Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Feng Chen, carrying a mutated rabbit, just climbed through the window into the house, only to witness the chaotic fifth floor and the brown bear's corpse at the other end of the corridor.

He stood there dumbfounded, his heart colder than the storm outside, but then saw a head slowly peeking out from the staircase.

Only after recognizing the curly hair did his heart finally warm up, his voice hoarse as he called out, "Yan Bubu."

"Brother!" Yan Bubu, confirming it was Feng Chen and not another brown bear entering, rushed down the stairs and flung his arms around him.

Feng Chen caught him and lifted him up, seeing no injuries on his exposed skin, asked, "Are you alright?"

"Something happened." Yan Bubu, his face wet with tears, sobbed, "A bear broke in through the window, it tried to eat me…"

Feng Chen had thought the city empty and the research institute's buildings sturdy. He brought Black Lion with him and didn't lock the windows for convenience when returning. He never expected to encounter such a scene upon entering.

"I'm sorry, it was my oversight. I didn't think the mutants' intelligence would increase to the point of opening windows on their own. I'm sorry..." Feng Chen apologized continuously in his fright, holding Yan Bubu tightly.

Yan Bubu had waited in fear for so long, and now that Feng Chen had returned, he cried even harder, rubbing his tears on Feng Chen’s shoulder. However, Feng Chen was covered in snow and ice, turning even his eyebrows white.

Feng Chen set him down, took off his coat and scarf. Black Lion, having shaken off the ice, came over wet and licked the snowflakes off Yan Bubu's face.

Feng Chen approached the brown bear's corpse, feeling more intimidated by its massive size the closer he got.

He circled the brown bear, observing its gruesome death, knowing for sure it wasn’t something Yan Bubu could have managed.

"How did it die? Who helped you?" Feng Chen asked, then his gaze shifted towards the hall, realizing something.

The hall's transparent wall was fully open, and the Bi Nununu quantum beast was nowhere to be seen.

"Did Bi Nununu kill it?" Feng Chen asked.

Yan Bubu, standing a few steps away from the brown bear, dared not come closer, urging, "Come here, brother, please come here."

Feng Chen walked over, and Yan Bubu immediately reached out to be held. After picking him up, Feng Chen asked again, "Was it Bi Nununu who killed it?"

Yan Bubu rested his head on his shoulder and didn't respond immediately, then whispered after a moment, "Yes."

Feng Chen looked around and asked, "Then where did it go? Upstairs?"

Yan Bubu shook his head, pointing towards the window at the end of the corridor, "It ran away after killing the bear."

"Ran away? Left the house?" Feng Chen asked in astonishment.

"Yes, it left the house."

"Do you know where it went?"

"I don't know."

Hearing that Bi Nununu had run away, Feng Chen immediately put Yan Bubu down and started to put on his down jacket again.

"Why are you putting on your clothes? Are you going out?" Yan Bubu asked anxiously.

Feng Chen, zipping up, replied, "Your quantum beast has run away; I need to go find it."

Yan Bubu, stunned for a moment, quickly grabbed Feng Chen's hand, "Don't go looking for it, brother, please don't go out."

"I'll leave Black Lion here this time, don't worry," Feng Chen reassured him, thinking Yan Bubu was afraid of encountering another brown bear, "I'll lock the windows too, so no mutants can get in."

"No, don't go out," Yan Bubu insisted, gripping Feng Chen's hand that was zipping up, "It's too cold outside, don't go."

"I am a sentinel, my physique is stronger than ordinary people, I'm not that afraid of the cold."

Feng Chen tried to free his hand to grab a scarf, but Yan Bubu clutched the scarf to his chest, refusing to give it to him.

"No, don't go out looking for it. It's better if it ran away, the farther the better, and never come back to our home."

Feng Chen finally frowned, "Yan Bubu, Bi Nununu is your quantum beast, your spirit entity. If it's in danger outside, it could cause you unimaginable harm. We don't know what that harm might be, but we can't take that risk. We must find it."

"No, no, don't look for it, let it go. It wanted to leave on its own, I didn't drive it away," Yan Bubu suddenly raised his voice, shouting at Feng Chen.

"What if something happens to it and your mental realm collapses too? What if you become an idiot or something?" Feng Chen retorted sharply.

Yan Bubu, tightly holding the scarf and stepping back, said, "Then let me become an idiot. I'm not afraid of being an idiot."

Feng Chen gave up on the scarf and turned towards the window. Yan Bubu panicked, rushed in front of him, and spread his arms to block the way, "I won't let you go, brother, please don’t leave."

Feng Chen stopped, and Yan Bubu hugged his legs, pleading desperately, "I'll draw for you, sing for you, write, do exercises, anything you ask, but please don't go out."

Feng Chen looked down at Yan Bubu, "Yan Bubu, it's because you liked Bi Nununu that it could appear in this world. You created it, why do you hate it so much?"

Yan Bubu, looking up, remained silent, his mouth downturned, his face full of stubbornness.

"Move aside," Feng Chen said.

Yan Bubu had never defied his orders before, but this time he still clung to his legs, unyielding, "I won’t let you."

