Ding’s mother immediately felt the chill in Su Ning’s tone and hurriedly left.

But Qiao Duoduo, who knew Su Ning’s character well, was clear that as long as this mother-and-son pair no longer came to bring trouble to Su Ning, she would never do anything like ambushing them outdoors.

Watching the Ding family leave, Qiao Duoduo spoke.

“They’ve already left. Why scare them further? With such haste, they probably won’t dare come out of the city for a few days.”

Su Ning, on the other hand, looked relieved and said,

“People like that, bullying my kindness and even giving me warning looks before going out… I just casually scared them a little, and they left in such a rush.”

Qiao Duoduo understood Su Ning’s intention and thought it saved a lot of trouble, so she said,

“That’s fine too; it saves us from future problems. Want to stay for a bowl of snake meat soup?”

Su Ning gladly accepted Qiao Duoduo’s invitation.

After confronting Ding’s mother, Su Ning felt briefly puffed up with pride but then found it a little laughable.

“Duoduo, do you think in the future we should be a bit fiercer so people won’t bully us?”

Qiao Duoduo, slicing meat, replied, “I don’t know. As long as you’re happy. At worst, we confront them; if we can’t, we fight.”

Faced with such simple and blunt logic, Su Ning couldn’t help teasing a bit.

“And if we still can’t win?”

“Then run,” Qiao Duoduo shot Su Ning a look and continued, “But from what I’ve scouted recently, there aren’t many experts on this street. So as long as the three of us act as a team, our success rate is high.”

Su Ning frowned. “Why does it have to be ‘acting as a team’? Can’t we use another term?”

“Team battle?” Houyang interjected.

“Not serious enough, but already much better than ‘acting as a team.’”

Amid the joking, the snake meat was put on the stove.

The three chatted some more, and when the snake soup was freshly ready, a delicious aroma filled the air. After tasting a spoonful, Su Ning finally took note of the soup’s details.

Blue Quality – Snake Meat Soup
Details: Slowly stewed from top-grade snake meat, it nourishes the skin, regulates metabolism, and other functions. After consumption, restores 10 HP and 10 MP per minute for one hour.

“Duoduo, this is great—it restores automatically!” Su Ning reported excitedly to Qiao Duoduo while still tasting the soup.

Qiao Duoduo was equally excited. “And it didn’t say it’s only usable outside combat, so it should work anytime.”

“Exactly! It’s going to sell well—definitely going to sell well.”

After finishing the late-night meal, the three were overjoyed and went to rest.

However, in the same apartment building where Su Ning lived, on the 12th floor, at the end of a corridor in a certain room…

“Mu Dan, what should we do? Lily is about to collapse!” Shui Xian looked anxiously at Mu Dan.

Mu Dan looked at the girl on the bed: dressed in simple white, long black hair, pure features, a sickly pale face. Even in a deep sleep, she evoked an overwhelming protective instinct in anyone nearby.

“Give her more medicine. She must hold on. I’ll go find Su Ning,” Mu Dan said, lightly holding Lily’s hand as if making a great decision.

So just as Su Ning was about to sleep, the damned friend message alert came again.

Mu Dan: “Su Ning, Northwest Apartment, 1201, help!”
Su Ning: “Northwest Apartment, 2792.”
Mu Dan: “The patient has already lost consciousness.”

Mu Dan’s implication was, of course, that Su Ning should come in person, but having just witnessed humanity’s ugliness, Su Ning had no intention of complying.

Su Ning: “I won’t come. If it weren’t so late, and you weren’t in such a hurry, I would have met you at a restaurant.”

Su Ning had no interest in checking who needed saving—at night, who knows what might happen.

Mu Dan: “It’s a safe zone. What are you afraid of?”
Su Ning: “Better safe than sorry.”

Mu Dan glanced at Lily again. Shui Xian asked hurriedly, “Mu Dan, when will Su Ning come?”

“She refuses. We have to go to 2792 ourselves,” Mu Dan sighed. She understood Su Ning’s concerns; at least she hadn’t completely refused without any protection, which meant Su Ning was still willing and would honor her promise, just not willing to come treat her in person.

“Why? Didn’t Su Ning promise us seven treatments? Why won’t she come?”

Shui Xian cried helplessly.

“Mu Dan, what should we do? What about Lily?”

Mu Dan patted Shui Xian’s shoulder comfortingly. After thinking it through, the only healer they hadn’t contacted was Su Ning. She couldn’t give up—there was no choice.

Mu Dan: “Please, my friend can’t move at all. If you come and heal her, our deal is off, completely.”

Su Ning: “If I die, our deal is also off.”

Mu Dan had no choice but to take pictures of Lily and send them to Su Ning.

Mu Dan: “[Image]”
Mu Dan: “[Image]”
Mu Dan: “I’m really not lying. She’s about to collapse. I just don’t know what else to do.”

Overwhelmed by the pressure and the thought of losing a good friend, Mu Dan slumped against the wall and cried.

Su Ning looked at the photos: indeed, the girl in white lay on her back, her features pure like a sacred lily.

After a while, Mu Dan heard urgent knocking.

“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Su Ning.”

Mu Dan and Lily exchanged glances, eyes lighting up with unexpected joy.

Su Ning entered, scanning the room to ensure safety before stepping inside. The girl on the bed remained unconscious. Su Ning initially planned to perform a “Night Ritual” to heal her quickly and return home. But recalling the book’s bloodline conflicts, she asked,

“First, tell me her profession and bloodline, and how she was injured.”

Surprisingly, Mu Dan hesitated to reveal the truth. Shui Xian carefully asked,

“Does this have to do with Lily’s illness?”
“Of course. If you don’t trust me, just kick me out—I’d welcome it.”

Su Ning didn’t want to linger, only wanting to go home soon.

Seeing Mu Dan hesitate, Shui Xian spoke, “I only know roughly—it’s the demons, and she was hurt by a light-element mage. Is that enough?”

“Close enough.”

Su Ning then checked Lily’s condition: extremely low HP, a negative status that drained health and mana: -30 HP/hour, -30 MP/hour. Under 100 HP, she would be weakened; under 50, extremely weakened; under 20, unconscious.

Sure enough, her HP was only 18—a critical state. With a Night Ritual, most of her HP was restored. Unfortunately, the negative status remained, meaning the recovery was only temporary; soon, Lily would lose HP and MP again.

After performing two Night Rituals, Su Ning turned to Mu Dan:

“You’ve seen it. Her HP is full, but I can’t deal with the negative status for now.”

She then took out the lamb soup she had packed earlier and continued, “This is a friend’s continuous-healing potion. The effect is limited, but if you ration it, it works well.”

Having said that, she left, leaving Mu Dan and Shui Xian in their rented apartment.