Chapter 193

Chapter 193

The night breeze, seeping through the gaps in the thickly draped windows, brought the faint fragrance of wildflowers to Yan Bubu’s nose.

Yan Bubu and Feng Chen stood by the bed, watching Lin Fen gently clean Yu Yuan's fingers with a wet towel, his movements delicate as if handling a fragile treasure, while Yu Yuan sat quietly, his empty black eyes staring into the void.

Sasaka lay at the door, and Bi Nunu stood in front of Yu Yuan, gazing steadily at him.

When the door was first opened, Bi Nunu had almost rushed towards Yu Yuan, but Yan Bubu grabbed him, choking out, "He's not a zombie, he's fine, just like you... Bi Nunu, he's just like you."

Bi Nunu seemed stunned by these words but slowly retracted his claws, and the growling in his throat gradually ceased.

"It seems the original virus hadn’t mutated yet, like the early zombies that were intermittently coherent. That's why he has about half an hour each day when he's well-behaved," Lin Fen said as he gently brushed a strand of hair from Yu Yuan's forehead. "After I brought him here, Chen Size and the people from Anbuja attacked the mountain repeatedly, forcing us to guard the cliff day and night. But we had ample ammunition and the advantage of high ground. While defending, I worked on setting up a defense network and found those membrane pieces in the lab. Once the defense network was in place, we were safe."

"Although we found refuge here, we were also surrounded, with no way to leave…" Lin Fen paused, his voice growing hoarse, "Honestly, I'm somewhat relieved to be trapped here, as it gives me a reason to stay. I fear that if we leave, extracting the viral strain from his body could be fatal, and I'm terrified of that..."

"I can't lose him again; I can't take that risk," Lin Fen said, looking at Feng Chen, his lips trembling uncontrollably. "Feng Chen, you were right; I am cowardly and unworthy as a soldier."

Feng Chen, head bowed, said nothing, then suddenly struck his own face hard. A crisp sound followed, and a red mark quickly appeared on his face.

Yan Bubu saw him raise his hand again and tried to grab his wrist, but he couldn't catch it. After two more sharp sounds, blood trickled from the corner of Feng Chen's mouth.

"Just apologize, don't hit yourself," Yan Bubu pleaded anxiously, using his psychic power to restrain Feng Chen's wrists.

Lin Fen also barked sharply, "Enough! Who told you to hit yourself?"

Feng Chen's chest heaved, and after a moment, he rasped, "You weren't wrong at the start either; I am indeed a scoundrel."

The room fell silent. Yan Bubu and Bi Nunu repeatedly glanced at Feng Chen's face, who then turned his head away, muttering, "Don't look at me."

Although Yan Bubu felt pained seeing his face, he averted his gaze. But Bi Nunu continued to stare, shifting position to peer under his face after he turned away, only to be pushed aside by Feng Chen.

Lin Fen had calmed down and spoke softly, “Every day, when he’s calm, I clean him up and replace the wilted flowers.”

Yan Bubu glanced under the bed and saw torn flower petals scattered about. He squatted down and started picking them up.

Lin Fen began trimming Yu Yuan’s nails, the only sound in the room being the clip of the nail clippers. He cut the deep black nails very short, almost to the flesh, murmuring softly, “How can your nails grow so fast? I just trimmed them yesterday, and they’re long again today… Would you like to listen to a piano piece today? Shall I change it to piano music? Tomorrow we can listen to violin…”

After speaking, he instructed the silent Feng Chen, “Go, the remote is on the window sill. Change the music.”

As Feng Chen went to change the music, Lin Fen combed Yu Yuan's hair and straightened his clothes. Just as he was about to squat to check the hem of the pants, he saw the hand resting on Yu Yuan's knee twitch, and a rumbling sound came from his throat.

Lin Fen quickly stood upright and said to Yan Bubu and the others, “You should leave now.”

“Oh.”

Yan Bubu responded, but his eyes caught sight of another torn petal under the bed. He reached out to grab it, and just as he straightened up, he felt movement in front of him and suddenly Yu Yuan lunged at him.

