The Frail Guide Who Devoured an Entire Pollution Zone

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Past Favors and Grudges

Although Chen Yunfei was an S Level Sentinel, he had to look out for his teammates’ safety during missions. This meant there were occasional oversights, or things would simply take much longer.

But with the addition of Lu Jingyu, many tasks that previously took a great deal of time could be handled with ease.

Furthermore, with Lu Jingyu on the scene, there were times when everyone else could just sit back and do nothing.

Immediately, many people began to rally behind Lu Jingyu, believing he was better suited to lead the Heiyu Alliance.

Although Chen Chang’an had founded the Heiyu Alliance, it was established from the very beginning that leadership wasn’t hereditary, nor was it an autocracy.

It was only because the father-son duo of Chen Chang’an and Chen Yunfei had consistently held the top spot in terms of power before Lu Jingyu’s arrival that the popular tale of a son following in his father’s footsteps continued to circulate.

Hearing the rumors from the outside world, Chen Chang’an didn’t care about the leadership position itself. However, having doted on Chen Yunfei since childhood, his paternal love made him feel that Lu Jingyu could never be as brilliant as his own son.

But faced with the truth, he could only be privately disappointed. He never truly showed any dissatisfaction toward Lu Jingyu, nor did he ever target him.

As for Chen Yunfei, he wasn’t a petty person. Faced with Lu Jingyu, whose reputation was gradually eclipsing his own, he wasn’t angry at all. On the contrary, he greatly admired Lu Jingyu, looking up to him as an idol and often seeking his guidance.

Their relationship developed into one of both mentorship and friendship, and together they led the Heiyu Alliance to protect Zone 9.

The tragedy struck three years ago, and Chen Yunfei has now been bedridden for three years.

On that day, Mutants appeared again in the West District, this time in considerable numbers. After receiving the intel, Lu Jingyu and Chen Yunfei each led a team to the scene.

When they arrived on site, they discovered there were two SS level Mutants among them.

As a result, each of them engaged one of the SS level Mutants.

For Lu Jingyu, handling an SS level Mutant was still well within his capabilities.

But for Chen Yunfei, it was a challenge beyond his S Level, and it was inevitably difficult.

As they each fought their opponents, Chen Yunfei quickly entered a berserk state, which allowed him to gradually gain the upper hand.

While dealing with his opponent, Lu Jingyu kept a close watch on his squad’s condition.

His squad was facing a large number of lower-level Mutants and was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

Seeing his squad being surrounded by Mutants and on the verge of defeat, Lu Jingyu had no choice but to rush over to help them while still keeping his own opponent occupied.

As Lu Jingyu was bailing out his squad, the berserk Chen Yunfei finally eliminated the SS level Mutant he was fighting.

Having lost his target, Chen Yunfei immediately turned on his own teammates.

At the critical moment, an Alliance guide arrived and began to soothe Chen Yunfei, allowing his teammates, who had been caught between him and the other Mutants, to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, that assault had left Chen Yunfei’s own squad overwhelmed. Even without Chen Yunfei attacking them, they were still steadily losing ground to the remaining Mutants.

After getting his own side’s situation under control, Lu Jingyu saw that Chen Yunfei’s squad was also in crisis and had to disengage again to go help them.

But even someone like Lu Jingyu can have a moment of oversight. While he was rescuing the others, the SS level Mutant he had been kiting and suppressing suddenly noticed the guide soothing Chen Yunfei. It abruptly turned and charged at the pair.

By the time Lu Jingyu realized what was happening, the Mutant had already struck. He rushed over, but the creature had already interrupted the guide’s soothing.

His expression turned grim. Lu Jingyu willingly tapped into his berserk power, forcing the Mutant into a steady retreat.

Then, with a final push, he eliminated the Mutant.

Once he had eliminated the Mutant and calmed down, he found everyone gathered around Chen Yunfei and the guide.

He hurried over, only to learn that the Mutant’s attack had interrupted the soothing between Chen Yunfei and the guide. This caused Chen Yunfei’s already agitated spirit body to seal itself away completely.

The lightly injured guide tried to re-establish a spiritual connection with Chen Yunfei, but was immediately repelled by his Spiritual World.

Because his spirit body had sealed itself away, Chen Yunfei fell into a coma.

When they brought Chen Yunfei back to the base, Chen Chang’an, having heard the news, rushed out to meet them.

At that time, Chen Chang’an’s animosity toward Lu Jingyu wasn’t so great. He merely shot Lu Jingyu a look before having his men carry Chen Yunfei into the medical bay.

He then arranged for several guides to try to reopen Chen Yunfei’s Spiritual World and awaken him.

But whether it was because the guides weren’t strong enough or because they tried to force their way into his mind, Chen Yunfei’s Spiritual World only sealed itself off more severely.

After that, both Chen Chang’an and Lu Jingyu searched for all sorts of medicines to nourish his spirit and hired several high-level guides for him.

But despite all these efforts, Chen Yunfei showed no signs of waking.

Since Chen Yunfei fell into a coma, Chen Chang’an, who was already not heavily involved in the Alliance’s day-to-day affairs, completely stepped away from his duties.

At the same time, all the other elders also stepped down.

Due to Chen Yunfei’s unexpected coma, the entire burden of running the Alliance fell onto Lu Jingyu’s shoulders.

From that point on, Lu Jingyu became the de facto leader of the Heiyu Alliance.

Chen Chang’an moved Chen Yunfei from the medical bay to his home, where he continued to search for a cure.

At first, Lu Jingyu would visit Chen Yunfei every few days. Chen Chang’an would simply watch him in silence.

This went on for a year. With Chen Yunfei showing no signs of improvement, Chen Chang’an’s attitude toward Lu Jingyu began to shift.

First, he warned Lu Jingyu not to visit anymore. Later, whenever Lu Jingyu came, Chen Chang’an would try to throw him out. Eventually, it got to the point where Chen Chang’an would attack him on sight.

Even so, Lu Jingyu continued to visit Chen Yunfei frequently, often bringing Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he had found that could help unseal a spirit body.

Chen Chang’an was as hostile as ever, sometimes telling him to take his things and get out, but Lu Jingyu would always insist on leaving the items behind.

Lu Jingyu figured that Chen Chang’an wouldn’t let his anger get in the way of his son’s recovery, so he would use the items on Chen Yunfei.

But three years have passed, and Chen Yunfei still shows no sign of waking. Chen Chang’an spends his days taking care of him personally, waiting for his only son to awaken.

Recounting the past didn’t take long. After finishing his account, Lu Jingyu heaved a long sigh, his expression a mixture of helplessness and heartache.

Xu Qingsui listened with a heavy heart. ”So, Elder Chen blames you for what happened to Chen Yunfei? He thinks it was your negligence that caused all this?”

Lu Jingyu nodded with a bitter smile. ”Mr. Chen isn’t an unreasonable man. It’s just... sometimes, a man can be overwhelmed by grief. When there’s nowhere to direct it, you look for a target.”

”When Yun Fei didn’t wake up, Mr. Chen’s heart was filled with resentment, and it was all directed at me.”

”Because there were already rumors in the outside world about a rivalry between me and Yun Fei, Mr. Chen came to believe that I deliberately gave the Mutant an opening to cause Yun Fei’s tragedy. He thinks I’m the one responsible for what happened to him.”