Chapter 32

Su Cheng remembered the route Mu Ling had taken when following Lu Heng back to the village. Although she could not run as fast as Mu Ling floated, she was certainly faster than that group of infected people traveling on foot.

But running in a protective suit under the blazing sun was especially stifling, and sweat kept pouring off her.

When Su Cheng appeared at the entrance to Bru Village, she gave the villager guarding it quite a fright.

He stared at Su Cheng for a long while, seemingly trying hard to identify whether she was from the village by her figure.

After all, he had only ever seen clothes this white on Lu Heng.

Su Cheng caught her breath, her cheeks flushed with heat. "I need to see Lu Heng. Hurry."

Hearing her speak the name of the revered "divine envoy," the villager gave Su Cheng a peculiar look. "I'll go find the divine envoy right away."

The villager ran into the village.

Su Cheng walked over beside the disinfection room. Even through her protective face shield, she could smell the strong, pungent disinfectant.

The villager had not closed the wooden gate when he left. She did not know whether he had taken her for one of their own because of her outfit and deliberately left it open.

Once her breathing steadied, Su Cheng simply walked through the gate.

When the villagers noticed her, they gathered outside their windows to look at her curiously. Clearly, they knew Su Cheng was not from their village and were very curious about why she was dressed like the "divine envoy."

"Are you a divine envoy too?"

A villager carrying water stopped and cautiously looked at Su Cheng as he asked.

"No. I'm looking for Lu Heng."

Su Cheng had no interest in chatting with him, so she simply stood there and waited for Lu Heng to come.

Having just seen through Mu Ling's eyes, she naturally knew Lu Heng was currently in the "isolation house," but she had no intention of entering that germ-filled building.

Author's note:

None.

Chapter 32

The villager guarding the gate soon brought Lu Heng over.

Lu Heng immediately spotted the conspicuous Su Cheng and was somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to get here so quickly."

Su Cheng nodded and got straight to the point without wasting words. "A group of about seventeen or eighteen infected people is heading your way. At their current pace, they'll arrive in about twenty minutes."

Lu Heng's expression changed slightly, and his brows knitted. He did not doubt Su Cheng's words. She had no need to deceive him.

"Are they coming because of the 'divine envoy' title?"

Lu Heng could think of no other possibility.

"Yes. They're all carrying knives, looking ready to resort to violence if the 'divine envoy' turns out to be a fake."

Su Cheng recalled the siblings leading them, especially the older sister, who looked particularly difficult to deal with.

As a resident of the Survival Apartment, Su Cheng believed Lu Heng might have the strength to wipe out these seventeen or eighteen people, but whether the isolated village under his protection would suffer another outbreak as a result was harder to say.

Su Cheng glanced at Lu Heng, who was frowning in thought, and said calmly, "I can help you solve this problem without shedding any blood."

Lu Heng raised his brows slightly. "On what terms?"

He did not think Su Cheng seemed like a "kind and selfless" person.

"I want to make a deal with you. Don't worry, it'll definitely be within what you can accept."

Lu Heng hesitated for only a few seconds before agreeing to this condition.

"Then sorry for the trouble."

"It's just a deal. There's no trouble to speak of."

Su Cheng answered very "bluntly." Every time she interacted with Lu Heng, she remembered a certain two-faced superior from her past and could not help growing wary.

Her refusal to respond to either soft or hard approaches left Lu Heng, who had been trying to build a closer relationship, quite helpless. He said nothing more.

Since she had taken on the task of helping Lu Heng, Su Cheng immediately had him arrange for every villager still outside to go indoors.

Whatever happened later, they were not to come out.

This was to prevent the healthy villagers from catching the infection from the group arriving shortly.

Lu Heng asked, "You don't need anyone to help?"

"No." Su Cheng pointed to the sprayer hanging above the disinfection room. "I'll need to borrow that later."

Lu Heng nodded. "No problem. There's still plenty of disinfectant in the bucket connected to the sprayer."

Su Cheng's gaze shifted to the cross around Lu Heng's neck. "Can I borrow that too?"

Lu Heng readily removed his cross necklace. "Of course."

It was just an ordinary accessory that Lu Heng had deliberately worn to better fit his identity as a "divine envoy."

"And keep the village gate shut later. Don't let them in."

When she had come in earlier, the gate had been left open.

"All right."

After agreeing, Lu Heng turned to make arrangements for the villagers still working outside.

Su Cheng headed outside the village entrance, took down the sprayer hanging outside the little disinfection hut, and dropped it by her feet.

Before Lu Heng called him away, the villager guarding the entrance secured the gate with rope.

But if anyone really tried to force their way in, this wooden gate probably offered little protection.

Lu Heng took the villager's place behind the gate. If Su Cheng proved unreliable, he would have to find a solution himself.