Yan Bubu was faced with the enlarged, once-handsome but now ferocious face of Yu Yuan, with sharp teeth in his mouth and pitch-black eyes that seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

Seeing Yu Yuan like this, Yan Bubu forgot to dodge and just squatted there dumbfounded. But Feng Chen swiftly pulled him back while Lin Fen skillfully restrained Yu Yuan’s arms behind him, shouting at them, “Get out.”

Feng Chen hurriedly escorted Yan Bubu out of the room, stumbling as they went. Behind them was the howling of Yu Yuan, sounding no longer human but like some kind of wild beast.

“Little Curly, did you eat too much again today? Let me feel your little belly… Yep, you definitely ate too much. Come on, let’s go inside and get a digestive pill, or Lin Fen will see you and make you run laps.”

“Little Curly, come here, let me lift you. Hmm, not bad, you’ve put on some weight.”

……

The gentle and clear voice from his memory mixed with the current howling, the handsome face and the ferocious zombie face overlapped in Yan Bubu's vision. Tears blurred his eyes before he even left the room.

Feng Chen led him away without stopping, continuing down the corridor. Bi Nunu and Sasaka, also driven out, followed behind them, continuously looking back.

Feng Chen walked briskly, with Yan Bubu jogging along beside him until they reached the ground floor. Only when Yu Yuan's howling diminished did they stop.

Yan Bubu wrapped his arms around Feng Chen's waist, burying his face in his chest. Feng Chen held him tightly, taking deep breaths repeatedly, trying to shake off the feeling of suffocation.

Moments later, footsteps sounded from behind, and Lin Fen appeared at the staircase. He didn't look at them but headed towards the room, his voice weary, "Let's go. You haven't eaten yet. Let's cook dinner."

An hour later, dinner was served.

For Yan Bubu, who had been eating boiled wild wolf meat for several days, dinner was a feast. Although it was all mutant meat, it included braised and roasted dishes, all well-seasoned and plentiful, spread out on the table, looking delicious. There were also rare vegetables, stir-fried green beans and eggplant.

"Eat up, everything has salt. I'll add more if it's not enough," Lin Fen said, casually tossing his apron on the sofa and picking up his chopsticks first.

Yan Bubu knew Lin Fen was referring to his surprise at tasting salty jerky but didn’t have the mood to retort, silently picking up his chopsticks.

"Where are those two toys?" Lin Fen looked around.

"They went out to play," mumbled Yan Bubu. "It started with just one toy, and now they're both gone."

Lin Fen put a piece of eggplant in his mouth and then gestured to Feng Chen, who hadn’t moved: "Eat, don’t just sit there."

The three ate in silence. Lin Fen glanced at the two opposite him and placed several pieces of meat into their bowls, "When I was young, I could eat a lot. Yu Yuan used to joke that I could bankrupt the Western Union Army’s mess hall. What's with you two? Eat more."

"Oh," Yan Bubu responded dully.

Lin Fen pointed at him with his chopsticks, "Weren't you the biggest eater as a child? You’d chew off a layer of grass wherever you went. How come you can't even keep up with your younger self now?"

"I wasn't that big of an eater," Yan Bubu quietly objected. "Besides, there wasn’t any grass where we met, that’s just an exaggeration."

Lin Fen asked, "Then how should I describe it?"

"You could say that where I passed, not even a fish egg would be left behind."

Lin Fen raised an eyebrow, "Alright, that description works too."

Yan Bubu, biting his chopsticks, smiled, and Lin Fen added more meat to his bowl. Feng Chen also started eating heartily, and the somber mood at the table gradually lifted.

After dinner, Lin Fen picked up a stainless steel bowl and headed outside, saying, "You two go for a walk to digest your meal. I'll take something for Yu Yuan to eat."

Yan Bubu saw that the bowl contained roughly fried mutant meat, some parts still oozing blood.

"Does Uncle Colonel Yu also eat?" Yan Bubu couldn’t help asking.

The zombies he had seen never ate food – except when attacking people to bite and gnaw.

Lin Fen countered, "Why wouldn't he eat? Not only does he eat, but he also has a good appetite."

Yan Bubu thought for a moment, then nodded, "Zombies probably want to eat too, just don’t have the chance. I remember feeling very hungry when I turned into a zombie."

Lin Fen slowed down and after a few seconds turned around, his voice tightening, "I've always wanted to ask you, how did you recover after becoming a zombie as a child? And how does your quantum beast maintain a zombie form but stay normal?"

