Sanity Recovery Elixir

As the slaughter came to an end, the snow began to stop falling as well.

Outside the shelter was already a complete mess. Severed limbs from Rotting Corpses lay everywhere, occasionally mixed with twisted white bones created by flesh alchemy.

Viscous blood had submerged the soles of their shoes, while the culprit behind it all was picking through the heaps of corpses, occasionally lifting an arm or a leg.

By the time Bai Yi returned to the shelter entrance, he was carrying a pile of Rotting Corpse organs in his arms.

These were the mutated organs of the variant Rotting Corpses that Bai Yi had picked out. The scene was far too chaotic for him to recover every Rotting Corpse, so he could only pack up some of the important ones and planned to take them back to feed his shelter.

What he considered perfectly normal, however, caused tremendous trauma to everyone inside.

[You witnessed the bizarre sight of a madman selecting severed limbs. Sanity -3]

"Th-th-thank... thank... thank Dog... Y-you said th-the boss h-h-had some special p-preferences. Th-that's... th-that's normal, r-right?"

Wang Ziyi felt like her tongue was tying itself into knots, while she kept roaring inwardly, I knew it! I knew it from the wolf head! The boss is a little abnormal! I knew it!

The latter nodded guiltily.

Knock, knock, knock—

The sound of knocking rang out. Everyone jolted, looked at one another, then all turned to Wang Ziyi.

"Damn it, why are you all staring at me?!"

Wang Ziyi bristled and muttered under her breath.

"Anyone there? Wang Ziyi?"

Bai Yi's knocking grew louder and louder, gradually turning into pounding on the door.

At that moment, Bai Yi thought everyone inside had encountered some danger. He had just drawn his blade when the door opened.

The people inside and outside stared at each other!

As if nothing had happened, Bai Yi tossed the bone blade he had just condensed aside and stepped into the shelter.

The moment he entered, the thick, choking stench of blood rushed in with him. Whenever Bai Yi passed someone, that person instinctively stood at attention.

Bai Yi gave them a strange glance as he passed, then walked over to the portal and tossed the organs he had collected back into his own shelter.

Then, Bai Yi walked straight up to Zhang Zhen. The corner of his mouth was still twitching nervously from the pain.

The heavy smell of blood made it difficult for Zhang Zhen to keep his eyes open. He fought down the urge to turn and run, looking at Bai Yi with a gentle expression.

Bai Yi felt a little uncomfortable under that gaze, as though Zhang Zhen were looking at his most promising child.

"Ahem, Uncle Zhang, do you have any cigarettes left?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, yes!"

Zhang Zhen felt as though a great burden had been lifted. He took out a cigarette case and pulled out one cigarette, then paused before simply handing over the entire pack.

"Thanks, Uncle Zhang."

Bai Yi reached out to take it, but when he saw the bloody water dripping from his hand, he pulled it back and wiped it on his clothes.

But his clothes had long since been soaked through with blood. Not only did the wipe fail to remove much blood, it left even more on his hand.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhen showed no disgust and directly stuffed the cigarettes into Bai Yi's hand.

"Bai Yi, no need to be so polite. Now that you've joined the team, we're all family."

Bai Yi paused, then nodded. He pulled out a cigarette and leaned toward the flame Zhang Zhen offered.

"Alright!"

The interaction between Bai Yi and Zhang Zhen successfully eased the atmosphere within the team. Everyone realized that Bai Yi was still the same Bai Yi, and the restraint from before faded away.

Still, they were noticeably more cautious with their words.

With the danger gone, the members began discussing their plans for the future.

[Sanity 4/100]

Bai Yi sat off to the side, silently smoking. The pain eased slightly with the nicotine, and the dark golden eyes filled with brutality seemed a little calmer under its soothing effect.

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.

The white wolf lay beside Bai Yi, its tail gently stroking him as though trying to sweep away his pain.

Tang Zheng watched Bai Yi smoke one cigarette after another and was about to speak up to dissuade him when Li Zihua stopped him.

Then, he walked over to Bai Yi. "Brother Bai, are you... in a lot of pain right now?"

Bai Yi looked up at Li Zihua in surprise.

"I may only be nineteen, but both my parents are doctors. I skipped grades to enter medical school, and I'm already an intern in clinical medicine."

Li Zihua explained, then went on to describe several of Bai Yi's symptoms, concluding that Bai Yi was forcibly enduring intense pain.

"What's causing it?"

At that moment, Li Zihua was exactly like the doctors Bai Yi had seen before.

"It's because of my talent. The pain comes from my sanity being too low."

Facing a professional, Bai Yi no longer hid anything and told him the truth.

A look of understanding appeared on Li Zihua's face. He then told Bai Yi to wait and ran back into the shelter.

A few minutes later, he came running back while grinding something in a bowl, then held it out to Bai Yi.

[Sanity Recovery Elixir

Quality: Excellent

Description: Slowly restores 30 Sanity after consumption. A practice concoction made by a novice apothecary]

Bai Yi did not hesitate and swallowed it in one gulp. The next second, however, he instinctively wanted to spit it back out.

Li Zihua reacted quickly, clamping a hand over Bai Yi's mouth. "Brother Bai, this stuff is expensive!"

Rolling his eyes, Bai Yi forcibly swallowed the elixir, then took several gulps of the water Xie Xu handed him to wash down the taste.

[Sanity 7/100]

[Sanity 11/100]

[Sanity 34/100]

As the pain faded, Bai Yi's taut nerves finally relaxed. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he sincerely thanked Li Zihua. "Thank you so much!"

Li Zihua looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head. "No need to be so polite, Brother Bai. If you want to thank someone, thank Sister Wang. She provided all the ingredients for this elixir..."

Wang Ziyi chuckled from the side. "Boss, let me tell you—those vegetables and herbs in my shelter are growing insanely fast now. I'll bring you some fruit to try later."

Bai Yi shook his head with a laugh. Of course, he had noticed the change in how everyone addressed him, so he said:

"Since we're all on the same team, there's no need to be so formal. I'm a few years older, so just call me Brother Dog like before. As for Uncle Zhang..."

Bai Yi looked at Zhang Zhen, paused, and swallowed the words "Little Dog" and "Little White" that nearly slipped out.

"Just call me Bai Yi. Mm, my wolf is called Little White."

With everyone introducing themselves and changing how they addressed one another, the team established a basic foundation of trust.

Wang Ziyi said generously, "Let's go to the meeting room. We'll continue the meeting that got interrupted earlier."

"Indeed. Time is extremely precious now."

Zhang Zhen agreed.

The meeting room was on the second floor and contained little furniture. Its surrounding walls were hardened masses formed from plant roots and stems, while a huge solid-wood round table stood in the center.

Everyone took their seats one after another, but Bai Yi remained standing by the window, staring blankly outside.

"Brother Dog, what are you looking at? Come sit down!"

Bai Yi turned around, his face filled with grave concern.

"Fog."

Seeing the confusion in everyone's eyes, he added:

"Black fog."