Chapter 50: The Purifying Light
Luo Shizhen still gripped Lu Qiujin’s hand tightly.
“Lu Qiujin, hold on. I’ll purify you.”
He tried to suck the black Qi from Lu Qiujin, but just like before, for some reason, he couldn’t purify it at all.
Hua Yi checked the detector and shook his head at the team members who were ready to act.
“The progress has exceeded 50%. It can no longer be forcibly interrupted by means of heavy injury.”
This was a typical manifestation of Internal Alienation.
Because it was an Internal Alienation, the process would be faster than an external one. People who wanted to interrupt it would find no place to start.
Internal Alienation had another characteristic.
—It could not be purified.
This had nothing to do with the level of the Purifier. It was purely because the mutating Awakener themselves had already leaned toward accepting the outcome of their own mutation.
“Shizhen, how is it? Can you purify it?” Wen Hu watched Lu Qiujin warily from the side.
Luo Shizhen shook his head: “No. I’ll try again.”
Seeing Lu Qiujin, whose body had already half-transformed into an Anomaly, Wen Hu gritted his teeth:
“If even you can’t purify him, we have to back away.”
Luo Shizhen still didn’t let go of Lu Qiujin’s hand.
He pursed his lips: “Wen Hu, help me open the Pollution detector.”
Wen Hu hesitated for a moment, looked at Lu Qiujin, whose eyes were completely covered by black pupils, and turned on the Pollution detector on his combat suit.
Luo Shizhen stared at Lu Qiujin without blinking and asked: “What is the value now?”
“78%.”
Wen Hu frowned deeply. During the mutation process, exceeding 30% was already very dangerous; 50% was basically an irreversible state.
78%—there was almost no possibility of being saved for someone who had mutated to this extent.
Luo Shizhen was still trying to absorb the black Qi from Lu Qiujin’s body. Since his hand couldn’t do it, he changed spots, reaching out to touch Lu Qiujin’s face.
Lu Qiujin’s face still vaguely showed human features, but there were also hearts growing above, pressing against his eyes.
However, his eyes were now completely black, with no distinction between the whites and the pupils, and he couldn’t see anything even if he hadn’t been squeezed by the mutation.
The texture of these growing hearts was as if they were real, still slightly beating. Luo Shizhen didn’t care at all, just pressed his hands on them, gritting his teeth as he tried hard to suck something out.
But he couldn’t suck anything out.
It was strange. Previously, purification hadn’t been especially simple, but it hadn’t been that difficult either.
But why didn’t it work for Lu Qiujin?
Lu Qiujin was expressionless. Following the movement of Luo Shizhen’s hands on his face, he slightly tilted his head, as if looking at the person before him with those hollow eyes that had already lost their human sight.
This person was touching him.
It seemed to be someone very important.
What was his name again?
Shitou? (Stone)
Shizhen?
In just a few short seconds, more than half of Lu Qiujin’s memory had already rapidly vanished.
The deep-seated hatred for his family, however, remained, and it was growing at a frantic speed.
It was as if a voice were roaring in anger, expressing hatred, resentment, and unwillingness.
Must get revenge—
Kill that family—
Must live—
That voice was saying: Run, leave this place; staying will only lead to death.
But the feeling of this hand resting on his face, gently stroking it, was simply too good. Clearly, there was a voice deep in his heart urging him to leave quickly, yet his body didn’t move an inch.
Perhaps it was because the other’s movements were too gentle. In the other person, he couldn’t sense a single shred of malice, only pure concern.
What was he concerned about? Is he concerned about me?
Who am I? And who am I to him?
Cannot change… but what cannot be changed? Why couldn’t he remember?
He couldn’t think of it, and he became more agitated because of it. His relatively calm face instantly became distorted.
He felt he shouldn’t forget, but he had forgotten anyway.
Wen Hu said nervously from the side: “83%.”
“87%.”
“90%”
Wen Hu let his hand fall dejectedly.
