29: Su Chen, save me!

The moment the bus drove into the canyon, the whistling wind that had been ringing in their ears was cut off as if by an invisible giant hand.

In its place was a low-frequency hum that set one's teeth on edge.

It was as if tens of thousands of fingernails were scratching against a blackboard at the same time.

The sound didn't enter through the ears; it drilled directly into the brain along the seams of the bones.

"Ugh..."

Muffled groans rose one after another from behind him.

Su Chen glanced at the rearview mirror.

Li Sisi in the front row was clutching her ears in pain, winding trickles of blood seeping out from between her fingers.

A few girls with weaker constitutions collapsed directly onto their seats, the blood gushing from their noses staining their collars a shocking crimson.

This was the "Wailing Wall Canyon."

Su Chen felt the Yang Energy within his body stirring restlessly in his meridians.

It automatically formed a pale golden film on the surface of his body, isolating him from the sound waves that were powerful enough to shatter internal organs.

"If you don't want to die, smear this stuff on your temples and carotid arteries."

Su Chen held the steering wheel with one hand, while his other hand grabbed a tin can, still stained with oil, from the glove box and tossed it casually to Lin Mengyao behind him.

It was aged asphalt he had scraped from the ruins of a gas station.

Mixed with a drop of blood from his fingertip and the "Morning Dew" collected last night, it was a black, gooey lump that looked terrible.

Lin Mengyao caught the can, and looking at the black, snot-like gelatinous substance, she didn't even frown as she scooped out a glob.

"This stuff only volatilizes into a barrier when it encounters heat."

Su Chen's voice was as cold and detached as if he were reading an instruction manual.

"But your body temperatures are too low to ignite it. After applying it, come over and hold my hand. Ten seconds each; one second less and it won't work, one second more..."

A wicked smile curled the corners of his lips.

"And one second more will cost you."

This wasn't saving lives; it was clearly a toll extracted through forced sales.

But under the excruciating pain that felt like it would shatter their brains, no one dared to question his logic.

Lin Mengyao was the first to come forward.

She smeared the black glue on the back of her slender neck, then proactively extended her right hand, tightly gripping Su Chen's left hand, which was resting on the gear shift.

At that instant, Su Chen felt a delicate coolness from her palm. Immediately after, the Yang Energy within him, like a flood finding an outlet, surged out along the tightly pressed lines of their palms.

"Hiss——"

Lin Mengyao gasped.

If the previous contact was like soaking feet in warm water, this was like shoving a red-hot iron block directly into her veins.

That overbearing, scorching heat raced up her spine, instantly dispersing the nauseating dizziness in her mind.

Her pupils contracted sharply under the intense energy impact.

Outside the bus window, which had previously been pitch black, she suddenly saw something different.

The black mist seeping out along the cracks in the rock walls was not empty.

Countless translucent, slug-like soft-bodied creatures were crowded into the crevices of the rocks.

As the bus moved, the fine tentacles on their bodies were spasming frantically, sensing the massive surge of Yang Energy inside the vehicle.

"Shadow Maggots..."

Lin Mengyao subconsciously blurted out the term.

This was a bizarre creature she had glanced at in a fragment of an ancient family text; she hadn't expected it to actually exist.

She lowered her voice, her lips almost brushing against Su Chen's earlobe, hot breath spraying onto him.

"They aren't pouncing, Su Chen, they're trembling... It's not the light they fear, it's what's flowing inside you."

"At least you've got a sharp eye."

Su Chen moved his fingers slightly, scratching her palm as a reward, then ruthlessly pulled his hand back.

"Next."

Lin Mengyao's face flushed slightly as she stepped aside, the tingling sensation still lingering along her arm.

With the campus belle leading the way, the rest of the process went much more smoothly.

Qin Ya took the tin can. Even as a teacher, she had to endure the shame of "openly flirting" with a man in front of her students, helping the girls in the back who could no longer move to apply the ointment, and then supporting them one by one to come over for a "recharge."

When it was her turn, Qin Ya extended her hand tremblingly. The moment her fingertips touched Su Chen's wrist, a warm current rushed straight down her arm.

Not only did the dizziness in her mind disappear, but even the old injury in her lower leg, which had been aching from standing too long yesterday, felt warm and soothed under the wash of that heat.

Qin Ya snapped her head up, her complex gaze colliding with Su Chen's calm eyes.