Feng Chen, without further words, grabbed Yan Bubu by the collar and moved him aside, freeing his legs and striding towards the window.

"Brother!" A heart-wrenching scream came from behind.

Feng Chen slowly stopped and turned around.

Tears streamed down Yan Bubu's face as he sobbed loudly, "It's just a zombie, not Bi Nununu, not my Bi Nununu. The zombie killed Uncle Wu... I just got a dad, but now he's gone again... It's a zombie, not my Bi Nununu... I hate it, I despise it..."

Yan Bubu cried breathlessly, eyes closed, head tilted back, his small chest heaving rapidly. Black Lion, distressed, circled around, nudging his legs and licking the hand dangling by his side.

Feng Chen walked up to Yan Bubu, knelt down, and embraced him, gently patting his back.

"Let it go, let it go..." Yan Bubu's wailing was filled with deep pain and hatred.

"I know, I understand," Feng Chen picked him up, cradling him like a baby, walking back and forth in the corridor, softly consoling him.

Under Feng Chen's gentle soothing, Yan Bubu's cries gradually subsided, clinging tightly to his neck, still sobbing.

Feng Chen sat him down on the stairs, taking a tissue Black Lion quietly brought over, and placed it on Yan Bubu's nose, "Blow your nose."

"Hng hng hng..." Yan Bubu was still sniffling.

"Blow it, don't get snot on me."

"Hng hng... I've already got... hng hng... a bit on you."

"Ew, that's really gross."

Feng Chen wiped away Yan Bubu's snot and tears, resting his chin on top of his head, "Yan Bubu, you once saw a giant egg in your dream, with Bi Nununu inside. Because of your affection, it came into being. It is connected to your spirit; what you like, it likes, and what you hate, it hates too."

Yan Bubu, looking down, fiddled with the zipper on Feng Chen's down jacket, "But it still bit you and Black Lion."

"That's because it was in a bad mood," Feng Chen explained.

Yan Bubu muttered softly, "That's because it's a zombie."

"But why did it turn into a zombie?" Feng Chen asked.

Yan Bubu said, "Because it originally was a zombie."

"No, it wasn't originally a zombie. It turned into one because you were bitten by a zombie while it was growing in your mental realm. It grew inside the giant egg you saw, like a little chick, waiting to hatch. But just as it was about to break through, you were bitten by a zombie in the cave."

Yan Bubu's fingers, which were picking at the zipper, paused, not responding but listening intently.

"You showed clear symptoms of zombification at that time." Feng Chen lifted one of his pant legs, pointing to the still visible bite mark on his calf, "The skin around here turned dark blue, you know? Like a spider web."

Yan Bubu nodded stiffly, "I know, that's how zombies' faces look."

"Right, you almost turned into a zombie, but you resisted and finally recovered. I know it's because of your determination and effort."

Yan Bubu eagerly said, "I tried very, very hard. That's how I am, look at me, like this."

He clenched his fists, placed them on his waist, leaned forward, and exerted himself, his head shaking and face turning red with effort.

"See? That's how I persevered," Yan Bubu said through clenched teeth.

Feng Chen touched the top of his head, "But when I saw your Bi Nununu, saw what it had become, I had a guess in my mind."

Yan Bubu stopped his actions, staring intently at Feng Chen with wide eyes.

"I think the reason you fully recovered without any after-effects is partly due to your effort, and partly because the quantum beast inside you blocked the zombie virus for you, it took the illness on your behalf."

Yan Bubu asked in confusion, "It, it blocked it for me... took the illness for me?"

"Your Bi Nununu was still sleeping inside the giant egg, like an unhatched chick. It felt your sickness and knew you were very upset, so it absorbed those zombie viruses for you, allowing you to stand here well."

"Yan Bubu, so it didn't want this, but it had no choice... just like Uncle Wu, it had no other option."

Feng Chen's voice was low, almost like a sigh, but Yan Bubu listened to every word.

He looked at Feng Chen blankly, a layer of moist gleam shimmering in his eyes.

"Although it won’t turn others into zombies after biting, as your spirit entity, if it maintains a mental connection with you, it might transfer the zombie virus back to you. I think it doesn't want you to face the danger of zombification, so it severed the mental connection with you. It may look scary now, but you can't hate it, nor can you drive it away, understand?"

Yan Bubu buried his face in Feng Chen's shoulder, and after a moment, asked with a choked voice, "It and Uncle Wu, both because of me?"

"It's not your fault, you didn't want to be bitten by a zombie," Feng Chen slightly pushed Yan Bubu away, "But you can't hate it anymore, okay?"

"I don't hate it, I... I'll go find it right now," Yan Bubu said, hastily wiping his eyes.

Feng Chen said, "I'll go find it, you just wait at home."

"But—"

"But what if it comes back on its own?" Feng Chen interjected, "There's no one at home, and if it can't get in and runs away again in frustration? Just stay home and wait, I'll find it and bring it back."

Yan Bubu sobbed, "I still want to go with you."

"No."

"Brother, let me go find it."

