Chapter 23: Precarious Days (4)
Although I had made big claims, I was just putting on a show.
The heat in my body was receding… Even though the temperature was currently high enough to melt iron, it would probably cool down in a little while.
This high temperature wasn’t due to me awakening some ability, but rather a kind of ‘immune system’ inherent to the body itself. It would be more accurate to call it a defense mechanism.
So, it wasn’t that I was powerful or had awakened some abnormal ability, but this borrowed body possessed a self-protection function. I felt it when my wounds healed; this body might belong to someone truly remarkable, as it automatically initiated healing even though I was the one using it.
It was similar to how Emiya Shirou gained regenerative abilities because of the sheathed swords embedded in his body—receiving fatal injuries would cause the wounds to automatically heal, thus preserving his life.
This body had this regenerative ability inherently, and it could even emit such high temperatures to resist other forms of death.
In short, now was the perfect opportunity!
With this ‘high-temperature armor,’ Zihua’s water would evaporate the moment it touched me.
In other words, she was currently powerless against me, and it was even possible for me to seize the chance to counterattack.
But before that, I needed to find my backpack… Where had Zihua put it?
No, I couldn’t show such an obvious intention. Zihua might have discarded my backpack as useless. In that case, I just needed to conceal it during this samsara.
“What? Not going to use that arrogant flame attack? Or perhaps you can’t freely control that body… Huhu, that’s understandable, since the one using the body isn’t the original owner, and this high temperature is just like an immune system.”
She was testing me…
I see. Rather than a physical confrontation about to unfold, it seemed more like both sides were trying to probe each other with words, as neither knew how many trump cards the other held or what their limits were.
“Heh, I don’t know what you’re talking about… Since you’ve lent me your body, you’d naturally tell me how to use it, right? Or do you want to experience being ‘burned by your own fire’?”
“…If you can do it, then try me.”
The heat was still dissipating. At this rate, the temperature would return to normal within about five minutes.
If I couldn’t evaporate water anymore, it would be even faster.
I couldn’t delay any longer; I had to do something quickly.
However, hurting Zihua was not an option. It wasn’t out of saintly compassion, but because the cooldown for time backtrack hadn’t ended yet.
If I accidentally killed Zihua, things would become terrible… I wanted to escape this samsara, but if it meant killing her… She was currently using Lanhua’s body. No matter what Zihua did, Lanhua shouldn’t be the one to ‘pay the price.’
So, the ‘battle’ option was ruled out. I had no ‘items’ in hand, let alone any equipment. And the duration of the high-temperature buff was limited. What were the remaining options?
‘Escape,’ of course.
My priority was to escape from here.
I pretended to be enraged by Zihua’s provocation and charged at her. Zihua immediately turned and ran, heading towards a corner of the room.
She was going to turn on the faucet!
I wouldn’t let her succeed! I immediately followed… As if!
My original target wasn’t the faucet but the door!
The body’s high temperature was still sufficient to melt iron. Since I ran directly towards the door, I reached it before Zihua and successfully destroyed the lock.
After the lock was broken, I kicked the door open and walked out of the room. I felt something hit my back, and with a *ssshhh* sound, a large amount of steam emerged. Zihua was attacking me with water, but such an attack was completely immune to me at the moment.
So, I didn’t escape immediately. Instead, I turned around and welded the door shut again. The iron door blocked the water, followed by a series of *bang, bang, bang* sounds. The iron door began to deform, probably Zihua trying to break it. This would buy me some time, and that would be enough.
This seemed to be some abandoned building. I didn’t know where exactly it was. My phone had already melted from the sudden high temperature, and even without that, it would have been damaged by the water long ago.
When Zihua escaped, she would definitely pursue me, and by then, the temperature would probably have dropped…
I thought and quickly formulated a plan.
SF Light Novel
So, the first thing to do was to retrieve my backpack.
I had to say, Lady Luck was on my side this time. After a short search, I found my backpack in the garbage disposal chute. But if I touched the backpack with my current body temperature, it would just catch fire… I had to confirm something before that.
I quickly opened the backpack’s zipper. The zipper melted and deformed, but it didn’t melt into liquid metal like before; the temperature had indeed dropped considerably.
However, this temperature should still be enough to set silk on fire directly.
