Chapter 90 - 89: Verifiable Battle Record
Yang Shen looked at Cao Wei as if he were looking at a large bug sticking its rear end in the air.
He simply ignored her and started rummaging through the ruins.
As the black sphere completely lost its effect, the unconscious people began to wake up in large numbers.
Many people shouted nonsense like, "What’s going on!?", "Where am I!?", and "Who are you people!?"
The owner of Jinkang Pharmacy, in particular, almost fainted again the moment he woke up.
"Holy shit! My store! My store!!!"
His flagship store, which he had spent a fortune renovating, was a total wreck. And the eight pieces of "Agarwood," which he’d spent over a hundred million yuan to acquire, were nearly worthless!
Each piece had once been lustrous and whole, but after that strange black substance seeped out and formed into people, they now looked as if they were riddled with wormholes!
It was clearly the work of some incredibly sophisticated, mystical method. He didn’t know if the initial inspection had simply missed it, or if the inspectors had been bribed!
He didn’t give a damn about any Exotic Realm or conspiracy... All he knew was that he was probably done for!
True, his business was massive, but liquid capital was another matter entirely.
Who did business these days without being up to their ass in debt to the banks? No matter how big the company, one missed payment could break the capital chain and send your whole family to kingdom come!
’It would’ve been better if the whole place had just burned down!’ he thought. After all, he had fire insurance, but not demolition insurance!
With more and more people waking up, the scene threatened to explode into chaos. Soon, the police would be telling Yang Shen, "Do not disturb the crime scene." He had to find the ashes, fast.
There were still eight or nine corpses of the strange assailants inside. The most gruesome deaths belonged to those killed by Director Liang.
That ability of his to harden and even "brittle-ize" things was utterly terrifying. Bodies shattered like porcelain, especially those killed by a blow to the head...
The shards of flesh and blood that had clattered to the ground were now gradually regaining their soft texture. Hundreds of neat little pieces of meat lay on the floor, looking as if they’d been diced or put through a mincer.
As for the wounds...
One glance was enough to give you a severe case of trypophobia.
After turning over several bodies, Yang Shen finally found Zhou’s urn beneath a toppled medicine cabinet.
His expression, however, was grim...
At some point, it had been knocked over... Ash and bone fragments were scattered all over the floor.
Yang Shen gritted his teeth and used his bare hands to salvage what he could...
’Forgive the offense, Teacher. I have to use my hands...’
Not far away were two key corpses. One belonged to the man who had gouged out his own eyes, sacrificing his Life to activate a bizarre ability... The other was Wu.
After gathering up the ashes as best he could, Yang Shen walked over and flipped "Wu" onto his back.
Part of him hoped the bastard was dead as a doornail, which would satisfy his hatred. Another part hoped he was still breathing, so he could be interrogated for some truth about who was behind this.
’Just why did they want to steal the ashes...?’
Despite his complex feelings, he was still surprised when he turned the body over. Wu looked as if he had been completely wrung dry; his face was covered in wrinkles, and his hair had turned white.
It seemed he was just a disposable pawn, a suicide bomb.
Recalling the man’s "Sacrifice for Righteousness" Life Chart, Yang Shen didn’t know what to think.
Yang Shen frowned slightly, forming a hand seal for the Bee Control Technique. The feedback he got, however, was that there were no controllable insects within the body...
’Are they not affected by the Bee Control Technique? Or are they already dead?’
As for whether "Wu’s" corpse held any more secrets, Yang Shen couldn’t tell. He wasn’t a medical examiner and couldn’t exactly perform an autopsy right then and there. All he could do was confirm the man was truly dead.
Clutching the salvaged ashes, Yang Shen sighed for reasons he couldn’t quite name and walked out of the pharmacy. The day’s events were finally, truly over...
Nearby, a burly man built like a door was being carried out on a stretcher. If the paramedics hadn’t possessed some Martial Cultivation, two of them wouldn’t have even been able to lift him.
Tian Zihan wailed, "Doctor! Why do I hurt all over! What on earth happened?"
The doctor sounded perplexed. "I don’t know either! Everyone else woke up completely unharmed... Don’t worry about it. Just rest at the hospital for a few days. The government is covering medical expenses for an incident like this."
Tian Zihan immediately shot up into a sit-up. "Rest for a few days? No way! I have to study! Let me go! This isn’t the way to school!"
Yang Shen walked out of the pharmacy, his expression unchanging. He didn’t even spare Tian Zihan a glance.
Although Yang Shen was only tired, not injured, paramedics still led him aside. They needed to keep him under observation—at least check his blood pressure, right?
