The Ups and Downs of Life

“Shouldn’t there be three people lying here! How come there are only two left!”

Ren Anhua stared at the two corpses in front of her.

She knew things had gotten serious.

In the Third Ring of Su City, a peculiar phenomenon existed: some Awakened would rob ordinary people of their supplies.

In reality, even among the Awakened, those with lower tiers or useless abilities were not bold enough to face zombies directly.

In a way, they were in the same category as ordinary people who couldn’t kill zombies.

But there was a difference—they could beat ordinary people.

Compared to fighting zombies where an injury could mean death, they could let loose more when fighting ordinary people.

So, between the Awakened who dared to gather resources and the ordinary people who dared not face zombies, a group of stronger parasites emerged.

In the eyes of the Awakened who truly went out to fight, the meager possessions of ordinary people were not worth mentioning.

But in their eyes, supplies were supplies, and every little bit counted.

It was how they made a living.

The three Awakened Ren Anhua had killed today were exactly this kind of parasite.

But Ren Anhua’s reason for killing them wasn’t just a whim to enact justice.

It was because their existence posed a very real threat to her.

The incident at the Hunter’s Bar had fermented overnight and was now known throughout the city.

No one could refuse the reward offered by the Yue Family.

The public’s enthusiasm was so high that all the pink-haired girls in the city suffered.

Fortunately, the feature of star-shaped pupils was distinct and rare enough to prevent these girls from facing further persecution.

But it was precisely because of this distinct and rare feature that these three had recognized Ren Anhua’s identity almost at first sight.

The reason they died was because they knew too much.

But Ren Anhua never expected that even scum like this could produce a fish that slipped through her net.

Actually, it wasn’t entirely Ren Anhua’s fault.

Who could have expected that “Brother Yuan” would achieve a breakthrough during his fall, reaching Level Two?

Yuan Fa stumbled along the concrete road in the Third Ring area.

He was the very “Brother Yuan” Ren Anhua had thrown off the fifth-floor roof last.

He had always thought his ability was arm strength enhancement, but it wasn’t until this free fall that he discovered his ability should be called partial body enhancement.

At Level One, he could only strengthen his right arm.

It was a simple ability, and not a very good one.

Twice the strength of an ordinary person didn’t give him any advantage in a fight against zombies.

So he had taken the path of exploiting ordinary people.

After all, this ability wasn’t great for fighting zombies, but it was more than enough for beating up ordinary people.

However, this free fall had given him the capital to fight zombies head-on.

His ability had evolved.

Under the pressure of death, his ability had mutated in a more practical and flexible direction, changing from a single arm enhancement to a selectable enhancement of any body part.

And because the enhancement was focused, the degree of reinforcement was extremely high.

In that split second, he had strengthened his head and neck.

Although he landed headfirst, he had barely managed to survive.

To avoid being discovered by Ren Anhua, he even pretended to be dead on the ground for a while.

In the end, he successfully escaped.

Escaped from that Ren Anhua’s grasp.

But his current condition was terrible.

Both his arms were severed, and he had lost a lot of blood.

He was only barely keeping the wounds closed with muscle enhancement; they hadn’t healed at all.

And even though he had protected his head and cervical spine, the fall from the fifth floor had taken a great toll on his internal organs, leaving him with a constant feeling of wanting to vomit.

He felt like he was going to die.

He knew very well that in his current state, he wouldn’t make it to Su City for treatment.

But he still hadn’t given up.

He wanted to live.

He had just achieved a life-and-death breakthrough to Level Two.

Even without arms, he could still strengthen his legs.

His life still held a lot of hope.

He had just gotten news about that pink-haired girl and could exchange it with the Yue Family for a huge reward, but now he was about to die.

How could he not feel indignant!

If he died just like this, what was the point of his breakthrough, of all his efforts?

He swore that if someone could save his life right now, he would even share the news about the pink-haired girl in exchange.

After all, life was more important than money.

Death meant losing everything.

What was the point of dying while holding onto this valuable piece of information?

As if in response to his hopes, a small, weathered RV appeared in his line of sight, igniting his hope.

Even if they didn’t have a healer, they could still take him to Su City.

Holding onto this hope, he dragged his broken body into the middle of the road, using himself to block the RV.

“Heal… I need healing… I have valuable information to trade… Heal me…”

The RV team rushed to the South District of the Third Ring, wanting to find Ren Anhua.

But upon arriving, they discovered that the “South District of the Third Ring” was a complete misnomer.

Because Su City had no Third Ring, there was no South District of the Third Ring.

The place Yue Xiaolu referred to was a vast, open area with an infinite radius, extending out from the south gate of the Second Ring.

Trying to find someone in this place was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Once outside the Second Ring, you were effectively considered to have left Su City.

Finding her would depend on luck; forcing it was pointless.

All they could do was drive around aimlessly.

