Chapter 51: The Ones Who Bear the Burden
When Yu Xian finally found Gong Qian, she was curled up behind a tree just outside the barracks. Looking incredibly small and fragile, she wept quietly.
They had known each other for less than a day, but Yu Xian already understood her character. Gong Qian always appeared unyielding on the surface, but in reality, she possessed a gentle and compassionate heart. To her, the members of the Crime Eradication Squad were not merely teammates. They were her family, her brothers and sisters.
According to the Evil Slaying Squad, the members of the Crime Eradication Squad had always treated Gong Qian like a younger sister. The female members, in particular, constantly looked for excuses to hug her or shower her with affection.
Although Yu Xian was deeply worried about Jin Sheng, Zhang Shou was already treating him. His condition would likely stabilize. That was why, after hesitating for a moment, Yu Xian had decided to find Gong Qian instead. Right now, she needed companionship more than anyone else.
Yu Xian quietly crouched beside her and simply stayed there. Gong Qian buried her face against her knees and covered her forehead with one hand. Her voice trembled with suppressed sobs. "I told them to retreat...I told them not to come back..."
Yet after seeing Deimos swat her away, every member of the Crime Eradication Squad had immediately changed course, attempting to circle Deimos and reach her. Halfway there, a pillar of fire erupted from beneath the ground and instantly killed them.
Only one female squad member survived. By sheer chance, a falling boulder had injured her leg beforehand. While helping her move, a teammate of hers had pushed her outside the blast radius of the fire pillar, a cruel twist of fate that saved her life.
Yu Xian listened quietly. He couldn't think of anything comforting to say, nor did he want to offer empty consolation. So, he simply listened and stayed by her side.
An hour later, Gong Qian stood up. She sniffed and wiped her face. "Thank you. I'm going to check on Sister Fenfen."
Then she turned and walked away. Yu Xian waited until she had gone some distance before rising to his feet. He created a bubble and stepped into it.
The next moment, he appeared outside the military base's medical station. Walking out of the bubble, he sat down on a chair outside the operating room and waited in silence.
Zhang Shou emerged from Jin Sheng's operating room in the afternoon. Exhausted, he slumped into the seat beside Yu Xian, without the slightest trace of a smile on his aged face.
Yu Xian looked over at him. " Are Captain's injuries serious?"
Zhang Shou nodded. "They aren't just serious. They're extremely serious, much worse than Captain Gong Qian's poisoning. According to Doctor Wang, the Archdevil's energy writhing inside him is incredibly complex. Worse still, it's fundamentally incompatible with the energy he possesses. The two forces are like fire and water, locked together in a struggle to the death.
"I can only patch up his external injuries. As for the fragile balance inside his body, only Captain himself can deal with it. If anyone interferes and upsets that balance, he could die even faster."
Zhang Shou's Healing Touch could slowly remove the Archdevil's energy from Jin Sheng. However, doing so would shatter the delicate equilibrium currently keeping him alive. If that happened, Jin Sheng could drop dead at any moment.
Hence, Zhang Shou could only focus on treating the external injuries. Most of his time had been spent at Doctor Wang's side, learning how to handle such a complicated condition.
Zhang Shou suddenly remembered the true objective of the mission. "By the way, Salted Fish, did Zhou Tai die?"
Yu Xian shook his head. "No idea. Didn't the Director say that foreign forces interfered?"
He had already handed over the two Zhou Tais he had captured to the relevant authorities the previous day. As for where they were now, he had no clue. Nevertheless, he had a feeling Zhou Tai wasn't truly dead.
Zhang Shou clenched his fists, his expression dead serious. "Just let me find out who's behind this. I'll kill them myself."
If foreign forces hadn't intervened, Yu Bo wouldn't have died, and Jin Sheng wouldn't have been gravely injured.
Yu Xian nodded and silently committed the matter to memory. He understood perfectly well that anyone capable of slipping through layers of security and formations into a sealed-off zone could not be weak. Whether it was an individual or an entire organization, their strength was formidable. Right now, he was certainly no match for them, but it would be a different story entirely after another period of growth.
Around 4 PM, Doctor Wang invited Zhang Shou to assist him in treating Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. Although their injuries were severe, no foreign energies were interfering with their bodies. As a result, their treatment was comparatively straightforward. After casting his abilities four consecutive times, Zhang Shou brought both of them to full health.
Since Silver City lacked the means to treat Jin Sheng's condition, he was transported away aboard a military aircraft that evening. His destination was Yanjing, where more advanced treatment awaited him.
The captain of the Demon Slaying Squad, Dubhe, was transported alongside him. His injuries were equally severe. During the fight with Deimos, he had to be carried away by his squad members.
