"Oh...we...we're going back so soon?" For some reason, Wang Xuewei suddenly felt that being stranded with Zhou Ziwei in this place, which might be an alien planet, might not be such a bad option.
Originally, Wang Xuewei's most cherished possessions were her family and Xinda Chemical, the company her family had worked so hard for. But now... she was so disappointed in her family that she no longer wanted to see those people with whom she shared the closest blood ties. So, it seemed that where she lived in the future didn't matter much anymore.
Zhou Ziwei sighed helplessly and said, "I want to go back, but... whether I can go back is still unknown... Sigh... I'll just take a step and see!"
As Zhou Ziwei spoke, he looked up at the sky. The three of them had fallen hundreds of meters above them, and he wondered if there was an entrance or exit there. He remembered that the exit in that black hole space was a white light, and if there was such a white light in that void, it would be very conspicuous and visible even from a great distance. Now, there was only darkness above them, so he was afraid that the possibility of a fixed entrance or exit there was slim.
However, Zhou Ziwei decided that he should first fly up quietly to investigate, since if there was an entrance to the black hole space, it was most likely here.
However, before doing these practical things, the most important thing is to save Chu Qiutang's life first.
Zhou Ziwei had just checked on Chu Qiutang's condition and found that her physical condition was very healthy, but her mental state was extremely weak. It seemed that her soul power was severely depleted and was even about to collapse, causing her to fall into a deep coma.
Her condition was already quite dangerous. According to Zhou Ziwei's guess, if an ordinary person's soul power is not severely damaged, it can usually be slowly restored through rest or sleep.
However, for someone like Chu Qiutang, whose soul power in her sea of souls is about to be completely depleted, even if she were to sleep for another year or two, the soul power she lost would not be replenished. Instead, she might die at any time due to the depletion of her life force.
For ordinary doctors, there is absolutely no way to treat this disease. At most, they can give the patient an IV drip and use medication to barely maintain the body's vitality, but they are powerless to provide any effective treatment. They can only keep the patient in a state of endless sleep. This is what is commonly referred to as a vegetative state.
If Chu Qiutang were sent to the hospital now, she would only be able to be kept in a vegetative state. However, Zhou Ziwei was absolutely confident that he could save her.
For Zhou Ziwei, this ailment was actually quite simple; it was just a depletion of soul power, right? Just replenish her soul power, and that would be enough, wouldn't it?
Of course, Zhou Ziwei could not directly transfer the soul power within his body into Chu Qiutang's sea of souls. Doing so would not only fail to save her, but would also immediately cause her soul to dissipate and die.
Fortunately, in addition to the soul power he controlled, Zhou Ziwei also possessed a kind of soul power that, after being refined by him, did not have any soul imprint—the Soul Bead.
Zhou Ziwei brought quite a few things with him this time, including more than thirty soul beads. Ten of these soul beads were refined from more than a dozen souls, while the remaining twenty were formed from a single soul.
To replenish Chu Qiutang's soul power, using those highly condensed soul beads is certainly not enough. The vast soul power contained in a dozen or so soul beads refined from souls is not only not a tonic for ordinary people, but also a terrifying poison. Just one of them can absolutely burst a person's sea of souls, instantly killing them.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei could only prepare to give Chu Qiutang a low-quality soul bead.
Given Chu Qiutang's current state of almost complete depletion of soul power, Zhou Ziwei no longer needs to weaken ordinary soul beads. The soul power in a low-quality soul bead should not cause her any harm.
To facilitate carrying various items, this new combat uniform has more than a dozen separate, well-sealed small compartments on both sides of the waist, each of which can hold some items that are not very large.
Because mixing soul beads of different qualities together can cause them to fuse together, Zhou Ziwei always keeps low-quality soul beads and high-quality soul beads separate.
But when he reached into the slot where low-quality soul beads were placed, his expression immediately changed...
Empty. Those twenty or so soul beads had all vanished without a trace, leaving not even a speck of dust.
Damn black hole space... why don't you just destroy it?
Zhou Ziwei's face twitched slightly, and he cursed inwardly. For Zhou Ziwei, soul power was his greatest asset, and these soul beads, which could provide him with external replenishment at any time, were also extremely important to him, as his misty soul power was about to be completely depleted. But who knew that so many soul beads would disappear inexplicably in the black hole space? It would be strange if he wasn't furious...
