Chapter 69
Lin Ke: “…”
Lin Ke: “…”
“You… you’re a Purifier?”
Luo Shizhen nodded.
Lin Ke’s eyes widened. “My god, a Purifier… The probability of you being a giant panda is higher than the probability of you being a Purifier, yet here you are.”
Seeing him look as if he were about to stop breathing, Luo Shizhen was startled and quickly reached out to support him.
“Stop talking for a second. Sit down, don’t get too excited.”
Lin Ke looked down at the hands on his arm. “Holy crap, a Purifier is supporting me!”
He got even more excited!
Luo Shizhen hurriedly pulled him down to sit and began rubbing his back to help him breathe. “Are you feeling better?”
Lin Ke: “A Purifier is rubbing my back…”
He looked so agitated that it seemed he wanted to run outside and do a naked lap around the villa.
Luo Shizhen was truly worried. He reached out and began making measuring gestures at the back of Lin Ke’s neck.
Lin Ke: “A Purifier is touching my neck… wait, what are you doing to my neck?”
Luo Shizhen answered sincerely, “I’m afraid you’re too excited and your Qi essence is fluctuating, so I’m planning to knock you out.”
He was no longer the clueless freshman he was when he first started school. He knew that an Awakener’s emotions shouldn’t fluctuate too wildly, or it could affect their Qi and lead to a mutation.
Admittedly, most cases of mutation caused by emotional distress involved witnessing the death of friends or family; no one had ever heard of someone mutating because they were too excited to meet a Purifier.
But Luo Shizhen felt it was better to be safe than sorry.
Although he could purify those who were contaminated, if someone entered a state of alienation before being purified, they would still need a long period of recovery.
Preventing it in advance was certainly better than fixing it after the fact.
Luo Shizhen followed the procedures taught in the school textbooks with great seriousness:
“If knocking you out doesn’t work, I’ll stab you a few times to reduce the Qi reaction. That should suppress the alienation.”
Lin Ke: “…”
He instantly behaved. “I’m fine. I’m fine now. No need to knock me out, and definitely no need to stab me. I’m okay.”
Luo Shizhen was skeptical. “Are you really okay?”
Lin Ke spoke with perfect clarity, “I’m fine, I’m great, thank you.”
Luo Shizhen still thought he didn’t look quite normal.
Terrified that Shizhen would actually knock him out and stab him, Lin Ke quickly scurried to the side and grabbed a throw pillow to shield himself.
“I’m just… it’s just too unbelievable. You’re actually a Purifier.”
Luo Shizhen looked down at himself. “Do I not look like one?”
Lin Ke: “To be honest, not really. I’ve never met a Purifier, but I’ve heard they’re all the sensitive type. They don’t like going out, and they hate interacting with strangers. You…”
He looked at Luo Shizhen again.
The bright black eyes held a trace of innocence unique to students, and he always had a smile on his face. Sometimes he even looked quite simple and honest.
His physique wasn’t just “not weak”; it was quite sturdy. His muscles looked very elastic. He looked like the type who loved life and had a down-to-earth, cheerful personality.
If someone told Lin Ke that Luo Shizhen was a Strength-type Awakener, he would have believed them.
In fact, for the past month, he had subconsciously assumed Luo Shizhen was a Strength-type. After all, not just anyone could lift a marble table with one hand.
Furthermore, every time the others started fighting, Luo Shizhen could easily pull them apart, one in each hand, to prevent the conflict from escalating.
Lin Ke looked left and right. “Are you really a Purifier?”
“I am.”
Luo Shizhen said, “I can prove it.”
Lin Ke’s eyes lit up, thinking Luo Shizhen was about to perform a purification on the spot.
Instead, Luo Shizhen tapped his watch, pulled up a digital ID, and said earnestly:
“See? This is my Purification Certificate.”
Lin Ke: …So Purifiers actually have certificates.
Luo Shizhen shifted a bit closer to him.
“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hit you. The rumor that Purifiers beat people is just a lie. It’s because some contaminated people couldn’t be purified and harmed themselves in their agony, leaving behind scars.”
Lin Ke wasn’t afraid of that at all.
