After wiping the ice shards from her mother’s body, Zhou Ruoqing finally stood up again, intending to head to the kitchen to prepare some food.

“I’ll do it!”

Yang Qianqian was just about to stop her when she saw that Zhou Ruoqing had already stood up and was limping toward the kitchen.

“Ruoqing, your leg…”

Yang Qianqian stepped forward and frowned as she watched her friend walk.

Zhou Ruoqing’s eyes showed a trace of bitterness.
“After I woke up, my right leg has been weak and hard to use.”

Lin Chu was sitting on the living room sofa. Upon hearing this, she stood up and walked over to examine Zhou Ruoqing.

“Can you feel this?”

Lin Chu gently squeezed her right calf.

Zhou Ruoqing nodded, then shook her head. “I can’t say there’s no feeling at all, but it’s very dull—like there’s a thick boot wrapped around it.”

At this moment, Lin Chu had pushed up the pant leg to her knee. Her skin was in direct contact with Lin Chu’s hand.

Lin Chu did a few reflex tests and confirmed that Zhou Ruoqing’s lower leg had very delayed responses.

However, the muscles and bones of her right leg didn’t show any physical damage.

Lin Chu immediately thought of Old Yang.

After the snow worm was forced out of his brain, his limbs weren’t affected, but his memory and mental state were clearly compromised.

It seemed that once the snow worm entered the brain, it caused neurological damage.

The brain is the body’s control center, governing both mind and movement.

The symptoms shown by both people pointed to brain damage.

And this kind of damage was likely irreversible.

Thinking this, Lin Chu looked up and asked Zhou Ruoqing, “Does your head still hurt?”

Zhou Ruoqing nodded. “It’s been hurting ever since I woke up.”

That confirmed Lin Chu’s suspicions. She sat back down on the sofa.

Seeing her fall silent, Zhou Ruoqing turned to Yang Qianqian, as if asking what was going on.

Yang Qianqian shook her head and helped her sit in one of the dining chairs in the living room. “You wait here. I’ll fix something for you to eat.”

When Zhou Ruoqing looked like she wanted to protest, Yang Qianqian immediately gave her a stern look. “Don’t you dare be polite with me!”

Knowing her friend was just worried, Zhou Ruoqing nodded and reminded her, “There’s a half-eaten can of meat in the fridge, and some cereal in the cupboard. Just make me something simple.”

Yang Qianqian nodded quickly and ran into the kitchen.

Zhou Ruoqing looked away—and saw the man’s body still lying in the middle of the living room. Her smile vanished instantly.

Even though Lin Chu was thinking through all this in her head, she had also been paying attention to what was happening in the room.

Seeing Zhou Ruoqing’s expression change, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Their eyes both landed on the body in the center of the room. It was obvious what “deal with” meant.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ruoqing looked at Lin Chu. “You’re…?”

“I’m Qianqian’s cousin.”

“Qianqian has a cousin?”
As Yang Qianqian’s best friend, Zhou Ruoqing clearly knew her well, and her eyes filled with doubt upon hearing that.

Lin Chu didn’t explain. She just looked back toward the body.

“My mom is easily scared. I’m worried she’ll be traumatized when she wakes up. But I can’t move well right now. Can I trouble you to… take him out?”

“By ‘take him out,’ you mean anywhere’s fine?”

Zhou Ruoqing nodded.

Hearing that, Lin Chu stood up without hesitation and walked toward the corpse.

First, she covered the man’s head with a plastic bag nearby.

Seeing Zhou Ruoqing’s confusion, she explained, “To avoid bloodstains and unnecessary trouble.”

Then, grabbing the body by one leg, she dragged it into the hallway and found a blind spot out of sight—where she quietly stored the corpse in her spatial dimension.

She lingered in the hallway for a bit before heading back into Zhou Ruoqing’s apartment.

Yang Qianqian had already made a bowl of cereal and placed a piece of canned meat on a plate.

The two were chatting. Their topic: Lin Chu—the parasite from another faction.

As soon as they heard Lin Chu open the door, the two girls instantly sat up straighter.

“Ruoqing, eat more. My brother said he’ll come pick me up soon. You need to recover and come with us.”

Yang Qianqian changed the subject, and Zhou Ruoqing nodded quickly.

Their “nose to nose, eyes to the ground” act almost made Lin Chu laugh.

After Zhou Ruoqing finished eating, they helped her back to her bedroom to rest. Then Yang Qianqian and Lin Chu got ready to leave.

She had only come out because she was worried about her friend. Now that she had helped Zhou Ruoqing through the crisis, her mind drifted back to her father.

Old Yang’s condition was much worse than Zhou Ruoqing’s, and she was anxious to return and care for him.

Zhou Ruoqing understood. “You’d better get back to look after Uncle. Oh, and before you go, can you hang the wind chime by the window?”

Yang Qianqian gave a few more instructions, then ran to Zhou Ruoqing’s window and hung up a string of golden wind chimes.

Finally, she tucked in Zhou Ruoqing’s blanket before leaving.

As they walked back, Yang Qianqian turned and pointed at Zhou Ruoqing’s window. “See? You can spot her wind chime from here.”

“You were wondering why I suddenly stopped talking when I arrived earlier—it’s because Ruoqing and I made a promise: If everything’s safe, the wind chime stays up. If there’s danger, it comes down.”

“I have the same wind chime in my room too.”

Lin Chu followed her gaze and indeed saw the wind chime.

“You guys… can have close friends too?” Yang Qianqian asked when Lin Chu didn’t say anything.

Lin Chu thought about it. She had always been on her own. Close friends…

Seeing the momentary confusion in Lin Chu’s eyes, Yang Qianqian knowingly nodded. “You guys don’t have close friends. You’re not united. One day, we’ll pick you off one by one.”

Noticing Lin Chu squint at her, she quickly added, “I meant them, their faction.”

The two continued chatting casually as they walked and soon reached the area near Yang Qianqian’s home.

They silently shifted positions—Qianqian in front, Lin Chu behind—keeping a deliberate distance.

Sure enough, just as they entered the residential courtyard, Lin Chu sensed someone’s gaze on them.

She looked up and casually waved to the curly-haired aunt watching them.

Once inside, Yang Qianqian was bombarded with questions by the aunt. Ignoring her completely, she turned and went to care for Old Yang.

Lin Chu mimicked her smile, offered a few vague responses, and made an excuse to go to her room.

After locking the door, she opened a portal and returned to the shelter.

The temperature in the shelter was high. Lin Chu stripped off her clothes and changed into a set of dirty ones she hadn’t washed yet. Then she put on her lab coat—the one she wore during dissections—and headed into the lab.