CHAPTER 333: CHAPTER 314: I SUPPOSE THAT’S WHAT RESPECT IS

Lu Xi’an’s words left Lu Shou stunned for quite a while.

After a long pause, he gently exhaled and said with a laugh, "Your words... it’s as if you think you’re a good person too."

The emotions in that laughter were complex and indistinct, with a bit of frankness, a hint of sarcasm, a measure of helplessness and despair, and within that despair, there was an inexplicable sense of defiance, oddly peculiar.

"Why not?"

Lu Xi’an said, "Thinking about it now, that boy called Gou, and the person who jumped into the Guanhai River today, they’ve probably floated down and met you by now, haven’t they?

"They all met me. Didn’t they tell you I’m a good person?"

Lu Shou fell silent again for a moment before saying, "They did..."

Lu Xi’an asked, "So you didn’t believe them?"

Lu Shou said, "What difference does it make whether I believe it or not?"

"Of course, it makes a difference."

Lu Xi’an lifted Lu Shou up.

Lu Shou’s limbs were still dislocated, swaying uncontrollably, unable to move by themselves.

Lu Xi’an continued, "If you trust me, we can still be on the same side, facing those people from Northern County together in half a month.

"If you don’t trust me, then we have no choice but to part ways and fight on our own."

Lu Shou shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "It’s no use, saying anything now is useless.

"Before leaving the village, I already dispersed everyone from it. If there are people there, it would only be that old bird waiting?"

Lu Xi’an asked, "Is the ’old bird’ the person we met earlier?"

Lu Shou nodded and said, "He is. He floated over here from the Guanhai River, and I pulled him out. Learning about the Sickness Village from him, I knew the Healing Village was finished, so there was no point in staying there.

"I dispersed everyone else, leaving him there—I told him it was useless to run. He was specifically left behind by the people from Northern County. He will always be tracked by them and cannot escape.

"Then I came here alone. I asked him, and he said you were heading north, so I thought you were going north—I assumed you were people from Northern County, so I chased after you."

Lu Xi’an asked again, "You should know you can’t beat the people from Northern County, so why chase them?"

Lu Shou said dejectedly, "Can’t beat them, so what? I can’t help it. I’m just a B-type Neo-Human who hasn’t consumed Fungus Stone or eaten meat. That’s the extent of my power.

"But they’ve ruined my Healing Village, so what can I do? I don’t want to live anymore. I just want to fire a shot at them before I die. It’d be best to kill them, and if not, let them know that I’m going to fire on them!"

He spoke through gritted teeth, seemingly truly resentful of those people in Northern County.

Lu Xi’an, a bit curious, asked, "Aren’t the people of the Healing Village just ordinary folks? Why do you care so much about them as a Neo-Human?

"Also—I saw on the Resonant Gene Scanner map the distance between downstream and the Broken Bridge. Given this distance, those who jumped into the river should have drowned before reaching the Healing Village, right?

"And some of them were already gravely ill, near death. How could they possibly survive after reaching you?"

Lu Shou remained silent for a long time, seemingly reluctant to disclose this secret.

But after a long pause, he finally compromised, sighed, and said, "Forget it, since we’re all about to die, there’s no harm in telling you this secret.

"Moreover, this kind of secret is only useful to fools like me and useless to people like you."

At this point, he paused slightly before continuing, "All of you only know that Fungus Stone is useful for Neo-Humans, but you don’t know that after proper treatment, it can also work for ordinary people.

"Soaking Fungus Stone in water and diluting it dozens to hundreds of times makes it drinkable for ordinary people.

"Once they drink it, those who are sick will quickly recover; those who are dying or just died will be revived.

"I built the Healing Village downstream of the Guanhai River. I had those from the Sickness Village who were about to die or have recovered jump into the river, and I pulled them out to give them Fungus Stone Water so they could live again.

"Then, they can live well in the Healing Village and embrace a new life.

"Ha! It’s useless for you. People like you will probably never understand, right?

"Even if I tell you, what can you do? Use Fungus Stone for ordinary folks? Don’t kid yourself! Who else in the world would do such a thing besides me?!"

He seemed to fancy himself a saint, sneering coldly, casting a mocking glance at Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi’an glanced at him and said, "You found this use for Fungus Stone, you must have experimented on quite a few ordinary people and caused the deaths of many, right?"

