Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 353 The New Team Doctor
Inside the abandoned shrine, the sharp and stable aura of killing intent slowly subsided, eventually merging completely into Jiang Jin's body.

He opened his eyes, his gaze gleaming with a sharp light, as if an invisible edge was flowing within them. His entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation; though he remained seated, he exuded an imposing aura of authority.

"My God, the deputy commander succeeded... he actually succeeded!" Lian De was the first to shout excitedly, his face filled with unbelievable joy.

Li Shang looked at Jiang Jin with shock in his eyes: "In less than half a year, you went from a newbie to a LV3 Forbidden Zone Hunter... Jiang Jin, your advancement speed is one of the most outstanding talents among all reincarnators in the world!"

Of course, perhaps removing "one of" wouldn't be an impossible choice.

Lian Xuan also sincerely praised, "Vice Commander, your domain foundation... I have never felt such pure and terrifying killing intent. Your future... your potential is limitless!"

Takamiya Yui stood to the side, utterly shocked. He looked at Jiang Jin, whose aura was as deep and imposing as a mountain, and then at Yu Tianlun, who was still trying to break through to LV4 and whose aura was equally unfathomable. Recalling the legends he had heard about the powerful reincarnators in China, a deep sense of powerlessness and admiration welled up within him. He sighed softly, "Too powerful... The reincarnators of China are truly too powerful. We Japanese... can never compare."

This is not self-deprecation, but a sober understanding of the absolute gap in strength.

As Jiang Jin felt the new power surging within him, and the miniature killing domain that could be deployed at any time, isolated from pollution, and turned the tables, he felt not much joy, but only a heavy sense of responsibility and urgency.

His strength had increased, but the crisis was not over. He looked at Yu Tianlun, who was still struggling with his eyes closed, his face sometimes contorted in pain and sometimes contorted in agony, and knew that his leader was also at the most critical moment.

"Everyone, hurry up and recover, consolidate your realm. We shouldn't stay here any longer," Jiang Jin instructed in a deep voice, his tone carrying a calmness that gave people a great sense of security.

……

Tokyo, NHK television station.

Reiko Asakawa has been absent-minded lately, often spacing out, and frequently making mistakes while organizing her manuscripts.

Her colleagues all felt that she was acting strangely; the capable and focused anchorwoman from Asakawa seemed to have become a different person.

During lunch break, in the staff lounge, Reiko finally couldn't hold back and confided to her close female colleague, Okada, "Okada... I've fallen in love with someone."

Okada became interested: "Oh? Which talented young man has managed to capture the heart of our station's ice queen?"

Reiko blushed, her eyes glazed over, a bittersweet look on her face: "But...he...he's already married."

"What?!" Okada nearly choked on his coffee, exclaiming in a low voice, "Reiko! Are you crazy?! Do you know what you're saying? Do you think you're Hitomi Kuroki? Getting involved with a married man is playing with fire!"

In 1997, the film "Paradise Lost" was released, which sparked social discussion. Hitomi Kuroki played the role of Rinko Matsubara, the female protagonist in an extramarital affair, which became a classic role in Japanese film history.

Reiko stubbornly shook her head, her eyes flashing with an almost obsessive light: "I know this is wrong... but, I don't know why... I can't control myself. From the moment he appeared, I knew that he was the one I had been waiting for. Even if... even if I never marry and have no official status, I have made up my mind about him."

Seeing his friend so deeply infatuated and unable to extricate herself, Okada was both anxious and helpless. He earnestly advised, "Reiko, wake up! How come I never realized you were such a love-struck person before! Look at the station now, everyone is privately cursing Camilla, who broke up Princess Diana's marriage, calling her a homewrecker and wishing her a terrible death! This kind of relationship will never work out; it will only ruin you! Don't tell anyone else, break it off immediately! Even for Yoichi's sake, you have to break it off!"

However, Reiko simply lowered her head, her eyes remaining resolute.

