Decision

When the words "Plague Exterminator" left Zhou Zhi's mouth, the people inside the shabby clinic wore a variety of expressions.

Lei Heng studied the man before him with sinister eyes.

There was nothing special about him. His face was utterly calm, not a ripple disturbing its surface, as if nothing could shake his resolve.

Could someone like this really be a Plague Exterminator?

What kind of people were Plague Exterminators?

In Xuanyuan, even three-year-old children knew that Plague Exterminators were beyond reach—not just street thugs like Lei Heng!

When faced with a pestilence, ordinary people could only await death. They had no way to fight back.

They couldn't understand it or come into contact with it. Lei Heng had seen with his own eyes people infected by pestilence turn into monsters.

That feeling of despair was impossible to put into words.

But Plague Exterminators were different.

They could identify different kinds of pestilence, wielded various [Plague Extermination Arts], and could eradicate pestilence on their own.

Lei Heng admitted that Zhou Zhi had frightened him just now, but at that moment, the sinister man said nothing.

"Plague Exterminator..."

Xia Yu looked at Zhou Zhi.

Just now, she remembered, this man had said that all the corpses were infected with [Influenza Plague].

To ordinary people, pestilence was just pestilence.

There were no different kinds. No matter what, encountering it meant death.

But if Zhou Zhi really was a Plague Exterminator, why did he know nothing about all this?

"Mr. Zhou Zhi, you..."

Xia Yu started to speak, but Zhou Zhi interrupted her.

"When facing pestilence, there are many simple, low-cost ways to prevent its spread."

Zhou Zhi's voice now sounded confident and gentle.

His tall, slender frame stood straight as he picked up a glass of water from the table—who knew how long it had been sitting there.

[Spirit energy being consumed].

[Spirit energy being consumed].

The message rang in his mind.

At the same time, the water in Zhou Zhi's glass gradually grew warm.

Xia Yu's beautiful eyes widened slightly.

That was...

Lei Heng seemed to realize something.

The underlings behind him instinctively took two steps back.

Steam rose.

A bubbling sound followed.

It was the sound of clear water boiling.

"[High-Temperature Boiling Disinfection]... You could really call it a Plague Extermination Art."

Zhou Zhi poured the water onto the floor.

A faint mist rose from the tiles.

R-really?

Lei Heng swallowed.

He remembered that Bai Xiu could do this too, but at most, he could heat water until it was barely warm.

But this man before him... The water had clearly boiled.

That was an entirely different thing!

"Plague Extermination Art!"

"He really is a Plague Exterminator!"

"Big Sister Xia Yu, he's even more amazing than Doctor Bai Xiu!"

Xiao Nan clenched her tiny fists, excitement showing on her face.

Zhou Zhi set the empty glass on the table beside him.

From what he could tell so far, [Plague Exterminators] held a special status in this world.

Naturally, anything related to Plague Exterminators—including the so-called Plague Extermination Arts—was held in high regard.

Zhou Zhi hadn't expected that boiling water with his bare hands would make these people react like this.

And then there was...

"Second, it's true that I gained a Plague Extermination Art after Bai Xiu's lungs were transplanted into me, but I can also strengthen that art using my own abilities."

Bai Xiu could only heat water until it was almost warm, but he could bring it to a full boil.

"Third."

Zhou Zhi looked at the water on the floor.

The Plague Extermination Art was, without a doubt, real.

This world was different from the one he had known.

What he'd just done wasn't merely boiling water.

[A glass of water that had been left sitting for a long time].

[After high-temperature disinfection, the rate of pestilence growth has dropped to thirteen percent].

That was the message Zhou Zhi had seen before pouring out the water.

This world had a special kind of power.

Zhou Zhi's thoughts stirred.

Right then, he could feel something flowing through his body.

The message called it...

[Spirit energy].

Just now, [High-Temperature Boiling] had used up a third of all the spirit energy he could sense, merely to boil this small glass of water.

Zhou Zhi couldn't help wanting to complain.

So that meant he could only boil three glasses of water now, huh?

Zhou Zhi calmed his mind.

Nearby, Xia Yu suddenly seemed to think of something.

"I know!"

The girl recalled, "A few [Medical Students] came to town for an internship not long ago."

"I think I saw them. They were about the same age, and they could use Plague Extermination Arts too..."

So that was it!

Lei Heng's expression changed.

Now everything made sense.

About the same age.

Calm demeanor.

He must have seen plenty of the world.

Only medical students from the big cities outside, perhaps even from the capital, would have that kind of composure.

An unwarranted jealousy spread through him.

"We were separated when the pestilence spread."

Zhou Zhi naturally accepted this identity.

He had been worrying about finding a suitable one.

Medical Student!

To Xia Yu and the others, those three words were practically synonymous with Plague Exterminator.

Both meant a bright future and limitless potential.

The only Plague Exterminator in all of Blue Stone Town had come from a proper medical school!

"So it's now..."

Zhou Zhi raised his head.

Above them, the clock ticked.

Night. 9:58 p.m.

Outside, beyond the reinforced windows, the night seemed to churn.

"It's not safe to travel at night."

"Get ready."

Zhou Zhi's voice brooked no argument. "We leave at daybreak."

"Bring all the supplies."

"We're leaving this place."

Lei Heng froze. He hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "S-s-sir..."

"Where are we going?"

Zhou Zhi didn't turn around. "Where else could we go?"

"From what you've said, dense fog surrounds the town, so we can't leave. That leaves only the town center."

"Even if the pestilence is worse there, we still have to go."

"Because..."

Xia Yu picked up the thread, looking at Lei Heng. "Blue Stone Town Central Hospital is there."

That night.

Zhou Zhi sat beside the clinic window.

The window had been reinforced so poorly, it was like handing a delicate operation to someone who had never performed surgery before.

That was you, Bai Xiu.

Zhou Zhi toyed with the scalpel in his hand.

Bai Xiu's real intention at the end hadn't been to remove his lungs, but to treat the [Influenza] in his body through surgery.

Only after the operation failed had he chosen to remove them, to keep the disease from worsening.

Strange sounds came faintly from outside.

Zhou Zhi's eyes shifted.

It was as if something were moving through slime.

The lamplight was dim, barely there.

Xia Yu and Lei Heng kept their distance from each other, holding their breath.

[Pestilence.]

Zhou Zhi silently repeated the word in his mind.

The reason he had brought everyone along was simple.

He needed guides.

As many guides as he could get.

This world didn't sound like a pleasant place to anyone. Zhou Zhi wanted to leave himself enough room for error.

He didn't want to think about his past life. Since he had died and come back to life, he was going to make the most of this second chance.

He could only live for seventy-two hours now. There had to be a way to extend his life in the center of Blue Stone Town.