Douluo Continent: God Descends

Chapter 38 Blood Transfusion

The door to the intensive care unit slowly opened, and a smell mixed with disinfectant and a faint, sweet odor wafted out, instantly enveloping Lu Xingchen with an even stronger sense of oppression than in the corridor.

The room was dimly lit but chilly. Four beds were neatly arranged, each with a small figure lying on it, connected to a dense network of medical instruments and cables. The green ripples on the screens were the faintest proof of life remaining.

Lu Xingchen's gaze immediately fell on the two outermost hospital beds. Rosalia and Lilia lay quietly, their eyes closed, their faces as pale as paper, with only the faint rise and fall of their chests indicating the presence of life.

What made his heart sink was the black markings wrapped around the two sisters.

Those lines, like living things, flowed across the skin, gleaming with a cold, eerie light, extending from the neck to the limbs, like an impenetrable net, firmly binding their vitality.

Wherever the lines passed, the skin took on an eerie bluish-black hue, and even the exposed arms appeared withered and weak.

"Is this curse really that terrifying?"

Lu Xingchen frowned. Although '0-01' had mentioned it before, seeing it with his own eyes now, this cursed mist seemed even more terrifying than he had imagined.

Besides Rosalia and Lilia, the other two children were also entangled in the curse, their bodies covered with strange black patterns.

His gaze swept over the other two hospital beds. One of the girls was curled up, her brows furrowed, and even in her unconscious state, her face was full of pain. Her lips were dry and cracked from dehydration.

But the "person" lying on the hospital bed in the far corner made Lu Xingchen's pupils shrink slightly.

It couldn't be described as a "child" at all; it was more like a lump of charcoal burned by a raging fire.

His entire body was charred black, with cracked lines all over the surface, as if it would shatter at the slightest touch.

Where there should have been hair, there was a bald patch, and even the facial features were blurred due to severe burns, with only the outlines of the eyes and mouth barely discernible.

If it weren't for the extremely faint rise and fall of the chest, accompanied by the slight trembling of the charred skin with each breath, anyone would think that this was just a corpse that had long since lost its life.

"This is..." A hint of doubt flashed in Lu Xingchen's eyes as he turned to look at Cocolia beside him.

Cocolia's eyes dimmed instantly, her voice filled with undisguised heartache: "She is Meu."

Under Lu Xingchen's gaze, Cocolia slowly recounted Meu's ordeal.

It turned out that when the Tianhai City guards were searching for survivors in the orphanage, they found Mei Wu, who was still breathing faintly, in a pool of black blood.

At that time, not only was her whole body charred black, but her bones were also fractured in multiple places, her body was twisted into a strange arc, and the curse power wrapped around her body was several times stronger than that of the other children, as if she was immersed in darkness.

"When she was taken to the hospital, the attending physician said on the spot that her injuries and the curse combined meant that her chances of survival were less than one in ten thousand."

Cocolia's voice choked with emotion as she wiped her eyes. "But I just couldn't bear to give up. Even if there was only a sliver of hope, I wanted her to live. I never imagined... she would actually make it this far."

The attending physician added from the side:

"This child's will to live is simply a medical miracle. We have seen countless patients struggling in desperate situations, but none of them have ever been able to hold on to their last breath like her, with all her bodily functions on the verge of collapse and the power of the curse devouring her body."

"I see."

Lu Xingchen stared silently at the "black lump of coal" on the hospital bed, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Meu's current state is partly his fault, because the Grim Reaper chased after him while Meu was unconscious.

He originally thought that Meu had already died in the explosion of the flesh bomb, but he did not expect that she not only survived, but also endured such hellish pain.

"It must have been a skeleton soldier from the Grim Reaper's side who shielded her from the explosion, preventing her from directly contacting the cursed flesh."

Lu Xingchen secretly speculated in his heart, his eyes gradually becoming complicated, "To be able to hold on until now, perhaps it really is not his time to die."

He withdrew his gaze, no longer thinking about it—the most important thing at this moment was to use his own blood to dispel the curse within them as soon as possible.

The attending physician had already instructed the nurses to prepare the blood transfusion equipment. Four sets of transfusion lines were connected to four transparent blood bags, which were neatly hung on the IV stand.

