Treating wounds

The horrifying sight sent goosebumps crawling all over Liu Feng.

Even Liu Feng could not guarantee he would endure that kind of wound treatment without a sound. Yet Little Knife had done just that. Her astonishing endurance was almost impossible to believe.

After digging out all the rotten flesh, Little Knife dropped the curved blade into the small basin filled with alcohol.

Then she picked up the small medicine bottle on the table.

The bottle contained a loose powder that looked much like Yunnan Baiyao. But when Little Knife opened the cap, Liu Feng could smell its foul, fishy odor despite standing five or six paces away.

Her brows drew together slightly as she poured some powder onto her hand and slowly spread it over her wounds. But she had wounds on her back as well, and applying it there by herself would probably be difficult.

"Um..." Liu Feng took a deep breath, calming the turmoil inside him. He looked at Little Knife and said slowly, "How about I help you?"

At his words, Little Knife raised her head without any expression. She studied Liu Feng as though weighing something up.

Smack!

While Liu Feng was still standing there in a daze, Little Knife slapped the medicine bottle down hard on the table. She raised her eyebrows, gestured toward the bottle with her chin, and said softly, "Thanks."

Only then did Liu Feng slowly approach. Looking at Little Knife before him, he saw that her forehead was covered in cold sweat. She was still flesh and blood, after all. She had merely been enduring the pain of digging out rotten flesh with a sharp blade.

Liu Feng swept his gaze over Little Knife's face. Apart from her slightly furrowed brows, her expression was full of determination.

He picked up the medicine bottle from the table and, foolishly tempting fate, sniffed it again. The foul, fishy smell was like a dead fish left fermenting in a jar for half a month.

"Ahem. Bear with it." Liu Feng frowned slightly and spoke quietly beside Little Knife's ear.

With that, he moved behind her, medicine bottle in hand. Fortunately, the wounds on her back were less severe than those on her front, consisting of only some bruising and small cuts.

He gently lifted the clothing that had stuck to her skin, then spread the foul-smelling medicinal powder over her back.

As Liu Feng's cool hands touched her warm body, he could clearly feel her trembling.

Little Knife endured the fierce pain of her wounds while lowering her head with a hint of shyness. Since leaving that man's protection in this Apocalypse World, this was the first time she had been so close to a member of the opposite sex.

The masculine scent coming from Liu Feng brought a faint blush to her lovely face.

Ten minutes later, Liu Feng finished treating the wounds on Little Knife's back without any trouble.

Liu Feng sat down on a nearby chair and let out a long breath. Looking at the medicine bottle clutched in his hand, he smiled and asked Little Knife, "Miss, what kind of medicine is this? Why does it smell so fishy?"

Little Knife turned her head toward Liu Feng with great difficulty and said in a weak whisper, "It's specially prepared Tree Frog Beast bone powder. It has powerful wound-healing properties."

"Tree Frog Beast?" Liu Feng paused, then caught on. "You mean it's a Mutant Beast?"

"Yes, a Mutant Beast." Little Knife wiped the sweat from her forehead and explained quietly, "This kind of Mutant Beast only appears near Sea Lake, and it's extremely difficult to find. That makes the powder ground from its bones especially precious."

After hearing Little Knife's explanation, Liu Feng nodded.

By then, night had settled in. Sitting in his chair, Liu Feng only grew more worried.

From noon until late at night, the zombies in the residential area still had not dispersed. Just how massive was this Zombie Tide?

Although Liu Feng had managed to keep himself alive for the moment, he had no idea how things were going at the Residential Camp. He believed that under Han Bing's leadership, they would surely withstand this Zombie Tide.

As the night deepened, the gravely wounded Little Knife lay back in her chair and gradually fell asleep.

Liu Feng leaned against the rooftop wall, watching the zombies wandering everywhere below. He could not put his mind at ease.

"System, how much experience do I have now?"

[Host's current level: LV4 (16200/20000]

After the day's fighting, his experience had climbed to nearly twenty thousand without him noticing.

He checked his insects. All four could now be upgraded.

Liu Feng did the math and spent 4,500 experience points to upgrade the Iron-toothed Insect straight to LV5. He spent another 9,000 experience points to upgrade both the Parasitic Insect and the Exploding Insect to LV3. After he spent another 2,000 experience points, the newly unlocked Toad reached LV2 as well.

In the blink of an eye, his sixteen thousand-plus experience points had dwindled to fewer than a thousand.

Still, Liu Feng did not feel too much of a sting. After all, all that experience had gone into his insects.

Meanwhile, inside the Residential Camp.

Han Bing stood on the platform, his face livid and his hands clasped behind his back. Fury burned in his eyes.

Fatty curled up his trembling body and lay face down on the ground, his face deathly pale. Beside him, the others who had gone out on the mission were lying face down as well.

"Where's Feng?"

At those words, Fatty trembled and did not dare raise his head. He had never seen Han Bing this stern before.

Sensing the icy aura surrounding Han Bing, Wang Defa, who had been standing nearby, approached him with an awkward smile.

"Han, don't worry too much. Feng is a Gene Warrior. Even if he hasn't come back, he should be all right."

A sinister look crept into Han Bing's eyes at those words. He fixed his gaze on Wang Defa and said coldly, "Uncle Wang, if the Zombie Tide passes and Feng still hasn't returned, then I don't think your people need to stay here any longer."

"Han, you..." Wang Defa looked embarrassed, but when he saw Han Bing's icy gaze, he could only nod helplessly. "All right. We really wouldn't have the nerve to stay here anyway."

"Hmph!"

Han Bing glanced at Fatty, who was kneeling on the ground, and said with exceptional severity, "We're short-handed in the residential area right now, so get up for the time being. But if Feng really hasn't returned by tomorrow, you'll leave with Wang Defa!"

At those words, Fatty nodded.

Splitting up with Feng had been Feng's own idea. But now Feng had failed to return to the Residential Camp before the Zombie Tide arrived.

A human alone outside had little chance of survival. Even a Gene Warrior could not stand against a powerful Zombie Tide single-handedly. The thought filled Fatty with guilt.

"This is all my fault. If Feng really doesn't return on time tomorrow, I won't have the nerve to stay here!"

"Wooo, wooo, wooo..."

"Keh, keh, keh..."

(End of chapter)