With so many buildings and shops, Ren Anhua could be sleeping in any one of those dusty rooms, or she could be strolling down an adjacent street.

If they were to run into her, it could only be attributed to luck.

However, they didn’t run into Ren Anhua.

Instead, they ran into a man with severed arms, on the verge of death.

Temporarily without a direction for their search, Lu Shanshui hit the brakes.

“Valuable information? Let’s hear it,” Lu Shanshui said, rolling down the window and looking down at him.

“Healing… Heal me first…”

“Fine. Xingmei, come save him.”

Today was perhaps the most tumultuous day of Yuan Fa’s life.

He had just gone to collect some protection money, only to be thrown from a building and have his hands chopped off.

But misfortune had turned into a blessing, as the pressure of death forced him to achieve an ability breakthrough, reaching Level Two.

Yet despite the breakthrough, he became a man on the brink of death.

But just as he was about to die, he was saved.

Yuan Fa looked at his two reattached arms.

He felt like he was dreaming.

Limb regeneration?

There was such a powerful healer in Su City?

He had never heard of it!

“Now, tell us your valuable information,” Lu Shanshui said, standing in front of him and tapping his face with his scabbard to bring him back to his senses.

Yuan Fa looked at the arrogant ordinary person before him, somewhat annoyed.

He was a Level Two Awakened now, considered a mainstay in Su City.

How could an ordinary person tap his face with a scabbard?

But even though he was annoyed, he didn’t dare get angry, and he even dismissed the thought of going back on his word.

Because behind this “ordinary person” stood two Level Fours.

“Remember, you said valuable information. If what you say isn’t valuable, I’ll have you give those two arms back,” Lu Shanshui continued.

“It’s that girl with pink hair and star-shaped pupils. Go straight, turn right, there’s an old residential building. She’s there. She probably hasn’t gone far.”

“Good news. Lead the way!”

“Didn’t I just tell you the location? Why do I still have to go?” Yuan Fa was now a little scared of that pink-haired girl.

After all, she had just chopped off his hands and sent him into a free fall.

“What if you’re lying to us? Of course you have to lead the way. If you’re lying, you’ll have to give those two arms back. And I guarantee we’ll return you to the exact state you were in when we first met you, not a bit more, not a bit less.”

“I’m definitely not lying! I’m just… I’m just scared of that pink-haired girl. She’s very strong…” Yuan Fa glanced at the two Level Fours behind Lu Shanshui.

“Forget I said anything. But you have to guarantee my safety.”

“Oh? You’re afraid of her? Those hands of yours, did she cut them off?”

“Yeah! I was just bothering some ordinary people. What are ordinary people, anyway? And she just…” Yuan Fa slammed on the brakes, because he suddenly realized the person in front of him was an ordinary person, and seemingly a high-ranking one in a team of Awakened.

And it was a team of Awakened composed entirely of beautiful women.

Yuan Fa was green with envy.

Lu Shanshui, however, didn’t mind the words “ordinary person.”

After all, he wasn’t exactly ordinary.

In terms of pure combat power, he was far from being an “ordinary person.”

After all, he was currently the strongest combatant on the team.

What he cared about was that Ren Anhua had cut off Yuan Fa’s hands.

Since Ren Anhua had cut them off, and he had reattached them, wasn’t that a bit disrespectful to Ren Anhua?

After all, he was about to ask that stubborn pink-haired girl to rejoin the team.

To turn around and heal the person she had cut down was truly disrespectful.

‘I’ll just take them off again after we find Ren Anhua,’ he thought.

Under Yuan Fa’s guidance, this strongest combatant finally found the runaway pink-haired girl the entire team had been thinking about day and night.

After confirming the familiar figure, Lu Shanshui spoke to Yuan Fa behind him.

“Sorry, brother.”

When Ren Anhua had cut off his hands, he had at least been able to see the swing of the blade.

This time, however, Yuan Fa felt as if his hands had just fallen off on their own.

“Ah! Aaaaaah!” The delayed pain shot from his severed arms to his brain.

“F*ck! How could you do this! How could you go back on your word!” To lose, to regain, and to lose again—Yuan Fa’s heart was filled with a mix of emotions he couldn’t begin to describe.

“Ke Xingmei, make him forget what happened today… Hmm, your memory erasure seems a bit unstable. Make him forget the last week, just to be safe.”

“Oh, and while you’re at it, control him to walk a little farther away.”

Since it was someone Ren Anhua wanted to cut down, Lu Shanshui felt little psychological pressure dealing with him.

As long as he didn’t let that stubborn pink-haired girl know he had saved the person she wanted to cut, it would be fine.

Yuan Fa, however, was a bit dazed.

He didn’t know why he was standing in this godforsaken place after just coming out of the toilet, and with both his arms gone.

Life has its ups and downs, indeed.