After all... how could an ordinary person like her resist the curse cast by Li Shang, a Level 4 Reincarnator?
After get off work, Lingzi went to pick up Yangyi with a mix of trepidation and anticipation.

When I arrived at my front door and saw the light coming from my own window, I was overjoyed: Kurosaki-kun and the others are back!

She grabbed Yang Yi and practically ran into the house.

"Kurosaki-kun! You all go back..."

The words stopped abruptly.

In the living room, Jiang Jin, Yu Tianlun, Li Shang, Lian Xuan, Lian De, Gao Gongwei, and Yang Jian were all standing there. Their luggage had been packed simply, and they were obviously preparing to leave.

"You...are you leaving?" Reiko's smile froze, her eyes filled with disappointment and reluctance.

Looking at Lingzi's undisguised adoration, Jiang Jin sighed inwardly at how powerful Li Shang's black magic was.

He stepped forward and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Ms. Asakawa, thank you very much for taking us in and helping us these past few days. But we still have things to do and can't trouble you any further."

He paused, then looked at Li Shang: "Li Shang, remove the curse from Miss Asakawa."

Li Shang nodded and was about to cast the spell.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
A brightly colored, beetle-like flying insect with strange compound eyes and sharp mouthparts appeared silently from nowhere and shot towards Jiang Jin's neck like lightning!

"Kurosaki-kun, watch out!" Reiko had been watching Jiang Jin closely, and almost instinctively, she lunged forward and forcefully pushed Jiang Jin aside!
"Pfft!"

The insect's mouthparts pierced deeply into Reiko's raised arm as she tried to block!
"Ah!" Lingzi cried out in pain as a piercing pain and numbness shot through her arm. The area around the wound quickly turned black and purple and spread toward her shoulder!

"Mom!" Yang Yi cried out in terror. "A Gu worm!" Jiang Jin's pupils constricted, instantly recognizing the creature's origin! And it was a highly poisonous Gu worm of an extremely high level!

He reacted extremely quickly, and the Moon Shadow Blade was instantly drawn. With a flash of light, it sliced ​​the Gu worm that was trying to fly away into two pieces in mid-air!
"There's a sorcerer!" Yu Tianlun shouted, quickly forming hand seals. A pale golden sorcerer's barrier instantly opened, enveloping the entire room, isolating the internal and external energies, and preventing further attacks.

Everyone's hearts sank!
Even though Jiang Jin has just advanced to LV3, these specially bred, highly venomous Gu worms containing bizarre rules can still pose a serious threat to him! And Lingzi is just an ordinary person…

Lingzi collapsed into Jiang Jin's arms, her face turning bluish-black at a visible speed, her breathing becoming rapid and weak, and her body beginning to convulse.

The speed at which the Gu poison spread was astonishing!

“Yinqiu…” Yu Tianlun subconsciously wanted to call out to Xu Yinqiu, but then remembered that she was no longer there, and his heart ached again.

The team's only healer has passed away; no one can save Lingzi!

Jiang Jin was both shocked and furious, furious at the sorcerer hiding in the shadows and moved by Lingzi's selfless act of saving him.

He quickly took out several high-level healing potions and antidotes from the Reincarnator's Watch and forced them down Lingzi's throat without saying a word.

However, those precious medicines had little effect on this strange poison!

The poison continued to spread stubbornly, and Lingzi's life force was like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly fading away.

The poison used by sorcerers is extremely insidious and domineering. Only a soothing master who is proficient in life energy and purification power, or certain specific and extremely rare antidotes, can neutralize it.

"Mom! Mom, don't die!" Yang Yi hugged Lingzi and cried his heart out.

Reiko felt her life force rapidly slipping away. With her last strength, she grabbed Jiang Jin's hand, her eyes unfocused yet filled with pleading: "Kurosaki... you're alright... that's all I need... please... help me... take care of... Yoichi..."

