Song Xiaodao wanted to stop it, but she was already too late.

Zhao Yin let the rain wash down the mush, smacked his lips a few times, and swallowed it whole. "Little Monkey, you... you bastard. Just you wait. Zhao Yin will deal with you!"

Little Monkey didn't care in the slightest. It bared its teeth in a mocking grin at Song Xiaodao's fuss. As if to prove a point, it chewed another mouthful of leaves and spat them straight into Zhao Yin's mouth.

Gulp!

Zhao Yin swallowed without hesitation, eyes glazed, a stupid chuckle bubbling from his throat.

Song Xiaodao glared at Little Monkey. Then she noticed its severed arm still dripping blood. She remembered how many times it had saved her life. Right now, it should have been eating leaves to heal itself-but instead, it was enduring the pain to feed Zhao Yin first.

In the end, Song Xiaodao said nothing more. She chewed the leaves in her own mouth into paste, pried open Zhao Yin's lips, and-pfft!

She spat them directly into his mouth.

Zhao Yin smacked his lips, still savoring the taste even after swallowing.

Soon, the gaping hole in his chest slowly stopped bleeding. The wound began to close. His injuries weren't fully healed, but his condition had stabilized.

He just needed time. He'd be fine.

Only then did Little Monkey finally eat leaves to treat its own wounds.

Song Xiaodao picked up the Healing Potion and walked toward Old Bull. Seeing the white bone exposed in so many places across his body, seeing his two ruined eyes, she felt a sudden stab of guilt.

"Bull-bull, I'm sorry. I was only thinking about Zhao Yin earlier. I almost wasted this potion on him."

The Chestnut Leaves couldn't save Old Bull anymore.

Old Bull panted heavily. Only his ears twitched. Song Xiaodao bent down, pried open his mouth, and poured the Healing Potion down his throat.

The next moment, specks of white light rose across Old Bull's entire body. Flesh buds sprouted from exposed bone. New hide grew over them. Even his ruined eyes began regenerating-eyeballs, eyelids...

Finally, even the lashes on his eyelids grew back.

A lump bulged on top of Old Bull's head. Then a glossy black horn pushed through.

Limb Regeneration!

Song Xiaodao clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Zhao Yin had only ever said it was a Healing Potion. He'd never mentioned it could regrow lost limbs.

Soon, Old Bull rolled over and climbed to his feet. Every old wound, every old ailment-fully healed.

He nodded to Song Xiaodao in thanks, then quickly walked toward Zhao Yin.

"Master, I am useless." Old Bull's voice echoed through the mental link.

But Zhao Yin couldn't hear him right now.

Old Bull's expression held no joy over his recovery. His mood had sunk to rock bottom.

Today, he finally understood. He was the most useless one of all.

The entire battle, he'd done nothing but take hits. Master and Little Monkey had been the ones protecting him.

As Zhao Yin's body recovered, his mind began to stir.

"Mom, Dad, you're back?"

Zhao Yin suddenly sat up, speaking to empty air.

In his mind, he saw his parents-the ones who had died in a car accident when he was fifteen.

He saw the world before the apocalypse. The bustling traffic. The towering skyscrapers. All kinds of delicious food. All kinds of beautiful women...

"I thought I could never go back!"

"I didn't realize... the apocalypse was just a dream."

Zhao Yin laughed like an idiot. Then he suddenly shouted: "Boss! Another round of beer! Ten skewers of grilled kidneys, fifty meat skewers, one grilled fish, and a grilled eggplant-extra chili!"

Then he grabbed a fistful of mud from the ground and shoved it into his mouth. "So good!"

His thoughts were jumping wildly, as if the chaos itself was the only thing that felt real.

All the wishes he'd never fulfilled. All the regrets he'd never made right. They all appeared before his eyes.

"Mom, Dad, I don't want the compensation money. Just come back... Dad... Mom... Waaah...!" Zhao Yin hugged his head and sobbed.

Tears mixed with rain, streaming down his face.

Some obsessions, even after living two lives, are impossible to erase.

Then he laughed again. "You're back. From now on, I'll be a good kid. I won't go to nightclubs anymore. I won't gamble on the lottery... I'll study hard."

"Su Huan, do you know? I've liked you since I was sixteen. Why did you have to run off with that foreigner? He's black as a pile of dog shit. What, you going to Africa to feed mosquitoes? Or do you just like his big cucumber...?"

"From now on, I'll never love again. I, Zhao Yin, have money and looks. Haha... Life's about being happy!"

"I'm gonna sleep with every woman in every nightclub in Jiangzhou...!"

"Haha... haha...!"

Zhao Yin laughed wildly. Then he scrambled up from the ground and tore off his tattered Women's Suit and Military Jacket.

Then he stripped off his pants.

Wearing nothing but a pair of fishnet stockings, Zhao Yin sprinted through the storm, leaping and bounding.

Soon he stopped. He wiggled his rear, stepped through the mud, and began dancing with absurd elegance...

Song Xiaodao's jaw dropped.

Old Bull stared, stupefied.

Little Monkey finally remembered what Zhao Yin had said earlier: "When my mind goes into chaos, tie me up!"

Little Monkey bolted forward, ripped a vine free, and rushed up behind Zhao Yin. It bound his hands and feet together.

But Zhao Yin was still an E-rank Evolver. Even without the Glutinous Rice Wine's power boost, a vine couldn't hold him.

Snap!

The instant Little Monkey let go, Zhao Yin tore through the vine and threw a punch.

"Kid, you trying to steal my woman?" Zhao Yin sneered, eyes narrowed.

The blow sent Little Monkey's small body tumbling backward. Song Xiaodao and Old Bull charged in together, pinning Zhao Yin to the ground.

Thud!

A sheathed Tang Dao cracked against the back of Zhao Yin's skull.

He went out cold.

"Zhao Yin, I did this for your reputation! You're not even wearing pants-what if someone saw you? I'm sorry!"

Song Xiaodao chewed another mouthful of Chestnut Leaves, mashed them up, and fed them into Zhao Yin's mouth.

She was terrified the blow might have hurt him.

She carried Zhao Yin into the Invisibility Tent, dressed him in clothes from the Spatial Ring, then returned with the two beasts to clean up the battlefield.

Zhao Yin's Mountain-Cleaving Machete was still jammed in the mud. Song Xiaodao pulled it free and found dozens of nicks covering the entire blade.

The brutality of the battle was written in every notch.

Little Monkey's Heavy Armor was wrecked. The Spiked Club was bent out of shape, scarred by the Rat King's claws.

They could still be used. Barely.

Of all their equipment, only the bull horn remained intact.

Song Xiaodao glanced at Old Bull-both his horns had regrown-but she had no intention of returning it to him. Suddenly, the corner of her eye caught movement.

The Black Rat King. Not far away.

"It... it's still alive!" Song Xiaodao pointed and shouted.

Little Monkey had been inspecting its ruined Heavy Armor, heartbroken. At her words, its head snapped up.

The Black Rat King lay motionless in the mud. Its once-glossy black fur was caked with filth.

But its belly rose and fell, faint and weak.

It was still breathing.