Lan Shao was visibly shaken, his face a ghostly shade in the flickering firelight. He stumbled over a stray piece of debris as he dragged a heavy chair across the floor, helping Jin Baba lie down on it.
"Liu Chengkai! Liu Chengkai is not going to make it! He is shaking, he has lost so much blood, and it won't stop!"
The shout cut through the low hum of the hall. Under the jumping shadows of the fires, the crowd parted, every gaze turning toward the curled figure of Liu Chengkai.
Jing Shu frowned. She had a faint impression of him from their school days; he had been the sports class monitor. When she had struggled with her PE requirements, he had been the one to quietly help bump her grades up to a passing level. Now, he looked small, his athletic frame withered by shock.
"Cold… so cold…" Liu Chengkai muttered. His teeth chattered, a frantic, rhythmic sound in the quiet space.
Jing Shu waved her hand toward the stove. "Move him closer to the heater first. Let him get some warmth into his bones."
The boys in the room carefully shifted the injured man. The orange glow of the heater illuminated his pale skin, making the purple tint of his lips stand out even more. The heat seemed to help slightly, as his shivering settled from violent tremors to a low, constant vibration.
Jing Shu crouched beside him, her gaze clinical. "His arm was bitten?"
A short boy stepped forward, his head lowered and his hands stained with dried blood. "Liu Chengkai saved me. When the monster lunged from the shadows, he pushed me out of the way. His arm got scraped by its teeth. The soldiers arrived right after, so we survived, but… I don't know why. The wound isn't large, but it keeps bleeding. I tied it tight with cloth, but the blood just soaks right through."
Jing Shu examined the forearm. The wound really wasn't massive, and it was nowhere near a major artery. It was a shallow, jagged cut a dozen centimeters long. Yet, even as she watched, dark blood welled up and spilled over his skin in a steady, rhythmic pulse. He had already lost a significant amount of blood. If the flow continued, his heart would simply stop.
"Will Liu Chengkai die?" a girl whispered, her voice cracking.
"He looks so pitiful."
"We have already lost so many classmates. Xiao Ju is gone too."
Jing Shu didn't answer. She turned and snapped open the heavy latches of her black case. She reached into a hidden compartment and pulled out a smaller, more specialized box before clicking the main case shut. She placed the smaller container on top of the black case and opened it.
Inside were three precise layers. The top layer was packed with surgical knives, clamps, needles, and various medical tools, all neatly arranged in foam slots. They gleamed with a cold, sterile light. Even Xiao Liu and Jin Baba stared in shock; the kit looked far too professional for a common survivor to possess.
Jing Shu opened the second layer. It was filled with small, labeled compartments holding tiny pellets, fine powders, and vials of liquid. She picked out a single black pill and stuffed it into Liu Chengkai's mouth, then grabbed a pair of surgical scissors. She began cleaning the area around the wound, cutting away the crude, blood-soaked bandages.
The moment the pressure was removed, blood gushed out even faster, like a small, dark fountain.
Jing Shu worked quickly, disinfecting the area with iodine before sprinkling a fine, dark powder over the rent in his skin. Slowly, the frantic flow began to sluggishly thicken.
"Jing Shu is insane," a classmate whispered.
"Carrying gear like that… if you tell me she is not from the Medicinal Herb Association, I won't believe it."
Jiang Changke jumped up, his eyes wide. "I told you! A boss is a boss! She is the president of the Medicinal Herb Association, you just didn't believe me!"
"It won't work. The bleeding will not stop."
A group of people entered the private room, their boots thumping on the floor. They were the floor supervisors, followed by Wang Miao and a small medical team carrying a pot of porridge. The man who had spoken was Doctor Zhang, the attending physician for their sector.
Wang Miao offered a tired smile. "Let me introduce him. This is Doctor Zhang, our attending physician."
Doctor Zhang was completely bald, with a thick, unruly beard and a somewhat stout frame. He marched in with his white coat fluttering behind him, his expression one of practiced authority. He glanced at Jing Shu's medical kit and snorted. "Your tools are even more complete than ours."
He knelt to check the wound and shook his head almost immediately. "The wound is not deep, but it has been contaminated with too much Darklife saliva. There is no way to stop the bleeding."
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Is their saliva toxic?"
Doctor Zhang nodded. "There is a specific component in it. On its own, it is harmless, but if it enters an open wound, it prevents platelets from clotting. The wound will never heal. This was supposed to be classified information. Do you know what happened to the lightly injured during the first Darklife invasion?"
Jing Shu shook her head.
"Except for the first one who bled to death, the rest survived," he said.
"That is good, right? So there is a solution," Jing Shu said.
Doctor Zhang let out a cold, sharp laugh. "You have to dig out all the surrounding flesh. The longer it has been infected, the deeper the saliva spreads through the tissue. The more you have to cut. The ones from before all ended up with amputations. This one… it has been over an hour. He will need an amputation too."
Jing Shu frowned and looked at Wang Miao. "Everyone from the first wave had amputations?"
Wang Miao shut his eyes for a moment and nodded. "We tried everything else. Nothing worked."
Doctor Zhang stood up and addressed the room. "We have just finished the headcount. Anyone willing to undergo an amputation, sign up now. One clean cut, and the survival rate is ninety percent. Otherwise, the bleeding will not stop.
The surgery itself is free right now, as the five thousand virtual coins are covered by the government, but there is no anesthesia. Post-surgery painkillers and anti-infection meds are at your own expense, about one thousand virtual coins. Think it over."
Liu Chengkai had drifted back to consciousness. He heard the doctor's words and bit his lip so hard it bled. "I… I do not have the money."
He was terrified of the pain, but the prospect of his life slowly draining onto the floor was worse.
"Bro, I will help you gather it. I will borrow it for you," the boy he had saved cried out. "You saved my life, I will get it for you no matter what."
"I only have ten virtual coins… please, take it," someone else offered.
The atmosphere in the room turned bleak. A few girls started crying at the mere mention of a saw.
Jing Shu suddenly pointed at Liu Chengkai's arm. "Didn't the bleeding stop?"
Everyone turned to look. The wound really had stopped. The dark blood had crusted over into a thick, unnatural scab. Jing Shu felt a flick of disdain for the doctor's certainty. The powder from her space possessed absurdly strong properties.
Doctor Zhang widened his eyes and stepped closer, leaning in until his bald head caught the light. He looked uncertain, peering at the wound as if he could force it to start bleeding again through sheer will. It really did seem to have stopped.
But right then, the scab suddenly burst open with a wet pop. The hardened crust flew straight onto Doctor Zhang's bald head.
Blood spilled out again in a rush.
= = =
Hi guys, I have some news for you.
So... I got a job. A real job. LOL
I am still in the probation period for the next three months, but yeah, I am officially working now.
Because of that, updates for this project will probably slow down a bit. As you know, I usually post around two chapters per day, but I honestly do not know if I can keep that pace anymore. Updates will most likely become significantly slower.
Thanks for understanding.