Bounty Period

[Bounty Period]

From 00:00 on February 15th to 00:00 on February 19th

[Bounty Rules]

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168. A powerful injection.

The checkpoint between the Lower City of Lungmen is busiest at midday. Texas was stuck in traffic here for almost half an hour, and while the traffic was moving slowly, she finished her meal.

When it was her turn, the Lungmen Guard Department officers let her through without inspection, as is customary. However, by the time the two arrived at the base where the Mudrock's Squad was stationed, it was already 1:20 PM.

As Shi Lei got out of the car and walked to the gate, he saw the White Stone Golem that almost filled the entire courtyard. Like Texas, he showed a slightly surprised expression.

With Shi Lei around, there was no need to worry about encountering danger. He walked through the numerous red and white Stone Statues and arrived in front of the low building.

Lappland sat on the steps, leaning back with her hands on the ground, and tilted her head slightly to look at the two visitors.

Currently, only this posture and lying down can prevent her from being affected by the weighted stones on her limbs.

Lone Wolf will not easily reveal its belly.

When Lappland falls asleep, she usually curls up on her side, hugging her knees, rather than lying flat and relaxed like most people.

The latter sleeping position is extremely dangerous in the wild without a tent. With limbs fully extended, the most vulnerable parts of the body, such as the heart and internal organs, are exposed.

Texas stopped in her tracks, her red lips parted and she said:

"Shi Lei, you go up first."

She knew that Mudrock was powerful, so she wasn't too worried about that Sarkaz girl.

The person we need to be most careful of right now Lappland, who always has an innocent-looking smile. She often does things that defy common sense, so it's necessary to keep an eye on her.

"Okay, sure."

Shi Lei hummed in agreement and stepped onto the stairs, preparing to go to the third floor to check on Mudrock's condition.

The two Lupo' positions at this moment resembled a cleverly composed oil painting. Lappland's head was in the lower left corner, and Texas's head was in the upper right corner. They maintained a proper distance from each other, their gazes meeting at an angle.

Silence.

A long silence followed.

Finally, Lappland broke the deadlock by raising her left hand and shaking the weighted stone. This indicated that she was restrained by the stone and wouldn't suddenly attack.

"How about... we sit down and talk?"

Texas remained standing there, offering no response. She had no interest in reminiscing; the past had long been buried by the relentless passage of time.

Despite receiving no response from Texas, Lappland suddenly burst into laughter. She'd always been like this, seemingly possessing an innate melancholic air.

Chelinina

"I see no trace of that ruthless decisiveness in your eyes anymore. Has the comfortable life here in Lungmen dulled your claws?"

Texas felt a pang of sadness; now, this guy was the only one in the entire Lungmen who knew how to call her by her real name. It was her own name, yet it sounded utterly foreign to her.

"People always change, Lappland."

"Not necessarily, Chelinina."

The smile deepened at the corners of her eyes as she pointed to herself:

"Look, I haven't changed. I'm still the same Lappland. But you're not the same Chelinina anymore. Once I'm healed and this broken rock is removed, I'll still show my Fangs one day. But what about you?"

Texas shook her head, not finding it anything to be proud of. What makes us human is the ability to exercise restraint, not to abandon reason and become like wild beasts, slaughtering any enemy before us.

What's past is past.

Texas, from an outsider's perspective, found Lappland's remarks quite naive.

People may act mad in different ways, but their essence is largely the same. To those who understand madness, it is a precious truth. To those who don't, madness is simply madness.

Texas believes that Lappland, who occasionally goes mad, is more lucid than most people. Her madness is more like a persistent exploration, a desire to find the answers she seeks in the magical world.

"The old Chelinina died in the fire at that mansion in Columbia. Lappland, please don't mention that name again."

Finally, Texas looked the other person directly in the eye:

"Leave Lungmen, go back to Syracuse, go back to the wasteland, this is not a place for you."

Lappland grinned, as if he hadn't listened to any of the advice:

"Chelinina, okay... Texas, we've known each other for so many years, do you think I'll really leave now that I'm agreeing to leave?"

"Please, I'm injured right now. Instead of caring about me, you just want me to go back to Syracuse. In my current condition, going back will only make me like those commoners, bullied by the various families."

With her injury as a shield, Texas found it difficult to refute. She stared at Lappland and warned:

"Stay away from Zhongli in the future."

After saying that, he prepared to go upstairs to check on the Mudrock.

Now, let's rewind to 5 minutes ago.

Shi Lei entered the low building and met Victor, also known as V, who was waiting at the entrance of the stairs on the second floor.

Seeing this, the other person took the initiative to move closer to them:

"My lord, we've been waiting for you. The eldest son is in the bedroom; I'll take you up there now."

Shi Lei nodded and inquired about the Mudrock:

"How is she? Is it serious?"

"Well, it should be considered serious. You must have seen those Stone Statues in the square, sir. Summoning so many at once, how can the body handle it?"

