Chapter 222: Healing-Type Powers
Gu Qingyue was still doing everything he could to stop the bleeding. Instruments were scattered around him, and a few drops of water occasionally fell from his face, dampening his clothes. Gu Qingji stood silently at the foot of the bed, passing tools when needed.
Lu Weiyi looked down at Dean and seemed to see a reflection of his past self.
No, that’s not right. In his past life, he didn’t even have the chance to beg for help. He never even saw Zhuang Mingxu’s corpse.
Only received the news of his death.
Back then, it was Dean holding a blank-faced Lu Weiyi, crying just like this and saying, “You still have me.”
But Lu Weiyi knew those words were meaningless. Some people, once lost, could never be replaced.
Perhaps realizing he wasn’t going to get an answer, Dean accepted his fate. He turned and crawled to Antonio’s side, took his hand, wiped away his tears, and forced a smile.
He said, “Don’t worry. I’ll… live well. Once it’s safe, I’ll go back and find my dad.”
“Yes. He loves you very much,” Antonio’s eyes were full of tenderness, his voice faint.
“He’ll probably… arrange a bunch of blind dates for me,” Dean said, tear-streaked face full of helpless resignation.
“That must be… someone outstanding.”
Dean buried his head in Antonio’s chest, his shoulders trembling violently as he fought to keep from sobbing out loud. His voice was choked, “Yeah.”
“I’ll live a long time.”
Lu Weiyi’s brows twitched, his hands unconsciously tightening into fists.
He bent down and embraced Dean, wrapping both of them in a mental shield. In a soft voice, he said, “If you want to die, why not take a gamble instead?”
Dean suddenly felt something placed in his hand—a crystal core—and heard Lu Weiyi whisper in his ear, “A healing-type core. If you awaken as a healer, you can save him. If you die, I’ll bury you two together.”
Dean’s eyes widened in shock, and without hesitation, he shoved the core into his mouth.
A massive wave of energy exploded within his body, invading every nerve cell. Dean had once seen someone disfigured by acid under his father’s hands—what he felt now was no less agonizing.
Every nerve and muscle in his body tensed and tore apart. He began convulsing involuntarily, but fearing Antonio would notice, he forcibly suppressed the reaction.
Suddenly, fragments of memories resurfaced from years ago. Back then, he was a pampered young master, the only son of a crime lord, arrogant and willful, growing up without restraint.
Then a hulking man stormed into his life. The first time he saw Antonio, he was sparring with other job candidates—black tank top, work pants, every move sharp and deadly. His expression was cold, murderous, like a demon who didn’t see other lives as worthy.
Under the scorching sun, his muscles bulged with raw strength, sweat carrying the scent of testosterone that drew Dean in against his will.
That afternoon in the backyard, the young master tilted his chin proudly and said to him, “Hey, from now on, I’m your boyfriend.”
The big man, full of murderous energy, smiled gently at him and called him “baby” in a deep voice. They would sneak into off-campus apartments to sleep together, secretly go on dates hidden from everyone’s view.
After their relationship was exposed and Dean was nearly beaten to death by his father, he escaped and asked Antonio:
“Would you travel the world with me?”
To Dean, that memory felt like reliving his whole life—but in truth, it lasted only a short while. Under Lu Weiyi’s mental suppression, Antonio didn’t even notice anything had happened.
The surging veins across Dean’s body gradually receded. His rigid body began to relax.
He raised his head, lips torn and bleeding across half his face. One trembling hand reached for Antonio’s, the other pressing firmly onto his wound, and in a hoarse voice, he said:
“I still… want to travel the world.”
As Dean successfully awakened his healing ability, the bleeding from Antonio’s injuries stopped instantly.
One had lost too much blood, the other had exhausted all his power. The two of them passed out together.
“What…?” Gu Qingyue stared dumbly at the now-healed wound.
“Healing-type?” Gu Qingji muttered softly, then looked up at Lu Weiyi.
“Seems like it. We’ll ask when he wakes up.” Lu Weiyi, still holding up the mental barrier he used to speak privately with Dean, hadn’t been noticed by anyone else. He gently laid the unconscious Dean beside Antonio and rubbed his temples, exhausted.
Dean’s situation had stirred up some painful memories from Lu Weiyi’s past life, leaving him physically and mentally drained.
Just as he was about to check on Zhuang Ai Yi’s condition, renewed sounds of battle erupted outside the carriage.
Lu Weiyi snapped back to reality—they weren’t safe yet. Mutated plants still lurked, watching.
Outside, the mutated plants that had seemed withered were now alive again, full of renewed aggression.
The plants Liu Rui had previously scorched were once more poking their heads up, poised for a surprise attack.
“Weiyi,” Xu Sa called quietly when he saw him come out, but in the end said nothing more.
Lu Weiyi didn’t answer any of the group’s questions. He wasn’t sure yet if Antonio was truly out of danger. His eyes scanned their surroundings—mutated plant figures swayed as far as the eye could see, no end in sight.
After a day of zombie assaults, everyone was at their limit. They couldn’t afford another direct fight.
“Everyone get on the vehicle. Brother Da Mu, retrace the route. Liu Rui, support him.”
As Lu Weiyi stretched his mental powers to barely maintain the barrier, the group scrambled onto the vehicle, some climbing onto the roof to guard the perimeter.
The vehicle roared to life. As it passed by Lu Weiyi, Li Zhuang reached down and, like hoisting a turtle, grabbed him and pulled him up onto the roof.
Lu Weiyi glanced down at his clothes and was glad the quality held up.
