No Cure

"Whew." Zhang Bo let out a long breath only after the others were out of sight. "Th-that was just..." He couldn't find the words. With his usual kindhearted nature, he couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh.

"Can she still be treated? That was terrifying." Zhao Luzheng rubbed his stiff cheeks, still looking shaken.

"If she can't be treated, I reckon that girl won't be able to go on living." Zhuge Yun shrugged. When the others glared at him, he said, sounding a little aggrieved, "I'm not wrong. You'd have to be pretty strong to go on living with a face like that."

Just recalling the face he'd seen earlier was enough to give him goosebumps all over and churn his stomach.

"But medical care is so advanced these days. She'll probably be fine. It's just a face full of bumps."

Zhuge Yun abruptly changed his tune and made a very optimistic prediction.

The others were taken aback, then nodded in agreement.

Which of those countless cosmetic surgery clinics didn't make the most exaggerated claims in their ads? Every set of photos they put out showed someone who looked utterly horrific before surgery and completely transformed afterward.

Even if the results weren't as dramatic as the photos, getting most of the way there would be good enough.

After Zhuge Yun put it that way, everyone felt reassured.

At first, they'd all been a little frightened. After all, Lin Zhenzhen's face had really tested their visual nerves.

On top of that, Lin Zhenzhen's despairing breakdown had genuinely shaken them.

So it hadn't occurred to them that, with today's advanced cosmetic treatments, there might still be hope of saving Lin Zhenzhen's face.

Besides, maybe it only looked frightening right now. Once she got to the hospital, it might be fixed in no time.

But the psychological damage Lin Zhenzhen had suffered was unavoidable.

The classroom soon returned to normal. Everyone chatted and joked around, while groups of three or five girls continued discussing Lin Zhenzhen. Their faces and words showed obvious pity and fear.

As girls, they naturally understood how important one's face was to them.

For most girls, if their faces were disfigured, they'd rather die.

All that talk about looks not mattering and inner beauty being most important was just empty talk—something people said when they had both.

People were visual creatures. They noticed someone's looks first, and only then tried to learn what was inside.

Those two steps were hard to reverse.

Even if you wanted to reverse them, you'd at least need decent features.

Being disfigured was just too cruel.

Xiao Xiao rested his head on his desk, staring blankly out the window.

There seemed to be a familiar aura lingering on the bumps on that girl's face.

It was... demonic energy.

He furrowed his brows, a trace of strain showing on his face, and carefully recalled the girl's appearance.

The others had only seen the purple bumps all over her face and the thick yellow pus. Xiao Xiao, however, had seen black smoke rising from each bump, almost covering her entire face.

The black smoke curled and churned like mist. Though Xiao Xiao was quite a distance from the girl, he could clearly feel a sinister, frigid chill winding toward him like a snake. The sensation of cold, slick scales sliding over his skin made his scalp prickle.

The longer he stared at the black smoke, the more it seemed to boil. Wisps burst and then dissipated. Suddenly, one burst of black smoke didn't fade away. Instead, it shot toward Xiao Xiao with astonishing speed.

Xiao Xiao was already covered in goosebumps. He hadn't expected anything to happen so suddenly, and could only stare blankly as the black smoke was about to strike his face, his mind completely empty.

His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, but he could only feel several streams of icy, sinister energy binding his limbs, leaving him unable to move.

Unbeknownst to him, a glimmer of gold appeared in his eyes and gradually spread until his entire iris turned gold. Then even the whites of his eyes were tinged with a faint golden glow.

For a moment, Xiao Xiao's eyes were cold and majestic, like those of a god or Buddha in the highest heavens—without sorrow or joy, vast and boundless.

The black smoke vanished in an instant, like snow beneath the blazing sun.

Xiao Xiao felt as if his eyes were about to cramp from staring so hard, but he found that nothing had changed about his body.

He'd thought the black smoke had disappeared because it had entered his body.

Xiao Xiao felt himself all over, but didn't find anything wrong.

Even the chill he'd felt before had vanished. His body and mind felt as comfortable as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

Strange. Could that black smoke have been all show? It looked frightening, but had no power to harm?

And not only was it harmless, it was more like a powerful tonic?

Otherwise, why did he feel better than ever?

This made no sense!

Xiao Xiao sighed. Things had taken a completely unexpected turn.

But whatever the case, he was the one who'd benefited.

Since that was so, he wouldn't make things difficult for himself. If he couldn't figure it out, he'd stop thinking about it.

Maybe he'd learn the reason someday. Why agonize over it now?

"Hey, did you hear? That girl from this morning might not get better." Zhuge Yun's tone was rather complicated. It was hard to tell whether he felt regret or sympathy, but his expression showed a trace of pity.

"Really? How do you know?" Zhang Bo was startled and immediately asked. He wasn't doubting Zhuge Yun. After spending some time with him, he'd come to appreciate Zhuge Yun's incredible ability to gather information—or, to put it plainly, his talent for gossip.

At least for now, whenever anything happened at school, Zhuge Yun was the one to ask. He had no idea where the guy got all his information.

"Heh, impressed yet?" Zhuge Yun immediately began to gloat. He glanced over and noticed Zhang Bo about to roll up his sleeves, so he cleared his throat and gave a concise answer. "The news came from the girls."

"Oh, it must've been the girls who went with her to the school clinic this morning, right?" Xiao Xiao immediately understood where the news had come from. It wasn't as though this was something that had to be kept secret. Of course, it would be better not to talk about it, but it wasn't a big deal if they did.

"Is that girl still at the school clinic?"

"Of course not. They already sent her to Yanjing Third People's Hospital."

The dermatology department at Yanjing Third People's Hospital ranked among the best in the country.

"She really can't get better? What are those purple bumps, anyway?" Zhao Luzheng shook his head, desperately trying to banish that terrifying face from his mind. His stomach was already starting to feel queasy.

"Who knows? Anyway, it seems the usual treatments aren't working, because the hospital apparently can't figure out how those bumps appeared, no matter how many tests they run."

"What about plastic surgery?"

"Do you think plastic surgery is that simple?"

"Ugh, that girl's so unlucky."

"Exactly. Even the hospital can't figure out the cause. Could this be the first case of its kind?"