Yet, when I placed my hand on the skein of thread, the result wasn’t instant combustion. Far from burning, it was as if the temperature was completely blocked—it was completely unaffected.
As expected, it wouldn’t burn.
If I couldn’t dispose of it, I’d have to carry it with me, but this thing was too conspicuous. A large skein of thread would be extremely inconvenient to carry.
“Hey, can’t you just wrap yourself around me?”
Unexpectedly, my casual remark led to a miraculous scene.
The skein of Ariadne’s Thread灵性地 (spiritually/intelligently) wrapped around my body, weaving itself into a dress.
Whoa, this was much more convenient, and it even provided me with a fig leaf. What an understanding and useful item! I even suspected this skein of thread possessed Self-awareness.
After this incident was over, I’d try to see if I could keep this item.
*Clang!*
A violent impact sound came from not far away. It must be Zihua breaking through the door and escaping.
The temperature of my body had almost cooled down to normal. If I went near Zihua now, I would undoubtedly be captured again. And this time, she wouldn’t use water torture but some other method to interrogate me.
Where should I escape to?
I didn’t know if this abandoned building had any surveillance cameras, and if so, where would Zihua place them?
The stairs… perhaps?
In that case, where should I escape from? As I thought about this,
I didn’t stop running. I had to create some distance first. Just as I reached the stairwell, I saw the green little person logo. Right! An emergency escape route!
Using the residual heat in my palms, I pressed against the escape door’s lock for a long time, destroying it. I went outside and looked down. It was about the fourth floor. And upstairs?
Around the seventh floor.
…Then I decided to go up!
Yes, I chose to run upstairs. Once Zihua noticed the traces of me breaking the lock, she would definitely come to investigate.
And no matter who it was, their first instinct would be to look down.
If I ran down, Zihua would see me immediately. But if I ran up, I might reach the top before she could find me, leaving Zihua in a dilemma.
Almost as soon as I reached the top floor, I heard a *clang*—the sound of the door being smashed open.
I didn’t stop. Instead, I continued running towards the entrance of the next floor. However, my body temperature was no longer sufficient to break it. Fortunately, the door was already damaged, and it opened with a little force.
Next, I need to escape… Wait, would Zihua really be so foolish as to follow me?
If she didn’t follow, wouldn’t going down now be like walking into a trap?
Besides, she could just let the water flow up to chase me while she stayed put and waited for me to fall into her trap.
Damn it, did a wrong choice actually lead me into a dead end…
Now I needed to find a third way, but where could there be a third way? This was the rooftop. The only ways down were the escape route or the stairs…
No… there must be some other way… up…
The top floor… 7th…
With this idea, I swallowed hard, crouched down, started running, accelerated, and leaped over the edge like a hurdler!
Falling, falling… Falling straight down would mean certain death. I had to hit something… I had to hit something!
My desperately outstretched hands finally touched something, or rather, collided with it.
My arm hit a pipe. Of course, I couldn’t grab it, but just hitting it was enough.
One impact, two, then three consecutive impacts… My arms were completely fractured. When one lost sensation, I used the other!
Finally, after a severe impact to my back, I lay on the ground, blood pouring from my mouth, and after accumulating too much, I coughed it out.
“Pfft, cough cough cough…”
My body started to heat up again… Ah, as expected, my wounds were healing. This body was truly amazing… It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it immortal, would it? It was practically a divine body.
The healing speed was still quite fast. Soon, I regained mobility, and my horribly twisted arms also healed at strange angles.
I stood up shakily and looked up at the rooftop. Zihua was also looking down from the rooftop.
We made eye contact.
She had chosen to follow me up… But perhaps not returning to the stairwell was the correct choice, because I saw water gushing out of the window on the fourth floor. As expected, Zihua had prepared a trap.
And now, I, who chose to become a flying person, had undoubtedly escaped successfully! She couldn’t catch up to me anymore!
I used my thumb to wipe away the blood near my mouth, smiled, and waved at the rooftop, shouting loudly.
“Bye-bye~ See you ‘next time’! Zihua~”
Zihua’s expression was impassive. The water on the fourth floor surged violently, showing her turbulent mood. As for me, I made a潇洒 (elegant and unrestrained) escape.
Hahaha, I’m in a good mood~
Now, the next step is to think about how to ‘counterattack’ next time…
I won’t let you have complete control, will I?
My dear Zihua…
