Chapter 215

Chapter 215

"We're just shooting the breeze, no need to take it so seriously."

Chu Yi was startled by Jiang Nian's 'raring to go' expression and regretted running his mouth—it must've been from hanging around Jian Cheng and Liao Yu too long.

After a moment's thought, he added,

"I just suddenly thought of it as a joke, don’t tell Brother Jing, okay? Otherwise, I’m scared he’ll hit me."

Damn, did this count as cracking a dirty joke with Jiang Nian?

If it were someone else, it wouldn’t be a big deal—men tend to have a bit of a loose tongue—but Jiang Nian was different...

"It’s fine, it’s just a joke. I won’t tell Brother Jing."

Jiang Nian waved his hand with a smile. He wasn’t the type to tattle—no big deal. Just get straight to it.

As a doer, he’d try it out once they got back.

"..."

Another half hour passed. Jiang Nian retracted his *superpower* energy and noticed that Cheng Jing’s *Thunder Fire* wasn’t out of control but was slowly receding. He and Chu Yi then stepped out of the *Thunder Fire*'s range to let their teammates out.

Upon learning that their leader was stable, everyone set up camp, cooked, and waited.

Chu Yi took out a set of uniform, Liao Yu provided cold water, and Jiang Nian handed over a bar of soap. After Gao Xuyang washed up and changed out of his hospital gown, he willingly strapped on a collar to suppress his *superpower*.

The women and children were left to the military guys, who provided them with water, hot meals, and clean supplies, with Huang Qian assisting in their care.

As for Second Brother Qi and his gang, alive is good enough—if they did die, there was nothing to be done.

The Guan Shan Prison mission was, for the most part, complete.

Chu Yi specifically picked out a larger backpack from the team’s mission gear to store rations for Teacher Gao.

Gao Xuyang had originally stored his *Superpower Cores* in a metal pail, but after discussing with Yang Kai, they swapped them out for standard zombie cores—since *Superpower Cores* would be more useful later.

Yang Kai scrubbed clean and dried off a small pile of cores, had Jiang Nian *Purify* them, and then packed them into Gao Xuyang’s backpack, instructing him to always wash the cores before eating them.

Gao Xuyang was silent, exuding a "don't-mess-with-me" aura, but he was easy to communicate with—he agreed to everything Yang Kai said.

After changing clothes, he quietly followed Yang Kai like a silent shadow.

"Yang Kai..."

After a simple dinner, everyone sat scattered in front of their tents. Gao Xuyang, having finished his cores, returned from his mouth rinse and sat down beside Yang Kai, extending his hand.

"Can... you... trim... my nails...?"

"Of course."

Yang Kai agreed readily, pulling out a nail clipper without hesitation.

Gao Xuyang’s fingers were slim and evenly shaped—even chilly and bony, they were still attractive. Unfortunately, after mutation, his nails had become razor-tough, making trimming difficult. Yang Kai simply used a dagger to shave them down before filing them smooth and round.

Once his nails were trimmed, Gao Xuyang put on form-fitting full-finger gloves, leaving only his neck and above exposed.

He wasn't afraid of heat or cold, and with a helmet on, it was nearly impossible to tell he was a zombie unless one looked closely.

Tightening his gloves, Gao Xuyang took the initiative to grasp Yang Kai's hand:

"This way... I... won’t... scratch... you."

Yang Kai seized the chance to hold his hand tightly and refused to let go:

"Honestly, even if I got scratched, I wouldn’t care. Jiang Nian’s got serious skills—he can cure people who are infected but haven’t rotted or lost their minds..."

Then he filled him in on Jiang Nian’s abilities and concluded:

"Once we’re back at base and settled, we’ll have Jiang Nian purify you, okay? I know you don’t like it, but the purification’ll help you heal up quicker."

With that, he waved Jiang Nian over, who happened to be looking their way from a distance.

Under that earnest, hopeful gaze, Gao Xuyang couldn’t find a reason to refuse. After a brief pause, he nodded:

"Okay."

He could suck it up—his lover wouldn’t harm him.

"Prof. Gao, Kai."

Jiang Nian plopped down next to them. After learning what they were discussing, he added some details, including Tang Ji’s recovery process after infection.

"..."

Though Gao Xuyang instinctively resisted purification, a flicker of hope sparked in him.

They kept chatting, keeping tabs on Cheng Jing’s powers.

To prep for Gao Xuyang’s purification later, Jiang Nian asked many questions about his physical state and discussed them with Yang Kai:

"Here’s a thought. Prof. Gao’s a cut above regular zombies—he can heal from injuries or other zombies’ infections. That means he carries antibodies against low-level zombie viruses..."

"If someone got infected by Prof. Gao and pulled through, would the antibodies they produce be even stronger? Or, if we incorporate his self-healing properties into an antidote serum, could it knock out zombie viruses weaker than the Zombie King’s?"

The Zombie King’s way above regular zombies, so the antibodies in Gao Xuyang’s body might be lethal poison to them.

Sounds contradictory, but hey, it’s possible—like certain plants where the flowers and leaves are highly toxic, yet the roots can neutralize their poison.

Back in his past life, he’d only heard stories about the Zombie King’s power—no one had ever captured one for research. Every fight was do-or-die, so this possibility had never been verified.

Now, with Gao Xuyang, they might’ve hit the jackpot?

"Test... my blood."

While Yang Kai was still pondering, Gao Xuyang spoke first.

His blood still oozed—thick, sluggish, but usable.

This state of blood also kept his heartbeat, pulse, and organ functions nearly halted—not completely dead, yet not truly alive, balancing on the razor’s edge between living and dead.

No one could feel it by hand, but he could feel it himself—perhaps some precise instruments could sense it too.

"Then we’ll test it when we return for routine checkups."

Yang Kai also thought it was feasible—a single vial could give us answers.

"......"

As the conversation deepened, Gao Xuyang could see that Yang Kai trusted Jiang Nian deeply and genuinely wanted him to recover as soon as possible.

After some hesitation, he finally took the initiative and asked Jiang Nian to try using Purify on him.

The pain, long forgotten, nearly drove him to scream within less than a minute.

The Purification energy seeped inexorably into his consciousness, awakening his numb senses and briefly restoring the pain only humans feel—something neither physical harm nor medication could achieve.

"Mr. Gao, are you okay?"

Yang Kai supported him, his face full of concern.

"I'm... fine... it's okay."

Clutching his head, Gao Xuyang steadied himself. Even if brief, the effect was real. After the excruciating pain, his sluggish mind briefly felt relief.

Jiang Nian retracted his power and explained,

"Gao Xuyang's body has already undergone advanced mutation due to the virus's erosion, so Purification will be extremely painful. But pushing through it will bring recovery—it just takes longer."

The longer he endured, the better the purification effect. The beginning was always the hardest.

Masking his disappointment, Yang Kai forced a smile.

"It’s okay. As long as there’s hope, the time doesn’t matter."

He was ready to wait by his side for a lifetime.

Jiang Nian was being tactful, but the truth was that Gao Xuyang had already fully turned into a corpse—only without rotting—which was why Purification was so agonizing.

You can’t ask for too much. Just having hope instead of despair was a blessing.

Gao Xuyang gave a blank nod, then stared wordlessly at Yang Kai.

Bathed in the light of the hovering Thunder Fire and the nearby camping light, Jiang Nian spotted a flicker of focus in his ashen, dead eyes.