Chapter 10: A Rare Moment of Respite
Before Xia Wan could "deliver," Cheng Shi hit her with a healing spell in the nick of time.
Since Xia Wan was carrying multiple offspring, this healing spell was remarkably effective, topping off her condition in one shot.
But it also meant that the newborns she produced would be exceptionally healthy.
The group sprinted outward, and before they'd gone very far, the life forms gestating inside Xia Wan couldn't wait to enter the world.
Life forms catalyzed by Genesis Seeds didn't wait for any delivery doctor. Midway through their trek, the swellings across Xia Wan's body burst open one after another, exploding into several bizarre vines that were half flesh, half plant.
The good news was that these vines weren't particularly strong. Song Yawen handled all of them single-handedly.
The bad news was that while Xia Wan was fine now, Nangong was on the verge of collapse.
Her eyes were half-closed, her entire body burning with fever. She was clearly hovering on the knife's edge between life and death. The wounds on her ribs and lower abdomen were still rotting, steeped in the aura of [Decay]. She was taking in less air than she was letting out.
"At this rate, Nangong is going to die."
She was a teammate they'd just survived hell with, and they still had over half a day of trial time left. No matter what, nobody in the group wanted to lose a member here.
They'd survived the Fear Demon army's ambush. Dying now would be a bitter waste.
Chen Chong stopped, dumped Cao Sansui off his back, and said to Cheng Shi:
"Nangong's body can't withstand [Birth]'s healing anymore. How about you heal the Mage instead, and let the Mage use time tricks to keep her alive?"
Cao Sansui wanted to, but he was a Mage, not a Priest or a Bard. He didn't have that many support tricks up his sleeve.
Seeing the grief on everyone's faces, Cheng Shi sighed and pulled a small red vial from his personal safe.
"What's this?" Song Yawen leaned in immediately. He seemed to catch the scent of [Death] emanating from the bottle.
"Grade-A potion, 'The Dead's Contempt,' sourced from the bodies of devout followers of [Death].
His Proxy deemed certain people unworthy of the mercy of death, so He extracted this contempt and brewed it into a potion, used to punish Oathbreakers who committed grave sins.
It renders them unable to approach [Death], unable to hear His teachings."
As Cheng Shi explained, he poured the potion over Nangong's body.
"As long as it mixes with her own blood, she won't die no matter how severe her wounds. There's just no healing effect. It's purely life support, nothing more."
"Huh? Something like that exists?"
Song Yawen's quick reflexes sent his hand darting out to catch a drop for study, but Cheng Shi was faster. He smacked Song Yawen's hand away and laughed:
"One drop less and it loses its effect. You want her dead?"
Song Yawen's face went awkward and red. "I… I've just never seen one before. Nangong, sorry, I didn't mean to."
Nangong, pale as a sheet, had no energy to spare for him. She merely watched the liquid soak into her skin and merge with her blood, and then…
She felt absolutely nothing.
"Does… does this even work?"
Cheng Shi shot her a sideways glance:
"It works, and it's expensive. Once you're back on your feet, remember to reimburse me."
Nangong gritted her teeth and nodded firmly. "Fine!"
Xia Wan had just given "birth" and was bleeding from various points on her body. But as a follower of [Birth], her resistance to "reproduction" was much stronger, so Cheng Shi skipped the potion and simply topped her off with another healing spell as usual.
Lucky break: no new pregnancy.
Seeing Cheng Shi casually save two more lives, Chen Chong asked with grave seriousness:
"Cheng Shi, what's your actual score?"
"I…"
"Besides 1501."
"…" Cheng Shi glanced around. Everyone's eyes were filled with doubt. Seeing that none of them believed him, he still had the nerve to say:
"It really is 1501."
Chen Chong didn't believe a single word. He said in a low voice:
"You think I'm stupid? A healing chain with that kind of effect requires at least an S-Rank talent. Add those two bottles of 'The Dead's Contempt,' and you…
There's no way you're below 2000."
The [Path to Godhood] started players at 1000 points. At each settlement, anyone below 1000 died outright. Above 1200, you could roll B-Rank talents or items. Above 1600, A-Rank. Only above 2000 could you roll S-Rank talents.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you want to keep guessing scores here, or do you want to come with me?"
Cheng Shi scooped up Nangong and led the way forward.
The group exchanged glances, resignation flashing in their eyes, and hurried after him.
When a big shot refused to tell the truth, what could you do? Go along with everything, of course!
Song Yawen couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. The questions never stopped the entire way.
"Brother Cheng, what's your talent? Tell me."
"Brother Cheng, what's your actual score?"
"Brother Cheng, do you have any more of that little red potion? I'll trade you something else for a bit…"
"Brother Cheng…"
Cheng Shi couldn't take it anymore and fired back:
"…Aren't Assassins supposed to be the strong, silent type?"
Song Yawen grinned cheekily. "That's called contrast. It's trendy nowadays."
