Chapter 149: Offering Himself in Gratitude?
The group of five, having reaped generous rewards, took their leave. Xu Sen immediately brought Xu Yi back and, after “inquiring” about Lu Weiyi’s “taming” process, reviewed everything Lu Weiyi had done since arriving at the base.
Sitting in the main house’s hall, Xu Sen was silent for a long while, then murmured with a smile, “No wonder he’s someone Zhuang Mingxu values—he’s clearly not just a pretty face.”
“Who? Lu Weiyi?” Xu’s mother brought some freshly made tonic soup to Xu Sen and, upon hearing his words, said, “I think he was just torturing Xu Yi because he had nothing to lose. If we didn’t have things to worry about, he couldn’t have dominated us like that.”
Xu Sen took the soup, letting it cool as he gently swirled it. At her words, he shook his head slightly.
Xu’s father chimed in, “You’re underestimating him. From the moment he arrived at the base, Lu Weiyi was already calculating how to deal with us and Xu Yi. The cousin that Xu Yi took away just gave him a legitimate excuse. I believe even without that incident, Lu Weiyi would’ve found a reason to come to us.”
“What does he want? Zhuang Mingxu’s leg? Is their relationship really that deep?” Xu’s mother—an old-fashioned noblewoman—couldn’t understand emotional ties between two men and frowned in confusion.
“It’s probably about the injured man,” Xu Sen said calmly. “I suspect his spinal nerves were damaged. I saw the scan—it was only slightly misaligned. If there was no nerve damage, there would’ve been no need to repair the bones. The risks of such surgery outweigh the benefits. The only explanation is that his nerves were damaged and had to be surgically repaired, and then Xu Yi helped regenerate the nerves.”
“Dad sent over seven people with nerve injuries. The first one Xu Yi accidentally injured. Of the remaining, only two were treated—on the afternoon of the first day and afternoon of the second. I was treated on the third morning. So who was treated on the second morning? Xu Yi said that morning, he treated not only nerve damage but also broken bones. That matches exactly with the condition of the person who was hospitalized.”
“But… our people at the hospital said that guy never left the building,” said Xu’s father, explaining why he never connected any of this to Li Zhuang.
“In the apocalypse, strange and secret abilities aren’t uncommon,” Xu Sen said as he finished the soup and calmly wiped his mouth. “It’s likely that from the beginning, he came to the base to get that man treated.”
“The existence of a healing-type ability user probably hadn’t been publicly known back then, right?” asked Xu’s father.
“They had just gone out on some nearby base mission. Before leaving, that underage kid came by to collect jade, so the injury probably happened during the mission. This was the nearest place, and they thought they’d just do surgery—but then ran into a healing-type ability user,” Xu Sen explained. “At the hospital, I once asked Lu Weiyi if he was doing all this just for Zhuang Mingxu’s leg. He dodged the question.”
“But he asked us for crystal cores, and I overlooked it at the time. Thinking back now, I suspect he did that to distract from his real goal. And by asking you to find people with nerve injuries right away, he was already laying the groundwork to get me treated later.”
“…That doesn’t sound like something someone sheltered their whole life could plan or pull off,” Xu’s mother said, disturbed, patting her chest.
“He’s that calculating. We’ll need to be cautious around him. Thankfully, that healing-type core really was used on Xu Yi, and now Sen’s legs are healed,” she added.
As soon as she said this, Xu Sen and Xu’s father looked at each other.
“He didn’t…” Xu’s father held his breath.
Xu Sen pursed his lips, not daring to give a definite answer. He wasn’t sure himself.
“He gave Xu Yi over a dozen crystal cores. Xu Yi said one of them felt different from the rest. Whether it was the healing-type or not, no one can be sure… but Xu Yi’s ability has definitely doubled in strength.”
If that had also been part of Lu Weiyi’s plan… Xu Sen clenched his fists, not daring to think further.
*
Meanwhile, Lu Weiyi and his group had already left the base, heading toward Qingyuan.
Antonio, finally relaxed now that there was no risk of the healing-type core being exposed, glanced at Lu Weiyi—who had his eyes closed and was grinning like a cat who’d stolen a fish—and asked, “Aren’t you afraid they’ll figure out you never actually used the healing-type crystal core?”
“I asked someone to look into Xu Yi’s powers. At first, he could only treat up to three cases of fractured bones. When I received him, it was barely five. I raised that to over ten. What proof does he have that I didn’t use a healing core on him?”
The jade collected at Xiangning City Base, along with what Father Xu delivered, expanded Lu Weiyi’s space by more than double. Now that more than half of it had been restored, Lu Weiyi looked at the vast, empty space and felt incredibly pleased—especially since it was all free.
With a look that screamed “Are you dumb?”, Lu Weiyi kindly explained things to Antonio.
“You planned this from the start, didn’t you? Including Li Zhuang’s treatment and those experimental patients?” Antonio was hoping for a no.
“Of course. Zhuang Mingxu taught me—if you can’t see a hundred steps ahead, at least see two and think three ahead.” Lu Weiyi replied without a care.
“How do you do that?” Lu Xi asked eagerly.
Lu Weiyi never hid things from his only brother. He explained every move and every word he had made since entering the base, breaking them down for Lu Xi. He even passed on all the calculating tactics that Zhuang Mingxu had once casually mentioned in his past life.
While Li Qing and Li Zhuang stepped away for a bathroom break, Antonio felt like he was seeing Lu Weiyi in a whole new light—a seemingly sweet, unassuming dumpling stuffed with sesame paste… but far from harmless.
