My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Health 2018220

There is hope!

In that short time, Xia Zuo's palms were covered in sweat, his back was soaked with sweat, his heart was pounding, and his ears were filled with the roar of blood rushing through his ears.

At the alchemy table, Little Nose pinched her own nose, mustered her courage, tilted her head back, and poured the potion into her mouth. After drinking it, she collapsed to the ground and dry heaved.

“Your turn.” The wicked old man glared at the other boy.

Xia Zuo walked to the alchemy table, took a deep breath and held it, then picked up the potion bottle with both hands and drank the spicy potion, deliberately leaving a small amount in the bottle to minimize the amount of health lost.

Immediately afterwards, he pretended to collapse to the ground, spilling the remaining medicine on the floor.

"Wait here for 10 minutes." The wicked old man paid no attention to the boy's little tricks.

Xia Zuo lay on the ground, using the shadow of the table to cover his face, and quietly spat out the small amount of medicine he was holding in his mouth from the corner of his mouth.

That should put things in good shape.

He drank a small portion less of the medicine, and his blood volume was just enough. When he returned to his cell, he ate the bread that the other two boys had also eaten.

About five minutes later, the medicine heated up in my stomach, turning from warm to scorching hot, spreading from my abdomen to my limbs, and finally rushing to my forehead, making my whole body feel as hot as if I were soaking in a hot spring.

The heat emanating from the medicine grew stronger with each wave. Xia Zuo curled up in pain, as did his little nose.

After 10 minutes, the burning sensation disappeared instantly.

"Successfully consumed the unknown potion, gained 1.33 experience points, current level-up progress 1.510"

"Due to the influence of an unknown drug, the body has suffered damage and entered a state of mild poisoning. It is estimated that 18 points of blood will be lost within 60 minutes."

Two pieces of information came to mind one after the other.

Xia Zuo was secretly delighted. Not only did he gain experience, but he also avoided losing 2 points of health. This experiment with the potion suddenly seemed to have a brighter future.

However, the thought that these potions were becoming more toxic made his face darken again, and he regained his numb expression.

"Get up, all of you, and go back to your bedrooms."

The wicked old man used his cane to beckon the boys to follow him.

As Xia Zuo passed by the dwarf's cell, he quickly glanced at the scene inside and outside. The figure crawling inside seemed to have not moved, and only a few slices of black bread were missing from under the iron bars.

He hooked the remaining slices of bread with his foot and kicked them in front of his cell.

The wicked old man locked the cell door and returned to his alchemy room.

Xia Zuo immediately picked up the bread slices in front of the prison gate, rubbed them in the water to wash away the dust, and then started eating them after the water had softened the black bread.

The negative effect of continuous health depletion has already appeared on the personal template.

Mild poisoning (HP 1920): 18 HP deducted within 60 minutes.

After finishing his bread, Xia Zuo immediately rolled up his bedding and went to sleep. He felt extremely cold in his sleep, but after the effects of the blood loss wore off, his body temperature returned to normal.

In a place where there is no light and no sunshine, the days are lost.

Xia Zuo could only estimate the approximate time based on the number of times the evil old man appeared, and started the day by distributing bread slices.

Over the past few days, the evil old man took Xia Zuo, Little Nose, Fatty, and Skinny to the alchemy lab to test the potions, and made Xia Zuo drink a total of 6 bottles of potions.

Each time I drank the potion, I gained more experience, but the toxicity also became stronger, and the burning sensation throughout my body became increasingly unbearable.

I will be upgraded after drinking the potion today.

Experience 9.9810

It's just 0.02 short.

"Little nose, I'll eat two slices of your bread."

After finishing his own bread, Xia Zuo reached out and scooped up the little nose.

The other inmate, who had gotten used to his improved appetite, shifted his body, wrapped in a straw mat, a couple of times as a sign of agreement.

After eating two slices of bread, a flood of information rushed through my mind.

"Gained 0.02 experience points. Current upgrade progress 1010. Upgrade in progress. Upgrade successful."

Level 2

Experience 015

Xia Zuo was disappointed to find that his health did not return to full as he leveled up, so it seemed that his plan to use leveling up as a health recovery cheat had completely failed.

Fortunately, when you add points to the Vitality attribute, your current health will increase along with your maximum health, which is a way to save your life.

Another rolling die appeared before me, this time with dozens more faces, randomly changing from 1 to 36.

Xia Zuo's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that the attribute points given for leveling up would also be random!