I wonder if all those high-quality soul beads were also absorbed?
Zhou Ziwei's heart stirred, and he reached out to touch the compartments where high-quality soul beads were placed, only to suddenly be overjoyed... Thank goodness, there were still three left.
Zhou Ziwei excitedly took out the three soul beads that were placed in several adjacent compartments. He then discovered that these soul beads, which originally contained at least a dozen souls, now only contained the soul power of three or four souls.
The remaining two, however, contained less than the energy of a single soul.
Zhou Ziwei first put away the soul bead containing three or four soul energies, then fiddled with the remaining two in his hands for a while. Finally, he decided to feed the one containing more soul power to Chu Qiutang to see the effect. If there were no problems, he would then give the other one to Wang Xuewei. After all, Wang Xuewei's soul power had been consumed by now, by about half. She probably felt extremely tired by now, and was only excited because she was in a new environment. Once the novelty wore off, although she wouldn't fall into a coma, it would be quite normal for her to sleep for a whole day and night.
"You hold the lamp up for me, and I'll feed her a pill..." Zhou Ziwei said, handing the helmet in his arms to Wang Xuewei, and then carefully putting the soul bead, which contained almost the entire soul's energy, into Chu Qiutang's mouth.
However, Chu Qiutang was now in a deep sleep, and her body's natural reactions, except for breathing and heartbeat, had almost all stopped. Although the soul pearl had been inserted, it had not been swallowed.
This Soul Pearl is a tangible yet intangible thing, possessing no weight of its own. After being placed in Chu Qiutang's mouth, it simply floated in mid-air within her oral cavity. How could she possibly decompose and absorb the soul power contained within it...?
China scratched his head in distress, then took out a military water bottle from his combat gear, opened the lid, and poured some into Chu Qiutang's mouth.
Unexpectedly, Chu Qiutang's throat was tightly closed at this moment, and all the water that was poured in flowed out as well, and not a single drop was swallowed by Chu Qiutang.
Moreover, even the Soul Pearl was washed out by the water and almost flowed onto the ground.
"Oh dear...Is she...I hope she's alright! Why can't she even drink water?" Wang Xuewei exclaimed in alarm when she saw Chu Qiutang like this.
Now, in this unfamiliar world, it's just the three of them for the time being. Wang Xuewei certainly doesn't want anything to happen to Chu Qiutang, especially since their personal relationship had already developed quite well before they even entered this place...
"This is a bit of a problem!" Zhou Ziwei frowned and said, "Her physiological functions are almost completely lost now. If she can swallow this 'pill,' there is still hope for her recovery. However, given her current condition, it won't be easy for her to swallow this 'pill'!"
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Ziwei suddenly picked up his military water bottle, took a big gulp of water and put it in his mouth. Then he stuffed the soul bead into Chu Qiutang's mouth again, leaned down and tightly sealed Chu Qiutang's cherry-like mouth with his own, and then forcefully spat the water in his mouth back in. It looked as if he was forcibly kissing Chu Qiutang while she was unconscious, which left Wang Xuewei, who was standing to the side, dumbfounded.
Zhou Ziwei didn't have time to care about Wang Xuewei's reaction. While "forcibly kissing" Chu Qiutang, he didn't forget to pinch Chu Qiutang's nose tightly with his fingers, otherwise... his saliva might have come out of Chu Qiutang's nose.
Fortunately, after Zhou Ziwei blew a few breaths with great effort, a soft "gurgling" sound was finally heard. Zhou Ziwei finally managed to pry open Chu Qiutang's tightly closed throat, and the saliva mixed with the Soul Pearl flowed into her esophagus.
Then, Chu Qiutang was heard coughing violently. It seemed that although Zhou Ziwei's barbaric method had successfully forced the Soul Pearl down her throat, it had also choked her quite badly.
Zhou Ziwei quickly helped Chu Qiutang up and gently patted her back to help her catch her breath. However, after a while, he still saw no sign of Chu Qiutang regaining her composure. He was slightly taken aback and had no choice but to carefully insert a wisp of his soul power into Chu Qiutang's body. Only then did he discover that the soul bead was stuck in her throat and had not sunk down into her stomach.
