Chapter 49: Light and the Principle of Judging Deeds, Not Hearts

Shortly after Fang Shi left, a squad of Fire-Feathered People arrived at the scene.

They spotted the shattered black egg at a glance and let out wails of grief.

"Leader, we cannot let the culprit off so easily," a Fire-Feathered Person said mournfully.

"Erikon, I know your brother's death has been hard on you, but the time is not yet ripe," a tall Fire-Feathered Person replied.

He stood 2.4 meters tall, a full head taller than the surrounding Fire-Feathered People, wearing exquisitely crafted black leather armor, with feathers on his head woven into a crown.

Flames of revenge burned in Erikon's eyes: "I do not understand why the Fire-Winged Birds can go, but we cannot."

The Fire-Feathered People's leader said, "Speak carefully; this is the will of Avandra."

Having spoken, the Fire-Feathered People's leader recited a prayer.

"Change is inevitable, but only devotion to Avandra can make that change for the better."

The surrounding Fire-Feathered People heard the prayer; reverence appeared on their expressions, and even Erikon's anger diminished as he began to pray and repent for his disrespect.

"In twenty-eight days, our warriors will step into the Promised Land and pursue the freedom that belongs to the Fire-Feathered People."

In the dark basement, Wu Xiaowen huddled under the quilt, shivering.

Even though the June weather was hot and sweat seeped from her skin, it could not make up for the cold in her heart.

Ten days; a full ten days.

Wu Xiaowen had been trapped in this basement for ten days.

Before the apocalypse, while renting a room in the basement, she heard people arguing not far from the door.

Naturally gossipy, she leaned in to listen, only to find a four-cornered love affair: the male lead cheating on the mistress, the mistress cheating on the fourth woman, and the fourth woman cheating on the female lead.

The male lead first gathered a group and blocked the fourth woman in the underground parking garage.

As a result, the fourth woman called for help, and a group arrived to confront them.

Then the mistress and the female lead were summoned, and they all argued with each other.

It was chaotic and exciting, but unfortunately, no fight broke out.

Wu Xiaowen, having listened, posted several blog entries in succession.

She shared what she had seen and heard with the girls in her group, finding it amusing.

But unfortunately, the apocalypse descended.

Most of these young men and women failed to survive the Law Transformation.

They turned directly into a horde of zombies; the few survivors, outnumbered, were wiped out very quickly.

From that moment on, Wu Xiaowen was trapped.

Over these ten days, lack of food was nothing.

The hardest part was the darkness, the loneliness, and the fear.

Wu Xiaowen began to think that the worst she could do was take a nap; perhaps the nightmare would be over when she woke up.

But when she woke up, nothing had changed.

No electricity, no water, and her phone was unusable.

She was completely cast adrift on an island of despair.

Wu Xiaowen tried to go out, but the consequence was that zombies quickly blocked the door completely.

She began to feel anxious, then panicked, until a powerful will to survive told her that to live, she needed to wait patiently.

Wu Xiaowen believed that the Chinese government would not abandon such a disaster.

As long as she could stay alive, she would surely be rescued.

At first, it was fine; she could endure.

Wu Xiaowen first rationed her food, taking only a tiny bit per meal.

One reason was to conserve supplies; the other was to reduce sugar intake so she could sleep longer.

But as time passed, it became increasingly unbearable.

With no clock, time was hard to count in the darkness.

Wu Xiaowen gradually began to drift into a daze; loneliness and despair made her want to die.

Yet whenever that happened, Wu Xiaowen would think of her parents.

The reason she lived in the basement was not that she could not afford a house above ground.

It was to save money, to save a lot and more money, to renovate the house in her hometown.

To give her parents a comfortable home.

She even wanted to take her mother to see a doctor for her waist injury and her father for his leg injury.

So they would no longer suffer the torment of illness.

This was the motivation that had always supported her in staying alive.

But even the strongest motivation has a day when it is completely exhausted.

Starting from the seventh day, she stopped eating and drinking, lying quietly on the bed with vacant eyes staring at the ceiling.

On the eighth day, she was still on the bed, not getting up; even her bodily needs were relieved freely on the bed.

On the ninth day, starving and unable to bear it any longer, she struggled to rise and wolfed down all her food.

By the tenth day, which was now.

Wu Xiaowen wrapped her entire body in the quilt, even though sweat poured like rain and her tongue was dry.

She did not leave the quilt, as if only in this way could she gain a sliver of security.

"Am I going to die?"

"Mom, Dad, Nainai is coming to keep you company."

As consciousness lingered, Wu Xiaowen suddenly heard the groans of zombies and the clatter of banging from outside.

She even heard men shouting and women crying out.

A glimmer of hope suddenly rose in Wu Xiaowen's heart; she wanted to struggle to her feet, but her entire body had lost all strength.

