PSW - Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Zheng Yi completely ignored Zero One's question.
Zero One looked at the crowd and saw Jiang Jue. [Jiang Jue isn't with Li Yunhan and the others. Perhaps something happened at the survivor camp?]
'Hmph~ But what does that have to do with me?' With a flick of her fingertip, blood frantically wrapped around Jiang Jue's body, instantly freezing into ice. The sharp, piercing pain in her mind intensified, as if her very soul were being cut and torn, yet Zheng Yi's expression remained unchanged as she calmly recited the mantra for the dead.
With a bang, ice crystals scattered everywhere.
Zheng Yi found it very difficult to directly control the blood inside an ability user's body. As for ordinary people, while she could control it, it required immense concentration and consumed a great deal of energy. However, once their minds broke or they were severely injured, she could connect with the water in their bodies much more easily. When they died, that protective "resistance" vanished.
She could do it that way, but... it was unnecessary for now.
After all, for Zheng Yi, killing people this way was too inefficient. Besides, her goal now wasn't just to liberate their souls, but to better squeeze every last drop of value from them, to correct their souls, making them piously and profoundly believe in her, to see her as the Saint.
This was... a feast for harvesting Saint Points.
At a certain moment, the special notification sound chimed again.
[Ding! Detected that Host's cumulative Saint Points have surpassed 500! Reward: Saint Exemption x1]
【Saint Exemption】: Use on a designated target. They will no longer be included in the system's judgment. You will be unable to gain any Saint Points from them, nor will you receive any penalties for violating your persona in front of them.
Zero One wasn't surprised. This was a cumulative reward; one was granted for every five hundred Saint Points. It was a sort of backdoor for the host, wasn't it? After all, previous hosts had also wanted a safe harbor to rest in, or had encountered troublesome enemies who saw through their facade but couldn't be killed. In those situations, this exemption was crucial.
But for Zheng Yi to get one... Zero One looked at the people on the field who had seen through her mask, only to be mercilessly brainwashed, contribute their three rounds of Saint Points, and then be ruthlessly liberated... It really couldn't imagine what use this thing would be to Zheng Yi.
Oh, maybe she could use it on Zhu Lanyuan! She might guess Zheng Yi's identity. As Zero One was thinking this, it saw that Zheng Yi hadn't even glanced at the newly acquired exemption and had simply closed her eyes to continue chanting the Great Compassion Mantra.
Before dawn, Zheng Yi departed the campus, cloaked in the night.
The boundless blood stained the red running track an even deeper crimson and gave the green turf an eerie hue. But the water quickly dissipated, leaving only dried bloodstains behind. On the field lay desiccated corpses in kneeling positions, headless corpses toppled over, some hacked to pieces, others pierced by icicles... Though there were only a dozen or so bodies, they displayed a bizarre variety of different death poses.
Whether pious or frenzied, they had all breathed their last before the break of dawn.
And when the first ray of sunlight shone down, the dormitory door was pushed open. One by one, women with faces pale from lack of sun emerged. Most were bundled up tightly, their eyes timid and uneasy, but some had a fiery hatred in their gazes that even the sight of Yang Zhengming's corpse could not extinguish. They stepped through that door, felt the faint whisper of the first breeze, and watched the rosy sunlight pierce through the clouds. At this moment, it was as if they were reborn.
Upon seeing the field full of corpses, some of them cried out in alarm, while others retched. But after the initial shock, they looked to Zhu Lanyuan, and someone asked, "Did... did the Saint do this?"
"Do we need to dispose of all these bodies?"
Yes. Zhu Lanyuan told them the truth: the Saint had killed Yang Zhengming, killed those ability users. The Saint had saved them.
Perhaps the people here didn't connect this "Saint" with the literal meaning of the word. Perhaps they just thought it was a codename or an alias. But it didn't matter. Whatever the meaning of "Saint," their gratitude came from the bottom of their hearts.
Their initial reaction to the gruesome state of the corpses was fear; they might even feel terror and disgust at the scene. This was a physiological response, perhaps unavoidable. But it didn't cause them to form any negative impression of the Saint. In fact, they felt a little ashamed and guilty for their reactions and tried hard to face it head-on.
"...Take anything useful here. Take it all. Then, we'll burn this place to the ground." Zhu Lanyuan carefully examined the state of each corpse. She could hardly imagine how powerful a water ability user the woman from yesterday was. How vast was her sea of spiritual energy? What a terrifying mental toll such power and its application must take. Water-type, water-type... Back at the shelter, many water ability users simply supplied water to earn contribution points. Some of them didn't even consider themselves to have any combat strength.
"Come back with me to Humanity's Light Shelter. I'll find a way to get you all settled. I personally have a lot of contribution points," Zhu Lanyuan said. "There's also a healing ability user at the shelter. With her help, the risks of a medical abortion will be much lower."
In any case, please live on bravely.
In this apocalypse, living is much harder than dying.
Only by living can there be infinite possibilities.
Zheng Yi used her ability to thoroughly cleanse herself, washing away every trace of the smell of blood. She didn't even spare her clothes, leaving no flaws behind.
