Chapter 65 Fungal Remains Frenzy 26 No way.
Everyone is waiting for Nanmen Jue's answer. In a sense, the decision Nanmen Jue makes at this moment will affect the fate of this world.
Should they honor their promise to the deceased priest and continue to hide Zhang Zhi, or should they adapt to the world's development and expose Zhang Zhi to all forces and reincarnators?
Needless to say, the latter is definitely better for Nanmen Jue. She is already entangled in trouble herself, and if she were to take on an even bigger problem, even if Nanmen Jue is strong, could she face the pursuit and coercion of the entire world?
Nanmen Jue kept her face down, and no one could see her expression, nor did anyone dare to urge her.
The surviving natives began to stir, clearing the battlefield, searching for their surviving comrades, and killing the still-moving parasites. Dawn broke, and the flames left by the artillery fire were still burning in clusters, but no light could illuminate the ashen faces of them.
The sight of the mother tree frozen in place was truly eerie. They tacitly avoided approaching, but it seemed that no one reacted much to it. They walked numbly, some kneeling before their dead companions and weeping bitterly, others clutching their wounds and wailing. The world was like hell.
The bloody apocalyptic scene turned the inexperienced group pale.
When it was still dark and they couldn't see their surroundings, and they were busy fighting on the brink of life and death, they hadn't experienced such a great shock.
Ji Chengying couldn't help but gag; the air was filled with the smell of burning bodies.
Zhang Zhi was still sobbing, but Nanmen Jue neither comforted her nor pushed her out of his arms; his attitude was incomprehensible.
Suddenly, Nanmen Jue raised her head, and following the direction she was looking, everyone saw a disheveled old man staggering over.
It was Hao Hong, the person in charge of the furnace base.
Having survived such a fierce battle last night, the old man was not dead, only his arm was injured. He dragged his arm and limped towards Nanmen Jue, then knelt down on the ground not far from her with a thud.
"It's over, it's all over... This base is finished, everyone... is finished."
At first, he was somewhat dazed, his pronunciation was a little awkward, and his voice was so hoarse that it seemed as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, or as if he had been howling all night and had ruined his voice. As he uttered a few words, Hao Hong seemed to gradually wake up from a nightmare and suddenly let out a hoarse wail.
"It's all over—"
It was a painful wail torn from the depths of one's heart. Even those reincarnators who did not regard him as a living person were shaken by the sound, their emotions surged, and their eyes reddened.
There's no need to count the deaths from last night's battle; just listening to the screams that lasted all night tells you how many people died. How many survivors are left in this base? Half? Or a third?
Thousands of people vanished overnight, swallowed up by the apocalypse.
After wailing in despair, Hao Hong actually crawled forward a few steps on his knees, approaching Nanmenjue.
"Mr. Nanmen, Mr. Nanmen, is there any way to save us? To save the people in this base?" His aged eyes were filled with tears, yet within those tears lay hope.
Others didn't understand why he would ask Nanmen Jue for help, but Nanmen Jue understood.
"How do you want me to save you?" she whispered.
The mother tree is here. She cannot uproot it and completely eliminate the threat that is rooted here. She cannot save the lives that died last night and restore their withered skin so that they can continue to smile at their weeping relatives and friends. She cannot take them away from here and find a place where spring is warm and flowers bloom, where there are no mycelia and no parasites to rebuild their lives that have been shattered. Why ask her for anything?
What else can she do? What else can we expect from her?
Hao Hong supported her knees, hunching over as he bent down. "I don't know... I don't know what you can do, but you're that person's brother. She appeared when we were at our most desperate, in a white coat, and I'll never forget her... You're both extraordinary people, you'll always find a way, won't you? Save... save us..."
Regardless of how surprised others were by these words, the reference to the white coat was quite obvious, and given Nanmen Jue's previous concern for the white-robed saint, anyone who wasn't a fool could connect the two.
Nanmen Jue... is the younger brother of the White-Robed Saint?
ah?
Nanmen Jue stared intently at Hao Hong's gray hair, then pulled Zhang Zhi to her feet.
"The best thing I can do for you is to leave here and get further and further away from you."
As she turned to leave, Hao Hong said hoarsely, "This little girl..."
Nanmen Jue was tense all over.
"Perhaps this little girl is the hope this world has been waiting for... Send her to the quarantine facility, Nanmen Jue, like your sister, save this world..."
Nanmen Jue closed her eyes, then closed them again, but still couldn't suppress the sudden surge of anger. She turned around, her reddened eyes staring straight at the old man crawling on the ground, her voice sounding like it was being squeezed out of her chest.
"Using my sister to intimidate me, is that it? She saved your lives, and you're all set on elevating her to a divine status, stripping her of her basic human desires, and swarming in like ants to suck her blood and gnaw at her marrow, all while proclaiming that divine salvation is only natural." Nanmen Jue laughed, his eyes growing even redder. "Since my sister's gone, even her family is going to inherit this status? What, is this divine status hereditary?"
