“This place has a lot of problems. If it continues to drag on, something will definitely happen.”
In front of her were the townspeople behaving strangely, and around them were evil things with disordered movements. Ge Tingting looked at the text on her phone in confusion, quite at a loss about what Fu Xingchuan meant by “something will definitely happen”.
But they understood the instructions.
Blasting a ruined building? Ge Tingting turned her head nervously and looked at Xiang Jiang.
“I can’t do it. I don’t have enough strength.” A few seconds later, Xiang Jiang replied blankly. “There are two newcomers next to me and ordinary people around. I can’t guarantee their safety.”
“Really?”
“Huang Jin is good at crafting spirit bombs. We can try—”
“Can’t.”
Not long after Ge Tingting’s AI voice sounded, Xiang Jiang glanced at her coldly as he interrupted.
“Well, I’ll give you five minutes.” Fu Xingchuan seemed as if he didn’t hear anything, and his tone remained casual. “With your strength, there must be a way… Aren’t you the best at dealing with this kind of place?”
After speaking, the #1 Ghost General directly cut off the call.
It was almost evening, and half the sky was dyed with a red haze. The haze dyed the mist with a little warmth, but failed to add any heat to Xiang Jiang. Xiang Jiang’s original pale face added another layer of white, making him seem unlike that of a living human.
“Ah… Ah…”
The townspeople let out meaningless shouts. The uniform sound spread from the streets to the alleys, from the houses to the ruins, leaving a disturbing echo in the mountain mist.
Two huge bony hands grasped the edge of the ground as two red flames flickered in the skull’s eye holes. Countless evil beings that Ge Tingting couldn’t name climbed up the giant skeleton and mixed perfectly with the townspeople as they wandered outside Huang Jin’s red paper barrier.
Compared to the townspeople holding murder weapons, these evil things weren’t very aggressive. They crowded more and more, causing the mass of evil things to overflow, burying the three metaphysical posts from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes as if they were in deep snow.
Seeing that the skeleton’s hands were about to shoot down, Xiang Jiang threw a circle of burning incense. The burning incense inserted themselves into the cement rooftop, and black smoke like ink appeared from the top. The black smoke continued unbroken; it condensed but was not scattered, loosely gathering above their heads.
The hands of the giant skeleton patted the smoke like a rock-solid iron cage.
Under the shock, the evil spirits scattered.
Huang Jin’s red paper barrier made an overwhelming tearing sound, and the deep red on the paper quickly faded. He subconsciously grabbed two wood chips spirit bombs—since the big explosion in the Archive, he always carried a lot with him in case a violent person temporarily needed it.
They gave him a weird sense of security.
Huang Jin threw the wood chips on the ground, causing them to flutter everywhere and exuding a manic, evil qi unique to spirit bombs.
“Hurry up and blow up a building. My spirit bomb is enough. We just need to drive the people away.” Huang Jin stared at the breach in the red paper barrier as he said this numbly.
He kept wondering over and over again if this was really a C-level mission of Shian.
He really didn’t know what those Nightwalkers, who frantically wanted to go ashore, were so crazy about. After these two missions, Huang Jin only felt his original gloom had been tempered into anxiety and hair loss, despite being only in his 20s.
Xiang Jiang crossed his arms.
In the swaying black smoke, he watched people moving in unison outside the paper barrier. Those dead-like eyes remained motionless. Huang Jin wasn’t sure if he had heard his words.
Xiang Jiang’s eyes shifted from the numb faces of those whose hands were clenched with weapons, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. The mountain wind blew his earrings slightly.
“Haa… It’s fine.”
Xiang Jiang didn’t pay attention to Ge Tingting and Huang Jin. He muttered to himself, accompanied by a dry laugh, without the slightest smile on his face.
“Xiang Hai, work.”
As soon as Xiang Jiang’s voice fell, a ghost emerged from behind him. The ghost was exactly the same, including his appearance and how he was dressed. At first glance, it looked like his soul was separated from his body.
Xiang Hai had no expression when he was first called out. He raised a pair of empty eyes and looked at the distant mountain with only a silhouette left in the mist, then turned his head and looked at the townspeople who were besieging them—he specifically picked a crowded place and ignored all the evil things around him.
As his “gaze” moved, the concentration of evil qi around him sharply increased. Even Ren Jiying, a science post, was affected. She stared blankly at the strange townspeople, red paper, and black smoke, as she tremblingly puffed out white steam.
“It’s cold,” she said.
Ge Tingting couldn’t hear her voice. After the “gaze” stopped, Xiang Hai let out a scream that was about to burst their eardrums. His mouth opened to an extent that was impossible for any human, and the skin on his cheeks turned into sticky and piercing fleshy lines.
Ge Tingting and Huang Jin staggered at the same time, almost falling out of the black smoke protection circle.
“This is a mountain town. It used to be a mountain village,” Xiang Jiang said softly. “The place you hate the most.”
The clothes behind Xiang Hai squirmed and burst like balloons, revealing two butterfly wings, but if they looked closely, the wings were made up of countless human faces—mainly the heads of young women, with a very small number of boy’s faces embedded in them.
The faces of those people gathered into abnormally large butterfly wings. The scale was countless withered and shriveled old hands, which neatly covered those faces.
At this moment, those scaly hands opened together. The faces under the palms were exposed, revealing countless pairs of resentful eyes that were wide open, staring at the townspeople a few steps away.
Xiang Hai’s spine broke, and his body became deformed. Countless bloodstains gradually appeared on his limbs, almost breaking into meat paste.
It really looked like a butterfly with its abdomen curled up.
He only had one of his faces intact as he continued to scream with his mouth wide open. On those wings and from his wound, hundreds of blood-stained hemp ropes shot out at the same time, binding the nearest townspeople.
Those hemp ropes were soaked in foul-smelling grease and pus, with rough edges. They looked incredibly old that they could break at any moment, but when they bound the townspeople, it was impossible for them to move.
The evil qi and murderous aura mixed, radiating a strong, bloody, and rancid smell.
Ren Jiying, who couldn’t see it, was fine. Huang Jin fell on his ass, dropping wood chips all around.
“Blow it up.” A blood-stained hemp rope brushed Xiang Jiang’s face one after another, but he didn’t look back at Xiang Hai.
Huang Jin’s eyes were still staring at the terrifying human-faced wings. His fingers trembled as he gathered the spirit bombs, quickly piling them to one side on the ground.
“I…”
“Blow it up.” Looking at the townspeople who were trying to break free from the hemp rope, Xiang Jiang ordered impatiently.
Ge Tingting wanted to stop Huang Jin, but she didn’t have time to type.
They didn’t know what Xiang Jiang was thinking. Needless to say, the donut girl had already broken a piece of the hemp rope, not to mention that Ren Jiying didn’t have any protective measures on her. If the building blew up like this…
“Bang!!!”
The office building itself wasn’t too big. Two thirds of the first floor were blown up by the spirit bombs, which made the building lose its balance. A deafening sound of collapse rumbled as the building fell towards a deserted area in the center of the town.
…And judging from the chase just now, there had to be townspeople hiding there!
Ge Tingting and Huang Jin were hung up by hemp ropes. The two held Ren Jiying tightly so she wouldn’t fall eight stories.
Everything happened instantaneously.
As if things were moving in slow motion, the 8-story building slowly collapsed.
Xiang Hai was floating in the air, staying in his original position, with his human-faced butterfly wings fully unfolded. More hemp ropes bounced around and were grasped by those old “scaly hands” that were vomited out of the young faces. The ropes rushed towards the townspeople in the depth of the smoke and mist.
Xiang Jiang had launched a thousand hemp ropes towards the ground. Just looking at the scene, it was like a poor worm that wanted to break free of the “hemp rope spider web” but couldn’t do it.
Was this the end? Ge Tingting desperately grabbed Ren Jiying’s sleeve. Mayor Ren’s work shirt was covered in dust, and she was out of breath. She tried hard not to look at the void under her feet and firmly retained her consciousness.
Huang Jin’s attention was all on grabbing hold of Ren Jiying, but in this short moment, Ge Tingting had never thought so quickly.
There were still many townspeople ambushing below. If Xiang Jiang missed them, there would be heavy casualties.
Would the master of the Emergency Management Department, the #1 Ghost Master of Haigu, make such a terrifying mistake? As a rookie who had just entered the industry, was she really qualified to question this senior?
But…
Ge Tingting gritted her teeth and clenched her free hand tightly. Her nails dug deep into her palms.
“Wo!” The moment the floor collapsed; she yelled wildly something that no one could understand!
Under the ruins, countless bird bones emerged from the ground.
The most indispensable thing in mountain towns were wild animals. The bones of birds were thin and strong. They span species and ages to form a “patchwork of skeleton birds”. Corpses were extremely sensitive to vitality. As soon as the skeleton birds were born, they rushed towards the living in the dust and mist.
The skeleton birds didn’t attack. They grabbed the townspeople’s clothes, regardless of whether they had hemp rope or not, and pushed them out of the collapse range.
The minds of evil things were all on the group floating in the sky. They ignored the fast and light movements of the small things.
Ge Tingting felt a chill in her heart.
Her skeleton birds caught three hundred and nineteen people, three of whom didn’t have a hemp rope on them.
…And with her current ability, she probably didn’t find all the nearby townspeople.
But she didn’t have the strength to continue thinking.
This was the first time Ge Tingting had controlled so many corpses. Despite the strong evil qi of this mountain town, her seven orifices still spewed out back blood. Ren Jiying tilted her face, causing a few drops of blood to fall on it.
Ren Jiying narrowed her eyes for an instant in a daze, revealing a trace of worry.
“You guys…”
As soon as she uttered a few words, the abandoned building that had just collapsed halfway ushered in another explosion.
It was just this time, the explosion came from the inside.
Tens of millions of fire dragons rushed out from the explosion point, instantly dispersing the fog. In less than half a second, the group of fire dragons spread all over the ground, swept through the air, and wrapped the townspeople firmly with their bodies. The ruins fell into flames and instantly turned into dust. The evil spirits were swept away by dragon fire and suddenly dyed into clusters of cyan fireworks.
The glass curtain wall shattered into countless pieces in the explosion.
The brilliant lights swept across the glass surface, causing broken light to splatter everywhere as grand green and red fireworks burst out in the mist.
Fu Xingchuan was here.
Sure enough, at the same time, five people broke out from under the ruins and rushed straight into the sky.
Ge Tingting showed a weak smile, but her smile froze…
Behind the five people, a three-story colored “eyeball”, and thousands of evil beings followed closely. Unlike these blind and crazy evil spirits on the ground, these evil things were quite organized, chasing aggressively with a murderous aura.
…It turned out that they weren’t here to save them, but the group underground was also running for their lives?!
And based on how this thing looked, Ge Tingting felt it wasn’t good news. She had never heard of any giant eyeball, but the oppression it gave off was hundreds of times stronger than Xiang Hai’s in their party.
“…We’re screwed,” Huang Jin stated relatively objectively.
As Fu Xingchuan appeared, Xiang Hai retracted the hemp ropes. He lowered his head and looked at the three people under him with a dim expression.
Xiang Jiang flew nearby and looked at the huge green and red fireworks.
“Yes, we’re screwed,” he said lightly.
……
Yin Ren was pelted by the glass ballast and ash from the ruins.
Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian had kept a close watch on him so Lord Ghost King didn’t dare to wander even a strand of his hair. He could only hold Zhong Chengshuo in his arms. Zhong Chengshuo was well versed in the principle of self-protection. He didn’t struggle at all and even adjusted his position cooperatively.
Evening was approaching. The mountain mist was immersed in a blood-stained sunset. The mist swallowed up most of the light, but it was also much brighter than the ground. Yin Ren squinted unconsciously as he got out from underground.
“Very good. There are no dead people.”
The fire dragons frantically dispelled the mist as Fu Xingchuan wiped the sweat from his face.
Li Nian: “What are you going to do next?’
“Of course, run for our lives!” Fu Xingchuan said confidently. “The enemy is in the shadows while we’re exposed. We don’t even know who our opponent is. If we fight again, we’ll surely die!”
“Sure enough,” Professor Li replied helplessly.
“Take the four people over there later. Let’s transfer the nine of us together.”
Fu Xingchuan was still sprinting frantically. He took them to fly in circles near the ruins, picking places with complex terrain to squeeze into, trying to distance them from Yellow Millet.
Yin Ren was still hugging Zhong Chengshuo. The latter struggled at this moment, trying to break away from Yin Ren’s arms. Yin Ren didn’t have time to delve into it. He suddenly felt restless evil qi in the air and frowned slightly.
As the leader, Fu Xingchuan’s judgment was reasonable.
…Unfortunately, it was a few seconds too late.
Something rumbled through the ground. Behind them, Yellow Millet let out a high-pitched scream. The aura of spells became more intense.
Unsurprisingly, just as Fu Xingchuan turned his head and rushed towards the above ground team, the entire town shook. At that moment, everyone happened to be passing through an abandoned floor without glass.
Yin Ren instinctively grabbed Zhong Chengshuo, trying to protect him again…
But he only grabbed air.
Zhong Chengshuo had disappeared.
The author has something to say:
Think about it carefully. Xiao Yin can make himself cool so that Xiao Zhong can post*! (?
*(贴贴) It’s an internet term referring to the close relationship and interaction between two people (including love, family affection, friendship). It’s mainly used to describe the love between two people. || In this context, the author is saying, Yin Ren gets all the cool scenes, so now it’s time for Zhong Chengshuo highlights.
Just as Lin Chen used the principles of success to fool Duan Yang, Wang Chao also felt he needed to be taught something.
Of course, it wasn’t because he was also trapped in a desperate situation. He just wanted to drink something warm—the scene in the village in front of him was too weird.
It was hot and humid in the rainforest, showing signs that heavy rainfall was coming. The village was covered with a layer of white, gauze-like mist. The surrounding mist had the same color as milk, but the taste wasn’t as sweet and instead had a fishy smell.
They stepped forward on the fallen leaves all over the ground, unable to move forward for a while.
The front was empty.
The tawny land was overgrown with weeds. Plants grew especially fast in the rainforest. Some green vines had entangled thatched huts unique to the Gaomeng people, as if they were forbidden territory.
There was no one inside the huts. Sporadic thatches fell to the ground, and they found in one of the huts a little girl’s pink blanket that was hanging on the fence.
There was no one in the hotel. All that was present was a dilapidated wooden sign that was swaying with the empty wind, which showed “Accommodations” in the Dana language.
Walking along the village, they saw a simple elementary school with a construction aid sign and a medical station for Doctors Without Borders. Wang Chao followed Xing Conglian into the medical station and walked around. There were no people or doctors, but the medicine inside the cabinets was gone, leaving only empty white hospital beds that gave off a cold feeling.
Next to the medical station was a trendy shop that had its doors open. Many things on the shelves were scattered everywhere, looking like a mess.
Xing Conglian walked out of the medical station and turned towards the shop.
Wang Chao followed him in light steps and suddenly accidentally stepped on something slippery that he almost fell. Because the surroundings were too quiet and weird, he didn’t dare yell out loud and could only swallow his scream back down his throat. He covered his mouth and lowered his head. There was a clump of brown fungi on the ground. The fungus he trampled on looked like a horrific animal limb.
He raised his head and saw that his boss had already walked into the shop. After glancing at the things on the shelves, his boss squatted down and began to look through the messy goods thrown on the ground.
Wang Chao hurriedly followed and almost tripped again over the debris on the floor. He took a closer look and found that the ground was littered with everyday items such as condoms, paper cups, and soap, leaving no place for him to stand.
He peeked at his boss’ face again and saw the anger in his boss’ expression was fading and had turned rather cold.
“Boss?” he asked tentatively. “What the hell happened here?”
After he finished speaking, he noticed Xing Conglian’s sharp gaze sweeping towards him, so he quickly fell silent.
“What do you think is missing here?”
Wang Chao carefully bypassed the things on the ground and walked to Xing Conglian’s side, where he looked at the pile of colorful items on the ground.
“There’s no food?”
“What else?”
“There’s no drinking water, sweets, or alcohol…”
“What does this mean?”
“It means… someone took away the necessities to sustain life, but what about the alcohol?”
“To survive in the wild, alcohol is extremely important,” Xing Conglian replied.
Kang An and Moda Nar, the Gaomeng bar owner, walked at the end. The bar owner looked at everything around him as his eyes changed from suspicion to shock, and then from shock to horror. Finally, he took a few steps forward and stepped on the plastic bags all over the ground. He grabbed Xing Conglian’s collar and said angrily, “What the hell is going on here? What did you do to my people?”
