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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six: A Step Away
The dimly lit corridor flickered with firelight, clusters of fire lilies crackling as they burned, scattered among the fallen corpses and concrete debris. The smoke mingled with the scent of sulfur and roasted flesh, silently spreading through the air.
"Cough, cough..."
A charred body stirred slightly, and after a moment, Luci struggled to lift her head, pushing aside the stinking corpse that weighed down on her. She propped herself up on her elbows, gasping for breath. As she looked around, the girl’s face was blackened with soot, her eyes piercing through the haze as she tried to locate her target amidst the chaos of the corridor.
The iron-barred door was blown open by a shockwave, and the two were thrown out like kites with severed strings, unable to fight back. Before they could react, a searing fire dragon lunged at them. Fortunately, the horde of zombies in the corridor acted as a meat shield, bracing against the first wave of fierce heat, but ultimately met a tragic defeat in their confrontation with the flames.
Luci's head buzzed; her ears rang with silence as she crawled out from under the pile of bodies. She vaguely felt something wet beneath her and looked down to find a machete embedded in her abdomen. The sharp blade had rebounded into her stomach during the explosion, tearing open a gash that allowed her intestines to spill out.
It felt as if hot coals were lodged in Luci's throat, causing her intense pain. She managed to lean against the wall and trembled as she gathered her exposed intestines and stuffed them back inside her body. The wound was significant; it would require stitches. But where could she find a needle and thread right now? Luci tore a piece of charred cloth from a nearby corpse and awkwardly tied it around her gaping wound before staggering toward a pile of rubble just a few meters ahead.
Jiang He lay face down on the ground, motionless.
" Jiang He..." Luci croaked his name, raising her hands in the air but afraid to move him. His entire back was scorched; at the last moment before the wave of flames hit, he had turned to shield Luci. That fool had forgotten that Luci's current physical condition was far superior to his—she didn’t need his protection! Here she was, though she had been grievously injured, still able to stand; he, on the other hand, had clearly succumbed to the overwhelming force of the explosion.
Taking a deep breath, Luci gently rolled him over. His carefree face remained unscathed except for blood oozing from his mouth and nose, painting his features crimson. He bore no other fatal injuries—just some burns and abrasions—but Luci knew what the blood from his mouth indicated: Jiang He's internal organs had likely suffered severe damage.
"Wake up, don’t sleep." Luci checked for Jiang He's breath; it was faint and barely perceptible. Her numb fingers couldn’t feel much; he looked as if he were merely asleep, though there was a slight rise and fall in his chest. Panic gripped Luci completely; she didn’t know what to do. If it were an external injury, at least she could bandage it up—but what could she do about internal injuries? Suddenly remembering her own condition, she desperately thought that perhaps she could save him by any means necessary. Picking up the machete from the ground, she made a cut on her wrist. The dark red blood was somewhat viscous; droplets formed and slowly trickled down into Jiang He's tightly closed mouth.
Would this work? Could this help? Luci's mind was filled with frantic thoughts; she wished more than anything that she could close her eyes and sleep forever—at least then she wouldn’t have to watch her companion’s life slip away. Jiang He ’s head rested on her lap; there were no signs of him opening his tightly shut eyes. The blood dripping into his mouth mixed with his own blood before he violently coughed it all up again.
Luci was in despair, collapsing against the hot, breathing wall as she cried uncontrollably. She didn't even know what she was crying about—was it for Jiang He? Or for Cao Liang? Or perhaps for herself? The tears flowed out like a release of pent-up frustration, washing away the grime on her face, sliding into the corners of her mouth, salty and bitter.
“Cough… vomit…” Suddenly, Jiang He, who had been completely still, twitched a few times. Perhaps it was the effect of Luci's blood, or maybe her cries had stirred his internal injuries. Lying flat, Jiang He's body convulsed violently as he coughed up blood and vomited a pool of dark, tainted blood. Luci, disregarding her tear-streaked face, quickly propped him up a bit, fearing that the blood would choke him and lead to death. With no way to treat his internal injuries, Luci was at a loss. Each time he spat blood, she wiped it away; again and again, until Jiang He's complexion grew increasingly pale, nearly resembling a corpse.
“Don’t die, Jiang He … open your eyes, hold on… Yao Yao is just above; I’ll take you to find her…” Luci spoke incoherently, noticing his lips move slightly. She hurriedly leaned in to listen but remembered that her ears were ringing and she couldn’t hear what he was murmuring.
As Jiang He ’s vital signs weakened further and the frequency of his coughing up blood decreased, it was clear that hope was lost. With such severe injuries, even if he were taken to the ICU, survival was uncertain; relying solely on Luci's words felt utterly insignificant. Her mind went blank as she stared at Jiang He ’s blood-soaked face, a grim smile escaping her lips.
“Is this what you call fate? You didn’t die in Nantang Township; you traveled all this way to find Song Yao. But Song Yao is right here in this building; perhaps if you go up a bit more, you could see her. Yet here you are, lying down to sleep?”
“Well then, we will eventually come to find you anyway; it’s just a matter of timing. You go ahead and find Brother Cao and Yi Fan first.”
…
“Here.”
A shadow elongated by firelight fell beside Jiang He. Luci stared blankly at the object being offered to her and slowly lifted her head.
“Hui… Huihui?”
“Try this; there might still be hope.”
Huihui didn’t answer her but shook the item in her hand. She looked no better than Luci; her long hair had been nearly licked away by flames, and the left side of her face seemed to have had a layer of skin scraped off by something hard, revealing raw tissue underneath—an incredibly horrifying sight. But in Luci's eyes, Huihui looked more angelic than ever at that moment.
Luci trembled as she took the cylindrical object, twisting off the cap to reveal a syringe filled with a faintly red liquid. She seemed unable to believe it, looking up at Huihui, whose face was expressionless. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
"Use it quickly, or you'll be dead soon! This is the last one! I was going to save it for Shocking Brother!" Huihui's voice still carried a timid tone, but given her demeanor, it felt oddly out of place.
Suddenly realizing the urgency, Luci hurriedly rolled up Jiang He's sleeve to find a vein, and without hesitation, she pushed the needle in and slowly injected the mysterious substance.
Huihui's gaze was vacant, revealing nothing of her thoughts. When she crawled out from the pile of rubble, her heart was filled with a twisted sense of satisfaction. She recalled the gruesome sight of that woman’s disemboweled body and thought about how Shocking Brother had died at the hands of her accomplices. A sense of exhilaration washed over her. However, the next events left her puzzled; that unfamiliar Face had come specifically to find the unrecognizable Song Yao? In this day and age, were there still people willing to play such tragic roles?
Huihui felt a mix of emotions; being young, she lacked a clear sense of good and evil. Her resentment towards Luci stemmed solely from Bull Terrier's death at Bai Yudong's hands. She was unaware that Luci had tried to protect both her and Bull Terrier and that it was Cao Liang who had cast them aside as outsiders. The three women who had "revived" were knocked unconscious by Xiao Wei in the operating room. One of them was particularly unfortunate; Xiao Wei had smashed her skull with the butt of his gun, completely ending her life. The two women who woke up realized that those around them did not intend to grant them a so-called new life, prompting them to flee in terror, desperate to escape their prison. Before long, Security and Field Personnel began sweeping through the floors, encountering Zombies along the way.
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