He recalled seeing Lappland on the steps downstairs earlier and casually asked:

How are things going with you two?

V immediately realized that the other person was asking about the silver-haired Female Lupo, and shook his head repeatedly.

"To be honest, she's not very good. She's usually very polite and speaks very courteously. But this morning she went crazy and started threatening the children. She said she would kill us all after she recovered, which made everyone dislike her."

Shi Lei knew they were suffering, and like an elder showing concern for his subordinates, he patted V on the shoulder:

"I'm sorry to have troubled you. If there is a more suitable place to put her, I will take her away as soon as possible."

As they talked, the two walked up to the third floor.

V arrived outside Mudrock's bedroom and gestured that this was the place. He then excused himself and returned to the second floor.

Shi Lei looked away and knocked on the door politely.

But the door wasn't locked; it opened with a gentle knock.

Mudrock struggled to sit up in bed, beads of sweat dripping from her forehead, a testament to the effort she had put in.

Seeing this, Shi Lei quickly went over to help him up.

"Hey, just lie down and get some rest."

Mudrock lay down on her side in his arms and looked up at the face she had been longing for.

Her eyes were practically brimming with tears.

Mudrock immediately realized something was wrong and quickly lowered his head. But the skin-to-skin contact between the two was like a small flame thrown into a haystack, igniting a wildfire.

A strange warmth coursed through her body, nourishing her depleted physique. Mudrock relished the feeling of being infused with vitality, and couldn't help but let out a comfortable sound.

Ah~

Meanwhile, Texas arrived on the third floor.

169 Hug Therapy

Perhaps it was because this intense burst of energy was so comfortable that Mudrock's mind went blank.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed it, without any other thoughts, and couldn't help but cry out.

Ah~

It was only then that Mudrock suddenly came to his senses.

She quickly lowered her head to avoid eye contact. She was so embarrassed that her cheeks felt burning hot.

Shi Lei shrank back, his expression strange. He only helped her up briefly; he didn't do anything else.

"What's wrong with you?"

Mudrock lowered his head even further, biting his lip, unsure how to explain.

"Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Faced with her master's repeated questioning, she could no longer remain silent and had no choice but to bite the bullet and explain:

"No, it's mainly because when we make physical contact, there's a surge of energy."

It entered my body. Because the feeling was so incredibly pleasurable, I couldn't resist... I'm so sorry.

Ah???

Shi Lei was somewhat surprised; she showed no signs of fatigue or loss of energy. When he helped Mudrock get out of bed, he had only touched her arm and shoulder.

Could it be that...

He frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly grasped Mudrock's hands. This startled the Sarkaz girl, making her shudder as if an electric current had rushed through her body.

"Owner..."

Mudrock's heart pounded, and he looked panicked.

"What, what are you going to do?"

Shi Lei sat on the edge of the bed, his back to the bedroom door:

"Didn't you just say that you felt an energy flow when you touched me? So I figured the energy transfer efficiency of a handshake should be even higher. Now, do you feel any better than before?"

Mudrock blushed crimson, her chin almost touching her collarbone. After closing her eyes and sensing for a few seconds, she said in a somewhat uncertain tone:

"It seems to be better than before."

Mudrock's answer confirmed Shi Lei's guess.

That Scam System once said that having companions by your side would grant you extra bonuses. He always assumed it was a boost to attributes or an increase in cultivation speed, but he never expected it would also have a healing effect.

What kind of mobile water fountain is this?

Shi Lei used his mind to open the cultivation panel and checked it. After comparison, he found that his cultivation level was one year lower. During this time, Mudrock's face began to regain color.

Since advancing to the Immortal Realm in January, he hasn't transformed very frequently. He usually needs to transform for three days before bed to accumulate a year's worth of cultivation. It's already early April, and it's taken him a full three months to accumulate 20 years' worth of cultivation.

After energy was injected into the Mudrock, it was reduced to 19 years.

Shi Lei still hasn't figured out the treatment mechanism—whether it's suitable for anyone or only family members. He'll try it again when he encounters patients in need of help in the future.

It seems that improving my cultivation level needs to be put on the agenda.

Shi Lei could try exploiting a bug to transform his eyes into the Golden Dragon Eyes of a celestial being. Maintaining this for just one day would allow him to accumulate a year's worth of cultivation points—the speed was incredibly fast.

If he transforms directly like that, his colleagues probably won't accept it. If they ask why, he won't be able to offer a reasonable explanation. But if he transforms into other body parts like Dragon Horn or claws, wouldn't that be even more obvious?

The best option is still to transform into Golden Dragon Eyes.

Shi Lei's proposed plan was to go on a team-building trip out of town with his colleagues. If he encountered some extraordinary events, he could attribute the change in eye color to that incident.

Whether the two are related or not is irrelevant. Like an official announcement, the purpose is to cover up the truth. When outsiders ask, they'll insist it's related to this matter.

Shi Lei dared not tell anyone about the system, not even his best friend Texas.

"How are you feeling now?"