"…"
…
Fortunately, over the next hour, no other Bone Army units came hunting for them.
Cheng Shi's group trekked across an exposed plain with nowhere to hide, until they finally spotted a dense forest.
The endlessly chatty Song Yawen volunteered to scout ahead and discovered it was an abandoned Wood Elf settlement. Aside from a few derelict treehouses, not a single living creature remained.
Cheng Shi and Chen Chong breathed twin sighs of relief and ushered the wounded quickly into the woods.
Cao Sansui was the first to stabilize. He had overdrawn too much mental energy, leaving him weak and feeble, unable to precisely control a single muscle in his body. He could only slur his words as he shared what he knew about the Wood Elves.
"Wood Elves are followers of [Prosperity], an eternally neutral race. They revere nature and never intermingle with other species. If they chose this place as a home, it must be relatively safe."
Hearing this, Song Yawen asked curiously:
"If it's safe, why did they abandon it?"
"I said relatively safe. Before the war, it was certainly safe. But after the Bone Army launched its campaign against the Land of Hope, there's no such thing as a safe place left on the Land of Hope."
At this point, Chen Chong, standing guard outside the treehouse door for safety, turned back with a puzzled frown and asked:
"I keep hearing everyone say the Bone Army launched a war against the Land of Hope, but what's the reason for the war?"
Cao Sansui struggled to shake his head:
"People in the Mage channel speculate it's a holy war of faith, but people in the faith channels think the subterranean creatures are fighting over something. [Time] gazes upon the present. The information we have is scarce. Perhaps followers of [Memory], through retrospection of the past, might know more."
Cheng Shi had been listening with relish, but the moment he heard the divine name of [Memory], his smile visibly froze for an instant.
"I checked the time. Six hours of the trial have passed. We have eighteen hours left to hold out, but I need another ten hours to recover…"
Cao Sansui's meaning was crystal clear. They had survived, but in the next ten hours without Mage support, the situation would be extremely dire.
Nobody knew what else they might encounter. And no one assumed that having barely survived a hell-difficulty ambush by the Fear Demon army meant the rest of the trial would be free of danger.
In a normal trial, perhaps. In a Special Trial, absolutely not.
Cheng Shi mentally recited the trial's name, his brow creasing slightly.
"Song of Blood and Fire… we've seen the blood. What about the fire?"
Tch, his group was currently sheltering in a forest. If a fire came roaring through…
Eight hundred li of linked camps burning?
Surely it wouldn't be that coincidental, right?
Forget it. Don't overthink it. Deal with it when it comes.
Cheng Shi scratched his head, pulled a bottle of cola from his safe, and started chugging.
"???"
Song Yawen stared at this scene, utterly dumbfounded.
"Brother Cheng, personal storage space is worth its weight in gold, and you're keeping this in there?"
Cheng Shi pointed at Chen Chong and laughed. "Chen Chong keeps wine in his. Why can't I keep a few bottles of cola? If a man loses cola, what's left to be happy about?" [1]
Chen Chong didn't turn around, but his vigorously nodding head signaled deepest agreement.
Song Yawen actually had drinking water in his own safe, but that was emergency life-saving hydration. It couldn't compare to the sensory pleasure of ice-cold cola. Watching Cheng Shi drink so refreshingly, he swallowed involuntarily.
"Brother Cheng… cola, got any more?"
Seeing his expression, Cheng Shi said nothing and produced five more bottles without a second thought.
"??? Brother Cheng, don't tell me your personal space is full of nothing but cola?"
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
Song Yawen was delighted. At least it wasn't wasting his own personal space. He quickly snatched a bottle and didn't forget to distribute the rest to the others.
Fact: drinking cola after combat was genuinely satisfying.
Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly.
Even Nangong, who couldn't move a muscle, downed a few mouthfuls with Cheng Shi's support.
"The forest is still too conspicuous a target. We rest for two or three more hours, then relocate farther out."
Chen Chong finished his drink, grabbed his sword, and headed out the door.
Standing watch was his duty, because he was a disciplined follower of [Order].
Xia Wan and Song Yawen sat obediently inside the treehouse, tending to the patients and resting their eyes with practiced calm.
But the moment Song Yawen's eyes closed, a wave of drowsiness swept over him.
It came so soft and gentle that, for a moment, he had zero desire to resist.
"Thud."
Song Yawen, who'd been sitting on the floor, slumped sideways onto the ground. The other wounded in the room also slowly closed their eyes, sinking into deep slumber.
Just as everyone fell fast asleep, Cheng Shi's eyes snapped open. A glint of cunning flashed through his gaze.
"Tch, drinking any random beverage you're handed. Clearly haven't been beaten enough."
Chuckling, his gaze drifted toward Nangong beside him.
…
[1]: Chinese pun. 可乐 (kělè, "cola") is a homophone for 可乐 (kělè, "joyful/happy"), so "If a person loses 可乐, what 可乐 is left?" reads as "If a person loses cola, what joy is left?"
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