RIACMET chapter 215

 

“I was just messing around. You don’t have to take it so seriously.”

Chu Yi was unsettled by the eager glint in Jiang Nian’s eyes and instantly regretted speaking out of turn. He’d clearly been influenced by spending too much time with Jian Cheng and Liao Yu.

After a moment of thought, he quickly added,

“I just suddenly remembered and joked about it. Please don’t tell Cheng Jing. I’m afraid he’ll beat me up.”

It was over. Did that count as making a dirty joke about Jiang Nian?

If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Guys say dumb stuff all the time, but Jiang Nian was different.

“It’s fine. It was just a joke. I won’t tell Brother Jing.”

Jiang Nian smiled faintly and waved it off. He wasn’t one to fuss over things. Nothing more needed to be said; he would simply do it.

He was a man of action. If it could be done, he’d try it when they got back.

“…”

Half an hour later, Jiang Nian withdrew his superpower and sensed that Cheng Jing’s thunder and flames were merging steadily. He and Chu Yi stepped out of the thunderfire’s range and released their teammates from the dimensional space.

Once they confirmed that their eldest brother’s condition was stable, the group set up camp and began cooking while they waited.

Chu Yi pulled out a clean uniform. Liao Yu brought out cold water. Jiang Nian handed over bar soap. Gao Xuyang changed out of his hospital gown after showering. Then, he voluntarily put on a collar to suppress his superpower.

The women and children were handed over to the soldiers, who provided them with water, hot food, and laundry kits. Huang Qian helped take care of them.

As for Qi Laoer and his gang, if they weren’t dead, then so be it. If they were dead, there was nothing more they could do.

At this point, the mission at Guanshan Prison was essentially complete.

Chu Yi dug out a large tactical backpack from the team’s gear and loaded it with supplies for Teacher Gao.

The crystal cores that Gao Xuyang had originally stored in an iron bucket were all superpower cores. After discussing it, Yang Kai swapped them for regular zombie cores, saving the superpower cores for later use.

He washed and dried a small pile of crystal cores, then asked Jiang Nian to purify them before packing them into Gao Xuyang’s new backpack. He also requested that Jiang Nian purify any cores that Gao Xuyang might consume in the future.

Gao Xuyang was quiet and seemed distant to strangers, but he was actually quite easy to talk to. He agreed to everything Yang Kai said.

After changing clothes, he quietly followed Yang Kai like a human-shaped shadow.

“Yang Kai…”

After a simple dinner, the group sat outside their tents. Having just finished a crystal core and rinsed his mouth, Gao Xuyang walked over to Yang Kai and sat down beside him. He held out his hand.

“Can you help me trim my nails?”

“Of course.”

Yang Kai didn’t hesitate. He simply reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of nail clippers.

Gao Xuyang’s ten fingers were slender and well-proportioned. Even though he was cold and emaciated, his nails still looked good. Unfortunately, after his mutation, his nails had become sharp and tough, making them difficult to trim. Yang Kai used a dagger to cut them and then polished the edges until they were smooth and rounded.

Once his nails were trimmed, Gao Xuyang put on full-fingered gloves that fit snugly against his skin, leaving only the area above his neck exposed.

He wasn’t afraid of heat or cold, and with a helmet on, you’d never guess he was a zombie unless you looked closely.

While tightening the gloves, Gao Xuyang reached out and held Yang Kai’s hand.

“This way, I won’t have to worry about scratching you.”

Yang Kai took the opportunity to hold his hand tightly in return.

“Actually, even if you scratched me, I wouldn’t be afraid. Jiang Nian is very powerful. He can heal people infected by the virus, as long as they haven’t rotted or lost their minds.”

He then explained Jiang Nian’s superpowers and concluded:

“Once we get back to base and settle in, let’s have Jiang Nian purify you, okay? I know you don’t like it, but your body will recover better after purification.”

As he spoke, he waved at Jiang Nian, who had been quietly watching them from a short distance away.

Faced with his companion’s earnest, hopeful gaze, Gao Xuyang couldn’t find any reason to refuse. After a brief pause, he nodded.

“Okay.”