Xing Conglian looked at Moda Nar’s expression as if he were saying, “Excuse me, are you mentally ill?” He stretched out his hand and pulled the bar owner back, picked up a box of cigarettes on the ground, opened it, took one out, and lit it. He then said to Kang An as he raised his chin, “Go back and get those two just now.”
“Why Boss?” Kang An was unsure of Xing Conglian’s intention.
Xing Conglian let out a puff of his cigarette and simply said, “Go.”
Perhaps because his boss was in a bad mood and was too scary, but Kang An stopped talking nonsense and quickly turned around and ran away.
“Where is your tribe’s ammunition depot? Do you know?” After he finished ordering Kang An, Xing Conglian lowered his head and picked out a pack of red things from the corner of a pile of debris, threw it to Wang Chao, and then walked out of the store without looking back.
Wang Chao took a closer look, only to find that his boss had just thrown him a bag of Skittles. He followed happily after. “Boss, Boss, didn’t you say you wouldn’t take a single needle or thread* from the masses?”
*(一针一线) Idiom referring to something very small.
“Shut up,” Xing Conglian said impatiently.
As the distant relative of the leader of the Gaomeng Tribe, Moda Nar was privy to some tribal secrets. He took them to the jungle outside the village and searched for a while before he mysteriously opened a giant tree and then walked in.
Wang Chao followed him into the tree, stunned. The trunk was hollow and hot. The stagnant air smelled strongly of gunpowder. Sure enough, there was a small cellar under the trunk.
When the lights came on, the scene in the cellar made the bald bar owner scream.
All the neatly placed ammunition boxes were overturned, and all the army-green iron boxes were empty, as if they had been looted. Just standing there, they could imagine the chaotic scene when the soldiers of the Gaomeng Tribe were fetching ammunition.
Moda Nar fell to his knees, covered his face, and started crying, only to receive a kick from Xing Conglian.
The bald bar owner looked at him with red eyes. “We’re late. My people are all missing!”
“Why are you being so emotional?” Xing Conglian said irritably.
Wang Chao whispered, “Boss, are the Gaomeng people so fierce? Did the entire village set off to fight some other tribe? Which tribe provoked them to this point? This must be some kind of revenge for killing the chief and taking the princess, right?”
“Do you think that’s possible?” Xing Conglian bit into the cigarette butt as he said lightly.
“Not likely. I heard the Gaomeng Tribe is more civilized and doesn’t have the position of a princess,” Wang Chao said regretfully. “But isn’t that what Kang An’s intelligence says?”
“Heh, usually the men go out to kill, but there aren’t even any old people or children left behind the village?”
“Then why did the people here suddenly disappear?”
“Maybe they ran to save their lives,” Xing Conglian said.
Thinking of the medicines and the life-sustaining necessities that were taken, Wang Chao took a deep breath. “Even the ammunition was taken away. Someone is chasing them, so they have no choice but to leave the village. Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then where did they flee to? The radius of their action in a week is too large. Where can we find them, Boss?”
“Heh.”
After responding, Xing Conglian walked out of the underground ammunition depot with a cigarette in hand. Without saying a word, he stepped on the rotten leaves all over the ground and returned to the dock.
On the wide river in front of the dock, a good show was being staged.
Wang Chao hurriedly brought a wooden stake. In the distance, Kang An was chasing after the two poor militants who had just been beaten by his boss until they spat blood.
Kang An grabbed the side of the boat in the water, turned over, and punched one of them into the water with a left hook. The other man swung his oar at him, but Kang An quickly grabbed onto it and used his strength to pull the other man into the water as well. At this point, Kang An had already occupied the high ground and had decisively taken an oar and struck twice, leaving the two armed militants dizzy and helpless on the water’s surface. Perhaps feeling that his previous actions weren’t fierce enough, Kang An then dove into the water and dragged the two unconscious militants back as if he were dragging dead dogs from the river.
Wang Chao kept observing Xing Conglian’s face and saw that his boss took a last puff of his cigarette expressionlessly and stamped out the cigarette butt.
In front of Xing Conglian were the two militants lying on their stomachs. Kang An had woken them up. When they saw the scene in front of them, the two militants looked as if they had seen a ghost. They crawled back but were blocked by Kang An from behind.
Xing Conglian asked angrily, “Tell me, where are the people?”
“I… We don’t know… We were just passing by!” One of the militants, probably European or American, replied in stumbling Dana.
“Do you mean to tell me that in such a big rainforest, you have nothing to do but leisurely pass by here?” Xing Conglian stepped on one of the militants’ shoulders and sneered. “Aren’t you afraid of being hung up by the Gaomeng Tribe to dry?”
“It’s true that we’re just passing by by chance. Please believe us!”
“How boring.” Xing Conglian tapped the militant’s shoulder with his toe. “You came here on a whim, so you must have known that the Gaomeng Tribe had left in advance. And the reason you know this is because either someone tipped you off or you witnessed the entire tribe being hunted down. So, tell me, where are the people of the tribe?”
The two militants on the ground trembled. They looked at each other and exchanged a look. “We can’t say. The other party is too powerful. If they find out that we leaked information, we’ll die without even a grave.”
Xing Conglian took out a gun and put it to one of the militants’ foreheads. “Alright, if you don’t tell me, you’ll die now.”
When it came to showing off and intimidation, Wang Chao only admired his boss.
“Three days ago, we met a large group of the Gaomeng people. It was already dark at that time, so we rushed through the rainforest and found a big tree to rest on. Gunshots rang out in the second half of the night, and a dense group of Gaomeng people ran past us with a group of terrible soldiers chasing after them.”
“Yes, those soldiers were so well equipped that we dared not speak up at all and just hid tremblingly in the trees.”
“They were incredibly cruel. The ones from the Gaomeng tribe who fell behind were instantly killed.”
Xing Conglian interrupted the two. “Okay, just say it directly. Where are those soldiers from?”
“We saw a sign of a python entangling a jaguar,” one of them answered.
“Zaratul?” Xing Conglian frowned.
The other person’s hands started to tremble. “Can you say that name in a low voice. My heart is pounding just from hearing it.”
When he heard the name, even Wang Chao felt his stomach churn.
The three things: python, jaguar, and Zaratul—these things represented the Dana Rainforest Liberators Alliance. They were the most brutal militants in the Dana Region. Although the name of this organization sounded democratic, it was only in name. In the past ten years, the leader of the arm group and the tyrant of Zaratul had massacred nearly 50,000 people in Dana. The United Nations had repeatedly tried to intervene, but all their attempts failed. After all, the situation in Dana was too complicated. No matter which forces intervened from the outside world, they would be attacked by all the primitive tribes, militants, and mercenary organizations here.
It was precisely because dealing with Dana brought fewer benefits than costs that it had created today’s three-way zone.
Listening to the vivid account of the two militants describing a scene of bullets flying and blood splattering as if killing people was as easy as cutting melons, Kang An’s face immediately turned green. “Boss, Xiao Wu, and the others must be in great danger!”
Xing Conglian ignored Kang An and said, “Wang Chao, bring up a map.”
Wang Chao immediately turned on a tablet and brought up a three-dimensional topographic map of the entire Dana Rainforest. “Boss, please look.”
Xing Conglian handed the tablet to the two militants and said, “Where did you see the Gaomeng tribe three days ago?”
The two militants were still lying on the ground. They stared at the vast green on the tablet, studied it for a long time, and finally delineated an area northwest of them. “It’s probably here.”
Xing Conglian nodded after connecting the tablet.
Kang An came over anxiously and asked, “Boss, this is where they were three days ago. Where would they be now?”
Xing Conglian narrowed his eyes and kept zooming in on the entire area. “The first question you should ask is, Zaratul wants to kill people, but why haven’t they killed all of them in a week?”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t want to kill everyone.”
“I don’t get it!”
Xing Conglian didn’t speak anymore. He first marked the location of the Gaomeng Tribe’s garrison, and then marked the location where the entire tribe appeared three days ago. He connected the two points together, glanced at the tablet, kept zooming in on the picture, and moved the position of the map. Finally, he leaned back slightly, pointed to one place, and said, “Here.”
Wang Chao looked at the map and found that the location pointed out by Xing Conglian was an abandoned mine located in the rainforest.
“Boss, what does Zaratul want to do?”
“Drive the herd away and enter the designated trap,” Xing Conglian said flatly.
“…There isn’t an Erosion Swamp hidden inside of me, right?”
“Mm, but it’s still not very obedient.” Zhu Yanchen’s didn’t fluctuate. He clenched his gun while looking around vigilantly.
The corpse handler never managed to start the purifier. She was still nesting in the gap between the equipment, completely wooden. The room was filled with blood-red warning lights, and the sirens were blaring.
“Could it be that you brought me here today because you want me to have a good exchange with this small Erosion Swamp?” Shu Jun stood in Zhu Yanchen’s blind spot and kept talking.
This is just logic of the game setting. They are just discussing the game setting. Shu Jun tried to make a joke, trying to save the increasingly unpleasant topic—in a sense, Zhu Yanchen was right. He did “understand everything”, but unfortunately, understanding was one thing; accepting was another.
“This Erosion Swamp is artificially bred. It has only swallowed human corpses. The adaptability of its erosion substance and human tissue is very good,” Zhu Yanchen replied seriously to his joke. “As long as the Erosion Swamps come into contact with each other, there will be a simple exchange. The things on your body can draw on the experience of similar creatures, so as not to immediately fight to the death with your body.”
Shu Jun: “……”
As an aggregate of a group of microorganisms, the Erosion Swamp had no brains, let alone true intelligence. For example, they were more like creatures such as ants and bees. They would resonate and exchange simple information, but that was limited to just this.
The information necessary for survival would be exchanged between Erosion Swamps. Shu Jun had long known this, but this behavior had a premise: both sides had to be true Erosion Swamps.
The situation was more like “he’s the swamp” than “the swamp is hidden inside him”.
Why can’t this friend go offline? Because he accidentally fused too well with the Erosion Swamp, becoming so entangled that they were now inseparable, even a filter paper couldn’t filter them out. When Shu Jun thought this, he clicked his tongue. The development of the situation had become so unreal that he felt a sense of detachment.
There was a solution somewhere*, so there was no point in worrying about it.
*There’s always a way to get to a mountain, no matter which direction you take. Referring to (车到山前必有路，船到桥头自然直) Idiom referring to whatever challenges or difficulties one may encounter, there is always a solution or a way to overcome them.
The Corpse Parasite hadn’t moved. This kind of thing was always cautious. Since it was severely beaten unexpectedly, it wouldn’t act for a short time. Zhu Yanchen lowered the muzzle of his gun a little. Shu Jun glanced at the other’s protective suit and felt a little guilty. “Then I have finished communicating with the Erosion Swamp. Shall we go back?”
“Can’t go back.” Zhu Yanchen shook his head and walked to the place where the corpse handler was squatting. “You lost control here. The military has the means to detect the Erosion Swamp, so you’ve been exposed.”
Thinking about the shocking truth that caused him to lose control, thousands of question marks returned to Shu Jun, but before he could organize his words, Zhu Yanchen had already walked in front of the corpse handler.
“You’re not an employee here, are you?”
The woman, who was shrinking in the corner, raised her head. Her whole body stiffened like a woodcarving.
“How to turn on the purifiers in a timely manner is the first lesson for any corpse handler. No matter what happens, this step must never go wrong.” Zhu Yanchen sounded like he was in a bad mood. “And regular corpse handlers rotate once a month. Have you been here for more than a month?”
The woman nodded, shook her head again, and aimed her eyes at the gun on Marshal Zhu’s waist.
“According to the rules of shift work, there won’t be too much erosion substance in the body of a corpse handler, so they won’t be seen as clues by the Corpse Parasite to find an Erosion Swamp. It’s very cautious, and it only approaches after observing for a long time… In short, it was attracted by you.”
Zhu Yanchen’s tone became a little colder.
“If we didn’t happen to be here, not only would you die, but this Erosion Swamp would leak out. Now that the warning flares have been issued, someone will come here soon. Have you figured out how to explain things?”
The woman glanced at the three corpses not far away, hugged her knees tightly, and covered her mask.
Zhu Yanchen pondered for a moment. “You can’t get into this kind of institution alone. Take us to your stronghold. People can’t come back from the dead, but you can still make up for it.”
As he said this, he glanced at Shu Jun and found that he was also looking at him. Zhu Yanchen quickly retracted his gaze.
Shu Jun continued to stare at Zhu Yanchen’s back.
He suddenly understood the anomalies of “Smoke’s” journey—just like the A’Yan that he knew well, as long as he asked, the other party would definitely give an answer, but it was only an answer. Compared to A’Yan who was willing to discuss tactics in detail, the “Smoke” in front of him was subconsciously keeping his distance from him.
At least when he was sober.
Shu Jun could understand if he didn’t want to discuss plans with him or if he didn’t want to take the initiative to explain the reasons for his actions. There were too many things stuffed in his mind, and they needed time to be digested slowly before he could pursue the minutiae. But if he was replaced by Smoke from before, these things would definitely be put on the table and explained.
The Zhu Yanchen in front of him seemed to have no idea how to get along with him.
A’Yan didn’t talk much, but he wasn’t the type to be uneasy or nervous about this kind of thing. Shu Jun always felt there was a deeper reason behind it, but he really didn’t have a clue now.
To be honest, Shu Jun didn’t want to accept information passively all the time, and he didn’t like the awkward atmosphere between the two. Combined with his own laundry list of problems, there was only one solution.
Although absurd, he had to first determine whether this world was the so-called “reality”. Thanks to his previous episode, he had already thought of a way.
“A’Yan, my body will be fine this time.” Shu Jun made his tone look particularly relaxed.
A low “not for the time being” floated in the distance.
The imposter corpse handler was shaking as she said something to Zhu Yanchen. Shu Jun thought for a few seconds and strode forward. Seeing the man who had just taken out the erosion substance approach, the corpse handler couldn’t wait to squeeze into the crevices of the equipment. Zhu Yanchen was a little surprised by Shu Jun’s approach. He thought the other party was going to ask him more questions, so he turned around…
“Since you have been working here for more than a month, tell me the coordinates here.” Shu Jun deliberately stood behind Zhu Yanchen with a fierce expression on his face.
Speaking of which, Shu Jun was quite confident in his appearance, but with his gray hair color and beast-like vertical pupils, gentle tactics probably wouldn’t work.
Zhu Yanchen planned to stop the conversation from continuing, but Shu Jun put one arm in front of him and covered his mouth. The red light of the siren reflected in his gray-white eyes, and coupled with Shu Jun’s actions mimicking a kidnapper, the woman took a cold breath and immediately revealed the coordinates of this place, shaking as if she were sifting chaff.
“Thanks.” At least he should still have the courtesy he should have.
After saying that, Shu Jun didn’t let go of Zhu Yanchen. Instead, he continued to tighten his grip on him with his movements, grabbed the trembling woman with his other hand, and flew directly into the sky.
He knew the coordinates of the strongholds when he went online and offline. After confirming the location here, Shu Jun could figure out a way back.
Zhu Yanchen didn’t say a word the entire way, probably because he was angry, Shu Jun thought.
The building in the stronghold was familiar enough to put him at ease. Shu Jun stopped on the roof, put the two people down, and then climbed into the building. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to let go, he found that his wrist was bound by something.
Zhu Yanchen took a pair of handcuffs out of nowhere and handcuffed himself and Shu Jun together. The handcuffs used an electronic password lock so Shu Jun couldn’t even grab the key.
…Finally, there was a familiar feeling of tactics and mutual teasing with “Smoke” like in the past.
“Wait here. We’ll be back soon.” Judging from the tone of Zhu Yanchen’s speech to the corpse handler, his emotions seemed to reach a freezing point.
Shu Jun had no choice but to take Zhu Yanchen with him. The two of them snuck into the building through the window—it was midnight, so there weren’t many people still awake in the stronghold. Even with an extra person, Shu Jun slipped underground smoothly.
It was just that the matter of knocking out the guards became a bit more troublesome than usual.
The room where they usually went online was still the same. The familiar hibernating pods were neatly arranged. Shu Jun quickly found the one that belonged to him. After opening the hatch, he couldn’t help but frown.
Inside lay a young man he didn’t know.
Zhu Yanchen sighed and remained silent.
Shu Jun walked around again and finally found an empty pod in the corner. He pressed his palm on the control screen and began to verify his identity. Despite the fingerprint entry, the familiar game prompt didn’t appear and instead was replaced by a cold warning.
[Identification error. The authority of S-001 synthetic body “Shu Jun” has been canceled. Please enter the correct data.]
Shu Jun took a deep breath and pressed his palm again.
[Identification error. The authority of S-001 synthetic body “Shu Jun” has been canceled. Please enter the correct data.]
Switching to another hibernating pod, the prompt was still the same. Shu Jun lay down inside the hibernation pod and tried to operate the screen inside the machine.
