Chapter 40

Taken aback at being named out of the blue, Lin Tantan blinked: “You mean me?”
“I'm talking to you. Don't you have healing abilities? Go treat the wounded,” Zhu Xin said in a commanding tone.
Lin Tantan found it almost laughable, who did this guy think he was?
Bai Cheng's expression darkened and he was about to speak, but Lin Tantan beat him to it, turning to Zhu Xin with genuine curiosity: “Who are you, anyway?”
Zhu Xin frowned slightly, but said with pride: “I'm Zhu Xin, commander of the Third Regiment of the Ning City Garrison, a lieutenant colonel. The garrison has been expanded into a survivor safety base, and I've been assigned the honorable task of leading this rescue operation. Once the mission is completed there will be even more important work waiting for me back at the base. You may address me as Commander Zhu or Lieutenant Colonel Zhu.”
With that single speech he laid out his life story, deliberately letting everyone know he had been glorious before, was glorious now, and would be even more so when he returned to the base with a brighter future and higher posts awaiting him. Everything was neat and inevitable; he was not like Ye Xiao, Bai Cheng and those other unaligned outsiders.
Of course, the ranks and titles he spoke of were conferred after the apocalypse; before it he had been nothing more than a junior deputy battalion commander with the rank of captain. After the crisis many of his superiors were gone, and he naturally rose to fill the gap.
His words had the intended effect: when the survivors heard "commander" and "lieutenant colonel" they perceived him as impressive, important.
Zhu Xin grew ever more pleased. Lin Tantan nodded, she now understood why he was so puffed up: he had status. Half-smiling, half-mocking she said, “Oh, a regiment commander. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were my employer paying my wages.”
Zhu Xin's smile froze. Someone in the crowd chuckled; Lin Tantan's own smile faded. Coldly she said, “How embarrassing. I'm not one of your soldiers. Even if you were the divisional commander, you still wouldn't have authority over me.”
“You, ” Zhu Xin's face darkened. “This is contempt for the military. We're risking our lives to rescue you, ”
“Stop!” Lin Tantan raised her hand to cut him off. “First, you're not rescuing me, I was perfectly safe inside the secure zone and didn't need saving. Second, I am not showing contempt for soldiers; don't twist the argument. I respect the comrades risking themselves to help Yang City, but that's no excuse for you to boss me around.”
Zhu Xin was taken aback; seeing no one backing him he instantly changed tack and scolded, “All that talk is just an excuse for not wanting to help people. What sort of time is this? It's only asking you to treat a few people, if you have the ability why won't you do it? For you it might be a small gesture; for others it could be a life. You're being so selfish, comrade!”
Bai Cheng said coldly, “Zhu Xin!”
Mei Baisheng, who'd appeared from nowhere, rushed over to Lin Tantan intending to speak for her, but she raised a hand and stopped him. Standing her ground she stared at Zhu Xin and sneered, “So you can't show off because I'm meeting an officer, so you'll try to press me with moral high ground? Spare me. Did I say I refuse to help? Who saw me stand by and watch people die? Didn't I just help fight zombies? I'm human, not made of steel, can't I rest a little? And make this clear: I help because of humanitarian reasons, not out of obligation.”
Lin Tantan's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear and steady: “If you had asked me politely to assist in treating people, I'd probably have agreed immediately even if I were exhausted. But you opened your mouth with an order, do you expect me to help while first checking your expression? By what right?
Just because you're a regiment commander?”
Zhu Xin's face went ashen with anger; he glared at Lin Tantan, momentarily speechless, then turned and pointed at Bai Cheng: “Bai Cheng, you aren't going to control your people?”
Bai Cheng walked over to Lin Tantan's side slowly, expressionless as he looked at Zhu Xin: “You're wrong. Miss Lin is not under my command; she's an ordinary citizen. Neither you, I, nor anyone else has the authority to order her to do anything, don't use the word 'control.' And before you arrived, she had been diligently helping the wounded without need of prompting or asking for recompense; the 150,000 people can attest to that. You should be the one reflecting on your attitude.
If someone today suffers serious consequences because they didn't receive timely treatment, that will be on you.”
These words were spoken to Zhu Xin but directed even more at the surrounding survivors, a reminder not to assume that Lin Tantan's assistance was an entitlement simply because Zhu Xin said so.
