It was only after a while that Ruan Ning noticed the changes in her wound under the male lead’s slightly surprised gaze.
What’s going on? Didn’t it show no signs of healing just now?!
Seeing the same shock on the young girl’s face, Gu Yicheng knew that even she hadn’t expected such a situation.
Putting down the gauze he was about to use to bandage her wound, he asked in a deep voice, “Ningning, did you awaken an ability?”
Apart from this possibility, Gu Yicheng couldn’t think of any other reason for the sudden healing of her wound.
Ruan Ning was completely bewildered. Hearing his question, she shook her head, nodded, and then shook her head again—completely confusing herself in the process.
The truth was, she didn’t know whether this qualified as awakening a healing ability. If it was, why did she need crystal nuclei to heal her wounds? And if it wasn’t, then what exactly was going on with her?
After hesitating for a moment, Ruan Ning finally decided to tell Gu Yicheng everything.
The male lead had survived in the apocalypse for so many years; he was far more experienced than a clueless transmigrator like her. Perhaps he would know what this situation meant.
More importantly, Ruan Ning could faintly sense that Gu Yicheng’s attitude towards her had clearly changed since the beginning. So… even if her condition was abnormal, he probably wouldn’t think she was troublesome and leave her behind, right?
Unconsciously, Ruan Ning had already begun to trust the person in front of her.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her hand, revealing the crystal nucleus she was holding.
Before long, the crystal nucleus liquefied in her palm, then disappeared into her skin. One after another, crystal nuclei appeared in her hand, and after repeating this process several times, the wound on her other hand had completely scabbed over.
“Brother Gu, look, it’s like this.” Ruan Ning lowered her gaze, her voice carrying a hint of unease. “…I don’t know if this counts as awakening an ability.”
“Actually, this happened once before when I was injured, but I felt something was off and didn’t dare mention it.” Ruan Ning lowered her head slightly, like a child who had done something wrong.
The male lead had been betrayed in his past life and didn’t easily trust others.
Since she was now openly using crystal nuclei to heal her wound, someone as smart as the male lead would surely connect the dots and realize that this had happened before. Rather than hiding it and being caught later, it was better to come clean herself.
However, Gu Yicheng didn’t react as she feared, becoming cold and distant. Instead, his tone remained as gentle as ever, even offering a suggestion. “Ningning, try to see if you can heal the wound without the crystal nuclei.”
Ruan Ning understood his intention—he wanted to test whether she had truly awakened a healing ability. She obediently tried his suggestions one by one, but unfortunately, nothing worked. Her wound remained unchanged.
It seemed she could only heal using crystal nuclei.
Ruan Ning couldn’t help but look dejected and asked, “Brother Gu, am I different from everyone else?”
Having healing abilities was, of course, a good thing, but she worried that her condition might have side effects.
When she was the only one who knew about this, she could force herself to think optimistically. Now that she had someone to confide in, all her fears and worries poured out at once.
Gu Yicheng patted her head comfortingly and said, “Maybe it’s just because your ability hasn’t fully awakened yet, so you need the energy from the crystal nuclei for it to work.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”
In his past life, Gu Yicheng had seen healing ability users at work, and their healing process was completely different from Ruan Ning’s.
But he chose not to tell her this. Ningning was timid, and he worried that she might overthink it. It was better to keep uncertain things to himself for now.
Still, he couldn’t leave the situation unresolved.
Hiding his thoughts, Gu Yicheng took out all the crystal nuclei they had just obtained, handed them to Ruan Ning, and said, “If you don’t have enough nuclei, use these.”
Looking at the bag full of crystal nuclei, Ruan Ning was nearly moved to tears.
Her supply of crystal nuclei was indeed running low. In fact, she had never imagined that healing a zombie wound would require so many crystal nuclei. The wound on her arm last time had healed with just a few nuclei, but the wound on her hand now had already consumed dozens.
If, as Gu Yicheng said, her healing ability hadn’t fully awakened, then perhaps the speed of healing was also related to the level of the crystal nuclei?
If she continued using these low-grade transparent nuclei, at the current pace, it might take hundreds of them to fully control the wound.
