Chapter 88
Luo Shizhen was seriously purifying the area.
A tree that had collapsed after being caught in the crossfire of the high-rank battle lay horizontally on the ground, forming a natural bench. Hua Yi and his team members sat on the tree in small groups, having changed into clean combat uniforms, staring at Luo Shizhenās busy back from a short distance.
The vice-captain had just finished bandaging the team’s wounds. Seeing Hua Yi still in the exact same position, without even a change in his gaze, he leaned over and waved a hand in front of his eyes.
Hua Yi frowned and shot him a look. “Move your hand.”
The vice-captain retracted his hand. “Captain, youāve been staring at that student for over half an hour. What exactly are you looking at?”
Hua Yi finally shifted his posture, though his eyes remained fixed on Luo Shizhenās back. “Have you ever seen a Purifier before?”
The vice-captain answered without thinking, “I saw one once. Before I joined Guillotine, I was part of a joint operation with another squad. A support team arrived, and there was a Purifier among them.”
“Did that Purifier help you purify?”
The vice-captain laughed. “Captain, did you lose your mind because you didn’t manage to swallow that High-Rank Bizarre? Everyone knows a Purifier only purifies their own teammates. I wasn’t his teammate; why would he help me?”
“I couldn’t even get close to the guy. At the time, if anyone even got a little near, theyād be blocked by his teammates. We fought together for about eight days, and by the end, I never even got a clear look at what that Purifier looked like.”
Hua Yi pointed toward Luo Shizhen. “But he just told me to go rest and that he would purify this pollution.”
Hua Yi, who was always the one in the protective position, had suddenly been protected. The feeling was somewhat disorienting, yet inexplicably relaxing.
He had always assumed Luo Shizhen was just a well-behaved student who listened to his teachers. Every time he saw him, the boy was looking at Sui An with admiration and respect, always surrounded by companions in a protective manner.
Hua Yi didn’t find this strange; every Purifier had protectors around them. Their precious ability meant that from the moment they awakened, even outdoors, they lived as if they were in an ivory tower.
Yet this same Luo Shizhen had displayed the posture of a protector when speaking to Hua Yi. Hua Yi was absolutely certain that at that moment, the thought Luo Shizhen held was indeed to protect him.
The feeling… was truly marvelous.
The vice-captain sat beside Hua Yi, also gazing at the young Purifierās back. “He really is a good-tempered Purifier. No wonder Captain Sui won’t leave his side; it seems he wants to recruit him into Silver Cocoon.”
Hua Yi frowned. “Sui An wants to recruit this student?”
“Why are you so surprised, Captain? Having a Purifier in a squad is incredibly important. Besides, isn’t it standard practice for Awakeners to join an established team of elders?”
Hua Yi looked toward Luo Shizhen once more. “But heās only Rank 4.”
“Rank 4 can already do quite a lot. Whatās more, this student is so outstanding. I heard he reached Rank 4 in less than a year after enrolling. Heās peaceful and friendly to people. As long as heās given a chance to grow, heāll surely advance rapidly. With such a good seedling, forget Captain Suiāif I were a captain, Iād definitely want him too.”
The vice-captain studied Hua Yiās expression. “Actually, right now, there are quite a few squads applying to have Luo Shizhen join them, but the school has blocked them all.”
“But the situation has changed now. All students are graduating early. I reckon this little classmate is about to be buried under a mountain of invitations to join squads.”
Hua Yi glanced at the vice-captain. “Are you suggesting I invite him to join Guillotine?”
“Captain truly is a captaināyou caught on instantly. Why not give it a try? What if it works? I saw how worried he was about you; his face was all scrunched up when he realized it hurt for you to swallow pollution.”
The vice-captain kept nudging him, wishing Hua Yi would extend the invitation today so Luo Shizhen could join Guillotine by tomorrow.
Hua Yi, however, focused on a different point. “Youāre saying he cares about me?”
The vice-captain was taken aback. “Uh, yeah, it looked like it to me.”
“Captain, since this little classmate has such a good impression of you, just try to invite him. It might actually work. If it does, our squad will never have to wait in line at Yongzhou again.”
The vice-captain had one more thing he didn’t say: he had a pretty good impression of Luo Shizhen himself. After all, it was hard not to like a young Purifier with a good personality who was friendly and even smiled at them.
However, he shrank back from Sui An, who was lazily leaning against another withered tree nearby, playing a game.
In the eyes of an ordinary person, Sui An was merely leaning comfortably against the dead wood as if he were on a sofa, his attention entirely on the phone in his hands as he played some unknown game.
Only an Awakener could perceive his spiritual power as a massive, lethal web of intimidation, strictly protecting the perimeter around Luo Shizhen as he focused on clearing the pollution. Forget a human; even if a single feather drifted from the sky, it would be pulverized by the spiritual power the moment it reached the space above Luo Shizhen.
The vice-captain sighed. “No wonder you always call Captain Sui a pervert. His strength truly is perverted. Even knowing heās an ally, my Qi essence instinctively doesn’t dare to approach.”
Hua Yi, however, detected something unusual in Sui Anās blatantly arrogant display of spiritual power. He and Sui An had been classmates; to some extent, he understood the man.
Sui An was always good at faking itāhis personality was a front, and his spiritual power was, too. Even in combat, he had never before let his aura flare out as completely as it was now. There was only one possibility: he was allowing his territorial instincts to take over instead of restraining them as he usually did.
Hua Yi gave a cold sneer. Was he using his spiritual power to aggressively warn him off because Luo Shizhen had shown him some kindness?
His own Qi essence also surged into the air, the Qi mixed with traces of black mist clashing wildly against the spiritual net.
Luo Shizhen was entirely oblivious. He was still the sameāwhen focused on one thing, he basically ignored everything else in the outside world.