Sure enough, some people took his words to heart, their faces reflecting thought or anxious worry. These people had fled the city; many were injured. Some wounds were survivable and could heal on their own, but others, if not treated promptly, would impede movement or even be life-threatening.
Now things had become so tense, what if they really drove their healer off and she let go of her duties?
Zhu Xin's face turned very grim.
“Finally,” Bai Cheng, as if still not satisfied, twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and said to Zhu Xin, “Rank-wise we're on equal footing, watch the tone you use with me.”
“You, ” Zhu Xin clenched his fists. Seeing himself outmaneuvered, his soldiers drifted closer, but Bai Cheng and Lin Tantan were not to be intimidated either. Mei Baisheng stepped forward first to shield Lin Tantan, vigilant. Then others who had arrived, Xu Qin and Xu Li, the ability-users Fan Fang and Zhao Yidan, Jiang Zhongyi, and many of those trained by Ye Xiao and Bai Cheng, took their positions.
They all stared at Zhu Xin with hostile looks, the pressure was palpable.
Zhu Xin went pale. In that moment he truly felt that, over the past half month, these people had already built up a considerable amount of influence.
Seeing the atmosphere growing tenser, an officer hurried over to mediate: "Everyone calm down and speak reasonably. Zhu Xin, you too, there's no need to be so harsh!"
He apologized to Bai Cheng: "Deputy Bai, I'm really sorry. Zhu Xin was just anxious for everyone's sake and may've spoken harshly. I'll apologize on his behalf. And to the woman there, you're Lin Tantan, right? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll talk to this guy later. Ah, now's not the time for infighting. Comrade Lin, if you have healing abilities, please lend a hand, we really need to unite right now."
This was the slightly plump officer Lin Tantan had seen earlier talking with Zhu Xin. He hadn't spoken ill of Ye Xiao and the others back then, but Lin Tantan still hadn't taken to him. Now that he was being conciliatory, what more could she say? She didn't want a stalemate, there was too much to be done.
She didn't look at him but turned toward the newly arrived survivors and called out loudly: "I'm a wood-type ability user with healing powers. If anyone needs treatment, come to me. But let me be clear: my energy is limited, I can treat at most three people per hour, so don't come for minor scrapes. Also, so nobody takes my work for granted, treatment isn't free, payment in crystal cores or supplies is acceptable; the amount is negotiable. Anyone who needs help can sign up now; if demand exceeds supply, the critically injured will be prioritized."
The plump officer looked a little embarrassed that she hadn't looked his way. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could finish, people were already calling out as soon as Lin Tantan's words landed.
"I, I'll sign up!"
"Me first, I'm in a hurry."
"My mom was beaten, she's even coughing up blood!"
"My son was in the hospital and his surgical wounds have rotted!"
"My husband is dying!" a woman's shrill cry cut through the others. Lin Tantan looked over and saw a woman and a man supporting another man as they squeezed in from the edge of the crowd. The man supporting him held a towel pressed against the injured man's left face; you couldn't tell the towel's original color, it was soaked through with blood. All three were stained with blood on their clothes and hands.
"What happened?" Lin Tantan asked, frowning, as she hurried over.
"The car was going too fast on the road and a branch hit his eye," the woman sobbed. The man supporting him carefully pulled the towel away so Lin Tantan could see. The injured man's left cheek was cut in several places, some deep, some shallow, but the worst was his left eye socket, there was a bloody hole where the eyeball should have been; the whole eye had been swept away!
Those around them all drew sharp breaths at the sight.
Lin Tantan's expression tightened. The man was in bad shape, ashen, gasping, barely conscious, almost unable to stand.
She said nothing more. She produced a strap, hooked it over the man's arm, and said, "Come with me."
With that she led them toward the room where she usually treated people.
People stepped aside for her, and many tried to follow to see what would happen. Someone beside them asked, "Can she fix that?"
"If there were equipment, medicine, and a doctor, an immediate operation could probably save his life. They'd also need blood transfusions and fluids, he's clearly in shock," said someone who knew a bit, shaking his head. "But now... well, it's hard to say with abilities involved."
"Hey, could you do it?" a girl nudged the older boy beside her. He shook his head: "No way I could."
Through the crowd he watched Lin Tantan's faint silhouette with curiosity and surprise. He was a wood-type user too and had some healing ability, his power wasn't bad, but right now he could only stop bleeding and treat small wounds. Could this person really be that strong?
"Let's go follow and see."
