Chapter 17: Seeking Medicine

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Seeking Medicine

In the early morning, a chill still hung in the air. Xu Mo carefully secured the sharp Bone-Cutting Knife to his simple, self-made belt, the substantial weight a comforting presence. He didn’t touch the glass door with the "Welcome to Taste" sticker. That was his stable food source, like a fixed resource point in a game, something he wouldn’t alter lightly.

Xu Mo’s goal was to find a new, suitable glass door and give it a new "definition."

His physical condition meant he couldn’t afford to delay. Although the faint, sharp pains deep in his joints and sinews after training weren’t yet severe enough to affect his movement, they served as a silent alarm. It was a reminder that Xu Mo had to find some kind of restorative medicine, and soon.

Training was like rowing upstream—if you didn’t advance, you were pushed back. The accumulation of hidden injuries could cause all his efforts to go to waste. This medicine wasn’t just an urgent fix for his current problem; it was a crucial safeguard that would support his training in the long run.

The sun stretched Xu Mo’s shadow long. He gripped the hilt of his Bone-Cutting Knife, his sharp gaze scanning both sides of the street. His steps were light, his ears pricked to catch the slightest unusual sound. Even though the town had been deserted for days, the caution he’d honed in the apocalypse was etched into his very bones.

Xu Mo focused on the street-facing shops with glass storefronts. Unfortunately, many of the doors were no longer intact. He could guess what sort of other-worldly scenes would be revealed by opening these broken doors—likely just some dilapidated, abandoned places. Utterly useless.

After walking about half a block, Xu Mo’s gaze locked onto a shop—or more specifically, a shop with an intact glass door.

’Found it.’

Xu Mo’s heart stirred, and he quickened his pace.

Peering through the dust-covered glass, he saw that the interior was dim. He could vaguely make out a simple reception counter and a chaotic scene behind it.

’This is the place!’ Xu Mo was certain.

Next came the crucial "rule injection" phase. The sign for a pharmacy...

The most classic, universal symbol immediately came to mind: a red cross. In some places, it might be a white cross on a red background, or simply the words for ’pharmacy’ or ’drugstore’.

Xu Mo had come prepared. He crouched down, using his knee as a makeshift table, and carefully drew a standard, thick-lined cross in white on a piece of red cardstock. The size was just right to be conspicuous. Then, below the cross, he neatly wrote the word "Pharmacy."

Once the sign was done, Xu Mo carefully scraped the adhesive residue from a faded old notice off the glass door. Then, using some transparent tape he’d found, he affixed his handmade cross sign squarely in the most conspicuous spot on the outside of the door.

Xu Mo stepped back a few paces to admire his handiwork. The red background, the eye-catching white cross, and the clear black letters looked jarring on the slightly dilapidated, dark-framed glass door, but they unequivocally conveyed the message: "This is a pharmacy."

’Success or failure all depends on the next time,’ Xu Mo muttered to himself, his heart filled with anticipation and a hint of apprehension. He didn’t know if this added sign would be "recognized" and "accepted" by the rules of that static world.

However, based on his previous experience, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Xu Mo didn’t return immediately. Centering himself on the newly marked door, he cautiously patrolled the area, confirming there were no potential threats and memorizing the local terrain and potential escape routes. Only then did he quietly retreat to his temporary shelter.

The next forty-eight hours of waiting felt exceptionally long, now that he had a clear and urgent goal. The dull ache in his body arrived like clockwork after his daily training, as if constantly goading him. Xu Mo continued to persist with his high-intensity training, but the desire for "medicine" had become another wellspring of motivation, helping him endure the pain.

He looked forward to pushing open the door next time and seeing rows of medicine shelves, smelling that unique aroma of mixed medicinal herbs.

Anticipation, like a stone tossed into a still lake, sent ripples across the surface of Xu Mo’s mind, making the forty-eight hours he should have spent calmly training somewhat unbearable.

Every time he held his Posture Stance, as his breath sank and his mind cleared, the image of the glass door with the white cross would involuntarily surface in his thoughts. Every time he underwent his resistance to impact training, as pain shot deep into his bones, his craving for medicinal wine and Plasters grew more intense. Even as he chewed on braised beef to replenish his energy, Xu Mo would wonder, ’If I had medicine to help, how much more efficient would my recovery be?’

Time seemed to stretch. Xu Mo repeatedly checked the countdown in his mind, watching the numbers slowly tick by. For the first time, the fixed forty-eight-hour cooldown period felt agonizingly long. The dull ache in his body hadn’t worsened, but his urgent anticipation made it feel more distinct, like a scheduled alarm constantly reminding him of how important the medicine was.

Xu Mo repeatedly rehearsed what he might encounter inside the pharmacy, planning his scavenging priorities. First, definitely external remedies for bruises and sprains that relax the muscles and get the blood flowing, like medicinal wine, Plasters, and sprays. Second would be oral Chinese patent medicines for improving circulation and dispersing blood stasis. If there was still time, he would also grab some basic vitamins, antibiotics, and first-aid supplies. His backpack was already empty, ready to be filled with the provisions that would be vital to his future training.

This wait, filled with a clear objective, was a strange mix of anxiety—apprehension over whether the rule would work again, and a desperate craving to relieve his body’s needs. Xu Mo filled nearly every moment with training, using physical exhaustion to wash away his mental turmoil.

In the early morning, when the countdown finally ticked over to the last hour, Xu Mo was already restless. He had checked his equipment in advance: the Bone-Cutting Knife was sharp, his backpack empty and neat. He arrived early at the glass door that held so much of his hope, leaning his back against the cold wall to wait for the final moment.

The street remained dead silent. The shifting angle of the sunlight marked the passage of time. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

[00:00:03...02...01...00]

Time’s up!

A glint flashed in Xu Mo’s eyes as all his anxiety and anticipation instantly converted into action. He shot to his feet and firmly pressed his palm against the glass door bearing the cross symbol.

"Open!"

A faint light rippled, and the scene before his eyes transformed—

The familiar scene shifted, and Xu Mo stared intently.

"It worked!"

A complex scent—a mixture of the bitter fragrance of Chinese medicine and the distinct chemical smell of Western drugs—flooded Xu Mo’s nostrils. Before him was the very scene he had longed for: a pharmacy!

And it appeared to be a pharmacy that combined both Chinese and Western medicine. Against one wall stood neat rows of white shelves for Western pharmaceuticals, meticulously categorized with various drug names. On the other side was a classic, dark-brown traditional medicine cabinet, its many small drawers adorned with yellow labels listing the names of herbs. A glass counter displayed various health supplements, and the computer screen at the cash register was still faintly glowing...

Immense joy and a sense of accomplishment instantly washed away all his previous anxiety and the agony of waiting. He had successfully used the rule again. Not only had he verified the effectiveness of the sign, but he had also pinpointed the exact resource point he so desperately needed.

Suppressing the urge to rush in and start grabbing everything, Xu Mo took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

The sixty-second countdown had already begun.

His gaze, like the most precise of scanners, swept across the pharmacy and locked onto its first target: the shelf area labeled "External Use" and "Bruises & Sprains."