Chapter 71: Chinese Medicine, Seems to Care a Lot (Second Update)

The news that Bian Changxi had joined the medical team left many people who had wanted to recruit her sighing in regret. A powerful wood-type ability user was practically like having several extra lives—who wouldn’t want that? But since the military had already taken her in, no one dared to poach her, so they could only shift their eager gazes to the wood-types in their own teams.

Overnight, the value of wood-type ability users skyrocketed. Bian Changxi, however, had no interest in any of this. She was assigned to a patrol group within the medical team. Unlike other teams that had a dozen or twenty people, this patrol group had only two: herself and Wei Xiaodong.

After checking out their temporary accommodations, the two of them came down from the apartment building. Wei Xiaodong trailed behind her like a little tail. Bian Changxi asked, “Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“Of course I do! Aren’t we patrolling right now? Always stay alert, spot anyone injured in the new district, and help them in time. Wow, just saying it sounds so noble.”

Bian Changxi ignored her. She knew that Wei Xiaodong was actually sent by Yue Fushan to keep an eye on her. “Keep an eye on the good stuff at all times, know where it’s going”—that was probably Yue Fushan’s thinking.

Wei Xiaodong herself was also an ability user recruited by Yue Fushan, not some relative as the rumors claimed. Before Bian Changxi showed up, Wei Xiaodong had been the most outstanding wood-type, so she naturally got the most attention.

“By the way, how did you train your ability? We’re colleagues now, so there’s nothing you can’t tell me. Even if you don’t want to say, I’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Then go ahead and figure it out yourself.”

Just then, Bian Changxi looked up and saw a guard at the apartment entrance politely asking a girl to leave. The girl waved frantically at her. “Changxi!”

“Lin Rongrong?” She walked over. “What are you doing here?”

“Hehe, I heard this building houses the medical team, so I came to check it out. I’m living in that building over there now—I joined the logistics team.”

Bian Changxi frowned. “You left too?”

“Yeah, you left, and I only stuck with Captain Gu and the others because of you. Now there’s no reason to stay. I was going to look for you anyway, and just happened to see the logistics team recruiting. They prioritize space-type ability users, plus they provide food and lodging. It seemed like a perfect fit, so I signed up, finished registration, and checked out my room.”

As Lin Rongrong spoke, she noticed Bian Changxi didn’t seem very happy for her, and asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Is this team not good?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just… If you’re ever asked to transport supplies with your space ability, be extra careful. Don’t let things get muddled. If anything goes wrong, they might accuse you of skimming supplies, and you won’t be able to clear your name.”

Space-types were basically walking warehouses. Lin Rongrong’s space was fairly large, so she’d definitely be valued. But once a space-type died, everything in their space was lost forever, so they’d be heavily protected. Still, there were downsides. From what Bian Changxi knew, unless you were extremely trusted by leadership, most space-types were treated just like warehouses—no real rights, basically kept under strict control.

Lin Rongrong opened her mouth, starting to understand, and said regretfully, “If I’d known, I would’ve joined the medical team too. They never explained any of this, just kept bragging about the great benefits.”

“That’s how it is. Every team has its pros and cons.”

“Oh, by the way, Chen Haitao and his son are still trying out for the Warrior Squad. No idea if they’ll make it.”

Bian Changxi paused, then nodded. The little group of twelve who’d come to the new district together was already breaking up after just a few days.

After saying goodbye to Lin Rongrong, Bian Changxi strode off, with Wei Xiaodong hurrying after her. “Where are you going?”

“To kill zombies.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol?”

“One person is enough for patrol. Call me if there’s an emergency.” Important personnel and ability users were all issued military communicators. Because of her special role, Bian Changxi got one too, but it was a shoddy device. With the satellite network badly damaged, it could barely ring twice, couldn’t make calls or send texts—worse than an old pager.

It was nothing compared to Gu Xu’s earpiece and smartwatch communicator.

She moved fast, quickly leaving Wei Xiaodong behind. She wandered the new district, noticing even more survivors had arrived today, all looking even more ragged than before. The streets and alleys were turning into a refugee zone. The small new district couldn’t possibly accommodate so many people. At this rate, even without zombies, people would riot just from lack of space.

She squeezed through the crowd, slipped past the barricades between Zones A and B, and entered the zombie-infested Zone B. She found a relatively safe spot and started killing zombies.

But by afternoon, competition arrived.

To expand living space, Yue Fushan officially ordered an advance into Zone B—pushing the zombies further back.

