Chapter 114

Chapter 114

After hearing Jie Lin Yuan's 'declaration of love,' Jia Chen's expression darkened completely. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing, stepping back silently, roughly tearing off the mask and hat from his face.

Meanwhile, Wu Yin was in a great mood. He walked leisurely towards Jie Lin Yuan, leaving a bewildered Yan Guangyu behind, and teased with a smile, "You realized from the beginning? I don't buy that."

"Why wouldn't you believe it?" Jie Lin Yuan frowned, stepping forward to meet him. Though his words conveyed dissatisfaction, his actions spoke of sincerity.

"If you had realized it early on, why did you engage in pleasantries with Long for so long?"

This made Jie Lin Yuan even more irritated. "That's because..." As they drew closer, he quickly leaned in to whisper in Wu Yin's ear, "I thought you had some important matter that necessitated a temporary identity swap, so I deliberately didn’t expose you. I even cooperated kindly... Who would have thought it was aimed at me?"

After a brief pause, he added, "What exactly are you plotting? If it’s some pointless test of love, I’m going to start getting angry."

Wu Yin's smile deepened, he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and rolled up the sleeves past his elbows, "Who allowed you to get angry? Hold it back," he commanded unreasonably.

Jie Lin Yuan: "...Have I been too amiable with you lately? Or did you mistake my confession as turning me into a love-struck fool who’d obey every whim? Be careful, understand?"

Wu Yin wanted to say more, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yan Guangyu approaching quickly, so he whispered to Jie Lin Yuan, "I'll explain later," and then fell silent.

Soon, they heard Yan Guangyu's astonished voice: "You... who among you is the dragon?"

By now, Jia Chen had regained his composure, showing no signs of his earlier discomfiture. His casual hoodie and denim jacket exuded a gentle and refined air. However, having seen his blatant jealousy at the Yi Zhuang, Wu Yin was no longer fooled by his facade.

Wu Yin was certain that Jia Chen was jealous of him, jealous to the point of wanting to replace him.

He deliberately steered the conversation towards the topic of Jia Chen suspecting Jie Linyuan, guiding it to the swapping of identities between them, and then made a very odd bet with him—a bet no sane person would accept, especially since it hinged on whether Jie Linyuan could recognize them, a decision that in itself bore no logical relation to trustworthiness.

But Jia Chen agreed almost too eagerly, his urgency confirming Wu Yin's suspicions.

Jia Chen's jealousy was intense and fierce, as if it had been long in the making and specifically targeted, making it clear he was after Wu Yin. After all, Geng Wu and Jia Chen got along very well, and Wu Yin did not sense any hostility from Geng Wu.

This not only put Wu Yin on guard but also filled him with a strong sense of unease.

He began to ponder the reason behind Jia Chen's jealousy.

Was it because of the body? But he was using his own prosthetic body. Although Wu Yin had reservations, he did not explicitly ask for it back, especially since Wu Yin was also using a prosthetic body. He kept talking about finding his original body, yet he didn’t even know if it still existed.

Or was it because of a lover? Jia Chen's interest in Jie Linyuan had always been high, but Wu Yin felt this was a reverse logic: Jia Chen wanted to replace him because he approached his lover, not because he was interested in his lover per se.

There must be some secret about Jia Chen that he was unaware of, a crucial secret that was the real reason behind all his discordant actions.

These seemingly close "brothers" each had their secrets, hidden deep for various reasons, unlike the seemingly distant Jie Linyuan and Lu Ba, who were more forthright.

For the first time, Wu Yin found his amnesia to be a nuisance and began to entertain the idea of leaving.

Before coming to the zoo, he harbored an unfounded fondness for his own kind, rushing over without any doubt upon seeing Geng Wu's message; but now, he only felt it to be a nuisance.

Then why doesn't he leave?

Wu Yin suddenly realized he had never thought about leaving before, as if arriving here meant he was naturally supposed to stay, like a leaf returning to its roots. But since he had no memories of the past and the so-called "brothers" made him uncomfortable, he could just walk away.

The thought of leaving grew stronger, enlightening Wu Yin, who suddenly grabbed Jie Linyuan's wrist. He didn't even have luggage to pack; the only thing he needed to take with him was in the palm of his hand.

...Oh, and His Highness. He had almost forgotten about the dearly obtained pet he had snatched from someone else.

He should probably also inform Hui Lan and the mutants.

Right, and the new companion, at least solve the mystery of the feigned death before leaving.

...How annoying, there are so many things to consider.

Jia Chen was introducing Wu Yin and his twin identity to Yan Guangyu, who was not as easily deceived as the mutants around Wu Yin, skeptical but not saying much.

Meanwhile, Wu Yin, pulling Jie Linyuan, turned to walk towards Yi Zhuang, with Geng Wu immediately following, and Jia Chen's gaze followed them all the while, yet he remained silent throughout.