[Identification error. The authority of S-001 synthetic body “Shu Jun” has been canceled. Please enter the correct data.]
Shu Jun clenched his fist. His face became uglier, and his movements became faster.
“Next, you will realize that this world is indeed ‘reality’.” After being dragged around for a while, Zhu Yanchen finally spoke.
“Then you will think your teammates are being used and won’t give up on them.”
“Finally, you’ll perceive that, as the original inhabitant of this world, I have known about it from the start.”
Shu Jun turned his head and suddenly brought the two of them closer—so close that he could feel the other’s breath. Zhu Yanchen made an odd movement. He seemed to want to grab the handle of his gun, but in the end, he didn’t. He exhaled again and gazed fixedly at Shu Jun, like he was waiting for something.
The handcuff still connected the two of them, and the air was frozen for a while.
Shu Jun was silent for ten minutes.
“That’s right,” he said, but there wasn’t much anger in his voice that Zhu Yanchen expected.
“But I won’t be stupid enough to go crazy here unprepared, disregarding the only person who is willing to tell me the truth.”
“I indeed want to save my teammates, and I will rescue them.”
“And you are a native of this world, with a high position and power, and you are able to stabilize my physical condition. You’re an excellent partner for cooperation.”
Zhu Yanchen showed a surprised expression for the first time.
“As for the rest… Since you decided to tell me this, there must be a reason for the previous concealment.” Shu Jun stretched out his handcuffed hand and grabbed Zhu Yanchen’s handcuffed hand. “This is a handshake.”
Zhu Yanchen still stared at him, as if quite surprised by his attitude. Shu Jun stood in place, surrounded by rows of hibernation pods. He looked at Zhu Yanchen calmly and smiled.
“I haven’t lost before, and I won’t lose this time.”
The lights lit up again, and the cement-colored room was as bright as day. Fighting instinct was engraved in Shu Jun’s bones. He grabbed Zhu Yanchen and leaped onto the pipeline. The pipeline creaked and hissed, spraying steam; mixed with the shadows it became an excellent cover.
Although he came to his senses and felt better, the strange sensation of being eroded by the Erosion Swamp still remained on his skin.
The situation was weird. Zhu Yanchen’s argument was logically sound, but Shu Jun didn’t intend to buy it right away—the new information was too sensational, and he hadn’t fully grasped the other party’s motives behind his actions. It wasn’t like he would believe what others would say.
Zhu Yanchen didn’t rush to explain. He put on his mask and quietly let Shu Jun hold him.
The body handler paced back and forth along the edge of the Erosion Swamp. The sound of bubbles from the Erosion Swamp echoed in the space. He flashed his light to illuminate a few corners on the ground but didn’t search the two-meter-high pipe clumps. After a while of searching and finding nothing, the corpse handler gave up going around, but he had no intention of leaving.
The two waited patiently for a while, but not only did the corpse handler not leave, but the main entrance of the building also rattled again.
What are you afraid of? It’s late at night. Is there going to be a party at the corpse disposal factory?
As a result, the banging from the door became more urgent, and there were a few screams mixed in. Shu Jun immediately collected his thoughts and tensed his back. It was getting late now, and it was a desolate and eroded area. There were various mutant beasts wandering around, and many of them could imitate human voices.
He didn’t know what Zhu Yanchen’s situation was. At least he suspected he was unarmed, so he couldn’t make a rash move.
The corpse handler also looked quite surprised. He took out a gun from his waist and slowly rubbed against the door.
The knock on the door grew fainter, and the screams grew louder with an unbearable sense of despair. An observation window was installed on the heavy metal door. The corpse handler used it to look out. They didn’t know what he saw, but he paused for a few seconds, then opened the door.
Three wounded soldiers came in from outside, all wearing masks so they couldn’t see their expressions. The leader looked like an officer, while the other two dragged in the corpse of a mutant beast full of bullet holes. The body handler saluted them, and the leader spoke while panting. “If we hadn’t killed that thing, were you planning not to open the door?”
“After all, given the time, I hope you can understand…” The corpse handler responded passively. Based on the voice, it was unexpectedly a woman—she had long arms and legs and was tall and sturdy. While wearing a protective suit, it was hard to tell her gender.
“The signal didn’t work. We needed to notify you of urgent information. Don’t misunderstand. Who would go to the erosion zone so late?” Seeing the dull look on the corpse handler’s face, the officer complained a few more times without any intention of continuing to make things difficult for her. “Alright, Xiao* Sun and Xiao Li, you two can dispose of the body of that thing in the Erosion Swamp.”
*Little/Young/Junior (小) When used as a prefix in front of a name, it expresses familiarity or affection towards a person, usually used when the person is younger or lower rank than you (like kouhai).
The corpse handler froze. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she didn’t say a word.
The other two wounded soldiers continued to drag the monster towards the Erosion Swamp. Shu Jun narrowed his eyes. His instinct as a soldier was screaming in his head. The scene in front of him was inconsistent—the two wounded soldiers limped along while dragging the corpse, while the leading officer in charge was walking behind them, never far away. Looking carefully, although the three people’s steps were irregular, their movements and frequency were exactly the same.
Shu Jun’s hair stood up.
That was a Corpse Parasite, one of the most annoying monsters for players. It was elusive in the erosion zone, and its essence was a tangle of straw-like limbs. That thing liked to burrow into ordinary mutated beasts, control them to attack humans, and then pretend to be defeated. When people thought they had won, it would leave the mutated beast’s body and sneak into the gaps in the protective suit while no one was paying attention.
It would inject paralyzing venom into the human body, eat them silently, and replace the missing flesh with its straw-like limbs to prop up their clothing. People normally wear tight clothes in the erosion zone, so they often wouldn’t notice the abnormality.
When the victim realized it, most of their body would already be gone, leaving only a skeleton and some nerves left, as well as an intact head.
Although the predation method of the Corpse Parasite was quite creepy, that wasn’t its most hated thing—the Corpse Parasite didn’t necessarily eat humans; it specifically attacked them for a reason.
Compared with ordinary mutant beasts, the Corpse Parasite was particularly dependent on the Erosion Swamp. There was a symbiotic relationship between the two. It deliberately left the human heads alive for a while and would take them to places where the erosion level wasn’t high—when the victim died, it would remember these locations and would feed the information back to the Erosion Swamp.
It was just like the hound of the Erosion Swamp.
In this way, the Erosion Swamp could erode more purposefully, increasing the concentration of the erosion substance everywhere, and in return, the Corpse Parasite could live more nourishingly. This was a beautiful win-win model for them, but it was undoubtedly a disaster for mankind.
In the past ten years, Shu Jun had probably killed around a few hundred of them, so he was familiar with this kind of thing—when it controlled multiple bodies, it couldn’t simulate different actions and movements completely. To cover this up, it would first use the skin of ordinary mutant beasts to injure the victims, making them unable to walk normally. However, if one observed carefully, the flaws could still be noticed.
Things were looking bad.
Although the heads of the three soldiers were still alive, they could only hold on for a while longer. Without weapons and relying solely on his abilities, Shu Jun could at most disperse the “straw” of the Corpse Parasite but couldn’t completely kill it. Their hiding place could only deceive human eyes. When the Corpse Parasite emerged from the bodies of those people, everyone in the room would become a target.
If he gathered wind into a hurricane, he might be able to break through the window in the corner of the wall. If he was fast enough, he could run away with Zhu Yanchen in one hand and the corpse handler in the other. He just didn’t know what was going on with his body right now or whether he would be able to complete this series of actions smoothly.
Zhu Yanchen, who had been silent all this time, also moved. He took out his gun and stared at the three “people” not far away.
“Marshal Zhu Yanchen is missing. If anything happens nearby, you must report it immediately.” The officer knew nothing about his approaching death.
“What about the Erosion Swamp here? Marshal Zhu has always been in charge here…” The corpse handler raised her head.
“The data monitoring of the Erosion Swamp will be done as usual. Marshal Yi Ning will arrange for people to deal with all abnormal reports.” The officer nodded, followed by his voice jamming, like broken audio data. “Deal, deal, deal…”
The two wounded soldiers nearby also fell down, and a gray-black straw-like object drilled out of the protective clothing of the three people, causing the fabric to deflate. The three of them remained motionless on the ground, and their protective suits crumpled up like deflated balloons, revealing the faint outline of their bony skeletons.
The corpse handler screamed. She dropped her gun, which scattered on the ground. The Erosion Swamp began to boil, making a small howling sound as if it were calling.
Zhu Yanchen’s entire body shook. “How troublesome.”
Indeed, it was troublesome. The Corpse Parasite shouldn’t act so quickly. Shu Jun grabbed Zhu Yanchen tightly, observed the position of the corpse handler, and prepared to carry the two of them away. As a result, as soon as he rushed out, he faced the oncoming Corpse Parasite head-on. Shu Jun stretched out his hand towards the pile of rotten straw, trying to blow it away to buy more time.
The howling of the Erosion Swamp was getting louder, as if it were calling for something.
Just as he gathered the power in his hand, Shu Jun’s originally clear mind became dizzy again, and he could hardly think smoothly.
Amidst the strange howling sound, he suddenly felt that the Corpse Parasite in front of him looked lovely, just like a pet dog frolicking and exposing its belly. The small Erosion Swamp next to it didn’t seem so annoying either. However, the light above his head was too bright, making him irritated.
As for the person near him, Shu Jun thought he looked… delicious.
He was hungry.
He stretched out his hand and pressed the other person to the ground. As a result, just as Shu Jun leaned down, the cold muzzle of a gun was pressed against the center of his brows.
“Hold on.” Zhu Yanchen’s voice became less cold, sounding a bit cautious, like he was coaxing an injured animal. “You have survived twice. You won’t fall this time. Don’t let it dominate you.”
These words reached Shu Jun’s mind, but he gradually couldn’t understand them.
Just as he couldn’t understand the meaning of the icy coldness between his brows at first, Shu Jun pressed his head down, trying to sniff Zhu Yanchen’s neck. Zhu Yanchen didn’t tremble and didn’t shoot, but there was more force applied to the muzzle of the gun.
“Shu Jun.” His call was like a sigh.
Shu Jun swallowed and began to tear Zhu Yanchen’s protective clothing with his claws. He was a little confused about the situation. Maybe he shouldn’t be doing this, but he was so hungry.
Zhu Yanchen raised his other hand that wasn’t holding the gun, as if he wanted to give him a hug, but he got stuck in the middle of his movements.
“I don’t want to say ‘sorry’ anymore.” His voice was low. Shu Jun didn’t know whether he was saying that to Zhu Yanchen or to himself.
For some reason, the Corpse Parasite waited obediently beside him while the small Erosion Swamp not far away was still howling. Zhu Yanchen closed his eyes and yelled at the frightened corpse handler, “Turn on all the purifiers and suppress the Erosion Swamp!”
The corpse handler had no intention of finding out where the two men came from. She shivered and started to move to the nearest operating table. Starting the purifier wasn’t a job that could be solved by pressing a button, but she was so nervous she couldn’t even get started for a while.
Zhu Yanchen stared at Shu Jun’s movement and pulled his finger on the trigger.
Shu Jun couldn’t bite down. At this distance, he could feel the other party’s body temperature. The temperature was like a pot of cold water, which sobered him up a little. Shu Jun knew he shouldn’t hurt him, but there was a force that seemed to be twisting his head and burning his stomach. Shu Jun tried to open his eyes, trying to make his blurred vision clearer.
It felt like he was struggling in a swamp.
His hands were pressing on Zhu Yanchen’s chest, and his sturdy protective clothing was torn apart by him. The dark claw tip left fine blood marks on the other’s skin, and a little blood bead oozed out. Fortunately, he hadn’t made any heavy moves yet. Shu Jun tried to suppress the urge to attack and adjust his breathing.
There was a special sound of erosion flowing that was beating in his ears. The woman’s scream and the whistling of the erosion were mixed together, and the volume was becoming louder.
“What is that?” The woman’s voice was full of fear. She even ignored the Corpse Parasite and looked directly at him. “What did you bring?!”
What is she saying?
Shu Jun moved his gaze and looked at his other hand—his left arm was in a semi-melted state, and black erosion was flowing down the skin, forming a small pool of erosion by Zhu Yanchen’s side.
“Shu Jun,” Zhu Yanchen called to him again.
Shu Jun moved the half-melted arm, and the erosion that was scattered on the ground floated back to its place, forming a normal arm again.
As his appearance recovered, although the corpse handler failed to activate the purifier, the howling of the Erosion Swamp slowly stopped.
“…Did you sober up a bit?” Zhu Yanchen asked with relief.
Then, he pressed Shu Jun’s head into his arms and slid his gun up, firing several shots behind him. It was obvious that Zhu Yanchen’s bullets were specially made, as the parts where the Corpse Parasite was hit were directly turned into powder.
After eating a few shots, the Corpse Parasite lost its honest appearance just now, and its body, which had no fixed shape, danced wildly and rushed towards the two of them.
Shu Jun wasn’t idle. He supported himself and rolled off of Zhu Yanchen, activating his ability. A storm was raised, blowing the straw-like monster directly onto the wall at the other end of the room.
The power was much stronger than before but was also extremely difficult to control. Not only was the monster blown away, but even the wall was blown down. The night mist filled the room, and the interior of the building was illuminated by blood-red warning lights.
“Suppose what you said is true—just suppose—I guess the concentration of erosion substance in my body can no longer be measured by ‘concentration’.”
Shu Jun glanced at his arm. The unpleasant feeling that overwhelmed his consciousness hadn’t subsided.
He had fought with the Erosion Swamp and mutant beasts for a decade and was familiar with all kinds of erosion conditions. The condition of his arm just now didn’t seem like it was eroded, but more like the erosion substance spontaneously formed his arm.
“You just said, ‘Don’t let it dominate me’. The Corpse Parasite can’t control me, let alone the corpse handler. Although I hope you were referring to that small Erosion Swamp, I have another conjecture.”
When he first woke up, the ordinary mutant beast passing by didn’t attack him. The same thing happened to the Corpse Parasite just now—this thing would only submit to the Erosion Swamp and had no goodwill towards its own kind. If he had just turned into a new type of mutant beast, it wouldn’t be so polite.
He started to feel wrong after hearing the Erosion Swamp’s howling. The howling sounded more like a test to confirm his identity than control.
“…There isn’t an Erosion Swamp hidden inside of me, right?”
Lin Chen followed his voice and looked at the middle-aged man beside him, but the cabin was so pitch black that he couldn’t see the other person’s appearance at all.
When he was driven into the cabin just now, he caught a glimpse of the “passengers” inside under the dim light of the fishing boat. They were all ordinary villagers who were around 30 to 45 years old and generally characterized by a strong physique. According to what the other side said, it seemed that they were going to the Dana Region for “gold panning”.
“We…”
As soon as Duan Yang spoke, Lin Chen held him down.
He squeezed the palm of the young doctor’s hand to prevent him from saying more to the villager beside him. “No, we came here accidentally.”
“Hey, you didn’t owe Boss Hei money and were sold to repay your debts, right?”
“The situation is a bit complicated, but it’s probably similar.” Lin Chen gave a vague reply. He thought for a bit, then asked, “How about you?”
“Man, you really shouldn’t mess with people you can’t mess with.” The villager sighed with emotion, then said, “We’re just here to work.”
“Going to work in the Dana Region?”
“Yes, you know there are gold and diamond mines over there, but they have a shortage of people digging them, so the pay is really high.”
Although Lin Chen couldn’t see the face of the villager beside him, the excitement in his voice couldn’t be concealed, as if he was expecting mountains of gold and silver waiting for him thousands of miles away.
“The pay is good, but it’s also dangerous, right?” Lin Chen leaned on the deck, a little tired. There was a roaring motor sound in the cabin, so it took a lot of effort for him to speak to these stowaways.
“What can I do? My wife has given birth to six cubs. How much can I earn if I go to work in the city? I can earn ten times as much if I go abroad.”
“You can earn 20,000 to 30,000 a month in Dana?” he tentatively asked.
“More than that! Fa Ge of our village went to Dana and came back with a lot of money. He said that if you do a good job, you can get 10,000 a month, all paid in US dollars. Don’t you know how much that is?”
“So high?” Lin Chen exclaimed, half-believing and half-jokingly. “But I heard that it’s very chaotic there, and you said those people above aren’t easy to mess with. What if…”
“It’s a matter of seeking wealth and taking risks. Besides, Fa Ge has been there and came back with a lot of money. His family used to be the poorest in the village, but now they have built a three-story building. Who wouldn’t be envious?”
“Indeed.” Lin Chen didn’t know how to answer.
