This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 57 See you later
At this moment, the fighting and migration were still going on. Different sounds such as explosions, burning, cutting, and heavy objects hitting were heard from the direction of the city, but the sounds came from the edge of the camp, where a circle of people were gathered in the distance.

Nie Weiyang approached quickly, stepped onto a huge rock next to him, and flew into the air over the crowd, landing on the ground with a muffled sound, splashing a cloud of dust.

"What's going on?" he asked casually, his eyes attracted by the scene in the central open space.

It was a man, lying on the ground, his body twitching from time to time, and he made involuntary stiff and squeezed breathing sounds.

Nie Weiyang knew what had happened at a glance. He sighed, drew his sword, and approached the man on the ground.

"Be careful, Mr. Nie!" Someone suddenly shouted in the crowd, "He lied about the situation! He was infected but didn't say it!" Then there were reminders one after another, and voices came from all directions, asking him to be careful and alert. Mixed among them were some voices blaming the man on the ground - if he was not exposed, but turned into a zombie in the temporary camp, it would be a complete disaster for others.

Nie Weiyang gave the crowd a gentle smile and nodded to reassure them.

“Everyone, go away,” he said. “Remember to be mindful of who else might be infected.”

“If we find someone infected, can we handle it ourselves?” someone in the crowd asked.

Nie Weiyang shook his head slightly. "No. If you find anything, tell the military and police and let them handle it." He said bluntly, "Do you want to be treated like a zombie by someone you've offended?"

This is a very normal logic: if people can handle the infected on their own, there will definitely be people who will be "treated" as infected. In fact, even if people cannot handle it on their own, there will definitely be people who try to make those they dislike "become" infected.

In this world, maintaining a well-organized basic order is to maintain the interests of the vast majority of people.

This wasn't a difficult truth to grasp. No one in the crowd objected, and they dispersed—everyone had their own things to do. Nie Weiyang approached the man on the ground, half-crouching beside him.

The man has begun to twitch continuously.

Even if Nie Weiyang could perform a mild cure, he was helpless against this kind of thing: Yes, these parasites are dark in nature, so zombies are also dark in nature. But from the moment the parasites enter a person's body, they are already being killed, and the development of convulsions is a sign that the person's nervous system has been destroyed and replaced.

At this moment, people from all directions were walking through the heavy rain. Most of them carried small lanterns. Those lanterns were made by the logistics craftsmen of Langcheng. They were judged to be lighting props with no attribute bonuses, but if they were used to release some fire-related skills, there would be some bonuses.

Amidst the icy rain, the flowing firelight illuminated the two of them. Nie Weiyang stared down at the man, whose stiff face twitched and occasionally twisted. Countless brilliant and bizarre colors collided in his mind. His eyes, unable to control the direction of his vision, stared blankly at the sky, at the blood-red full moon and the crimson that permeated the sky.

Like blood vessels, like veins, like parasites.

"Do you have any last words?" Nie Weiyang asked. He remained calm, even if the other party concealed the truth - under the premise of 'things have come to this point', anger would be of no use in solving the problem.

Moreover, he also wanted to know why this was happening.

"Ah... Ho, ho..." The man opened his mouth and let the rain fall into his mouth: "I..."

Nie Weiyang could hear what he was saying without having to get close.

What he said was: "My mother... Zhang Xiuying... is in... the hospital..."

"..." Nie Weiyang was silent for a moment, then sighed softly, "Your mother's name is Zhang Xiuying. Is she in the hospital now? In the infirmary?"

"Yes... yes..." The man's voice was already murky. He began to breathe out but not in, but the frequency of his convulsions had slowed, and his eyes were vacant. This was a sign that his lungs had been completely eroded and his blood oxygen level had dropped sharply. He struggled to raise his hand, trying to grasp Nie Weiyang's. "She... has dementia... and... heart..."

"Your mother has Alzheimer's disease and heart disease?" Nie Weiyang asked gently, holding the other's hand.

“Yes…” The man shoved something haphazardly into his hand: “Brother…Big…Brother…” Tears welled up in his cloudy eyes, mingling with the heavy rain. He was much older than Nie Weiyang, but at this moment: “Please…” Nie Weiyang appeared calm and composed on the surface, and he clenched his fist.

In his hand was a small gourd-shaped bottle.

Quick-acting heart-saving pills.

Alzheimer's is irreversible brain damage, and the enhancements in "New World" won't fix it. Such a person certainly wouldn't know how to use a backpack or take medicine.

So, her son carried the medicine for her until he died.

"I'll take it there," Nie Weiyang said solemnly. He took the man's hand and patted it gently, "Go to sleep."

"Okay..." the man murmured. He seemed relieved, and his calloused hand slowly slid down, plunging into the muddy water.

Just a moment later, the hand suddenly twitched and arched into a sharp claw -

"Crack!"

Nie Weiyang, who had already stood up, pierced his head with a sword. The burning light on the sword just touched the emerging parasites, causing them to twist and quickly turn into a black mist and dissipate.

The young man brushed the blackened blood off his sword and clenched the quick-acting heart pills in his hand, careful not to damage the delicate porcelain bottle. He hurried toward the makeshift hospital. Someone naturally came up behind him and carried the body away. The heavy rain washed away any traces of a person's struggle. Not long after, a single footprint sank into the mud. Several people, clutching living specimens, hurried through, followed by more people, and more. New traces covered the old, just like every passing era.

The hospital was still located in the heart of the camp. With the help of several medical staff, Nie Weiyang found an elderly woman named Zhang Xiuying. She sat blankly in a corner, sheltered from the rain, staring at the mud before her, mumbling something. Every now and then, someone carrying a stretcher would run past her. Every time she heard the running, she would look up, seemingly unsure why, staring blankly at the pouring rain, her face expressionless.

"Zhang Xiuying is the only one left, suffering from Alzheimer's and heart disease," said a young nurse with dark circles under her eyes. "You said her son asked you to deliver something?"

Nie Weiyang looked at the old man from afar, and after a moment, he sighed softly.

"This is the medicine her son gave her." He took out the bottle of fast-acting heart pills and handed it to the head nurse next to him.

The head nurse took it silently. She seemed to know a lot of things, but she just pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Let's go." Nie Weiyang nodded to them, and his appearance looked normal.

"See you later," said the head nurse.

When Nie Weiyang walked away, he could still hear their voices:
"Teacher, don't we say this to people during working hours?"

"...At a time like this, it's a good thing to be able to see you again." said the head nurse.

When leaving the hospital, Nie Weiyang saw Xiang Feng from a distance. Xiang Feng was dealing with some of the other people who concealed the truth. He did not greet him, but turned and headed straight for the front line.

The heavy rain continued, and some areas even showed signs of flash floods. When people looked out into the distance, they saw only a haze of chaos and an indistinct field.

This rain seemed to have fallen from the distant past, the water flowing to the end of life. People spilled blood in this river that stretched from heaven to earth. Fight, fight, fight, as if the endless battle had gradually become instinctive.

This is how it all began.

(End of this chapter)