Hao Hong shakily raised his head and looked at the trembling Zhang Zhi, "You can't do it, but she can. I saw it just now. She can control the mother tree..."
"So what?" Nanmen Jue said sharply. "You want to live, but doesn't she? Who says that those who have the ability must save others? You've already put my sister on a pedestal, so keep begging her. You can't let go of anyone else."
Hao Hong was powerless to fight her. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face, and bowed down again, lamenting, "A chaotic world has descended upon us; people's hearts have lost their way—"
Nanmen Jue turned and left.
The reincarnators followed Nanmen Jue, but Nanmen Jue did not leave immediately. She took out a scalpel and plunged it into the brain of the wandering parasite.
She's helping to clean up the mess here.
Or perhaps it was more like she was venting something; even as a low-level parasite, she was putting in some effort.
They spoke such harsh words, yet turned around and did such things. The reincarnators were speechless and momentarily at a loss for words.
As they watched, Mo Gui also started killing the parasites, and then everyone else got moving.
Guan Junren had lost an arm, making it difficult for him to move. After adjusting himself, he was no longer falling. He staggered towards Nanmen Jue, feeling nervous. Nanmen Jue swung her scalpel at him, and he instinctively dodged, only to see her stab and kill one of the parasites behind him.
Guan Junren felt a little more at ease, leaned forward, and whispered, "Sending Zhang Zhi to the quarantine center doesn't necessarily mean she'll be in danger; it might actually be safer for her."
Nanmen Jue said, "Do you even believe that yourself?"
Seeing that she was willing to talk to him, Guan Junren was even more delighted. "I just think that since Zhang Zhi is so important, wouldn't it be digging my own grave if I did something to her? Even if someone wanted to do something, others wouldn't agree to it."
What he said made sense, and it wasn't the kind of condescending talk from someone who didn't understand the situation. Nanmen Jue listened to him and remained silent for a moment.
Others were also watching their conversation. Seeing this, Deng Erhuai said, "I agree with Guan Junren. Nanmen, let's take Zhang Zhi to the quarantine facility and leave her there for three months. The quarantine facility is the largest survivor base in the world and it's relatively safe. This is the safest approach right now; you won't lose anything."
Nanmen Jue's bone knife pierced the brain of a parasite, but she didn't pull it out immediately. The veins on the back of her hand bulged, showing how much force she had used.
She wouldn't need to exert so much force to kill such a low-level parasite; she was clearly suppressing something.
Before Nanmen Jue could speak, Zhang Zhi burst into tears, trembling with fear. She didn't care about anything else and grabbed Nanmen Jue's waist.
"No...no no no! I don't want to go to the quarantine facility! Dad told me not to go to the quarantine facility, not to go to any human base! Brother Nanmen, I don't want to go! You promised Dad you wouldn't let me go there!"
Little Zhang Zhi didn't quite understand what she would face once she went to these places. No matter how intelligent she was, she had never left the church since birth, but she understood her father and could feel the hearts of these people.
Everyone present was kind-hearted, but none of them cared about her life or death, or her fate. Of all these people, only Nanmen Jue cared about her, was angry for her, and suffered for her. Only she treated her as a human being.
The eight-year-old girl was overwhelmed by fear. She clung tightly to Nanmen Jue's waist, like a drowning person clinging to a single piece of driftwood. She dared not let go; it was her only hope.
Zhang Zhi's outburst took everyone by surprise. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the little girl crying and screaming. Her tender voice echoed in the morning sun and reverberated over the ruins.
Nanmen Jue pulled out the knife that was still stuck in the parasite's brain.
“There is no ‘us’,” she whispered.
Deng Erhuai didn't hear clearly: "What?"
"I trusted you twice, and both times you failed to give me the results I wanted." Nanmen Jue raised his head, his eyes showing neither sharpness nor anger, simply looking at Deng Erhuai. "Hong Chenxi is dead."
Deng Erhuai stammered, "That...that is..."
She wanted to say that it was just an NPC, and who would care much about their life or death in a life-or-death situation? They were barely able to save themselves. This reason would be understood by any reincarnator, and even the most picky reincarnator would not blame others for the death of an NPC.
But she still shut her mouth in dejection.
If she didn't want to do it, she shouldn't have agreed to protect Hong Chenxi and Zhang Zhi in the first place. In the end, she failed to protect them. She could say that she abandoned her post because she was worried about Nanmen Jue's safety, but ultimately, she was wrong.
She broke her promise; Hong Chenxi was indeed dead.
Thinking of that woman with her charming smile and captivating eyes, her features so vivid and clear, my heart, which had never wavered because of the death of an NPC, suddenly trembled slightly.
More than anything, he was filled with fear. Deng Erhuai looked almost pleadingly into Nanmen Jue's calm eyes and managed to squeeze out a few words: "I'm sorry."
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