51: Three women bathing together

Wu Qian swallowed hard, and under the jealous and fearful gazes of over thirty people, she shuffled towards the purification chamber door.

Her long legs, toned by years of track training, were trembling slightly—not from fear, but from the excitement of being about to touch a "miracle."

"Get in, close the door."

Su Chen was concise.

Before Lin Mengyao could calm her racing heart, she was pulled into the chamber by Su Chen.

Immediately after, Zheng Lin, the arts committee member who had handed over the wood ash soap, was also pulled in.

The space, less than two square meters, became thin on air due to the four people breathing, and the corrosive sound of the acid rain outside was amplified.

"Listen up, I am not taking you for a bath."

Su Chen leaned against the damp metal wall, his eyes cold as ice, while the black-red Yang Energy value on his retina flickered silently.

He glanced at the three girls, whose faces were flushed and eyes evasive, and spoke in a cold, hard tone.

"Next is the three-person synchronous resonance. Wu Qian, you have the best constitution, so you are responsible for the main Yang Energy output. Put all your strength into my back."

"Zheng Lin, use your ginkgo powder to harmonize it; I don't want to be burned to a crisp by this fire."

"Lin Mengyao, you guide from the center. You are the 'medicine catalyst' trained by the Lin family; you know how to regulate the meridians."

He deliberately ignored the blood-red flush on Lin Mengyao's earlobes, staring intently at the data board that only he could see.

"Synchronize your breathing rhythm. If the deviation exceeds 0.1 seconds, the contamination index for everyone will immediately increase by 50%. By then, you won't need to wait for monsters to break the windows; you'll turn into a pile of mush yourselves first."

The moment the cabin door closed, the light dimmed sharply.

Zheng Lin's slender, fair fingers trembled slightly as she carefully shook out a pile of fragrant ginkgo leaf powder from her oversized school uniform sleeve.

As soon as this powder touched the damp air in the cabin, it emitted a bitter yet soothing herbal scent, diluting the nauseating stench of acid rain.

"Inhale."

Su Chen closed his eyes and gave the command.

Wu Qian took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and took a half-step forward, her oversized sports tank top nearly bursting due to her tensed muscles.

Following Su Chen's previous instructions, she hovered her warm palms over Su Chen's broad shoulder blades, maintaining that subtle distance of less than 0.5 centimeters.

This tension of almost touching made her breathing skip a beat.

Lin Mengyao pressed her thin lips together and interlaced her fingers.

Like a human locking mechanism, she precisely gripped the wrists of Wu Qian and Zheng Lin.

Separated by a thin cabin wall, Qin Ya knelt on the rusted floor, the red ink pen in her hand already dry.

Without hesitation, she bit her index finger, using it as a pen to rapidly write the fragments of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon on the metal skin outside the cabin door.

The bloodstains shimmered with faint golden light amidst the misty water vapor.

As if sensing the aura inside the cabin, the eight missing characters, "Yin and Yang are balanced, the spirit is then governed," automatically filled in within the golden light.

"Hum—!" A stream of Yang Energy, several times more powerful than before, exploded inside the cabin.

The energy, originally as violent as a raging tide, miraculously became gentle and mellow after passing through the film of ginkgo powder in Zheng Lin's hands, like boiling water mixed with lukewarm spring water.

"The burning pain... is gone?" Wu Qian whispered in disbelief. She felt an unprecedented power feeding back through her palms; her originally burning meridians were now completely clear.

Su Chen's system interface was frantically scrolling: [Three-person synergy detected, resonance efficiency increased by 41%!][Holy Water production doubled!]

Just as seven more drops of Holy Water, blue as gemstones, condensed in the void, Zheng Lin let out a low gasp.

It was the ugly old scar on her ankle.

That was the "medal" she had earned after falling during the freshman sports meet, hiding in the equipment room crying for a week.

At this moment, after being brushed by the blue light, it smoothed out and vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, her skin becoming as smooth as before.

Outside the cabin door, Chen Wei was peering through the surveillance screen.

She had expected to see something erotic and exciting, but instead, she only saw the three of them, fully clothed, fingers interlaced with solemn expressions.

That sense of solemnity, of giving their all to survive, slapped her face like a loud ringing sound.

She shamefully let go, and the broken temperature gun she had treasured dropped to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Holy Water... the Holy Water is really useful!" Li Sisi rushed into the cockpit like a madwoman, clutching a crude report she had just finished.

The Holy Water just now had successfully helped everyone alleviate their pain. As long as there was enough Holy Water, this crisis could definitely be overcome!

"Su Chen! This water can neutralize the nerve paralysis spores! But we must administer it to everyone on the vehicle every two hours, otherwise..."

However, before she could finish, a sudden change occurred inside the cabin.

Su Chen's Yang Energy value, in the process of frantically producing Holy Water, suddenly plummeted below the 15% warning line.

Continuously producing Holy Water was too much of a drain on him!

His pupils, originally as sharp as a hawk's, began to dilate. Due to extreme physical overexertion, his consciousness was being dragged into the abyss by heavy darkness.

"Su Chen!" A flash of determination crossed Lin Mengyao's eyes.

She violently tore off the ancient jade pendant from her neck, which symbolized her status as the heir to the Lin family; it was a sacrificial artifact capable of saving lives.

Without the slightest hesitation, she smashed it hard against the rune-covered metal wall of the purification chamber.

With a "crack," the jade pendant shattered.

A blinding cyan-gold flame erupted from the shattered jade soul, perfectly merging with the Holy Water mist inside the cabin, transforming into a layer of faint golden mist.

In the last second before Su Chen's consciousness completely sank.

He almost instinctively grabbed Zheng Lin's wrist, which was covered in ginkgo powder; the warm sensation allowed him to regain a glimmer of an anchor for his sanity.

"Next time... keep adding your powder."

He murmured in a hoarse voice, then completely fell into a semi-comatose state.

On the verge of losing consciousness, Su Chen's fingertips trembled slightly as they were scorched by the suddenly surging cyan-gold flame.

On his retina remained the eerie afterimages splattered when the jade pendant shattered, as if a blood-colored curtain was slowly being drawn open.