Chapter 69: Energy Drain—He’s Infected

She glanced at the wounded man, placed her left hand on the edge of the wound on his chest, and gripped the steel rod with her right.

The nurse cried out, “What are you doing? If you pull it out, he’ll die even faster!”

Bian Changxi ignored her. Her left hand gradually turned green, eventually glowing with a jade-like luster, as if shrouded in green mist or transformed into a piece of pale emerald. Soon, the bleeding slowed, and the man’s ragged, bellows-like breathing eased. His convulsing body gradually calmed.

The nurse covered her mouth in shock. Oh my god, it’s actually working…

“Dr. Lu! Dr. Lu, come look at this!”

Everyone was drawn over by her shout. Lu Shaoyang’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. The others gasped in amazement. Only Gu Xu, who had been watching Bian Changxi all along, remained composed, though his eyes shone with astonishment.

The time she saved Shadow had felt almost magical, hard for ordinary people to understand. When she treated his own injuries and Old Man Chen’s ant bites, those were minor wounds—he’d never realized the extent of Bian Changxi’s abilities. Was this her true power, the kind that could pull someone back from the brink of death?

After about half a minute, Bian Changxi judged the time was right. She began to slowly pull out the steel rod with her right hand, while surging wood-type energy through her left to heal the wound as she went. Otherwise, the man would have bled out in an instant.

He had already lost a dangerous amount of blood.

At last, she pulled the entire steel rod free and let it fall to the floor with a crisp clang, startling everyone. She pressed her hand to the wound for a while longer, then wiped the cold sweat from her brow and stood up. “Take care of him.”

Lu Shaoyang stared at her, dumbfounded. “He’s…he’s going to be okay?”

“If you’re willing to stitch him up and give him fluids, yes.”

Lu Shaoyang rushed forward to check, then called out to the nurse in delight. The nurse hurried to hand him the items on her tray.

Gu Xu looked at Bian Changxi. “Are you alright?”

She looked pale, almost bloodless. She was already clutching a green core to replenish her energy, breathing lightly. “I’ll be fine.”

She was only a first-rank wood-type, and although healing was her specialty, her foundation was still weak. Saving such a severely wounded patient had pushed her to her limits.

But wounds like that had to be treated in one go.

Luckily, she was just a little dizzy—not truly exhausted. A bit of rest and some energy recovery, and she’d be fine.

“You’re amazing! Please, save my son!” A family member, who had been shouting moments before, now rushed over, trembling with excitement.

God, it was like a miracle—she’d just saved someone who could barely breathe in minutes. Surely she could save his son too.

Gu Xu stepped in, blocking them from Bian Changxi. “Don’t crowd her!”

Lu Shaoyang finished checking the patient and was overjoyed. He said to Bian Changxi, “You’re the most incredible wood-type I’ve ever seen—absolutely miraculous. Do you think you can save that other patient?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “Not every wound is treatable. Head injuries are especially tricky.”

The man with the wild hair glared at her, muttering, “See? She can’t do it either. Why are you all blaming me?”

The family members were nearly begging in tears. Bian Changxi knew they wouldn’t give up unless she tried, so she agreed. In fact, she could usually sense whether she could save someone just by looking at them. This one—she didn’t think she could help, probably because the injury was to the brain.

She had just touched the patient’s hand when her expression suddenly changed. She stood up, leaving everyone confused. In a low voice, she said, “This person might be infected by a zombie.”

There were black spots inside his body, and it was already quite serious.

She spoke urgently, and only Gu Xu and Lu Shaoyang, who were closest, heard her. Their faces grew grave. “Are you sure?”

Actually, she wasn’t. Bian Changxi sensed those black spots were a sign of zombie infection, but she didn’t have enough cases to be certain.

She shook her head. “It’s just a feeling.”

Gu Xu pulled Lu Shaoyang aside and whispered a few words. Lu Shaoyang nodded, then gave orders to the guards. Soon, everyone else in the small cubicle was either carried or ushered out, even the noisy family members, who were cowed into silence by the threat of guns.

Gu Xu stood by the patient, leading the soldiers in carefully tying him up and staying alert for any sudden changes.

After a while, several people hurried in. “We heard there’s a possible infection here?”

A middle-aged man in a white coat spoke, frowning deeply.

Lu Shaoyang said, “Yes, this is the one. We’ve checked—there are no zombie bites or scratches, but…Minister Xu, you’re experienced. Could you take a look?”