Her words pierced Jiang Jin's heart like a knife. Looking at the woman in his arms, who was infatuated with him because of the black magic, yet who unhesitatingly shielded him from a fatal blow at the crucial moment, and then at her innocent and helpless son, boundless guilt welled up in his heart.

Yinqiu's death had already broken his heart; was he really going to watch an innocent person die because of him?
"No! There's still a way!" Yu Tianlun suddenly looked up, a resolute glint in his eyes. "There's only one way to save her! Exchange a Reincarnator's Watch for her! Make her a Reincarnator!"

He hurriedly explained, "As long as she becomes a Reincarnator and chooses the Zhuyou profession, even if it's only LV1, she can use the most basic Zhuyou techniques to temporarily suspend her life and slow down the erosion of the Gu poison! More importantly, when the newbie gift pack is airdropped, it will include a bottle of 'universal antidote'! That's a benefit that the Reincarnation System gives to new Zhuyou practitioners, and it can cure most deadly poisons! Including Gu poison!"

This is the only way to survive!
That was also... the beginning of dragging her completely into an abyss of endless terror!
Jiang Jin looked at Lingzi, who was barely breathing and whose eyes were starting to glaze over, and at the shocking black marks on her arms. Hearing Yang Yi's desperate cries, he didn't hesitate at all!

"Exchange! Exchange now!"

Without hesitation, he operated the watch, paid for the resentment crystal, and a brand new Reincarnator Watch instantly appeared in his hand.

He grabbed Lingzi's other, still-intact hand and quickly put the watch on her wrist.

"Miss Asakawa! Concentrate! Look in front of your left eye! Do you see any words appearing? Think about choosing the Zhuyou profession! Then, think about using a basic Zhuyou technique to heal yourself! Hurry!" Jiang Jin shouted loudly to Lingzi, whose consciousness was already fading.

Perhaps driven by a strong will to survive, Lingzi's unfocused eyes regained a glimmer of light. She felt as if she "saw" something, and then, following Jiang Jin's words, she made her choice.

A faint but real, soft white light, carrying the breath of life, emanated from her body—it was the most basic incantation technique!

This force temporarily protected her, and the spread of the poison began to slow down.

But this was only a temporary measure; Yu Tianlun judged that it could only last for two hours at most. After two hours, without an antidote, she would still die from the poison. However, that would be enough time until the newbie gift pack was airdropped.

"Kurosaki-kun... I... I'm not dead?" Reiko weakly opened her eyes, feeling the strange power within her body and the temporarily suppressed pain, her face showing the joy of surviving a disaster.

Looking at Jiang Jin so close to her, she instinctively hugged him tightly, tears welling up in her eyes: "That's great... Kurosaki-kun... I thought... I thought..."

Jiang Jin's body stiffened as he felt the warmth of the woman in his arms and her dependent embrace. A wave of guilt washed over him.

Because of his involvement, this woman is now forced to become a reincarnated being who must constantly struggle on the edge of life and death, and her future path is filled with unimaginable terror and despair.

Emotionally, she risked her life to save him; logically, it was the curse cast by his team members and the crisis she was caught up in that led to everything. From either perspective, he bears an undeniable responsibility towards her and must ensure her safe passage through the initial and most dangerous novice period of reincarnators. Therefore, the only option is to have her join the Nirvana team as the new team medic.

But... once Li Shang finds an opportunity to remove the curse from her body, and she regains consciousness, will she... feel immense resentment towards herself when she recalls everything and her experience of being forced to become a reincarnator?
Jiang Jin felt a mix of emotions. He could only gently pat Lingzi's back and whisper, "It's alright...it's alright for now. Hang in there, the antidote will be here soon."

He raised his head and exchanged a solemn look with Yu Tianlun and the others.

A new crisis has emerged, and the road ahead seems even more difficult. Who exactly are these mysterious, hostile reincarnators?

Now, they must wait... for the newbie gift pack that can save Lingzi's life to drop!
(End of this chapter)