Based on previous experiments, Zhou Ziwei knew that the Soul Pearl had to enter the stomach and be stimulated by stomach acid to melt and decompose into pure soul power for absorption. It was useless to leave it suspended in the esophagus. No wonder Chu Qiutang hadn't shown any signs of waking up after so long.
Having nearly choked Chu Qiutang to death, Zhou Ziwei dared not force-feed her any more water. Besides... the Soul Pearl was weightless, and even if he used water, he might not be able to get it into Chu Qiutang's stomach.
Zhou Ziwei scratched his head impatiently, then suddenly unzipped Chu Qiutang's combat uniform, pulling off her upper body. He then lifted her bra and removed it as well, instantly exposing her alluring and seductive body naked under Wang Xuewei's bright lights...
Volume 2: The Killer's Nightmare, Chapter 378: Strange Plants
Wang Xuewei didn't expect Zhou Ziwei to do this so suddenly. She was already blushing with embarrassment when she saw Zhou Ziwei kiss Chu Qiutang's lips, but she didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, Zhou Ziwei would tear off Chu Qiutang's upper clothes.
Wang Xuewei was so frightened that she froze for a moment, her hand slipped, and the helmet in her hand fell to the ground, rolling away quite a distance.
"What's wrong with you? Quickly pick up your helmet and make sure it shines properly for me!" Zhou Ziwei knew exactly what Wang Xuewei was thinking, and couldn't help but find it a little funny. However, he didn't offer any explanation, but simply calmly gave her the order.
"Oh...oh...okay..." Wang Xuewei responded somewhat incoherently, then hurriedly picked up the helmet that had fallen to the side and looked at Chu Qiutang's half-naked body again.
As she picked up the helmet, she didn't notice that right next to it, a clump of dark red vines, illuminated by the strong light emanating from the helmet, was rapidly withering...
Seeing Zhou Ziwei's large hands constantly stroking Chu Qiutang's fair, cheese-like neck and chest, Wang Xuewei felt her throat go dry and her heart pounding like a deer. It was as if Zhou Ziwei's hands weren't just caressing Chu Qiutang, but lovingly stroking her body.
Wang Xuewei guessed that Zhou Ziwei was probably trying to save Chu Qiutang. She seemed to have just seen Zhou Ziwei feed Chu Qiutang something that looked like a black pearl. But... when did this playboy learn to treat illnesses and save lives? Could he be reverting to his old ways and taking this opportunity to molest her?
Judging from Zhou Ziwei's past conduct and character, this possibility is not very high, but rather extremely high. The thought that if Zhou Ziwei was really doing such a despicable thing, and she was just standing by like a fool holding a lamp to light his way, not only would Zhou Ziwei be able to touch her to his heart's content, but she would also be able to feast her eyes on him, this... made her feel like she was aiding and abetting evil.
Seeing Zhou Ziwei's hands gradually move from Chu Qiutang's neck to her full breasts, and begin to rub them relentlessly, Wang Xuewei could hardly bear the stimulation. She felt dizzy and wanted to smash the helmet in her hand into the face of this lecherous man several times. However, her hands trembled several times, but she still couldn't bring herself to do it. She was afraid that this lecherous man was really treating Chu Qiutang's injuries, and it would be bad if she delayed him.
Wang Xuewei suppressed the urge to question Zhou Ziwei, constantly reminding herself that if Zhou Ziwei were to try to remove Chu Qiutang's combat uniform from her lower body, then... then she would definitely slap the helmet into the face of this pervert.
Fortunately, the situation that Wang Xuewei was worried about did not happen. Zhou Ziwei's hands were just stroking Chu Qiutang's alluring breasts, and his main focus was on the snow-white and deep cleavage between Chu Qiutang's two breasts.
Could it be that this pervert is particularly interested in women's cleavage?
Wang Xuewei couldn't help but look down at her chest, but since she was wearing a thick, closed combat suit, nothing could be seen, and she couldn't compare to Chu Qiutang.
After a moment, she came to her senses and couldn't help but secretly despise herself, wondering what was wrong with her. Why was she worried that her cleavage wasn't alluring enough? Was she annoyed that this pervert hadn't groped her? Oh God, how could I think like that...