The others with Minister Xu also examined the patient carefully.

Gu Pei had quietly slipped over to Gu Xu’s side. “Brother, Qiu Feng can’t get away right now, so I came first.”

“Alright, take a look at him.”

Gu Pei scrutinized the patient, focusing on his face and the wound at the back of his head, then nodded to Gu Xu. “Confirmed.”

Moments later, the patient suddenly went berserk, eyes snapping open as he let out a beast-like roar.

…

Bang! Bang! Two gunshots rang out in the medical area, barely drawing a reaction. There were too many infected—such sounds happened all the time, and everyone had grown numb. Qiu Feng pulled back the white curtain, and several soldiers carried out two bodies, followed by heartbroken family members.

Qiu Feng said calmly, “They’ve zombified. Biologically speaking, they’re dead. I had to stop their bodies from harming others. My condolences.”

He looked up and caught sight of Gu Xu’s group, who were also carrying out a corpse. The health department and hospital staff gathered around, discussing the body. They all said it needed to be studied.

How could someone zombify without a bite or scratch?

Qiu Feng walked over. “What, you’re playing executioner now too?”

Gu Xu asked, “How’s it going?”

“Alright, aside from the families causing a scene.” Qiu Feng gave a tired smile. “They all think I’m some kind of killer. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to stab me in the street tomorrow. What happened here?”

Gu Pei answered, “A car accident victim zombified. I think his head wound must have come into contact with something from a zombie, which led to the infection.” His eyes were red, and he couldn’t help yawning.

He was exhausted—he’d spent most of the night shadowing Qiu Feng, monitoring those bitten by zombies.

How deep were the bites, what body types had what symptoms, how long until zombification, how long from berserk state to full zombification—he’d been helping and researching all night, always on guard against being bitten himself. It was nerve-wracking.

Still, his efforts paid off—he’d just made a better call than the so-called experts.

Qiu Feng said, “Pei, you’re impressive. By the way, who first noticed the infection?”

Gu Xu’s expression shifted slightly, and he turned away.

Over there, Bian Changxi was discussing something with Lu Shaoyang.

Qiu Feng immediately sensed the odd atmosphere.

Gu Xu said, “Show me the ropes, then you all should go rest. You’ve been at it all night—I’ll take over here.”

Bian Changxi was discussing with Lu Shaoyang how long she needed to rest after treating someone. Lu Shaoyang was eager to take her to treat more critical patients.

Bian Changxi looked up and saw that Gu Xu and the others were already gone.

They really let her go.

She could tell that the clues in the underground hall were extremely important to Gu Xu, and he already suspected her. Normally, anyone would try every trick to keep her there, even interrogate or torture her. When they confronted each other upstairs, she’d wondered if Gu Xu would do just that. She wasn’t afraid—she had the confidence to escape, or at worst, hide in the wilderness. But if it came to that, they’d be enemies for life.

In the end, he did nothing—maybe out of gratitude for saving Shadow, or maybe to honor his promise not to pursue the source of her information. Whatever the reason, Bian Changxi was grateful and respected him for it.

She felt down for a moment, then cheered up. At least she and Gu Xu had finally parted ways. Yes, this was better—she felt as free as a bird.

That night, she worked straight through until dawn.

She’d save a patient, rest a bit, save another, rest again. In total, she rescued sixteen people who should have died, and countless others with lighter injuries. In the end, with only half a green core left, she worried about running out in an emergency and finally stopped to do some normal tasks.

By dawn, those who were doomed had died, those who would zombify had done so, and the rest were stable. The generators in the train station’s main hall were being withdrawn. The lights dimmed, the roar faded, and in the hazy morning light, the floor was littered with trash and bloodstains. Groans echoed everywhere. Medical staff massaged their shoulders and backs, some collapsing like limp noodles, utterly drained.

“Breakfast! Breakfast is here!”

A van pulled up outside, unloading several barrels, a few foam and cardboard boxes, and, to everyone’s surprise, a stack of steamers.

“Oh my god, is our luck finally turning?” a young nurse whispered to Bian Changxi. “You know, our meals were never enough before—breakfast was barely a bite or two. Maybe after all this, the higher-ups finally realize how important we are?” She ran off excitedly to check it out.

Bian Changxi was hungry too. As the crowd thinned, she claimed a plastic chair and bent over to rummage for food in her bag.

“Miss Bian, here you go.” Suddenly, someone walked over to her."