One point and you're not at a loss, two points and you're making a profit, three points and you're making a small profit, four points and you're making a big profit, five points and you're making a killing.

In the darkness, Xia Zuo silently clasped his hands in prayer.

The die is set to "1", granting 1 point of free attribute.

? ?

"Please, Golden Finger Bro, there are so many numbers to choose from from 1 to 36, why did you have to pick 1?" Xia Zuo shouted in his mind.

The usually indifferent Golden Finger has responded this time:

"The number of attribute points awarded for leveling up is drawn according to a specific pattern. The higher the host's level, the higher the number drawn."

"Alright, at least there's something to look forward to in terms of leveling up." Xia Zuo put away his frustration and went back to bed to sleep.

Several more days have passed. During these days, in addition to the drug trials, some subtle changes have occurred.

The wicked old man grew increasingly irritable, his temper worsening. His attitude towards the boys shifted from indifference to disgust, and he would beat them with his cane even when they hadn't done anything wrong.

The worst time was when the wicked old man threw down the little nose's white bread and stomped on it several times, venting his nameless anger over the rare and delicious food.

Even white bread that's been trampled into a pulp is still better than black bread.

Xia Zuo took out half of his white bread and exchanged it with Xiao Bizi for dirty bread, as a way of repaying the other party for the black bread.

One day, the chubby boy and the short boy returned from testing the drug.

The sound of shattering glass bottles came from the alchemy room and echoed down the several-meter-long corridor, waking the sleeping boy.

Xia Zuo walked to the iron fence and looked to the end of the corridor.

In the candlelight, a distorted figure was projected onto the wall, raising a cane high and smashing another glass bottle.

The sound of shattering glass startled the little nose across the street.

The two looked at each other across the aisle and saw a hint of fear in each other's eyes.

"What's wrong with the old man?" Xia Zuo asked quietly.

"I do not know either."

The little boy coughed weakly. The past few dozen days of drug trials had left his body incredibly fragile; he probably... wouldn't make it through the next round.

"Go back and lie down," Xia Zuo said worriedly.

The little nose nodded and lay down again.

The first trial yielded 1.33 experience points. The last trial yielded 1.7 experience points. Over ten trials, the potion's toxicity increased by at least 20.

If Xia Zuo hadn't been so opportunistic as to secretly pour out the medicine, and hadn't been able to eat and sleep well, he would have been dead long ago.

But the next drug trial

Xia Zuo looked at the figure on the corridor wall, and an uneasy premonition began to grow.

Chapter 3 Cut off the crutch

Xia Zuo's unease came true.

He, Little Nose, Little Fatty, and Little Shorty were all brought together into the alchemy room.

Her little nose and double eyelids were swollen; she hadn't slept enough.

The chubby guy and the skinny guy, two inmates who rarely saw each other, were sallow-faced. They hadn't even had a few bites of bread before being brought over. Their legs were trembling from hunger, and cold sweat was pouring down their foreheads.

Xia Zuo covered his face with his hair, his posture was crooked, and he looked listless, but he was actually in the best condition among the four.

The wicked old man made the four boys stand against the wall to watch him brew the medicine.

This time, it's not a simple drug trial.

"It's been dozens of days, and I still haven't succeeded."

The wicked old man poured a spoonful of white powder into the crucible, tapped the robotic arm to make it rotate, and continued to stir the thick liquid in the crucible.

“I will give you the opportunity to become apprentices, I will give you bread, and I will give you shelter.”

The wicked old man turned around, his two eyes, which faintly revealed a fierce light, staring straight at the boys.

"It's a failure, a complete failure. You didn't succeed. No, no, no, no."

The wicked old man shook his head and slammed his right hand heavily on the desk, making a loud thud.

"It was me! I failed!" the evil old man roared.

He picked up two bottles of dark green potion from the alchemy table, poured them all into the crucible, and casually tossed them against the wall, where the glass bottles shattered into shards.

Then, he picked up two more bottles of medicine and repeated the same actions, becoming increasingly rude and vicious.

"I was too kind!"

"I was too lenient with her!"

"I should have done this a long time ago!"

The wicked old man picked up a basin of potion from under the alchemy table and poured it into the cauldron. A strange green plume of smoke shot up from the surface, and the sound of bubbles bursting filled the room, splashing scalding hot water into every corner of the alchemy chamber.

The four boys huddled together in fear.

Using his companions as cover, Xia Zuo scanned the room, searching for the retractable cane.

Found it! It was on the desk, covered by several books, with only half of the handle showing.