Just as sweat began to bead on Wang Xuewei's forehead, Zhou Ziwei suddenly clasped his hands together and slapped Chu Qiutang's full breasts hard.
The slap was quite forceful, producing a crisp sound. Then, Chu Qiutang's full breasts began to tremble violently up and down, creating waves of sensation. Although Wang Xuewei was also a woman, she couldn't help but be captivated by this erotic scene, her face flushing red.
"Help her get dressed!" After Zhou Ziwei finished slapping her one last time, he stood up, turned around and said to Chu Qiutang with his back to her, "It's a bit cold here, don't let her catch a cold."
"Oh..." Seeing that Zhou Ziwei had stopped groping Chu Qiutang and showed no intention of taking off her pants, Wang Xuewei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She then stepped forward and, without further ado, pulled down Chu Qiutang's underwear, completely covering her alluring figure. She asked with concern, "How is she? Is she alright? She's the medic in our expedition team... If something happens to her, then we..."
After Wang Xuewei finished speaking, she suddenly realized that Chu Qiutang's beautiful eyes had opened at some point and were blinking as she peered in Zhou Ziwei's direction.
However, when Chu Qiutang realized that Wang Xuewei was looking at her, she was so frightened that her body trembled slightly. She hurriedly closed her beautiful eyes tightly, and her cheeks flushed red as if she had a fever.
Wang Xuewei was taken aback when she saw this, and she didn't continue speaking. At the same time, a strange feeling arose in her heart.
She hadn't expected Zhou Ziwei's efforts to actually revive the nearly dead Chu Qiutang. And it seemed Chu Qiutang wasn't entirely unaware of what had just happened. The way Chu Qiutang had looked at Zhou Ziwei earlier still made Wang Xuewei uncomfortable. After all, the person Chu Qiutang was gazing at with such tenderness was her husband… well… even though their marriage seemed somewhat nominal, and… and they were about to divorce, they weren't divorced yet, were they? So they were still legally married…
This sour feeling startled Wang Xuewei. She didn't know why she was feeling this kind of jealousy because of Zhou Ziwei. Her nominal husband used to have many affairs, even sleeping in nightclubs and karaoke bars every day. She knew all about it. She had even seen Zhou Ziwei with other heavily made-up prostitutes on the street, but at that time she only felt disgusted by the man and didn't feel jealous at all. But now... what was wrong with her?
Lost in thought, Wang Xuewei's hands naturally stopped moving. Although Zhou Ziwei didn't turn around or use his soul power to investigate, his hearing was sharp enough to detect even the slightest sound at such close range. He could tell that Wang Xuewei was daydreaming, so he couldn't help but cough lightly and ask, "How is it? Are you dressed?"
"Ah...almost done...almost done..." Wang Xuewei snapped out of her daze upon hearing this and hurriedly helped Chu Qiutang straighten her upper body clothes. Finally, she tightened the zipper of her combat uniform and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "All done."
Zhou Ziwei turned around and whispered to Wang Xuewei, "Lieutenant Chu's injuries should be mostly healed by now, right? You must have suffered quite a bit of damage in that black hole space as well. Are you feeling mentally exhausted right now?"
"Hmm...it seems a bit..." Upon hearing this, Wang Xuewei realized that she was indeed feeling very tired. If she weren't in a completely unfamiliar world, and if Chu Qiutang's life or death hadn't been uncertain, causing her to be very tense, she might have already collapsed on the ground and had a good sleep.
Zhou Ziwei nodded, casually handed a soul bead to Wang Xuewei, and said, "Eat this! Then rest for a while, and you should be fine."
"Oh..." Although Wang Xuewei didn't know what Zhou Ziwei had given her to eat, she believed that Zhou Ziwei would never harm her, so she took it and swallowed it without hesitation.
"Alright...you two rest here for a bit. I'll go take a look around first. If we don't find anything here, we'll set off immediately. I have a feeling something's not quite right about this place..."
Seeing that Wang Xuewei had already swallowed the soul bead and showed no unusual reaction, Zhou Ziwei immediately felt relieved and then asked Wang Xuewei to turn off the light on Chu Qiutang's tactical helmet.
After all, this was the only lamp they had that could still light up, and this damned world was an endless darkness. This lamp might be the only tool they could use for lighting in the future, so they naturally had to use it sparingly.