To be honest, Awakeners were thick-skinned beyond measure; every one of them was an expert at taking a beating.
If someone could actually be purified just by being beaten by a Purifier, there would be a line of Awakeners out the door waiting for their turn to be hit.
Feeling Luo Shizhen’s proximity, Lin Ke’s entire body stiffened. He maintained a rigid posture, his voice trembling slightly:
“I’m just too excited. You don’t know—many Awakeners might go their entire lives without ever meeting a Purifier.”
He had met one at such a young age, and the person was even being so nice to him. How could Lin Ke not be excited?
Luo Shizhen was puzzled. “An entire life? But haven’t Awakeners only existed for thirty years?”
Lin Ke: “…It’s an analogy. I’m using an analogy.”
“Every Purifier is matched with a powerful team of Guardians. They are usually surrounded by these high-sequence, high-level Awakeners. Awakeners of our low level really can’t expect to see a Purifier in our lifetimes.”
It wasn’t just because Purifiers lived in different places than they did.
It was also because the stronger an Awakener was, the more intense their territorial instincts and desire for possession became.
The Purifier, whom they viewed as the one to be protected, would basically be shielded from every angle, whether in battle or in daily life.
Outsiders couldn’t get close at all.
Even if a Purifier were willing to interact, an Auxiliary-type Awakener with little combat ability like Lin Ke would feel immense pressure from the aura of the high-sequence Awakeners surrounding the Purifier, making it impossible to approach.
Thinking of this, Lin Ke looked at Luo Shizhen’s approaching figure and suddenly felt a jolt of alarm.
If those young Awakeners saw Luo Shizhen sitting this close to him, they wouldn’t beat him up, would they?
He cautiously glanced at the closed door before relaxing. Originally, he wanted to move further away.
But then again… this was a Purifier.
Lin Ke was weak, but no matter how weak, he was still an Awakener. In his bones, there was still a tiny bit of predatory instinct.
Lin Ke glanced at the door like a thief, then guiltily and slowly shifted his body a little closer to Luo Shizhen.
No wonder he felt so relaxed and comfortable whenever he was near Luo Shizhen before. So Shizhen was a Purifier; that explained everything.
Lin Ke had never met a Purifier, yet just being near him felt this good. No wonder everyone put Purifiers on a pedestal.
Luo Shizhen didn’t react to Lin Ke moving closer; he even seemed to welcome it.
It was strange. The teachers said other Purifiers were very sensitive to the Qi essence of other Awakeners and felt a sense of violation when they got close.
But Luo Shizhen had never felt that way.
On the contrary, his Qi body loved to get close to the Qi of other Awakeners.
For example, right now, sensing Lin Ke’s Qi—which was like a makeup brush cautiously circling him but not daring to touch—the little white python on Luo Shizhen’s body proactively went over and gently nudged the “brush” with its snout to show friendliness.
Lin Ke felt his mind clear instantly. He even felt the fatigue from staying up late to binge-watch dramas last night begin to dissipate.
My god, is this a Purifier?
No wonder that bunch of young students who looked like they weren’t to be trifled with were so obedient to Luo Shizhen.
A good-tempered, friendly Purifier… if it were him, he’d be willing to obey, too.
Luo Shizhen saw that Lin Ke’s breathing had stabilized. Although his expression looked inexplicably euphoric, he seemed to be fine now.
He cautiously poked the man. Seeing Lin Ke startle and then look over with clear eyes, Shizhen returned to the main topic.
“Could you please help me with my makeup? I have to go purify someone this afternoon.”
Lin Ke immediately responded as if he had received an imperial decree: “Makeup? Right, right, no problem! I’ll do it right now!”
He immediately brought out his most expensive makeup products and primer. When he pinned back Luo Shizhen’s hair, he used the gentlest touch, making Luo Shizhen a bit uncomfortable.
Lin Ke had always been easy to talk to, but he had never been this easy.
“You don’t have to be so careful. It doesn’t hurt. You can just do it like you used to.”
“Right, right, right. Like I used to.”
Lin Ke agreed verbally, but as soon as his hands moved, they couldn’t help but soften their touch.