Su Cheng took out some alcohol and sprayed it into the air, then pulled down her protective suit to uncover her head and drank some water. Her parched throat immediately felt much better.

She went ahead and drank one constitution supplement and one muscle-building supplement from her Smart Bag as well.

Once a day. She could not forget.

After fastening her protective suit again, Su Cheng heard footsteps.

They were here.

Figures appeared on the horizon. Eighteen people in coarse linen robes supported one another as they approached.

Their own strength was limited, but the virus they carried was a terrifying threat.

The eighteen young men and women all halted when they saw Su Cheng in her striking white outfit, disbelief appearing on their faces.

They had never seen clothing of this material or color, its pure white surface faintly reflecting the sunlight.

In the villagers' minds, pure white represented unblemished holiness.

Su Cheng immediately lowered her voice and spoke in an extremely slow cadence. "I am God's divine envoy. I have long awaited you here."

Using such affected words to play at being a divine messenger made Su Cheng cringe, and goosebumps rose on her skin. Fortunately, her protective suit concealed them.

After a stunned moment, more than a dozen people dropped to their knees together.

"The divine envoy is real!"

"Divine envoy..."

"Boohoo... We're saved..."

"Oh God, You have finally heard the prayers of Your faithful..."

They wept and bowed, leaving only the siblings at the front standing.

The older sister, Danlise, looked astonished but still somewhat doubtful. Clearly, "pure white clothing" was not enough to win her over completely.

Seeing his sister had not knelt, her younger brother Danny also remained standing uncertainly.

Su Cheng had known these siblings would be hard to fool.

Yet these two were the leaders of the group. Only when they fully believed would the others be completely convinced.

Su Cheng already had another move prepared. She called mentally to Mu Ling in her bracelet. Your turn.

"All right."

A cloud of white mist suddenly appeared in midair.

Within the white mist was a faintly visible figure with its back turned, dressed in a white robe that made its gender difficult to discern. Simply standing there quietly, the figure seemed to possess a certain sacred majesty.

Su Cheng bowed extravagantly toward the white mist, holding her hands before her chest in a show of a believer's reverence.

Danlise and her brother widened their eyes slightly. After just one glance, they lowered their heads in terror and knelt, even showing a trace of shame over their earlier "disrespect."

The others who quietly raised their heads trembled with excitement and tears when they saw the figure in midair.

"Boohoo... Please forgive us, God..."

Amid their sobs, "God" slowly turned around. The white mist obscured "God's" face, leaving them able to see only His white robe and the gleaming cross on His chest...

"God" slowly raised His hand. Then the mist dispersed, and He vanished as well.

Even after "God" disappeared, Danlise, who had lifted her head to gaze up at Him, remained dazed for a long time...

She closed her eyes devoutly and prayed in a low voice, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye.

The others prayed along with Danlise, murmuring softly, now fully convinced that Su Cheng was a divine envoy personally acknowledged by "God."

Su Cheng watched the result with satisfaction. It was even better than she had expected.

"God" was naturally Mu Ling in disguise. The white robe was the white outer robe in the Smart Bag that Su Cheng had worn in the tsunami instance, and Lu Heng had provided the cross.

Su Cheng had discovered that she could burn things from the Smart Bag for Mu Ling to use.

The inspiration for the white mist came from the red-mist ghost on the train. If the red-mist ghost could use mist to conceal her form, Mu Ling could too.

After all, Mu Ling looked like an Asian woman. With both the white robe and the mist obscuring her, these believers were left with plenty of room for imagination.

Vagueness made it seem all the more real.

But the performance was not quite over. Su Cheng picked up the sprayer she had prepared and struck while the iron was hot.

"God has left holy water for you. The holy water will cleanse your souls."

Hearing this, the kneeling group straightened, pressed their palms together, and closed their eyes.

Seeing this, Su Cheng turned on the sprayer. The disinfectant, diluted with water, sprayed onto them, soaking their filthy, tangled hair.

When Su Cheng saw someone open their mouth, she hastily warned, "Swallowing the holy water is a desecration of it..."

Sure enough, the person immediately closed their mouth.

This disinfectant was not something to drink.

The smell of disinfectant filled the area. Although pungent, it inexplicably gave Su Cheng the reassuring feeling that things were clean.

After she finished spraying, Su Cheng was just about to explain some disease-prevention measures when Lu Heng suddenly walked over. "I plan to keep them here and have them live outside the village temporarily."

Su Cheng was surprised. "You have enough medicine to save them?"

Lu Heng shook his head. "My medicine has limited effectiveness. It can only save some people with mild symptoms. There's nothing I can do for severe cases."

He glanced curiously at the now-empty air. "Was that illusion just now from your class?"

Class?

A new term she had never heard before.

Su Cheng's heart skipped a beat. She had no intention of revealing Mu Ling's existence to Lu Heng, so she naturally went along with his words. "Yes. What's your class?"