Exhale!

Inhale!

Exhale!

Inhale!

Every alteration in his breathing and the flow of air made the doors and windows of the bedroom creak, with fine dust falling down.

Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Styles of Horizontal Training, bare-chested, steam enveloping his entire body, emanating a scorching heat. His well-built, tightly-knit muscles swelled and contracted, causing fine ripples in the air.

Don't think that an arm strength of only over 1100 kilograms seems small.

In fact, a regular sedan weighs only about 1300 to 1400 kilograms.

With Chen Shouyi's current strength, although he can't lift a car, when his power bursts forth, he can flip the car away.

...

A few minutes later, he stopped.

While checking the attribute panel, he walked towards the bathroom.

His eyes skimmed over the attributes and skill bar that hadn't changed much, and finally looked at the energy points.

"Originally I had accumulated 1.4 energy points, but after last night's consumption, it fell back to 1.1 again!" He sighed slightly, turned on the faucet, allowing the tap water to pour down his head: "I must start saving now! At this rate, optimizing the meditation to refine oneself seems far off."

This year's summer is exceptionally hot.

The Safe Zone has already seen incidents of people dying from the heat.

Even as a divine creature, though he can endure high heat and cold much better than ordinary people, with a little exercise he's drenched in sweat as well.

The most unbearable time is at night.

The Shell Lady, for some unknown reason acting oddly, sometimes covers him with blankets from head to toe.

He often wakes up sweating profusely in the middle of the night.

After showering, he doesn't bother with clothes and just swaps into shorts, stepping out of the bathroom to see the Shell Lady flushed, dragging a thick book, emerging backward from under the bed, her skirt already smeared with dirt.

"Why did you go under the bed?" Chen Shouyi looked at the mischievous child, speechless.

"I found a 'book' of yours in there," her little face showing a touch of pride as she sought credit.

Often, during conversations, Chen Shouyi explains certain specific terms in Chinese. She has now mastered quite a bit of Chinese vocabulary, frequently mixing Chinese with the common language of the other world.

Chen Shouyi picked up the book from the ground, brushing off the dust.

"Summary of the Various Schools of Inner Alchemy"

He glanced at the pages, stamped with Jiangnan University's library seal. Feeling somewhat embarrassed.

It must have been borrowed from Guan Miao last time, how did it end up under the bed?

Should I return it?

But remembering that woman's malicious attitude, Chen Shouyi gave up.

Better to have Bai Xiaoling take it back next time she comes over.

...

During lunch, the atmosphere was somewhat dull and oppressive.

Not long ago, a parasitic case appeared near the villa area, leading to a lockdown of the entire neighborhood, making everyone here on edge.

After eating, Chen Xingyue called Chen Shouyi, asking him to be her sparring partner.

The two found a nearby park, wielding two branches, and fought for half the day, until Chen Xingyue was so exhausted that she was soaked in sweat and completely spent.

During the sparring, Chen Xingyue hit her brother several times. Although she knew he was intentionally letting her, she was still happy and asked, "Brother, have I made some progress?"

"Yes, you've made a little progress!" Chen Shouyi said.

This wasn't just to flatter her. In the few months of systematic study at the Martial Arts Academy, she had made great strides, her punches more diversified and her combat more strategic, gradually growing from a clumsy novice to a... somewhat clumsy novice.

"How far am I from being a martial artist?" Chen Xingyue asked again, bringing up an old topic.

It had almost become her obsession.

"Why do you always ask this question? Don't get proud just because you achieve a bit—be modest, especially as someone who practices martial arts." Chen Shouyi donned an elder brother's authority, instructing.

"But I sparred with our Martial Arts Teacher, and he didn't seem that much stronger than me!" Chen Xingyue pouted, feeling a bit indignant.

"Do you think a teacher would go all out in sparring? If they really wanted to kill you, it'd probably only take one move—they were just letting you win." Chen Shouyi deliberately scoffed, internally cursing Tang Jiande for being useless, unable to manage even a sixteen-year-old girl.

"Of course, I know that, you don't have to remind me." Chen Xingyue suppressed her frustration, grumbling.

In the past, she would use such words to tease her brother.

Now the roles were reversed, with her brother scolding her!

Really infuriating!

...

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Shouyi stayed at home the whole time, not visiting the other world.

In fact, whether he was home or not made no difference.

Parasites aren't barbarians; such microscopic organisms, despite his great strength, he can't protect his family.

But he remained at home, comforting both his parents and himself.

These days, rumors about parasites in the Safe Zone spread wildly, causing panic.

Some claimed that several towns near the Safe Zone's reservoir had nearly perished.

Others said the parasite lock has completely lost control, starting to spread everywhere.

Though newspapers fervently propagated disavowal asking the public not to panic and to remain calm, people's inherent crisis awareness tends to believe unfavorable news.

However, Chen Shouyi knew the situation wasn't as dire. From what he heard, though parasites had indeed spread, aside from the reservoir area, other places were merely sporadic cases, mostly influenced by human traffic.

After all, parasites aren't viruses or bacteria; even if parasitized they have no contagion. If detected before the host's death, without having had the chance to escape, it's difficult for them to spread rapidly like viruses.

Especially now, highly populous areas have been abundantly treated with quicklime, nearly eliminating its spread.

For instance, two isolated neighborhoods within the Safe Zone have recently lifted their lockdowns.

As for the most severe reservoir surroundings...

Indeed, many died there.

Chen Shouyi once approached the blockade zone, observing from a distance.

Near the kind of village where the blockade zone falls, they're mostly deserted.

Bills of dark smoke from burning corpses practically obscure the sky, with an eerie charred smell pervading the air.

...

Guangming Reservoir.

Five protective-suit-clad health station staff stopped by the roadside, walking to the reservoir embankment.

The reservoir appeared green, filled with a mass of algae, countless rotting dead fish floating on the surface, emanating a strong stench.

"After this occurrence, the reservoir's ecosystem probably won't recover for years," one female staff member said, heavy-hearted.

Recently, a vast amount of highly toxic insecticide had been spread over the reservoir, leaving all fish and shrimp utterly dead.

"Compared to the dead, this is nothing," the team leader, a middle-aged man said. "Let's collect water samples; these other-world parasites are incredibly resilient, perhaps some remnants linger."

Without further conversation, they quickly headed to the kayak parked against the embankment.

PS: Second chapter to be released before noon.

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