"Don't think just because I've spoken kindly to you that you can push your luck." Feng Chen stood up, "Go back upstairs. Have you finished your writing? Done with your math exercises?"

"...Not yet."

Feng Chen scolded, "Then what are you looking at me for? Get upstairs quickly. I'll be back with it in a while."

Yan Bubu reluctantly went upstairs, looking back every three steps. Feng Chen then put on his scarf and gloves and climbed out the window.

Black Lion didn't follow Feng Chen this time but stayed in the building. It began tidying the chaotic fifth floor, dragging the brown bear's corpse into the nearest room and closing the door, cleaning up the broken debris, and fetching the robot to sweep and mop the floor.

After walking a distance, Feng Chen realized how difficult it was to find Bi Nununu.

The heavy snow significantly reduced visibility. He didn't know which direction Bi Nununu had gone; everything was a blanket of white, and any footprints that might have been left were quickly filled in by the accumulating snow.

He wandered aimlessly, calling out loudly for Bi Nununu. Even if Bi Nununu came in response to attack him, it would still mean finding it.

Feng Chen trudged through the snow, one step at a time. Despite being well-dressed and having a sentinel's physique, he still felt bitterly cold, so he summoned his mental energy to create an extra layer around his body. It might not keep out the cold, but at least it could block the wind.

Snowflakes seemed to fall towards him, then gently changed direction, drifting leisurely by his side.

"Bi Nununu, Bi Nununu..."

Everywhere was snow; even the protruding remnants of walls were covered. Feng Chen didn’t know where he was anymore, his feet numb from the cold, his tongue hardly obeying him, struggling to pronounce the name Bi Nununu correctly.

Just as he climbed over a snowdrift, Feng Chen suddenly stepped into a void. He reached out with his left hand to grasp the ground, but only touched a smooth layer of ice, and his body followed the snow down into a fall.

He pulled out a dagger to stab into the nearby wall. However, the wall was incredibly hard, and the dagger's tip produced a grating screech, failing to penetrate. He fell heavily to the bottom.

He fell a good seven or eight meters, but fortunately, he was protected by a layer of mental energy around his body, so he wasn't injured from the fall.

Standing up, he surveyed his surroundings and realized he was in an artificially carved circular hole, with walls made of hard black steelstone, explaining why the dagger couldn't pierce through.

There was only one place in Haiyun City with such deep pits – the mines to the south of the city. Surprisingly, he had ended up here after all his wandering.

Feng Chen tried to climb up, but the walls were too smooth, covered with a layer of ice, offering no grip.

He attempted to establish a mental connection with Black Lion, but the distance was too great, and he couldn't sense Black Lion's presence, thus failing to connect.

Feng Chen, gasping for breath, used his dagger to dig into the icy layer on the wall, but the ice was only thinly coated, and even after digging a hole, his fingers couldn't find a hold.

。

Yan Bubu, having finished the homework Feng Chen had set for him, went to the window. Playing with his Bi Nununu toy, he occasionally looked outside, chatting with Black Lion.

"Why hasn’t brother come back yet? Did he not find... Bi Nununu?" Yan Bubu, almost reflexively about to say 'zombie mutant,' corrected himself at the last moment.

Black Lion shook its head, indicating it didn't know either.

Yan Bubu looked at the Bi Nununu toy in his hand, lifted it high, gazed at it for a while, then whispered into its ear, "I won't be mean to you anymore, and you shouldn't be mean to me, okay?"

Bi Nununu couldn't speak, and after a moment of silence, Yan Bubu softly said three words, "I'm sorry."

Yan Bubu waited by the window, occasionally checking outside. When he looked out again, he saw a group of people appearing in the snowstorm, moving quickly towards them.

Knowing that the people of Haiyun City had left on a large ship, he was incredulous at the sight of others, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

They were indeed a group of people, about seven or eight, all sledding, wearing thick clothes covered in snow, looking like a group of moving snowmen.

"Lion, Lion, come look!" Yan Bubu exclaimed in surprise, pointing at the window, "Look, there are people coming towards us."

Black Lion approached, watching the group intently, its gaze filled with caution and vigilance.

As they drew closer, Yan Bubu's voice became quieter and eventually faded into silence.

Although their faces were wrapped in scarves, he noticed that one person, when turning their head, had silver-white metallic eyes not covered by the scarf. Another's right hand, ungloved, revealed a segment of a metallic arm when raised.

Yan Bubu's heart sank with fear; he didn't dare to run away immediately but slowly retreated, moving back until he was out of sight from the window.

"Lion, come here, quick, they are bad people," he called out stiffly.

In the snow, the group sledding to a stop, one of them pointing at the building, said, "Chu Zhishi, there's no snow on these windows."

Chu Shi tapped his hat, shaking off the snow, "I see."

"With this weather, if the windows aren't sealed by snow, there must be temperature control inside. Should we go in and check? If it's suitable, we can stay here."

Chu Shi laughed, "Damn, we were heading for Haiyun Tower, but with a building like this, who'd want to stay in the tower? Let's take a look."