Healing Ability

Duan Yuanyuan, Qin Feng, and Cao Yuan had known each other before the apocalypse.

Qin Feng and Cao Yuan had once been coworkers at an electronics factory.

Duan Yuanyuan, meanwhile, was an online friend Qin Feng had met.

Because they often played games and chatted together, there had been some ambiguity between them, though neither had ever crossed that final line.

Back then, Qin Feng often deliberately or casually brought it up to Duan Yuanyuan, asking what she thought of him and whether they should meet in person.

They had exchanged photos as well.

Qin Feng was nearly six feet three, and he looked decent enough—not ugly. Duan Yuanyuan had a fairly good impression of him, but whenever she considered dating him, she still felt hesitant.

Duan Yuanyuan was only twenty-three that year, while Qin Feng was already thirty-four.

With such a large age gap, Duan Yuanyuan was still dreaming of romance, while Qin Feng approached relationships solely with marriage in mind.

But his family circumstances were truly poor. He had neither a house nor a car, and he was not particularly ambitious. At his age, he was still working on an assembly line, playing games every day after work without ever considering improving himself.

Though Duan Yuanyuan's family circumstances were only average as well, they were still better than Qin Feng's.

Before the apocalypse, she had worked in sales for a real estate company. With some makeup and a little dressing up, she could be considered a pretty girl, and she had several pursuers both online and in real life.

Faced with Qin Feng's passionate pursuit, Duan Yuanyuan had always hesitated.

Before she could make up her mind, the Zombie Virus broke out and the apocalypse arrived.

Duan Yuanyuan had not Awakened an Ability. While she was curled up in her rented apartment, listening to the screams outside in terrified helplessness, Qin Feng came looking for her.

When she saw Qin Feng, reeking of blood as he called her name and jumped in through the window, Duan Yuanyuan threw her arms around him with tears in her eyes.

It was then that they confirmed their relationship.

Afterward, Duan Yuanyuan noticed Cao Yuan following behind Qin Feng.

Cao Yuan had played games with the two of them before, so Duan Yuanyuan remembered him.

Cao Yuan spoke harshly and always liked to mock and ridicule her. When they played games, he laughed at her poor skills; after the apocalypse, he sneered that she was useless and could only survive by relying on men.

She had acted like some goddess in front of Qin Feng before, but after the apocalypse, once she saw that Qin Feng had Awakened an Ability, she obediently spread her legs for him. (Cao Yuan's perspective)

As a result, Duan Yuanyuan disliked Cao Yuan very much.

But he had also Awakened an Ability, and it was a Water Ability that could purify water.

In the apocalypse, clean water was an extremely precious resource.

So even though Qin Feng had repeatedly heard Cao Yuan deliberately make those sarcastic, insulting remarks about her, he had continued to keep Cao Yuan around.

Duan Yuanyuan was somewhat disappointed in Qin Feng because of this, but there was nothing she could do. She truly needed to depend on Qin Feng to survive now; going off alone would only end with her becoming zombie food.

To some extent, Cao Yuan was not wrong.

That only made Duan Yuanyuan feel worse, and she had always wanted to do something to prove her worth.

After the three entered the house, Duan Yuanyuan's sharp eyes immediately spotted the food Jiang Zhaosu had piled by the bedroom door. As if she had discovered a new continent, she shouted, "Qin Feng, there's food over there!"

Transportation in the mountain village was inconvenient, so most villagers grew vegetables at home. When the vegetables ripened, they generally could not finish them all at once, so they dried them into preserved vegetables for easier storage.

During the day, Jiang Zhaosu had gathered a great deal of such dried vegetables and piled them outside Qi Xing's door so he would have something to fill his stomach when he woke up.

Hearing the people outside excitedly mention those dried vegetables, Jiang Zhaosu became anxious too.

She had specifically collected them for Qi Xing to eat!

Qi Xing had not even seen them yet!

Jiang Zhaosu hurriedly pointed outside and said to Qi Xing, "I... got... them... for you..."

Qi Xing understood. "Fortune found food for me during the day?"

Eager to claim credit, Jiang Zhaosu immediately bobbed her little head and said proudly, "Mm..."

The rooms in these single-story houses basically had no doors, only thin cloth curtains for cover, so voices from outside could be heard clearly within.

