Chapter 93
Time slipped away amidst killing anomalies, teammates healing each other, teammates beating each other up, and then recovering only to continue killing more anomalies.
It was a little different from the intensive training back at school, yet remarkably similar.
Both were exhausting, equivalent to doing a massive amount of physical labor every day. This happened to be Luo Shizhen’s specialty, so he felt pretty good about it.
Battling anomalies wasn’t nearly as flashy or cool as one might imagine, especially since they were mostly facing hordes of low-level anomalies.
During combat, Luo Shizhen had been forced to climb trees by hordes of anomalies that released foul stenches.
Furthermore, while fighting anomalies draped in rotting flesh, a flock of crows had cawed loudly as they competed with them for food.
These crows weren’t afraid of humans at all. They flapped their wings excitedly; while the Guardians below were in a chaotic melee with the anomalies, the crows would dive down from time to time to peck off a few bites of rotting flesh.
“This is insane! Won’t these crows get polluted?!”
Xiao Shan’s line of sight had been blocked by the crows several times in a row. In his fury, he crushed a scrapped car into a giant metal net, sweeping all the crows up in one go.
The flock of crows was pinned to the ground, cawing and struggling, yet there were still daredevil crows that valued food over their own lives, extending their beaks through the gaps in the net to peck at the rotting flesh on the ground.
“Big Brother! Your net is being broken!”
Luo Shizhen’s sharp eyes caught sight of a red-eyed crow using its beak to forcefully peck open the metal net, hopping out to bury its head in the rotting flesh once more.
An ordinary crow could never possess such strength.
Xiao Shan yanked up an iron bar, which rapidly deformed in his grip, morphing into a heavy saber. Holding it in his hand, he stared warily at the red-eyed crow.
“Cheng Yunshao, test its pollution level!”
Cheng Yunshao tossed over a detector. Without even turning his head, Xiao Shan caught it with pinpoint accuracy and scanned the red-eyed crow.
He had only intended to go through the motions, but he let out a soft sound of surprise. “It’s not polluted? There’s even a Qi reaction?”
Luo Shizhen leaned over as well. “Is it an Awakener crow?”
The red-eyed crow was significantly larger and more ferocious than the others. It quickly finished off the rotting flesh on the ground and even pecked a rotting-flesh anomaly to death.
Once it had eaten its fill, it flapped its wings, tilted its avian head slightly, and looked at the Guardians before it.
Then, it hopped lightly, moving step by step toward Luo Shizhen.
“Shizhen, be careful,” Chu Xiao warned from behind.
Luo Shizhen gave an acknowledgement. Whipping out his left hand, his right hand held his dagger high.
He squatted down. The red-eyed crow approached dociley, allowing him to pat its head.
“It’s really friendly, huh?”
Luo Shizhen was pleasantly surprised. The red-eyed crow affectionately turned its head, seemingly enjoying his touch very much.
Rong Nian also wanted to lean in out of curiosity; he had a pretty good fondness for animals.
But the moment he approached, the red-eyed crow was instantly startled, flapping its wings and flying away.
Rong Nian: “…”
The young Guardians looked at the departing red-eyed crow. “Is that some kind of mutant variant?”
“Maybe it really is an Awakener crow.”
Cheng Yunshao watched the crow’s distant figure, an ominous feeling rising in his heart.
If this crow had truly awakened, then the majority of other animals would likely awaken as well.
Ordinary humans would only have their living space further squeezed.
Sure enough, when night fell, a report arrived from Yongzhou, explicitly stating that as the number of anomalies across various regions increased, the concentration of Qi on Earth was rising higher and higher, and animals had joined the ranks of mutation.
More and more animals were mutating, with wild animals undergoing greater mutations. These mutated animals didn’t feed on humans; rather, they still ate whatever they used to eat before.
However, their massive size and increased strength after mutation meant they no longer avoided humans as they used to, occasionally leading to conflicts.
By the second month, plants gradually began to mutate as well.
Some smaller cities and remote villages were gradually swallowed by forests; it felt as though humanity had returned to ancient times.
Not only did humans have to face attacks from anomalies and the constant threat of pollution, but they also had to be on guard against mutated flora and fauna. A wave of despair swept across the internet.
Xia Country officially entered a state of nationwide militarized training to ensure that citizens possessed the self-defense capability to face dangers that could appear at any moment.
Unable to bear the survival pressure any longer, ordinary citizens began forming protest marches—a rare sight in Xia Country—demanding that the government clear out safe zones or at least eliminate one of the hazards.
On the internet, netizens’ remarks grew increasingly bleak. Doomsday theories and planetary extinction theories completely surged, and various religious sects began to flourish.
But for the young Guardians gathered in the South Ward, who spent all day battling anomalies and fell asleep the moment their heads hit the mattress at night due to sheer exhaustion, they weren’t affected by the outside world in the slightest.