With the mental shield protecting them, the vehicle sped off. Just as Lu Weiyi’s powers reached their limit, Liu Rui unleashed a fire dragon, clearing a path to escape the encroaching mutated plant zone.
*
The nearest village was three hours away.
Entering a city would mean facing even more zombies—and none of them had the energy for that.
They had no choice but to set up camp in a desolate wilderness nearby.
Inside the carriage, everyone was celebrating Antonio’s survival. Lu Weiyi sat alone atop the carriage, a small green vine twining around him.
He held a newly harvested mental-type crystal core. Several more lay around him—most of them B-rank.
Absorbing crystals of the same attribute drastically accelerated power growth. One high-level crystal had pushed him to the peak of A-rank—just one step away from S-rank.
Li Zhuang climbed up with a beer in hand, his tired face carrying a relaxed smile.
“I’m upgrading,” Lu Weiyi said before he could get close.
“….” Li Zhuang paused, glanced at the pile of cores around him, sighed, and sat a little further away.
The low murmurs below, the surrounding silence, and the barren landscape—so empty even zombies were absent—finally gave a rare sense of safety.
The cold night wind helped keep everyone awake despite the exhaustion.
At some point, Ning Yuan came up to call everyone for dinner, and only then did they realize Lu Weiyi had quietly begun leveling up.
He became the first to reach S-rank—reviving the group’s morale after a harrowing day.
It began quietly. It ended quietly.
Even Li Zhuang, who was right beside him, didn’t notice when it happened. The subtle wave of mental energy was like a breeze—gentle, non-aggressive, and vanished in an instant, making people think it was just an illusion.
Lu Weiyi still leaned back, gazing at the starry sky. Apart from the pile of crystal nuclei around him being gone, there was no visible change to his appearance.
Someone in the carriage shouted that Antonio and Dean had woken up.
Li Zhuang glanced at Lu Weiyi and quietly returned to the carriage. The two were exchanging sweet, sticky confessions of love that made everyone nearby groan but still feel compelled to celebrate this moment of luck.
Lu Weiyi “saw” Dean practically trying to fuse into Antonio, crying in his arms and repeatedly asking if he was okay.
Antonio, eyes red and face smiling, kept kissing him and saying again and again that everything was fine.
So lucky.
Lu Weiyi thought to himself—he had never been that lucky.
There were so many healing ability users in the capital base, but not one came in time for Zhuang Mingxu.
All he could do was blankly stare at the messenger delivering the news, feeling the solid walls that once protected him collapse in an instant—leaving him helpless among a field of thorns.
He didn’t even have a place to cry.
He pulled a cigarette from his space storage, lit it, and took a deep drag—only to choke and cough violently.
Maybe it was because people were always watching out for him; his coughing hadn’t even stopped before several people had already gathered below the carriage.
Under the lights, they looked up at Lu Weiyi with nervous, worried expressions.
Caught in the awkwardness of having made a fool of himself the first time smoking, Lu Weiyi felt a little embarrassed.
“Cough… Something wrong?” Lu Weiyi calmly stubbed out the cigarette and asked as if nothing happened.
The group below exchanged glances and hesitated, no one speaking—until Zhuang Mingxu, who had been pushed forward, finally asked, “Did the upgrade go smoothly?”
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi nodded and jumped down. “Do you need to go to the bathroom?”
Zhuang Mingxu shook his head. “I heard you coughing and thought something went wrong with your upgrade, so I came to check on you.”
“No, it went smoothly.”
“Then how come there was no reaction at all?” Xu Sa blurted out.
Usually, an energy surge during a level-up is hard to control and causes major fluctuations. They hadn’t felt anything, so they assumed it had failed.
“The higher the level, the more control you need over your energy,” Lu Weiyi explained flatly. “Otherwise, wouldn’t the people nearby get hurt every time a high-level ability user upgraded?”
Not wanting to deal with everyone itching to ask what it felt like to reach S-level, Lu Weiyi pointed at the roof of the carriage and asked Zhuang Mingxu, “Wanna go sit up there for a bit?”
It was a slightly awkward invitation—even Lu Weiyi was a bit surprised at himself.
Zhuang Mingxu, never having received such an invitation, was momentarily stunned before breaking into a smile. “Sure! I’ve never been on the roof before. How do we get up?”
“I’ll carry you,” Lu Weiyi turned, easily slipped his hands behind Zhuang Mingxu’s knees, grabbed his thighs, and lifted him up once Zhuang Mingxu wrapped his arms around his neck.
Those who had just been force-fed dog food (a term for PDA) were again hit in the face with more sweetness and quietly dispersed, unwilling to be light bulbs (third wheels).
Zhuang Ai Yi, in Lin Yimu’s arms, very unhelpfully said, “Papa, Ai Yi wants to go too!”
“We’re going. How can we leave the kid behind? That’d be heartless,” Xu Sa said before anyone else could reply, and scooped up Ai Yi, heading to the roof as well.
“You should change your name to ‘No Morals,’” Ning Yuan joked, drawing laughter from the group.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t say anything, simply reached out and took Ai Yi into his arms, wrapping him in a blanket Lu Weiyi had given him.
Under the pitch-black night sky, stars twinkled. Zhuang Ai Yi kept pointing and asking which constellations they were.
Zhuang Mingxu answered patiently, even telling stories connected to them.
Lu Weiyi listened quietly for a while, then leaned his head on Zhuang Mingxu’s shoulder. As Ai Yi’s childish voice babbled on, the resentment in his heart slowly faded away.
“I think…”
“I’m also very lucky,” Lu Weiyi said softly.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t ask why—he simply reached over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
His deep, steady voice seemed to cross past lives, returning once more to stay by his side.
