Chapter 405
They both looked terrible.0
Yu Can's right arm was dislocated, hanging unnaturally, and the fingers on his left hand were twisted and deformed. He was pinned to the ground, with a fallen knife beside him.0
The knife wasn't long, with a narrow blade, but it was covered in blood.0
Ji Feng was leaning against the wall on his side, his left hand clutching his chest to minimize blood loss. His right hand held Yu Can's wrist behind his back, while his knee pressed firmly against Yu Can's lower back, preventing him from getting up.0
Yu Can was still struggling.0
He seemed to know that Ji Feng couldn't hold out much longer, constantly arching his back. But each struggle inevitably consumed a great deal of energy and tore at his vital wounds.0
Jian Jing drew her gun and aimed it at Yu Can's head. "Get up."0
"Don't," Ji Feng said, each word causing his lungs and heart to tremble with pain. "I've already... he can't resist... don't..."0
Police can't shoot at criminals who have already been subdued.0
Jian Jing couldn't use force against a dangerous individual who no longer had the ability to resist.0
This wouldn't qualify as self-defense; if not handled carefully, it could be considered manslaughter.0
Ji Feng said, "Take... cough... him away."0
Jian Jing glared at him, walked over, and lifted the first aid kit, smashing it against Yu Can's head.0
The impact to the back of his head immediately made him dizzy and disoriented. He lay motionless on the ground, stunned.0
On the other side of the fire door, the intense flames were already beginning to warp the metal.0
Jian Jing hoisted Ji Feng onto her back and retreated as quickly as possible. Blood soaked her clothes, sticking clammily to her skin, with warm streams flowing down her spine.0
She had never run so fast before. Upon reaching the outside, she immediately set him down and took out a tourniquet to bandage him.0
Ji Feng said, "Didn't hit... vital organs... Yu Can, bring him out."0
"Wouldn't it be better to let him die in there?" she asked angrily.0
He smiled, "People can... run... there's... a back door."0
Death was acceptable, escape was not.0
Jian Jing roughly stuffed gauze into his wound. Seeing the blood flow significantly decrease, she ran back inside, filled with fury. As expected, Yu Can hadn't given up hope and was staggering towards the exit, supporting himself against the wall.0
She didn't bother with words, picking up a stone she found and aiming at his legs.0
Yu Can was hit in the back of his knees and stumbled to the ground.0
Thick smoke was approaching, and the old fire door could no longer hold. Bright flames were constantly pushing outward.0
To be honest, Jian Jing hesitated for a moment.0
Wouldn't it be better to let him die in the fire?0
Those people he had killed, those lives wasted, those victims whose lives had ended for no reason - wouldn't it be good to let him experience their pain?0
But in the end, she didn't do it.0
She understood why Ji Feng had stopped her from shooting.0
-- Don't become someone who takes lives in the name of justice.0
This wasn't for some lofty reason, not for the greatness of the law or the justice of due process. These things, while correct, were too broad and abstract.0
The real reason was simple.0
Legal judgment can remove personal guilt.0
To date, Jian Jing had sent countless criminals to prison, some of whom had already been executed. But she never cared about their deaths; if she heard about it, she might even curse, saying they deserved it.0
But for those who died by her own hands... even for heinous criminals like Wang Shi or Qi Tian, no matter how much she tried to convince herself they deserved it, the moment she acted, the scar remained forever in her heart.0
Don't add more burdens to yourself.0
If you can avoid killing someone, don't kill them.0
Jian Jing took a deep breath, grabbed Yu Can by the collar, and dragged him out of the raging fire, throwing him heavily onto the snowy ground.0
The snow had already fallen so heavily.0
In the depths of night, everything was a vast expanse of white.0
Jian Jing rushed to Ji Feng's side; he had already closed his eyes. She quickly went over and patted his face. "Hey, you can't... Ji Feng?"0
At that moment, her intuition had already told her what had happened, but Jian Jing completely ignored it, reaching out to feel his neck.0
There was no pulse.0
--0
90 seconds earlier.0
Ji Feng watched Jian Jing disappear into the fire zone.0
It's strange, isn't it? Due to lack of oxygen, the brain's processing speed for information slowed down considerably. The scenes he saw couldn't be transmitted to his brain; all he could see were shadows and stars.0
But he knew clearly that Jian Jing had left.0
He let out a sigh of relief.0
With that sigh, his tightly held spirit instantly dispersed, his consciousness plunging rapidly, falling all the way to the bottom of the abyss.0
Ji Feng had experienced severe injuries twice before. He knew that when a person first receives an injury, losing consciousness isn't necessarily a bad thing. It proves that the body is protecting itself, discarding unnecessary functions and concentrating all its energy on maintaining life.0
But he had held on, preventing his body from protecting itself. He had fought with Yu Can, escaped from the fire, subdued Yu Can, and even tricked Jian Jing into leaving.0
The potential of life had been exhausted, like a snowball that had grown too large, now impossible to stop.0
So, even though he knew it didn't matter if she didn't go after Yu Can, that he couldn't run far, Ji Feng still used this excuse to send Jian Jing away.0
Otherwise, should he let her watch him die?0
What was the point?0
He had no intention of dying in the arms of his loved one, nor did he want to leave behind words of regret for the living.0
Don't be sad for me, it's not worth it.0
--0
10 seconds later, at this very moment.0
Jian Jing immediately began emergency treatment, but as soon as she pried open his hand, she suddenly fell silent.0
You can't perform CPR on an external chest wound.0
Should she draw a medical card to treat him? There was nothing here, and even if she could draw a special card, with such massive blood loss, where would she find blood bags for transfusion?0
