The Invasion Day – Chapter 25

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 25

The next day, Fu Shiwu the ‘monster’ once again had Tang Xuhai refresh his view on this world. Not only that, he also awakened the patient who had been in a coma for more than a day with his ‘gunshot’.

In the morning, Fu Shiwu, whose eyes were brightly lit with good spirits, said to Tang Xuhai that he felt very energetic, that his physical and mental strength had both fully restored, and that he was totally ready for the second ‘ultimate state’ training.

Facing Fu Shiwu, who wasn’t wearing his glasses and thus exuding potentially lethal damage, Tang Xuhai felt a little overwhelmed. He immediately picked up Fu Shiwu’s glasses and placed them on his nose bridge.

Fu Shiwu raised his hand to push up his glasses before giving Tang Xuhai a puzzled look: “Thank you.”

Only then did Tang Xuhai explode and give Fu Shiwu a full lecture, telling him that he must stay steady and not rush for quick success and hasty gains, and that he absolutely shouldn’t train blindly and damage his body.

Fu Shiwu had to use his composed expression to assure Tang Xuhai that he had really recovered, his physical strength was good and his mental state felt great.

Seeing Fu Shiwu’s nonchalant and resolute look, Tang Xuhai rubbed his neck and had to let Fu Shiwu do what could be done, depending on how Fu Shiwu’s state eventually turned out. Immediately, Fu Shiwu happily raised his gun and started practising.

Fu Shiwu, who trained his aiming with an expression calmer than the sea, stood still like a high mountain in ancient tales, looking remarkably solemn and completely unshakable.

Tang Xuhai stood aside and leaned against the wall, silently watching him practise.

Fu Shiwu’s progress truly had him amazed. The shot yesterday took nearly an hour, but this time, after just half an hour, Fu Shiwu once again instigated an overwhelming aura around his body.

“Crunch!” 

“Ah —”

A loud cry shot through the air almost at the same moment the ‘bullet’ was fired.

Tang Xuhai was instantly alerted and his heart thumped heavily, his eyes quickly sweeping over Fu Shiwu, then he turned around to look at Wen Zhaoming lying beside Fu Shiwu.

“Get out of the way!!!” Tang Xuhai rushed to Fu Shiwu.

The dumbfounded Fu Shiwu was pulled away by Tang Xuhai’s vigorous force. Right after that, Tang Xuhai grabbed a piece of clothing and frantically hit it on him.

“Ah!!!” Only then that Fu Shiwu felt a heat wave slamming at him and a flame licking his trouser hems, burning them up.

Fu Shiwu was stupefied for a moment and could only heavily stomp his feet on the ground.

Thanks to Tang Xuhai’s timely reaction, the flame was extinguished without spreading further.

“Are you okay? There are no burns, right?” Tang Xuhai asked Fu Shiwu.

Fu Shiwu bent down and slapped his legs to feel them, then he shook his head: “It’s okay, the fire hasn’t reached inside yet, it just feels a bit hot.”

“Let me see.” Tang Xuhai sat down and tore apart the parts of the trousers that had been scorched black to find that Fu Shiwu’s ankles had turned all red.

“Let’s quickly apply some water, you’ll be fine if no blisters form.” Tang Xuhai said.

“I feel okay.” Fu Shiwu said, not wanting to waste water.

“It’s still better to apply a bit.” Tang Xuhai insistently soaked a towel with water.

“Where did the fire come from?” Fu Shiwu carefully put back the gun and asked puzzlingly.

Seeing Tang Xuhai look in the direction of Wen Zhaoming, Fu Shiwu turned his head to find that Wen Zhaoming was struggling to stand up and staring at them in utter shock.

“You’re awake?!” Fu Shiwu was overjoyed.

“Don’t move!” Tang Xuhai said sharply.

Fu Shiwu paused and looked at him in confusion.

“The fire came from Wen Zhaoming.” Tang Xuhai said with a cold tone and looked at Wen Zhaoming with a gloomy expression. He walked over, kneeled down and put the towel on Fu Shiwu’s leg.

“Zhaoming?” Fu Shiwu was flabbergasted: “You ignited the fire?”

“I’m so sorry!” Wen Zhaoming sat up, his face pale and drenched in sweat: “I don’t know what’s going on. I was in a daze and felt a gun pointing at my head, trying to kill me. I was scared, very scared, and I desperately wanted to get rid of that feeling. Then subconsciously, I…”

Fu Shiwu didn’t know how to react now. Wen Zhaoming’s fright  was triggered by his gunshot.

Tang Xuhai’s temper sunk even deeper. Fu Shiwu’s shot was already exceedingly overwhelming for him, let alone Wen Zhaoming, a civilian who had been living in a peaceful environment.

“I’m practising shooting.” Fu Shiwu looked at Wen Zhaoming with distress, feeling apologetic for scaring him.

“It’s okay, it’s really okay.” Wen Zhaoming quickly shook his head like a rattlesnake shaking its tail.

Without knowing why, the image of Fu Shiwu’s solemnity, coldness and resolution had been engraved into his heart. Even Fu Shiwu knew that he had no way to wash away this deep-rooted impression he had made on Wen Zhaoming.

Tang Xuhai narrowed his eyes and cast a sharp look at Wen Zhaoming: “How did you ignite the fire?”