They simply had no time to surf the web; Xiao Shan didn’t even play games anymore.
Their squad wasn’t the only one in the South Ward. Sometimes, when anomalies crossed the boundary, they would greet other squads. This was Squad 1’s only external socialization.
In this kind of closed-loop joint combat, though they continued to pummel anomalies while simultaneously beating up their own teammates, friendship was indeed gradually blossoming among them.
By the third month, Rong Nian announced with excitement one night that he had managed to get a projection system, and everyone sat down together to watch a horror movie.
Rong Nian’s greatest hobbies were reading novels and watching horror movies, but while he used to watch them alone, this time, he chose to invite all the members of Squad 1.
This was a rare vacation time, so everyone gave their full support. Even Xiao Shan, who usually didn’t get along with Rong Nian, sat down in a broad, domineering posture.
As they watched, a well suddenly appeared on the ground, and a humanoid, terrifying anomaly emerged from it.
It was the classic type: long hair draped over both front and back, dressed in red clothes. Accompanied by the crisp cracking of bones, it crawled out of the well bit by bit in a terrifying posture.
Under normal circumstances, Awakeners weren’t afraid of ghosts.
Except when seeing a “ghost” in a horror movie—
Especially since this “ghost” was actually Rank 4, and they couldn’t beat it.
Not only could they not beat it, but they also had to endure the visual impact.
The group couldn’t bother to think, only shouting and running for their lives.
Rong Nian was so frightened that his fish tail actually popped out. When Luo Shizhen scooped him up to run, he almost forgot how to use his abilities.
Halfway through his sprint, Luo Shizhen noticed Cheng Yunshao’s face was also deathly pale from fear. Sparing no effort, he slung Rong Nian over his left shoulder and Cheng Yunshao over his right, turning back to yell at Chu Xiao to run together.
Xiao Shan manifested an axe and hurled it forcefully at the red-clothed female ghost chasing behind them.
The ghost’s head was severed, and its body abruptly stiffened. The fleeing teammates all stopped, looking back with lingering panic.
In the next second, the headless body inverted itself, landing on all fours, and gave chase once more at an incredible speed.
“Ahhh, it’s still chasing! It’s still chasing!!!”
This scene was even more terrifying.
The group could only run for their lives again, until Sui An stepped in and finished off that red-clothed female ghost.
Luo Shizhen didn’t dare to stop, running all the way behind Sui An before completely relaxing.
“Sui-laoshi, we couldn’t beat it. What rank is it?”
Sui An retracted his spiritual power. “Rank 4. It’s a ghost-deity type anomaly that can level up using resentment and attack with it. It’s normal that your attacks failed; that wasn’t its physical body.”
Luo Shizhen swallowed hard, glancing at the anomaly on the ground that had transformed into a mass of black pollution mist.
“It wasn’t its physical body? No wonder my knife passed right through it. But Big Brother could cut its head off.”
Sui An: “That was because it wanted to be cut off. Perhaps it judged that losing its head would make it easier to frighten you guys—like the two students on your shoulders.”
Rong Nian’s uncharacteristically bashful voice came from his shoulder: “Can you put me down first?”
“Ah! Sorry, I forgot!”
Luo Shizhen hurriedly set Rong Nian and Cheng Yunshao down on his left and right.
Rong Nian’s face was pale from fear.
Cheng Yunshao’s face was pale from being jostled.
Once he recovered, he said, “What exactly is going on with this movie? If I didn’t see wrong, this anomaly came straight out of the film.”
Rong Nian also fished out his phone, his hands shaking as he opened it.
“It was recommended by a movie enthusiast group chat. They said it was super terrifying and incredibly good, which is why I suggested watching it.”
Lu Qiujin, who came running over while panting heavily, collapsed next to Luo Shizhen, leaning against his leg.
“It really is terrifying. That evaluation wasn’t wrong.”
Xiao Shan appeared in a flash, kicking him away. “If you want to lie down, just lie down. Stop making sneaky moves!”
Right after he finished speaking, Luo Shizhen reached out and grabbed the hand of Chu Xiao, who had just run over, naturally letting him lean against him as a pillow to rest.
“Chu Xiao, you must be tired. Take a quick break.”
Xiao Shan: “…Damn it!”
Hearing the noise, Luo Shizhen looked toward him and extended his hand.
“Big Brother, you come rest, too. I’ll help stretch your muscles.”
If it had been before, Rong Nian would have shuffled over already, but at this moment, he was staring at the member count of the movie enthusiast group chat.
“They’re all offline… This group is an active one with over a hundred members. Over a hundred people, yet every single one is offline.”
Luo Shizhen instantly grew serious, leaning in to look. “Do you have them added as friends? Why don’t you make a call to ask?”
