Chapter 178 - 126: Strength Is the Cornerstone of Survival! Hunting the Extraordinary Is Imminent! The Strong Shen Xinrou

Chapter 178: Chapter 126: Strength Is the Cornerstone of Survival! Hunting the Extraordinary Is Imminent! The Strong Shen Xinrou

"Brother Chong, we’ll listen to you..."

A smile touched Chen Chong’s lips as he listened to the cheers of the crowd.

Even though nothing was said outright, this moment signified that the Fishing Club was now under his command.

This was the first time since he’d crossed over that he had gained so many subordinates.

Although the members of the Fishing Club were all ordinary people, there was strength in numbers.

’In this world, I can’t do everything myself. Some things need to be handled by the people under me.’

’Besides, more people means resources can circulate more efficiently.’

’With them on board, I can delegate some of the logistical work within the school to them, ensuring the flow of resources and the maintenance of order.’

’Then I can focus on dealing with the Extraordinary Creatures outside without any worries...’

"Everyone has been working hard all night. Go and get some rest. The python meat will be distributed as we discussed before—everyone gets 50 jin. As for the rest, we’ll deal with it after we’ve all had some sleep."

Having toiled all night, the crowd had no extra energy to process the snake meat.

At Chen Chong’s suggestion, they decided to go back and sleep on it first.

After all, this mountain of meat from the Blood-tooth Python wasn’t as simple to handle as a single wild deer or boar.

Properly processing over ten thousand jin of meat was no easy task.

Washing, curing, drying, and smoking it would take at least a day, maybe even two.

But for everyone present, it was a good problem to have.

After all, in this world, food was paramount.

With so much food, they no longer had to worry about running out in the short term. The fact that the meat of an Extraordinary Creature could also strengthen their bodies was an even greater cause for celebration.

The members of the Fishing Club dispersed.

Ning Yu locked the door and pocketed the key to prevent anyone else from the school from wandering in and stealing the meat.

Chen Chong, Wang Biao, Xu Jun, Zhang Meng, and Ning Yu then headed toward the faculty apartments.

The closer they got to the faculty apartments, the more nervous Ning Yu became.

Although she tried her best to hide it, the subtle shifts in her body language did not escape Chen Chong’s notice.

He knew what she was worried about.

’She must be worried about the three members of the Swordsmanship Club who were brought back to the school.’

The building with the clubrooms wasn’t far from the faculty apartments. Given the distance from the Sky Pit to the school, she would have had plenty of time during the four transport trips to stop by the apartments and check on them.

Yet she never went. Each time she dropped off a load of python meat, she immediately turned back.

Anyone could see she was deliberately avoiding it...

’She’s afraid she’ll break down again if she sees the gruesome state of her three members.’

Although three members of the Swordsmanship Club had been rescued, according to Zhong Fang’s assessment of their injuries, only one seemed to be merely unconscious. The prognosis for the other two was not optimistic.

Considering the current medical conditions, their chances of survival were slim...

Ning Yu was running away. She was afraid she couldn’t accept seeing the mangled, bloody state of her younger members.

But what’s coming will come. There’s no escaping it.

Chen Chong placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke slowly.

"Go see them. If they’re on the brink of death, your presence might give them a reason to hold on. And if they can’t... at least you can see them one last time, so you won’t have any regrets."

Ning Yu was taken aback. After a long moment of hesitation, she nodded and hurried toward the clinic.

"Let’s go take a look too."

With that, Chen Chong and the others followed her....

...

The doorway to the diagnostics room was packed with people, a noisy, jostling crowd.

Even before stepping inside, they could hear waves of agonized cries coming from the room.

Chen Chong led his group through the door, pushing their way in. The scene inside was even more chaotic.

Countless blood-soaked figures lay on the floor. The horrific sight made one’s body tense up involuntarily.

The room was too small, and the injured covered nearly every inch of the floor.

The condition of each person could only be described as too gruesome to look at.

Besides being covered in mud and blood, most were missing arms or had broken legs.

Some had massive puncture wounds, with their intestines and organs exposed. The sight made Huang Mao so physically ill that he nearly vomited on the spot...

