Chapter 34: Deadly Infection 19
Chu Yian listened to the footsteps outside, her heart pounding. She glanced at the medicine box in her hand and suddenly made a bold decision.
Take off her clothes!
More precisely, take off the protective suit she was wearing.
This suit was too conspicuous; no matter where she went, she would be recognized instantly.
The protective suit was to prevent infection, but she now had the special medicine in her hand, so even if she got infected, she could save herself. If the special medicine was fake, the antipyretics she hoarded should still allow her to hold out until the end.
With the double insurance, Chu Yian didn’t hesitate to take off her clothes. Then, she quickly took out her golden treasure box, pulled out some protective suits, and stuffed the special medicine inside. The moment the golden treasure box turned back into a pattern on her hand, Chu Yian’s suspended heart finally settled.
Bang—!
The door was crashed open, and patients covered in yellow mucus burst in. Chu Yian hadn’t even hidden her clothes yet; before she could disguise herself, she was discovered by this group of patients, screaming, “Special medicine!”
“Give me the special medicine!”
Everyone rushed towards her, their frenzy terrifying.
“The special medicine you want is in my hand, catch!”
Chu Yian opened her palm and threw it towards them. The treasure box suddenly grew larger at her command. The people in front actually made a motion to catch it, but it was a thousand-pound golden box.
As the box landed, someone was directly crushed. Their flesh and blood splattered on the spot, and a fishy smell stench spread in the cramped space.
She quickly reached out to retrieve the box and took advantage of the chaos to run out of the utility room. While running, she didn’t forget to shout, “That person took the special medicine to the fifth floor, that person took the special medicine to the fifth floor!”
In a chaotic situation, a crowd has no intelligence. Hearing Chu Yian’s words, they immediately believed her and rushed towards the fifth floor.
Chu Yian pressed herself tightly against the wall to let them pass, and once everyone had left, she sprinted downstairs.
The first-floor lobby was empty now, but there were several more bodies at the entrance.
She hadn’t seen Lu Qingyuan when she came down, and her whole body tensed up. She stood in the pool of blood, looking at each of the bodies… No! None of them were him.
She felt a little relieved, but she had gotten separated from him, and her phone had also been lost just now.
More and more people were approaching the building, and she dared not stay here. She could only go out first and meet up with him outside.
Following the route they took to arrive, she ran through the underground street and the Shopping Mall, heading straight for where they had parked. However, when she got there, the car’s windshield and doors had been smashed. The only thing missing was a small bottle of disinfectant that had been on the seat.
Smashing a car for a bottle of disinfectant… Chu Yian didn’t have time to worry about that. She took out paper and pen and left a small note on the car’s shattered glass: “I’m going back first. When you see this message, come back quickly.”
It took them twenty minutes to drive from the building to Xijiao; walking would probably take about two hours.
Chu Yian ran all the way back, checking along the way for any cars she could drive.
Those who could start a car with a few wires without a key were a minority. Chu Yian, a survival novice, still had to rely on luck, hoping to find some unlucky person who left their car door open and the keys inside.
Finding such a car on the street was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Chu Yian had been running for half an hour, and her back was completely soaked.
“Cough, cough cough cough!”
A series of urgent coughs – a sign of impending infection. She had made no protective measures and had been in close proximity to so many infected patients; it would be strange if she hadn’t gotten infected.
She leaned her hands on the hood of a car, panting heavily.
Just as she was about to rest, she suddenly glimpsed a person lying on the car in front of her.
This person was covered in red spots and yellow mucus, clearly in the terminal stage of the illness, possibly already dead. But if the person was inside, it was highly likely that the car keys were also inside.
Thinking of this, Chu Yian muttered, “Brother, I’m sorry,” and then decisively broke the car window and opened the locked car door.
Immediately after, she dragged the person out.
Sure enough, the keys were still there!
Chu Yian’s heart filled with joy. Just as she was about to climb into the car, her ankle was suddenly grabbed.
The man wasn’t dead yet. He held onto her leg, refusing to let go, “Save me.”
“Brother, I can’t even save myself, how can I save you?”
Chu Yian tried to pull her leg free, but found that even though the man was on the verge of death, he had immense strength. She looked at him; his face was covered in red rashes and mucus, making it impossible to see his original appearance, but his eyes held a strong will to survive.
She was silent for a moment, then cursed under her breath.
She just couldn’t bear to see such situations.
She looked around, and after confirming no one was there, she hid inside the car, took out two boxes of antipyretics from her treasure box. Then she squatted down and quietly slipped them into the man’s clothes.
“Brother, these antipyretics are my greatest sincerity. Please keep them well. If you can fight through it, then fight; if not, it’s fate. I’m just an ordinary person, I really don’t have any other extraordinary means.”
As she spoke, she had another violent fit of coughing.
She herself was infected and yet she was helping others. If it weren’t for the antipyretics being enough to sustain her for the next five days, she wouldn’t dare to do such a thing.
However, revealing her wealth was too dangerous.
Having suffered losses like this several times, Chu Yian dared not linger. She forcefully pulled her ankle free, got into the car, and drove away.
The man lying on the ground struggled to open his cloudy eyes, only able to see the receding taillights of the car. He laboriously fumbled in his embrace for the pills the person had given him, took out two, and swallowed them dry… It took her almost three hours, but she finally returned to Lu Qingyuan’s house.
As soon as she got out of the car, Chu Yian had another violent fit of coughing. Red rashes had appeared on her arms and exposed calves, and she gradually began to feel unwell. It was the last few days of the game, and she finally experienced the fierce and powerful onslaught of the virus.
She stood at the door without entering, but Lu Qingyuan, who had returned earlier, came out.
Chu Yian instinctively covered her mouth, “Teacher Lu, please put on a protective suit before coming out.”
Lu Qingyuan paused at her words, “You’re infected.”
“Yes!”
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Lu Qingyuan’s brows furrowed slightly. He looked at Chu Yian’s empty hands, “Was the special medicine stolen?”
“I brought this back.”
Chu Yian turned and, using the car as cover, took out the special medicine from her treasure box, “But we’re not sure if it’s real, so you should still stay away from me… Ah!”
Before she could even finish the words “stay away,” Lu Qingyuan was already behind her.
“The special medicine is still with you, what are you afraid of infecting?”
Lu Qingyuan resumed his expressionless demeanor, took the medicine box from her hand, “Come in with me.”
