Chapter 256: Meeting the Healer
"Teacher Yun."
That day, Meng Ci and Shen Que headed to the base center, planning to join the others in fighting zombies. However, they unexpectedly ran into Yun Jingcen and the others.
Zhang Mingtian and Huang Zhi, hearing the sound, turned around and were quite surprised to see Meng Ci and Shen Que.
"Big brother!" they called out in unison.
Yun Jingcen and the others had already known the identities of the two when Zhang Mingtian found them earlier, so they weren't surprised.
The group shared their respective abilities with each other.
Meng Ci wondered if Ruan Qing had awakened his abilities after helping during the acid rain.
Seeing Meng Ci ask about Ruan Qing, Yun Jingcen leaned in and whispered, "Qingqing's ability is a healing power."
"Not only can it heal physical wounds, but it can also restore the mental energy drained from using abilities."
Two days ago, Yun Jingcen and five others, along with Zhang Mingtian and Huang Zhi, went out of the base to kill zombies. Due to the overwhelming number of zombies they encountered, their mental energy was excessively drained, leaving them all looking pale.
After returning to the base, seeing everyone's exhausted state, Ruan Qing suddenly wondered if his ability could heal the damage caused by the loss of abilities. Could it also restore the mental energy lost from using abilities?
After some experimentation, it turned out to be feasible!
Excited, Ruan Qing began to help the other six people heal.
However, using healing abilities required a large amount of energy to sustain.
By the time he finished healing the last person, Ruan Qing collapsed from exhaustion.
Seeing Ruan Qing faint, Yun Jingcen and the others rushed him to the hospital.
After a thorough examination, the doctor assured them that Ruan Qing was fine, but had merely exhausted himself from overusing his abilities.
They then gave him an IV drip and advised Yun Jingcen and the others to wait until Ruan Qing woke up before taking him home.
Ruan Qing slept for two days and one night before slowly regaining consciousness.
When he woke up, his face was deathly pale, but he still managed to smile at Yun Jingcen and the others by his bedside, assuring them that he felt much better.
Yun Jingcen felt relieved only when Ruan Qing finally woke up.
He then told Ruan Qing not to worry about food. They would go to the exchange point to get some meat and ask Zhang Mingtian's mother and Zhang Mingtian's wife, Song Meixuan, to help cook a hearty meal to reward him.
Previously, when Zhang Mingtian came looking, Yun Jingcen and the others, like Zhang Mingtian, believed that Meng Ci's acquaintances would definitely have good character, so they agreed to their request to join the team.
Three days earlier, when Zhang Mingtian's previously rented house contract ended, Yun Jingcen and the others invited him to rent a house together with them for mutual support.
Zhang Mingtian considered it a good idea to live together so that they could help each other.
In Zhang Mingtian's family, Huang Zhi's nine-year-old son, Huang Junyu, had recently awakened his abilities.
However, his fire abilities were still low-level, effective only against ordinary people. He wasn't strong enough to fight other psionics yet.
Upon hearing that Ruan Qing possessed a healing ability, Meng Ci was reminded of what he had read in the novel about a healer at the Xishan Wild Base.
This matched perfectly with Yun Jingcen and her group.
"Meng classmate, Shen classmate, if you ever suffer from excessive mental strain or severe injuries, you can come to us," Yun Jingcen whispered.
Yun Jingcen and her group did not intend to publicize Ruan Qing's healing ability, as it could also harm him.
"Alright." Meng Ci agreed, though he had no intention of seeking them out.
Meng Ci and Shen Que both hoped for a quick end to the zombie crisis but were unwilling to put themselves in undue danger.
Soon, the military personnel led the way, and the group left the base.
Their destination this time was to the east, where there was a mountain about ten kilometers from the base. Before the apocalypse, there had been a cemetery there.
During the apocalypse, some people carried their deceased loved ones to be buried there.
After days of suffering through the apocalypse, the bodies there had turned into zombies.
Every night, the zombies would howl in groups, causing the residents of the base to shiver in fear upon hearing them.
Only after eliminating most of the zombies in the city did the authorities set their sights on this area.
A large group walked for about two hours before reaching halfway up the mountain.
The zombies here seemed to have caught the scent of humans, and with a chorus of roars, they began to descend the mountain.
Meng Ci and the other ability users scattered, seeking optimal positions to kill more zombies and obtain more crystals.
Meng Ci, Shen Que, and Yun Jingcen noticed a small platform not far away, and they decided to investigate.
As soon as they stepped onto the platform, a tombstone more than a meter tall appeared in front of Meng Ci.
A small, faded photo, about two inches in size, was attached to the tombstone, showing a young girl, no more than a teenager.
Before Meng Ci could pay attention to the words on the tombstone, Mao Xinyu let out a cry of alarm.
"The zombies are coming!"
Following the direction of Mao Xinyu's shout, they saw a horde of zombies in tattered clothes, coming down the mountain in odd postures.
Some of the zombies were not very smart; one walked into a tree. Although the tree blocked its body, its feet kept moving forward.
"Grr, Grr!"
Though not smart, the zombies were strong. After just a few minutes of bumping into it, the tree was knocked down, and the zombies continued to stagger forward stiffly.
The zombies didn't seem to care where they were going and would trip over rocks and trees, falling to the ground for a moment before struggling back up.
"Fuck, this is too disgusting!"
Even though they had seen their fair share of zombies by now, the sight still turned their stomachs.
A few psionics with ranged powers started attacking from a distance.
Meng Ci and the others held back, conserving their powers for when they were truly needed.
They waited until the zombies were within ten meters before launching their attack.
This is the mountain forest, Meng Ci's comfort zone!
Meng Ci clasped his hands, muttering softly. The surrounding plants sprang to life, wrapping their vines around the zombies, binding them tightly.
On the other side, Shen Que hurled a fireball, which he had just formed, at the zombies.
Their teamwork was flawless. As the zombies were scorched by the fireballs, Meng Ci quietly used the plants to extract the crystals from the zombies.
Snap, snap.
Meng Ci and Shen Que were near the graves, and at first, they dismissed the strange sounds, assuming they were coming from the zombies.
Boom!
Suddenly, with a loud boom, the nearby grave split apart, and a female zombie clawed its way out.