Jiang Fu finally met the man called Ying Changtian.
He looked to be in his fifties, though his ability made him appear younger—barely in his early forties. At the moment, however, he was drenched in sweat, his face deathly pale. Pain and terror were twisted together in his expression, and from time to time he dry-heaved.
When he saw Jiang Fu, he could barely speak, only managing to wave weakly. “Quick… quickly…”
Jiang Fu did not waste time. She stepped forward and released a streak of black light, enveloping him completely. The black radiance even slipped into his nose, mouth, and ear canals.
In mere moments, Ying Changtian’s senses were sealed. His whole body relaxed as he began gulping down air, like someone who had just escaped death.
Jiang Fu: …Was it really that unbearable?
After quite a while, Ying Changtian recovered. He said he needed to tidy himself up. A few minutes later, he returned in dry clothes, hair neatly arranged, once again looking every bit the dignified figure.
Jiang Fu greeted him calmly. “Chief Ying.”
“Sit, sit. You are…?”
“Li Qing.”
It was the same false identity she had used when infiltrating Fu’an Base. She still carried the identification documents. If her identity hadn’t been exposed in Fu’an Base, it certainly wouldn’t be a problem elsewhere.
“Comrade Li Qing, thank you for today.”
Jiang Fu said seriously, “Chief Ying, I’ve temporarily sealed your senses, but it will only last half an hour. You’d best find a fundamental solution as soon as possible.”
Ying Changtian stiffened, clearly uneasy. “Only half an hour?”
She nodded. “You are a powerful ability user yourself. My ability cannot restrain you for long.”
“Then after half an hour, can you apply it again?”
“That is possible,” Jiang Fu replied with composure. “But sealing one’s entire sensory perception is dangerous and harmful to the body. It’s not a long-term solution.”
Ying Changtian let out a breath of relief. That intoxicating, unbearable sensation earlier—he never wanted to experience it again.
He looked at the young woman before him and thought of her unusual ability. “In your opinion, what caused my illness?”
Jiang Fu frowned and pondered as if in earnest. “I’ve never seen such a strange illness. It does resemble something parasitic inside the body. Just now, I vaguely sensed that aside from your own ability, there is another one inside you. It’s chaotic and restless—not very strong, yet able to move freely throughout your body. Extremely strange…”
Ying Changtian nodded inwardly. She was right—completely right. It seemed this person truly had some skill.
If that was the case, she was worth recruiting. And at present, he couldn’t do without her.
He spoke frankly. “Yes. That ability doesn’t belong to me. This strange illness stems from it.”
Jiang Fu frowned deeper. “But I’ve never heard of abilities parasitizing other people.”
Ying Changtian sighed. “You may not know—this particular ability is quite special. It can detach from its owner and lie dormant somewhere, waiting to be triggered. Then, like a living thing, it wraps around an enemy and burrows into their body.”
Jiang Fu showed open astonishment. “There’s actually such a cunning and vicious ability!”
Ying Changtian: “…”
It was the first time anyone had described Zhou Liangji’s ability that way.
But thinking about it carefully—lying in ambush for a long time, sharp enough to decapitate, able to coil like a venomous snake and slice flesh and bone from within—
If that wasn’t cunning and vicious, what was?
Why had he never thought of it that way before?
Jiang Fu continued bluntly, “What kind of ability a person awakens usually reflects their temperament. Someone hot-tempered likely awakens a fire-type ability. Someone gentle and steady might awaken water or wood. So someone who awakens such a sinister ability must also be the type to hide in the shadows plotting against others.”
Ying Changtian fell silent.
A petty schemer?
Zhou Liangji’s public image was practically flawless—upright and righteous. Yet now that he thought about it… if Zhou Liangji were truly that noble, how could he possess such an ability?
After coming to Hongri Base, Zhou Liangji’s reputation had quickly overshadowed several of the base’s top authorities. Compared to him, they all seemed selfish and small-minded, their reputations diminished.
Going to someone else’s territory and winning over the masses—was that something a truly upright person would do?
That man had indeed been hiding deeply.
Then was this strange illness truly an accident?
Had he been plotting something? Why had the people around him fallen ill first? And as for himself—he had gone to inquire about the situation this morning and had come into contact with Zhou Liangji.
Ying Changtian’s thoughts suddenly aligned.
Zhou Liangji must be the problem.
His expression shifted repeatedly while Jiang Fu sat quietly watching.
On the way here, she had already learned about Ying Changtian’s status.
He was one of the top five most powerful figures at Hongri Base and was a sixth-tier ability user. His ability was a mutated earth-type—anything he touched could be turned into stone.
He carried significant weight within the base.
Her earlier curse had targeted everyone who had come into contact with Zhou Liangji within the past week. They would become tainted with Zhou Liangji’s ability, which would manifest as fine threads roaming through their bodies—appearing and disappearing, causing discomfort. Additionally, the afflicted would experience mild hallucinations.
The sensation of insects crawling inside and out of Ying Changtian’s body was, in fact, a hallucination.
Because the curse was complex and the number of targets uncertain, it could only last one week. And fundamentally, it caused no real physical harm.
Even so, Jiang Fu had expended enormous effort to make it succeed.
She had simply cast a net and waited to see what fish it might catch. If it failed, she would think of another method.
Unexpectedly, everything had gone more smoothly than she’d imagined—she had even caught a big fish like Ying Changtian.
Zhou Liangji was always eager to help others and spoke often of humanity’s future. Though he claimed he sought no reward, only a clear conscience, he must care deeply about his reputation and how others saw him.
In simple terms, he likely had a bit of a performative personality.
And that was precisely where she intended to strike.
It wasn’t merely an attack on him personally. When someone with a spotless, benevolent image suddenly reveals a dark, scheming side and harms public interests, the blow to their social standing is devastating.
