Chapter 19: The Short-Lived Zhang Shou
Silence hung over the trio in the corridor. Jin Sheng felt a pang of regret; supernatural beings specialized in healing like Zhang Shou were extremely rare. If not for this issue, he would have recruited the young man into the Wickedness Purging Squad without hesitation. With him, the Wickedness Purging Squad would have become one of the few squads in Qilin with a healer.
Yu Xian clutched the report. Refusing to give up hope, he asked, "Captain, can the Blood of Pangu save Zhang Shou?"
Jin Sheng shook his head. "At the end of the day, the Blood of Pangu is still a product of a Forbidden Fruit. Judging from the severity of the backlash, the price Zhang Shou has to pay is very likely on par with Pangu. The energy within him that repels other energies is probably no lower in rank than that of the Blood of Pangu."
Zhang Shou took a deep breath and forced a faint smile. "Salted Fish, thanks. It's fine. For the remaining days, just let me be alone, alright?"
He rose to leave. Unable to watch him go alone, Yu Xian stood up to follow him. However, Jin Sheng reached out and firmly pressed a hand onto his shoulder. He shook his head. "Give him some space."
Yu Xian clenched his fists as he watched his friend's retreating figure gradually fade into the distance. "Fine."
He wanted to become stronger, strong enough that no matter what tragedy struck, he would never be forced to stand by as utterly powerless as he was today.
***
Zhang Shou drifted aimlessly and, before he knew it, arrived at a nearby park. He collapsed onto a bench, his mind blank as he stared up at the sky, feeling as if his entire world had been plunged into complete gray.
The park was desolate and quiet. Even though it was morning, there were barely any elderly residents out exercising. The aftermath of the tragedy caused by the Aberrant Parasites was still evident.
When he thought back to how ecstatic he had been just the previous day, Zhang Shou let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought I had hit the jackpot... but in the end, it doesn't even count as a consolation prize."
He sat in the park for a full half-hour before pulling himself up and continuing to wander the streets for a long time. Eventually, he returned home and locked himself inside his bedroom, soon sleeping soundly. At nightfall, his starving stomach woke him up. He headed downstairs to grab dinner at a small steamed-dish restaurant near his residential complex.
Just as he was finishing up his meal, a sharp, piercing cry came from the back of the shop. He couldn’t help turning around and saw that a server had accidentally scalded a little girl's arm with boiling tea. Her arm had turned red.
The server was frantically apologizing while the young parents of the girl panicked. The father was doing everything he could to soothe his weeping daughter, while the mother tried to wipe the scalded arm with a towel.
Zhang Shou stared at the little girl. After a brief silence, he stepped forward. "Let me."
He pushed past the server and pointed his finger at the little girl's scalded arm. Then he exerted his energy to activate his ability. "Heal!"
A green orb of light shot from his fingertip toward the little girl. The moment it landed on her arm, the bright red burn rapidly faded, and her skin quickly returned to normal.
The little girl's father gasped and offered his gratitude. "Thank you! Thank you so much, young man!"
Next, the mother and the server hurriedly voiced their thanks as well, while the onlookers who had gathered around all wore expressions of profound admiration. Suddenly, Zhang Shou felt that his mood wasn't quite as terrible anymore. He walked back to his seat and took two more bites of his food before abruptly setting his chopsticks down.
He finally understood why his system had manifested as a healer-type system. The staggering casualties caused by the parasites at school hadn’t just scarred Yu Xian. They had also reshaped Zhang Shou. Zhang Shou and Chen Ling, along with others, had searched for surviving classmates among the remains of countless schoolmates, doing everything they could to bandage wounds and ease their pain, helping them hold on until rescue arrived.
In those moments, Zhang Shou's heart hadn't desired to be a grand Sword Immortal. He had wanted to be a doctor. He had wanted to save them all.
Zhang Shou stared at the streets outside the restaurant as the city slowly began to heal and whispered to himself, "Do you want to die a coward, or do you want to be a hero just this once?"
He stood up and walked out of the shop with a genuine smile breaking across his face, his footsteps growing heavier and more resolute with every stride.
A waitress sprinted after him and yelled, "Sir! You haven't paid yet!"
Zhang Shou’s stride froze instantly. He spun around and hurriedly rushed back to settle the bill before fleeing the restaurant in utter embarrassment.
***
Early next morning, Yu Xian received a phone call from Zhang Shou. After hanging up, Yu Xian hurriedly made his way to the entrance of a vegetable market located not far from their school.