Yan Bubu quickly waved his hand, "Not when I was a child. I didn't turn into a zombie then. It was a recent incident in the central city."

"A recent incident…" Lin Fen suddenly walked towards Yan Bubu but stumbled over a stool. Feng Chen quickly caught the falling bowl and steadied his arm.

Lin Fen removed Feng Chen's hand and approached Yan Bubu, his eyes intensely bright, his voice unsteady, "Tell me, explain everything in detail."

Twenty minutes later, the room fell silent.

Lin Fen sat on the sofa, head half-drooping as he stared at the floor. The brightness in his eyes had vanished, and his neck seemed to lack the strength to hold up his head.

"So the incident when you were bitten as a child was actually your not-yet-fully-developed quantum beast absorbing the virus," he murmured.

Yan Bubu replied softly, "Yes."

Lin Fen didn't say anything more but stood up and picked up the bowl again, heading towards the door. His usually tall and erect figure appeared bent, slowly disappearing at the doorway.

Yan Bubu looked towards Feng Chen somewhat anxiously, "I shouldn't have talked about zombies. It gave him hope, only to be dashed immediately. That must have made him even sadder."

Feng Chen patted his shoulder, "He knew about the time you were bitten by a zombie as a child, and with Bi Nunu looking like that, he would have asked you sooner or later. Let's go, we'll take a walk outside."

"Yeah." Yan Bubu nodded, walking outside with Feng Chen.

Bi Nunu and Sasaka wandered around the mountaintop, while Yan Bubu and Feng Chen sat beside a stone table in the forest. The vulture dutifully protected them, perching on a nearby branch and pretending to sleep.

After sitting for a while, Yan Bubu turned to look for Bi Nunu and Sasaka. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a bird's shadow cast on the ground.

The shadow quickly enlarged, and Yan Bubu looked up sharply to see a giant black bird swooping down from above them, illuminated by the streetlight.

The black bird's feathers were almost completely gone, making it unrecognizable. It appeared black because it emitted a dark aura. Yan Bubu recognized it immediately as the zombie quantum beast they had encountered in the forest before heading to fight the zombies at the mountain base.

The black bird extended its sharp talons and beak, its eyes glowing fiercely red. Feng Chen reached for the dagger at his back, only to remember he had returned it to Lin Fen.

Yan Bubu drew his own dagger, ready to strike the black bird as it dived, but the vulture, which had been perching on the branch, spread its wings to confront it.

The vulture intercepted the black bird, not attacking but merely blocking its path to prevent it from reaching Yan Bubu and Feng Chen.

Drool dripping from its beak, the black bird tried to circumvent the vulture but, failing, turned its aggression toward the vulture, pecking viciously at its shoulder.

Black smoke rose from the vulture's body, but it still didn’t retaliate, instead flying away towards the mountains. A few meters away, it turned back to block the black bird again when it seemed to still target Yan Bubu and Feng Chen.

Completely fixated on the vulture, the black bird emitted strange, angry screeches, chasing the vulture into the dark sky.

Yan Bubu watched until the silhouettes of the two quantum beasts disappeared, then finally lowered his gaze.

Seeing Feng Chen still looking at the sky, Yan Bubu asked, "Did you notice? That was the zombie bird we encountered at the foot of the mountain."

Feng Chen didn’t respond but stood still, his expression somewhat odd.

"What's wrong?" Yan Bubu quickly nudged him.

"Yan Bubu, did you take a close look at that black bird?" asked Feng Chen.

Yan Bubu nodded, "I looked carefully."

Feng Chen swallowed with difficulty, "Colonel Yu's quantum beast is a white crane."

"Ah, I know," Yan Bubu responded. He hadn’t seen Yu Yuan’s quantum beast but knew from Feng Chen that it was a white crane.

Feng Chen fell silent, but Yan Bubu, coming to a realization, slowly widened his eyes in shock, looking at him.

Feng Chen spoke hoarsely, "If that black bird grew white feathers, it would likely be a white crane."

"Yes, it is a white crane, the most beautiful bird in the world," Lin Fen's voice suddenly came from behind.

The two turned around and saw Lin Fen walking slowly along the path, looking up at the sky as he walked.