He had heard of frequent examples of acquaintances entrapping their village in coastal fishing communities. Usually, someone who had been missing for a long time returned home from a foreign country, flaunting his wealth to the entire village. They would hold a big feast to show off their riches, and during the meal, they would constantly talk about their experience working abroad, tricking those who hoped to improve their lives into falling for their schemes. In the end, they would deceive their fellow villagers, and even those who were related to them, into going abroad to do the lowest and most difficult job.
This was the most primitive form of human trafficking. Once upon a time, countless black people were trafficked all over the world, and now such dirty and bloody transactions still occur in many places.
But what made Lin Chen feel incredulous was that now he himself had become one of the trafficked people. Such a sudden fate arrangement made him unable to react. However, no matter how much disbelief he was in, he was sitting in the bottom of a cabin on a fishing boat, talking to a group of trafficked people who didn’t know their fate.
Duan Yang also picked up on the clues. The young doctor kept pulling his arm, as if urging him to explain the situation to these villagers. However, for an ocean-crossing voyage, in an enclosed space, even cannibalism could happen. Those gangsters who kidnapped them and locked them up with these stowaways showed that they weren’t afraid of them telling the truth to these villagers.
However, just as he was thinking about these things, the lights in the cabin suddenly lit up.
Duan Yang was so frightened that he suddenly backed away. Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. Only then did he see the dark faces in front of them. The villagers were very close to them, as if they wanted to listen to him. Everyone surrounded them. Under the dim light, there was neither good intention nor malice in those eyes, as if they were searching for something.
The oncoming breath and fishy smell of the bottom cabin of the fishing boat were suffocating. They were underwater, so the air pressure was extremely low, and the heat was unbearable. He had been soaked by the rain before, but now his body was sticky and greasy, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Of course, the person who was more uncomfortable than him was the doctor next to him.
Duan Yang had a serious obsession with cleanliness. When the lights came on, he immediately fidgeted after seeing the situation in the cabin.
“Young men in the city are so squeamish,” someone whispered.
“It’s fine, they are so pitiful,” someone else chimed in.
“Thanks.” Lin Chen showed a look of bitterness and stopped talking. He and Duan Yang were obviously out of place with the villagers. The people around them gradually lost interest and dispersed. They sat down against the bulkhead of the fishing boat in twos and threes and began whispering to each other or closing their eyes to rest.
The sound of the ship’s motor covered most of the whispers. Except for the two who were close to them, they couldn’t hear any other voices at all. Duan Yang leaned into Lin Chen’s ear and spoke. His first sentence was full of trembling. “Consultant Lin, do you know how high the mortality rate of ocean-crossing smuggling is?”
Lin Chen couldn’t help but glare at him.
However, Duan Yang still rambled on. “You see, the smell here smells like the place where the catch should be stored. Dead fish and shrimp carry all kinds of bacteria and microorganisms. And it’s sweltering here. It’s like a huge petri dish!”
“Doctor Duan.” Lin Chen felt dizzy from the waves as he spoke softly.
“Consultant Lin, I’m worried about you. You are in poor condition; you were just exposed to the rain, and your hand is still infected. You…”
“In the dark space, a doctor who’s desperately suggesting that their patient has a certain disease—what do you think the chances of the patient surviving and walking out of this ship are?” Lin Chen asked.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I…” Duan Yang hugged his knees depressingly. “I’m sorry. I’m the one who dragged you into this. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“How did you come to this result?”
“What?”
“That you dragged me into this.”
“You’re right. This should be on Zhorui Pharmaceutical’s head. I feel that their goal was to search through my home. Is it because I offended them, they are now selling us to Dana to do hard labor?”
“It’s hard to say.” Lin Chen loosened the neckline of his shirt.
“Perhaps it’s because killing us directly wouldn’t be as good as kidnapping us and selling us off to avoid leaving any trouble behind. This way, no one can find our bodies.”
“Why are you so good at reasoning?”
“I just think they were too blatant. Are they a pharmaceutical company or the mafia? Consultant Lin, do you think we still have a chance to escape?”
“This is the ocean. Since we’re locked up with these stowaways, I think it’s unlikely we’ll be able to escape in a short time.”
“Are we going to be sold to Africa to do hard labor for the rest of our lives? Then why didn’t you tell these villagers the truth just now? Don’t we have a better chance if we unite them rather than just sit and wait to accept our fate?”
“Because right now they won’t believe anything we say.” Lin Chen said it bluntly. “Even if they have regrets or doubts, they won’t show it now. Anyone who dares point out a problem will only be attacked by the mob. This is human instinct.”
“Then what should we do now?”
“We can only wait.”
“For how long.” Duan Yang sat down and looked up at the ceiling as he covered his face. “This environment will only weaken our physical strength. It’ll be difficult for us to survive.”
Lin Chen looked at the young man. Although he was indeed uncomfortable now, he and Duan Yang needed to encourage each other. Otherwise, the situation would only get worse. “Anything difficult can be solved. Besides, this isn’t your fault. No matter what you’re involved in, you don’t have yourself to blame.”
“But…”
“Besides, isn’t it great to go to Dana?” He tried to find something to cheer up the youth.
“What’s great? That hellhole isn’t as safe as this boat full of stowaways.”
“But you might be able to see your teacher.”
“Consultant Lin… You… You don’t have to.” Under the faint light, Duan Yang’s face flushed again in an instant. “This is impossible.”
“Why?”
“We’ll definitely be sold to do hard labor with them. We can’t escape. How can we meet my teacher?”
“As long as you will it, there’s a way,” Lin Chen said seriously. “So, do you want to see your teacher?”
“Isn’t this just a lie? There are many things in the world I wish to see, but this isn’t some cultivation novel,” Duan Yang muttered.
“There’s a classic called <The Secret*>. Have you heard of it? It contains the most famous principles of success. That is, as long as you firmly believe something will happen, it will happen.” Lin Chen raised his injured hand and wanted to pat Duan Yang’s head, but the tingling pain in his palm made him subconsciously switch hands. “Your belief should be stronger. When you’re invincible, you’ll be able to achieve anything because no one can stop you.”
*Self-help book by Rhonda Byrne. It’s based on the belief in the pseudoscientific law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a person’s life directly. The book alleges energy as an assurance of its effectiveness. Scientific claims made by the book have been rejected by a range of critics, pointing out that it has no scientific foundation.
The young man blushed. “It means that as long as I want to see Teacher, I’ll definitely be able to see him?”
“That’s right.”
“Then you must firmly believe that your resistance is strong enough not to get infected. Even if you are infected, you can resist!”
Lin Chen sighed as a chill came over his body. He regretted going down this scam route. However, he could only nod and say, “I will.”
Kinky Thoughts:
As explained in the footnotes, the things mentioned in the book don’t have any scientific merit, but thinking about one’s outlook can change your mental state. Lin Chen was simply trying to cheer up Duan Yang by basically saying, “Keep a positive outlook and don’t fall into despair” (as that would only hamper their situation even more), but Duan Yang totally missed the point and actually bought into the bullshit.
One thing I will say, though, is that the saying “fake it until you make it” can be applicable and could give you a boost in confidence.
Zhong Yi—or rather—Yin Ren had rarely had such a moment of concentration.
He was ashamed to say, but Lord Ghost King didn’t like to use his brain. He had wandered around in the wilderness before and didn’t have the habit of thinking deeply. After entering the world, his opponents were nothing more than humans. Relying on hundreds of years of experience in communicating with humans, Yin Ren was able to deal with things freely.
As for using strategy to fight for power and profit, similar ideas never entered his mind.
After all, there was nothing more relaxing in the world than “lying on the sofa and not wanting anything”. If there was, then the first part of that sentence would be changed to “lying on Zhong Chengshuo”, and the second half would remain resolutely unchanged.
Now that Zhong Chengshuo knew his identity, everything was subtly relaxed.
Yin Ren was even a little thankful for Sunken Society that allowed his identity to be exposed. Otherwise, if they were walking down the street one day while chewing on some popsicles and he suddenly said, “Actually, I’m the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi”, it was hard to tell how Zhong Chengshuo would react.
His Comrade Xiao Zhong was a genuine science post.
Even if Zhong Chengshuo was blinded by his feelings and was willing to believe him without any evidence, for a good young man with strong roots, the so-called “Celestial Master Zhong Yi” was far less impactful than a “humanoid Evil Spirit”.
Then Zhong Chengshuo may just have the same surname, which might not be much different from “A dog biting Lu Dongbin*”…
*(被狗咬的吕洞宾) Originally meaning that two people don’t know each other’s thoughts so they misunderstand. Now used to refer to someone who doesn’t know good from bad.
Yin Ren had paid attention. The “Zhong Yi” of this era was just a statue of a deity, a wall painting in a cultivator’s home, or a few pages of legend in a library; closer to a symbol.
The place where he had the strongest sense of existence was nothing less than a summary from the 100-year work report… Ah, no, <The Book of Exorcism>.
Those reports had been edited and sorted by the relevant personnel of Huajisi, and many people had compiled other discoveries in later generations. They gave the author’s name to Yin Ren and let it pass through prosperous and troubled times, continuing to this day.
But that was about it.
Previously, Huajisi said that they made a statue of him and placed it in the most conspicuous position in their lobby as a sign of respect. Today, there were only large electronic screens showing various information and news in the hall of Shian.
…Well, he was thinking too far.
It was imperative to get out first and uncover the evil thing behind the scenes.
Yin Ren suppressed his aura well. He met his 1,000-year-old cushion, but it didn’t seem to recognize him. That thing swelled itself and was chasing after them plaintively. The “eyeball” was covered with purple and black flakes that looked like silk ribbons.
Yin Ren knew Yellow Millet better than anyone else. That thing’s intelligence was flimsier than a dog’s, and it was lazy as hell.
Right now, Yellow Millet was instigated by the evil thing behind the scenes and was chasing them like a dog. However, it didn’t use any spells because it was 100% lazy. If it couldn’t catch up for a while, it would use all of its strength, which would make the situation more difficult.
Yin Ren thought humorously about how many times in one’s life one would get the chance to be chased by a sofa cushion.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t share this humor with the two ministers.
The architecture of the Ant Nest gradually became newer. The murals were so dense that they made them feel uncomfortable. The dry corpses were gathered in piles like trash, with dry filaments stuck between them. The lights of the everlasting lanterns were dazzling, and the interior of the rooms was full of a strange “popularity”, as if a researcher would turn in from outside the door in the next moment.
They were close to the edge of the Ant Nest, and the gap between the buildings was much larger than the previous tight seams.
More evil things gathered in the shadows and joined the killing team led by Yellow Millet. Odd figures popped out of the gap, surrounded by strong evil qi, and rushed towards the five of them with a murderous aura.
Fu Xingchuan controlled his levitation spell with one hand while quickly switching between attack and defense with the other. The attacking evil beings were swept away by waves like rainwater encountering windshield wipers.
Under high-speed travel, ordinary people would have to concentrate entirely just to identify their environment. This man was in his forties, yet his dynamic vision was simply terrifying.
This made Yin Ren even more relaxed.
They were quite close to the surface. With the strength of Fu Xingchuan, it wasn’t difficult to break through the ground. The hard part was to confirm whether there were residential buildings above them.
In the event of a residential building collapse, the two ministers wouldn’t have to worry about assigning execution missions any longer. Everyone would just pack up and leave Shian together.
Having said that, it was good that Fu Xingchuan was so preoccupied like this. He could take the opportunity to drop out and probe using his hair.
As long as Zhong Chengshuo was willing to cooperate with his act…
Yin Ren subconsciously moved his wrist.
Zhong Chengshuo held Yin Ren tightly, as if he were afraid he would suddenly evaporate at any moment. If the man hadn’t hugged the sampling backpack on his chest with so much force that he could strangle it, Yin Ren would actually have been moved.
He looked at Zhong Chengshuo for about half a second. The latter suddenly turned his head and stared at Yin Ren for a moment, then shook his head gently.
“Now’s not the time.” Zhong Chengshuo mouthed.
“Be careful of surveillance from Sunken Society.”
Sure enough, compared with before, Zhong Chengshuo’s attitude toward him hadn’t changed much.
After this person cautiously instructed Yin Ren, he turned his head calmly. His soft bangs were blown about by the wind, and the flames from the everlasting lanterns danced around his lenses.
They happened to be leaping over a rugged, narrow path. An evil thing was cut in half by Fu Xingchuan. Ghost blood splashed on Zhong Chengshuo’s face like ink. Like water droplets touching a lotus leaf, those dark blood beads rolled off the skin and fell into the darkness.
Just when Yin Ren thought Zhong Chengshuo was going to stay put, the man opened his mouth and was unusually solemn…
“Minister Li, we can blow up the building.”
This person had a gentle and harmless appearance, but he spoke more ruthlessly than anyone else. Wasn’t the Archive already such a big explosion? Zhong Chengshuo’s macroscopic view was too large!
Fu Xingchuan, Li Nian: “…?”
Hearing such treacherous remarks, Fu Xingchuan’s movements stagnated for a second. The direction of the levitation spell changed slightly as the five of them passed under the low eaves, almost becoming a bunch of radishes strung out to dry under the eaves.
Unexpectedly, not long after Li Radish, who was named, responded, “It’s a way.”
Fu Xingchuan seemed to want to cover his face. Since his hands were still frantically performing spells, he simply endured. “Okay, Xiao Zhong. Let’s hear it.”
Zhong Chengshuo: “The above ground group will create huge shocks in no man’s land so we can immediately determine the direction and forcefully break through.”
“Yes, there are many abandoned buildings in the center of the mountain town. They just need to disperse the townsfolk,” Li Nian added with a frown.
Fu Xingchuan’s expression was complicated. He glanced at Zhong Chengshuo from the corner of his eye.
There was nothing wrong with the logic of Zhong Chengshuo’s idea, but being able to come up with this type of solution in the first place was certainly a problem in and of itself.
There was something missing in his tone, as if he wasn’t talking about a real mountain town but a level that needed to be knocked out in a game. The nature of Shian’s personnel’s instinct for maintaining order was deeply engraved in their bones, so it was truly difficult to think of… an action with such destructive tendencies.
This kid…
Fu Xingchuan muttered in his heart but didn’t waste even half a second.
“Xiang Jiang, come in. Where are you?”
……
On the surface, three Shian personnel plus a panting Mayor Ren were shuttling back and forth among the ruins of buildings.
The residents of the town seemed to have been possessed. It was obviously a working day, but the men, women, and children in the town seemed to have nothing to do. They kept gathering at the center of the town with all kinds of objects that could be considered weapons in their hands.
Some people still wore their indoor slippers and had uncleared foam on their hair as they joined the army that was chasing them.
Every time the four of them moved a little, those heads would follow their movements in a neat manner. A thousand pairs of eyes stared at their group.
One person’s pursuit could be called “intentional killing”, while a group of people’s pursuit was considered “hunting”. From Ge Tingting’s point of view, the current scene was already in the realm of a “siege”.
Before receiving Fu Xingchuan’s communication, Shian’s “ground team” was parked on the top of an abandoned office building.
The building was eight stories high and was inlaid with expensive glass curtain walls. It had been abandoned for some time, as climbing vines had drilled in and out of the windows and the old air-conditioner had merged with a bird’s nest. It had long since become a paradise for animals and plants. The chains locking the doors couldn’t prevent the townspeople from breaking in.
Even though the elevator no longer worked, the group of townsfolk ran up the stairs tirelessly.
Ge Tingting listened nervously to the faint sounds of their footsteps. No one spoke in the corridor; only the sounds of weapons colliding and panting could be heard. The townspeople approached them mechanically, reminding her of a movie showing a zombie siege she had just watched a while ago.
It was truly worthy of being a site of Sunken Society, as it accurately hit Shian’s weakness. The townspeople wanted to tear them to pieces, while the staff of Shian weren’t allowed to hurt them and could only flee in panic.
In the previous escape, every time the townspeople rushed to the rooftop, Xiang Jiang would pop out a spirit weapon and swing them to the nearest roof of the next building. The townspeople began to catch on and would squat on nearby rooftops.
Finally, they couldn’t escape.
Before they knew it, they were forced into the very center of the mountain town. The circular line rumbled around them; the sound and mist intertwined to form a heavy cage.
Those mostly aging figures stood on the rooftops of nearby buildings, all facing the direction of the office building. They either had their heads raised or lowered, and their eyes were tightly tied to the four of them as if they were bound by invisible ropes.
The mist at the bottom of the building shook like waves.
No matter how strong a person was, as long as they were mortal, their strength would be limited. This group of people wanted to grind them to death—they had been at the bottom of society for too long that even Ge Tingting and Huang Jin had reacted quickly to their malice.
Just like that, they had stopped on the eight floors of the office building for a few minutes. Before they could even catch their breath, the door of the rooftop creaked. Xiang Jiang didn’t turn his head back and arranged his spirit weapon again with a blank face.