Silence settled between them.
Jiang Fu began wondering whether Wen Heyu was getting impatient waiting in the car, while Ying Changtian’s imagination had already leapt to the idea that Zhou Liangji intended to parasitize others with his ability and eventually control them—thus dominating the base.
He could no longer sit still. The matter was grave. He needed to consult the other powerholders immediately.
He asked Jiang Fu, “Is there truly no way to cure this completely?”
She shook her head. “To eradicate it, the foreign ability must be expelled from the body. I don’t possess that capability. However, my ability essentially freezes and dulls things. Perhaps I can attempt to freeze that ability and suppress its activity. But it’s too elusive. I need more information—and access to more patients.”
Her words were measured and reasonable. She neither exaggerated nor flatly refused. It showed confidence tempered with restraint—reliable.
Such a person must truly be capable.
But why had no one ever heard of her before?
As he ordered for the sick individuals on his side to be brought in, he asked, “May I ask, Comrade Li Qing, where were you previously employed?”
“I came from Fu’an Base,” Jiang Fu replied.
That was not a lie. Even if someone investigated, Jiang Fu there would cover for her.
But Ying Changtian immediately assumed she had once been an important figure in Fu’an Base.
Fu’an Base!
The strongest base in the apocalypse—the most prosperous and stable place. A land countless people longed for.
His gaze toward Jiang Fu grew even more respectful. “Then why leave?”
Jiang Fu lowered her eyes gloomily. “The person I respected passed away. I didn’t want to stay in that place of sorrow.”
He understood at once. She must mean the late Governor Jiang Junrong. When news of her death broke, it had been like an earthquake. Hongri Base had even sent representatives to pay respects, confirming the news.
“My condolences.”
Soon several patients were brought in. Each looked miserable—vomiting, scratching, retching—resorting to extreme uses of their abilities to numb their senses.
Jiang Fu methodically sealed their senses and examined their bodies like a solemn researcher. After a long while, she reached a conclusion.
“To draw this foreign ability out, we may need its original owner to guide it.”
Meanwhile, Ying Changtian had already convened an emergency meeting with the other ability users. With his prompting, each of them grew wary and dissatisfied with Zhou Liangji.
One of them said, “Zhou Liangji has already been investigated and interrogated. He claims he knows nothing about this strange illness and has done nothing.”
“Hmph, of course he won’t admit it so easily!” Ying Changtian sneered. “He won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin! If we join forces, are we really incapable of taking him down?”
“But his reputation is excellent, and he has many supporters. The base is already unstable… And if this strange illness really is his doing—if he can plant abilities into other people’s bodies, he might also be able to remotely control those abilities. If we push him too far and he panics, what if he lashes out in desperation…”
Everyone turned to look at Ying Changtian. His expression stiffened, suddenly feeling that what was inside him was not just a worm-like ability, but a bomb that could be detonated at any moment.
At that moment, Jiang Fu’s conclusion was reported to them.
“It’s similar to what some healing ability users have speculated—he who tied the bell must untie it.”
“No matter what Zhou Liangji’s intentions are, since he still wants to maintain his image, we’ll release the news. We’ll say this strange illness has some connection to his ability, and only he can cure it. Let’s see whether he’s willing to trouble himself for everyone.”
If he wants to keep up the act, he’ll have to treat people. If he stops pretending, his reputation will naturally rot.
“And that’s not all. Since merely coming into contact with him can cause the illness, I’d say there still aren’t enough sick people.”
“Those who used to stay close to Zhou Liangji, who praised him while stepping on us, who were sincerely grateful to him—how can they miss out on such an opportunity?”
Only when there are enough victims—enough to form a grand alliance—will Zhou Liangji appear all the more hateful.
After this incident, no matter the outcome, Zhou Liangji would never be able to survive in Hongri Base.
As the few people in power continued their discussion, the tone gradually veered in a certain direction.
From several rooms away, Jiang Fu faintly overheard their conversation and gave a slight, mocking smile. Those in power always think first about consolidating their authority and status.
As for what consequences more sick people might suffer, or whether it would pose any danger to the base—that was not their primary concern.
Of course, this aligned perfectly with her plan.
She muttered to herself, “How could someone like Zhou Liangji not have offended people?”
However many supporters he had, there would only be more who disliked and resented him.
She only needed to give things a gentle push…
But next, she had to make sure those people actually fell ill to keep the show going. The effect of her curse would only last a few more days.
Now she could only rely on Wen Zangyu.
She walked toward the car she had driven in. Wen Heyu was still inside.
But the moment she opened the door, the interior was thick with resentful energy.
She hadn’t left this much resentful energy in here before.
Looking again, she saw Wen Heyu releasing resentful energy from his fingertips, feeding it to the silkworm baby. The little silkworm had already grown another plump ring fatter.
“Wen Heyu?”
Wen Heyu turned his head sluggishly. His pretty little face had sunk in again, his complexion grayish-green—almost the same color as a zombie.
Jiang Fu took a deep breath, got into the car, and closed the door. “Do you realize your whole body is leaking air?”
Resentful energy was seeping out of him. His body was like a balloon—once the air was gone, it deflated.
“Ah?”
He looked down at himself and only then realized it did seem that way.
“I—I just wanted to feed the silkworm…”
He had thought only his fingertips could let out resentful energy. He hadn’t realized his entire body was leaking.
Jiang Fu had no time to think about why the resentful energy inside him could escape, nor why he could control it. She quickly gathered the resentful energy filling the car and fed it back into him. The boy’s body filled out once more.
But with this sudden draining and refilling, his fragile body couldn’t withstand it. His cheeks flushed red and began burning hot.
Jiang Fu touched his forehead—it was hot enough to fry an egg.
“…You really are my little ancestor!”