CHAPTER 143: THE FAVORED ONE

"Exactly, Mu Xiaoxuan! How many people are you going to ruin all by yourself? Without you, our group is short one person, so we can’t complete our link!"

"Besides, didn’t you hear Zhang Lingling say she already reported it? She’s already had Virtual Coins deducted."

Mu Xiaoxuan lowered her head in distress. "But I really don’t want it. This distiller doesn’t produce much water. Do you really want to introduce this kind of distiller to your friends and have them waste their Virtual Coins?"

"It’ll produce what it can. It’s like a free Water Collector. If you promote it to a friend, and that friend brings in more friends, then everyone gets it for free. Plus, there are so many work points to earn."

"Exactly."

Mu Xiaoxuan bowed her head, tears streaming down her face. "But... but..."

Seeing Mu Xiaoxuan being cornered, Jing Shu pushed into the crowd, using her flashlight to make people step aside. "If she doesn’t want it, she doesn’t want it. Are you trying to force a sale? Stop trying to fool people with your deceptive excuses. Don’t you have any self-awareness about what you’re doing?"

Having regularly drunk from the Spiritual Spring and having taken lives before, Jing Shu possessed a different kind of aura. Her domineering presence instantly intimidated many people.

Zhang Lingling pointed her finger at Jing Shu. "You! Fine, don’t buy it if you don’t want to... but you don’t have to be so unreasonable!"

"Alright, alright, if she doesn’t want to buy, let it go. I don’t care about those points anyway," Xie Zihao said, stepping forward to mediate.

Zhang Lingling snorted. "My good intentions are completely wasted on her! I’m trying to help her make money, and she thinks I’m out to get her. Let’s go, to the supermarket to transfer Virtual Coins." Zhang Lingling was genuinely afraid this reckless fool, Jing Shu, would ruin the favorable situation. Jing Shu’s personality had changed so drastically, hadn’t it?

"Since I haven’t registered, I don’t want it anymore. Jing Shu and I have some things to discuss," Yao Zixin quickly said.

"Hmph, don’t come begging me later," Zhang Lingling said, leading a group of people away on their bicycles.

In an instant, the mall fell quiet, leaving only the three of them. Mu Xiaoxuan sobbed softly. "This is just a pyramid scheme. It’s just like my uncle; no matter how much you try to reason with them, they just won’t listen."

Jing Shu handed over a tissue and a bottle of mineral water. Mu Xiaoxuan carefully took the tissue but didn’t take the water. Jing Shu pressed it on her. "You should get home early."

"Thank you." Mu Xiaoxuan thought for a moment, then retrieved a mahogany box from the back of her bike and handed it over.

"This is a Bodhi Mother Bead. My grandfather said it can be used to grow a Bodhi Tree, but it might not be useful now. However, if the Dark Day ends in the future, this seed is at least a hope. Once grown, its branches can produce rubber, its leaves can feed livestock, and it has many medicinal uses. It’s a treasure trove of benefits."

Suddenly, Jing Shu remembered something. Some years into the apocalypse, a disaster had caused many people to die horribly. Later, a doctor said that if they’d had a Bodhi Tree, they wouldn’t have had to watch those people die in such agony.

What was the cause?

Jing Shu quickly took out her phone and searched for the medicinal values of Bodhi. Mu Xiaoxuan and Yao Zixin looked at Jing Shu, who seemed possessed, unsure what to say.

"That’s it, this is it!" Jing Shu exclaimed excitedly. She had forgotten which year of the apocalypse it was, but it was because an evolved parasite had appeared. Infected people would suffer from ulcerations in their intestines and stomach.

They would endure over ten days of torment, clinging to life, and suffer from bloody stools daily. It was said these were the remnants of their internal organs, devoured by the parasites. Only when their insides were completely consumed would the victims die a gruesome death, like something out of a real-life horror involving hairworms.

However, these parasites had specific living conditions and were not numerous. Infection was like drawing lots in a deadly lottery; one could only pray not to be "chosen."

The Bodhi Tree was not only a traditional herbal medicine for treating conditions like asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy, but it also had a significant effect against these parasites. However, most Bodhi Trees had died out, having withered in the first year of the apocalypse.

No matter what, taking precautions is never wrong. Jing Shu turned, got back in the car, and brought out another bucket of water for Mu Xiaoxuan. "This is payment for the Bodhi Mother Bead," she said. "Don’t refuse; you deserve it. I happen to need this."

This might not be very useful to Mu Xiaoxuan, but in her hands, it could save many lives! Whether saving people for a fee or for free, it’s a great deed. Besides, she was also taking precautions for her own family.

Carrying the water and pushing her bike, Mu Xiaoxuan left, looking dazed. Jing Shu, somewhat preoccupied, then had her discussion with Yao Zixin. After quickly confirming the design and dimensions were correct, she gave Yao Zixin 10 liters of water and headed home.

On the way home, she hitched the Shark Submarine to the back of her BYD Song and towed it. There was no more room in the villa for such an item, so she stored it in the RV’s storage compartment.

"Why did you go out in the middle of the night and bring back such a useless thing? Go on, keep making things up. Let’s see what excuse you have this time. Did you save Old Wang next door, or did the president give it to you as a thank-you gift? You’re always so busy, saving people every day, and they always give you such strange things in return."

Mrs. Jing stared at it for a long time but couldn’t figure out what it was.

For the first time, Mr. Jing countered Mrs. Jing. "Enough. You always say the things she brings back are useless. But what happens in the end?"

Every time, she was proven wrong. Things that seemed useless at first always turned out to be useful later.

Mrs. Jing blushed, a rare sight. "Fine, hurry up and put your precious treasure away, then go to sleep."

"Alright."

Jing Shu hesitated for a long while but eventually cleared out one cubic meter of her medicinal herb field to plant the Bodhi Tree. She had no idea when it would be useful, but she decided to plant it anyway. According to her information, Bodhi Trees grew quickly. Once it was large enough, she planned to cut it down and store it in her dimensional space.

***

"I heard the Young Miss got a batch of Honeysuckle today?" The middle-aged man massaged his temples, his voice rather cold.

An elegantly dressed, portly old man stirred his coffee with milk and handed it over, saying slowly with a smile, "Yes, she exchanged it with her classmate. The Young Miss treasures it like a precious gem. I haven’t had a chance to analyze its components yet."

"BANG!" The man slammed his hand fiercely on the mahogany table.

"Analyze my foot! It would be best if she were swindled and it poisoned that old bastard to death! That damn hypocrite! Taking my resources and still having my daughter’s admiration—damn it all! And I can’t even show my true feelings! I really want to tell that foolish girl of mine that the man she’s trying to save is her father’s mortal enemy!"

The old man still smiled genially. "You know as well as I do about the Young Miss’s luck. Master Zhang himself divined that she is favored by the heavens, blessed with the fortune to have all her wishes come true. Whatever she desires or sets out to do, she succeeds. She wanted an antidote, and here it is. She wants to cure that man, and perhaps by tomorrow, he’ll be up and about, as lively as ever."

"Hmph... But perhaps it’s for the best. This illness has tormented him for a long time. If he dies, he’ll be released from his suffering. After his death, who knows if his successor will be an even worse exploiter like Zhou Bapi. I just hope the Artificial Sun project proceeds smoothly."

"So, should we still investigate it?"

"Investigate. Apart from the preserved medicinal herbs in storage, all the others have died out. We’ve nearly exhausted our supplies from the past nine months..." The man narrowed his eyes. "If it’s real, I hope it’s fake. If it’s fake, I hope it’s real."

The old man chuckled. "I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed again."