"Sorry," Geng Wu suddenly said to Jie Linyuan on the way. He didn't explain why, but he knew Jie Linyuan understood the reason, revealing him to be a man even more perceptive and intelligent than he had imagined. Geng Wu's nature was gentle, easily led by others, perhaps partly due to his symbiotic ability, accustomed to acquiescing to others' opinions.

He actually disagreed with the bet made by Jia Chen and Wu Yin today, feeling it very odd, as if 'the old drunkard's intent isn't in the wine.' It was only when he realized this that he saw today's drama was purely personal between Jia Chen and Wu Yin, and he had been used as a pawn, having lied to Jie Linyuan.

So, Geng Wu didn't intervene anymore, now that the outcome was clear, he followed the result of the bet, trusting Wu Yin's judgment, accepting Jie Linyuan.

"It's okay," Jie Linyuan waved it off, stepping over the threshold of Yi Zhuang. The next second, without needing Wu Yin to ask if he found anything, he naturally pointed to the split-open corpse, saying, "There's a problem with it. It moved after we left, the curvature of the fingers on its left hand is different now."

Jie Linyuan demonstrated with his fingers, a difference that was imperceptible to the naked eye and memory alone, distinguishable only by comparing two photos side by side.

Geng Wu, on a whim, wondered, "Could it have been moved by us somehow..." but he abruptly stopped, realizing the corpse was already in rigor mortis, meaning they could at most displace it slightly, but it would be difficult to change its posture.

"So, it played dead again and didn't want us to find out, deliberately returning to its original position," Wu Yin noted. "Interesting..."

He was almost certain this was something their brotherhood would do, and Geng Wu dredged up a genetically ingrained term from the depths of his memory: "Saprophytic."

"What?" Wu Yin asked, looking down.

"Saprophytic..." Since the term slipped out unintentionally, Geng Wu couldn't recall its exact meaning, leaving it to Jie Linyuan to search his Ares system's encyclopedia, finding a roughly similar definition: "Can only parasitize corpses or decaying tissue to obtain organic matter for sustenance. For you parasites, it means living inside corpses."

"Parasitic, epiphytic, symbiotic, saprophytic," Wu Yin mused, circling the split-open corpse with interest before deciding to take it back, "He's likely unable to switch hosts immediately; otherwise, there'd be no need to continue saprophytically on a body we're already suspicious of, if he didn't want to be discovered."

Perhaps it was due to a lack of physical strength to change bodies, or not all corpses were suitable for saprophytism, the only viable host being the current one.

Without further ado, the three of them got to work, not even bothering to cover it with a white cloth, one grabbing the legs, another the shoulders, and hoisting the body directly onto Yan Guangyu's car.

Along the way, Wu Yin thought he saw a vein of pain and anger on the corpse's brow, but upon closer inspection, everything seemed normal, as if it were just his imagination.

But having come this far, uncovering even the direction of the parasitic ability's branch, Wu Yin wouldn't doubt his eyesight, smiling, "Hello, which animal might you be?"

At that moment, Yan Guangyu was ingratiatingly explaining to Jia Chen that his lack of reaction was due to having less information than Jie Linyuan, promising to differentiate between dragons and tigers next time, only to look up and see a dirty, ugly corpse placed in the back seat of his car by Wu Yin.

Yan Guangyu: "..."

How could he have mistaken them? The difference between a dragon and a tiger was night and day; it would be odd not to recognize them!

Half an hour later, the male corpse appeared in the lobby of the Dragon Mansion.

As Yan Guangyu left in a daze, Wu Yin kicked the corpse irritably, "Get up, stop playing dead. We're all friends here, can't you feel it?"

The male corpse showed no response, as if it were truly just a real corpse.

Jia Chen poured himself a cup of hot water, slowly approached, and took a sip, "If he keeps being uncooperative, there's nothing we can do."

"Why won't he cooperate?" Wu Yin wondered.

"Don't know," Geng Wu said, arms crossed.

When Hui Lan returned from the Grape's place, he was greeted by the eerie sight of four people bending over and chatting around a corpse. His legs went weak for a moment before he took a deep breath and came over resolutely, "Where are you planning to bury it? Need help digging?"

Jie Linyuan smiled, pulled him over, asked if he had dinner yet, and told him to go to bed early today. He warned that no matter what noises he heard outside, he must not come out, or he might see something terrifying.

"What's the worst that could happen, seeing you guys dismember and cook a corpse? How scary could it be?" Hui Lan naively remarked, "It's not like the corpse could come back to life, right?"

Jie Linyuan's smile deepened, but he remained silent.

……

The four waited until sunset, but the 'corpse' remained determined to play dead. The three 'blind men' of the night had to return to their rooms to sleep, reasoning that if it was one of their own kind, it would also be blind at night, so there was no worry of it escaping.

But it was unknown if that was exactly what the other party was counting on, as about an hour after the hall fell silent.

The fingertips of the male corpse twitched slightly, and then, like a zombie, he abruptly sat up straight.