This was a Purifier.
To put it without exaggeration, given the current situation, saying a Purifier was a national treasure was no overstatement.
As Lin Ke applied the makeup, he suddenly remembered: “The patient booked for this afternoon—do you know them? How did they get an appointment?”
Luo Shizhen closed his eyes. “I don’t know them. Isn’t Cheng Yunshao in charge of being the assistant? He booked them. We looked at the symptoms in advance; it should be contamination.”
“No wonder. The advertisement you guys put out earlier said you could treat contamination…”
Lin Ke muttered, “I thought you guys were trying to be scammers and were just bragging. If you can actually cure someone, you’ll definitely become famous across the country overnight.”
“Yeah, but there are so many patients. I can’t possibly treat every single one of them.”
The eye makeup was finished. Luo Shizhen opened his eyes and took out his tablet to show Lin Ke the data:
“According to statistics, there are an average of about 350,000 ordinary people contaminated every week. Out of these 350,000, a small portion survives through their own resistance, a tiny portion becomes Awakeners, the vast majority die in agony, and another small portion alienates into anomalies.”
“I was thinking, if I could make a pill that treats contamination, just like making a medicinal ball, so that if someone is contaminated, they can just eat one and be purified… then this identity of mine should become even more popular, right?”
Lin Ke was amazed. “If you can really produce a pill like that, you won’t just be famous in Xia Country; you’ll probably be famous all over the world.”
Luo Shizhen became even more determined to create such a pill.
Lin Ke himself hadn’t been contaminated. Being an Awakener, he was quite sensitive to contamination. Sometimes when he was walking down the street, if his Qi suddenly felt uncomfortable, he would turn around and leave immediately, no matter what he was doing.
It was precisely by relying on such “survival through cowardice” methods that he had lived until now, his body clean and practically untouched by contamination.
But he had seen others get contaminated—both Awakeners and ordinary people. Basically, once infected, there was no way out; they could only wait for death.
If there really were a pill… Lin Ke got excited just thinking about it.
He asked enthusiastically, “What stage are you at now?”
Luo Shizhen: “I failed at the first step. I’ve failed thirty-five times so far. I plan to try the thirty-sixth time tomorrow.”
Lin Ke: “…”
That didn’t sound like something that was very likely to succeed.
Afraid that Luo Shizhen would feel bad, he comforted him, “It’s okay. Failure is the mother of success.”
Luo Shizhen was quite alright. “It doesn’t matter. If thirty-five times doesn’t work, I’ll try thirty-six. If thirty-six doesn’t work, I’ll try thirty-seven.”
Compared to others, Luo Shizhen had grown up amidst failure.
When children his age could babble and talk, he didn’t even know how to smile.
When others could already run around on their short little legs, Luo Shizhen had just learned to crawl.
When people were speaking fluently, Luo Shizhen was still popping out words one by one.
Once he started school, he was a step behind in everything. He had to experience several times more failure than others just to reach an average standard.
So, even after thirty-five failures, Luo Shizhen remained very calm.
Even his high school teachers used to say that sometimes he seemed like a child who hadn’t grown up, while other times he seemed like an old man who had lived many years. No matter what happened, he could always find a way to make peace with himself.
He seemed clumsy, yet his thoughts were sometimes exceptionally profound.
Luo Shizhen smiled as he looked at the mirror, watching himself gradually turn into an old man.
“Anyway, I’m a Purifier myself, and I have plenty of time. I can take it slow and keep trying.”
“If it works, that’s great. If it doesn’t, there’s no loss. Our current plan is enough to make a name for ourselves. We should be able to complete the mission.”
Hearing these words, Lin Ke’s own heart became inexplicably peaceful.
He thought once again: My god, is this a Purifier?
He felt his makeup application technique become even steadier.
“Finished. Change your clothes.”
Luo Shizhen stood up, changed into his Tai Chi suit, and faced the mirror, revealing a confident and benevolent smile.
If anyone were to open the advertisement program Zou Tangzheng had appeared in, they would find that this smile was identical to his.
Even the curve of the mouth was exactly the same.
Master Zhen Shiluo had arrived.
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