171: Chapter 171 Finding an acupoint for healing, preparing for action

Ling Ye forced his body, which felt like it was about to fall apart, to stand up with difficulty while leaning against the wall.

He first observed the exit of this equipment room.

Outside was a corridor piled with waste, leading to the main factory building.

He did not rashly enter the main factory building, as it was usually an open space where it was difficult to hide.

He groped his way along the corridor, moving deeper into the building toward a more inconspicuous corner.

At the end of the corridor, there was a half-open, rusted iron door with a sign hanging on it: "Temporary Storage for Hazardous Chemicals (Cleared)."

Pushing the door open, he found a small room inside with no windows, only a heavy explosion-proof door (damaged) connecting it to the next room.

The floor and walls had some chemical stains, and there was a faint, pungent odor in the air, but the ventilation seemed passable.

Most importantly, this place was extremely hidden, and the iron door could be locked from the inside (the lock was broken, but it could be propped shut with debris from the inside).

This was the place.

Ling Ye used his last bit of strength to move several heavy empty iron barrels behind the door, bracing them firmly against it.

Then, he leaned his back against the cold wall and slowly slid to the floor, panting heavily, his vision going black in waves.

After resting for a moment, he struggled to start treating his wounds.

Untying the bandages that had long been soaked with blood and sweat, he saw that the wounds showed signs of slight reopening and inflammation due to his previous strenuous activity.

He cleaned the wounds with the last bit of water (found in a discarded plastic bottle, who knew how long it had been there, but it looked relatively clear), reapplied the last of the anti-inflammatory ointment, and bandaged them again with a relatively clean strip of cloth.

Next, there was food and water.

He searched the entire small room, finding only a few completely rusted empty iron cans and some hard, unknown chemical residues that were inedible.

Hunger and thirst were like flames, burning his stomach and throat.

He had to go out and find some.

But in his current state, going out was too risky.

He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and attempted to enter the deepest, restorative meditation.

At the same time, he began to circulate the extremely weak Qi within his body, guiding it to slowly cycle near his wounds and throughout his limbs, promoting blood circulation, alleviating fatigue, and attempting to draw that almost non-existent, free-floating, beneficial life energy from the thin air.

This process was extremely slow and had little effect.

But this was the only thing he could do for now.

Time passed in silence and torment.

He didn't know how long had passed, maybe an hour or two, but the sky outside seemed to have darkened a bit.

Ling Ye felt his physical strength and spirit recover a little, but the feelings of hunger and thirst had become more intense.

He had to risk going out to find supplies, otherwise his injuries and weakness would cause him to completely lose his ability to move.

He carefully moved the iron barrels blocking the door, pushed it open a crack, and vigilantly observed outside.

The corridor was silent, with only the sound of wind and the creaking of metal friction coming from afar.

He slipped out of the room like a ghost, following the path he had come, and snuck out of the building.

He did not dare to go too far, only moving within the area of the Old Factory District site, looking for possible remaining items that had not yet been scavenged.

The abandoned factory district was larger than he had imagined, and more dilapidated.

The doors and windows of many factory buildings were broken, and they were piled with trash inside.

He carefully searched several buildings that looked like old office buildings or employee lounges, hoping to find bottled water, expired food, or corners that hadn't been ransacked by vagrants.

On the first floor of a half-collapsed office building, he found an abandoned small kitchen.

The faucet had long since dried up, but at the very bottom of a rusted-through cabinet, he felt half a box of dusty, damaged military emergency rations!

Although they had been expired for many years, they were well sealed.

He treated them like a treasure, immediately grabbing a few packs and stuffing them into his embrace.

In the corner of another room, he found a few bottles of unopened, though equally expired, purified water.

Not daring to stay long, he took these "treasures" and quickly returned to his temporary safe house.

He locked the door securely and braced it with the iron barrels.

He impatiently opened a pack of emergency rations, which contained hard compressed biscuits and high-energy chocolate.

The taste was terrible, with a texture like sawdust, but after eating it, a solid feeling immediately returned to his stomach.

He drank a few more sips of water, and his parched throat was moistened.

Although the food and water were expired, given his current physical condition and the weak regulating ability of his Qi, it shouldn't immediately cause serious problems.

Survival was paramount.

After eating, he felt his physical strength recover a bit, and his mind was much clearer.

He leaned his back against the wall and began to think about the next step.

He was temporarily safe for now, but this was definitely not a long-term plan.

Although the North District was relatively remote, the Cleaning side's network covered the entire city; once they completed their focused search of the eastern underground without results, it was very likely they would expand their search range, and the North District would be included.

Furthermore, the Old Factory District barrier was on the verge of collapse, its range of influence was unknown, and the North District might not be safe.

The safety of Wang Hao and Sun Li also worried him deeply.

How would Su Qing "contact" them?

Would it be a gentle inquiry, or forceful pressure?

Would they be harmed because of him?

Or... coerced into doing things detrimental to him?

He touched the captured PIT in his embrace.

The power was depleted, but perhaps he could find a place to charge it.

If he could turn it on, he could get the latest information, or even... perhaps warn them in some way?

But charging required a power source, which meant exposure.

And the risk of turning it on and connecting to the network...

Perhaps he could try at night to sneak into nearby buildings that still had power (such as the duty room of a not-completely-abandoned factory area, or the edge of a residential area further away) to look for a chance to charge it?

This was another risk.

Additionally, regarding the collapse of the Old Factory District barrier, should he do something?

For example, try to observe its final collapse process from a safer distance using his "Spiritual Sense" to obtain first-hand information about that "secondary pollution source"?

This might be crucial for understanding the whole event in the future, or even for finding ways to protect himself or fight back.

But it was equally dangerous.

Also, that vague connection between himself and "the key"...

The Cleaning side didn't seem to have given up on this suspicion.

Should he take the initiative to explore the truth about "the key"?

This might have a deeper connection with the "ancient ring" ancient ring, and his own Transmigration and Reincarnation.

There were a thousand thoughts in his mind, and dangers lurked everywhere.

But at least, for now, he had a temporary shelter, food and water to barely fill his stomach, and his physical strength was slowly recovering.

He needed to formulate a plan, an action plan for the next few hours (before the barrier collapsed).

Should he first try to obtain information (charge the PIT)?

Or try to observe the Old Factory District from a distance?

Or perhaps prioritize finding a safer, more permanent hiding place?

The sky outside the window had completely darkened.

The night in the North District was accompanied by howling cold winds, adding to the desolation.

Ling Ye leaned against the cold wall and closed his eyes, but his consciousness was incomparably clear.

He knew that after a brief respite, the final decisive battle might have already quietly approached.