Shen Yu was in terrible shape. He was locked in a struggle with the system in his mind. If he hadn’t dealt with the system’s host right from the start, indirectly injuring the system in the process, he would probably be dead by now.
The system was a manifestation of mental power. Under normal circumstances, Shen Yu wouldn’t have stood a chance. But his instinctive reaction in that moment had told him that if he didn’t fight with everything he had, he would die. So he went straight for the kill.
It had been the right decision. The system hadn’t expected him to strike back when it attacked, rather than defend himself. And his counterattack had directly killed the host the system was protecting.
Once the system lost its host, it lost ninety percent of its attacking power. That was why it couldn’t beat Shen Yu and was instead subdued by him.
When Feng Qing treated him, Shen Yu was in the most critical stage of his struggle with the system. Without Feng Qing replenishing his mental power, it would have been much harder to destroy the system’s mental entity.
Even without Feng Qing’s help, he would have eventually destroyed the crippled system. He had too much to live for. He couldn’t let go of his son or his husband. That was the main reason he’d managed to suppress the system’s mental entity.
A strong mind meant strong mental power. In the final moments of the struggle, Shen Yu’s mental power had advanced to the next level. With Feng Qing giving him a substantial boost as well, he’d been able to defeat the system so quickly.
Though he’d beaten the system, the cost had been high. His mental power was a complete mess, and he couldn’t stay conscious. He’d sunk into a half-coma.
Feng Qing continued treating him until the energy in the level-three crystal core ran out. Only then did he stop. “The patient is out of danger. As for when he’ll wake up, that depends on how well he recovers.” With that, he turned to leave.
Shi Lin hurriedly asked, “How often will you come back to check on him?”
Feng Qing glanced up at him. “That’s up to you. One crystal core per checkup. If you’re willing to pay, I can come ten times a day.” His tone was mild, but the sarcasm was unmistakable.
Shi Lin didn’t catch it at all. He turned straight to the guard captain, whose expression immediately darkened. “Since he’s out of danger, we won’t cover the cost of any more checkups.” They weren’t fools who’d throw their money away.
Shi Lin was about to say something, but one of his companions stopped him. Xu Sheng, who’d said nothing until then but was the team’s actual leader on this mission, finally spoke. “Could you arrange somewhere for us to stay?”
The Changfeng guard captain thought Xu Sheng was sensible. “Come on.” The spatial ability user hadn’t even woken up yet. They obviously couldn’t just trade and leave right away, so arranging a place to stay was only reasonable.
Shi Lin tried to say something again, but was promptly shut down. Unable to argue, he followed the others angrily. He didn’t have to carry Shen Yu anymore. The clinic had a stretcher, and two other team members were carrying it.
Housing was scarce at Changfeng Base. There were a lot of people passing through, many of them planning to rest for a few days before moving on. There weren’t many vacant rooms, and prices were steep, so plenty of people chose to build a makeshift shelter of their own.
But you couldn’t just put up a shelter anywhere inside the base. You had to pay a fee for the land. Those who didn’t want to pay could build outside the base instead, but then they had to handle their own security.
The Changfeng guard captain led them to a row of simple apartments. “Each room sleeps six. I’ll give you four rooms, and you can pick whichever ones you want.”
Shi Lin was dissatisfied. “There isn’t even a bathroom. This place is awful.” Xu Sheng was fed up and couldn’t be bothered to stop him. Let him complain.
This time, the guard captain didn’t indulge him. “If you want somewhere better, that can be arranged. One level-one crystal core per day. You’ll get a bathroom and kitchen, hot water around the clock, and water and electricity included.”
Shi Lin gritted his teeth, then lowered his head and rummaged through Shen Yu’s pockets. Sure enough, there were two crystal cores inside. He’d seen Shen Yu turning them over in his hands earlier. “Here. Take us there.”
Xu Sheng hurried to stop him. “Shi Lin, how can you just take someone else’s things?”
The guard captain didn’t take the cores either. “You’d better talk it over before you decide.”
Shi Lin’s response was to toss the crystal cores to the Changfeng guard captain. “It’s only two crystal cores. Why make such a fuss?” His Brother Shen wasn’t short of two crystal cores.
Xu Sheng was furious, but he couldn’t start an argument in front of outsiders. Besides, other than his girlfriend, the only person Shi Lin would listen to was Shen Yu. He ignored everyone else, so arguing would be pointless.
The guard captain was pleased. Without another word, he led them to his apartment. There were only a few apartments like it in all of Changfeng Base. He had no other place to take them, so he had to offer up his own.
He’d already been planning to rent it out. He’d moved in with his lover a few days ago, and now he’d found a sucker who’d paid enough to cover a whole month’s rent. How could he not be happy?
Treating Shen Yu had cost him quite a bit, but the base would reimburse him. Even if they decided he’d failed in his duty as guard captain, at most they’d dock some of his points. It definitely wouldn’t be worth two crystal cores. He’d come out ahead.
Shi Lin had no idea he’d been taken for a sucker. The rest of the team couldn’t be bothered with him either. The two men carrying the stretcher followed them to the newly rented apartment, and Xu Sheng went along too.
The apartment really was in good shape. The bed was only a wooden plank, but it had bedding on it. The kitchen was well stocked with utensils, and the bathroom even had a shower.
