Yujie pushed Yitianchou behind her and stood in place as the lightning ball exploded upon hitting her, emitting a strong flash of electricity. Yujie swayed but gritted her teeth, remaining standing.

"Let's see how long you can hold on," Lin Shiqi continuously summoned lightning balls to strike Yujie. Yujie stood still, allowing Lin Shiqi to attack her with the lightning balls, showing no resistance. She wore a pained expression, even if she was shocked to the ground, she would still stand back up.

"This woman is really tough, willing to endure injury to protect that Yitianchou," Lin Shiqi's face showed a surprised expression, somewhat admiring Yujie.

"Enough, Shiqi." After a few minutes of the continued attack, Qin Yan spoke up.

Seeing that Yujie was enduring her torment without retaliating, Lin Shiqi also found it uninteresting. She stopped and Yujie, seeing that Qin Yan seemed to intend to spare them, immediately put on a pleasing smile, saying, "Thank you, Brother Qin Yan, I will definitely repay you in the future."

Qin Yan snorted and said, "No need for repayment, but if I ever find out that you have any intention of harming us, I will kill both of you immediately. Do you understand!?"

Yujie hurriedly said, "How could I? If we harm you, we won't survive either. Why would I do such a foolish thing, hehe..."

"You can go." Qin Yan waved his hand, and Yujie supported Yitianchou as they walked away. At this moment, Dream Butterfly spoke up, "Wait."

Yujie thought Qin Yan and the others had changed their minds, so she immediately stopped and looked at Dream Butterfly with a sense of panic.

Dream Butterfly looked at Yitianchou and asked, "What kind of illness does he have to end up like this?"

Feeling relieved that they hadn't changed their minds, Yujie unbuttoned Yitianchou's outer clothing, exposing his upper body, and softly said, "See for yourselves..."

"Huh, what's this?!" Qin Yan, Lin Shiqi, and Dream Butterfly's pupils suddenly contracted. They saw Yitianchou's upper body covered with snake-like green scales, which enveloped half of his torso, making him look like a half-human, half-beast creature, extremely eerie and terrifying.

"What kind of illness does he have to turn into this?" Lin Shiqi exclaimed in surprise.

Yujie's face showed a sorrowful expression. "Actually, Tian Ge has had this illness for years. He has to take medication every day to control it. Since coming here, he hasn't had any medicine to take. Combined with the injuries he sustained before and the constant battles with monsters here without rest, his condition rapidly deteriorated, leading to this."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Dream Butterfly nodded. "Yes, this illness is a typical aftermath of enhanced abilities. He must have undergone biological modification through enhanced abilities at a very young age to develop this illness."

Seeing that Dream Butterfly was knowledgeable about the illness, Yujie hurriedly asked, "What will happen to Tian Ge?"

"This illness is tricky, it can't be completely cured, only controlled with medication to prevent it from worsening. If he stops the medication, the condition will deteriorate. If he's lucky, his body will fully transform into a beast, but if not, his body functions will rapidly decline, leading to eventual death."

"Ah, is there a way to save him?" Yujie panicked upon hearing this.

Before Dream Butterfly could speak, Lin Shiqi, looking displeased, interjected, "You're going too far. We've helped you drive away monsters and protected you from attacks. We've been kind enough to you. Wanting us to save you is simply wishful thinking!"

Yujie knew that pleading with Lin Shiqi was likely futile, so she turned her gaze to Qin Yan, wearing a pleading expression on her face. Qin Yan quickly waved his hand, saying, "Don't look at me, it's no use. This is your own matter, and we have no obligation to help you. Whether he lives or dies, even if he turns into a monster, it has nothing to do with us."

"But..." Yujie still wanted to plead, but at this moment, Yitianchou, barely conscious with half-open eyes, spoke, "Stop talking. He's right. This is my own matter. Whether I live or die has nothing to do with them. I don't need their help. Help me walk."

Yujie's face dimmed, and she didn't speak further, supporting Yitianchou as they walked away.

"Is this really okay? What if they repay kindness with enmity and attack us when we're not paying attention?" Lin Shiqi, seeing Yujie and Yitianchou walk away, expressed some concern.

"That won't happen," Dream Butterfly said. "They are not relying on us, and they have no way to survive here without us. It's more harmful than beneficial for them to do such a thing. Besides, there are many unknown factors in the future. Perhaps they can help us in the future."

Seeing Dream Butterfly's reassurance, Lin Shiqi didn't say anything more. That night, they camped nearby, continued their journey at dawn, and three days later, at noon, they finally emerged from the forest into a lush grassy plain.

"We've finally left that cursed forest. I thought we would be trapped in there forever," Lin Shiqi breathed a sigh of relief.

"If the information from that double-headed monster was correct, we should be close to that city he mentioned," Qin Yan said.

"Let's hurry and maybe we'll soon encounter other humans," Lin Shiqi said, her face showing a hint of excitement.

The three immediately quickened their pace. By evening, they saw a small, blurry black shadow on the distant horizon.

"What is that? Could that be the city the double-headed monster mentioned?" Lin Shiqi looked at the distant shadow, puzzled.

"Let's go check it out," Qin Yan said.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the black shadow they had seen earlier, which turned out to be an extremely long, ten-meter-high, heavy stone wall.

"This wall seems like an ancient structure. There should be a city behind it," Lin Shiqi remarked.

"Let's go in from there." Qin Yan pointed to a gate-like structure in the distance. The three entered the city through the completely rusted and corroded metal gate, finding countless buildings of various shapes and sizes inside the city. There were single-story, double-story, wooden, and stone buildings. Walking through the city streets, they felt as if they had traveled through time and arrived in ancient times.