– ABS – Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Redemption of the Girl and the Giant Tiger

Lin Shengsheng could even clearly smell the aura of death emanating from the giant tiger—mixed with blood and decay.

In that moment of extreme fear and despair, the faint warmth within her body seemed to be stimulated by something and suddenly became active.

It was no longer a thin stream—it transformed into a warm current that rapidly flowed through her limbs and bones. An unprecedented sensation of vitality surged from the depths of her body.

[Life Purification].

Four words appeared clearly in her mind, like divine revelation.

This was her ability.

The only miracle she had brought from the apocalypse world swept by the “Gray Decay Virus.”

Instinct for survival overwhelmed everything at that moment.

She had to gamble.

Lin Shengsheng bit her lower lip tightly and used all her strength to push herself up from the ground.

Her movement stunned all the beastmen below the altar.

“What… what is she doing?”

“A defective product… is she trying to resist the Mountain God?”

Leya stood among the crowd, a cruel smile curling at her lips. She was more than happy for Lin Shengsheng to provoke the Mountain God and be smashed into meat paste. That scene would certainly be entertaining.

However, what happened next made everyone’s eyes nearly pop out.

The snow rabbit female they considered useless—the frail girl who could barely stand steadily as if a gust of wind could knock her over—actually stepped forward, trembling yet firm, walking step by step toward the snow-white giant tiger on the verge of rampage.

She’s gone mad! She must have been frightened into madness!

The giant tiger seemed to sense a tiny being approaching. It slowly lifted its massive head. Its originally golden vertical pupils were now stained with violent crimson.

A storm of destruction and madness erupted like a physical force!

“ROAR——!!”

A roar filled with endless pain and savagery shook the entire Greyjaw Ridge!

The beastmen below the altar were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, not daring to raise their heads. Leya’s face turned pale as she slumped to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

As for Lin Shengsheng, she felt as if her soul itself was about to be shattered by that roar. Her ears rang, her mind went blank, and her legs nearly gave out.

But she did not retreat.

Because she saw it.

Deep within those blood-red eyes, she saw something—

A plea.

A desire to live.

A request to be freed from endless pain.

As a doctor, she had seen such eyes many times before.

Survival instinct and medical compassion overlapped in that instant.

Lin Shengsheng took a deep breath and gathered all the warm current of [Life Purification] into her right hand.

Her hand was small and thin, with visible joints due to long-term malnutrition. Yet at that moment, it emitted a faint, soft green glow.

The light was weak—but in the dim sky, it looked like the most brilliant emerald.

Under the horrified gaze of all the Broken Tooth Tribe beastmen, Lin Shengsheng extended her glowing hand.

Time seemed to slow.

Her pale, slender, glowing fingers approached the giant tiger’s forehead, which was covered in writhing curse marks and burning like molten iron.

Then—she gently placed her hand on it.

No being smashed into pieces.

No violent attack.

The moment her warm palm fully touched the tiger’s forehead—

“WENG——!”

A visible green halo erupted from her palm and expanded outward like ripples!

Pure, gentle, and vast with life energy, it felt like the first sunlight of spring melting snow, like the first rain falling on a dry, cracked earth.

A miracle happened.

The black curse marks on the giant tiger’s forehead—those writhing, living things—met the green light and instantly reacted like snow under scorching sun. With a faint sizzling sound, they rapidly faded and dissolved at a visible speed.

The curse that brought endless pain and madness was being purified!

“Roar…”

The tiger’s agonized roar gradually subsided.

In its blood-red eyes, madness and destruction rapidly faded, replaced by a dazed, almost unbelievable sense of comfort.

The endless pain that had tormented its body and soul for countless years… was gone?

What replaced it was warmth and peace rising from the deepest part of its soul—something it had never experienced before.

It felt like a beast wandering for centuries in an endless blizzard had finally found a warm nest.

Like a soul sinking into darkness for ten thousand years had finally seen a sliver of salvation.

The ancient giant beast that was about to fully lose control and become a cursed calamity gradually relaxed its body under that small, soft palm pressed against its forehead.

