Chapter 3, Scales

He touched the wound on his head; the bleeding had stopped, but the excessive loss of blood made Zhou Liming feel a bit dizzy, especially upon seeing the dark patches of blood stuck to the grass. A wave of dizziness surged over him. He didn't know whether to cry or laugh: he cried for the unwarranted disaster he had suffered, and he laughed at the fact that despite having a one-inch-long gash on his head and losing so much blood, he was still alive.

With a loud bang, Zhou Liming felt a jolt; he had no idea what was happening at all

After a long while, Zhou Liming finally came to his senses. His lips were so dry they were cracking, and his throat felt as if it were on fire. In an extremely hoarse voice, he said: "What... what... what is wrong with me?"

After all this fuss, when I returned to the small dormitory, it was already 10:30 in the evening

Sweat quickly soaked his clothes, and Zhou Liming gritted his teeth tightly. His incredibly strong willpower allowed him to emit only a deep, submerged roar, even when he could barely endure the pain. He had to hold on, for he did not want to cause trouble for the orphanage. It was merely the pain of a wound; it would heal soon, it would pass quickly.

Holding onto this thought, Zhou Liming felt the pain intensifying, as if his soul were being stripped from its shell

"Brother Ming, Brother Zhou Liming, wake up, quickly wake up..."

The situation at that time indeed startled several of them greatly. Zhou Liming was also unaware of how long he had been unconscious. There was a large pool of blood on the ground, almost solidifying, and his head and shirt were covered in glaring blood. Faced with such a scenario, the timid girls screamed and cried as they went to find the staff at the orphanage.

Zhou Liming let out a faint moan, as this pain, once it struck, felt as if someone were tearing apart his head, penetrating deep into the bones

However, this method was utterly ineffective. Zhou Liming felt as if someone were incessantly stirring his brain, with the gray matter resembling the cement mix that construction workers prepare. The nerves, stimulated by the pain, stood on end, and the blood surged through the vessels as if boiling. His heart began to beat wildly, completely out of rhythm.

The staff of the orphanage, who received the notification, quickly arrived and did not pursue the matter further. Instead, they supported Zhou Liming towards the medical room of the orphanage. Upon reaching the medical room, the attending physician first examined the wound. Seeing that it had already healed and stopped bleeding, he said: "Fortunately, it has healed, and there is no need for stitches. Just clean the area around the wound, disinfect it, and bandage the wound."

Just now, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child, who had been shaking Zhou Liming with a crying tone, saw Zhou Liming wake up. The child's nature instantly transformed the recent fear into joy, and he happily said: "Brother Ming, this is wonderful, everything is fine now." Having never encountered such a situation before, he had just been stunned with fear and only knew to shake Zhou Liming to wake him up.

Faint cries echoed in his ears, gradually bringing Zhou Liming out of the darkness of his consciousness. The swaying of his body forced Zhou Liming to struggle to open his eyes, but a tearing pain in his head made him only manage to open his still dazed eyes, which were dimming and filled with flickering stars.

The orphanage is somewhat old, but it occupies a very large area, with several rows of houses that can accommodate hundreds of residents. It was built in the 1980s in Zhe B City and is part of a very professional orphanage organization. Its primary source of funding relies on government subsidies and donations from various individuals. However, recently, Zhou Liming has heard some rumors that the orphanage is set to relocate to the outskirts of Zhe B City, as in recent years, the real estate boom has attracted real estate companies eyeing this substantial piece of land.

Just now it was merely my head, but now it feels as if every single cell in my body is being torn apart

As soon as this was mentioned, the child Zheng Le stammered a bit: "I... I don't know what happened either. I was... I was watching the flames in the sky with Lu Lu and the others, and then... then we heard a very loud sound coming from the courtyard. At that time, we didn't pay much attention, we were just focused on watching the flames..."

