The two saw Zhou Zhi, and their eyes met.
Then neither said another word.
Le Wei seemed to have gotten a taste of success. Clearing a Strange Incident head-on for the first time had done wonders for her confidence.
"Sun, shouldn't you ask Zhou Zhi about joining the next mission?"
Le Wei asked quietly. Though Sun Shun was younger than her, he was stronger, and he had taken the lead in clearing the incident.
"No need."
Sun Shun snorted.
"We're more than capable of handling the Strange Incidents in Suhui on our own."
"Although we didn't get a Pathogenized Object this time, at least our spiritual energy improved from contact with the Ulcer. That's important. You should know that Official-level Plague Exterminators have a fixed standard for the amount of spiritual energy they need."
"For your first time... you did very well, Le Wei."
Sun Shun said, "Take on a few more Strange Incident missions. If we get some low-level Pathogenized Objects, we can sell them, and you'll have your Plague-Slaying Blade before long. I won't let you get the short end of the stick."
Le Wei's face lit up with delight.
"Of course, you'll also need to pull your weight more. If I hadn't been there this time, you would've been hurt much worse."
Sun Shun snorted and walked past Zhou Zhi.
"Looks like they pulled it off."
Zhou Zhi nodded. Sun Shun was rather cold, but Le Wei returned his nod.
There was one thing Sun Shun believed that Zhou Zhi agreed with.
Most skills in this world had no insurmountable barriers.
As long as you did something often enough and failed often enough, even someone without talent could become excellent.
Unfortunately, doctors in clinical surgery usually didn't have enough patients to practice on.
Sun Shun and Le Wei had completed their first Strange Incident. Two days later, the Epidemic Prevention Center in the Inner City sent out a notice.
[The contribution points offered for all Strange Incidents in the Outer City have been increased by a certain amount].
The announcement said it was to give young Plague Exterminators more opportunities.
Sun Shun was even more delighted.
It had nothing to do with Zhou Zhi. Having just returned from a place like Blue Stone Town, he didn't want to see another scene of such brutal pathogenization.
As he made his rounds, he saw that ordinary people's lives didn't seem to have changed much because of the situation in Changdu.
If anything, business seemed better than before... No, that wasn't just an impression.
With more outsiders arriving, Suhui's economy had grown much livelier.
He didn't need to clock in for this job. Seeing that it was about time, Zhou Zhi headed straight back to the inn.
At the inn,
Aunt Mei, plump and smiling, was entertaining some guests.
The recent influx of outsiders had made business at her inn unbelievably good, and she was grinning from ear to ear.
The guests were a man and a woman.
They looked like a married couple.
They were carrying a huge Black Box.
The woman had wrinkles that were only noticeable on closer inspection. Her face was wooden, with little expression, and part of her hair had turned nearly white.
"Don't worry, the room is lovely. I can show you right away... You know how things are lately. Rooms are in high demand. If you don't book now, it might be gone in a little while."
As she spoke, Aunt Mei led them upstairs.
The man's gaze fell on Zhou Zhi as he entered.
"That man is..."
"Oh."
Aunt Mei's smile widened. "He's a Plague Exterminator assigned to our inn by the Epidemic Prevention Center... You know, safety is the most important thing when choosing a place to stay."
"And there's a Clinic right next door, so you don't need to worry about Pestilence. For a location this good, the price is a real bargain."
The man glanced at the woman. The middle-aged woman looked at Zhou Zhi and nodded.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor.
The long, drawn-out footsteps gave Zhou Zhi food for thought.
Information flowed before his eyes.
[A normal man].
[Pathogenization Index: 5.25 percent].
[A normal woman].
[Pathogenization Index: 3.66 percent].
Since he'd only seen them once, Zhou Zhi couldn't be sure whether they had spiritual energy.
Zhou Zhi lightly pressed his brow.
Though it was a little strange, plenty of guests had come to the inn over the past few days. He couldn't investigate every one of them.
About ten minutes later, Aunt Mei came downstairs, lifting her skirt as she hurried along, looking pleased.
"Zhou, another big deal."
"Oh."
Zhou Zhi looked up. "The couple who just arrived?"
"Yep."
Aunt Mei seemed to have recovered from her flu and sore throat. She was positively beaming. "They rented a room for half a month."
"That's not very long..."
Zhou Zhi said.
Aunt Mei walked over to the counter. "No, but they paid for a whole month."
"They only ask that we disturb them as little as possible. They don't even need us to prepare food..."
Oh, so that was it.
Zhou Zhi nodded.
For Aunt Mei, not having to prepare three meals and getting a month's rent for fifteen days was a good deal.
But then Aunt Mei suddenly seemed to remember something, and her brow furrowed.
"Zhou, do you think there's something wrong with those two? Their generosity is certainly nice, but they're being a little too generous."
Zhou Zhi took a sip of water. "I wouldn't know. We're not the Arrest Center, and catching criminals isn't our job. Of course, if they really are bad people..."
Knock, knock, knock!
Someone rapped briefly on the inn door.
Zhou Zhi knew who it was right away.
The inn's front door was usually unlocked, even left open. Zhou Zhi had a habit of pulling it shut behind him whenever he entered.
There was one girl who knocked whether the door was open or closed.
That was Su Rongrong's habit.
"Zhou Zhi!"
"Zhou Zhi!"
Su Rongrong knocked for a moment, then pushed the door open and came in.
The girl looked a little worse for wear.
"You still haven't gone back to school... Your school sure has a long break."
Zhou Zhi looked at her.
"People died... died... cough..."
Su Rongrong was in a hurry.
"People are dead..."
Zhou Zhi's expression shifted slightly.
"Take your time. There's no rush."
Su Rongrong took a drink of water, then looked up. "Our school was on break before, remember? It was because... because Pestilence had appeared."
"Our school reported it, but there was no response for three days... until this morning."
"Then several Plague Exterminators came from the Epidemic Prevention Center."
Zhou Zhi set down his cup.
The district where Su Rongrong's school was located lay in a different direction from Zhou Zhi's patrol area. Technically, it wasn't his responsibility.
"And then...?"
Zhou Zhi asked quietly.
"They died. A lot of people died."
"Seven or eight Plague Exterminators came... I think only two or three survived."
"They've sealed off the area around the school. The latest word is... classes probably won't resume for at least a week. They say they're short-staffed."
A trace of lingering fear appeared on Su Rongrong's pretty face.
It seemed she'd witnessed something horrifying.
Just then, the Communicator at Zhou Zhi's waist beeped.
A message appeared.
[Le Wei is dead].
Before you continue