It turned out she had suffered heatstroke long ago.

The scorching weather wrapped in a quilt, combined with dehydration, was bound to cause heatstroke.

The hope that had just ignited was instantly extinguished.

Wu Xiaowen couldn't even make a sound; she began to feel remorse, remorse for giving up.

Remorse for her own stupidity.

If she had just held on a bit longer, couldn't she have survived until rescue arrived?

But how many people could stay sane in such an environment of darkness, loneliness, dead silence, and despair?

Bang!

A beam of light illuminated the basement.

"Captain, there's someone here."

"If there's someone, there's someone; save them first immediately. No need to report. Why are you just standing there like an idiot?"

"Yes, yes."

A young man looked at the unconscious Wu Xiaowen and hurriedly tore the quilt off her body.

He didn't mind the foul stench covering her whole body and simply picked her up.

"Captain, this woman is unconscious and won't wake up. How should we handle it?"

Qian Sheng, wearing glasses, chopped down a zombie and panted, "How to handle it? Pour soup down her throat. It cures all diseases."

Hearing Qian Sheng's words, the young man placed Wu Xiaowen directly on the ground.

He hurriedly pulled a bottle of mineral water from his bag.

The liquid inside was golden yellow; after opening it, a fragrance could be smelled.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp!"

The golden liquid slid from the mouth of Wu Xiaowen, who was lying on the ground.

"Damn it, you kid want to choke someone to death."

Seeing the young man's action, Qian Sheng was startled.

He rushed over, straightened Wu Xiaowen's body, took the mineral water bottle, and slowly poured it down her throat.

"You kid are new; watch more and learn more."

"Look at me; I've only been here three days and I'm already a captain."

"Work hard, and the future holds plenty."

The young man nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, Captain."

Although Wu Xiaowen could not move, her consciousness remained clear.

She perceived everything Qian Sheng and the others did with perfect clarity.

Her heart, which had fallen repeatedly, finally rose successfully.

"I survived. Dad, Mom."

"Old Chen, how much more to reach Level 3?"

Zhao Wenjun fiddled with a device on the ground, upon which lay the corpse of a Fire-Winged Bird.

Old Chen was a man in his thirties with a square face, vigorous and full of vitality, radiating a sharp, capable aura.

"Still need 528."

Zhao Wenjun chuckled: "I still need 456; I killed one more Fire-Winged Bird than you."

Old Chen replied indignantly: "If you're so tough, don't steal my kill later."

"Steal a kill? Can getting a kill be called stealing? If I don't kill the Fire-Winged Bird as quickly as possible, won't our squad suffer casualties?"

"How can a squad leader bear to let his squad members get hurt?"

Old Chen knew Zhao Wenjun was joking and feigned anger: "Nonsense. When I execute missions, I always go first myself; if anyone gets hurt, it's me."

"You kid, after leaving the army, now that you've made a name for yourself, you don't even put your old squad leader in your eyes."

Hearing Old Chen angry, Zhao Wenjun recalled the terror of the recruit camp, shivered, and said, "No, no, it was just a joke. Please don't mind."

Old Chen snorted and calmed down: "News just came in; Daoist Fang has arrived at Yangming Community. We must send people to clear it as soon as possible."

"Otherwise, if Fire-Winged Birds crawl out of the spatial rift again soon, it won't be so safe."

Zhao Wenjun sighed: "It's not that I don't want to; there are no people. There are too few combat personnel."

In these five days, they had advanced through eighty communities but actually controlled only twenty.

There were over six thousand survivors within the controlled areas.

Zhao Wenjun and his team selected some with high basic attributes and certain talents to form a militia squad.

They were sent to cull zombies and rescue survivors.

The remaining people were arranged to gather supplies and ensure logistics.

As a result, each community had only about one hundred dedicated combat personnel on average.

They had to unlock doors, smash gates, and clear streets, busy beyond capacity.

If it weren't for the fact that after the apocalypse, one could simply open the attribute panel.

Any human's strength, constitution, and agility attributes would be completed and raised to ten points.

The logistics team also has combat capability; otherwise, the militia regiment would be even busier.

Old Chen scratched his head: "Then let's leave it at that for now. We can't disperse our forces any further."

"Otherwise, we'll neglect one thing while attending to another, and the losses will be greater."

Zhao Wenjun also nodded: "We can only execute Plan Two."

Having spoken, Zhao Wenjun turned around and shouted: "Xiao Hu, has the printing group finished their task?"

Xiao Hu hurriedly replied: "Regiment Leader Zhao, they just sent word; they'll be done in one hour."

Zhao Wenjun laughed heartily: "Good. I'll go see Master right after."