Lu Shou was taken aback and said, "Didn’t you say I was a good person?"

Lu Xi’an said, "I said you are a good person now, I didn’t say it about the past."

Lu Shou exhaled heavily and sighed, "You have a very sharp mind. I didn’t say much with Yang Shuxia, yet you guessed it all.

"Yes, in order to find a way to use Fungus Stone, I did harm to many ordinary people.

"In fact, when I first tried to find a use for Fungus Stone, it wasn’t for those ordinary people.

"I just wanted to find if there was another method to activate its use—that is, after giving Fungus Stone to ordinary people and then consuming them myself, whether the toxicity could be eliminated and I could gain something.

"I knew ordinary people couldn’t withstand Fungus Stone; they couldn’t even touch it, so I tried other methods, like cutting Fungus Stone filaments for them to eat.

"I initially didn’t try soaking it in water, since even when Fungus Stone was soaked, I could drink it myself.

"But then I gradually lost my sanity and wanted to try everything, and eventually, I discovered this use...

"I found Fungus Stone was useless to living patients; only after they died did it work. I suppose it was because the illness in people has life, and when people died, the illness died too."

Lu Xi’an felt this guy was quite remarkable; he discovered the virus in such an odd way—though he merely called it sickness without distinguishing it.

Still, Lu Xi’an did not interrupt Lu Shou, continuing to listen to him speak.

As Lu Shou continued talking, his voice trembled slightly, and he added, "Hence, I harmed many ordinary people in Sickness Village.

"But after I saved their lives with diluted Fungus Stone Water, they thanked me, even bowed to me, saying I was a good person.

"I told them to scram, but they didn’t; they even actively sought food for me, leaving the best for me and eating only the leftovers.

"They gave me a place to rest, tidied things for me, did everything for me; it was as if I returned to my former days in the county, ruling with a group of servants attending to me.

"Yet it was completely different. They were so diligent and cordial doing things for me, greeting me without fear, even smiling at me.

"I thought that must be respect... and slowly I didn’t want to kill them anymore.

"The lower reaches of the Guanhai River was originally my hiding place,

"I stole Fungus Stone and hid there to avoid being discovered by people in Northern County.

"There, I could be far enough from Northern County, out of their Resonant Gene Scanner’s scanning range, and have a place like Sickness Village, filled with ordinary people who wouldn’t draw attention, making it easy to find materials to experiment with.

"Eventually, those I saved grew in number, forming a village in the lower reaches.

"I called it Healing Village and even sent people to Sickness Village to relay my rules—it was known, those near death or cured could jump into the river and go to Healing Village.

"I knew those Neo-Humans in Northern County wouldn’t bother speaking kindly to people in Sickness Village, and since people in Sickness Village wanted to live, they had no choice but to listen to me, so I dared to tell them these words.

"More people came to Healing Village, and I received more genuine respect; I felt happier than when I was in the county."

He said, glancing at Lu Xi’an and Yao Wei, mockingly, "Can you understand that feeling? You probably can’t experience it in your lifetime?"

Lu Xi’an said, "Not too bad, we frequently hear people say we’re good people; that guy Gou and the person after him also said it."

Lu Shou slightly halted his smile.

Lu Xi’an continued, "Moreover, I think you are still hiding something, right? There’s a saying, ’As long as the green hills last, there’s no worry for firewood,’ you could have led the others in Healing Village to escape and settle elsewhere, why fight to the death?

"I don’t believe sacrificing all other people for the sake of one marked person is a rational choice."

Lu Shou completely stopped smiling, sighed again and said, "You are truly impressive, nothing escapes you.

"Yes, I did hide some things, but I didn’t have any malicious intent; I just wanted to appear more heroic to win your sympathy, don’t mind me.

"I vaguely felt you were genuinely good people, so I thought maybe this would work, hence I said that.

"What I hid was—the mark is also contagious. This contagion doesn’t occur among ordinary people but targets Neo-Humans.

"Actually, I have already been infected, but this effect doesn’t manifest immediately; it takes time for the mark to appear on me.

"This time doesn’t exceed a month, but I don’t know exactly how long. Hence, I’m certain there’s no escape for me anymore. I chose to let people in Healing Village flee, but I couldn’t swallow my anger, so I came looking for them, intending to fight."

Lu Xi’an said, "So, actually, we’ve been infected for a while, and meeting this Type C Neo-Human just accelerated the infection?"