Shi Lin wasn’t well liked by the rest of the team, but he was fairly capable when it came to looking after Shen Yu. As soon as they got inside, he helped Shen Yu out of his jacket and boots, then fetched water to wash his face and hands. Finally, he washed Shen Yu’s feet too.
Not wanting anything to go to waste, Xu Sheng went in and took a shower. Unlike Shi Lin, the others carried most of their everyday essentials themselves, even with a spatial ability user on the team, so they had changes of clothes in their packs.
Shi Lin had a pack too, but there was nothing useful in it. It was full of junk he’d picked up along the way. Shen Yu had refused to help him store it, so Shi Lin had kept it in his own pack.
Xu Sheng didn’t just shower himself. He had the team members take turns as well. Even in the freezing cold, they sweated during fights. They might wipe themselves down at other times, but that was nothing like taking a shower.
Shi Lin didn’t care about any of that. He kept his attention on Shen Yu. Of everyone on the team, the one most worried about Shen Yu was definitely him. His concern was genuine, with nothing to gain from it.
Shen Yu knew that, which was why he’d kept putting up with him. He’d thought Shi Lin’s little flaws could be corrected. He’d never imagined he’d raise an ungrateful wretch who would one day cost him his life.
Then again, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Shi Lin’s affection for him was genuine, but when it came to his girlfriend, he did whatever she said. If he had to choose between them, it was only natural he’d pick her.
Shen Yu didn’t have time to dwell on any of that yet. While unconscious, he’d been trying to sort out his jumbled mental power and organize what the system had left behind, including the novel’s timeline.
If he hadn’t come across the system by chance, he’d never have known he was a character in a novel.
The system’s original mental entity had been completely wiped out, so he had to piece the novel’s timeline together from scratch. That took a great deal of mental power. He’d only managed to organize the opening events before he couldn’t go on.
Shi Lin had wanted to keep watch over Shen Yu, but after traveling all day and dealing with an unexpected incident, the team was exhausted. He fell asleep before midnight, and not one of the others who’d stayed in the apartment was still awake either.
It wasn’t a big deal, though. The base was safe, and the doctor had said Shen Yu was fine, so nobody took it seriously. Still, it showed just how uncaring these people really were.
“Why is Brother Shen still unconscious? Shouldn’t we get a doctor to check him?” Shi Lin started making a fuss as soon as he woke up.
Xu Sheng checked Shen Yu’s breathing and temperature, then went back to where he’d been sleeping on the floor and lay down again without a word.
Shi Lin wasn’t having it. “Why don’t you go get the doctor?”
“If you want a doctor, go get one yourself.” Nobody’s crystal cores grew on trees. They couldn’t just waste them.
Shi Lin flared up. “Fine, I’ll go. Lend me a crystal core first.” If he’d had any, he’d never have asked.
Xu Sheng’s expression darkened too. “I don’t have one.” So now Shi Lin realized he was short on crystal cores? Hadn’t he been so generous yesterday?
Shi Lin turned to the other two team members. They didn’t even say whether they had any. They just closed their eyes and ignored him. “Fine. Very well.” He ran out to borrow one from the others, but not a single person was willing to lend him one.
When he came back, he angrily started ordering them out. “I rented this place for Brother Shen. All of you, get out.”
Xu Sheng and the other two didn’t argue with him. They left the apartment and returned to the accommodation Changfeng Base had provided for them. But they didn’t leave Shen Yu entirely unattended. They arranged for two people to take turns keeping watch outside.
Shen Yu was too important to the team. Xu Sheng was genuinely afraid that Shi Lin might act on a whim and do something reckless, which would only make things worse.
The team had kept busy that day. They traded the supplies they’d brought with them for a good number of things at Changfeng Base and settled the exchange rate for salt. All they had to do now was wait for Shen Yu to wake up before making the trade.
But Shen Yu still hadn’t woken by the next morning. Even Xu Sheng was starting to worry. After finding out where the doctor lived, he went to fetch him. He didn’t have any level-three or higher crystal cores, but he did have a few level-one and level-two ones.
Feng Qing lived in the apartment district, in the building behind theirs. He was soon brought over.
“He’s recovering well. He should wake up tomorrow morning. If you’re in a hurry, one level-two crystal core can wake him up right away.” That was a conservative estimate. Feng Qing actually thought the patient would wake up that night at the latest.
Xu Sheng quickly waved a hand. “No need.” The others all reacted the same way. They didn’t think it was worth wasting another crystal core. Shi Lin was willing, but he didn’t have one and couldn’t borrow one, so he could only glare helplessly.
Shen Yu watched it all with cold eyes. So none of the people at the base felt any gratitude toward him. They were just putting on a show of politeness. No wonder his family of three had ended up so miserable. With such poor judgment, he couldn’t blame anyone else.
If he hadn’t managed to defeat the Villain Comeback System by chance, he would never have known that his family were cannon fodder in a novel, seemingly born to contribute to the protagonists’ story.
He and Yi Han were nothing but designated stepping stones, meant to help the protagonist couple level up. Shen Yu’s space ability and Yi Han’s beast-taming ability were both handed over to the protagonists.
Zaizai had been turned into a catalyst for their romance. Once the protagonists’ relationship had developed, Zaizai had outlived his usefulness and, as expected, died. How tragic.
Only now did Shen Yu understand how terrifying human nature could be. In seven years, they hadn’t made a single friend. If they’d managed to make even one, things might not have ended that way. So there was no one else to blame. He and Yi Han had been too foolish.