However, Dubhe's situation was not the same as Jin Sheng's. Dubhe's injuries stemmed from burning his lifespan. His condition was merely the aftereffect of overexertion. Silver City's medical facilities lacked the means to address such damage, but once he arrived in Yanjing, there would be plenty of methods available to compensate for those losses.
After nightfall, Zhang Shou and Yu Xian drove back to Silver City together. Both of them carried heavy hearts. At the same time, they had also grown from the experience.
As their vehicle entered the city, the countless lights of homes and apartments illuminated the night. Zhang Shou suddenly pulled the car over. Staring at the distant buildings glowing with warm lights, he felt something he had never felt before.
In the past, he had taken all of this for granted, but now, he had a new perspective. The peaceful lives that the residents of Silver City enjoyed existed only because countless others stood guard with their lives on the line.
Zhang Shou gazed at the silhouettes that apartment lights cast upon curtains in the distance. "Salted Fish, how many people do you think have carried the burden for us so that we could grow up safely? And how many people have paid with their lives, just like Brother Bo?"
Yu Xian shook his head. "I don't know. But definitely a lot. A whole, whole lot."
Zhang Shou wiped at his eyes. "I can't sleep. How about we grab some supper together?"
Yu Xian smiled. "Perfect timing. I know a pretty good place. Let's go."
At night, most districts of Silver City were empty. Only the streets of the Eastern District, where many supernatural beings gathered, still had businesses operating.
The two drove there and stopped at an open-air food stall. They ordered all sorts of stir-fried dishes and grilled skewers, including a special order of spicy duck blood stew that a vampire could actually eat. As they ate, they soaked in the lively atmosphere around them and gradually felt as though they had returned to the ordinary world. The events of the past two days seemed unimaginably distant.
After eating their fill, they decided to take a leisurely drive around Silver City. Zhang Shou drove while Yu Xian rolled down the window and enjoyed the cool night breeze. Neither of them spoke and simply savored the rare moment of peace.
Suddenly, Yu Xian glanced toward a patch of roadside bushes. A bubble shot outward, returning moments later with the corpse of a weasel-like supernatural creature. After that, he continued casually clearing out the pests along the way, and before he knew it, he had filled a large bubble with their corpses.
Zhang Shou looked at the various corpses piled inside the bubble. "Seems like there are more supernatural creatures out tonight than usual."
Yu Xian pondered his words for a moment. "It might have something to do with the sealed-off zone. There was such a huge disturbance over there. It probably affected a lot of creatures."
Zhang Shou grumbled. "But how are they even getting in?"
Yu Xian shrugged. "Maybe some kind of spatial ability. After all, I can use my bubbles to enter and leave Silver City whenever I want now."
Before returning to Silver City, he had placed bubbles in numerous locations. With the permission of the military base's commander, he had even set three bubbles there. Now, he no longer needed to pass through the city gates. He could leave or enter the city whenever he pleased.
At that moment, an off-road vehicle bearing the insignia of the Combat Police approached from the opposite direction. The two vehicles slowed and stopped when they met.
The leader of the Combat Police, Zhang Kai, leaned out of the window. The moment he recognized Yu Xian, he broke into a grin. "Yu Xian. Zhang Shou. It’s you two. I was wondering who was wandering around this road in the middle of the night. For a second, I thought we'd stumbled across a big catch."
Yu Xian smiled. "Good evening, Captain Zhang. We couldn't sleep, so we came out for a drive. Oh, right. We picked these up along the way. All these supernatural creatures were taken care of en route. Consider them a little extra treat to the squad's dinner menu!"
He sent the corpses stored in the bubble toward the Combat Police vehicle.
Zhang Kai's eyes immediately lit up. He opened the rear window to receive the creatures and laughed. "Wow, that's quite a haul! You're far too generous. How can I possibly accept this?"
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou exchanged amused looks as they watched Zhang Kai put on his act. Then don't take them.
After chatting for a while longer, the two sides said their farewells. The vehicles passed each other and continued on their separate ways.
Watching the Combat Police vehicle disappear into the distance through the rearview mirror, Zhang Shou let out a sigh. "Captain Zhang and the others don't have it easy either."
The peace and stability of Silver City didn't come without a price. The Combat Police had paid dearly for it as well. Every year, large numbers of officers from the Combat Police unit across the country lost their lives in the line of duty.
In the past, Zhang Shou had merely admired them, but now, he finally understood just how heavy their burden truly was. They were no longer distant news reports or cold statistics on a page. Each one of them was a life of flesh and blood.