Qi Xing had not deliberately lowered his voice this time, so Qin Feng and the others outside heard him as well.

"Who's there?!"

Qin Feng warily raised his hand, tiny blue currents crackling between his fingers as he shouted into the house, "Stop playing tricks and come out!"

Duan Yuanyuan had been about to pick up the food, but upon hearing a voice from inside, she immediately fled behind Qin Feng like a startled rabbit and asked shakily, "Is... is someone in there?"

"Wait a moment," a cool, pleasant male voice came from inside. "I'm putting on some clothes."

Jiang Zhaosu had torn his shirt, so Qi Xing could only zip up his jacket before walking out of the bedroom.

Qi Xing's looks were undeniably exceptional. When he stepped outside, all three of them froze for a moment.

While waiting, they had imagined countless possibilities.

They had considered that it might be a survivor from the village, some Mutated Species capable of imitating human voices to lure people in, or even a terrifying High-Level Zombie. Yet none of them had expected such a dilapidated house to produce a beautiful man whose appearance rivaled that of a celebrity.

"Hello."

Qi Xing casually glanced at the tiny electrical currents between Qin Feng's fingers before taking the initiative to greet them.

He had always been friendly toward people he had just met and whose backgrounds he could not yet discern, speaking in a gentle, mild manner.

"My younger sister and I fled here from Yun City. It got dark, so we decided to stay here for the night."

As he spoke, Qi Xing gently patted Jiang Zhaosu, who was hiding behind him, and introduced her. "This is my little sister."

Jiang Zhaosu wore a black hoodie with the hood pulled over her head, making her already tiny face look even smaller. Her complexion was pale, and she was thin.

Her fingers clutched the hem of Qi Xing's clothes. She only dared to sneak glances at them from the corner of her eye, looking extremely timid and withdrawn.

Qi Xing himself looked like a refined scholar, someone who clearly did not possess much combat ability and posed little threat.

The three people outside relaxed.

But Qin Feng had not let down his guard against Qi Xing. He pressed, "Did you kill the zombies outside? Are you an Ability User?"

"I killed them," Qi Xing answered truthfully. "I'm a Wood Ability User."

As he spoke, Qi Xing raised one hand.

A soft, lustrous green glow lit up between his long fingers.

Qi Xing flicked his fingers, and the ball of green light immediately flew toward Qin Feng.

Qin Feng was alarmed. He instantly gathered a ball of electricity, prepared to block it.

But when the gentle green light changed direction, passed over him, and landed on Duan Yuanyuan beside him, he stopped moving.

The green light struck Duan Yuanyuan's hand. She screamed in terror, "Why are you attacking me?! Qin Feng, he's attacking me!"

She had previously seen Qin Feng fight other Ability Users. Those Ability Users would casually wave a hand, and the surrounding zombies would be cut down by invisible blades.

Duan Yuanyuan was terrified that she would be killed the same way, and tears streamed down her face.

But after the green light disappeared, her hand had not been cut off, nor did she feel the slightest pain.

On the contrary, an old scar on the back of her hand had vanished.

Tears still glimmered in Duan Yuanyuan's eyes as she widened them in shock and lifted her hand for Qin Feng to see. "Qin Feng, the wound on my hand is healed..."

Qin Feng looked at Duan Yuanyuan's hand, then at Qi Xing before him. A flash of delighted calculation passed through his dark eyes.

Duan Yuanyuan, overjoyed by the unexpected disappearance of her scar, and Cao Yuan, who had stood nearby with a gloomy expression without speaking, both turned to look at Qi Xing.

Facing the various looks directed at him, Qi Xing smiled and said, "But my Ability has no offensive power. It's a Healing Ability."

Although she already knew Qi Xing was exceptionally good at lying with his eyes open, Jiang Zhaosu, who had been hiding behind him the whole time, still felt her heart skip a beat when she heard him say that without blushing or changing expression. She practically wanted to raise her hands and applaud him.

Damn, impressive.

A typical Ability User's Wood Ability was either purely offensive or purely healing.

This was also the first time she had learned that Qi Xing's Wood Ability was dual-purpose—capable of both killing and healing.

Little Qi, how many more surprises are you hiding from me?