The debris from the volcano eruption poured continuously down on the area.
By evening, the accumulated water in the forest had flooded the cave, so Luo Yuan and the gang had to move once again.
The forest was a flat plane. At such short notice, all Luo Yuan could do was pick a large tree and carve a hole with his sword big enough enough for them to fit in.
Everyone was drenched and freezing. Wang Xiaguang who was already weak because of her injuries, had spiked a high fever by nightfall. Not even dark blue level blood could bring it down.
Luo Yuan was beyond worried, but there was nothing else he could do. He could only leave things to God and Wang Xiaguang herself.
The irritating pitter-patter of the raindrops seemed to never end. Everyone had curled up in the innermost corner of the damp, dark tree trunk, and were watching the neverending darkness outside with blank expressions.
Huang Jiahui hugged Wang Xiaguang tightly, her face pale and cold from sharing her body heat with her.
She did not understand her own actions. She wasn’t sure if she was taking a precaution for Luo Yuan or was actually feeling pity for the girl. Maybe it was a bit of both.
Luo Yuan squatted by the entrance, watching the ferocious flood in a trance. His bones had nearly recovered. Other than some pain in his internal injuries, he felt alright.
However, his mood was not any better. The amount of pressure on him felt suffocating.
The hardships outside could never compare to the comforts of home.
He was already feeling the wear and tear after only a few dozen kilometers. The continuous struggles along the way had brought down the high spirits he’d originally had when they’d left, leaving him both mentally and physically exhausted.
Ning Xiaoran had already passed away. Who would be next? Wang Xiaguang?
If she could not hold on and make it through the day, then perhaps… He got an immensely anxious feeling just thinking about it.
“Luo Yuan, come quick! She doesn’t look good!” Huang Jiahui called for him anxiously.
Shocked, Luo Yuan quickly turned and felt her forehead. “Why is she getting hotter?”
Wang Xiaguang was red like a cooked shrimp, her body burning at a temperature higher than 40 degrees Celsius and trembling nonstop.
“Where’s the blood? Let her drink some blood,” Luo Yuan said hurriedly.
“There’s no more left. It was finished half an hour ago,” Huang Jiahui said worriedly, “Her wounds are already cankering. It’s probably because of the rain.”
Luo Yuan paced back and forth restlessly, finally speaking after a while, “Clean her wounds again right away. I’ll go get more blood.”
Huang Jiahui pulled on his shirt at once, unease flashing in her eyes. “It’s raining heavily outside. It’s flooded everywhere! What are you going to do? There’s no more beasts around, let alone high-level ones!”
“Don’t worry about me, I’m not going anywhere. The lizard is also a fourth level beast. It’s blood will do. You take care of Wang Xiaguang, I’ll be back right away,” Luo Yuan said before he jumped out into the rain.
The water reached his thighs as he carefully maneuvered himself forward, sensing the situation in the water.
The giant lizard was not able to sleep like the previous day. It was rather distressed as it had never experienced such a flood. As it saw Luo Yuan heading over, it cried pitifully, delighted to see him. How could it have known that its heartless owner was not there see to it, but to retrieve its blood?
Luo Yuan approached the lizard and felt around its foot for a crescent-shaped wound that had barely recovered two days ago. The scales there had not grown back yet. Luo Yuan inspected it for a minute before he slashed open the wound once more with his sword.
Blood gushed out from the wound and into the bucket he was holding.
Feeling the pain, the lizard fidgeted before turning its head around and staring at Luo Yuan. It looked like it was feeling wronged and confused.
Luo Yuan did not even lift his head. He was too concentrated on retrieving the blood.
The muscle on the lizard's leg contracted on instinct in an effort stop the bleeding after a while. Luo Yuan impatiently slashed the wound open again, cutting a gash several dozen centimeters deep.
The lizard let out a wail, but remained unmoving, too afraid of Luo Yuan to resist.
Faintly, he felt a weak warmth flowing into his body. It was so weak, it was almost unnoticeable. He thought it was an illusion at first, but he felt it more distinctly the second time.
“Life absorption! This is life absorbtion. Damn it, how could I forget?” Luo Yuan slapped himself harshly, immensely frustrated. “If I’d thought of it earlier, Wang Xiaoguang would not have had to suffer so much. There’s still time, though.”
Luo Yuan forgot all about collecting the blood. Carrying the half-full bucket, he rushed towards the huge tree.
“You got the blood?” Huang Jiahui breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Luo Yuan.
Luo Yuan nodded and put down the wooden bucket. He observed the tree hole, which was about three meters wide and three meters deep. He had almost emptied the middle of the tree. Trees like this had been rare before the apocalypse, but they were a common sight now.