“I’ve no idea. I was just thinking about saving myself and trying to resist…” He looked at Fu Shiwu apologetically, then he waved his hand to gesture: “And suddenly I felt a heat burning…”

His words stopped dead in their tracks as he stared incredulously at the flames that had suddenly appeared on his fingers!

The towel in Tang Xuhai’s hand fell to the ground and Fu Shiwu was stunned on his spot.

After a second, Fu Shiwu finally said: “Aren’t they burning you?” 

Wen Zhaoming shook his hand and the flames fell onto the blanket.

“It’s burning!!” Fu Shiwu cried out and wanted to jump over there, but Tang Xuhai quickly pulled him back.

Tang Xuhai directly lifted up the blanket that was covering Wen Zhaoming and threw it aside.

Wen Zhaoming was obviously frightened and couldn’t react until Tang Xuhai had removed the burning blanket.

“What are you really?” Tang Xuhai shot Wen Zhaoming an astounded look.

“I don’t know how it happens.” Wen Zhaoming smiled bitterly: “I will try to see if I can extinguish them.” 

Wen Zhaoming stared at the brutally burning blanket and subconsciously raised his hand. In a blink, the fire completely went out.

“A special ability?” Fu Shiwu stared at the burnt and tattered blanket in surprise.

Wen Zhaoming looked down at his hands and muttered: “Perhaps?”

Wen Zhaoming was awake now, which meant he was heading in the direction of full recovery. Fu Shiwu measured his temperature to find that it had dropped to 39°.

Realising now that he seemed to be able to control fire, Wen Zhaoming wanted to carry out some experiments but was strictly banned by Fu Shiwu, who concluded that if he dared to burn the sleeping bag under him, he would sleep on the seat cover only from now on!

This consequence was something Wen Zhaoming wouldn’t be able to bear, so he obediently shrank back into his sleeping bag and recuperated in earnest. No matter how intense his curiosity and yearning to explore might be now, he had to endure it.

Tang Xuhai glanced at him sympathetically, as if thinking of the days when he was banned from smoking.

Fu Shiwu was happily kept busy as he prepared to give Wen Zhaoming a normal saline infusion. The two sick people had both healed under his care, giving him a truly extraordinary sense of accomplishment.

Wen Zhaoming had seen him inject Tang Xuhai with his own eyes, so he remained very calm. He didn’t get nervous and Shi Wu didn’t get nervous, and the needle plunged in smoothly.

This had Tang Xuhai purse his lips in dissatisfaction.

After the fluid was infused, the three began to discuss how Wen Zhaoming’s special ability suddenly came about.

“I think it may be caused by this sickness.” Wen Zhaoming spurted out all the thoughts he was having on mind: “I’ve absolutely displayed no signs prior to this.” 

“Is that so?” Fu Shiwu also had a few thoughts, then he asked: “Were you conscious at all when you were having the fever?”

“I wasn’t. My awareness was barely there and I was in a coma.” Wen Zhaoming said simply, “It’s just that… maybe it was because of the fever? I felt very hot, as though I was on fire.”

Tang Xuhai listened to the two of them with a grim expression. His leg abruptly coming to a full recovery must have something to do with this.

Fu Shiwu wasn’t a slow thinker, so he obviously also thought about that: “Your leg suddenly feels the same as it was before the injury, is it also because of this sickness?”

“It’s very likely.” Tang Xuhai agreed with this view.

“Now that we talk about it, the fact that the fever is that serious is very strange.” Wen Zhaoming said: “For a common cold or fever, unless it leads to a complication like pneumonia, it rarely keeps people feverish for that long.”

“What about you? When you had the fever, how did you feel?” Fu Shiwu turned to ask Tang Xuhai.

“I felt nothing in particular.” Tang Xuhai replied.

“So you two went through different sensations, which means there isn’t a standard process.”

After learning that Tang Xuhai’s right leg had been healed, Wen Zhaoming said: “If you and I became sick in the same situation, the consequence should be similar. But my manifestation is now more obvious, while you manifestation is kept inside your body. After all, you have a steel plate in your leg, which shouldn’t disappear for no reason. Isn’t it similar to me suddenly being able to ignite and extinguish a fire?”

The steel plate disappeared?

No, the steel plate shouldn’t have disappeared. Tang Xuhai thought.

If the steel plate just directly vanished, the outcome would be the same as it being taken out by surgery, which wouldn’t leave his leg in the same perfect condition as it was before the injury.

Thinking of this, his heart beat wildly and a shockingly bold idea crossed his mind: “The steel plate shouldn’t have disappeared…”

He looked at the other two straight in the eyes and emphasised every single word: “It should’ve become one with my bones!”

Looking at the other two’s astonished expressions, Tang Xuhai recalled that back in the supermarket, he blew up the alien’s head with one kick.

He had indeed blown up punching bags with his kicks before, but that was only when he used all his strength.

At that time, there was another alien behind him. He spared some energy to deal with the second alien but still ended up shattering the first alien’s head, which meant that his guess might really be true.

As he told them these thoughts, Wen Zhaoming’s eyes flickered, unable to hide his apparent excitement.  He now knew that he wan’t the only one and was eager to have found a companion.

On the other hand, Fu Shiwu remained very clear-headed: “We should find equipment to clearly check your condition.” 

Tang Xuhai nodded. He understood that even if he wanted to confirm his guess, he couldn’t just peel off his skin to see if the steel plate had blended into his bones.

“I have another thought.” Wen Zhaoming calmed his heart and finally said: “I think this is probably due to the unusual changes caused by the contamination of the air!”