CHAPTER 248: CHAPTER 248

"I said back off." Her voice rang through the alley, no longer quiet. It was final, like the slam of a gavel.

"You want to play the desperate card? Fine. Let’s see how far your desperation gets you with your flesh peeling off your bones."

One man near the front, younger, maybe no older than twenty, raised a crowbar.

"She’s bluffing. She won’t burn a kid."

Qingran raised her palm.

Blue fire sparked instantly, licking the air.

"Try me. My moral compass kinda broken right now.."

The tension broke.

The mob hesitated for a second too long.

Ruihuang lunged.

His blade whistled through the air, the first strike not aimed to kill but to maim. The sound of metal meeting bone was immediate.

A cry followed, sharp and high.

Blood splattered across the wall beside them.

"Aahh!!"

Someone screamed. T

he crowd jolted like cattle catching the scent of slaughter.

But it was too late to run.

Meng Nian slammed into one of them from behind, his machete drawn, blade flashing.

Qingran stayed rooted, a center of fire and fury, burning a semi-circle around herself and Shen Li.

"Stay behind me.." she ordered without turning.

Shen Li nodded quickly, ducking slightly as the fire surged forward again.

It swept across the ground like water, stopping just short of the enemy’s feet, cooking the dirt, curling metal around it.

One of the women shrieked and swung a hammer blindly.

She missed Ruihuang by inches but fell within his range. One strike to the side of her neck and she dropped like a sack of rice.

The flames grew hungrier.

More figures were moving now, not just in front but to the side.

Qingran saw them out of the corner of her eye, creeping through the rubble of a fallen balcony.

She turned her palm, redirected the fire, and it shot upward like a geyser.

A body was flung backward, screaming as the heat scorched his arms.

"You really thought this was going to work?" Qingran hissed through her teeth, stepping forward.

"You saw a girl and thought that was enough reason to kill her??"

"You said she’s the cure!" someone shouted, voice high-pitched and cracking. "You’re hoarding salvation for yourself!"

Qingran’s eyes flashed.

"She is not a bottle of pills neither is she an object. She is a human being."

"She could save us all!"

"Then why are you trying to murder her?"

The flames exploded outward again, singeing the edge of someone’s coat.

They scrambled back with a howl.

One of the attackers, a man with a scar running down the left side of his face, was the only one who didn’t flinch.

He had a knife, and his gaze was locked on Shen Li. It wasn’t greed anymore.

It was hunger.

Just this hunger to kill.

Qingran saw the movement before it happened.

He lunged.

She smiled, she wouldn’t deny she wasn’t enjoying what she was doing.

Her flames flared into a spear, and with a flick of her wrist, it launched straight into his shoulder.

He dropped mid-leap, rolling across the dirt with smoke pouring from his jacket, screaming.

"Do you want to know what real desperation looks like?" she asked, voice rising over the sounds of fire and pain.

"It’s me, protecting someone innocent from monsters who used to be people."

The fire encircled them completely now. The alley glowed with eerie light, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

Ruihuang stood with blood on his blade. Meng Nian was panting, one knuckle split and bleeding.

He could have used his ability but he felt these people went worth it.

Several of the attackers were groaning on the ground, a few dragging themselves away.

The rest were long gone.

Shen Li didn’t moved for a long time.

Her fists were clenched. Her face was pale, but she wasn’t crying.

She stared at the flames surrounding them with a strange intensity.

Qingran turned to her, the fire finally calming around her hands. "You alright?"

Shen Li nodded slowly. "You didn’t kill them?"

"I can’t say they’ll survive the ordeal..."

Shen Li looked at her again, this time with something different in her eyes.

Not just fear or gratitude. Something deeper.

A kind of belief.

"I want to help.." she whispered.

"Even if I’m the cure. I want to help. I don’t want people to die because of me."

Qingran stepped forward and gently took her hand.

"Then stay with me. And I’ll make sure no one ever has to."

She turned to Ruihuang and Meng Nian.

"We’re done here..." she said. "Let’s go."

They moved swiftly, Qingran leading the way with Shen Li close behind, flanked by Ruihuang and Meng Nian like protective shadows.

The fire had served its purpose, no one dared follow them.

"We’re heading back to the convenience store," Qingran said without turning. "We’ve found the cure... now it’s time to use it."

Ruihuang gave a sharp nod, his blade still at the ready.

"The wind’s changed. There’s smoke... and not from your flames."

"I smell it too.." Meng Nian said grimly. "Burnt metal and blood. Something’s wrong back there."

Shen Li’s breath caught in her throat. "Do you think... people are already infected?"

"Most likely.." Qingran replied, her voice tight with concern. "The mutation’s spreading fast. If it’s airborne or contact-based, anyone exposed could be shifting already."

They didn’t waste any more words. By the time they reached the convenience store, chaos had erupted.

The building itself was still intact, its reinforced shutters partially down.

But outside, people were screaming.

Two men had collapsed on the sidewalk, their bodies convulsing violently.

A woman clutched her head, her veins bulging black beneath her skin.

Qingran’s heart sank.

"It’s already begun.." she said, her voice laced with urgency.

She shoved the shutter up the rest of the way and rushed inside.

The survivors who’d stayed behind were either backing away from the infected or watching helplessly.

Two had blood around their noses, early signs of collapse.

"We need a clean space, now!" Qingran barked.

"Clear out the back room!"

A voice cried out, "What’s happening to them?"

Qingran’s response was swift. "Genetic mutation. Something in the air or food is triggering a change. But we can stop it."

She turned to Shen Li. "I need you to sit down. Ruihuang, disinfect the chair."

Shen Li obeyed without a word, her jaw clenched as she took her seat. Her eyes darted around the store, taking in the others who were now staring at her with a mix of awe, terror, or both.

A man whispered "Is she the one?"

Qingran ignored him, her focus on preparing for the procedure. "Meng Nian, get a blood sample from the two who collapsed. I need something to compare."

"On it.." he said, already moving.

She brought out a kit from her space, Qingran took Shen Li’s arm gently, meeting her eyes. "This is going to sting, just a little. Stay still."

"I’m fine." Shen Li said quietly. "Just do it."

The needle slipped into her vein with practiced precision.

Bright red blood filled the vial. Qingran sealed it and pulled another out.

Then another. Then one more.

By the time she was done, she had five vials of her blood and two from the infected.

"I’ll analyse this and be back in a while.."

She had a lab in her space so she could analyse the blood and create a antidote there.

"Can i enter the lab?"

[Of course. It’s for you after all..]

"Alright, then I’ll need you to be in your lab coat and human form when I get there."

Qingran gave a curt nod and vanished into the system space, the outside noise cutting off instantly like a severed thread. The temperature dropped inside the lab, crisp and sterile. The space glowed with pale blue lighting, smooth panels lining the walls, machines humming with quiet power.

Lingquan stood beside the central console, tall and sharp-featured in his human form. White lab coat perfectly pressed. His silver-blue eyes flicked to her as she entered.

"You look stressed."

"I don’t have time for your sarcasm," she said flatly, moving past him. "Load up the spectrograph. I want a comparative run between Shen Li’s blood and the infected."

He didn’t argue.

The samples slid into the machine with mechanical ease, and the screen flared to life with data. Strings of proteins, twisted DNA chains, abnormal cell activity pulsed across the display.

"Just as we guessed," Lingquan murmured, his expression darkening. "Rapid mutation. The infected’s cells are breaking down at an accelerated rate. The black veins are a symptom of internal rot. It’s eating them from the inside out."

"And Shen Li’s blood?"