Wang Xuewei clearly realized the importance of the lamp and quickly turned it off. Then, hearing Zhou Ziwei's footsteps fading into the distance, she felt a surge of fear and couldn't help but ask, "Where...where are you going? It's pitch black here, you can't see anything. What if you go too far and can't find us?"
Zhou Ziwei smiled and said, "I won't go too far. Even if I can't find you later, I'll shout and you'll hear me. Don't worry! I'll be back in a few minutes at most. It seems there are no other living things in this place besides these plants. Just stay here carefully and don't move. There shouldn't be any danger."
"Oh... then... then come back quickly!" Hearing Zhou Ziwei say this, Wang Xuewei didn't dare to stop him anymore. She then fell silent, but suddenly felt her mental energy rapidly recovering. In just a short moment, the feeling of exhaustion that she had just experienced completely disappeared.
Wang Xuewei was secretly astonished, wondering how Zhou Ziwei could possess such a powerful medicine. Just taking one pill could instantly make someone feel incredibly energetic. However, if she knew that this thing could only be made from the soul of a recently deceased person, she probably wouldn't dare to take it even if she were beaten to death.
After quietly walking away a few steps, Zhou Ziwei looked up at the pitch-black sky and felt a little strange and confused.
What kind of world is this...? Since there are plants on the ground and oxygen in the air, there must be light... How can plants survive without light? But why is there only endless darkness here?
This is ridiculous! Even if I really did accidentally travel to another world, there should still be stars and satellites in this world... Even if there are no satellites, there should still be a few stars in the sky, right? The universe is boundless, but even stars that are hundreds of thousands of light-years away should still be faintly visible...
Zhou Ziwei pondered for a moment, knowing that his empty thoughts would not yield any results, so he temporarily put aside his questions and stared into the air, calculating the location of the exit when the three of them fell into this world.
After thinking it over for a moment, Zhou Ziwei estimated that the exit should be more than 300 meters above the ground. Although he couldn't see anything unusual up there, making it seem unlikely that the exit still existed, he couldn't give up until he went up and saw it for himself.
Unfortunately, his force field space had vanished after passing through that damned black hole space. Without that thing, it would be difficult to fly to that height again. For now, he could only try using liquid soul power.
A moment later, Zhou Ziwei once again poured solidified liquid soul power into his entire body, replacing the previous misty soul power.
Then, with a slight thought, his body naturally floated up.
Although this floating allowed his body to stay in mid-air temporarily, it was only a kind of suspension. He soon discovered that he could not fly in the air as freely as when using the force field space. Only when a gust of wind blew could he float a distance with the wind. After the wind subsided, he would float in the air again without moving.
Moving laterally was already so difficult, so trying to fly straight up was even more impossible for him.
Zhou Ziwei hovered in the air, more than half a meter above the ground, for a long time, but still couldn't figure out the trick to flying. Instead, he wasted a lot of his soul power.
It seems we still need to create a new force field space. Otherwise, relying solely on liquid soul power for flight, even if we find a trick and succeed in the experiment, the level of consumption will be too much for him to bear. So, Zhou Ziwei landed on the ground and created a soul-covered space not far from Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang. He then continuously practiced Niu-style Tai Chi, creating layer upon layer of force fields around himself.
Zhou Ziwei remembered that he had used this method to condense a force field space for the first time, and at that time his soul power reserves were far less abundant than they are now. Therefore, he felt that it should not be difficult for him to condense a force field space again using this method.
However, things didn't go as planned. After Zhou Ziwei tried this more than ten times, although he could sometimes barely condense a vague force field space, every time his soul power relaxed even slightly, the force field space that had already formed would immediately disappear like a soap bubble with a "pop." It was completely different from the last time when the force field space, once condensed, would follow him around like a shadow, without him having to manipulate it at all times.
Faced with this force field space that could disappear at any moment, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to risk flying it into the air a few times, but without exception, he had to give up halfway. This unstable force field space seemed to have a certain lifespan. Every time he flew into this force field space to a certain height, it would immediately dissipate. Fortunately, to be on the safe side, he always used liquid soul power to control his body, which saved him from falling headfirst and being smashed to pieces when the "air crash" occurred. However, he was still scared out of his wits time and time again, and his soul power was also lost in large quantities as if it were flowing water.