Luo Yuan stabbed his sword into the tree, feeling an even weaker warmth flowing into his body through the handle. No wonder he had not felt it when he’d been digging into the middle of the tree trunk earlier. The weak flow had been too insignificant to notice if he was not focused.
Even though the effect seemed miniscule to him, it would probably be sufficient for a normal person like Wang Xiaguang.
He thrust the sword deeper inside while he told Huang Jiahui, “Move Wang Xiaguang over. Let her hold the handle.”
Huang Jiahui looked at Luo Yuan in confusion, but she did exactly what he had asked her to. “She’s running a really high fever. Why do you want her to hold that cold handle?”
The good thing about Huang Jiahui was that she could distinguish right from wrong clearly and she had absolute faith in Luo Yuan. Even when she was utterly confused, she would only ask questions after doing what she’d been told.
Everyone else was also looking at Luo Yuan with the same puzzled expression.
Luo Yuan brushed them off, “Let’s see if it works. I’ll think of something else if it doesn’t.”
Huang Jiahui assumed it was some superstitious custom from Luo Yuan’s hometown. He was just doing anything and everything in his power to save Wang Xiaguang. She let Wang Xiaguang gulp down a few mouthfuls of blood and hugged her tightly.
“Brother Luo, when will the rain stop?” Wang Shishi asked weakly after a while. Her large eyes were bloodshot. She was no longer the high-spirited girl that she once was.
Luo Yuan looked at Wang Shishi and sighed. “Don’t worry, it will probably stop by tomorrow morning,” he tried to comfort her.
Wang Shishi forced a smile as a hint of disappointment flashed across her eyes. “I miss our house,” she said softly.
Everyone’s expression turned solemn. It was true. Maybe they should not have come out at all. It was better to live feebly counting down each day than to live adventurously with lurking danger everywhere they looked. Life was too fragile for normal people. It was fragile to the point that a small accident in the wild could cause them to die. No one dared state this out loud, even though they were thinking about it.
Luo Yuan looked at the unconscious Wang Xiaguang, speaking after some time, “It’ll be fine once we’re past the hard days.”
Wang Shishi grabbed Luo Yuan’s hand and placed it on her face. She snuggled against it gently, not saying a word.
“Quick, look! Her wounds are healing!” Huang Jiahui suddenly exclaimed ten minutes later, breaking the passive mood.
Luo Yuan pulled his hand away from Wang Shishi and looked at Wang Xiaguang’s calf. The wound seemed to have decreased in size as it began to scab. It was no longer filled with pus. Luo Yuan felt her forehead. While it was still hot, her temperature was no longer burning.
At least her life had been saved, Luo Yuan sighed in relief. It seemed that it had really worked.
Huo Dong and the other men turned around before Luo Yuan lifted Wang Xiaguang’s shirt and gently untied her bandage. It seemed that her largest wounds were also getting better.
“How can she be recovering so fast?” Cao Ling asked in bewilderment. She rushed to explain what she had meant before there was a misunderstanding, “I mean, her recovery is not normal. It’s impossible for someone to heal like that on their own.”
“Maybe she has evolved!” Huang Jiahui said excitedly without thinking. The fact that Wang Xiaguang was her love rival had long been forgotten after taking care of her for so long.
“Stop your wild guesses. It’s because of the sword. It changed after I synthesized the tree bark into it. It seems like it can absorb energy from other living things to heal injuries. I’ve only just confirmed it now,” Luo Yuan explained everything. The sword could heal any one of them in the future.
The women’s eyes radiated with an astonishing glow.
Even Wang Shishi, who had looked lifeless until then, was glowing.
Cao Ling subconsciously touched her hideous left cheek, looking eager.
Huang Jiahui’s eyes also glowed with excitement, her gaze burning with passion.
The attention women paid to their looks was something no man could understand. Especially when it came to these women, who had already been beautiful to begin with. The wounds and scars left behind by the maggots had been a huge blow for them.
Luo Yuan’s words were like the first ray of dawn after a long night. It had ignited the dying fire in their hearts.
The oppressive atmosphere was gone in an instant, the tight tree hole filling with joy.
Everyone witnessed the miracle of Wang Xiaguang’s calf wound becoming smaller and smaller, until all that was left was a dark-colored scab. As the fever subsided, the girl woke up. After four hours, the scab came off, revealing fresh, rosy skin.
Seven hours later, the large wound on her back had also healed completely.
It was 3 a.m., but no one was feeling sleepy. Excitement was written all over their faces as rare laughs and jokes filled the air.
What made them even happier was that the rain had finally stopped.
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