Chapter 412: Jin Province
As soon as he heard her name, Lu Weiyi immediately remembered this girl—she was the daughter of Old Seventh Luo from the Hunter’s Guild.
He nodded, and she continued, “Would it be possible to ask you a few questions? I…”
Luo Feifei pursed her lips. “There are some things I’d really like to ask you.”
Lu Weiyi looked at Lu Xiao in confusion. Lu Xiao didn’t know what was going on either, so he asked straightforwardly, “Why don’t you tell me first?”
He signaled Cong Qing to take the others inside the villa, while he and Lu Weiyi stayed to listen.
Luo Feifei only hesitated briefly. “I wanted to ask—has Xu Yi’s ability advanced?”
Lu Weiyi thought for a moment and shook his head. “Are you close to advancing?”
“Yes, I can feel it coming,” Luo Feifei admitted frankly. “Healing-type advancements are extremely difficult and excruciatingly painful. The few healing-types who survived the early days rarely use their abilities excessively. But…”
The Hunter’s Guild had many ability users and treated them with prestige. But now that they’d been dispersed into other squads, even though Lu Xiao provided her with everything she needed—shelter, living conditions—the prerequisite was that she had to give her all to heal her teammates. Her energy was constantly depleted, and even with controlled intake of crystal cores, she was nearing the edge of advancement.
“I heard there was a healing-type in your Capital team who advanced safely. Can I ask what method you used?” Luo Feifei looked at Lu Xiao for support, sensing she might be overstepping.
“Xu Yi advanced earlier than you, so… is he nearing advancement too?” Lu Weiyi asked a seemingly unrelated question.
“Most likely. When I first met him, he was already B-rank. He was one of the earliest B-rank healing-types. If he’s been absorbing crystal cores regularly, he’s probably on the verge of advancing by now,” Luo Feifei said.
Lu Weiyi immediately thought of the person who had been on leave recently.
“I don’t really have a special method. Our teammate’s advancement was also very painful. But if you trust me, you can come with me to Half Moon Bay Base, and I’ll do my best to help you through it.”
Luo Feifei looked hopefully at Lu Xiao. He nodded. “I’ll arrange to send her there.”
As soon as they entered the villa—before even eating—Lu Weiyi immediately asked Li Zhuang about Xu Yi’s condition.
“He’s been really down lately. We were pressed for time, so I didn’t manage to ask what happened,” Li Zhuang said. “What’s going on?”
Lu Weiyi explained what Luo Feifei had just told him. Li Zhuang suddenly stood up but, realizing the seriousness of the situation, quickly sat back down like nothing had happened. “Will he be able to advance safely at the base?”
Lu Weiyi couldn’t guarantee it. “Let’s contact the base and have someone ask how he’s doing.”
“Why wouldn’t he say anything about something this serious?” Ning Yuan clicked his tongue and dashed off with Cong Qing to contact the base.
Li Zhuang remained silent, visibly worried.
Lu Weiyi was much more efficient. He wrote a note and placed it on the spatial peach tree. Not long after, Tao Tao (the tree spirit) noticed it and passed it to Zhuang Mingxu.
Even before the report reached him officially, Zhuang Mingxu already knew the situation and immediately went to find Xu Yi.
There were only two healing-types at the base—practically national treasures. No matter the reason, the base would absolutely try to help Xu Yi advance. But if he didn’t speak up, no one could understand what he was going through.
By the time Zhuang Mingxu knocked on the door, Xu Yi had been lying in bed for countless days.
The once-refined young man now looked visibly thinner, as if he’d been abused.
“What’s going on?” Zhuang Mingxu wondered. The military base provided meals via card access, and healing-types were paid well. There was no way he was starving.
“It’s nothing… does the hospital need me? I…” Xu Yi said weakly.
Zhuang Mingxu signaled for him to sit and studied him carefully. “Are you about to advance?”
Xu Yi froze, saying nothing.
“You’re scared of advancing?” Zhuang Mingxu probed. “Is that why you’re not even eating?” Mutated plants and animals contained some energy—when someone was on the brink of advancement, even a small energy intake could trigger it.
Xu Yi sat across from him, fiddling with his fingers, looking completely lost—like a child.
Realizing Xu Yi was roughly the same age as Lu Weiyi, Zhuang Mingxu sighed. “Come on, talk to me. On a larger scale, you’re vital to the base—I’ll do everything I can to help you. On a smaller scale, we’re on the same team. If something happens to you, I can’t just sit by.”
Xu Yi’s shoulders slumped. Gone was his usual fighting spirit. After a long silence, he asked in a daze, “Will I die?”
“The base will do everything it can to keep you alive,” Zhuang Mingxu replied, though he didn’t give a definite answer—because no one could promise that.
“I’ve seen so many healing-types die,” Xu Yi said, curling into a ball with his head in his hands.