From dozens of meters away, Yu Xian could already see a large banner hanging across the square in front of the wet market. It read, "Supernatural Healer. Free Treatment Available. Terminal illnesses, chronic diseases, hard-to-treat conditions. Instant Recovery upon Treatment."
Seated on a chair beneath the banner, Zhang Shou was continuously using Heal for the surging crowd of people stepping forward, periodically utilizing Healing Touch to purge specialized conditions.
Yu Xian bolted forward, forcibly interrupting his friend. Furrowing his brow, he snapped. "Are you out of your mind? Did you forget what I told you? The more you use your abilities, the faster you'll die!"
"Salted Fish, I called you here because I hoped you could help me maintain the crowd." Zhang Shou looked up at Yu Xian with complete seriousness. "I'm a dead man either way. At least this way, I want my death to have some value."
Yu Xian opened his mouth to argue further, but Zhang Shou took a deep breath and cut him off. "Yu Xian, if you consider me a friend, don't stop me. Life and death are dictated by fate. Just don't let me die for nothing."
Yu Xian gritted his teeth, his eyes turning bloodshot. "Fine!"
Zhang Shou resumed administering treatments to patients seeking aid, while Yu Xian managed the queue. He swiftly and brutally scolded anyone who attempted to cut the line or stir up trouble.
As the sun climbed from the eastern horizon to the peak of the sky, Zhang Shou's youthful appearance began to change. By midday, he already looked like a middle-aged man, the hair at his temples turning a stark, heartbreaking white.
Standing under the blazing sun, Yu Xian watched Zhang Shou. Every single time Zhang Shou finished treating a patient, a bright, radiant smile would break across his aging face. Before long, an immense crowd had gathered around the market.
Some people brought over parasols, some lunch boxes, some herbal cooling teas, and others electric fans. A few of them even began helping to maintain order entirely out of the goodness of their hearts. Yu Xian suddenly found himself with nothing to do. No one was causing trouble anymore, and everyone was lined up properly for their turn.
Across from the market, Jin Sheng silently stood atop the roof of a towering building, his fists clenching as he overlooked the massive, serpentine line of people.
As time ticked on, more and more people began to notice the horrifying toll the treatments were taking on Zhang Shou. By four in the evening, he had withered from a middle-aged man into a frail, hunched little old man.
"Doctor, your hair..."
"Young man, why don't you take a break for today?"
"Mister, we don't need the treatment anymore. Please, have a rest. Just look at your face."
The surrounding crowd poured out their anxiety, but Zhang Shou remained utterly unyielding, obstinately pushing forward with the treatments. Over the course of the day, he had successfully cured hundreds of terminally ill patients, fully restored dozens of classmates who had been left physically disabled by the Aberrant Parasites incident, and eradicated genetic disorders in infants.
Zhang Shou only needed to trigger his abilities once to hand someone back their health and entirely rewrite the trajectory of their life. Since he was going to die anyway, to him, this trade was an absolute steal.
Time after time, he cast his abilities. Gradually, his vision blurred until he could no longer discern the faces of the patients standing before him. Fortunately, he wasn't a real physician who needed to diagnose anything. Treating others required nothing more than triggering his abilities. As long as he sensed someone approaching, he simply unleashed his abilities.
Nightfall descended, and the colors before his eyes shifted once more. He instinctively raised a trembling hand to use his abilities, but abruptly buckled and collapsed toward the pavement. The surrounding people instantly caught him, holding his frail frame up as his trembling hand desperately forced out one last ability onto the patient before him.
Yu Xian stepped forward in a flash to cradle the skeleton-thin Zhang Shou in his arms, his hot tears spilling uncontrollably down his cheeks. "It's enough. Really."
The crowd had tried to force him to stop dozens of times, but Zhang Shou had refused every single attempt, stubbornly persisting through the pain. Many of the more emotional onlookers had long since been crying in secret, and seeing him finally collapse, the entire square erupted into weeping.
When Zhang Shou heard his friend's voice, a peaceful smile graced his weathered face. He said weakly, "Yu Xian... it's really strange. I clearly didn't want to die. I should be terrified of death, but right now... I don't feel scared at all. Is it because I know that I did the right thing?"
Before Yu Xian could offer an answer, Zhang Shou’s hand slowly went limp, slipping down to dangle at his side. Yu Xian let out a raw, agonizing wail. His father was gone, and now his best friend was gone too. He didn't know what else he had left.
The surrounding crowd watched the scene play out. Some fell into a profound, heavy silence, while others wept openly, as if time itself had frozen solid in that exact moment.