Still, if it worked and prevented her from being infected by the zombie virus, then the cost of hundreds of crystal nuclei was absolutely worth it.
Despite this, Ruan Ning was utterly shocked by Gu Yicheng’s generosity.
Oh my, she really hadn’t chosen the wrong person to follow! The male lead was so incredibly generous!!
If she could do it all over again, she’d still throw that ashtray at the zombie without hesitation. After all, if anything happened to Gu Yicheng, no one else in this world would ever give her so many crystal nuclei at once.
In the apocalypse, having a capable “brother” who treated crystal nuclei like dirt was truly a blessing! She’d gladly take a dozen more brothers like him!!
…
Perhaps it was the combination of zombie fighting and emotional stress, but after using the crystal nuclei to heal her wound, Ruan Ning felt exhausted.
Unable to keep her eyes open, she drifted off to sleep against the seat, her face peaceful.
Seeing this, Gu Yicheng chuckled softly, then pulled a blanket from his spatial storage and draped it over her.
In the front seat, Lin Yang and Jiang Jingchao glanced at the scene through the rear-view mirror but didn’t look particularly surprised.
The two of them already knew that Brother Gu had a spatial ability.
Back when they visited the factory, they had personally witnessed Brother Gu empty an entire warehouse of supplies in the blink of an eye. It was only afterward that they learned about Ruan Ning’s spatial ability.
……
When Ruan Ning woke up again, the sky outside was completely dark.
She glanced at her watch. It was almost seven o’clock.
So it’s already this late. She had actually slept for nearly five hours.
The car was now empty, with no one else inside. It seemed the team had already found a place to rest for the night, but no one had woken her.
Ruan Ning rubbed her temples. Once her mind cleared, she opened the car door and stepped out.
The vehicle was parked at the base of an unfinished, abandoned building. The structure had been half-constructed before the apocalypse halted its progress. The distant sounds of zombie roars made the place feel like the set of a horror movie.
“Miss Ruan, you’re awake.” Da Cheng, seeing her looking around, thought she was looking for Master Gu and pointed. “Master Gu is over there, talking to Dr. An.”
Dr. An?
When did their team pick up someone like that?
Ruan Ning was puzzled but did want to speak with the male lead, so she headed in the direction Da Cheng had indicated.
Rounding the corner, she saw two figures standing and talking in an open space.
Afraid of overhearing something she shouldn’t, Ruan Ning deliberately made her footsteps louder as she approached.
Hearing the sound, Gu Yicheng glanced in her direction. When he saw it was her, he subtly signalled to An Yi not to mention their previous conversation.
Then he walked over to Ruan Ning and asked warmly, “Ningning, how are you feeling after some rest?”
“I’m much better now.” Ruan Ning nodded, then looked at the conspicuously dressed An Yi in his white coat and asked, “Dr. An, why are you here?”
She hadn’t expected Da Cheng’s “Dr. An” to be the same doctor who had treated her foot injury after they returned from the factory. The coincidence surprised her.
Before An Yi could respond, Gu Yicheng calmly explained, “Dr. An happened to be passing through and heard we were heading to the capital. He asked to join us, so we brought him along.”
“Oh, I see.” Ruan Ning didn’t press further. Although she sensed that there was something unusual about the relationship between the male lead and Dr. An, she wasn’t particularly interested. She wouldn’t risk upsetting the male lead by prying.
Beside them, An Yi twitched the corner of his mouth, nearly in tears. Passing through? Wanting to go to the capital? He had been dragged onto this ship against his will! Whenever Gu Yicheng showed up, nothing good ever happened.
An Yi also recalled the earlier task Master Gu had given him—finding a way to examine the girl’s body.
In the apocalypse, there were no conditions for full-body medical exams. Ordinary people in the safety zones struggled just to obtain a single bottle of medicine, yet Master Gu had demanded a complete check-up for his “sister.”
And why? Because her ability had shown some abnormalities, and he was worried she might be in danger. Only someone like Master Gu could even think of such a thing and have the resources to make it happen.
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