A crowd had gathered in the first-aid area. Of course, most had only just woken up and had no idea it was Yang Shen who had saved them.
The only exception was Cao Wei.
The way the young woman looked at Yang Shen, her gaze was practically smoldering.
It made Yang Shen very uncomfortable...
Cao Wei fidgeted with a corner of her long dress; it was clear she had put a lot of effort into her appearance today. "Y-Yang... You saved me..."
She currently had the air of a "battle-damaged" beauty—her fair face smudged with dust, looking achingly vulnerable.
Yang Shen held up a hand. "It was no trouble."
’I’ve saved plenty of people!’
’Look at Tian Zihan—he didn’t even thank me!’
Cao Wei shook her head. "No, it was different for me... I wanted to..."
A slender figure bounded gracefully over the crowd, leaping high into the air before landing in front of Yang Shen.
She landed right in Cao Wei’s path.
Xu Bamboo’s expression was icy, and she was carrying a longsword on her back. Apparently, she had come ready for a fight.
The first thing Zhuzi did was look down, checking to see if Yang Shen was injured.
"Zhuzi? What are you doing here?"
Huang Gang pushed his way in. "I called her!"
He’d been panicking on the way over. Besides calling the police, all he could think to do was call Xu Bamboo, the strongest person he knew.
Huang Gang gasped for breath. "What the hell happened? One minute you were chasing him, the next you’re stuck in this... blackout? Where are Zhou’s ashes?!"
Yang Shen said, "I’m not too clear on it myself... I found the ashes. Uh... most of them."
Xu Bamboo relaxed a little and sighed. "I shouldn’t have left. If I had been with you, we definitely could have taken that guy down right then and there."
Yang Shen smiled. "You were with your mom. Who could’ve seen this coming?"
"In any case, we got Zhou’s ashes back, so I guess you could say we got our revenge... Of the attackers from the Training Camp that day, only the one who looked like an office worker is still alive..."
Trying to lighten the mood for Xu Bamboo, Yang Shen said casually, "Oh, right. I might even get ten bonus points on my college entrance exam for this!"
His K/D/A for the day was 2/0/12.
With a triple kill under his belt at such a young age, Yang Shen wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased...
——————
「A hundred meters away, amidst the ruins.」
With bloodshot eyes, "Jin Wu," the owner of Jinkang Pharmacy, was drenched in sweat as he surveyed the damage.
"Preserve the scene? What nonsense! This is my store! Are you cops out of your minds?!"
"Get out of my way! Stop holding me back!"
Everywhere Jin Wu looked, his heart sank a little deeper.
It’s over, it’s all over... The flagship store’s sales had always been the highest, and he’d even gotten a friend to co-sign a loan for the "Sinking Dragon Incense." His friend’s reasoning had been that while money could vanish, eight stalks of Medicine King Level Sinking Dragon Incense were a solid guarantee.
Now that his store was in ruins and the Sinking Dragon Incense had turned into ugly junk, his creditors would probably be at his door any minute...
A single anthole can cause a thousand-mile dam to collapse... and this wasn’t an anthole, this was a gaping wound in his head!
Jin Wu stood staring blankly at a toilet. There used to be a wall here; now the entire restroom was exposed to the open air.
And the statue of the God of Wealth, once enshrined by the entrance, was now jammed headfirst into the toilet bowl...
Jin Wu carefully lifted it out with both hands. "It’s fine... it’s fine. Wealth is Water, Water is wealth. The God of Wealth was just thirsty. He’s showing me the path forward!"
As he spoke, he suddenly felt something moving under his feet.
Looking down, he saw a long line of bugs!
They weren’t very big, about the size of large ants. The column of bugs seemed to have marched here from a distance, moving in a straight line and deliberately sticking to areas covered by debris. They were just about to disappear into a sewer drain...
A few in the middle were carrying a piece of... bone?
Jin Wu curiously picked the piece of bone up... The bugs, apparently unintelligent, just milled about in confusion.
He was something of an expert in these matters. After a brief glance, his face twisted in disgust. "Crap! It’s a human bone!"
He was about to toss it aside when he felt that something wasn’t right.
He held it under his nose and sniffed.
’Wait... Is this a treasure?’
Seeing no one around, Jin Wu glanced from side to side, gritted his teeth, and shoved it into his pocket.
Jin Wu knew the incident today was part of something huge! Something big enough to shock all of Yanhua, maybe even the entire planet of Cyan Blue.
But... what did any of that have to do with him!
He was a victim. And theoretically, apart from the dead bodies, everything in this store was his property.
No one was going to search him...
What if it was a treasure... This could be his chance to turn things around!