The moment the white python swallowed the first bite of pollution, Luo Shizhenās eyes lit up.
It was delicious. So delicious.
The pollution from a High-Rank Bizarre was truly far better than that of a low-rank one. Moreover, it seemed even easier to absorb.
The feeling was like the difference between a one-yuan chocolate from the supermarket and the several-hundred-yuan chocolate Chen-laoshi had given him. He liked eating both, but no matter how unpicky he was or how dull his palate, he could easily tell which was the delicious, expensive one.
The leftover pollution was already tasty enough. If he could eat that Fenghuang… Luo Shizhen felt like he would practically melt from satisfaction just thinking about it.
The white python swam around him, its frame clearly a size larger than before. The sapling rooted in the ground had also grown into a small tree. Then, it became an even taller tree.
Eat, eat more.
Luo Shizhen seemed to enter a profound state where he was both the white python and the tree. His body felt incredibly light, able to drift however he pleased, and he felt a massive appetite, as if he could swallow everything.
He had become a tree and hoped it could bear fruit. Whether it was because it sensed its host’s thoughts or not, this treeāwhich looked only waist-high and was still just a “teenage tree”āactually began trying to bear fruit.
But perhaps because there was no precedent for Qi essence bearing fruit, it kept failing. Luo Shizhen wasn’t discouraged; he just kept trying after every failure. This was much simpler than studying, because with every attempt, there was actually a result.
Luo Shizhen followed the method from his dream: first, he thought of himself as a tree, and then he began plucking at the white mist on his body. Finally, he managed to produce a single “fruit” no larger than a fingernail.
“Success!!”
Luo Shizhen was overjoyed. Once his goal was achieved, the physical sensation of his body returned. He then realized he was currently eating a chicken leg.
“Hm?”
He chewed as he looked in confusion at Chu Xiao, who was holding the chicken leg and feeding him.
“Chu Xiao, when did you get here?”
Chu Xiao handed him some water and wiped the corner of his mouth with a tissue. “I’ve been here a long time. You’ve been purifying here for two days already. Whenever we called you, you just said you were busy and told us not to disturb you. You wouldn’t even go to sleep. Luckily your vital signs remained steady, so I could only feed you like this.”
Luo Shizhen felt embarrassed. “I did it again. Thank you, Chu Xiao.”
He had entered this kind of state before, usually when he had an exam and was doing an emergency review. Because he was too focused, he couldn’t hear a word anyone said; he only knew how to read and study. Chu Xiao said this state was very similar to a “flow state.” Though after Luo Shizhen entered this state, his study results would still be nil, and heād fail the exam as usual.
“Look! Look at what I made!”
Luo Shizhen took several sips of water from Chu Xiaoās hand. After having his mouth wiped, he impatiently held out his hand. In his palm, a tiny “fruit” separated from the main body was spinning continuously.
Chu Xiao couldn’t see anything, but his Qi essence felt a faint resonance. He looked at Luo Shizhen in surprise. “Is this the pollution medicine youāve been working on?”
Luo Shizhen nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling. “I made it!!”
He was still immersed in his excitement, raising his hand and about to share the good news with everyone, when he suddenly realized that there were many tents around them. Looking closer, his older brother, Lu Qiujin, Rong Nian, and the othersāeven Sui-laoshi and the Guillotine squadāwere all there.
“You guys have been waiting for me this whole time?”
Luo Shizhen was a bit dazed, yet his heart felt inexplicably happy.
Xiao Shan walked over and gave him a light knock on the head. “Don’t talk nonsense. Iām your big brother; if I don’t wait for you, who will?”
Cheng Yunshao followed behind him. “We came together, so of course weāre going back together.”
Luo Shizhen was thrilled. He gave a light hug to Chu Xiao, who was closest to him. “Thank you for waiting for me. I’m so happy.”
He had always expressed his emotions this directly. While hugging Chu Xiao, he looked at everyone around him, his eyes full of spirit.
“I want to remember this day, so that later…”
Chu Xiao returned the hug and interrupted Luo Shizhen: “Don’t start saying things about telling our children about today later.” His tone was remarkably calm as he said this. “Just tell us about your pollution medicine instead.”
Luo Shizhen was even happier. Chu Xiao truly was his best friend to have guessed what he was about to say. Although he didn’t get to finish his thought, he was easy to persuade and nodded, continuing to hold out his hand.
“This is it. But I probably need to test the medicine. Does anyone here feel their internal pollution is over the limit?”
The young Awakeners said nothing; after being with Luo Shizhen every day, how could they be over the limit?
Hua Yi, who had been silently watching Luo Shizhenās interaction with his friends, slowly stood up. He shot a provocative glance at Sui An and stepped forward. With a flick of his hand, a dagger appeared.
Even though their logic told them Hua Yi wouldn’t harm Luo Shizhen, the young Purifiers surrounding him instinctively and uncontrollably entered a defensive state, attempting to shield Luo Shizhen behind them.
Hua Yi was entirely unaffected. He stared straight at Luo Shizhen with a piercing gaze. Then, with a gentle flick of his hand, he sliced open his left arm.
As a deep wound appeared along with fresh blood, strands of black aura representing pollution also leaked out, though they were kept within a safety circle by Hua Yiās Qi essence. Despite having cut such a deep wound, Hua Yiās expression didn’t change at all, as if he couldn’t feel any pain.
The golden-haired man’s deep-sea blue eyes were as arrogant as ever, yet at this moment, he lowered them slightly to lock eyes with Luo Shizhen. He flipped the slender palm, holding the blade and pointing the hilt toward Luo Shizhen, raising an eyebrow to signal for him to take the knife.
“I’ll test the medicine.”
“During the trial period, you can do whatever you want to me.”
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