Naturally, this became part of the Warrior Squad’s assessment.

So by afternoon, over a thousand people flooded into Zone B, and Bian Changxi’s street became crowded. Not wanting to run into others, she had to keep moving after each kill.

“Green core, green core…”

She muttered as she split open a zombie’s skull with her blunted axe, scraping out the crystal core—only to find another white one.

Seriously?

After four hours and thirty-one zombies, she hadn’t seen a single green or colored core—her luck was abysmal.

She looked at her last remaining green core, its color already faded, frowned, and was about to go after another zombie when suddenly—BOOM!—the ground shook.

What happened?

Thick black smoke billowed from Zone A—something had exploded. As she hesitated, her “pager” beeped at her waist.

Where there’s fighting, there are casualties. Several medical teams were on standby at the checkpoints that afternoon, ready to treat anyone coming back from Zone B. She and Wei Xiaodong had been called to stand by too, so something must have happened that Wei Xiaodong couldn’t handle.

She silenced the pager. Just then, two more zombies appeared from behind a building. She smashed them with her fire axe, then ran off in another direction.

When she arrived at the scene, a crowd had already gathered. Yue Fushan, Qu Nan, Gu Xu, and others were all there, looking grim. The rest of the people seemed terrified, whispering among themselves.

Wei Xiaodong was slumped on the ground, covered in blood, her face as pale as a ghost.

Not far away, a fuel tanker was burning fiercely, the ground a mess.

“What happened?” Wasn’t Wei Xiaodong calling her to save people? Why did this look like a horror movie crime scene?

Wei Xiaodong grabbed her, trembling. “I-I didn’t mean to! I just told him to try, I didn’t think… It’s your fault! Why didn’t you tell me this could happen? If you’d said something, would I have let him take the risk?”

Bian Changxi was baffled by her sobbing accusations. She pushed past her and into the crowd.

When people saw Bian Changxi arrive, they automatically made way. Her deeds from last night had spread quickly. People feared those who could kill, but those who could save lives inspired awe and a bit of flattery—everyone hoped that if they were ever gravely injured, someone like her would bring them back from the brink.

Bian Changxi frowned as she took in the scene. On the ground lay six—no, maybe seven—burn victims, the most severe twisted into an unrecognizable mass. You couldn’t even tell if it was one person or two clinging together. These must be the ones she’d been called to help.

But nearby, there was also a fresh corpse—bloody, mangled, limbs torn apart, as if the person had exploded. From the half-intact face, she recognized him as the male wood-type ability user who’d gone to the train station with Wei Xiaodong the night before.

Minister Xu from the Health Department and several experts were examining the body, arguing intensely. Meanwhile, Lu Shaoyang was leading several medics and members of Bian Changxi’s team in treating the burn victims.

He saw Bian Changxi and called urgently, “Come see if you can save them.”

Four were still alive, but their burns were severe—clothes fused to skin, flesh red and raw in many places. Bian Changxi checked them one by one. “There’s nothing I can do. At best, I can help them breathe a little longer. With such extensive damage, I can’t regrow skin. The real danger is infection. It’s up to you whether you can treat that.”

“We have to try.”

Bian Changxi nodded and prepared to help, but saw Liu Meng sitting dazed nearby, his clothes scorched. Suddenly, he grabbed the collar of a skinny man next to him and roared, “It’s all your fault, you bastard! I’ll kill you!”

The skinny man was Zhang Hu’s driver.

Soldiers quickly pulled them apart.

Others were gathering up the male wood-type’s remains, placing the pieces on a stretcher to be taken away with the experts. Someone also took Wei Xiaodong away—she didn’t dare resist, shaking like a leaf.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

Gu Xu glanced at Bian Changxi and quietly said, “Be careful. That guy probably misused a crystal core.”

Bian Changxi’s eyelid twitched. He left. When most people were gone, Bian Changxi finally asked, “What happened?”

Lu Shaoyang was busy working, but the others, seeing the military had left, dared to speak up. After listening for a while, Bian Changxi understood.

Apparently, the skinny man had thrown a fire or something into the fuel tanker during a chat, causing the explosion. The male wood-type died because Wei Xiaodong’s group had pulled him over to help with the rescue, and for some reason, he ended up like that. Remembering Gu Xu’s warning, Bian Changxi figured Wei Xiaodong must have encouraged him to use a white core, which ended up killing him.

What a mess!

Liu Meng was still beating the skinny man, who wailed, “If you won’t avenge Brother Hu, then go to hell with him!”"