Rong Nian gave a disdainful laugh. “I hate humans the most. How could I add humans as friends, let alone keep their contact info?”
Two minutes later, he dialed the group owner’s number.
The call was answered quickly, but it was the group owner’s mother on the line. “Hello, who is this?”
Rong Nian glanced at his teammates crowding around to listen intently to the call, and covered his face.
“I’m Lin Chao’s online friend. I wanted to ask why he went offline.”
Suppressed weeping instantly came from the other end, the voice choked with tears as she replied, “Lin Chao is dead. He watched a movie, and they said that movie was a trap set by an anomaly. Everyone who watched it died. Are you Lin Chao’s friend? Did Lin Chao recommend this movie to you? Whatever you do, don’t watch it! The moment you open it, you’ll die!”
The phone fell to the ground. Rong Nian’s expression went completely blank.
“Lin Chao… is dead?”
Everyone fell silent. Even though Rong Nian usually claimed to dislike humans, anyone could tell from his reaction that this Lin Chao was his friend.
A friend who had never been mentioned before, but whom he likely chatted with often online, sharing a common interest.
This was the first time the chaos of the outside world had reached the South Ward. Before this, no one had imagined it would arrive in this manner.
Chu Xiao let out a sigh, patting Rong Nian’s left shoulder, while Xiao Shan gently patted his right shoulder, offering silent comfort.
Rong Nian lowered his head, feeling somewhat lost and helpless.
“What are you guys doing? Lin Chao wasn’t my friend. We were just online acquaintances, and we barely even chatted usually. At most, he’d recommend some movies to me… We’ve never even met, because I knew that if we met, I’d be able to sense all sorts of negative emotions from him…”
As he spoke, a pearl went clatter onto the ground.
Rong Nian was actually quite confused himself as to why he was this sad, considering he and Lin Chao barely spoke.
But Lin Chao was the only one who didn’t dislike him and actively recommended movies to him.
Rong Nian’s hands felt cold, until he felt a wave of warmth clasp his hand.
The exquisitely handsome merman youth froze, lifting his head to see Luo Shizhen holding his hand.
Luo Shizhen pursed his lips slightly. He didn’t offer any empty words of comfort, only saying seriously:
“Let’s avenge him.”
Rong Nian was stunned. “What?”
“For Lin Chao. He was killed by this Rank 4 anomaly. As long as we find its physical body, our attacks will work. We’ll go to Yongzhou tonight to accept the mission, kill it, and avenge your friend.”
Luo Shizhen was entirely serious.
“If Chu Xiao dies, I’ll avenge him, too.”
Rong Nian snapped out of it and lowered his head. “I’ll go by myself. This has nothing to do with you guys.”
“No, we’re going together,” Xiao Shan suddenly spoke up. “For this kind of Rank 4 anomaly, missions can only be accepted as a squad. If you go alone, aren’t you just delivering yourself as a snack?”
Rong Nian looked at him with some surprise.
Lu Qiujin: “I have no objections. Fighting here or there is all the same anyway.”
Chu Xiao: “En.”
Cheng Yunshao: “Then I’m definitely tag-teaming along. My current strength still can’t do without a squad.”
Wen Hu: “Me, me, me! I want to go, too!”
With all his teammates in agreement, Luo Shizhen immediately looked toward Sui An.
Sui An met the young Purifier’s pleading gaze.
He shifted his vision away.
“What are you looking at me for? I only observe, I don’t interfere. This is your squad’s business; if you want to apply for a mission, go apply yourselves.”
“Thank you, Sui-laoshi!!”
Luo Shizhen clambered up, slowly devouring the anomaly’s pollution left on the ground.
“But before we accept the mission.”
“The fruits I’ve been cultivating are about to ripen.”
As his Qi essence devoured the pollution left by the red-clothed female ghost, the apple tree that had grown into a medium-sized tree was now covered in roughly eighty fruits.
These fruits represented how diligently Luo Shizhen had been killing anomalies and devouring pollution over the past few months.
It truly felt like cultivating a fruit tree, and the moment of harvest had finally arrived.
Luo Shizhen reached out, plucking a glowing “fruit” surrounded by white Qi essence.
“Ordinary people don’t need a large amount; a single fruit can be sliced up for use. It should be enough to supply some patients.”
“Since the phantom image of this Rank 4 anomaly is actually pollution, it means those people who died after watching the movie were killed by pollution. If there’s a pollution medicine, the situation might be different.”
The young Purifier stated seriously, “The medicine we promised to sell under the identity of Zhen Shiluo before can finally be shipped out, right?”
Translator’s Note:
- Ghost-Deity Type (鬼神形 – Guǐshén xíng): This refers to anomalies that manifest as spiritual or spectral entities rather than physical monsters. Since they aren’t physical, normal physical attacks pass right through them unless you strike their core/physical body!
See you in the next chapter!
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