Then, in the dead silence of the world—

Under the stunned gazes of all beastmen—

From deep in its throat came a low, lazy, deeply satisfied sound…

“Gur… gurururu…”

It sounded exactly like a cat purring in contentment after having its chin scratched.

The world fell into absolute silence.

Only that steady, low, satisfied purring echoed across the empty altar.

And the source of that sound… was a mountain-sized ancient beast that had just been on the verge of rampage.

All the beastmen of the Broken Tooth Tribe, including the chief, were frozen in place as if petrified. Their expressions were locked in an absurd mix of fear and confusion.

What… what did they just witness?

The Mountain God… was purring?

No. Not purring.

That sound… was more like the kind of satisfied murmur a female would make in a mate’s arms when being coaxed and pleased by a male in the tribe.

Leya collapsed to the ground, her carefully painted red eyes nearly splitting open. She stared fixedly at the center of the altar, jealousy burning so intensely it felt like poison ready to burst out of her eye sockets.

How could this be?!

That defective product, that waste—what right did she have?!

Not only had she not been smashed into meat paste by the Mountain God, she had instead… instead made the Mountain God show such… such an expression of enjoyment?!

That glowing hand, that gentle green light—what the hell was that?!

But Lin Shengsheng herself did not feel nearly as shocked as the onlookers.

She only felt tired.

An unprecedented wave of exhaustion surged through her limbs like a tide.

The warm current inside her body had been completely drained in that single, full output. Only the faintest threads remained, as if they could break at any moment. Her palm was still pressed against the giant tiger’s burning forehead, but it could no longer emit any light.

The skin beneath her hand was frighteningly hot, like a piece of red-hot iron.

And the sinister curse markings covering it—though most of them had faded in the area under her palm—were still slowly and stubbornly writhing farther away.

Her purification had only temporarily eased his pain.

It treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Just as Lin Shengsheng considered whether to withdraw her hand and preserve what little strength she had left—

The massive head beneath her palm moved.

“!”

Her heart jolted violently!

The snow-white giant tiger slowly lifted its head—with an undeniable force.

Her hand was forced to slide off his forehead.

Then, a pair of eyes opened.

What kind of eyes they were.

Pure, translucent golden vertical pupils.

The previous madness, bloodlust, and chaos had all faded, leaving only a brilliant molten-gold clarity—and the cold, authoritative presence of a top-tier predator that saw through everything.

He had awakened.

The remaining fragments of his sanity returned fully amidst the comfort brought by the purification.

Yuan immediately identified the source of his pain relief—the tiny, fragile being in front of him, yet one that emitted a pure life aura.

Her scent… was pleasant.

Like tender sprouts after rain, like the first drop of clean morning dew, like the warmth buried deep within his bloodline memory that he had always longed for.

It was she who pulled him out of the abyss of endless, soul-burning pain.

The silence beneath the altar was suddenly broken by a greedy, hoarse shout.

“She… she received the Mountain God’s blessing!”

It was the one-eyed old chief of the Broken Tooth Tribe. His cloudy eyes erupted with fanatic light as he pointed at Lin Shengsheng on the altar, his voice trembling.

“A female blessed by the Mountain God! She can bring us good fortune! Hurry! Take her back!”

Ignorance and greed instantly overwhelmed fear.

A pure female without beast transformation ability was already considered tribal property. Now that she had received “divine blessing,” her value was unimaginable! Perhaps—if they possessed her—the tribe could escape the drought and regain water sources!

“Go!”

“Grab her!”

The nearest Fangtooth and Dirty Claw exchanged a glance. Greed completely overpowered reason. They roared and pushed off the ground with their powerful limbs, lunging toward the altar!

Leya’s eyes also flashed with vicious satisfaction.

Yes! Take her back! Drag her down! She wanted to see how a “defective product,” after being “used” by the Mountain God, could ever survive in the tribe again!

However, their movements ignited a fury they could never have imagined.

Just as Fangtooth’s claw was about to touch the edge of the altar—