*
Qingyuan Base
The team that had gone out to search for salt returned to the base at 7 a.m. after a grueling four-day mission.
The military vehicle drove straight into the military zone at Longmen Villas, just as a team was preparing to head out.
“Qingji!” Gu Qingyue immediately spotted his younger brother jumping off the truck. Overjoyed, he ran up to him, giving him a once-over. “Are you hurt? Everything go smoothly?”
“No, I’m fine. Everything went well,” Gu Qingji replied.
Not far off, Xu Sa also spotted Liu Rui and smiled, ruffling his hair after Liu Rui called out “Brother Sa” with a grin. “Not bad,” he said.
“Hey, where are the others? Didn’t they ride with you?” Ning Yuan asked as he headed toward the two vehicles behind.
“…” Gu Qingji and Liu Rui fell silent, their expressions suddenly dark.
“What’s going on? Where’s the young master?” Lin Yimu asked Liu Rui anxiously.
“They… they… they…”
The more flustered Liu Rui got, the harder it was for him to speak. It was Gu Qingji who finally stepped in, saying, “They went to the Xiangning City Base. Brother Li suffered spinal nerve damage and needed immediate surgery. That base has Li Qing’s old friend and a hospital that could do the operation.”
“Spinal nerve? What happened? Did things not go well?” Gu Qingyue, being a doctor, understood better than anyone what that kind of injury meant.
“We’re not going out today,” Wu Yue immediately informed the squad they’d been working with. He turned back to the others and said, “Let’s go home first.”
The military villa wasn’t far from Zhuang Mingxu’s. To avoid repeating the story later, no one asked further questions at that moment. What should’ve been a ten-minute walk turned into a five-minute rush.
In the courtyard, Zhuang Mingxu was using his arms to lift himself onto a car seat, with Dean and Bai Miao by his side ready to help. As soon as Dean spotted the approaching group, his eyes lit up as he searched for Antonio among them.
Normally, Antonio would have rushed over to hug him the second he saw him. But now, the group had fully entered the courtyard, and Antonio was still nowhere to be seen.
“…Where’s David?”
Zhuang Mingxu also noticed that only two people had returned. Unlike the panicked Dean, he stayed calm. “Something happened?”
“Brother Li got injured, but everyone else is fine. They took him to Xiangning City Base for treatment,” Gu Qingji said.
“Okay.” Zhuang Mingxu nodded and tried once more to lift himself into the wheelchair. But his arms gave out, and he collapsed toward the ground.
“Big Daddy!” Zhuang Ai Yi cried out in alarm, rushing over. “Big Daddy, are you hurt? Did you fall hard?”
Dean tried to help but wasn’t strong enough. It was Bai Miao, using her powers, who got Zhuang Mingxu back in the wheelchair. “Are you okay, Brother Mingxu?”
“I’m fine,” Zhuang Mingxu said, shaking his head and softly reassuring Aiyi, “Big Daddy just slipped. It doesn’t hurt.”
“Let’s talk inside,” Xiong Jie said as he wheeled Zhuang Mingxu back into the villa.
Gu Qingji didn’t even stop for a drink. He immediately explained everything that had happened over the past few days.
“A zombie stronger than all of you, and it can control people? Why didn’t you run?” Xu Sa asked, confused. If you can’t win, run. That had been Lu Weiyi’s own motto.
Gu Qingji had been the only one left behind at the time and didn’t know the reason. Liu Rui stammered, “He… he… it… targeted… Weiyi…” He pointed to his forehead. “Wanted his core.”
“He targeted Little Weiyi and wanted his crystal core?” Xu Sa clarified, and Liu Rui nodded. “But why him?”
“Maybe because Lu Weiyi’s level was the highest, and his core was the strongest,” Gu Qingji answered.
Zhuang Mingxu, however, knew the real reason. Both of them were mental-type powers, and the enemy had zeroed in on Lu Weiyi, wanting his crystal core.
With so many people around him, even if Lu Weiyi could escape, others might not.
“Then how did Brother Li get hurt?” Xu Sa asked again.
Gu Qingji turned to Liu Rui. He hadn’t seen the moment Li Zhuang got hurt—everything was chaotic by then, and he never had the chance to ask.
Liu Rui haltingly described what happened, and with Xu Sa “translating” his stuttering, they finally pieced together the truth.
Li Zhuang had been injured protecting Lu Weiyi. The room fell silent for a while.
Eventually, it was Zhuang Mingxu who broke the silence. “He got hurt protecting Xiao Yi. Taking him for treatment is the least he could do. Let’s all rest for the day. I’ll go check on the crops at the Green Zone.”
“I’ll go with you, Brother Mingxu,” Bai Miao said as he pushed Zhuang Mingxu into the car.
Only after everyone had disappeared beyond the villa gates did the heavy silence in the hall gradually ease. Xi Shi brought out two bowls of cooled porridge he had cooked in the morning and handed them to Gu Qingji and Liu Rui.
Xu Sa hesitated before asking Gu Qingyue, “If it’s spinal nerve damage… can it be cured? What kind of complications would there be?”
Gu Qingyue shook his head. “Even before the apocalypse, it was difficult. Now? Almost impossible. As for the consequences… most likely… paralysis.”
“Haaa.” Xu Sa rubbed his temples. “That’s a huge favor. So, uh… let me just boldly ask—do you guys think Brother Li is the kind of person who would repay a life-saving debt… with himself?”
“…” Everyone in the hall glanced at each other, then silently turned away.
