Chapter 139: Zhang Shou Saves the Day

A short-haired young man holding a long blade looked at Yu Xian in surprise. "Salted Fish? Aren't you at headquarters?"

Yu Xian also recognized him and frowned. "Brother Cheng Ying, what are you—"

Cheng Ying interrupted him. "Wait. Let me confirm whether you're the real Salted Fish. Don't move."

He took out his phone and contacted his captain, Gan Jiang.

Cheng Ying was a member of the Evil Slaying Squad. The members of this squad all had codenames related to famous blades and swords from ancient times. Aside from Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the squad consisted of Cheng Ying, Qi Xing, Chi Xiao, Chun Jun, and Sheng Xie.

Back when they fought Deimos, Yu Xian had saved Cheng Ying and the others in passing. Later, they kept in contact. Yu Xian had received quite a lot of information from this squad, so they were all quite familiar with each other.

When Gan Jiang picked up the call, Cheng Ying immediately asked, "Captain, is Salted Fish still at headquarters?"

—He's still here. Why?

Cheng Ying looked at Yu Xian in confusion, his mind full of question marks. "That's weird. I've got a Salted Fish on my side too, and he doesn't look like a fake."

—The Salted Fish at headquarters is a clone. The one on your side is probably his main body. He must have gone to look for his aunt. Tell him that Ms. Su Zhuo is at Zenith City First Hospital.

When Gan Jiang hung up, Cheng Ying put away his phone and asked the officers from the Combat Police unit to lower their blades. He looked at Yu Xian and sighed. "You heard that. Want me to go with you?"

Yu Xian glanced around before turning back to Cheng Ying. "No need. But I've already submitted all the evidence here to headquarters, so please try not to destroy anything in the house."

He knew that when it came to investigating the Namo Race, Qilin definitely could not rely on his side of the story alone. But this was his aunt's home. Right now, he only hoped that Cheng Ying and the others would be a little gentler and not damage anything that belonged to her.

Cheng Ying nodded. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on things."

After thanking him, Yu Xian vanished with a flash of red light. He arrived at Zenith City First Hospital and soon found Su Zhuo. She had been placed in a ward together with the other victims. Several officers from the Combat Police unit were standing guard outside the door.

Yu Xian took out his credentials. Only then was he allowed into the ward, where he saw Su Zhuo lying there on an IV drip.

Many other victims also lay on beds around her, all of them just like Su Zhuo. They were all vegetative patients whose minds had been destroyed by the Namo Race's Mental Tsunami. Although their bodies had not died, their self-awareness had long since vanished.

Yu Xian walked up to Su Zhuo's hospital bed. As he looked at her, his eyes reddened. He had always misunderstood her, thinking she had turned her back on him after becoming wealthy and chosen to cut ties with him. He had always thought he no longer had any family members left. Now, whenever he thought of all the dark thoughts and harsh curses he had once held toward her, he wanted to slap himself hard across the face and tell himself what an absolute piece of trash he was.

If people didn't see each other for a long time, most of the emotions they felt for each other would fade. But Yu Xian had Super Brain. When he did not suppress his emotions, his feelings were far deeper than those of an ordinary person. After all, he could recall every little moment from the past in full detail, and those memories would not fade with time.

This meant that whenever he recalled his parents, it was practically the same as experiencing the pain of losing them all over again. By the same logic, after he learned that he had misunderstood his aunt all along, his guilt, regret, and pain were far more intense than what an ordinary person would feel.

Smack!

Looking at Su Zhuo, Yu Xian finally raised his hand and slapped himself under the weight of his conscience.

It did not hurt at all. Yu Xian touched his cheek and realized that unless he used his full strength, he would not feel any pain at all. However, if he did that, the sound would definitely wake most patients in the hospital. Obviously, he could not do that.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He took it out and glanced at the screen. Zhang Shou was calling him.

Last night's livestream had ended abruptly halfway, fizzling out without a proper conclusion. Zhang Shou had no idea what had happened afterward. He had held off calling his friend until now only because he was worried that his call would affect Yu Xian.

Yu Xian picked up, and Zhang Shou’s voice immediately boomed from the other end of the line.

—Salted Fish. Are you still on the Red Planet?

Yu Xian glanced at Su Zhuo, then turned and instantly appeared on a mountaintop outside Zenith City. "No, I'm already back."

—What happened after that last night? Are you okay?

Yu Xian knew that he needed to talk to someone, and in front of Zhang Shou, his best friend, he did not need to pretend or hide his emotions. He slowly told him everything that had happened afterward. Zhang Shou listened quietly, but when he heard that the Namo Race had killed Su Zhuo, he froze for a moment, then interrupted Yu Xian.

—You're saying the Namo Race destroyed Aunt Su Zhuo's mind, and she's now in a vegetative state?

Yu Xian nodded. "Mm."

—I can treat that!

Yu Xian froze. "What?"

Her mind is destroyed, and she has become a vegetative patient. Can that be treated?

—Didn't I go on a mission with Sister Bluebird a while ago? I finally reached the required number of treatments and completed the system's first-level mission, so I leveled up twice. Now I have two new abilities. One is Mental Healing, and the other is Healing Seed.

—Mental Healing can treat a condition like Aunt Su Zhuo's. As for Healing Seed, I can plant a seed inside someone, slowly healing any injuries they suffered within the past day.

Yu Xian's breathing grew rapid. With Super Brain, he instantly recalled that back when Zhang Shou had invited him to Twin West Mountains to fight zombies, he had indeed mentioned that he had leveled up. At the time, Yu Xian had just finished fighting the Supreme Martial Zombie King, so he had turned down Zhang Shou's invitation.

"You really can treat Aunt?"

—Of course I can. Do I look like someone who would joke about something like this? Hurry up and come get me.

After confirming with Zhang Shou once more that this condition could be treated, Yu Xian immediately created a spatial bubble around himself. In the next second, he appeared beside Zhang Shou. Then the two of them teleported back to the hospital.

Seeing the numerous victims around them, Zhang Shou was shocked. "So many people were affected?"

Yu Xian nodded. "This is only a portion of them. There are still quite a few victims in other cities, probably several thousand in total."

Zhang Shou fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly raised his head and let out a long sigh. Under Yu Xian's puzzled gaze, he explained, "The essence of Mental Healing is that I consume my mental energy to restore the mind the other person has lost. If the target is in a vegetative state, then I have to spend one life to treat them."

He would not actually die after the treatment. Instead, he himself would become vegetative. But that was basically no different from spending one of his lives. If no one killed him afterward, he would need to wait at least seven days before dying of old age and reviving again.

If Zhang Shou had not known about this situation, that would have been one thing. But now that he knew, as a medic, his medical ethics would not allow him to stand by and do nothing. Still, the thought that he would have to go through this once or even twice a day from now on made his scalp tingle.

However, a real man knew what he should and should not do. As soon as Zhang Shou thought of Yu Bo and the other people who had sacrificed themselves, his resolve became firm once more. I am going to save these people. No matter what.

A moment later, Zhang Shou collapsed, and Su Zhuo slowly woke up. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. She felt as if she had been asleep for a very, very long time. Still dazed, she struggled to sit up. Just then, she saw Yu Xian holding a gun, shooting the unconscious, muscular young man lying on the floor.

Su Zhuo recognized Yu Xian at a glance, and her mind roared as she stared at the scene before her in shock. Little Xian killed someone!

Her mind raced with questions of how she was supposed to take the blame for Yu Xian. What excuse could she use to make the police believe that she was the one who had shot this young man?