Ge Tingting pursed her lips tightly and looked over worriedly, but she only saw the man frowning tightly. The expression on his face was more one of disgust, like he was looking at dirty things rather than exhaustion.
The disgust disappeared quickly. When Ge Tingting wiped the sweat from her eyes with her sleeve, Xiang Jiang’s face returned to blankness again.
A dark red rope as thick as a thumb popped towards a nearby rooftop. Xiang Jiang quietly performed a levitating spell.
It was unknown whether he had consumed too much mental energy leading the townspeople across the mountain town, but the red rope swayed weakly a few times, but failed to latch onto the adjacent building and softly fell between the gap.
Xiang Jiang retracted the rope with a sullen face and turned around.
Seeing that the situation wasn’t good, Huang Jin gritted his teeth and took out a picture of a crimson paper cutout. The paper cutout twisted and unfolded itself, turning into a circle of small people holding hands in a circle. It trembled and slowly rotated as it surrounded the four people in the middle.
On the roof, to the right of them, were about six town residents waiting in a line, which was the “breakthrough” with the fewest people.
The father and daughter who sold them the donuts were among them; their greasy aprons was particularly conspicuous.
The father wielded a wide-back cleaver used for mincing meat, while the daughter held two long chopsticks with sharpened ends. At first, the expressions on their faces were slightly different. The father’s face was full of pleasure, while the daughter showed some resistance.
But after a while, only the same dazed state remained on their faces. Ge Tingting raised her eyes and looked again. Around them, everyone showed exactly the same emotions. It wasn’t hatred but was closer to despair and sorrow.
The townspeople who besieged them were men, women, and children; old and young, with different heights and weights. The different facial features of the people blurred and gradually changed into one appearance. It was like copying the same expression and forcibly pasting it onto all the townspeople’s faces.
The residents struggled to get closer, but their bodies were stopped by the red paper circles. However, they seemed to be tireless and felt no pain, and they continued to squeeze persistently through the barrier.
Ren Jiying wasn’t affected, but she was terrified. Along the way, she couldn’t even muster up any questions to ask, probably because she was putting all her courage into running.
At this moment, the headsets of several people trembled.
“Blow up a ruined building.” Fu Xingchuan paused. “Show us a way.”
“This place has a lot of problems. If it continues to drag on, something will definitely happen.”
Zhong Chengshuo closed his eyes and continued to think amidst the strong winds.
Yin Ren, originally a human evil being, had the ability to drive many evil things.
From ancient times to the present, people would do whatever it took to pursue power. With such an attractive case in front of them, Sunken Society was naturally willing to study it for thousands of years. This, Zhong Chengshuo could fully understand.
Now it seemed that Sunken Society may have successfully created an imitation.
The imitation’s intelligence was quite high, commanded many evil beings, and expelled possible threats. It felt like there was a faint sense of déjà vu.
In the alternation of lights and shadows, Zhong Chengshuo opened his eyes again. The eyes behind the lens didn’t have a semi-gloss.
Alone, spirits and monsters were always with you. As you walked in the world, the gods would appear and disappear like ghosts, ensuring safety in all directions.
…Zhong Yi.
During the Gong Dynasty, the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi pacified the six Evil Spirits alone. As long as anyone knew something about the metaphysical world, they wouldn’t be able to avoid the legend of the Great Celestial Master.
As “King Yama” of the Nightwalkers, Zhong Chengshuo was even more familiar with these legends.
The Evil Spirits couldn’t be looked at directly, so no one had witnessed the scene back then. Not even Zhong Yi’s own information was handed down to future generations.
Just like all strange people, Zhong Yi’s life could only be described with a few words…
He was born in a remote mountain village with divine power. He exorcized evil spirits and demons all year round and was invincible in battle. He was known as a “Stranger”. After serving in Huajisi, the emperor bestowed him the surname “Zhong” and he was called Zhong Yi ever since.
There weren’t any records that contained his real name. As for Zhong Yi’s appearance, it was circulated by numerous statues and paintings that there were countless iterations of him.
There wasn’t much serious information about this person, but there were many legends and anecdotes. Because of his wild appearance and fierce deeds, except for the metaphysical circle, most folks use his stories to scare children.
It was a closed mountain village that first spread the legend of Zhong Yi.
It was said that not long after Zhong Yi’s mother was pregnant, she ran into an evil spirit in the mountains and became crazy. The villagers tried to take care of her, but the lunatic ran away. Eventually, the woman disappeared into the mountain forest, where evil things were rampant, and no one had seen her alive since then.
Until one day, a woodcutter heard a toddler crying in the mountains. He followed the sound and found a broken female corpse that was shrunken around a baby. When the baby was found by the woodcutter, he saw that there were remnants of evil claws left on the baby’s mouth.
The woodcutter was so scared that he fled. When he returned home, he became seriously ill and died within a few days.
Unfortunately, the story didn’t continue further. People would only say that after Zhong Yi grew up, he often missed his hometown, and every year he would return to the mountain village and slay demons there.
Most of the descendants regarded this as a routine story to show a great man’s morality and simply laughed it off.
But was it really just a story?
In the Ant Den, many evil things chased after them among the carved columns and murals that spanned time. The pale, cold mist surged around, and the illusion of the ancient village in the Archive returned…
At the forefront of countless evil things, a red figure staggered forward, with bells ringing on its ankles. The evil things bowed their bodies respectfully, following the muddy path through the mountain village.
That figure would stop at the door and bang slowly on it, as if knocking.
[When the red light is on and the green light is burning, every household closes their door.]
[At midnight, when the fruit ripens, be careful what you say with your back to the door.]
[Pray for tranquility, wish for good fortune, and shut your eyes so you can’t see.]
[The rooster crows, with footsteps far away, that comes back next year to report the peace.]
Comes back next year to report the peace…
In the illusion, there was only the wreckage of the mountain village. According to the ballad at the time, before the destruction of that small mountain village, he would visit it every year.
Once a year, the villagers would offer fruits and vegetables and make a wish for him.
It was like a transaction.
“Red light barters; green light dispels evil”, “Separated by the threshold, they don’t see each other”… To this day, the story of that year was swallowed by history, yet similar customs were still preserved in the world.
Exaggerated portraits, lost information, and an illusory folk legend that villains continue to chase for thousands of years.
Zhong Chengshuo raised his head and looked at the seemingly endless doors and windows of the Ant Nest again.
Although there were still countless puzzles scattered outside, those that he knew were gradually completed, spelling out a crimson, inhuman eye.
The most powerful legend of mankind, the amazingly talented Grand Celestial Master, may not have been human before he became the “Great Celestial Master”.
The situation was almost clear. At this moment, Zhong Chengshuo only had one thing left to determine…
After all, the answers to his puzzles were all within reach. It was the first time he had been able to get personal confirmation from his “research subject”.
Zhong Chengshuo moved his fingers slightly, pressing them against the palm of Yin Ren’s warm skin.
“Yin Ren.”
“Hmm?” Yin Ren was drowsy from the wind. He squinted his eyes, and there was a bit of a nasal sound in his response.
“Is that you?” Since there was someone at his side, Zhong Chengshuo asked vaguely.
“What is…”
Yin Ren swallowed two sips of wind and became instantly sober. His partner knew that he was the “figure in red”, but Zhong Chengshuo still asked.
Is that you?
Sure enough, this kid noticed something.
Yin Ren turned his head. In the faint light that ran through thousands of years, he put an index finger on his upper lip and gently pressed it there.
“Shh—”
Zhong Chengshuo had never looked at him so seriously. In the warm light, there was no arrogance or solemnity of being a legendary powerhouse in those eyes; only a little cunningness as if he had achieved something in his mischief.
It is you.
He couldn’t help but tighten his fingers. The swelling excitement almost made his heart burst.
Yin Ren sighed. Zhong Chengshuo held his hand so hard that he almost broke the skin. In the next instant, Zhong Chengshuo seemed to be aware of something and quickly let go of his strength.
Yin Ren had a subtle illusion—it seemed that it wasn’t his fingers that Zhong Chengshuo loosened just now but his fangs that were about to bite down.
……
Not long ago, in Haigu, underground of a certain company.
The entrance of the entire underground was hung with a sign labeled: [Second to Fifth Department of Technology] and a sign of [R&D Center, authorized personnel only] posted under the first sign.
Countless rooms were neatly stacked underground, surrounded by air, water, and electricity as if they were blood vessels. The indicator lights on the machinery were obviously extinguished, and invisible data flowed in the air.
Behind the door with the sign [Technology Department II-B2219] incandescent lights illuminated the room. One wall was embedded with gleaming machinery, which was similar to the style of the rear commander of Shian.
Unlike Shian, there were five to six people sitting in front of the machine.
They all had cigarettes in their mouths, and the collars under their shirts hung from their necks like wilted leaves. These people had different expressions, but there was a numb look hidden in their eyes.
The room had no windows and relied on the air conditioner for ventilation. Accompanied by tapping keyboard sounds, the smell of smoke, sweat, and coffee mixed together, and the cold air from the air conditioner that stirred up and down, it all formed a subtle atmosphere of an internet café.
The entire surveillance wall flickered continuously, and the images on the screen were images from all corners of Gengsheng Town.
The townspeople had taken to the streets, moving staggeringly. The screen appeared to be affected by electromagnetic interference. The fog originally flowed around the mountain town, but this time it poured into the town like a milky white ocean.
On the next wall, the values on the big screen kept rising. Huge skeletons straightened their bodies; their thin, giant figures shook violently, like grass in the wind. Floating cloud-like evil objects crashed into abandoned buildings.
It wasn’t dark yet, but the commotion of evil things in the town was surging.
There weren’t many cameras underground, and many detection devices that had been installed had been rendered useless. Gengsheng Town seemed to have been thrown into a frying pan. No matter whether it was above or underground, all the values fluctuated wildly like a roller coaster.
“The ‘Guardian’ of Gengsheng Town is angered.” A middle-aged man with a combover coughed twice.
“What’s going on? These readings underground are too outrageous. Didn’t the top tell us to mess with the two newcomers? Why are we following this kind of master?”
In front of the underground data monitoring screen, a young man with blonde hair bit his fingers hard. He only had four fingers in each hand and nubs on his remaining ones, which looked like they had been chopped off by a knife.
“The newcomer’s execution mission is matched with three people from the Emergency Department. This is too insane… It was originally supposed to be dealing with Snake Swallowing, but now it has dragged on to an Ant Nest where we can’t even take a piss.”
As the surveillance department of Sunken Society, their job was clear.
The two targets were sent into the depths of the cave, and Shian would inevitably send “undercover” veterans to rescue them. As long as the veterans were killed and the two targets were unharmed—with this alone, no matter whether Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo had secrets or not, their path to “promotion” would be cut off.
They only needed to monitor and report the latest situation in a timely manner, and someone would cast doubt on the two newcomers. There was no need to worry about whether they would recognize the truth, as Shian would most likely kick them out.
When the members of Sunken Society discovered that Qi Xin, an innocent clerk, was also involved, they almost opened champagne to celebrate. Involving the lives of innocent people was Shian’s bottom line.
As a result, this group of people were like cockroaches. Yellow Millet had been chasing them for so long yet there was no flaw in the front line.
“Minister Zou?” Another young man with a horse face asked.
“Minister Zou is on a business trip.”
Horse face: “Then who can make a decision on this matter? The ‘Guardian’ won’t listen to our orders, and if things get too serious, everything will be over.”
“Haa…” This time it was a haggard woman who sighed.
“What the hell is that evil thing called the ‘Guardian’?” The woman drooped her brows. “Except for our group, there must be thousands of people in charge of upgrading the town, right? It’s been so long, and batch after batch of experimental subjects have been tested, but the ‘finished product’ is hidden and not shown. Now it seems to be going out of control, and we don’t know anything and can’t do anything.”
“Don’t ask things you shouldn’t.”
The combover man put out his cigarette butt and exhaled a large cloud of green smoke.
“If you want to keep your life, it’s better to know less. The higher-ups have tacitly agreed to escalate the chaos to this point, so they must have their own plans.”
……
“Do you have any comments on my proposal just now?”
At the Haigu branch of Sunken Society, Wei Huaqian checked the report with interest and casually said into the phone.
“…Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian appeared in Gengsheng Town so you want to trade the Gengsheng Town project for their lives.” Minister Zou, who was currently on a “business trip”, was sitting in a speeding car with his ears glued to his phone.
“Yes. Those two are willing to execute the newcomers, so why shouldn’t I take advantage of it?” Wei Huaqian’s voice came from the speaker. “Besides, there’s something wrong with Gengsheng Town. This is a good deal… After all, that thing is just an imitation, and it has long lost its sanity.”
“…..”
“Distressed?”
“The project of Gengsheng Town has been intermittent for thousands of years. This year is my tenth year in charge. It would be a lie to say I don’t care about it,” Minister Zou said. “But the state of the ‘Guardian’ is indeed unstable, and it’ll cause trouble sooner or later, so fair enough.”
“Nn.”
“However,” Minister Zou changed the subject, “in order to take care of the ‘Guardian’, our department has invested tens of millions. Since your Haigu branch wants to give up in advance, you have to take out some bargaining chips.”
Wei Huaqian snorted without surprise.
“Your requests?”
“I want to go through the ‘original’ records of your Haigu branch.” Minister Zou stood in front of a barren, wild mountain. “The text and materials of the Ant Nest in Gengsheng Town are all kept by you, and they are not in our database.”
“I have been guarding the imitation product in Gengsheng Town for a decade. I want to see the real product.”
“Yes, but they are stored in the mountain area west of the city, so you have to go see them alone.” Wei Huaqian laughed.
Minister Zou also laughed back. “Sometimes I envy Shian. They share information so happily.”
“In this case, we also have the spirit of sharing,” Wei Huaqian said slowly. “It’s just that for extremely sensitive information, Shian also has their own confidentiality level.”
“The information you want to see are records of ‘limit of power’ in human history, one of our ultimate goals. They all say that there are gods standing above our heads, so it’s better to respect them.”
Wei Huaqian took a sip of tea and gently placed the teacup on the wooden table. Through the glass filled with tea, the original dark red wooden table looked a bit brighter.
Unfortunately, it was far from the red he had seen at first.
After a few casual instructions, Wei Huaqian hung up. The order to fully activate Gengsheng Town had been issued, and the ‘Evil Guardian’ had gone crazy. Within two hours, he would be able to see the ugliness of the two masters of Shian.
There was a saying referring to raising soldiers for thousands of days and only use them for a while*; raising an “Evil Spirit” was roughly the same. Even if “that thing” in Gengsheng Town was a failure, it wasn’t something normal humans like Fu Xingchuan could handle.
*(养兵千日，用兵一时) Idiom referring to saving strength at ordinary times and using it when necessary.
Wei Huaqian relaxed his nerves a little and lay on the sofa next to the wooden table.
He bit his finger, drew a blood symbol on his brows, and began to remember the shocking records again.
Unlike Shian, who had lost their data, there were images of the figure in red left in the Ant Nest. The murals were just “photos” for reference. The more important information had been carefully transferred to other places after being sunk…
It was a dialogue with the “figure in red” that had been going on for hundreds of years.
As the manager of Sunken Society of the Haigu branch, Wei Huaqian watched the record for the first time.
……
More than 1,300 years ago, in the middle of summer, the wasteland.
There was a large Yellow Millet slumped between the branches, looking like a colorful cushion. A man was reclining on Yellow Millet, holding a half-eaten watermelon tightly in his arms and trying to read scripts through his eyehole.
The man had a mask full of runes on his face, and two layers of red cloth wrapped around his body with weird seals hung around them, barely shaping a human form. Even so, the compelling Evil Spirit still infected a coldness all around.
It was summer, but the branches and leaves of the tree had withered, and there was a thin layer of frost that appeared on the surface of the leaves.
Groups of fat, evil things lay under the trees. If they were swapped for animals, the scene might be a bit more gratifying. However, since it was those hideous creatures, it only added more horror to the picture. About three to four children wearing doll hoods hid behind the tree; their huge hoods were mainly exposed, and their exaggerated smiling faces were covered with dust.
An envoy of Sunken Society kneeled respectfully under the tree.
“…Master Zhong Yi,” the man called cautiously.
“Master Zhong Yi, Master Zhong Yi.” The man on the tree didn’t respond for a long time, and there was a bit of suppressed irritability in the voice of the envoy of Sunken Society.
“Master Zhong Yi—”
“Oh, you called me.” The man on the tree suddenly became aware and put down his notebook and watermelon. “…Wow, an actual living person!”
The envoy of Sunken Society: “……”
Zhong Yi gestured, and Yellow Millet slid down from the tree, spreading itself into a soft ball. Then Zhong Yi rolled his body carelessly and fell on Yellow Millet’s body in all directions.