In the current records, the highest progress of an Awakener who was forcibly saved during a mutation was 88%.
Lu Qiujin had already reached 90%.
Hua Yi looked at the rapidly rising environmental Pollution level following Lu Qiujin’s mutation and slowly drew his blade.
He stepped forward in his cold combat boots, one step at a time.
He swung the blade, aiming from behind at Lu Qiujin’s neck.
Perhaps it could no longer be called a neck, as it was occupied by dense, bulging, beating hearts. Amidst the wisps of black fog, it was as if one could hear low whispers filled with resentment.
Hua Yi was somewhat surprised.
Lu Qiujin had clearly lost his human reason. At this moment, he should only have a bit of residual instinct left.
The Anomaly side of him should have already gained the upper hand. Logically, he should either run or attack.
But Lu Qiujin had not moved at all.
He just stood there motionless, letting Luo Shizhen stroke that face that could hardly be called a “face.”
“Hua-laoshi, don’t kill him yet!”
Luo Shizhen’s both hands were on Lu Qiujin’s face, and he was stubbornly touching around. His gaze was forced to shift to Hua Yi because of the latter’s movements.
“Lu Qiujin hasn’t completely mutated. I am a Purifier; maybe I can purify him!”
This Devourer, who had been slightly arrogant since his appearance, couldn’t help but have a hint of pity in his eyes as he looked at Luo Shizhen.
“Didn’t you hear? His mutation progress has reached 90%.”
“If it were below 70%, I would let you try. But now, your classmate no longer has a chance.”
Luo Shizhen was a bit panicked, but he quickly suppressed the panic. While his hands continued to touch Lu Qiujin’s body, he said to Hua Yi:
“He hasn’t completely mutated; there’s still a chance.”
“Chen-laoshi said my talent is very high and that I’m very smart. I can already purify three classmates now. I can definitely purify Lu Qiujin too!”
Luo Shizhen even started to stammer: “If—if I still can’t purify him at the very end, I will kill him with my own hands! Really!”
Hua Yi looked at Luo Shizhen as if he were looking at his former self.
Naturally, he had also been naive once. He had also once hoped a teammate could be saved after they had mutated.
But it was precisely because he had experienced it that he knew how naive Luo Shizhen’s idea was.
“You can’t save him.”
Hua Yi suppressed that hint of pity in his eyes.
“Guardian Regulation Number One: Once an Awakener is confirmed to be mutating, personnel on the scene should take immediate measures to kill the out-of-control Awakener to prevent irreparable damage.”
The blade in his hand aimed at Lu Qiujin’s back neck and fell suddenly.
A puppet extended an arm to block it.
With a ding, the puppet’s arm was sliced off, but the blade failed to successfully land on Lu Qiujin.
Cheng Yunshao’s face was a bit pale. With the movement of his fingers, the puppet extended its other, intact right arm, blocking the path between Lu Qiujin and Hua Yi.
He looked at Hua Yi. The backlash from the puppet being damaged made his lips turn pale as well, but he showed no sign of fear.
“Guardian Regulation Number Ninety-nine: During an Awakener’s mutation process, if there is an Energy User on the scene, the handling process should first follow the Energy User’s judgment.”
“Luo Shizhen is an Energy User and has purification abilities. He now judges that he can attempt a rescue, so he should be allowed to try and save him.”
After Cheng Yunshao finished speaking, Wen Hu also turned into his tiger form and leaped next to the puppet, also blocking Lu Qiujin. Wagging his tail, he lowered his upper body toward Hua Yi in a standard defensive posture.
So what if he was protecting a rival in love?
It wasn’t the first time; he was very experienced.
Another wall of fire blocked the path in front of Wen Hu and the puppet.
Qin Yinian shrugged: “Hua-laoshi, Lu Qiujin is our classmate, after all. If he really can’t make it, then death is death. But isn’t there still 10%? Our Shitou is very amazing; maybe he really can be saved.”
