Chapter 170: Try Desensitization Therapy

Shi Yuebai said that Zhang Xueyao didn’t have long to live.

And she really didn’t.

If she hadn’t forced herself to keep taking clients, maybe she could have hung on a little longer.

But Zhang Xueyao was too determined to take Shi Yuebai down with her.

She thought she still had a chance to survive, but in the end, she just couldn’t catch her breath.

She died in a very undignified way.

The next morning, the team that stopped by every other day had just left.

That’s when everyone discovered Zhang Xueyao’s body.

A few women went into her tent and looked at her corpse, their faces numb and expressionless.

On this wasteland, human life was truly worthless.

“So what do we do now? Are we just going to let this go?”

The one who asked was Duan Xiangtong.

She was a girl Zhang Xueyao had found outside the big city.

She didn’t look very old—maybe seventeen or eighteen.

She was quite pretty, and rumor had it that before the wasteland, she’d studied dance for as long as she could remember.

She was strong-willed and opinionated.

Ever since she arrived, she’d insisted they use any extra food to trade for water in the city, so everyone could wash their faces and bodies.

Men liked women who were clean.

That way, business would be better.

This girl had put some thought into studying men.

Everyone agreed with her suggestions.

So, the water they got from the city—a single basin—would be used to wipe down a dozen women.

Now that Zhang Xueyao was dead, no one said a word.

Duan Xiangtong spoke up: “Aunt Xueyao was beaten by those people across the river. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have died.”

Everyone nodded, but still, no one spoke.

Last night, each of them had, intentionally or not, mentioned the people across the river to their clients.

Honestly, there was nothing they could do except try to use someone else’s strength.

It’s not like a bunch of women could just go over there and beat up the people across the river.

Duan Xiangtong glanced around at everyone.

“Murder should be repaid with a life. Debts should be paid back. If those people across the river don’t give us something, this won’t be settled so easily.”

One woman lowered her voice and asked, “What do you want to do?”

Duan Xiangtong didn’t answer. She lowered her head and looked at herself.

On the wasteland, there weren’t many people like her—healthy, smart, and young.

And she was beautiful.

Compared to the other women here, she had her own advantages.

So why should she have to become a plaything for so many men?

Ever since she’d come here with Zhang Xueyao, Duan Xiangtong had taken good care of herself and never taken a client.

She was good at working the situation—getting food from men without having to give up her body.

In her opinion, people on the wasteland weren’t very smart. A little trickery was enough to get food.

She was waiting for her chance.

“The clients across the river are mercenaries. They’re not short on supplies.”

“And that Captain Qiao—he doesn’t keep all those old people just for himself. He’s feeding them for the women across the river.”

In Duan Xiangtong’s mind, it all formed a perfect closed loop.

This was a wasteland that ate people alive.

In her telling, the women across the river were extravagant and inhuman.

Duan Xiangtong said, “I’ve already told a squad leader in our team that there’s a ton of food across the river.”

“They’ll send someone over soon to help us.”

That squad leader was a bit slow, and he had a thing for Duan Xiangtong.

He thought she was different from the other girls who only knew how to beg men for food.

And Duan Xiangtong played coy with him—flirting, acting shy, giving him just enough hope to keep him interested.

After hearing what Duan Xiangtong said, everyone, for their own safety and for a shot at the spoils from across the river, carried Zhang Xueyao’s body to the second wall.

Whether they meant it or not, they all knelt on the stones and wailed together:

“Life is cheap on the wasteland, but Xueyao was our sister. If she hadn’t brought us together, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“You have so much food, even meat to eat—can’t you show us a little pity?”

“Without Sister Xueyao, we’ve lost our backbone. Heaven knows how hard it is for us to stick together like this.”

Shi Yuebai slowly made her way down from in front of the public toilet.

She saw Second Sister Shi crouched on the steps, clutching her head and covering her ears.

“Yuebai.”

Second Sister Shi’s face was pale.

Her hearing, after deliberate training, was getting sharper by the day.

To most people, the shrill wailing of the women outside was just a bit annoying.

After all, there were only a dozen or so of them.

But for Second Sister Shi, so many people screaming at the top of their lungs was pure torture.

Her eyes were misty as she looked in Shi Yuebai’s direction, tears falling.

She looked pitiful beyond words.

Second Sister Shi’s looks had already surpassed her peak, back when she was most famous.

With Shi Yuebai’s spiritual energy nourishing her, if Second Sister Shi debuted now, she’d be an instant superstar.

Compared to Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao, Second Sister Shi was even more beautiful.

Shi Yuebai silently watched her, tears streaming down her face.

She leaned on her staff with one hand, and with the other, pressed two fingers to Second Sister Shi’s forehead.

A light appeared on both their foreheads.

Shi Yuebai channeled a trace of soul power into Second Sister Shi’s body.

Soul power couldn’t exist independently of Shi Yuebai; it couldn’t become a physical thing.

When Shi Yuebai’s soul power entered someone else, at most it could stabilize their spirit, help them sleep and eat well, and improve their mental state.

For Second Sister Shi, whose hearing was so sensitive and who was tormented by external noise—

Ultimately, it was up to her.

To put it bluntly, Second Sister Shi’s extraordinary hearing was both a blessing and a curse.

The upside was that she could locate sounds and never miss a long-range shot.

The downside was times like this, when she was overwhelmed by all sorts of noise.

Eventually, it could drive her mad.

Shi Yuebai couldn’t really help her with that.

“Maybe you should try desensitization therapy,” Shi Yuebai suggested.

She’d originally come down from the public toilet planning to kill all those women outside the second wall.

But seeing Second Sister Shi like this, she decided it was better to let them make noise.

The louder, the better.

As long as Second Sister Shi gradually got used to the noise, it wouldn’t bother her so much.

Second Sister Shi’s spirit stabilized a little.

It was a strange feeling—the piercing noise in her head hadn’t really lessened, but she felt a bit braver about facing it.

The panic was gone, because she knew Yue Bai had her back.

That was her source of confidence.

So what was there to be afraid of?

Bring it on. Once she got used to the sharp noise, it would stop being a problem.

(Year-end is coming, and there are so many expenses…)"