Wrapped in layers of seals, he stood up with some difficulty and approached the envoy of Sunken Society.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable getting close to me like this?” he asked beamingly. “Could it be that my newly thought seal worked… Wait.”
In Zhong Yi’s voice, the original high mood dropped. He leaned down and observed carefully for a moment. “What, a spell to stop disasters and transfer all bad luck from encountering evil beings to others… How boring. You can leave.”
The envoy of Sunken Society: “…Master Zhong Yi, I haven’t said anything yet.”
“Then say it.” The red figure sat on Yellow Millet, which made a soft puff. “Get down to business then.”
“My lord, I’m a priest of Sunken Society and have admired you for a long time. Your Lordship has been abandoned by the world and cannot fully enjoy the world of mortals. We are willing to share the worries of Your Lordship…”
“What? What abandonment?”
Zhong Yi’s tone was surprised.
“You brought your own disaster-proof talisman just to tell me this… Most people who run into me will soon meet King Yama. Isn’t it normal to hide from me? What, are you guys the type who, ‘although people may die, you’ll rush to do business anyway’?”
It may be that because he hadn’t seen anyone for so long, Zhong Yi couldn’t stop grumbling. The content included but wasn’t limited to “I don’t want to destroy it myself” and “Peace is precious, don’t you get it?” and the like, but there was also a bit of earnestness in them.
There was a layer of sweat on the envoy of Sunken Society—Yellow Millet alone was enough to cause a great catastrophe, yet it turned out that it was being used as a chair cushion for the person in front of him, and very happily at that.
“My Lord, doesn’t know…” The envoy quickly changed the subject. “The current emperor is stupid, the people are miserable, and Huajisi has done nothing. If Your Lordship is willing to come back with us…”
“Hey, Huajisi is not responsible for that kind of thing.” Zhong Yi shook his head. “Since you can’t stand it anymore, you should recruit talents and form a rebellion. It’s none of my business if the Emperor is stupid.”
“The people are suffering—”
“If I personally intervene, they’ll suffer ten times more,” Zhong Yi said sincerely.
The envoy frantically wiped his sweat with his sleeve and changed the subject again. “The legality of the gods is still there. Your Lordship suffers from corrosion by Evil Force every day. We have done a lot of research on this and can help you out of this sea of suffering…”
This time, his statement was quite practical.
Wei Huaqian clearly knew that Evil Force was like arsenic. If exposed to a huge amount over a short period of time, the body would quickly collapse.
If people wanted to survive, they could slowly “pickle” themselves with the environment and gradually allow themselves to adapt. The so-called Divine Descent was nothing more than an excellent “pickling environment” formed by natural disasters.
But there were also side effects—short-term exposure to a lot of Evil Force could cause the body to become disordered and collapse. The brain would not be able to respond in time, causing paralyzing effects. To coexist with the invading Evil Force for a long time, it was necessary to endure the suffering of the heart daily.
Zhong Yi wasn’t as relaxed as he had shown.
However, the so-called “Great Celestial Master” didn’t buy this spiel, and it was obvious he was irritated by having it mentioned.
The momentum around Zhong Yi’s body changed.
Although it was only a video recording, the overwhelming momentum was still shocking—with Zhong Yi as the center, the surrounding grass and trees quickly withered and decayed. The reptiles on the ground turned over, and the birds dropped one by one from the sky. The former turned into empty husks blown away by the wind, while the latter’s white bones were slanted on the ground.
“You have quite the tongue, daring to treat me like a three-year-old child.”
Zhong Yi’s voice sank.
“Huajisi heals evil spirits that invade the body and comes up with hundreds of medical records to help the common people. What about you? You only know how to experiment with the living and call it ‘thorough research’. I’m not interested. Leave.”
Yellow Millet was discerning. It crawled back to the tree and stretched itself into a cushion. Zhong Yi returned to the dead tree using a levitating spell and continued to read his script.
“I thought you wanted to meet me at the expense of your life so you could bring some news about ghosts and evil spirits and perhaps have a meal together.” Zhong Yi sighed softly. “What a pity… If you don’t leave, those terrible things by my side will fuck you up.”
……
More than 1,200 years ago, in autumn, deep in the mountains.
The red cloth on Zhong Yi’s body was more than a dozen layers thicker. He had wrapped himself in a dark red cocoon, completely devoid of human form.
When the envoy of Sunken Society found him, he was putting his exposed feet into a stream. The clear stream rushed past his feet as the legendary Great Celestial Master lay on his back by the riverbank like a loveless red bean worm.
There was a lot of special ink and white paper scattered around him. A wooden bird, which was used to send messages, was pressed on the paper, and there was a large ink stain on its wings. Yellow Millet blocked the wind on the side of the white paper, so that the paper wouldn’t be blown away by the mountain wind.
Evil things stood in a row farther away, trying to stretch their bodies and showing details of their appearances.
There were vivid stick figures drawn on the rice paper under their feet, but it was a pity that they were accompanied by more than a dozen lines of bad characters that looked like dogs crawling. From this distance, the envoy could see a little more clearly. The brief introductions and weaknesses of various evil things were written on them in extremely large white characters.
In many places, he didn’t seem good at writing, so he had to use specious small images instead.
“Great Celestial Master.”
The envoy’s voice was calm and humble.
“You guys again.” Zhong Yi snorted. “How many lives did you take on this trip to stop the disaster?”
Compared with before, there was a slight weakness in his voice.
“We have detected signs of an Evil Spirit along the coast,” the envoy said. “I came to ask the Great Celestial Master to help pacify the disaster and return the land to peace.”
“You…” Zhong Yi paused strangely before he finished speaking. He thought for a moment and cleared his throat. “Easy for you to say. First help me write fifteen pages; then I’ll be willing to talk to you in detail.”
Envoy: “?”
“Huajisi’s records on evil beings have to be handed in every half a month,” Zhong Yi said deeply. “Today’s the deadline.”
Envoy: “…?” Half a month, fifteen pages… You haven’t written a single page, have you?
However, the envoys who came to see the Great Celestial Master were all carefully selected. The envoy patiently wrote on the pieces of paper following Zhong Yi’s narration.
Seeing that the envoy was silent, several children with big-headed doll hoods came running over and crowded together to watch.
“Go back!” Zhong Yi gestured them away.
The envoy humbly asked, “What evil things are they?”
“Just homeless children.” Zhong Yi’s attitude improved quite a bit after seeing the envoy’s hard work. “Their minds aren’t open yet, so they are affected less. I’ve put layers of seals on their hoods and clothing, so it’s not a problem.”
“But according to our estimation, even children can’t spend more than 91 days with Your Lordship. Otherwise, they will likely die,” the messenger said tentatively.
Zhong Yi became solemn. “Do you know what this means?”
“I hope the Great Celestial Master will enlighten me.”
“This means that we can walk together for eighty days, nearly three months.” Zhong Yi sounded happy.
“I teach them some spells, and they teach me things about the outside world. It’s quite interesting.”
The envoy paused and didn’t speak again.
Half an hour passed. The envoy from Sunken Society finished writing the fifteen-page report on evil things. Celestial Master Zhong said “Ah!”, and responded to the news of the Evil Spirit on the coast. Huajisi had just sent a letter this morning. In view of worldly customs that dictated “first come, first served”, he could only refuse the meeting with Sunken Society.
“However, you have memorized the characteristics and solution of these fifteen evil things, so it wasn’t a loss.”
Zhong Yi laid back on the riverbank and immersed his feet in water again, splashing it around.
The messenger nodded gently as he signaled with his hand hidden in his sleeve. The sky suddenly darkened, and a giant evil thing suddenly descended from behind the clouds and went straight towards the children.
Who would have thought that Zhong Yi didn’t panic at all? He maintained his lying positions and yelled at the group of evil things.
“Dinner!” he said happily.
Immediately afterwards, he kicked the water with his left foot, and several ice arrows shot out, landing right into the hand of the envoy who was holding a talisman.
“You can also eat this one here.” Zhong Yi tilted his head toward the envoy with difficulty as he happily added.
Countless evil things rose into the sky and swirled out of the vortex. The giant evil thing that Sunken Society had nurtured was torn apart, leaving behind a dark rain of blood that fell from the sky. Under the blood rain, Zhong Yi straightened his body freely; the crimson fabric around him wasn’t stained with a single drop of ghost blood.
Invisible evil spirits raged everywhere, causing the stream to splash up waves more than three meters high. The dead leaves in the late autumn shot wildly like hidden weapons, hitting against trunks with loud cracks. Several fragile trees broke off and turned a corrupt brown-black color.
The envoy was held in place and couldn’t move as several zombies rushed forward enthusiastically. The picture ended with a mouthful of withered yellow teeth.
……
More than 1,100 years ago, in midwinter, on a rocky beach.
The seal around Zhong Yi’s body was like annual rings, covering him to a height of more than three meters.
There were no longer children around him; only groups of evil things. Zhong Yi sat on the soft Yellow Millet and flew slowly against the ground as the evil procession slowly walked through the thick ice surface. Looking from a distance, it looked like a long strip of colorful flags.
That person had become stronger.
The mist slid against the ice surface, and a trace of blood rolled out from time to time. Just looking at Zhong Yi from a distance, a kind of destructive fear would penetrate the bones in an instant.
Even a spectator like Wei Huaqian, who had traveled for thousands of years, would be infected by that weird fear and forget to breathe for a while.
It wasn’t an envoy that Sunken Society had sent this time.
They held a grand blood-sacrifice ceremony in the center of the glacier.
One hundred and eight men and women were naked with runes painted on their skin. They walked on stilts made of locust wood; their lower bodies were surrounded by fresh internal organs from nowhere; their legs were deeply cut; and the soles of their feet were pierced by wooden nails on the stilts. Steaming blood flowed down from the stilts, covering the thick ice with black and red blood.
They formed a circle, and in the center, where the blood was densest, was an extremely neat tower of human corpses. Despite the description, the corpses were immaculately clean and were frozen into a blueish white by the cold wind and were scored out of order. At a glance, it looked like a smooth stone.
Zhong Yi’s evil procession stopped before the blood sacrifice.
Facing those fanatical men and women, he clicked his tongue loudly.
“Specially making a blood sacrifice that summons an Evil Spirit? I thought everyone would have something to eat again,” Zhong Yi said sadly. “There’s obviously no Evil Spirit nearby… or do you suspect that I’m the Evil Spirit?”
The people of Sunken Society ignored him as they continued to sing their mantras frantically.
Zhong Yi swayed in place. He seemed to want to dig out his ears, but he couldn’t reach out.
“Forget it. I know my body well. I’m still half a living person.” His voice was mixed with fatigue and a smile. “Some time ago, I even predicted the date of my death—I can only live for six months, but an Evil Spirit wouldn’t be so short-lived.”
The members of Sunken Society were still singing madly.
“It’s a pity you didn’t use the disaster prevention technique this time. How unfortunate. Since you have seen me with your own eyes, you only have a few days left of your lives… hack, hack!”
At the end, he suppressed his cough.
“A monster like you…”
The man in the lead stopped singing and looked at Zhong Yi.
“A monster like you will only become a more dangerous monster after death. Huajisi must be crazy to have kept you until now.”
“Maybe it’s because Huajisi has a brain and knows what mutual benefit is, unlike you guys who are overly obsessive.”
Facing the blood and corpse tower, Zhong Yi was chatting calmly.
“As for after I die… becoming a fierce ghost is unlikely. People have to be obsessed to become ghosts, and I have already lived a very happy life.”
“As an Evil Spirit, well, that’s more terrifying. At that time, I’ll find a secluded place and die peacefully, leaving only a skeleton.”
“…Unlike you. You have nothing left.”
After he finished speaking, Zhong Yi added this in a hoarse voice.
“You wasted these hundreds of lives just to make this stupid test… It’s a pity that you’ll die here as well.”
Ring, ring, ring.
He jumped off Yellow Millet and stepped on the ice with his bare feet. The silver bell vibrated frantically on his ankle.
“Dinner,” Zhong Yi said with a smile.
As soon as his voice fell, a few circles of air blasts swept out in all directions, with Zhong Yi at the center. The mist on the ice was blown into circles, swaying like milky white flames. Behind Zhong Yi, Yellow Millet swelled into a round sphere, and its pupil suddenly dilated.
Around that person, some kind of invisible net seemed to be rising.
“But you have reminded me.”
In the murderous aura that was soaring, Zhong Yi murmured softly.
“I have to get myself a tombstone when I have time. And then I’ll write my own name—”
Before his sentence was finished, the recording was cut.
Like a tsunami of fear crashing down, before the evil things could touch the 108 people, they all fell straight onto the ice, breathless. They fell extremely neatly, adding a fence of locust wood made of human flesh around the corpse tower.
After the record was played, Wei Huaqian took a deep breath. He slowly opened his eyes and wiped off the blood mark on his forehead.
It was perfect. This was simply a human body that reproduces power comparable to the gods.
As for the pain corroded by the Evil Force, they now had many means to pass it on. Objectively speaking, the corrosion caused by the Evil Force allowed Zhong Yi to live without aging for more than three hundred years, far exceeding that of normal humans.
The Divine Descent thousands of years ago created a Zhong Yi. The Divine Descent twenty-eight years ago created their research result.
In contrast, the latter was inferior to Zhong Yi.
Their research had to continue.
Unfortunately, Zhong Yi was dead. He didn’t know how their creation would last against Zhong Yi when he was at his peak.
The author has something to say:
The ideal Great Celestial Master: Fighting evil for the safety of one side.
The real Great Celestial Master: It’s dinner time, everyone! Woohoo!
Kinky Thoughts:
So this is why Yin Ren likes the sofa so much. I didn’t expect Zhong Yi to be Yin Ren… which begs the question of the name…
Slight footsteps were approaching as two figures slowly appeared on the stairs in the pitch-black darkness.
The other party didn’t seem to expect that they were here. Their bodies shook and suddenly rushed forward. In an instant, cold metal was pressed against their chests, and a stronger sense of threat stimulated every hair on their body like lightning.
Lin Chen slowly turned his gaze, glanced at the gun pressed to his heart, and slowly raised his hand.
Now that it was an era of peace, guns were banned in the country. Except for police officers and military personnel, the only ones who would use guns so openly were gangsters. In the dim light, both of the figures had their faces covered and wore ordinary everyday clothes and a cap. The only thing revealed were two pairs of cruel and bloodthirsty eyes.
The movements of the two were concise and effective, with a sense of oppression. It was obvious they were experienced.
The barking of the dogs downstairs had changed from a loud howl to a low, suppressed whine that seemed it could explode at any time.
Lin Chen’s heartbeat was fast, but his expression was still calm. He glanced at Duan Yang reassuringly, raised his head, and asked the visitors, “Are you here to kill us?”
The other party didn’t understand what he meant. They quickly looked at each other and pressed their guns closer.
Since the safety was still on, it indicated that the other party wasn’t ready to do anything in the house; the barrel of the gun was cold, which meant the other party hadn’t shot the gun for a period of time. Lin Chen looked straight ahead and calmly explained. “This is a question, not an imperative statement. I want to know if you want our lives or something else.”
“Is there a difference?” A cold and hoarse voice came through the mask.
“Well, if you want to kill us, then I’ll try my best to seize our maximum value and make you give up on this idea.”
The barrel of the gun against his chest moved along his neck to his cheek and finally stopped at his temple.
Lin Chen raised his head and looked directly into those gloomy eyes. “What value do you think you have?’
“The purpose of coming here is our greatest value.”
“If you know our purpose, why don’t I just kill you.”
“Because you don’t look like you do. When you walked up the stairs and saw us just now, you didn’t choose to shoot first. Your companion gave you a look that told you to exercise restraint. You must have a task to complete. Until that task is accomplished, we shouldn’t be in danger.”
After he finished speaking, the cold muzzle of the gun began to poke his temple repeatedly. “Do you know that smart people die faster?”
Lin Chen thought for a while and replied, “Although smart people may die faster, so do idiots.”
The other party laughed and asked, “Who the hell are you?”
Lin Chen quickly became vigilant.
It was obvious these intruders were follow-ups from last time. When the other party asked who he was, it meant they knew Duan Yang’s identity. Duan Yang was their target, and he was just an accessory they accidentally encountered during their operation. For vicious gangsters, once they learned that he wasn’t their target, they were likely to kill him.
Lin Chen once again felt his fate was truly bad. To get his wound sewn, he had to encounter this kind of crisis where a slight mistake could lead to a fatal outcome. Among all the dangers he had encountered in his life, such an irrational situation was quite rare.
Now was the time to take a gamble. He must show his worth. “I’m his shixiong.” He lowered his eyes toward Duan Yang as he said this.