A newborn Anomaly stood in place. His “eyes” couldn’t see anything, but it seemed another pair—or rather, hundreds of pairs of eyes—had appeared.
The newborn Anomaly watched this scene, realizing they were confronting a powerful opponent for his sake.
Why?
He wanted to ask, but he no longer had a mouth to open.
Hua Yi looked at these hot-blooded young cubs.
He didn’t mock them, because he was just like this when he was young.
Back then, there were also other elder Awakeners standing on the opposite side of him.
At that time, Hua Yi felt nothing but extreme anger, hating those cold-blooded elder Guardians.
Young people always felt they could change all tragedies with their own will.
But only after experiencing it yourself do you know it’s useless.
Not to mention that Lu Qiujin was an Internal Alienation that was simply impossible to purify; just the 90% progress right now had already robbed him of any hope of life.
Dragging it out now was just making Lu Qiujin suffer more pain, or letting his reason be completely annihilated, only for him to then turn and strike his former teammates.
Luo Shizhen, who was closest to Lu Qiujin, would be the first target the Anomaly Lu Qiujin would strike.
This scene would become his nightmare, day and night, without escape.
Hua Yi felt it was ironic. He had once hated those cold-blooded elders so much.
And after coming full circle, he himself had actually become one of the “cold-blooded” members.
The elder Guardian let go of the blade in his hand.
With a muffled sound, the blade fell to the ground.
At the same time, in his hand, a new long blade formed from invisible Qi.
“Believe me, it’s for your own good.”
He spoke softly the words that the elder Guardian had spoken to him back then:
“In the future, you will understand.”
With one strike, Hua Yi cut through the fire wall and the puppet. At the same time, another teammate extended a mechanical hand, tying up the giant tiger and tossing it aside.
The threads on Luo Shizhen suddenly gained color, as if becoming a large hand made of threads, gripping the long blade made of Qi.
—With a boom, a stone blocking the cavern entrance flew out.
Sui An stepped in.
Hua Yi frowned: “What do you mean?”
Sui An: “Didn’t Cheng Yunshao already say? The judgment of the Energy User takes priority. My student has judged that he can continue to attempt rescue, so let’s wait a bit longer.”
Hua Yi almost let out a cold laugh.
Sui An waiting for an Awakener in the middle of a mutation to continue being rescued?
Who didn’t know that as a Prosecutor, he had killed countless Awakeners in the middle of mutation.
“When you killed Yan-zi back then, you didn’t say to wait a bit.”
Sui An said slowly: “When Zheng Yan mutated, there was no Energy User by his side, and he had already completely lost his reason.”
“When I killed him, he was already attacking you. If I hadn’t killed him, either you would have died or you would have had to kill him yourself.”
Hua Yi knew this, which was why he wanted to do the deed for these students:
“90%. Do you really think your student can save someone with a progress of 90%?”
“If we don’t act now, the one who will either be killed or have to kill a teammate is this student you’re pervertedly monitoring.”
Sui An: “No. Once Lu Qiujin shows an inclination to attack, I will kill him first.”
He looked at Hua Yi: “With two Grade 9s guarding this place, we can certainly give the students a chance to make a mistake.”
Hua Yi stopped speaking.
Lu Qiujin was Grade 2, but looking at his current state, after mutating, he might even reach Grade 8.
Although he had no problem fighting a Grade 8 Anomaly, if Lu Qiujin were to rapidly attack Luo Shizhen in front of him after mutating, Hua Yi had no confidence that he could stop it instantly.
Although his combat skills were high, his ability was, after all, Devouring, which was only suitable for continuous attack, not for protecting others.
But Sui An could.
But what was the point of this?
Mutation progress of 90%—no one had ever managed to stop it.
He believed that if this student named Lu Qiujin were still conscious, he probably wouldn’t be willing to let his hideous side be exposed to his classmates either.
But since Sui An was willing to back them up, Hua Yi didn’t bother to be the villain. The long blade in his hand turned back into Qi and dissipated into his body, and he leaned against the wall.
