Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

Chapter 423 Protecting The Heart

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Liu Yu Zeng started at the blackness that surrounded the beating heart of his love. He honestly couldn't understand how she was still alive with all the poison inside of her, but he was thankful she was.

However, with this amount of poison, he needed to work fast before it caused more damage. He was well aware that he was not able to actually heal Sweetness. He would have to wait until Bin An Sha got his ass in gear for that to happen. The best he could do was simply neutralize the toxins and hope that that would be enough.

"Pull it into you," came a suggestion from far away. Liu Yu Zeng wrinkled his brows, trying to figure out what the voice was trying to say.

"What?" he asked slowly as he tried to get his mist in between the healthy muscle and the poison trying to kill it.

"Pull whatever it is that is hurting her into yourself," said Chen Zi Han, and Liu Yu Zeng grunted. It was easy for Famine to say, pull it into himself; that was exactly how his power worked. He took the vitality of others into himself. But Liu Yu Zeng's powers were the opposite. He sent it out, not brought it in.

"Fucking stop overthinking things and pull it into you. I am going to push some vitality into her at the same time," growled Chen Zi Han. He needed her to live. There was no point to this life if she wasn't in it.

Not sure how he went about doing as Chen Zi Han suggested, Liu Yu Zeng pictured himself grabbing fistfuls of the darkness and bringing his hands back toward his chest. Every time a hole opened up in the darkness, a light shot past it and toward the heart.

"Work faster," growled Famine as he waited for another opportunity to put his own vitality into Li Dai Lu's heart.

"I'm trying, you asshole," growled Liu Yu Zeng as he continued to pull handfuls of poison into him at a time, only for the poison still left inside her body to spread even more. He felt like he was trying to push back the tide with a broom.

'I guess that is what you get when a human tries to play Pestilence,' said Lin inside Liu Yu Zeng's head. 'And I had so much hope when you managed to destroy the old Pestilence.'

'If you have another idea, I am all ears,' growled Liu Yu Zeng, refusing to give up for even a second.

'Stop thinking like a human. You aren't one anymore,' suggested Lin with more than a hit of sarcasm.

'Stop beating around the bush and speak clearer. I am losing this fight,' shouted Liu Yu Zeng as he redoubled his efforts, grabbing armfuls of the poison instead of only handfuls.

'My point exactly. You think this is a fight. Poison, disease, toxins, whatever you want to call them, are not something you simply have control over. They are you. That darkness you see inside of her? That is you. And if a part of you is acting like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum, what should you do?' sneered Lin.

'Do I look like I fucking know?' screamed Liu Yu Zeng as he saw a small black spot on the red muscle of her heart.

'You command it to come to you,' shouted Lin right back. 'Stop treating this like it is something to fight or that it is something not of you. If it doesn't listen, command it. If it still doesn't want to listen, then destroy it.'

'What the fuck do you think I am trying to do! I am trying to destroy it.'

'You are acting like a child,' yelled Lin, more than a little done with his rider's level of intelligence. 'Stand up straight."

Inside of Li Dai Lu's body, Liu Yu Zeng stood up straight and took in a breath.

'Good. Now, picture the darkness rushing into you. It can't hurt you. That darkness is what you are made of,' continued Lin, and Liu Yu Zeng could see two white eyes glowing in the distance. 'Stop looking at me, concentrate!' berated Lin as he noticed Liu Yu Zeng's attention wandering to him.

Liu Yu Zeng closed his eyes and took in another deep breath. He held his arm out in front of him and then quickly closed his fist and pulled his arm back into his body.

Like undoing a bath drain, the black smoke flew into Liu Yu Zeng, almost causing him to be knocked off his feet. However, the smoke didn't stop. It continued to flow into him at a fast pace.

'Now do you understand?' asked Lin, a hint of satisfaction on his face as he watched all of the darkness inside of the Queen's body flowing into Disease. 'Poison and disease aren't your enemies or something outside of yourself that you control; you are poison and disease. Don't forget that distinction again."

With those parting words, Lin disappeared, and Liu Yu Zeng was left inside Li Dai Lu's body alone. He once again followed her platelets around through all of her organs and systems to make sure that he had removed every last bit of darkness from her body.

Once he was satisfied that she was no longer poisoned, he forced himself to return to his body and the outside world.

"You're back. How is she?" demanded Wang Chao from where he stood beside Liu Yu Zeng.

"I got everything out. But it was bad. I don't know how she survived long enough for us to save her," panted Liu Yu Zeng as he looked at the woman in his brother's arms.

"I added some vitality into her," said Chen Zi Han, and Liu Yu Zeng could see just how pale and gray the other man had become. "But what is the use of keeping a healer around if he is not going to, in fact, heal her?"

"Hey! It's not my fault that I am tapped out at the moment," growled Bin An Sha. "How was I supposed to know that something like this would even happen? Besides, I needed my powers to heal myself."

"Next time, be smart and leave the zombie killing to someone else then," sneered Liu Yu Zeng.