When he first arrived at Capital Base, he was already B-rank. He had been with Li Ji at the time—a ruthless man. The only way to survive was to be useful. Xu Yi was determined to live with dignity and one day take revenge on the Xu family. He pushed himself to survive each brutal advancement.
But being in a new, unfamiliar place still meant being used. Because his rank was higher, he was repeatedly forced to help other healing-types advance. And nearly every single one of them died in front of him.
Blood and flesh splattering, spraying across his face—those memories were nightmares he couldn’t shake.
After Dean successfully advanced and his own powers grew slowly, he had begun to forget that trauma. But now that he could feel advancement coming again, the terror returned in full force.
He couldn’t stop having nightmares. He couldn’t stop remembering the feeling of exploding from within.
It was too terrifying.
“Will I be next?” Xu Yi asked in a low voice.
“How far along are you? Are you on the verge of advancing?” This kind of person had clearly been frightened too many times, and with no one around to make him feel safe or trusted, any kind of reassurance was meaningless.
Xu Yi shook his head. “I just feel like I’m almost saturated… but I don’t know exactly when.”
“Xu Yi, I’m not an ability user, so maybe what I say won’t hit the mark—but I can tell you one fact: no matter how much you try to avoid it, the energy inside an ability user will continue to accumulate. Even if you don’t want to advance, the energy will eventually force you to,” Zhuang Mingxu said. Xu Yi looked even more dejected after hearing that.
“But we can make comprehensive preparations to face every possible outcome.”
Xu Yi gave a bitter smile, tears in his eyes. “But there’s no other healer to reference. I can only become someone else’s reference.”
“So hiding here is your solution?”
Xu Yi stayed silent.
Zhuang Mingxu saw that he was panicked and completely lost. He asked directly, “Who do you want to accompany you through the advancement?”
Xu Yi opened his mouth but didn’t know who to say. The teammates in the military squads treated him very well. They didn’t scheme or manipulate. When facing zombies on missions, they always protected him behind them—some even shielded him from being bitten.
He was very happy here, and it felt like a different life. But when facing life and death, the one person he thought of…
He searched his mind and found only that lazy, unserious guy.
Zhuang Mingxu observed his expression and asked, “Li Zhuang?”
Xu Yi didn’t deny it.
This outing was a coal excavation mission, and they definitely needed earth-type users. The helicopter had limited capacity, and it wasn’t safe outside, so only high-level users were allowed—Li Zhuang was an unavoidable choice.
Pulling him back now would be a waste, especially since no one knew how soon Xu Yi would advance. It could be a day, or even a month.
“One week. Can you hold off for one week before advancing?” Zhuang Mingxu asked. “Honestly, if not, I’ll call him back immediately. Your safety comes first.”
Xu Yi thought about it, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. “I can.”
“Alright. I’ll make sure Li Zhuang is back within a week no matter what.” Zhuang Mingxu glanced around his room. “You’ll stay at Nakajima for the next few days. There are more people around to watch over you, and Brother Xi can cook regular meals so you and Aiyi can eat together and reduce your energy absorption.”
After efficiently making arrangements, Zhuang Mingxu took Xu Yi to Nakajima and passed the information to Lu Weiyi.
When Li Zhuang heard that Xu Yi thought of him in his most critical moment, his expression didn’t change much, but if you looked closely, you could see the corners of his mouth slightly lifted. One leg was crossed over the other, bouncing casually—he looked incredibly pleased.
“Do you want to head back now?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“No need. I’ll go with you. Let’s hurry up, and when the time comes, I’ll be there for his advancement,” Li Zhuang added. “That’ll give me more peace of mind.”
After saying that, he looked regretfully at the others. “But it means your training time might be cut short.”
“But don’t worry,” Li Zhuang said with a proud smile, “I’ll do my best to help you all.”
Li Qing looked at the three people next to him and suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
With Xu Yi’s situation hanging over them, they decided to leave right after the meal. Even though Zheng Yi and Zhao Qiang tried to persuade them to stay, it ended with just a few brief words.
The route from Half Moon Bay to Capital had mainly consisted of cities even before the apocalypse, with very little forest. Now, the mutated animals were mostly land-based. In the two hours they traveled, they didn’t experience any aerial attacks.
But as they continued southwest, they began passing through stretches of primeval forest—now paradise for mutated creatures. They steered clear of the towering jungles, yet still triggered attacks from mutant trees.
Clumps of dirt, rocks, even fruits and vines—all could be used as weapons. Antonio, the experienced pilot, twisted and turned the helicopter wildly. Even so, others still worried about the vines wrapping around the aircraft. Zhou He, seated above, got so shaken he ended up vomiting.
From time to time, giant birds flapped toward them. They had to open the windows and fire off abilities despite the strong wind. Fireballs were risky in the dry summer, earth-type powers were nearly useless in the air, leaving only metal and water types to be used.
As for Lu Weiyi, he used all his abilities solely to protect the two helicopters from potential ambushes.
They had to land once more to refuel. Finally, the group barely made it into Jin Province and landed safely.