Compared to the newcomers' amazement, the people from the west side of the city were much calmer. Miss Lin had always been formidable; they'd been fawning over her and didn't have time for the likes of that idiot team leader, who'd dared to order her around. If circumstances and timing weren't against them, they'd have liked nothing more than to beat him up.
Zhu Xin still stood where he was, watching a large part of the crowd stream away and feeling mortified under the disdainful looks. The plump officer patted him and said, "All right, go do your job."
Zhu Xin sneered, "Healing powers, big deal. They can only fix little wounds, can they bring people back from the dead? What a show-off. I could grab any doctor and they'd be better than her."
The plump officer frowned, about to say if you think that, why provoke her? Then someone nearby said, "Oh really? Just little wounds? I hope you never end up needing her for one."
They looked over and saw the speakers were a group of tall young men, still a little boyish in the face, probably college students.
After Jiang Zhongyi said that, seeing the two look over, he hurriedly signaled his companions: "Let's go, let's go, he's the team leader; we can't afford to piss him off."
"Hey, they say any random doctor is better than Sister Lin."
"Don't listen to him. I heard a doctor earlier say he couldn't do anything for that man's injuries unless there were medicine, equipment, and a sterile operating room and table."
"Seems that team leader has everything, doesn't he? Heh heh."
"Where does he get off mouthing off to a healer like that? Doesn't he know the one people you can't afford to offend are doctors?"
"Anyway, when we play games I never dare anger the healer."
"Heh heh heh..."
Zhu Xin's face flushed from dark to pale and back again as his chest rose and fell. The plump officer sighed and had no appetite for more argument. He felt a twinge of worry, was that girl really that powerful? The army did have wood-type users, but none heard of as strong as she seemed. If she was already so strong now, then later... offending someone like that would be a very unwise move.
As soon as they entered the treatment room, Lin Tantan told the unrelated onlookers to stop, shut the door, had the family help the wounded lie down, and said to Ming Ze, “Start an IV.”
The man had lost too much blood. Lin could stitch up his wounds, but bleeding like that couldn’t be fixed by an ability alone.
She lifted her hand; the band that had been looped around his wrist slid back. One band shot straight into the hollow of his injured eye, the other plunged into his chest toward the heart.
The wounded man’s wife gasped. Lin Tantan explained, “This is energy, not a physical strap. It won’t damage his body, so don’t worry.”
When she shapes energy into something tactile, it can be felt, but these two bands were untouchable, pure concentrated energy. If you watched closely they looked like green, glowing beams.
Ming Ze opened the med kit as he spoke, “Family, raise his head and legs a bit.”
He had dashed over earlier and taken a fairly large medical kit from Bai Cheng. When he opened it there were many medicines inside; he immediately began mixing a crystalline IV solution. He was a licensed resident physician, and these procedures were second nature to him.
Once the IV went in, the patient’s vitals steadied noticeably; the shock symptoms vanished. Ming Ze thought to himself how powerful these abilities were, when would he ever reach that level?
If he had pried open the ruined eye with a pair of tweezers and watched muscle fibers and blood vessels rapidly regrow, he would have been even more astonished.
The treatment lasted a full fifteen minutes before Lin Tantan let go. The two family members anxiously asked how he was.
“Should be okay,” Lin Tantan said. “Keep the wound clean, watch for infection, eat well to rebuild his blood and he’ll be fine.” She added, “But that eye is gone. I’m no god, I can’t make a new eyeball grow.”
“Of course, of course, what matters is that he’s alive.” They hurriedly agreed. Just then the patient woke and could speak; the two of them sobbed and laughed with relief.
Lin Tantan sat down and watched Ming Ze press gauze over the eye. She suddenly said, “Don’t forget payment.”
“Of course, of course.” The man fumbled a small wallet out of his pocket and spilled out three crystal cores. “Will these be enough?” He seemed to realize it might be too little and added, “We’ve also got some food, a car, and two hundred thousand in savings, we’ll give you everything.”
Lin Tantan asked, “What car?”
“A pickup, a Jiangling Yuhu. We paid over 150,000 for it, and it’s still pretty new!”
Lin didn’t know what a Jiangling Yuhu was, but hearing “over 150,000” sounded reasonable. “I’ll take the car,” she said. “Keep the rest. You’re my first customers, consider it a discount. Come back in a day or two and I’ll treat him twice more.”
