Gadelia never expected that her own negligence would push Zhou Ming to the brink of death. The noisy, chaotic voices that had accompanied her for years flooded back into her mind, countless thoughts rushing in all at once.
Almost instantly, she made a decision—she had to find a way to save Zhou Ming.
She quickly shouted to the two shop assistants, “Go get clean towels from under the counter!”
“O-okay!”
Startled by her voice, the assistants scrambled to respond, rushing behind the counter to rummage around.
Looking at Zhou Ming’s bloodstained state, Gadelia whispered, “Sorry,” then tore open his tattered clothes, tossing them aside to carefully examine his physical condition.
Multiple injuries covered his body, the most severe being at the heart, where blood was still gushing out.
Her special ability couldn’t directly save people, but she could utilize her own powerful regenerative capabilities as a high-level entity—by replacing his heart with her own.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Gadelia exerted all her strength to suppress her own dissipating power. Her body slightly distorted, and an illusory tentacle extended from within, extracting her own heart and placing it into Zhou Ming’s chest cavity, replacing his.
That “heart” seemed to come alive, rapidly connecting with Zhou Ming’s blood vessels and stopping the gushing blood.
In almost just an instant, the wound on Zhou Ming’s chest healed as if it had never been there.
Gadelia’s face paled slightly. This procedure placed an immense burden on her while maintaining her human form.
However, her own regenerative abilities were extremely powerful. Even if her original heart was damaged, she could gradually repair it using her own flesh and blood.
But the problem wasn’t solved.
The heart she had transplanted wouldn’t beat on its own. A brain deprived of effective blood supply couldn’t wait for her to slowly recover.
Moreover, she wasn’t familiar with first aid knowledge. After all, she almost never truly “died” and didn’t care much about conventional medicine—though the pain was certainly real.
Taking a deep breath, Gadelia began performing CPR.
She laid Zhou Ming flat on the ground, checked his mouth—no foreign objects.
The two shop assistants had already run back with towels. Gadelia didn’t look at them, barking directly, “What are you standing around for? Call an ambulance! The other one, wipe the blood clean!”
One assistant frantically dialed the emergency number, while the other carefully began wiping the blood from Zhou Ming.
Gadelia placed her hands, one over the other, on the middle of Zhou Ming’s sternum (the midpoint between the nipples). Keeping her arms straight, she used the strength of her upper body to press down vertically.
One, two… thirty continuous compressions.
She took a deep breath, leaned down, and brought her face close to Zhou Ming’s pale lips.
Whoosh—
After two rescue breaths, she continued with compressions.
She had just started the second round when she heard hurried footsteps.
Four tall men in black uniforms rushed into the shop. The leader quickly scanned the scene and gave his companions a look.
The men immediately divided tasks: some inspected the scene, some contacted follow-up support, and another quickly took over the emergency call.
“Ladies, we are the Lantern Bearers. I’m Zhang Chuanlei. Sorry we’re late,” the leading man said. “Please explain what happened here.”
The two shop assistants exchanged a glance. One of them spoke in a trembling voice, “Just now, remnant energy beasts suddenly appeared. Everyone ran off, and we didn’t manage to follow in time… The manager told us to hide in the shop… Then those two monsters charged in, and this person also rushed in to block them for us…”
Her voice shook, halting and broken, as she struggled to finish.
Zhang Chuanlei nodded. “Understood. You two rest for a moment.”
Gadelia was still performing CPR.
Soon, the sound of an ambulance grew closer.
“Where’s the injured!”
Several medical personnel in white rushed in carrying a stretcher.
“Over here!” Zhang Chuanlei immediately responded.
Gadelia finished her last rescue breath and quickly moved aside.
“What’s the patient’s condition? Where are the family members?”
“Condition is critical. He… probably has no family.”
The medical personnel quickly performed a check. Without another word, they immediately lifted Zhou Ming onto the stretcher and connected him to life support equipment.
Zhang Chuanlei arranged for someone to assist in loading Zhou Ming into the ambulance.
Gadelia stood to the side, watching as the ambulance was about to leave. She suddenly spoke up:
“I can advance the medical expenses.”
She took out her phone, showing her account balance.
“Also… can I come along? He is, after all, my savior. I’d like to look after him.”
The medical personnel exchanged glances, then nodded.
“Alright, get on.”
Gadelia nimbly boarded the ambulance and softly thanked them.
The vehicle slowly started moving.
She looked at Zhou Ming lying on the stretcher, trying hard to force a smile.
But her muscles were stiff. She simply couldn’t smile.
“With just that little bit of power, you still had to play the hero…”
“I admit you’re the protagonist now… Perhaps I should have acted sooner.”
“I hope you survive… for my sake, and for your own.”
She murmured softly.
Outside the window, traffic flowed endlessly, the city still bustling. Inside the ambulance, however, it was so quiet that only the sounds of the medical equipment remained.
Gadelia lowered her head, carefully watching over Zhou Ming’s faint breathing.
She had lived a long time. Since her parents passed away, she had hardly anyone truly close to her, and her understanding of emotions was very vague.
She only knew she needed to get close to Zhou Ming, but didn’t know how close she should get. Faced with these sudden emotions, she didn’t even know how to handle them.
Like an adult, yet like a child—that was her emotional state.
Soon, the ambulance stopped at the hospital entrance.
The medical personnel pushed Zhou Ming’s stretcher, rushing toward the emergency room.
Gadelia followed closely behind, almost charging into the operating room herself before being stopped by a doctor.
She could only sit on the bench outside, her hands constantly twisting together.
Beep—beep—
She suddenly felt something throbbing violently.
Looking down, it was the heart she had “transplanted out” from her own body, beating intensely.
She pressed a hand to her chest.
She hadn’t felt particularly tense during the earlier crisis, but now… she was unusually unsettled.
She stared fixedly at the red light above the operating room door.
Hoping it would turn green quickly, yet also afraid of it turning green.
Unable to look away.
Someone walked past in front of her. She immediately stood up, afraid her view would be blocked.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Her phone rang for a long time before she snapped out of it and answered.
“Hello, Manager, it’s me, Li Mi,” the voice of the shop assistant came from the other end.
“The Lantern Bearers still need you to give a statement. Also, regarding that person’s situation, they’ve already contacted the relevant departments. Someone might come over.”
“They said the statement isn’t urgent, for you to focus on taking care of Zhou Ming first… the person you’re looking after now.”
“Mhm.”
Gadelia acknowledged and quickly hung up.
She didn’t know how much time had passed.
The red light above the operating room door finally changed from red to green.
She shot to her feet, rushing forward, urgently asking:
“Doctor, how is he?!”