Hearing what he said, the young man’s hands trembled, but he still resisted his fear and didn’t look up. At this moment, Duan Yang didn’t forget to tie the knot on the sutured wound and even carefully wiped his palm with iodophor as he tore off the adhesive tape and fixed the gauze covering the wound. He finally raised his head and looked at him. “Shixiong, it’s done. How do you feel?”
Lin Chen felt that Duan Yang’s mental quality had potential to be a field doctor.
“Good,” he said indifferently.
But then, Dr. Duan regained his nature. He raised his head cautiously and looked at the two gangsters and stammered, “You… You… Who are you?!” As he spoke, he still held his medical scissors tremblingly, doing a futile defense.
Lin Chen motioned for Duan Yang to put down his “weapon” and raised his hands. “We want to live, so do as you please. You can even blindfold us if necessary.”
Before he finished speaking, a thunderbolt struck outside the window. He looked up at the suddenly lit sky and stopped talking.
The two gangsters looked at each other as if they were judging his value. Then, one of them took out a rope and tied him up forcefully, while the other held his gun and aimed at them silently.
Although he wasn’t proficient in knotting, Lin Chen could tell the other party’s skill was obviously beyond that of an ordinary gangster. His wrist was being strangled painfully, and he couldn’t move. He looked at the person holding them at gunpoint. The other party was calm and stable, aiming the gun at them with an unwavering gaze. Apart from knowing he had killed before, Lin Chen couldn’t see any clues in that gaze. These two were more like well-trained mercenaries than common gangsters on the streets, but since when did mercenaries start taking on the business of kidnapping people in pet hospitals?
Duan Yang was also aware that something was amiss. The young man wanted to talk to him, but Lin Chen shook his head and motioned for him to be quiet.
They performed well from start to finish, so they didn’t suffer any physical pain. They were tied up tightly, blindfolded, and had their mouths covered with duct tape. The other party even put on noise-canceling headphones on their ears. In an instant, Lin Chen felt completely separated from the world. The air was humid and hot, extremely sticky, and then a cool breeze came, indicating that it was most likely raining heavily.
With his five senses sealed, Lin Chen’s sense of touch became more acute. He laid his legs flat and felt the floor vibrating. The other party was obviously searching for something in the room. It should be the medical materials related to Duan Yang. They were light in their movements, with no preoccupation as they performed their task concisely.
The other party’s search ended quickly.
About ten minutes later, Lin Chen felt he was lifted up, and the cold barrel of a gun was pressed against his back. He and Duan Yang stumbled and were guided downstairs.
It was late at night. The moment he walked out of the door of the pet hospital, the oncoming heavy rain made him suddenly tremble. When he stepped into the rain, the cold water instantly penetrated his clothes. The coolness seemed to have drilled into his heart along his blood vessels. He couldn’t see anything. The headphones had blocked most of the thunder, and he could only feel the tremor of the surrounding air and then guess the moment the sky was suddenly lit up by lightning.
He hoped that some residents would get up at night and see this scene in the alley that was illuminated by the streetlamps or lightning.
After walking for a while, they were pushed into a van. At first, he didn’t lift his leg high enough, and his knee slammed into the van, making a loud noise.
The other party seemed to be aware of his intentions and grabbed his hair. He pressed the barrel of his gun against Lin Chen’s forehead and whispered, “Watch it.”
Lin Chen lowered his head and was obediently pushed into the van. The door closed, and the vehicle started, carrying them an unknown distance.
Lin Chen was still guessing their destination at first, but gradually the loss of senses made his brain numb. Psychologists have done similar experiments. After isolating the subjects from external stimuli, most of them would report pathological mental states, including emotional stress, mental dullness, hallucinations, and the like. The cruelest punishment in the world was sensory deprivation.
Lin Chen felt that he couldn’t calculate the time, and his thoughts began to drift. In a very short period of time, many scenes that he had suppressed suddenly erupted.
Blood and fire interweaved, and the faces of the dead and killers appeared in a loop.
He kept trying to expose the skin on his hand to more things. The tingling sensation of his wound sobered him, and finally he lay down in the car.
Most likely because he moved too much, Duan Yang squeezed to his side and snuggled up to him, as if relieved.
He didn’t know whether the young man understood Morse code, but he touched the back of the other’s cold hand and tapped it casually so as not to slow down his brain.
He slowly typed out the words “Zhorui Pharmaceutical”. It took a while for Duan Yang to react.
The young man whimpered and wrote back on his hand: [What did you say?]
Only then did Lin Chen realize that there was a real problem with his thinking. Why did he choose something like Morse code when he could just write?
He wrote the key words again and put a question mark at the end.
[I don’t know.]
Duan Yang’s words were written quickly. Presumably, the young man was also at a loss to his own kidnapping.
However, this meaningless communication was like a lifeline for Lin Chen. He wrote whatever came to mind to the young man, and eventually it had little to do with their kidnapping. He was soaked, but it was like finding a lifeboat in a sea covered with icebergs.
He didn’t know how long it took, but the van finally stopped.
The door of the car opened, and he smelled seawater in the air. Then there was the sound of waves slapping the shore, as if someone were using a bamboo broom to sweep broken glass on the floor.
The rain had stopped.
He and Duan Yang had been taken to the seaside. A broken fishing boat was parked at the pier, bouncing up and down with the dark waves.
The other party held their gun and forced them to board the boat.
Lin Chen suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. They still had a glimmer of hope if they were in China, but if the other party smuggled them out of the country, then they truly were dead.
Soon, an open gap in the cabin of the fishing boat confirmed his conjecture.
Looking inward along the wet wooden board, the bottom of the cabin was crowded with more than a dozen people. Lin Chen glanced at the armed gangsters and then at the doctor, who was so shocked he couldn’t speak, and said nothing. He just obediently climbed down.
The people at the bottom of the fishing boat didn’t show any fear of being imprisoned. They were all in high spirits, as if they were talking about something. This reminded Lin Chen of the legendary stowaways.
But if these people were stowaways who wanted to leave the country, why would the kidnappers detain them with these people?
After they walked into the cabin, the sound of impact drills and nails followed. Someone had nailed a board and sealed them at the bottom of the small fishing boat.
They were now in a real desperate situation. Duan Yang helped him and found an empty spot in the cabin to sit down.
In the darkness, Lin Chen felt someone pushing him and asked, “Are you going to work in Dana too?”
Shu Jun didn’t dare to really fall asleep and stared with wide eyes for a long time.
The first reason was that he was afraid that if he closed his eyes and kicked his legs, everything would be over without any follow-up. As for the second reason…
Zhu Yanchen was cold by nature, but he didn’t have the air of someone in a high position. His every move was characterized by a faint sense of detachment. However, if it was in regards to unconsciously provoking people’s emotions, Shu Jun truly thought he was fitting for a Marshal.
While he was lying there, completely awake, a few steps away, Zhu Yanchen was cutting off rotten flesh from his wound and collecting it as samples. The scene was quite grisly. Every now and then, the strange smell of flesh and blood being handled would waft over. If Marshal Zhu was a dentist, he would definitely use glass as the walls in his clinic and wouldn’t mind if his patients screamed in pain for everyone to see.
Not to mention that this person was so busy that he realized it was time for a meal halfway through, and he simply drank his nutritional supplement at the same table. This practical approach was indeed reminiscent of the characteristics of the Smoke he knew.
There were many bloody elements in <Erosion>, so he didn’t dislike seeing such a scene; in fact, he found it quite interesting. The Marshal Zhu portrayed in the game’s promotion seemed more like an empty shell, but now there was a bit more substance to him.
Zhu Yanchen brewed two cups of nutrients; one of which was placed gently by Shu Jun’s bedside.
Shu Jun gathered some strength and asked, “Aren’t you tired?”
He had been lying on the bed for a while, and Zhu Yanchen had been busy at the table all this time without taking a break.
Zhu Yanchen hesitated for a moment, shook his head, turned around, and was about to leave.
“I feel much better now. Why don’t we talk—”
Zhu Yanchen glanced at him from behind the goggles. “Speak less.”
Shu Jun smiled and then grabbed Zhu Yanchen’s arm. Marshal Zhu was strong, but unfortunately, he didn’t have much hand-to-hand combat, so he was caught off guard. He didn’t feel any pain and didn’t sense any intention of being harmed by the other person. Zhu Yanchen didn’t struggle and sat by the bed, letting out a sigh. “Okay.”
“It took me a long time to squeeze out just a few words.” Shu Jun let go of Zhu Yanchen’s arm. “How about this. I’ll talk, and you listen.”
Zhu Yanchen looked at him.
Shu Jun didn’t joke around. Even though he had been lying there for half a day, his mind wasn’t idle. Waiting around and doing nothing was never his style.
“I thought before that for a casual player like you, A’Yan, your tactical level is too strong. Even if you’re an official from <Erosion>, there was no need for you to deal with my bug using an important NPC identity.”
“Your job is to play ‘Marshal Zhu Yanchen’, right? Your original purpose shouldn’t be to ‘save me’, but to make other arrangements. It’s just that we happened to meet, and we know each other, so you just went along with it.”
If he had been prepared, “Zhu Yanchen” wouldn’t have let him touch him in such a simple and crude way. And considering the company’s confidentiality issues, it was understandable that Smoke was reluctant to talk about his work. The more Shu Jun thought about it, the more plausible he felt this was.
“So that leaves just one question.” He tried smiling but his sharpened teeth got in the way. “We’re friends now, so why don’t you respond to me?”
Zhu Yanchen narrowed his eyes.
The game and reality had been reversed, and Shu Jun started speculating based on what he knew of the NPCs and the bugs. But aside from this, Shu Jun had mostly guessed his own actions.
What terrible intuition.
“You said my brain would ‘reject specific information’, but I don’t have a headache now.” Shu Jun confidently took a sip of the nutritional solution. “It seems that I successfully bypassed that minefield.”
“That’s because you’re lucky. Rejection… No, intracerebral shock hurts. If it happens a second time, I may not be able to save you.” Zhu Yanchen’s voice was cold. “It’s hard for people to control their own thoughts. You’ve always liked to indulge in your own wild thoughts. Don’t be in such a hurry to throw your life away.”
He didn’t correct the way Shu Jun called him.
“A’Yan, it’s really you.” Shu Jun scratched his face. He forgot that his nails had sharpened, and he made thin marks on the side of his face. “It was worth it that I came up with all these messy thoughts.”
Zhu Yanchen: “……”
Although he was wearing a mask, the marshal looked like he wanted to smack him for a moment.
Unexpectedly exposed, Marshal Zhu’s mood declined instead of improving. Seeing this, Shu Jun stopped and quickly flattened himself on the bed, with a posture as if he could be buried immediately.
Zhu Yanchen didn’t plan to let this go. “It seems that you’ve almost recovered. Let’s set off.”
He threw down a healing patch. “…Deal with your face.”
Shu Jun’s nerves finally loosened a bit. In any case, this was the Smoke he knew. Even if in the past few years, the other party’s communication had other purposes, it was better than facing a completely unknown “Marshal Zhu”.
In all things, there was a limit to what could be said, and some dangerous topics couldn’t be rushed—such as saying it was Marshal Zhu who saved him, and it was also Marshal Zhu who told him to be careful of the intracerebral shocks, yet he was the one who induced it in the first place.
He hoped that their destination would give him an answer.
Shu Jun initially thought Zhu Yanchen would send him to an official reception center, where there would be a normal building. However, they only moved from one dangerous location to another.
On the ground, Shu Jun was gasping for breath as he leaned against the stalagmite. A feverish feeling and weakness spread through his body.
There was a building here—a low concrete structure ambling on the ground that looked patchy and wrong, covered with gray and black caused by erosion. There were only a few purifiers around, dutifully filtering the fog. This place didn’t even have the quality of a stronghold, and it didn’t look like it was hiding any earth-shattering secrets.
As soon as the two landed, Zhu Yanchen led Shu Jun away from the surveillance cameras and headed to the back door of the building. The interior of the building was neither minimalistic nor crude. One half of it was filled with instruments, while the other half had square pits dug into the ground. Shu Jun recognized what was in the pit—a small Erosion Swamp was rolling in it, leisurely swinging its liquid columns.
After suffering a big loss, Shu Jun had even less fondness for this thing. He squatted behind the machine and looked at it for a long time, still without the slightest premonition of enlightenment. There were some changes; the air here must have been eroded, yet that made him feel comfortable.
As soon as Shu Jun was about to turn his head and ask questions, Zhu Yanchen made a silent gesture.
Someone was coming.
The main entrance creaked open, and a man in thick protective clothing came in with a cart. There were two carts filled with bulging body bags that resembled the shape of a human body. He—or she—unloaded them from the cart and put them into a chute, then watched as they were swallowed up by the Erosion Swamp.
The bodies buzzed, then quickly dissolved.
“How much do you know about the Erosion Swamp?” Zhu Yanchen spoke amidst the cacophony of corpse disposal.
“…Just the background of the game.”
In the game, it was inevitable that there would be some strange settings. The Erosion Swamp was an aggregate made up of erosion substance, making it the number one monster in <Erosion>. Shu Jun only knew how to deal with it but didn’t consider any more detailed levels.
How come they started discussing the game setting?
“During the apocalypse, the research talent was interrupted. Even today, human understanding of erosion substances is limited,” Zhu Yanchen said. “People have only ever utilized a little of it. Keep watching.”
Shu Jun turned his head in confusion and saw the man begin to throw the corpses in the second cart into the Erosion Swamp.
Something was wrong.
The first cart of corpses decomposed quietly, but the second cart of corpses didn’t. The unnatural land fluctuations, the pervasive mist, and the sound of rocks clanking one after another caused even the walls near the Erosion Swamp to peel off.
The momentum was somewhat similar to their abilities, but compared to that, it was extremely weak.
“The first cart has civilians who died normally, while the second cart has soldiers who were eroded by the Erosion Swamp. The body of the latter will resonate with the environment. The air, water, soil… in the erosion zone, they have different levels of erosion, so the ‘properties’ presented by the resonance are also different.”
Having said that, Zhu Yanchen paused for a moment and looked at the corpse handler.
Shu Jun suddenly felt an inexplicable chill. It was late at night, which made the scene in front of him look particularly gloomy.
Players would have some transcendent abilities or traits, which was almost a conventional rule. Such things were taken for granted, and most people focused on the skill itself, while few seriously pursued “what is the principle behind this skill”.
According to Zhu Yanchen, to what extent does the player have to be eroded to possess such a powerful ability?
“Continue,” Shu Jun said.
“Erosion can interrupt signal transmission and corrode mechanical joints. Machines cannot replace humans in setting up purifiers. Some people have strong resistance to erosion, but no matter how special humans are, in the long run, there’s only a dead end… There are not many survivors, and the sacrifice of the purification project is too great for society to sustain.”
Zhu Yanchen spoke a bit slowly. Following his narration, the corpse handler packed up the cart and slowly retreated.
“By using humans as a blueprint for transformation, it’s possible to obtain ‘synthetic humans’ with extremely high resistance to erosion. However, there’s a cost. As non-natural products, they are destined not to survive for too long.”
The light went out, and the room fell into darkness.
“…No, it should be said that ‘you’ are destined not to survive for too long.”
Not to mention, whether he believed it or not, Shu Jun already had a vague guess in that direction.
As a “human” who was born with great power, who would want to be born only to risk their lives in battle and then quickly die? Currently, synthetic humans had intelligence that was no different from humans, and brainwashing education was prone to accidents—due to the vast difference in power, whether the probability was one in a thousand or ten thousand, if a rebel appeared, humanity would suffer a heavy loss.
Then it was better to find a way to ban certain truths and deceive everyone.
An extremely absurd tactic, but logically, it made sense.
As his thoughts spun, a familiar headache slowly crept back. Shu Jun didn’t vomit but couldn’t help but kneel down on one knee. The impact on his brain this time was stronger than before, and his head felt like it was being split in half.
The Erosion Swamp made a sticky churning sound that was unpleasant to hear. In the darkness, something climbed onto his arms and legs.
Shu Jun lowered his head and looked at Zhu Yanchen. The man’s face was covered by a gas mask, so he couldn’t see the eyes behind the goggles clearly.
Zhu Yanchen said that if he experiences this a second time, he will probably die. So what was he doing now? If his goal was to kill him, then these methods seemed quite unnecessary and only complicated matters.
…Wait. He was clearly kneeling on the ground, so why was Zhu Yanchen looking up at him?
Only then did Shu Jun realize that the Erosion Swamp was boiling under his feet. At some point, a liquid column lifted him into the air, wrapping around his body in all directions. His entire body was in excruciating pain, and he wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
“Sorry.” Zhu Yanchen apologized for the second time; his voice was muffled as if it were like a puff of mist.
