Jianyu dropped to his knees in front of a six-year-old boy, limp in the woman's trembling arms. Blood trickled from the boy's mouth, staining his pale skin.
"System! What's happening?" Jianyu reflexively shouted. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice he was addressing the system.
"This is the Black Bloom virus," the system explained calmly. "Earlier, when you killed the Black Bloom inside the cavern, you released black sap into the air. In an environment like this, where the air circulation is poor compared to the outside world, the sap can spread a highly contagious airborne virus. The virus acts quickly, causing respiratory distress and bloody coughing. This child's life can be saved if you administer the Virus Antidote Pill."
"Fuck! But I need the water!" Jianyu thought, frustrated.
The boy coughed weakly again, more blood spilling from his mouth. The woman's panicked voice broke through Jianyu's hesitation. "Professor! Please save my little brother!"
"God damn it! Fine, I'll get the Virus Antidote Pill!" Jianyu growled at the system.
Purchase granted!
200 points have been deducted from your balance.
"Wait!" Jianyu snapped at the system. "If this virus spreads through the air, what about everyone else in the cavern? What's going to happen to them?"
"The leaves of the plant you just planted have the same effect as the Virus Antidote Pill. You can use those," the system replied nonchalantly.
"What...? Are you kidding me!? Then why the hell did I just waste my points on the pill!?" Jianyu shouted, enraged.
"Well, who told you not to ask more questions first?" the system replied, sounding almost smug.
The weak sound of the boy's coughing pulled Jianyu's attention back to the matter at hand. He clenched his teeth, suppressing the urge to argue further.
With steady hands, he slipped the antidote pill—which had mysteriously appeared in his grasp—into the boy's mouth.
"I've given him the pill," Jianyu said firmly to the boy's mother. "He'll be fine now. Just take care of him and make sure he rests."
Zhenfeng, who had been quietly watching everything unfold, finally spoke up. "What happened to him?"
"Not here," Jianyu said as he stood, grabbing the sleeve of Zhenfeng's dark overcoat and pulling him away.
As they walked away from the other survivors towards the spot where Jianyu had planted the tree earlier, the sound of coughing began to echo from the survivors in turn. Jianyu himself felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest.
"What's wrong?" Zhenfeng asked again as they stopped in front of a young tree with a still green trunk and vines slowly creeping out from its base.
Jianyu absentmindedly reached for one of the hanging leaves from the vines and, without caring about anything, shoved it into his mouth and ate it.
Zhenfeng stared at him, a little disgusted. "Are you insane? What are you, a goat?"
Jianyu swallowed the chewed leaf with difficulty. He was slightly confused as to why Zhenfeng could still make annoying comments. Didn't he feel uncomfortable too? Didn't he start feeling short of breath?
Without responding to Zhenfeng, Jianyu grabbed another leaf and just as Zhenfeng opened his mouth to make another annoying remark, Jianyu popped the leaf into his mouth. "Chew. Eat. Do that if you want to stay alive."
Zhenfeng, although a bit nauseous from the random leaf suddenly entering his mouth, saw Jianyu's serious demeanor and reluctantly obeyed. He chewed the leaf, which didn't taste as strange as he had expected—slightly minty—and swallowed it.
"What is this? What's it for? What's wrong with you?" Zhenfeng asked in rapid succession, still confused.
Jianyu began picking more leaves with swift movements. "Black sap, the black liquid that came out when you fought the Black Bloom earlier, contains a dangerous virus. The virus is airborne, so we've all been exposed. These leaves have an antidote effect for the virus. Before it worsens in everyone's bodies, help me pick these leaves and tell everyone to eat one."
Without asking many questions, because it was for the greater good, Zhenfeng immediately followed his instructions. He quickly helped Jianyu pick the leaves and gather them in his hands. "There's no special criteria, right? Any leaves from this tree are fine?"
"Yeah," Jianyu replied briefly.
The two worked together silently and efficiently, gathering the leaves quickly, and then they returned to where the others were resting.
"Make sure everyone eats one leaf. You have to make sure they swallow it," Jianyu instructed before moving to one side, and signaling for Zhenfeng to go to the other side to distribute the leaves.
Everyone easily swallowed the leaves until Jianyu stopped in front of an 8-year-old girl, the same age as the young boy he had saved earlier.
"I don't want to eat the leaf! It's bitter!" she complained, clinging to her older brother, who stared at Jianyu in confusion.
"But you have to eat this to stay healthy," Jianyu said, his tone firm.
The girl, frightened because she thought Jianyu was scolding her, started crying loudly, causing everyone to glance at them.
Zhenfeng approached them. "What's going on?"
"She won't eat the leaf because she says it's bitter," the older brother explained. "I've tried to persuade her, but she still won't open her mouth."
Zhenfeng sighed and crouched down to be on the same level as the little girl's face. He reached for a small pouch he carried and pulled something out, holding it tightly in his hand.
"Look what Gege has here," Zhenfeng said, coaxing the girl to stop crying and pay attention to his hand instead.
The girl turned toward him, and Zhenfeng slightly opened his hand, just enough to show what he was holding for her to see.
"Whoa…" the girl gasped in awe.
"Right?" Zhenfeng said. "You can have this if you eat the leaf that this strange older brother gave you," he added, nodding toward Jianyu, who gave Zhenfeng an annoyed look.
Miraculously, the girl immediately wiped her tears away and nodded eagerly. "Okay! I'll eat it!" she said.
Quickly, she grabbed the leaf from Jianyu's hand and ate it, making a face and saying, "Aaah," as if she had just eaten the bitterest thing in the world.
Zhenfeng chuckled softly before handing over what was in his hand. The girl eagerly took it, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth again.
"Ah? A candy?" Jianyu asked, genuinely curious about what Zhenfeng had offered the girl.
"Candy," Zhenfeng said. "You have to use this to coax kids. Not a serious face while forcing them to eat leaves like a goat."
Jianyu ignored Zhenfeng's comment and moved on, continuing to hand out the leaves to the other survivors.