After sending Dr. Li off, Sang Chu collapsed onto the bed again.
Tu You flew to her side. “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t you just wake up?”
“I don’t know… I’m just exhausted. I put everything inside the inner spatial band. You’re certain we can take everything back to the apocalypse, right?”
“Absolutely!”
Sang Chu yawned widely. “Then I’m going back to sleep. I’m so tired.”
She could barely keep her eyes open and soon drifted off again.
Half-asleep, half-awake, she suddenly heard the sound of a train whistle—long and distant. Then Tu You’s urgent voice echoed:
“Ah Chu! Ah Chu, wake up! We’re going back!”
“Wake up!!”
So tired…
Sang Chu couldn’t open her eyes at all. She turned over and continued sleeping.
Meanwhile, Lu Minfeng and Mu Xue were fleeing toward the city gate.
Under the massive blood-red moon, the mutated, towering plants had become their only escape route.
Mu Xue, wearing Lu Minfeng’s jacket, panted as she stared at the mutated giant tree. “Senior, are we really climbing this? I thought mutated plants were extremely dangerous!”
“My invisibility is about to run out. For some reason, Zhao Feng didn’t die. We can’t stay here. It’s now or never.”
At the mention of Zhao Feng, Mu Xue gnashed her teeth. That dog was riddled with bullets, yet he survived!
“I’ll go up first!”
She refused to become a burden. If the plant was dangerous, at least Lu Minfeng would still have a chance to escape.
“There! Over there!”
Zhao Feng’s remaining henchmen spotted them and rushed over.
Zhao Feng himself opened fire wildly. “So it’s you, Lu Minfeng!”
“Xiao Xue, hurry!”
Lu Minfeng raised a wall of earth to block the bullets, but the bullets were condensed from supernatural energy. The earthen wall trembled, nearly collapsing.
Mu Xue called urgently, “Senior, get up here!”
The giant tree didn’t attack them, so she tried reaching for him. But he said:
“You go first!”
Survival walls in the apocalypse were reinforced and raised significantly.
Mu Xue shouted, “Get up here now! If you don’t, I’ll come down!”
Zhao Feng’s voice carried an ugly laugh. “Don’t worry, little beauty. You’re not getting away.”
“Go!”
Lu Minfeng wrapped his ability around himself and climbed swiftly. Mu Xue pulled him up, and they ran, dodging endless golden bullets.
Bang!
A bullet struck Lu Minfeng’s back.
He bit his lip hard, refusing to make a sound.
He shielded Mu Xue with his body until they reached the top of the tree. His face was deathly pale, his body as cold as ice.
“Xiao Xue, I’ll block them in a moment. You climb over the wall. Once you’re out, everything will be easier.”
“And you?”
“I… may not make it out.”
He didn’t say the rest aloud. He believed Sang Chu was still alive. Mu Xue would be safer outside.
Zhao Feng shouted from below, mocking, “He won’t make it. My bullet hit him. He’s as good as dead!”
Mu Xue, horrified, touched his back and felt the blood-soaked fabric. Tears filled her eyes.
“Why didn’t you say anything? What do we do now?”
Lu Minfeng’s voice remained gentle. “It’s fine. The wound isn’t deep. Go first. I’ll follow.”
Zhao Feng taunted again, “Little beauty, come down and spend one night with me, and I’ll save your lover. How about it?”
He sounded like a hunter waiting for prey to surrender.
“You’re dreaming,” Lu Minfeng growled, shaking violently as he formed an earthen bridge toward the wall. “Go.”
Gunshots thundered—
Bang bang bang!
The earthen bridge shattered. Lu Minfeng’s power backfired. He fell, spitting blood.
“Senior!”
Mu Xue caught him before he dropped.
“Lu Minfeng! Wake up!”
He didn’t respond. His entire back was a mess of blood.
Mu Xue screamed toward the tree base, “Zhao Feng! Get a doctor now! If he dies, I’ll kill you!”
Zhao Feng smirked. “No problem. Come down first. Then I’ll save him.”
“You get the doctor first! If he dies, I won’t let you go!”
Zhao Feng’s laughter darkened. He had no intention of letting either of them go anyway.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted, forcing Zhao Feng’s group to retreat from the heat wave.
As the smoke cleared, they discovered—
The two people on the tree were gone.
Mu Xue blinked, stunned. Then a voice came from behind her.
Sang Chu, expression void, tossed a set of clothes at her. “Change. It’s me. You’re not hallucinating.”
“San… San San?”
“Mm.”
“San San?!”
“Are you summoning ghosts?”
Mu Xue burst into tears and flung herself at her. “Where did you go?! I almost died of fear tonight!”
Tonight? But Sang Chu had lived an entire month in the mutated world.
Before she could ask, Mu Xue pointed at Lu Minfeng, crying again:
“Zhao Feng shot him. He lost so much blood. Please, help him!”
Sang Chu shoved her toward a smaller compartment of the hovercar. “I’ll treat him. There’s hot water. Shower and change clothes. We’ll talk after.”
Mu Xue had already seen Sang Chu using strange weapons and flying in something shaped like an oval pod. So instead of questioning, she obeyed.
When she came back out, Sang Chu had already treated Lu Minfeng and secured a strange device to his arm.
“San San, what’s that?”
“A mini medical pod. It keeps him alive. Are you hungry? I’ll get you food.”
“I’m starving, but I want answers first. What exactly is going on?”
(End of Chapter)