This kind of aversion could be overcome—his partner wouldn’t hurt him.

“Teacher Gao, Brother Kai.”

Jiang Nian walked over and calmly sat beside them. After learning what they had been discussing, he added a few points, including how Tang Ji had recovered from the infection.

“… ”

Even though Gao Xuyang instinctively disliked purification, a faint feeling of anticipation stirred within him.

The three of them continued chatting while watching the ongoing storm of thunder and flames in the distance—Cheng Jing’s breakthrough was still happening.

In preparation for purifying Gao Xuyang, Jiang Nian asked many detailed questions about his physical condition and discussed theories with Yang Kai.

“I’ve got an idea. Teacher Gao is at a much higher level than ordinary zombies. He can heal himself when injured or infected by other zombies. In other words, he might have antibodies to low-level zombie viruses inside him…”

“If a regular person were infected by Teacher Gao and then recovered, would the antibodies they develop be stronger? Or, if his regenerative properties were extracted and put into a detox serum, could it be used to fight zombie viruses beneath the level of a zombie king?”

There was a clear hierarchical suppression relationship between zombie kings and regular zombies. The antibodies in Gao Xuyang’s body could kill ordinary zombies.

Though it sounded contradictory, it wasn’t impossible. It was similar to how some plants have poisonous flowers and leaves, yet their roots or stems can be detoxified.

In his previous life, Jiang Nian had only heard about the powers of zombie kings. No one had ever captured one alive for study, and encounters usually ended in a fight to the death, so these theories had never been confirmed.

Now that they had Gao Xuyang, did this mean they finally had a new kind of hope?

“Try it… there’s blood.”

While Yang Kai was still thinking it over, Gao Xuyang suddenly spoke up.

The blood in his body was still flowing slowly—thick but not yet coagulated—so it was usable.

It was this unusual blood that nearly stopped his heartbeat, pulse, and organ functions. He wasn’t quite alive, but he wasn’t entirely dead, either. He was walking a fine line between the two.

Other people couldn’t sense it, not with the naked eye or bare hands. Only he could feel it. Perhaps a few highly sensitive instruments could detect it as well.

“Then let’s test it when we get back and run your regular checkup.”

Yang Kai thought it was worth trying. A blood sample would suffice.

“…”

As their conversation became more technical, Gao Xuyang realized that Yang Kai truly trusted Jiang Nian and genuinely wanted him to recover.

After a moment of hesitation, he took the initiative and asked Jiang Nian to try purifying him now.

The pain—something he hadn’t felt in a long time—hit him like a hammer. In less than a minute, he was nearly overwhelmed and wanted to scream.

The purifying energy spread through him, piercing deep into his spiritual consciousness and reawakening his long-deadened five senses. For a fleeting moment, he was able to experience the kind of pain only humans can feel.

“It’s something that neither physical damage nor medication could replicate.”

“Teacher Gao, are you all right?”

Yang Kai asked, catching him as he faltered. His face was filled with concern.

“I’m fine. I’m okay.”

Gao Xuyang clutched his head and sat back down. Even if only for a moment, it worked. The agonizing sensation eased the fog in his mind just a little.

Jiang Nian withdrew his superpower and explained,

“Teacher Gao’s body has undergone a high-level mutation from the zombie virus. The purification will be extremely painful. You’ll only start to recover once you can endure it, but it will take time.”

The longer one could endure it, the better the purification’s effect would be. The beginning was always the hardest.

Yang Kai stifled a smile and said gently,

“It’s all right. As long as there’s still hope, it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”

He was ready to wait as long as it took—years, if necessary.

Jiang Nian had been careful with his words, but the truth was: Gao Xuyang had already fully transformed into a zombie, albeit one that hadn’t decayed yet. That was why the purification process was so excruciating.

One couldn’t be too greedy. It was a miracle that something once hopeless could hold even a sliver of light now.

Gao Xuyang nodded silently, then turned to look at Yang Kai.

Although he didn’t say anything, Jiang Nian could see something in his gray, lifeless eyes under the flickering thunderfire in the sky and the glow of the nearby camp lanterns.

Focus. Determination. A spark of will.