She didn’t need a car, she couldn’t even drive, but since they’d already paid, she might as well charge properly. If she had started too low it would be hard to raise the price later. Besides, this had been a life-or-death situation; this was money that saved a life.
Frankly, a car for a life wasn’t much, but Lin Tantan wasn’t going to quibble. Their attitude had put her at ease.
When they heard she offered aftercare they were overjoyed and kept thanking her. Lin Tantan stood, opened the door, and called out, “Who’s next?”
The crowd outside hushed the moment the door opened. Everyone was silent, especially when they saw the man who’d nearly died walk out with a pure white bandage over his eye, an IV in his arm, being supported as he stepped forward, and looking surprisingly well. His family were in tears of joy, stunned.
The skeptics were dumbstruck.
“It- it really works!”
Someone glanced at a watch. “How long was that? My goodness.”
The doubtful ones began clamoring to move forward.
But Bai Cheng was sitting outside the treatment room handling triage. He knew enough medicine to judge severity; don’t expect to cut the line. He picked out the three most serious cases, explained the situation to Lin Tantan, and asked, “Can you handle these? Another group will be here soon, if every batch has this many, won’t it be too exhausting?”
Lin Tantan looked at the sky; it was already dark. “It’s fine, just tonight like this.” She had said it now, and it couldn’t be taken back. It wasn’t really that grueling; she was used to it, and three patients an hour still left breaks.
She also had her own reasons. Earlier she had deliberately held back, not showing everything, but Zhu Xin had been the first to single her out. Whether he was targeting her or trying to make a show of power, it proved she’d become too conspicuous.
If hiding her skill didn’t work, why keep hiding it? Better to be so strong no one dared cross her. At least someone like Zhu Xin could be put in his place.
In truth, once she’d chosen to be a dual-type ability user she should have been prepared for this.
Bai Cheng glanced at her and said nothing more.
Lin Tantan resumed her treatments.
People came in waves, each wave numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands, always with a few seriously wounded among them. Lin Tantan kept to three patients per hour, and the west-side medical teams continued their work. Inspired by what they saw, other doctors and ability-users among the arrivals began to help as well.
Of course, all of it was paid work.
Outside the crowds organized themselves to go hunt zombies, bustling and noisy, while inside the treatment room things ran with steady efficiency. The injured and their families prayed, hoped, worried, cheered, and expressed gratitude, a strangely harmonious scene.
Ye Xiao didn’t return until after nine, and he brought back a large group with him.
“I thought you'd choose the second plan,” Bai Cheng said. Ye Xiao’s team was headed somewhere farther away, that was inevitable; Yang City isn’t small, and you can’t cover every place and make a round trip in a single day. The second plan was that if they couldn’t make it back in time, they’d get on the highway from the east side of Yang City and link up with the main force on the road.
Ye Xiao smiled. “Going east introduces too many variables. I’m a little uneasy about this side.” He couldn’t hide his fatigue, he’d been on constant alert all day, and because they traveled at night the zombies were brutal. He’d unleashed his powers countless times; even a man of iron was starting to fray.
Bai Cheng arched an eyebrow. Everything here had been arranged, what was there to worry about? The thing he was worrying about had to be that one person. Once someone has feelings and attachments, it’s just different.
He didn’t tease; he simply told Ye Xiao what had happened that evening.
The darker Ye Xiao’s expression grew as he listened, the deeper he breathed to smother the nameless anger inside. “Tantan?”
“In the treatment room. It’s been several hours, she hasn’t come out.”
Ye Xiao strode toward the treatment rooms.
There were people posted outside, keeping order; especially outside Lin Tantan’s room, where ordinary folks couldn’t get near. Ye Xiao waved them off and pushed on. The door wasn’t shut tight; it opened easily with a gentle push.
He saw Lin Tantan standing by the narrow treatment bed, head bowed slightly, her palm hovering a few centimeters above a man’s chest. A pale green light fell from her hand onto his torso.
The girl’s lashes drooped, her lips pressed thin. Maybe it was the backlighting, but her calmness carried a trace of detachment, quite unlike her usual self, an exacting solemnity that made people hesitate to come close.
As if noticing someone watching, she turned. When she saw who it was, her face broke into a huge smile; the eyes that had been cold a moment ago curved up, bright and sparkling.
Her voice was full of joy. “Ye Xiao, you’re back!”
Ye Xiao felt his chest swell all at once.