She returned to the car. The puppet was destroyed the moment it was recalled, as it was a single-use item. But the pain etched into her soul did not cease; instead, it flared up with increasing intensity. Zheng Yi lowered her gaze, acting as if she were unaffected. She silently draped the small blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the seat. Relaxing her body, she looked at her personal system panel.
Host: Zheng Yi
Saint Points: 495
Inventory Slots: 5
Special Ability: Water
Her cumulative Saint Points had passed five hundred, but what was the exact number...
[577,] Zero One answered. [But I suggest you rest immediately. You can check the rest tomorrow after returning to the shelter.] As it said this, Zero One checked on Yu Yinan and, in the back seat, Chu Yi and Grandma Xu for Zheng Yi. They all seemed to be fast asleep, completely unaware that Zheng Yi had left.
With 500 Saint Points, she could buy a beginner-level ability from the store. Of course, abilities purchased from the store wouldn't level up with use. Their proficiency and control were all locked at the beginner level. There was only one way to upgrade them: spend more Saint Points.
Zheng Yi glanced at the 70 Saint Points needed for the next inventory slot but ultimately decided not to spend them right away. Her body gradually relaxed, allowing her to feel the mental anguish deeply and clearly. Then, she let her mind relax as well.
Just then, her hand was grasped. Zheng Yi's eyes snapped open. She saw that the sleeping Yu Yinan seemed to have reached out by habit, grabbing her hand from under the small blanket. A steady warmth flowed from the touch.
"Jiejie?" After a moment of silence, Zheng Yi tentatively called out in a low voice, but the other woman didn't seem to react at all. She frowned slightly. Thinking of those ten Saint Points and the hidden achievement, she stared at Yu Yinan's face with a scrutinizing gaze. After a long moment, she let out a silent, derisive chuckle, relaxed her body, and went back to sleep.
Overusing her ability, no matter how high her level of control, took a real toll on her mind. Pain? Fatigue? Discomfort? She could perhaps endure it all, but even with her endurance, she still needed to rest.
She'd deal with it tomorrow.
In any case, she hadn't broken character. Nothing else mattered.
Chu Yi woke up very early. Worried about the base and the missing members, she was wide awake almost as soon as the sun came up.
And once Chu Yi was awake, everyone else woke up too.
Zheng Yi was not in good shape. She had barely managed two or three hours of sleep, and the piercing pain in her mind hadn't eased in the slightest. But the good thing was, as long as she didn't use her ability again, the pain wouldn't worsen.
She lowered her head to hide the bloodshot veins in her eyes, feigning a yawn as if she just hadn't slept well. Then she hugged Yu Yinan's arm, rubbing against it coquettishly. "Jiejie~"
"Mm, you move over here. I'll drive." For some reason, Yu Yinan's voice was a little hoarse. She seemed to realize it too and tried clearing her throat a few times, but it didn't help. She got out of the car, took some bread and crackers from the trunk to give to Chu Yi and Grandma Xu, and handed them bottled water as well. "Let's hit the road back to the shelter first. We'll make do with this for now, just to have something in our stomachs."
Chu Yi and Grandma Xu naturally had no objections. However, Chu Yi didn't take what Yu Yinan offered. She opened her own backpack and took out compressed biscuits and a few scallion pancakes wrapped in oil paper. "You don't have to give me any, I brought food. Want to try these scallion pancakes? Yun Lingjian made them herself." As she spoke, she handed one to Grandma Xu, then offered them to Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan to try.
"Who's Yun Lingjian?" Zheng Yi asked, taking a bite. A rich scallion aroma burst forth as she chewed. The pancake had a nice texture, but it was cold. It would have been even better fresh.
"..." Chu Yi then remembered that these two were newcomers and knew nothing about the shelter's inner workings. "She's my colleague. You know how our shelter does research? She's the head of the research projects. Building the library and school was her idea, too."
"She's a very nice young lady," Grandma Xu said with a smile, munching on her pancake. "She often does her best to help the children and the elderly at the shelter, and she also provides free treatment for ordinary people in her spare time."
Zheng Yi smiled. "Wow~ Then I'd really love to meet this jiejie~"
Even though her head was splitting, her disguise was flawless. She was even in the mood to joke with Zero One: 'See? This Yun Lingjian seems like she'd be a good Saint, too.'
[No way,] Zero One said sullenly. [I'm bound to you. You're the best choice. No matter how suitable anyone else is, they're not my host.]
"It's usually hard to see her. If you want to meet her, I can introduce you." Chu Yi waved her hand magnanimously, handing a pancake to Yu Yinan before lowering her head to take a big bite of her own.
"Stop chatting and focus on eating," Yu Yinan said to Zheng Yi. "Come to the passenger seat."
"Oh, okay~" Zheng Yi replied with a smile, switching places with Yu Yinan.
Just then, Chu Yi, who had just taken a couple of bites, suddenly looked up at Yu Yinan as if she'd remembered something. Seeing no particular reaction from her, she went back to eating.
...No, why was she worried she'd said the wrong thing and made Yu Yinan jealous of Zheng Yi again? They weren't a couple! They were just sisters! Chu Yi twisted open her water bottle and took a few sips, forcing her gaze away from the two of them.
No, she'd been seeing lesbians everywhere lately. She couldn't let her imagination run wild. The mission was more important.
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