"Only about twenty people?"

Chen Chong frowned and murmured to himself.

Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a white cloth in the corner, covering something underneath.

When he saw half a leg peeking out from under the corner of the cloth, he understood.

’Those are the ones who have already stopped breathing, the ones declared dead.’

’Of the thirty-some wounded they brought back, have a third of them already died?’

’But looking at the current situation, I’m afraid that number is far from its limit...’

As the doctor, Shen Xinrou was swamped, constantly moving between the injured to treat their wounds.

The laborers and maids were helping on the side, holding white cloths and the juice of crushed medicinal herbs.

At this moment, this girl—usually so clean, gentle, and a bit socially anxious—had her hands and face stained with blood.

Though her face was etched with panic and her eyes were bloodshot, her hands never stopped moving...

After finishing with one patient’s wounds, Shen Xinrou looked up and noticed Chen Chong. She froze on the spot.

Chen Chong gave a small smile. "You’ve worked hard."

Shen Xinrou managed to pull a weary smile onto her exhausted face. "It’s okay..."

"Do you need any help?"

Shen Xinrou didn’t answer. As she kept smiling, her bloodshot eyes began to well up with tears.

This stunned Chen Chong. ’She was fine just a moment ago?’

"What’s wrong?"

His question was the final straw. Shen Xinrou couldn’t hold it together any longer.

In that instant, all her pent-up grievances found an outlet, and tears streamed from her eyes...

She had never treated so many patients at once. Even though she had assisted her grandfather in his clinic since she was a child, she had never witnessed such a brutal and horrifying scene.

As an ordinary university student, she had been scared stiff last night when the members of the Fishing Club brought these people back.

But she knew, more than anyone, that she was the only person in the entire school who understood medicine. Even if it was just amateurish traditional Chinese medicine, it was the key to saving these people.

She suppressed her crumbling emotions and did her best to treat them using whatever medical knowledge she could recall...

But no matter how hard Shen Xinrou tried, how much she did to save them, she alone couldn’t possibly handle the injuries of over thirty people.

Especially not injuries this severe!

Her medical skills were insufficient. She didn’t know how to approach many of the difficult problems, so she could only try using the most basic debridement and hemostasis techniques.

Watching the wounded die one by one before her eyes, her spirits sank lower and lower.

But she kept trying, kept persevering, hiding her fragile side deep in her heart...

Now, upon seeing Chen Chong—the only person in this school she trusted and relied on—she could no longer maintain her facade of strength.

Although she hadn’t said anything, Chen Chong had more or less guessed the reason.

’Making a gentle girl like her handle casualties from such a serious incident... the pressure is definitely too much...’

’These people’s conditions are too severe. Even in the world before all this, their chances of being saved in a hospital would be less than ten or twenty percent.’

’Let alone in a situation like this, where everything is an uphill battle.’

He gently patted Shen Xinrou’s shoulder. "Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Just do the best you can. Even if you can’t save them, no one will blame you."

Chen Chong’s words, meant to comfort, had the opposite effect. Shen Xinrou didn’t just shed tears; she began to sob loudly, like a little child.

Chen Chong didn’t stop her. With a look of helplessness and compassion in his eyes, he gently patted her, trying his best to comfort her.

After a long while, Shen Xinrou raised her head, hiccuping from her sobs, and wiped her tears as she spoke.

"I just lost my composure. I... I’m sorry."

Chen Chong shook his head. "It’s fine. You don’t have to apologize. In fact, I should be thanking you. After all, I was the one who had the Fishing Club bring these people back, which ended up giving you such a huge problem."

Shen Xinrou wanted to say something else.

But just then, the wail of an injured person on the floor caught her attention.

She said quickly, "I have to go treat his wounds."

Chen Chong nodded. "Go on. You’ve worked hard."

Shen Xinrou became busy again.

Ever since entering the room, Ning Yu had been searching among the wounded on the floor for the members of her club.

Since most of their faces were covered in either blood and mud or wrapped in white cloth, she had a hard time identifying them. She could only rely on their body shapes and other familiar features.

Finally, after making her way across most of the main room, she spotted the figures she had been hoping to find in the farthest corner...

...