"It's just that it fell ill, and its feathers, white as cotton, have fallen off. Now it's not as beautiful, and its temper has become a bit worse. But as long as it's properly appeased and vents its anger, it will be fine."

Lin Fen tossed something towards Feng Chen, "Keep it safe and don’t lose it again."

Feng Chen caught it and realized it was the Wu Yu dagger, silently clipping it back to his waist.

The three sat down beside the stone table, with Yan Bubu occasionally looking up at the sky, soon hearing the sound of flapping wings.

The vulture returned, engulfed in black smoke, flying like a plane hit in the tailfin, obviously severely injured by the white crane.

It landed on Lin Fen's shoulder and softly chirped. Lin Fen turned his head and said, "Go back to the spirit realm to rest, don’t come out for now."

The vulture vanished into thin air, and Lin Fen explained to the others, "I try to limit its time outside the spirit realm, to avoid..."

He stopped mid-sentence, furrowing his brows and pressing his temples, his complexion suddenly turning pale.

Yan Bubu watched as Lin Fen frantically searched his body, pulling out a medicine bottle and attempting to unscrew the cap, but his hands shook so much he couldn’t even perform the action.

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick? What is this medicine?" Feng Chen immediately asked.

Lin Fen's face was as pale as paper, seemingly enduring severe pain, he just gritted his teeth and said, "Painkiller, it's for pain relief, quickly help me pour it out."

Feng Chen took the medicine bottle, noticing no instructions on it, clearly a concoction prepared by Lin Fen himself. Instead of pouring the medicine, he said to Yan Bubu, "Check his spirit realm."

"Okay."

When Yan Bubu entered Lin Fen's spirit realm, he was confronted with a desolate scene. The spirit threads were dry like weeds, tangled and twisted into dead knots.

Having seen the collapse of Feng Chen's spirit realm and even the spirit realm of a zombie sentinel, Yan Bubu was not surprised by this sight and immediately began to untangle it.

Under his organization, the withered spirit threads regained their lustrous sheen. As for those twisted into dead knots, he unhesitatingly broke them, cleaned up the severed ends, and reconnected them.

Yan Bubu finished sorting Lin Fen's spirit realm, but there was nothing he could do about the shriveled core of the spirit realm.

For sentinels who have bonded, the core of the spirit realm is like a door locked, and the key to open it lies only in the hands of their exclusive guide. The mental power of other guides cannot enter.

After exiting Lin Fen's spirit realm, Lin Fen himself had calmed down, though his face was still somewhat pale. With his regained mental strength, the vulture reappeared, energetically flying into the sky.

Lin Fen, still panting a bit, looked at Yan Bubu: "Annoyingly impressive, I'm an A-level sentinel, usually only a B-level or higher guide can organize my spirit realm. But my current condition is very bad, requiring an A-level guide. Yet, not only could you sort my spirit realm, but you also reconnected my broken spirit threads."

Yan Bubu modestly replied, "After all, I am a light guide, organizing your spirit realm is quite simple for me, no need to be polite."

Lin Fen was speechless, then chuckled softly, "Alright, alright, light guide."

Feng Chen asked with concern, "How do you feel now? Better?"

"My head doesn't hurt anymore, I feel much relieved," Lin Fen said with a wry smile. "It's been many years since I’ve had my spirit realm organized. I’d forgotten that Annoying Spirit is a guide who can help me with that."

"You haven't had it organized for many years? How did you manage?" Feng Chen's expression shifted slightly.

Lin Fen seemed quite nonchalant about this question, "Dealing with those zombies and people trying to climb the cliff only required guns and a protective layer, so I never used my mental power over these years. I've used all my mental strength just to sustain the vulture, ensuring its existence is enough."

Lin Fen continued, looking somewhat forlornly towards the sky, "But the core of my spirit realm is shrinking. I won't be able to maintain it for much longer..."

Deeply bonded sentinels and guides are like deeply imprinted in each other's souls. Changing a bonding partner mid-way is like shattering and then reshaping the soul, a very painful process.

Feng Chen knew that for Lin Fen, the pain of shattering his soul was nothing. But he would rather let his spirit realm wither and collapse into eternal sleep than dissolve his bond with Yu Yuan and seek a new guide.

And he wouldn't persuade Lin Fen either, because if it were him, he would make the same choice.