It was unclear how long had passed when Ye Yun's fingers twitched, and his disoriented consciousness began to slowly awaken.
D*mn it, he thought, I was too careless. I didn't expect Liu Yang to have a magic scroll.
Ye Yun struggled to open his eyes. A sharp pain coursed through his entire body, and his limbs felt numb from the freezing cold.
With great effort, he extended his right hand and tore off the already torn and battered backpack from his chest. Luckily, he had used it as a shield, or he would have been completely dead.
His legs felt useless, and he could only endure the excruciating pain as he turned over and propped himself up on his elbows, crawling forward. If I can just make it out of this alley and see people, I'll survive.
Cold snowflakes landed on his face, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably. The alley had already become pitch black, with only a few dim lights visible from the alley entrance.
No one knew that a severely injured, dying boy was struggling for his life in that dark alley.
Every inch he moved drained all of Ye Yun's remaining strength. Blood continued to seep from his chest, leaving behind a gruesome trail of dark red blood as he dragged his body along the cold ground.
I can't... I can't die here. I promised Qingqing... I still have to... take her to... find her parents...
Ye Yun whispered faintly with cracked lips. He had to hold on. Despite his dizzying mind and the growing blur before his eyes, these were the natural reactions of his body after losing so much blood.
At this moment, he could not allow himself to fall asleep. If he closed his eyes, he would never... never open them again.
Ye Yun bit down hard on his tongue. The sharp pain immediately jolted his clouded mind awake. He gritted his teeth and continued moving, dragging his heavy arms.
The light coming from the alley entrance grew brighter and brighter. It was getting closer, closer. The dawn of hope was right in front of him.
Finally, covered in blood, Ye Yun crawled out of the alley. He wanted to scream in joy, but as he looked around, he realized there was no one in sight.
A cold chill shot up his spine. If no one found him, this empty street would become his final resting place. The desolate scene around him felt eerily similar to a hellish nightmare.
Tap, tap.
Footsteps came closer, from far to near. What would have been an ordinary sound now seemed like music to Ye Yun's ears.
"Help... help me!"
Ye Yun reached out his bloodstained hand toward the figure, his face full of hope. He wanted to be saved.
"G-Ghost... it's a ghost!"
The passerby's face was filled with terror as he saw Ye Yun lying on the ground. Then, in the blink of an eye, he turned and ran off in a panic, leaving Ye Yun staring after him in disbelief.
Although Ye Yun's appearance was truly frightening—his old clothes had been shredded by the explosion of the fireball, and his body was covered in blood—the dim streetlight made his face unrecognizable, and his outstretched hand looked like a ghost's claw in the passerby's eyes.
"C-Come back... don't go... please, don't go..."
Ye Yun struggled to make a sound, but his parched throat could only produce incomprehensible whispers.
What was this? After all that struggling, he was finally about to grasp hope, only to have it instantly slip away again. The tremendous emotional blow almost shattered Ye Yun. After all, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy.The scene before Ye Yun's eyes grew more and more blurry, more and more distorted. His mind was dangerously foggy, and his body felt horribly cold. His drowsiness grew stronger, and he could barely hold on anymore.
Am I going to die? No, I can't die. Qingqing is still waiting for me to come home. What will she do if I'm gone? Ye Yun forced himself to stay conscious and crawled toward the center of the road. The only hope now was that a kind driver might pass by and save him. There was no other way.
Although the snow was light, Ye Yun felt as though he were in the middle of a once-in-a-decade blizzard. His body, and even his heart, felt utterly cold.
Just as Ye Yun was on the brink of despair, a magnificent beam of light enveloped him. The sudden screech of tires as they braked and the urgent honking of a car's horn mixed together, pulling Ye Yun back from the brink of unconsciousness. He barely managed to open his eyes, and it seemed to be a truck. Why did it feel familiar?
Bang!
The sound of the car door slamming shut. It seemed like someone had gotten out.
"Who's the idiot looking for death? Hm? Ye Yun?"
Was that voice... Wang Fatty? Ye Yun wanted to call for help, but he was too weak to make a sound.
Suddenly, his vision went completely black. Ye Yun finally couldn't hold on any longer and passed out.
What he didn't hear, however, was the final voice that echoed in his mind:
Successfully found a matching host;Peak Evolution System is now binding;Binding successful. Host's life signs are weakening;Beginning search for Carlos gene within a fifty-meter radius;Search complete. Beginning body modification!
At the charity hospital in City N, in the inpatient department, Room 302.
"Brother, you have to wake up soon!"
A girl with flawless skin and delicate features was anxiously looking at Ye Yun, who lay on the hospital bed. Beside her, a middle-aged man in a black work uniform was speaking to her, "Qingqing, don't worry. Ye Yun's a lucky kid. The doctor just said his body's recovery rate is far beyond the average person's."
"Mm, thank you, Uncle Wang. If it weren't for you taking Ye Yun to the hospital, he would probably..." Ye Qingqing's face showed a sorrowful expression, and her throat choked as she couldn't finish the sentence.
Wang Shan looked at the little girl, feeling uncomfortable. Ye Yun and his sister had grown up under his watch. These two sensible but unfortunate children seemed just like his own. He often helped them out whenever he could.
"Uncle Wang, I'll definitely pay you back for Ye Yun's hospital fees as soon as I can," Qingqing suddenly remembered the treatment costs that Uncle Wang had fronted for her brother and quickly stood up to bow to Wang Shan.
"Ah, Qingqing, what's Uncle Wang short on money for? Whenever you have the money, you can return it then. Don't worry about it!" Wang Shan waved his hand. He knew very well about Ye Yun's family situation. He wanted to refuse, but Ye Yun and his sister were both stubborn and had a strong sense of pride, so they couldn't bring themselves to say such things.
"Thank you, Uncle Wang, but you've already done so much for us. Even Ye Yun's job and our place to stay were thanks to you. We really can't keep troubling you." The young girl didn't say much, but the stubbornness in her beautiful eyes was undeniable.
Wang Shan sighed and was about to say more, but just then, his communicator in his pocket started beeping with a series of beep beep sounds.
"Uncle Wang, go ahead and take care of your business. I'll look after my brother," Qingqing said kindly.
Wang Shan smiled apologetically at Qingqing and pulled out a small, black, inconspicuous device from his pocket, about the size of a wristwatch. It looked like an ordinary stone, and then he stood up and walked toward the hospital door.