Qin Yinian and the others, who had been tense all along, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They looked at Lu Qiujin with complicated expressions. Their relationship couldn’t be called good; it could only be called very poor.
But… no one wanted Lu Qiujin to truly mutate into an Anomaly.
Perhaps it was because they themselves were judged to eventually mutate, or perhaps because after walking together for a while, they had developed a tiny bit—about the size of an ant’s toenail (if ants had toenails)—of teammate camaraderie.
Luo Shizhen had already touched Lu Qiujin all over.
To be precise, he could only touch hearts now, because Lu Qiujin was already covered in hearts.
Hearts, nothing but hearts.
Beating hearts, steaming hearts, hearts containing resentful Pollution.
It was like arriving in the Kingdom of Bhikkhu from Journey to the West.
No matter how Luo Shizhen tried, he couldn’t penetrate these thick hearts.
Wen Hu returned to his human form.
“It’s 94%.”
Amidst the eyes full of hearts, Luo Shizhen suddenly had a blurry thought.
Where was Lu Qiujin’s original heart?
He wanted to find it, but there were too many hearts, squeezed together, dense and overlapping.
Luo Shizhen didn’t hesitate and decisively took out the dagger hanging from his waist, pressing it hard against Lu Qiujin’s chest to cut it open.
For him, doing this didn’t bring any psychological burden.
Plowing a field required force, mopping a floor required force, slaughtering a pig required force, so naturally, opening Lu Qiujin’s chest also required force.
Hua Yi: “?”
Wasn’t it purification? How did it become murder?
Blood splattered everywhere. Luo Shizhen’s face was splattered with blood. He wiped his face and looked inside carefully.
The newborn Anomaly Lu Qiujin felt attacked and wanted to fight back, but for some reason, he couldn’t generate any angry thoughts toward the person in front of him.
The Anomaly Lu Qiujin vaguely knew that this person wanted to help him.
What was “help”?
What was “human”?
Who was he?
The Anomaly Lu Qiujin fell into thought, thus completely giving up the idea of fighting back.
He stood there like a log, letting Luo Shizhen open his chest.
Luo Shizhen successfully saw that beating heart in the chest.
Compared to the other hearts, it was even small in size—it was the heart belonging to a human.
On it, Luo Shizhen finally felt that familiar hunger.
“No wonder I couldn’t find it before; it was hidden inside your heart…”
His hands were dripping with blood, and his face was covered in bloodstains. Facing a chest he had opened with his own hands, he was as joyous as a murderer who had just taken out a hundred people.
Luo Shizhen carefully extended his hand toward that heart. A soft white light emanated from his palm.
The black fog hesitated for a moment, as if unwilling to come out.
Luo Shizhen frowned. At this moment, he suddenly thought of the giant python he had encountered before.
When the giant python attacked people, it seemed to be…?
The soft white light in his hand suddenly turned into a giant python, lunging fiercely toward that dodging black fog!
The black fog wanted to run away, but for some reason, as if it were frightened, it stood frozen on the spot, and could only let itself be swallowed by the white giant python.
This scene was only seen by Luo Shizhen himself.
On the side, Wen Hu only noticed the change in the values. He widened his eyes, wishing he could crawl into Lu Qiujin’s open chest to see.
“Is this? It worked? 92%! Is it being purified??”
Luo Shizhen said seriously: “It should be.”
With this wisp of black fog as a start, the other Pollution Qi followed as if a drainage channel had been opened. Without further hesitation, they were absorbed into Luo Shizhen’s palm.
The bitter taste was like bitter melon.
Luo Shizhen smacked his lips; he wasn’t a picky eater.
Wen Hu looked at the values with a trembling hand.
“It’s dropping! It’s dropping! Now it’s 91%!”
“86%!”
“75%!”
Hua Yi no longer remained calm either, looking at this scene with shock and suspicion.
An Awakener who had already mutated to over 90al%.
Was actually being saved by this student?!
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