NOVEL NEXT Ch. 30
Chapter 30: New Ability
Bai Lengci returned home, locked the door behind her, and leaned her back against it.
Only then did she realize that her heart was beating irregularly in her chest.
It was not fear.
It was… confusion.
Bai Lengci knew very clearly what kind of person she was at her core.
Her experience of growing up in an orphanage made her understand better than anyone how to seek advantage and avoid harm. Faced with a knife-wielding thug?
Her first reaction would absolutely have been to run!
Only if she could not escape would she consider fighting back desperately.
But like today, when her body moved ahead of her consciousness, even carrying a near-hunting excitement as she rushed forward voluntarily?
The entire process was as clear as a slow-motion replay. Every command seemed to come from her body itself, while her brain was merely a passive recorder.
Her old self would never have done such a thing.
Bai Lengci checked her hand—the punch she landed had smashed the thug’s face to pieces.
Her strength was great, yet her fist, her knuckles, had suffered no damage, not even a scratch.
Her heart stirred, and she walked into the kitchen.
Beside her was a temporary makeshift cage made out of an old cardboard box.
Inside, a drooping hen she had bought from the market was kept.
Her gaze fell on the fruit knife beside it.
“Alright then, since things have become this strange…”
She muttered softly, as if persuading herself.
She picked up the knife and rinsed it under the tap.
Then.
Without hesitation, she pressed the pad of her left index finger gently against the blade, drawing it across.
Beads of blood welled up, slid down her fingertip, and dripped onto the stainless steel surface of the sink.
She watched expressionlessly.
The salty tang of blood entered her nose—the ordinary smell of iron rust.
The pain transmitted normally along her nerves.
“Looks like I’m not invulnerable after all.”
She murmured, half-expecting it, half faintly disappointed.
Naturally, she put the injured finger into her mouth and sucked it.
Mm, salty, with an even stronger metallic taste—her blood didn’t seem any different from before.
Just as she was about to turn to get a band-aid, her peripheral vision caught her fingertip.
Wait…
The edges of that small wound seemed… to be closing, at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye, extremely slowly?
The color had also grown a little lighter?
Bai Lengci immediately froze, brought her finger close to her eyes, and stared hard at the tiny cut.
Time passed slowly.
At 30 seconds… the skin at the edges of the wound seemed to be faintly writhing?
At 50 seconds… the bleeding had completely stopped, the wound had visibly narrowed, its edges tinged faint pink.
At 60 seconds! That tiny cut had vanished entirely!
Her fingertip was smooth again, only the faintest pink mark remained, barely visible, proof that it had once existed.
Bai Lengci’s heart thumped wildly.
It was not fear, but a wonder and… exhilaration like discovering a new continent.
After a while, she picked up the knife again.
This time, her target was the inner side of her left forearm, the softer skin.
The blade pressed down, deeper and longer than before.
Slash—
A wound about 2 cm long split open, blood gushing out faster.
The pain was stronger too, making her frown slightly.
She again stared intently at the wound, stopwatch running on her phone.
Blood seeped out, staining a patch of skin red.
The deeper muscle fibers seemed to contract slightly.
But the speed was clearly slower than with the shallow cut.
At 1 minute 30 seconds… the wound edges began to curl inward, bleeding had basically stopped.
She immediately pinched the wound open with her left thumb and index finger, forcing it apart!
“Hiss—”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
The forcibly torn wound oozed fluid, then blood flowed out again, before beginning to heal once more.
“Not enough…”
Her gaze swept over the counter, finally settling on her left palm.
She gripped the fruit knife in her right hand.
The tip aimed at the thickest part of her palm.
No hesitation.
Puchi!
The blade pierced through her flesh, emerging from the back of her hand!
Blood gushed from both wounds, dripping into the sink.
Mm, very painful.
That was Bai Lengci’s first thought.
She lowered her head and looked at her pierced hand.
The muscles around the wound spasmed violently, trying to push out the embedded blade, while blood spurted like a tiny fountain.
She could clearly feel a certain energy deep inside her body rushing madly toward the wound, trying to repair it.
But the speed… was too slow!
And a strong dizziness and weakness swept over her.
Her vision blurred, her ears buzzed.
Then Bai Lengci fainted.
……
No one knew how long had passed.
Gululu…
Bai Lengci suddenly opened her eyes, finding herself lying on the floor.
Her left palm throbbed faintly with pain.
She raised her hand—the through wound was gone!
Only a coin-sized round scar remained on her palm, slightly hardened to the touch.
Then came hunger!
Overwhelming hunger!
Her gaze instantly locked onto the covered cage by the counter.
She almost crawled and scrambled toward it, ripping the cloth away!
Inside was a trembling live chicken.
Without any hesitation, Bai Lengci grabbed its neck, tore off the feathers from its throat, exposing the pink skin and pulsing vein beneath.
She didn’t even bother looking for a knife.
Lowering her head, she opened her mouth, bit down with all her strength!
Gulp… gulp…
A few minutes later, Bai Lengci let go. The hunger gradually faded.
She casually tossed the now motionless chicken back into the cage.
Leaning against the counter, she panted slightly.
She raised her left hand, looking at the deep red round scar in her palm.
Then lowered her head to glance at the lifeless chicken in the cage.
She licked the blood at the corner of her mouth and muttered softly to herself:
“Heh… just as I thought.”
“No matter how strong the healing ability, it still has to obey the law of conservation of energy.”
This discovery, though it came at the cost of pain and hunger, was—unexpectedly—very attractive to Bai Lengci.