Author’s Note: There will be no update tomorrow. Three chapters will be updated consecutively on Thursday.
“Xiao Nan, I’m fine. Listen to me first. I have some important things to deal with right now. Remember, no matter what, don’t open the door. A group of people has come outside. No matter what, don’t enter my room. I’ll come out by myself tomorrow. Remember.”
Xiao Yu’s face had taken on a bluish-gray color, and his rationality was already at its limit.
There was no more time to say anything. He dashed upstairs, rushed into his own room, and locked the door from inside.
The moment the door was locked, Xiao Yu also disappeared from the room.
Li Nan chased him all the way upstairs, only to discover that Xiao Yu had locked the door tightly. Although he was extremely worried, he also believed that Brother Xiao Yu must have his reasons for doing this.
He did not knock on the door, nor did he leave. He simply sat down against the wall facing the door, filled with worry.
He would stay here until Brother Xiao Yu came out.
When Xiao Yu appeared in the middle of the courtyard in the space, his entire body was already convulsing as he collapsed onto the ground. His fingernails had grown longer and had already scratched through his own skin.
His whole body felt as though it were being burned inside a furnace!
Hot! So hot!
Water! He needed water!
Water?
A trace of clarity returned to Xiao Yu’s eyes—the small stream outside the courtyard!
He struggled to crawl up from the ground. His thirst for water gave him strength once again. Using the last bit of energy he had, he rushed to the riverside and, facing the river water, fell into it with a loud “plop.”
Very quickly, the cool river water enveloped him. His mind regained some clarity, but his body continued sinking toward the bottom of the water.
Maybe… he really was going to mutate!
There were still so many things he hadn’t done. He was really unwilling to accept this…
Fortunately, he had entered the space. That way, he wouldn’t go out and eat people in an ugly state, right…?
He no longer had time to do anything more for Li Nan. He only hoped that Li Nan could grow up safely…
In just a little over ten seconds, Xiao Yu sank to the bottom of the water and completely lost consciousness.
Therefore, he also would not see that his body was emitting thick black mist beneath the water, while the originally motionless river water began rapidly swirling around him.
The river water and the black mist were like two sides fighting over territory, becoming hopelessly entangled.
Gradually, the black mist seemed to gain the upper hand.
At this moment, a gentle breeze lightly swept through the woods beside the river, and the trees began to sway.
The tiny white lights hanging from the branches at the tops of the trees also drifted with them, like dandelion seeds being scattered by the wind.
The white lights floated up as well, little by little gathering toward the surface of the stream before falling down one after another, each one melting into the water.
The white light in the water suddenly became extremely intense, and it quickly suppressed the spreading black mist.
As more and more white lights fell, the black mist began to dissipate in the water.
The entire process lasted about half an hour. The black mist was finally completely eliminated, and the river water also returned to its original calmness.
Xiao Yu’s body also floated up from the water.
Xiao Yu woke up because he choked on a mouthful of river water.
He opened his eyes while coughing loudly, only then realizing that he was floating on the surface of the water. He splashed around a few times, swam to the bank, and climbed ashore.
Only then did he have the chance to examine his condition.
The sharp fingernails that had grown from his hands earlier had shrunk back, and the color of his hands and feet had also returned to a normal healthy flush.
He took off his soaking-wet clothes and discovered that the gunshot wound on his left shoulder had already disappeared.
He tried pressing down hard on it. It didn’t hurt, and there was nothing abnormal.
He then tried swinging his left arm. Everything was normal. He could move it freely, without the slightest sign that it had ever been injured.
Xiao Yu looked at his own reflection in the water, as though he had returned to the time when he had first soaked himself in the water inside the space. He was now exactly the same as he had been back then.
He had never expected that the space and this river water would actually have such an effect.
They could actually prevent a human body from becoming a zombie!
Xiao Yu knew that he had already been undergoing mutation at that time.
He had already been infected at the hospital. Perhaps because his constitution had been altered, the speed of his infection was much slower than that of ordinary people. That was why he had enough time to return here.
Just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat.
Previously, he had not known about the functions of the space and the stream water. His reason for coming inside had been entirely different.
Yet, by an accidental combination of circumstances, he had actually saved himself!
If he had been one step too late, or if he had simply lain in the courtyard without jumping into the river…
Then there would no longer be a person named Xiao Yu in this world.
All the preparations he had previously made for the apocalypse would have gone to waste.