In the dim light of the silk threads and the reading lamp, Zhou Liming did not notice that every inch of his skin was gradually developing a layer of thumb-sized dark green scales, becoming increasingly distinct with the intensifying pain. Even more terrifying was that... his hands and feet...

Although he was not particularly strong, at this moment his muscles appeared to be swollen, stretching his shirt and pants. The prominent veins seemed almost ready to burst through the surface.

Outside the room, there is a small streetlight. With the light, one can see that apart from a row of single beds, a table and chairs, and a small cabinet, there is nothing else in the room. Lying on the bed, Zhou Liming had just closed his eyes and was randomly thinking about some matters when he felt his head gradually becoming heavy, and the pain was also intensifying.

Zhou Liming suddenly clutched his head and let out a roar, rolling off the bed and desperately tumbling on the floor

Isn't the wound supposed to be healing? Why does it hurt so much? Ah ... ...

Only Zheng Le often followed closely behind Zhou Liming, suppressing the inner fear, desperately shaking Zhou Libai.

Considering that Zhou Liming had lost a significant amount of blood, the staff went to the cafeteria to prepare a bowl of meat soup. After watching Zhou Liming finish it, they instructed him to rest well before leaving with a sense of relief

Such a commotion could not possibly go unnoticed, yet the dean had taken some staff members to attend a small charity auction this evening. At that time, the phenomena in the sky mostly drew attention to the heavens, and with the sounds generated by the friction of the meteorites masking everything else, how could anyone have noticed just a single sound? It was indeed unfortunate for Zhou Liming; who would have thought that staying here would lead to such a calamity?

The intense pain quickly exceeded Zhou Liming's capacity to endure, causing even the strong Zhou Liming to emit faint cries, as he repeatedly struck his own head with his hands

However, he did not think of anything else; instead, he quickly cleaned the wound, disinfected it, sprinkled healing powder on it, and then bandaged it with a cloth.

Roar ... ...

Upon touching the wound on his head, the tearing pain intensified, causing Zhou Liming to gasp sharply in cold shock. He looked at his hand, which was covered in thick, dark, and somewhat viscous blood. A wave of discomfort also surged through his neck, and his collar was soaked with fresh blood.

He shook his head, feeling it was incredible that such a large wound could heal naturally. Moreover, based on what he had heard about the situation, with so much blood lost, the person remained so alert, which truly baffled him. Logically speaking, with this much blood loss, one should have long since gone into shock and fallen into a coma; how could they still be like this, merely with a slightly pale complexion and a bit of weakness?

Ah ... ...

These do not seem to be matters that Zhou Liming could be concerned with, but at least this small single room now feels like his own home

To put it simply, Zheng Le and Lu Lu are still thirteen or fourteen-year-old children, much like themselves. The strangeness in the sky will become uninteresting once the novelty wears off. The only places to play in the orphanage are the lake, the woods, and the nearby small amusement park. Out of boredom, they naturally come to these places. Then they discover the pit on the path, as well as their own fainted selves.

Zhou Liming felt that the pain he had experienced throughout his life combined was nothing compared to the pain he was enduring in this single moment. It was as if his very soul was trembling and being torn apart. He sensed an immensely powerful force starting from his head, spreading downwards towards his lower body, permeating every cell in his body along with his blood. ... It was as if he had been injected with a stimulant; every cell came alive, wanting to resist this force. However, this force was too strong, so strong that the cells had no means of resistance and were simply crushed under it.

After some ups and downs, Zhou Liming finally understood.

However, there are still aftereffects of excessive blood loss, and Zhou Liming feels his legs weaken even when he stands up

Shaking his head, Zhou Liming finally understood that he had been hit on the head by something that had splashed.

Zhou Liming lay on the bed, a dull pain still lingering in his head. Although his body felt somewhat weak, his mind was exceptionally clear, especially with his head wrapped up like a zongzi; how could he possibly sleep?

Instinctively covering the torn and painful area on his head with his hand, he touched what had become a somewhat viscous liquid