Under the cover of the night, Grey dashed out of the corroded zone with vigilance still in his eyes. When he came out several hours later, he heaved a sigh of relief.
It was only after he left the corrosive zone, did he feel the shadow of death that loomed over his head disappear. He did not even know when the oppressive feeling left.
"I have really overestimated myself there. I could have died." Grey said as drank water from his water bottle. As he leaned his head against a tree, he spoke quietly into the night.
After a while, he brought out a sleeping tent from his storage bag. After lighting some incense to deter Mutated beasts did he fall asleep.
***
Early in the morning before the sun was out, Grey awoke and packed up the sleeping tent and put it back in his storage bag. Inside it were, a few bottles of medicinal pills, a sleeping tent, incense sticks, a coal stove, meat from the black steeled wolves and a few buns.
He took out two buns and ate mouthfuls until they were gone, then he took several gulps of water and begun his journey back to the scavenger camp.
His grey eyes were calm and clear, his breathing steady and in rhythm. As he ran, his soles left deep imprints on the floor.
Following a map, he reached the scavenger camp after twelve hours. To travel from the scavenger camp all the way to the corroded zone and back took nearly a full day. But with his steady speed, he got there in half the time.
"I'm back..." He whispered softly and entered the corroded zone, heading towards the Captain's lone house in the outer settlements of the camp.
He entered into a silent house and was met with coldness. It seemed like the Captain had also not been around in the night.
Grey cooked himself some food from the meat he got from the wolves and left soon after. He made his way towards Luo's shop in a few minutes.
As he knocked on the back door, he was greeted by the Ange who was covered in medicinal herbs fragrance.
When she saw him, she let out a small smile and said. "You're back. But wait, why are you covered in blood and grim!?" She said and her faced turned to a frown when she saw his appearance.
That's right, Grey did not bother to change his clothes or even take a bath. After living in the corroded zone for about a week, and living in the scavenger camp for an even longer time than that, he had gotten comfortable in dirt and muck.
Although wearing his own blood felt uncomfortable, after it had dried, he didn't feel any disturbance again.
"Wait is that your own blood!?" Grey heard Ange say and snapped out of his thoughts. He took a good look at himself.
His clothes torn and revealing dried blood underneath. His grey hair disheveled and filled with blood and dirt. Although it was tied in a short bun, it still looked untidy.
His face was even worse. His face was covered in countless blood stains making him look like he had participated in a mass murder.
Now that he was taking his time to look at himself, he could see how filthy and dirty he looked.
'Urgh, what happened to my former clean appearance.'
"Whatever, just come in." Ange had already opened the door for him to enter. Grey gave a gentle nod of his head before he quickly entered.
He saw the door to Luo's office closed so he deduced she was in, but he did go to meet her. Instead, he went to the bathroom to clean himself up first.
When Ange spoke about his appearance, it opened his eyes to a lot of things. Firstly, his dressing would not normally be given a second thought if be was alone in the scavenger camp. After all, everyone here was a lying, thieving and murderous fellow, including Grey.
Secondly, being covered in blood dirt and mud would make other scavengers think twice before messing with him. Because after all, he emitted a strong baleful aura of death and blood.
Thirdly, he didn't feel comfortable with these scavengers seeing his face. Because of his peculiar hair and eye color, he was bound to be recognized easily without any of the dirt. That could pose a problem for him and could lead to him being targeted thanks to his unusual appearance.
It was like seeing a single black sheep in an entire herd of white sheep. Anyone with eyes would be able to notice the anomaly. Although he didn't need to be afraid in the scavenger camp because of the Captain and his cohort, but what if he was faced with this alone. He couldn't be reliant on their help all the times.
So after washing his face and body, he got new clothes that the Captain had given him at one point and came out of the washroom.
He saw Luo sitting with her legs crossed while she checked the quality of Ange's pills with an inquisitive expression.
When she heard the sound of the door, she turned her attention to Grey.
When she saw Grey's new appearance, she had a 'wow' expression on her face. Her cheeks flushed red a bit before she cleared her throat and said.
"Wow Grey, never knew you were quite the looker. The corroded zone doesn't do your skin any good. You know, you could be a flower boy just with your looks..."
She stopped at that before she stood up and briskly walked into her office with her face still flushed red.
'Ah, I'm that handsome, I guess!'
Grey said inwardly as he also watched Ange's expression. Her cheeks were truly turning beetroot and she went back to the pharmacy, leaving Grey alone to learn the Dao of medicine.
But that was okay, because he liked being alone. When evening came and the sun was starting to set, the Captain suddenly showed up with a weary expression on his tired face.
Below his eyes were dark circles, signs that he hadn't slept in days and his body emitted a baleful aura. Much stronger than the one Grey had when he returned from the corroded zone. The spirit fluctuations emitted from him seemed much stronger and a freezing aura that was strong enough to suppress Grey's was almost bursting forth. But the Captain suppressed it.
Also, his handsome face was covered in blood and dirt. When he looked at Grey, his expression turned to surprise because of his appearance and most importantly, the spirit fluctuations coming from him. He wasn't the only one that had broken through. A look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
He looked at Luo with a grateful expression but even though he didn't say anything, Luo seemed to understand him and just nodded her head. Soon, after saying their goodbyes, the Captain and Grey left.
Before they went too far from Luo's shop, the Captain suddenly stopped to pick some mud. He then rubbed it one his face and disheveled hair. Making looked haggard again, but Grey didn't complain. Under the layer of mud, he felt much more comfortable.
Previously after he had washed his face, he felt like he was naked. After making him look completely different from before, he nodded curtly and together they left again.
Grey was reluctant to ask but the Captain said instead.
"There are some people here that I would like for them not to know your existence." The Captain said softly, but his voice was hoarse having not been used in a while.
Despite Grey not understanding what he meant, he nodded instead. By now, he had grown to know the Captain didn't do things without a reason. So instead of questioning the entire continent's number one genius, he would let him cook.