She suddenly realized that Su Chen wasn't just doing this to take advantage of them.

With thirty people, if he were to transmit Yang Energy without restraint, even a man of steel would be drained dry.

He was using this "ten-second contact" method to precisely control every bit of Yang Energy at the critical threshold needed to activate the barrier.

He was using minimal contact to ensure the maximum preservation of the entire group's combat effectiveness.

This man calculated human nature and resources down to the very bone.

Just as order was being restored inside the bus, a shrill roar suddenly came from the roof.

"Ah!! They're here! They're here! Su Chen!! Right at the back of the bus!!"

It was Zhao Wanting.

The woman tied to the bumper outside the bus had a desperate, sobbing tone in her voice.

Su Chen's eyes narrowed.

In the rearview mirror, three black shadows were already slithering up the ladder at the back of the bus.

They had no fixed shape, and wherever they passed, the metal paint of the bus hissed with the sound of corrosion.

"Hold on tight."

Su Chen gave a low shout. Instead of braking, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator.

At the same time, he let go of the steering wheel. Like a hunting leopard poised to strike, he kicked open the sunroof and vaulted onto the roof of the bus.

A violent wind, mixed with a foul, acidic mist, rushed into his face.

Zhao Wanting was curled up on the bumper, half her body already enveloped by the black mist, and festering wounds on her skin were emitting black smoke.

Seeing Su Chen appear, she looked as if she had seen a savior, desperately reaching out her blood-stained hands.

"Save me... Su Chen, save me..."

"I do need to save you; after all, you're a pretty good lightning rod."

Su Chen grabbed her festering arm. Without a shred of tenderness, he hauled her up from the bumper and pulled her into his arms.

The next second, the Yang Energy within him was no longer suppressed. Like a volcanic eruption, it surged through the point of contact, pouring wildly into Zhao Wanting's body, which was already showing signs of rejection.

"Ahhh——!"

Zhao Wanting's scream was ten times more shrill than before.

If the previous experience was a slow-acting poison, this was like pouring sulfuric acid directly onto her wounds.

The festering wounds on her body instantly lit up with blinding golden light. Countless golden threads, condensed from Yang Energy, shot out from her body like a runaway hedgehog, or perhaps a human bomb.

The three Shadow Maggots that had just pounced were shredded into pieces by these rampaging golden threads before they could even touch the hem of Su Chen's clothes.

Black ichor exploded in the air, evaporated into ash by the high heat before it could even hit the ground.

Su Chen rolled across the roof with Zhao Wanting in his arms, using the momentum to drop back through the sunroof.

"Bang!"

The sunroof closed.

Su Chen casually tossed Zhao Wanting, who was rolling her eyes and bleeding black blood from her seven orifices, onto the floor.

This was the domineering power of the Extreme Yang Sacred Body.

For a host that is not accepted, Yang Energy is the most violent of toxins.

The energy riot caused by this rejection reaction was even more effective than him attacking himself.

The carriage was deathly silent.

The girls looked in horror at Zhao Wanting, who was twitching on the floor; she looked more like a monster now than the monsters outside.

Su Chen hooked open a hidden compartment under the driver's seat with his toe and stuffed Zhao Wanting inside like trash, then locked it with a "click."

"Don't look at me like that."

Su Chen brushed the dust off himself, sat back in the driver's seat, and scanned everyone coldly through the rearview mirror.

"This is the path she chose herself. Even if she only served as a 'bomb' for one second, it's more valuable than being eaten until there's nothing left outside."

His voice carried a chill that made one's heart palpitate.

No one dared to speak.

Only Qin Ya walked forward silently and handed Su Chen a clean towel to wipe his hands, her fingers still trembling slightly.

The bus pierced through the last layer of thick fog.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

But the moment everyone saw the scene clearly, their breathing stalled for a beat.

There was no road at the end of the canyon.

The towering rock walls on both sides converged here in a bizarre way, like the mouth of a giant funnel.

And right in the center of the rock wall, a giant maw had split open.

Deep within that fissure, two bronze doors, dozens of meters high, stood silently in the darkness.

From between the cracks of the doors, wisps of golden light faintly seeped out. The aura of that light... was actually of the same origin as the Yang Energy on Su Chen's body.

Against the backdrop of that light, the outline of the bronze doors appeared incredibly solemn yet evil, as if the world behind the doors was the true beginning of this apocalypse.