When Lu Xingchen proposed to donate blood to all four children at the same time, both Cocolia and the attending physician objected.

Under normal circumstances, a patient who has just regained consciousness cannot possibly support the blood transfusion needs of four people. If not careful, excessive blood loss could endanger their life.

Lu Xingchen's attitude was unusually firm. He didn't explain much, but simply repeated the words "I can." His clear eyes, which carried an undeniable power, made Cocolia and the attending physician inexplicably relent.

The nurse carefully inserted the needle into Lu Xingchen's arm, and bright red blood slowly flowed out along the catheter. After being filtered by the blood transfusion set, it was injected into the IV tubing connected to the four children.

Warm blood flowed through transparent tubes, like life-giving threads, tightly connecting Lu Xingchen's life with the children's lives.

Just as the blood was about to enter the children's bodies, Lu Xingchen quietly closed his eyes and concentrated. He silently prayed and communicated with the chaotic sea residing within his body.

A faint yet exceptionally pure aura flowed slowly with his will, like a gentle stream, merging into the flowing blood.

"As '0-02' said, the power of the Chaos Sea can dispel curses, but it may also trigger unknown mutations."

Lu Xingchen silently prayed in his heart, "I hope you can pull through and not evolve any strange organs..."

Time ticked by, and the blood transfusion proceeded in silence.

Cocolia stood to the side, her eyes fixed on Lu Xingchen and the children, her palms already soaked with sweat.

The attending physician also held his breath, his gaze shifting back and forth between the instrument screen and Lu Xingchen, fearing any unexpected event might occur.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last bag of blood was transfused and the nurse removed the needle from Lu Xingchen's arm, he slowly opened his eyes and let out a long sigh of relief.

As the tension suddenly eased, the aftereffects of donating blood came rushing in instantly.

A wave of intense dizziness washed over him, his vision blurred, and his limbs felt heavy and weak, as if all his strength had been drained away. He staggered back a step, but fortunately Cocolia caught him in time to prevent him from falling.

"Star! How are you? Is anything bothering you?" Cocolia asked anxiously, reaching out to touch his forehead, only to find it ice-cold.

"I'm fine... I'm just a little dizzy, I'll be fine after a rest." Lu Xingchen smiled weakly, his voice tinged with fatigue.

Even though the amount of blood transfused to each of the four people at once was not much, he still found it difficult to cope.

The attending physician quickly stepped forward, checked his vital signs, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was nothing seriously wrong: "It's alright, it's just a temporary decrease in blood volume. He'll recover after a period of rest. You're such a hard worker, kid."

Lu Xingchen didn't speak, but simply turned her gaze to the children on the hospital bed.

At this moment, a miracle is quietly taking place.

The black patterns wrapped around their bodies were visibly fading and disappearing, and their originally bluish-black complexions were gradually regaining some color. The vital signs on the instrument screen were also becoming more stable and robust.

Especially Meiwu, whose charred skin faintly glowed, and whose previously weak breathing became much more steady.

Seeing this, Cocolia was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. She covered her mouth, trying her best not to cry out loud.

The attending physician's eyes widened, his face filled with shock and disbelief: "This...how is this possible? The curse is actually fading?!"

In his decades of experience, he had never witnessed such a bizarre sight. The curse, which even a Light-attribute Soul Emperor and a Healing-type Soul King could not shake, was showing signs of fading within just a dozen minutes!

Seeing all this, Lu Xingchen finally felt a weight lifted from his heart.

The power of the Chaos Sea did indeed work. Now, all we can do is wait for them to wake up and see if any mutations occur.

"Doctor, their condition should be stable by now, right?" Lu Xingchen said weakly, his fatigue growing stronger.

The attending physician, regaining his composure, said, "Yes, he's stabilized. Don't worry, I'll arrange for someone to monitor him 24 hours a day, and I'll notify you immediately if anything changes!"

Cocolia helped Lu Xingchen up and said softly, "Xingchen, you need to rest now. I'll take you back to your ward."

Lu Xingchen nodded and, supported by Cocolia, slowly walked towards the ward. Before leaving the intensive care unit, he glanced back at the children on the hospital bed, his eyes filled with a mixture of hope and worry.

He didn't know what awaited them, but he knew he had done everything he could.

"I hope it doesn't actually grow horns."