And Li Nan, waiting for him all alone without ever seeing him return—after all the food was gone, what kind of fate would await him…?
Fortunately!
For the first time, Xiao Yu felt genuine gratitude toward the space from the bottom of his heart.
Originally, he had actually never liked this place very much.
This place was too mysterious. He had always felt that he could not control it, and therefore he had been extremely uneasy.
But now, it had saved his life.
What was there left to struggle over?
From this moment onward, Xiao Yu finally felt that the space could be trusted and relied upon.
Therefore, when Xiao Yu examined the space with this brand-new feeling, he discovered that all the white points of light hanging from the branches in the forest had disappeared.
The originally warm breeze had also lost some of its warmth, making Xiao Yu sneeze.
He was somewhat puzzled.
Because when he had entered this time, he had not carefully observed anything at all, so he did not know whether the disappearance of the white points of light was part of the natural cycle of these trees or whether something external had interfered.
He walked into the forest and, just like last time, headed deeper into it.
On those low fruit trees from before, all the flowers had already withered.
Every tree was covered with fruit.
Some had only just formed, while others had begun to grow larger.
However, without exception, they were all green. They should not yet have reached the time to ripen.
Continuing downward, he once again arrived beneath the waterfall.
The waterfall and the pool were still exactly as they had been before.
Looking at the clear pool of water, Xiao Yu suddenly wanted to taste the water here.
Actually, he was already very thirsty.
The reason he had not chosen the river water was because he simply could not get past the psychological barrier of drinking his own “bathwater.”
Moreover, water resources would become increasingly precious in the future.
If there were no water-type ability users, they would eventually even have difficulty getting drinking water.
Since the space had saved him, it would not harm him.
He wanted to try and see whether the water here could be used for drinking.
Xiao Yu squatted down, scooped up the pool water with both hands, and brought it to his mouth.
It was cool, with a faint sweetness.
As the water flowed down his esophagus, his entire body suddenly felt incomparably refreshed, as though his body had instantly been filled with strength.
Only then did Xiao Yu discover that inside his body, a familiar power was excitedly stirring.
He let out a surprised “Eh,” stretched out his palm, and with a thought, a flame burst from his palm, carrying the excitement of being released.
Fire-type ability!
The fire-type ability he had possessed in his previous life had actually returned!
A little more happiness appeared in Xiao Yu’s heart.
This was the ability he had studied the longest and was the most accustomed to using!
The feeling of losing something and then getting it back was difficult to describe.
He had never expected that nearly mutating this time would actually turn into a blessing in disguise.
First, he had awakened a skill he had thought he would never have the chance to possess again.
Second, he had discovered a new function of the space, allowing him to understand the space again from an entirely new perspective.
This space had brought him far too many surprises today.
The water in this pool seemed to have the effect of cleansing the mind and enhancing abilities.
He planned to bring a bottle of it out the next time he came in.
He would drink a few sips every day and see what changes occurred in his body.
He also wanted to test whether the pool water had any other effects.
For example, when someone had just been scratched by a zombie, could it immediately clear the toxins from the wound?
And so on.
Once he had figured out its effects, he could let Li Nan drink it as well.
At the same time, it could solve their future drinking-water problem.
Thinking of Li Nan, Xiao Yu finally remembered that he had no idea how long he had been inside.
Li Nan must be extremely worried outside.
When he turned around, he once again saw that strange seven-colored flower tree beside the pool.
At this time, its flowers had also withered.
In the places where the flowers had originally been, tiny fruits had formed.
The fruits were actually seven different colors, each one different.
However, compared with the fruits in the forest outside, their growth was relatively much slower.
The tiny white points of light on this strange tree, however, had not disappeared like those in the forest outside.
From time to time, one or two floated down like snowflakes and landed on the fruits.
Very quickly, with a flash of light, they were absorbed by the fruits.
Xiao Yu observed it in surprise for a while and only roughly came to the vague conclusion that these light sources seemed to be nutrients for the fruits.
Thinking about the points of light that had disappeared from the forest outside, could their disappearance be related to the growth of the fruits?
It seemed that this space held many secrets.
There were far too many things for him to explore.
Previously, he had been quite resistant toward this place, mostly because he had held the mindset that if he could avoid entering, then he would avoid entering.
From now on, however, he needed to come in here more often.
With that thought, he closed his eyes and left the space.
First, he would go out and find Li Nan.