The scream was so sharp it sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
Lin Xue desperately slapped at her outer thigh.
The newly bought polyester dress she was wearing now had a blackened, burnt hole where the pocket was.
Through the hole, one could see her once fair skin now turned bright red, already blistering—an absolutely horrifying sight.
“Help! What is this thing?! It hurts! It feels like it’s burning!”
Lin Xue rolled on the ground in agony, completely losing all dignity.
The black badge she had flung away landed on the ground, showing no visible abnormality—just an ordinary rusty metal piece.
But everyone looking at it now felt differently.
This thing… bites?
Qin Zhan reacted the fastest.
Even though he didn’t know what had happened, as a soldier his instinct for danger was razor-sharp.
He rushed over in a few steps and kicked the black badge far away to prevent anyone from touching it.
Then he shouted at the stunned guard nearby:
“Stop standing there! Call the military doctor! Now!”
Lin Wan instinctively pulled Tangtang behind her, shielding her, and looked coldly at the rolling Lin Xue.
【Serves you right.】
【Karma.】
【That corpse-toxin fungus is anaerobic. You kept it in your pocket for so long, heated it up with your body temperature—of course it would activate.】
【And this is just the beginning. Later it’ll blister, fester, and ooze pus—that’s the real “fun.”】
【Trying to use that on Tangtang? This is instant karma.】
The surrounding neighbors were terrified and all backed away, afraid of being contaminated.
“What… what is going on?”
“Didn’t Miss Lin say that was a protective charm? How did it burn her instead?”
“Protective charm? That’s a death charm!”
“Something’s wrong with that thing—definitely not clean!”
Zhang Guifang also quickly retreated. Just moments ago she had defended Lin Xue, and now she wished she could swallow her words back.
At this point, Lin Xue was already in severe pain and half delirious.
The burning sensation wasn’t just on the surface of her skin—it felt like it was drilling into her bones.
She cried and screamed while reaching toward Qin Zhan’s trouser leg.
“Qin Zhan gege… save me… was it her? Was it Lin Wan?”
“It must be her curse! She’s a jinx!”
Even now, she was still trying to blame Lin Wan.
Qin Zhan looked at her crazed expression and stepped back, avoiding her hand.
Having heard Lin Wan’s inner thoughts, he roughly understood what was going on.
Although “corpse toxin” sounded absurd, that badge was clearly dangerous.
And Lin Xue had actually tried to press that thing onto Tangtang’s face?
At that thought, the last trace of sympathy in his eyes disappeared.
“Lin Wan was five meters away from you. How could she harm you?”
“You took that thing out yourself.”
“Instead of blaming others here, you should think carefully about where you got that thing from.”
At that moment, two military doctors carrying medical kits hurried over.
They looked at Lin Xue’s injury and their expressions changed.
“This is a severe chemical burn—or possibly a biological toxin infection.”
“Quick! Put her on a stretcher! Send her to the medical unit!”
“Isolation! She must be isolated immediately! This condition is not normal!”
The doctors carefully lifted Lin Xue onto the stretcher while wearing gloves.
The black badge was also picked up with tweezers and sealed into a specimen bag for testing.
Finally, the courtyard fell quiet.
Only a group of confused onlookers remained.
The whole incident had escalated too quickly for their brains to process.
First a genius child built a flying device out of scrap metal, then a scheming woman suffered her own downfall.
It felt more dramatic than any staged play.
Qin Zhan turned around and looked at Lin Wan and Tangtang.
The big and small pair were staring at each other.
Tangtang, clearly frightened by what had just happened, was tightly clutching Lin Wan’s clothes.
“Mom… sister, did she get punished for being bad?”
Lin Wan patted her head calmly.
“Yes. That’s called retribution for wrongdoing.”
“Remember, Tangtang—never pick up strange things from the ground again. Especially things that look like antiques. They might be dug up from graves, and they’re dirty.”
Tangtang nodded vaguely.
“Mm! I’ll listen to sister! Sister is the best!”
Qin Zhan watched Lin Wan’s casual attitude, and a trace of curiosity rose in his heart.
Just how many secrets was this woman hiding?
Not only could she understand complex mechanical diagrams, she could also instantly identify the danger of that badge?
Was she really just the rural woman described in the file, who hadn’t even studied much?
“Let’s go.”
Qin Zhan walked over and picked up the “floating device” from the ground, his tone still rough but noticeably softened.
“Back to the room first.”
“And you,” he pointed at Tangtang,
“Go wash your face. Come eat dinner.”
Tangtang froze for a moment, then cheered.
“Yay! I can eat with sister!”
She ignored Qin Zhan’s cold expression and grabbed Lin Wan’s hand, dragging her upstairs.
Lin Wan, caught between the two of them, strangely felt a warm sense of comfort.
【Is that it? It’s over already?】
【I didn’t even need to do anything, and Lin Xue took herself out.】
【So this is what it means to win by doing nothing?】
【But Qin Zhan doesn’t seem so bad. The way he kicked that badge earlier was actually kind of cool.】
【If he can perform in that area… he’d actually be a pretty good husband candidate. What a pity…】
Qin Zhan, walking in front, stumbled slightly.
He heard it again.
That damn “not working” comment!
Veins popped on his hand gripping the device, almost crushing future high-tech equipment.
Just wait.
One day, he would make this woman understand what “number one in the entire military region” really meant.
At that moment, a head suddenly poked out from the stairwell.
It was Wang Dapao, the same man Qin Zhan had just kicked earlier.
He was grinning slyly at the trio walking upstairs.
“Tsk tsk… Old Qin’s life, huh…”
“Just got rid of a troublesome sister-in-law, and now he’s bringing home a wild daughter too.”
“This is getting interesting—a whole family of big shots.”
“I wonder if the guesthouse bed can handle all this tonight…”
His voice was low, but in the empty corridor it echoed clearly.
Qin Zhan turned sharply and shot him a dagger-like glare.
Wang Dapao immediately shrank back and slammed the door shut.
“Coward.”
Lin Wan silently judged.
The three returned to the room.
After all the chaos, everyone was hungry.
Especially Lin Wan—the earlier meal of braised pork had long been digested.
Her stomach growled uncontrollably.
Grrr—
Qin Zhan glanced at her but said nothing.
He walked to the door and called out:
“Xiao Zhang!”
“Yes!”
Xiao Zhang appeared instantly like a ghost.
“Commander, your order?”
“Go to the cafeteria.”
Qin Zhan paused briefly.
“Get two servings of braised pork.”
“And bring a bottle of soda for the child.”
Xiao Zhang’s eyes widened.
“Two servings? Commander, didn’t you say you don’t eat fatty meat?”
Qin Zhan glanced at him coldly.
“Who said I’m eating it? It’s for her.”
He pointed at Lin Wan, who was slumped in a chair pretending to be dead.
“She’s too thin. Hard to hold.”
Lin Wan immediately straightened up.
【What?】
【Hard to hold?】
【Is he implying something? Did he just say I wasn’t soft enough when he carried me earlier?】
【This pervert! How dare he criticize my figure!】
【But… for the sake of braised pork, fine. I’ll let it slide.】
【Double portions! I want to eat until I explode!】
Qin Zhan: …
He really wanted to crack open her head and see what was inside.
Besides food and those absurd thoughts—was there anything normal in there at all?