object floated up from her slender wrist, spinning in the air.

Gu Xu and Wu Dalang stared in shock. Gu Xu, sensitive to powers, could feel a huge amount of energy pouring into the object, but before he could make sense of it, the object flared with white light and exploded with a bang.

Bian Changxi was thrown aside by the blast. When she opened her eyes, she saw the jade bracelet shattered into pieces, stunned and unable to comprehend what had just happened.

In the distance, Lin Rongrong and the others, who had been anxiously waiting, saw the commotion and couldn’t hold back any longer. They rushed over with flashlights. “What happened?”

“What was that? Did something explode?”

“How’s Shadow?”

They all bombarded her with questions, but Gu Xu and Wu Dalang didn’t know how to respond. Bian Changxi numbly picked up a piece of the jade bracelet and stared at it, then silently gathered the rest of the fragments, saying nothing, her silence a little frightening.

Lin Rongrong, not knowing what had happened, anxiously helped her pick up the pieces with her flashlight.

The others focused on Shadow. Seeing that he’d stopped struggling, Qiu Yun said happily, “Is Shadow okay?” But as he got closer, he realized something was wrong. He quickly felt for a pulse at Shadow’s neck, then cried out in shock, “No pulse!”

“What?!” Gu Xu rushed over to check, his face instantly turning pale. The others hurried to check as well, each one stunned.

“How could this happen? Wasn’t he getting better just now? What exactly happened?” Qiu Yun’s eyes reddened as he shouted at Bian Changxi, “What did you do to Shadow?”

Wu Dalang and Qiu Feng quickly turned Shadow over and began emergency resuscitation. Gu Xu stepped aside, frozen, his face tense, lips pressed tight, fists clenched so hard they creaked. He couldn’t accept the bad news, but the truth was right in front of them. They were all used to seeing death—there was no way they’d all be mistaken. Shadow was truly dead, just like that.

But Gu Xu kept his composure and barked at Qiu Yun, “Qiu Yun, shut up! Miss Bian did her best.”

“Did her best? He was getting better, and now he’s dead? That’s what you call doing your best?”

Lin Rongrong, still picking up jade fragments, was annoyed by this and shoved Qiu Yun. “What’s that supposed to mean? He was half-dead to begin with. If it weren’t for Changxi, he’d have turned into a monster already. Who knows why he suddenly died? Do you think Changxi wanted this? You think she did it on purpose? If you’re so capable, why didn’t you save him yourself? Changxi already said she wasn’t confident. If your captain hadn’t begged her, she wouldn’t have gotten involved! If we’d known you’d act like this, we wouldn’t have bothered. You can just live with your monster!”

She looked quiet and gentle, but once she started talking, she was relentless. Rolling up her sleeves and putting her hands on her hips, the flashlight shone up from below, making her look like a fierce woman.

Qiu Yun glared, chest heaving, veins bulging on his neck. Gu Xu tried to pull him back, but he shook him off stubbornly. Gu Xu, in a foul mood, got angry too and used force. Qiu Yun resisted, and the two squared off like angry bulls, while Lin Rongrong argued back, “I’m just asking why this happened. Why are you so defensive? Are you feeling guilty? You’d better give me an explanation—Shadow can’t just die for no reason!”

Gu Xu suddenly punched him. “What do you mean, ‘for no reason’? Do you think someone deliberately tried to kill Shadow? I was the one who suggested bringing her here. If you suspect her, you suspect me too!”

Wu Dalang, seeing that Shadow couldn’t be saved, held back his grief and said heavily, “No one wanted this to happen. We’re all upset, but don’t say things you’ll regret.”

Qiu Yun wanted to retort, but Qiu Feng suddenly stood up, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him against the wall. “Enough! Just let Shadow go in peace. Shut up, will you?”

******

Thank you to Vajra Warrior No. 4 for the scented sachet! You’re so generous, I’m really happy, thank you O(∩_∩)O~"