More liquid columns entangled, and the passage of time began to blur. Everything in front of him became more distant. Shu Jun gasped with difficulty. He was unable to struggle anymore and could only accept the pain as he tried to keep his eyes open with the last of his strength.
Zhu Yanchen took off his gas mask. A glimmer of moonlight fell through the window, illuminating his pale face.
‘The concentration of erosion substance here must be off the charts,’ Shu Jun thought fuzzily. ‘Does this person want to die?’
Zhu Yanchen reached out to him and said something, but Shu Jun couldn’t hear it clearly. The pain of his body disintegrating engulfed him, and he closed his eyes, wishing he could just pass out.
[You will not lose.]
A voice sounded in his hazy consciousness. The voice wasn’t like Zhu Yanchen’s. He didn’t remember it, but it felt nostalgic. Stimulated for a while, Shu Jun tried to lift his eyelids. Zhu Yanchen was still standing there, with his hands outstretched and his face unobstructed.
And his expression looked sad.
He wasn’t even skilled at expressing his sadness. As for this pile of crap, he still owed him 10,000 explanations…
Wait. Despite the headache, he didn’t forget what he had heard. Shu Jun’s mind shook, and the pain also numbed slightly. After all, he was swallowed by the Erosion Swamp once. He had to stay conscious. Even if he died, he had to hold onto the information to the end…
But the Erosion Swamp didn’t seem to have any plans to swallow him.
He didn’t know how long but Shu Jun finally fell from the air. To be precise, it was more like he was being inspected by the Erosion Swamp and then thrown away in dissatisfaction. This time, it was Zhu Yanchen’s turn to act as a meat cushion, and he was hit hard.
The liquid column receded, and the pain dissipated. For some reason, the previous weakness was also swept away. Shu Jun suddenly became energetic and looked at Zhu Yanchen.
Marshal Zhu’s lips were pale, and his appearance looked quite wretched. The sadness he had shown earlier seemed to be his own illusion. Now, Zhu Yanchen had a serious look on his face, and his dark eyes were bottomless.
Shu Jun decided to cut to the chase. “What did you let the Erosion Swamp do to me—”
“Who?!” A sharp shout interrupted Shu Jun’s question. For some reason, the corpse handler, who was supposed to leave, suddenly turned back.
The light switched on again, lighting up the entire room as bright as day.
For the first time, Shu Jun had a novel experience.
One second, he was still standing a few steps away from the sofa, and the next moment, he was sitting on it. The water cup that was originally in his hand fell to the ground, splashing water all over the floor.
Time seemed to have been cut off.
…Can VR games also have frame drops? What was I going to say just now?
There was a strange impression in his mind—although there were frame drops, he seemed to have heard something important from Zhu Yanchen just now. However, he couldn’t remember any details, and his memory only stopped at his own words, “I’m ready.”
Shu Jun picked up his cup in confusion. His head throbbed as he straightened up. As he tried to remember more, his stomach began to churn, as if he had just swallowed a live snake. Eventually, he didn’t have time to stand up and threw up on the sofa.
He was supposed to vomit nothing but ended up regurgitating a large amount of black liquid mixed with lumpy pieces resembling internal organs. Some of it splattered onto the sofa, adding gray spots to the bright chocolate color, and the gray continued to erode the surrounding colors.
The same erosive substance as the Erosion Swamp.
It took a while for Shu Jun to stop vomiting. His chest and stomach were in pain, and his head was buzzing. He raised his eyes and tried to put the double image of Marshal Zhu back together. What he had vomited out was corrosive, and Zhu Yanchen had removed most of his protective equipment, so it might be dangerous. He had finally managed to grab a lifeline, so he couldn’t just start pitting it.
“Sorry.” Zhu Yanchen’s voice came from a high place, sounding ethereal.
What are you apologizing for?
Shu Jun shook his head as if his ears were submerged in water, making him even more dizzy. Someone helped him onto a bed and gave him an injection in his arm. After resting for a while, Shu Jun could finally distinguish Zhu Yanchen’s mouth from his nose.
He chose the question he wanted to ask the most. “Gas masks?”
“I took protective medicine while you were showering, so there shouldn’t be an issue within half an hour,” Zhu Yanchen said as he retrieved the syringe and put on a protective suit. “How do you feel?”
Good question.
After ten years of fighting, he had lost quite a few teammates to the Erosion Swamps. If one only got a little bit of erosion on them, there was still hope, but once they were swallowed up by the Erosion Swamp, it would be no different than falling into a sulfuric acid pool. Now that he had become the person who vomited sulfuric acid, he should first celebrate the fact that he was still alive.
He wanted to smile bitterly but had collapsed so much that he couldn’t even smirk. “I feel okay. I just learned how to travel through time, so I’m a little motion sick.”
Zhu Yanchen lowered his gaze. “……”
Interestingly, Marshal Zhu didn’t question the “time travel”, so he must know something. Shu Jun gasped a few times, finding it difficult to speak as a pile of questions got stuck in his throat.
“A’Yan,” he finally managed to say without sounding interrogative.
Zhu Yanchen paused, still expressionless. It was unclear whether he was affirming or dismissing it as nonsense. He took out a row of medicine bottles from his briefcase and skillfully mixed them together, looking like a professional nurse.
Shu Jun saw that he was on an IV. Marshal Zhu hid behind the gas mask again as he cleaned Shu Jun’s wounds.
With the IV attached and little strength left in his body, Shu Jun’s mind began to wander. Perhaps this “Zhu Yanchen” was indeed the real Smoke and wasn’t controlled by AI. This could explain many things, such as his location, his knowledge of the game, and his skilled medical care.
It was a comforting thought, much more reliable than the idea of NPCs interfering with reality.
Looking at the rapid change of expression on Shu Jun’s face and his gaze drifting towards him, Zhu Yanchen’s expression changed slightly, but it was difficult to tell if he wanted to laugh or was unhappy. “Your brain will reject specific information. Even if I tell you again what I just told you, you won’t remember… It’s hard to explain now, so you should rest first.”
Shu Jun turned his mouth towards the glass of water on the table. Zhu Yanchen understood and poured him two sips of water. Shu Jun was visibly shaken, but he still bravely spoke up. “I was feeling great before I came here, but your words just knocked me down. I think you need to give me a logical explanation.”
At the end, he raised his voice for fear that the other party wouldn’t be able to hear him. “A’Yan.”
Zhu Yanchen neither admitted nor denied it, and Shu Jun didn’t have time to inquire further because the bombshell he threw was even more provocative—
“This was a last-ditch effort* from you earlier.”
*Returning light and reflecting shine (回光返照) Idiom referring to a dying flame or a person’s final burst of energy or strength before their demise. In a figurative sense, it can mean a temporary recovery after a decline or a last-ditch effort to salvage a situation. || Note: This is also the title of the chapter.
Afterwards, the person added in a tough tone, “Rest first and don’t think too much.”
…Don’t think too much. Shu Jun almost choked on his saliva.
Feeling inexplicably trapped in the game, his mind lagged, and his mouth spewed poison. The important NPC seemed to be his love interest, but his actions made no sense. Now, he was told that he was about to die and to take a break first, despite the absurdity of the situation.
Others achieved a double harvest in career and love, but for him, he had received bombs instead.
Zhu Yanchen saw that Shu Jun was shocked and began to conduct a comprehensive blood test. Shu Jun vaguely caught a glimpse of the black blood, but he already had too many questions and didn’t rush to ask about it.
Instead, he picked the biggest question and threw it out. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Saving you,” Zhu Yanchen said.
As if he was afraid that Shu Jun would keep asking, he added, “…I have no intention of hiding it from you. When your condition stabilizes, I’ll take you somewhere. Then you’ll understand everything.”
Inside the city.
“Is there anything wrong with Zhu Yanchen?” Xia Liang tied up her hair in front of the makeup mirror.
The election for the Head of State was just around the corner, and intelligence agencies from all over the world were working hard. Unsurprisingly, the news that “Marshal Zhu was attacked by a mutant and his whereabouts are unknown” spread instantly. Everyone knew that “unknown whereabouts” was a nice way of saying that a person who entered a heavily eroded area wouldn’t survive for more than 48 hours without any preparations.
As long as the person surnamed Zhu stayed hidden in the safe house for a week, the United Government wouldn’t be able to find him and would be forced to announce his death. The leaders were supposed to choose between Yi Ning and Zhu Yanchen, but with Zhu Yanchen’s sudden death, the entire process would have to start over, which would take another three months.
According to their agreement, Zhu Yanchen just took advantage of this time to go experiment outside.
It had been more than 200 years since humans couldn’t penetrate the heavily eroded areas. Whether Zhu Yanchen could survive outside for three months would depend on his luck. According to Zhu Yanchen’s own statement, winning was the true victory, but even if he lost, he had already made arrangements.
In this world, one must be extremely lucky to be born with a golden spoon*, but some people insist on risking their lives. Xia Liang naturally hoped that Zhu Yanchen would live longer, as he was a top-level contact. With a well-planned operation, Zhu Yanchen had always been calm and steady, but he unexpectedly took the wrong first step…
*Metaphor for being born into a wealthy and privileged family and having everything handed to you on a silver platter.
Before the mutant that was supposed to “attack” Zhu Yanchen arrived, Marshal Zhu had run away with an unknown mutant that came out of nowhere. Xia Liang didn’t believe Zhan Yanchen was really kidnapped, but to prevent the original planned kidnapping scene from going wrong, Marshal Zhu brought a lot of weapons dedicated to restraining mutants.
The result wasn’t much different. No matter who staged the kidnapping, the timing of the fake death message was accurate within a few hours. She didn’t need to cover for him too much, but the unnecessary variables were annoying her.
How did I end up with such a troublesome boss?
After venting, Xia Liang used her pinky to even out her lipstick. She poked the phonograph on one side, and a pre-recorded cry came from the device.
Despite the troubles, as a “former ex-girlfriend” who parted amicably, the show must go on.
She hoped that the work done by Zhu Yanchen for the Blackbirds wouldn’t go wrong. Xia Liang was uneasy as she thought about it and cursed. She pulled out a loose red robe from the closet, activated the projection button, and disguised herself as an old man with a hunchback, then slipped out of the room through a secret passage.
The center of the city was some distance from the border stronghold where the players lived.
“Dong Lao*.” Seeing Xia Liang, who looked like an old man, coming over, the guard hurriedly saluted.
*When adding (老) after a name, it’s a way to show respect for the person’s age and wisdom and can also indicate a close relationship between the speaker and the person being referred to. || In this context it’s a form of address so translated would be like Elder Dong.
This old man had a mysterious origin and was a general under Zhu Yanchen. Although the news of Marshal Zhu’s disappearance blew up, the official news of his death didn’t come out, and it was too early to be rude to the Marshal’s confidant.
The thoughts of several guards were written on their faces. With just a glance, Xia Laing knew that these people were Yi Ning’s supporters. She didn’t bother to talk to them and went straight to her destination. The guards exchanged glances, and one of them followed.
The players’ depository was underground, with rows of hibernation pods densely packed. These contraptions drew from the pre-doomsday game pods, and the servers were the technological heritage of the pre-doomsday. Their living weapons were sleeping in them, dreaming of a beautiful dream of a “real world outside the game”.
Shu Jun’s hibernation pod was stuffed with someone new.
“Dong Lao, the management of this place has been taken over by Marshal Yi Ning.” Seeing that Xia Liang was about to act, the guard reminded her in a timely manner.
“What are you guarding against?” Xia Liang rolled her eyes and pinched the voice modulator disguised as an old man. “General Zhu isn’t dead yet. I don’t think the handling of losses has been taken care of, has it?”
“Marshal Yi’s side…”
“What, even if he takes over management here, he still needs to officially register tomorrow, right?” Xia Liang ignored the guard and pressed the hibernation pod.
The guard hesitated for a while, as it wasn’t appropriate to pull away an old man. Since he hadn’t entered the management interface and was only taking a look, it shouldn’t cause any trouble. He thought it was fine to let the old man take a look.
Xia Liang had already connected the perception system to her own.
Since she wasn’t logging in as a player, she could only see a thumbnail of the God’s-eye view. The players were concentrated in the same virtual city, and the Blackbirds were celebrating while the AI that had replaced Shu Jun mingled among them. According to the usual script for a death scene, the fake Shu Jun would announce that he was leaving the city to experience life and that he would keep in touch in the future—simulating text messages didn’t require much calculation, and his friends would find it difficult to detect any problems.
Groundwater seemed to have finished their meal, and their captain, Luo Duan, had even arrived home. Xia Liang glanced at him briefly, then focused her attention back to the Blackbirds. The happy Blackbirds members were still hanging out with the fake Shu Jun and hadn’t noticed anything wrong.
Zhu Yanchen was still the same Zhu Yanchen, completely airtight. Once she was sure everything was going smoothly on this end, Xia Liang logged out.
“Done.” She waved her hand, leaving a guard smiling awkwardly in place.
“We’ll escort you out.” The guards exchanged glances. The two of them then escorted Xia Liang out of the room. The room was reserved for the top-tier teams like the Blackbirds and Groundwater. With both teams on vacation, there would be no training schedule for a short time. Leaving for a minute or two shouldn’t be a problem.
There was indeed no problem with the Blackbirds, but someone from Groundwater had no intention of enjoying a vacation.
The captain of Groundwater, Luo Duan, pulled the curtains and covered himself with a blanket, looking unhappy. He was two years older than Shu Jun and was almost thirty, so he was supposed to retire soon. It wasn’t surprising that he looked like this since they didn’t perform well in the championship, so no one would question it.
Thus, no one noticed his movements under the blanket—Luo Duan turned on the light screen, rolled up his sleeve, revealing a short phrase tattooed on his arm.
[This world is a lie.]
At first glance, it looked like a poetic sentence. This tattoo had been with him for less than a year and was still new. Luo Duan forgot why he tattooed such a thing, and thought it was the product of a drunken escapade. Recently, though, he felt things were getting worse. Several times he would look at it and briefly get lost in his thoughts, like time had been stolen.
Loss of concentration was often accompanied by headaches. Recently, this headache was becoming more serious. Even when he logged into the game, his body didn’t feel comfortable.
At the cost of scrapping his account, Shu Jun won.
For some reason, this thought didn’t make Luo Duan taste the bitterness of defeat but instead made him feel an inexplicable sadness in his heart. He seemed to have forgotten something important. Just like a dream he had, he felt he remembered it, but he couldn’t recall the contents.
This world is a lie?
Dominated by a strange impulse, Luo Duan got up from bed, subconsciously walked to the VR pod, and then woke up in the hibernation pod in the game. The guards who were usually patrolling weren’t there, and there was no one around. Inexplicable discomfort surrounded him again. Luo Duan coughed twice and sat down, leaning on the hibernation pod.
No one from Groundwater was online, and the training grounds weren’t open. He didn’t know what he was doing with this impulse to go online, so he froze on the spot. Not long after, the sound of NPCs talking came from a distance. Luo Duan wasn’t feeling well, so he was too lazy to deal with them. He simply covered himself in water mist and became invisible.
One of the guards poked his head around to make sure no one was in the room. “Dong Lao finally left. How are we going to explain this to Marshal Yi? What a headache.”
“Dong Lao loves to run around and is quite elusive. He didn’t move anything, so let’s not report it.”
“Right after Marshal Zhu’s accident, Dong Lao came here to check. And now, just after the death of the Blackbirds’ captain, I can’t help but feel that this is no coincidence…”
“Who knows. Maybe he really just came to check on the damage. Marshal Zhu was always interested in the Blackbirds, so it’s not surprising that Dong Lao came to see how things are going after their captain’s death… I thought Shu Jun could hold on until normal retirement. Now it seems that the captain of Groundwater, Luo Duan, is lasting longer. I heard he can last for another six months at most. This is the first time I’ve seen a synthetic human last this long. It’s quite impressive.”
“Marshal Zhu’s team was responsible for inspection before. What should we do now…”
“Who knows.”
Luo Duan remained motionless.
It was a similar accident and a similar conversation. He recalled his previous discovery and knew that he would soon be overwhelmed by a headache and forced to forget about it. He should do as he did last time and go back before his memory was erased, struggling to leave some records behind.
The players aren’t humans. The players are being used. The player’s world is indeed a lie.
Perhaps it was because he had repeated the process too many times, or maybe it was because he was already hovering on the brink of death, but the Grim Reaper seemed to have cut him some slack. The information could stay in his mind for longer periods of time. As the guards walked away, Luo Duan reached out to touch the pod door, but his movement suddenly froze.
A black liquid that seemed all too familiar oozed out from the seams of his gauntlet, dripping onto the floor.
Kinky Translations 