Chapter Twenty-Seven: Wounds

"Damn it. Damn you." Seeing his prey slip away along with the danger, Liu Chang let out a furious roar toward the sky, trying to ease the pent-up frustration in his chest.

After shouting so fiercely, his mood indeed lightened a bit, and as his nerves relaxed, the pain he'd suppressed earlier became all the more acute. He lowered his head to look at his chest and saw several long bloody scratches—marks left by the wild dogs.

Fortunately, though the scratches were long, they weren't deep. Despite the searing pain, they weren't fatal wounds.

Yet as he stood there, his body still felt hollowed out. The high-intensity exertion while starving and the brief period of intense stress had left him feeling particularly weak.

He sighed and sank down into the grass. Glancing at the bloodstains the wild dogs had left, he worried the smell might attract other dangers. After resting for a while, he hurriedly got up and made his way back.

Retracing his steps for several dozen meters, he found the little girl standing where he'd left her.

"Are you alright?" When she saw Liu Chang emerge from the grass, she smiled.

"I'm fine, but the prey got away," Liu Chang replied, his eyes filled with dejection.

"As long as you're okay. Let's get out of here," the girl said, pulling him along in a certain direction.

"Is there another monster approaching?" Liu Chang asked as he followed her.

"Not exactly monsters—just a dense swarm of creatures with a danger rating around 0.003. Probably insects or something. Better to be careful," she answered.

"Alright." Following the girl out of the area, the two entered an abandoned home. Liu Chang found a basin to wash the blood from his hands, then used perfume and strong-smelling gel he'd found in the room to mask the scent of blood on his body.

Once he'd done all this, Liu Chang finally felt a bit more at ease.

"Are we going to keep going?" The girl curled up, exhausted, on the sofa beside him. "You're injured. Shouldn't you go back to disinfect and take medicine?"

"It's alright. Humanity's resistance and bacteria and viruses are always locked in a balanced struggle. If one side gains the upper hand but fails to destroy the other, it'll be at a disadvantage next time. Since I survived the last infection, I won't die from this one. Just to be safe, I'll take some antibiotics, but it's not urgent—I’ll take them tonight," Liu Chang said, patting his chest.

"Should we keep going?" The girl rubbed her feet and repeated her question.

"Yes. We're both in relatively good shape today. If we don't catch anything today, it'll be even harder tomorrow or the day after," Liu Chang replied, gazing up at the ceiling. "I'm already so hungry my head is spinning. If this keeps up, tomorrow my strength and mobility will be halved, making it even harder to hunt."

"But Teacher Li Qingshui and the fat guy went to gather plants, didn't they?" The girl took off her shoes and socks, rubbing her small feet. Liu Chang felt a pang of sadness as he saw her feet covered in blisters.

Walking continuously for six or seven hours is too much for a frail ten-year-old girl, especially across terrain that's anything but smooth. The outside world now is as rough and treacherous as the edge of a wasteland forest, perhaps worse. At least in the wild, there aren’t cement blocks and industrial debris everywhere. The ruined roads are littered with these hazards—not just for the girl but even Liu Chang found it painful to walk.

"If you can’t keep going, head back. You’ve been at it all day; I’ll look around here myself," Liu Chang said with a sigh, glancing again at her blistered feet.

"I can’t go back yet. If you wander around alone, it’ll be hard to find prey, and if you run into danger… well…" She rubbed her feet, put her shoes back on, and flashed a smile that stretched the scar on her mouth. "Let’s keep going. I can manage."

"Alright, let’s try a bit longer. Do our best and let fate decide." Liu Chang nodded, scooped up the girl, and placed her on his back. "Hold tight. If you spot prey, whisper to me."

"Okay." Clinging to Liu Chang’s back, the girl struggled a bit at first, then wrapped her limbs tightly around him.

Once she was secure, Liu Chang walked to the door, opened the battered entrance overtaken by plants, and stepped once more into the mist.

But…

Another afternoon of hunting passed, and again, they returned empty-handed.

As dusk began to fall, Liu Chang carried the little girl on his back, dragging his exhausted, hungry body back to the military compound, back to his own dormitory.

"Get down," he said as they reached the door. He set the girl on the ground, and she visibly shuddered as her feet touched the floor—a natural reaction to the pain from her blisters.

Liu Chang felt slightly relieved after letting her down. Though his body had grown stronger through mutation and he wasn’t lacking in strength—and the girl was light, no more than a few dozen pounds—he was so weak that any reduction in weight was a welcome relief.

After setting her down, Liu Chang pushed open his dorm room door and saw the floor covered with freshly washed plants.

"We’re back," Liu Chang announced, his entrance startling the three who were sorting the plants. They all turned to look at him. Liu Chang smiled, spread his hands to show he was empty-handed, and joked wryly, "Nothing at all."

"That’s alright. Teacher Li Qingshui said hunting would be tough for you two. By the way, you’re hurt?" The fat guy, busy sorting plants, stood up and pulled out alcohol and cotton cloth from his backpack.

"It’s not serious," Liu Chang said, taking the supplies. He poured alcohol directly onto his wounds, enduring the burning pain with gritted teeth. When the pain subsided, he dabbed the blood with cotton, then turned to the little girl.

"Take off your shoes," Liu Chang said, seating the girl on the bed. He removed her shoes and saw her socks soaked in blood, already hardened into scabs.

"Her blisters have burst and stuck to her socks," he said, glancing at Li Qingshui. "Teacher, how do we deal with wounds stuck to clothing?"

"Soak it in salt water first," Li Qingshui replied, taking a small basin and handing it to Zhu Lin, who was still sorting plants. "Go get some water. We don’t have saline, so use table salt."

"Okay," Zhu Lin answered without looking at the girl's feet, heading out on her own.

"Don’t use the bathroom on the first floor!" Li Qingshui called after her, not trusting the situation. "Get water from upstairs—the sewer monsters can’t reach their tentacles that high."

"Got it," came the reply from the hallway.

Soon Zhu Lin returned with water. Li Qingshui added salt, and Liu Chang gently placed the girl’s foot into the basin.

"Hiss!" As her foot touched the salt water, the girl shuddered and instinctively tried to pull it out, but Liu Chang firmly held her trembling ankle.

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