But now his heart had stopped beating. She couldn't just do nothing, could she?0
Jian Jing reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, deciding to clear his airway and try to make an incision in his trachea.0
There was a surgical blade in the first aid kit.0
She located the trachea and carefully cut a small slit to allow air into the lungs.0
But after one or two seconds, she remembered that he probably had more than just the chest wound from the sharp object. After checking, she confirmed that there was also a gunshot wound on his back.0
Judging from the position, it was in the lung.0
And it wasn't a through-and-through wound; the bullet was still in his lung.0
Jian Jing hadn't felt such a strong sense of despair in a long time, but she held back her emotions, maximized her composure card, and thought calmly.0
In the worst-case scenario, Ji Feng had stopped breathing as soon as she entered, which was now over two minutes ago.0
If she could perform CPR, there might still be hope to save him, but now with his lung injury and obstructed airway, there was no way to proceed.0
The only way... the only...0
She took a deep breath, trying not to overthink, and took out the root from her storage space.0
This wasn't the root that Qi Tian had sacrificed on the World Cruise Liner -- back on the fishing boat, she had held a knife to the throat of the 3Q chairman's daughter with one hand, and with the other, lit a lighter and burned the root to ashes right in front of them, grinding the bones to dust.0
A monster born from eating living humans shouldn't continue to exist.0
But back in Twilight Town, Qi Tian, disguised as little Frank, had cut off a section of the root and tricked Jian Jing into eating it. She had pretended to consume it but actually threw it into her storage space, never dealing with it since.0
Taking it out now, the effect of the identification card from back then was still active.0
[Name: Giant Tree Root (Dormant)]0
[Identification: This is a root from what locals call the Giant Tree. It possesses powerful vitality, with animal flesh and blood being its best nutrients. It has extremely high regenerative abilities and cannot be fully classified as a plant. It fears fire and can have a significant impact on the human body. The source is currently undetermined.]0
[Note: Has extremely high research value, further exploration recommended]0
"System, how can I use this?" she asked. "Preferably without side effects and something that can be terminated at any time."0
After several seconds, the system finally said: [Abnormal item, not recommended for host use]0
Jian Jing: "Then tell me, how can I save a person?"0
System: [... Spend 100 Courage Points to draw a ** card]0
Jian Jing: "Thank you, draw the card."0
System: [Host's Courage Points insufficient. Forced card draw will deduct all Courage Points. When Courage Points are negative, a Punishment Instance will be triggered]0
Jian Jing: "It doesn't matter, draw the card."0
[** Card drawing in progress]0
[Drawing complete]0
[Name: ** Card - Nutrient Solution (1/1)]0
[Description: Can provide a large amount of nutrients in a short time. Effect lasts for 3 minutes. After the time limit, the user/object will rapidly die]0
[Note: Always use as directed, not recommended for human consumption]0
Honestly, Jian Jing sometimes felt that the system might not only have operations in this world.0
But regardless of its origins, after years of interaction, she had developed a certain level of trust in the system and decided to give it a try.0
She applied the nutrient solution to the root.0
Then, the finger-sized root began to grow slowly.0
Unlike the explosive growth on the cruise ship, this root grew slowly and robustly, like a thriving seedling, thick, shiny, and moist, reminiscent of tropical rainforest leaves saturated with water, giving the impression of particularly pleasing growth.0
But this was precisely what made it wrong.0
Newborn babies are always bumping into things, easily uncomfortable here and there, extremely fragile. But wouldn't it be frightening if someone's baby was born plump and sturdy, resistant to falls, accepting all food without fussiness, never getting diarrhea, rolling over at three months, sitting up at six months, and speaking English within half a year?0
This root was just like that, growing too well, making one's skin crawl.0
Jian Jing cautiously gripped its base, letting the thinner end fall onto Ji Feng's wound.0
The tip of the root probed the damaged flesh, seemingly realizing this was a body highly suitable for parasitism. Its vigor immediately surged, swiftly and deftly burrowing into the skin and flesh, repairing the damaged organs.0
Jian Jing stared intently at its movements.0
Previously, she had been too focused on resenting Qi Tian for cheating, and hadn't paid close attention to it. Now, looking again, she made a different discovery: the root was unexpectedly "intelligent". It initially started repairing the wound on the skin, but quickly realized this organ wasn't the most important.0
The heart and lungs were crucial.0
So, it immediately changed direction and began repairing the damaged arteries and ventricles.0
This process was very similar to surgery. The root branched into filaments finer than hair, diligently weaving between blood vessels and muscles, mending the broken parts.0
The rate of blood loss slowed.0
Jian Jing took off her jacket and covered his torso, trying to prevent heat loss. She even lit the red and white lighter and placed it nearby as a makeshift heat source.0
But his breathing still hadn't resumed.0
She began to feel anxious, uncontrollably speaking: "Can you do it or not? Take a breath!" Feeling her tone wasn't urgent or stern enough, she tried to provoke him, "Yun Yun is dating someone!"0
Of course, there was still no reaction.0
What did he care about most? What could awaken his will to live?0
"Your house is going to be demolished! You'll be compensated millions!" she tempted.0
He remained unmoved.0
"Wake up! There's a case! The boss wants you to work overtime!" she said.0
His hand was as cold as ice.0
Jian Jing: "Taking annual leave?"0
Only the sound of whistling wind could be heard.0
She thought, surely you haven't really worked yourself to exhaustion and decided to take a permanent holiday from now on, have you?0