Fang Shi sat cross-legged on the rooftop, gazing over the entire city. Fire elemental energy surrounded him, distorting the air around him.

Beside him, Zhao Wenjun respectfully recounted something.

"Master, this is our plan. What do you think?"

Fang Shi smiled faintly: "I think it will work. I'll go personally."

Zhao Wenjun was overjoyed: "Then thank you, Master. Master is truly the people's great hero."

Their plan was very simple: since they couldn't spare manpower, they would make the people rely on themselves.

They organized personnel to acquire a hand-cranked printing press.

They printed the experiences gathered over these days on how to deal with monsters onto paper.

They also included various pieces of information, such as apocalyptic data from Fang Shi.

Such as the organizational structures of some survivor groups, calling on party members to take the lead in establishing apocalyptic self-rescue teams.

Gradually sweeping the surrounding areas to connect all survivor-controlled zones into one continuous territory.

Uniting human strength to thoroughly cleanse the apocalypse.

Just like Zhao Wenjun and his group, they were long past being the initial gym organization.

They had already incorporated many survivors from the government side.

Old Chen, for instance, was a member of the Martial Arts Special Department.

Fang Shi took no interest in these matters; the apocalyptic environment had already changed.

Now was an era where the capable rose, the weak fell, and those with merit advanced rapidly.

Fang Shi believed in Zhao Wenjun's ability to stand out in the future and become the leader of the Ancheng gathering place.

Even Fang Shi himself now had an official position, serving as a government advisor.

Humanity's adaptability was extremely strong; in a short time, they had already restored a certain level of organization.

"Wenjun, there is something I must tell you. After I finish distributing the flyers, I will be leaving."

"What!" Zhao Wenjun was shocked. "Does Master disapprove of the flyer distribution? I can cancel this plan."

Fang Shi shook his head: "No. I had planned this long ago. I shouldn't be delayed by such a small matter. It is time for me to depart."

Zhao Wenjun gritted his teeth: "Master, we need you."

Fang Shi smiled slightly: "No, you do not need me."

"You are very clever. You used the heads of Fire-Winged Birds to build a skull tower, deterring the Fire-Winged Birds and thereby controlling the district."

"You also crafted tools for hunting Fire-Winged Birds without my help."

Zhao Wenjun pleaded earnestly: "But the emergence of these things would not have been possible without Master's help."

"Without Master's actions in the early stages, how could there be these results now?"

Speaking thus, Zhao Wenjun respectfully performed a bow: "Humanity needs you."

Fang Shi sighed deeply: "Yes, humanity needs me, which is why I must leave even more."

Zhao Wenjun did not understand: "Why?"

Fang Shi fell silent for a moment, then said: "Wenjun, haven't I told you about the Second Impact? What are your thoughts on it?"

Zhao Wenjun was not stupid: "Could there be a Third or Fourth Impact?"

"Exactly. There may even be a Fifth and Sixth, each stronger than the last, each more ferocious than the one before."

Fang Shi spoke in a heavy voice: "Only by constantly progressing can humanity secure its future."

"And your Master is going to fight for those futures."

Zhao Wenjun was silent for a while: "I understand. Go ahead and do it."

Although Zhao Wenjun did not know exactly what Fang Shi intended to do, he understood from his Master's actions over these past days.

That his Master was not an anarchist or a person with an antisocial personality.

He appeared cold and indifferent on the surface, but was actually caring, considerate, and willing to help others.

"How is your Use Second Layer coming along?" Fang Shi changed the subject.

Zhao Wenjun felt somewhat ashamed: "Master, I still cannot use it."

"Just remember it; don't rush. You should be able to use it at the First Stage." Fang Shi comforted him.

"Now, try punching me using the force application method of Use Second Layer."

Zhao Wenjun understood clearly that this was the Master's final guidance before leaving.

So he respectfully said: "Yes, Master."

As the words fell, he poured all his strength into a punch aimed at Fang Shi using the technique of Use Second Layer.

Bang!

The air exploded, yet Fang Shi steadily caught the blow with his palm.

"Not bad, but the point of application is wrong..."

One hour later, Zhao Wenjun departed.

The vast rooftop held only Fang Shi.

Recalling the last few words Zhao Wenjun spoke before leaving, he fell silent.

"Master, you are a person of great love. I will handle everything in Ancheng. Rest easy and go."

A person of great love?

Heh.

Do you really think I've never killed anyone?

My departure is less for humanity than for myself.

Helping you kill the Fire-Winged Birds was because you could draw their aggro.

Now that I am level 5, I no longer need to kill Fire-Winged Birds.

My foot injury is healed; staying longer would be a waste of time.

The help I gave you was earned by your own efforts.

My desire to end the apocalypse is also for myself.

Master your own fate! Decide your own life and death!