Chapter 156

Chapter 156

"Wu Yin..."

"Wu Yin! Wake up, it's dark already."

"Wu Yin, you're ignoring me again, even though you talked to me just yesterday."

“……”

——Ah, you're really noisy, even your heartbeat is loud.

"Wu Yin!"

——Speak.

"Wu Yin, do you know dogs? They're animals covered in fur, with long mouths, triangular ears. Wu You said he had one as a child, very cute, with a bark that goes 'woof woof,' very energetic, and it would wag its tail at you."

——How can there be a creature covered in fur, with a long mouth? That's disgusting.

"It's very cute!"

——Are you sure? A creature with a tail, a long mouth, and covered in fur can really be cute?

"…I can't quite picture it, but Wu You said it's very cute."

——He's deceiving you.

"How could that be? He's too simple to deceive me."

——You don't think you're smart, do you?

"…Anyway, I think dogs must be very cute animals."

……

Xie Linyuan chased out of the red building, pausing at a crossroads ahead. His left pupil scanned and collected suspicious footprints and traces on each road to determine which direction Yi Er had escaped.

Just then, a huge black figure passed him; the Border Collie glanced back at him, while the Golden Retriever lowered its head, staring straight ahead. The mutated two-headed dog, like a whirlwind, kicked up a storm of yellow leaves, surpassing Xie Linyuan without hesitation and sprinted in one direction.

"Your Highness." Xie Linyuan quickly followed.

The father of Your Highness was a retriever, and its mother was a sheepdog, possessing a natural talent for speed.

At a steep slope, it suddenly leaped high, turning in mid-air, its paws firmly gripping the ground, slightly crouching and lowering its head in a hunting threat posture, like an immovable vast wall, fur flowing in the wind, both pairs of beastly eyes sharp and threatening, with a growling sound rolling in its throat.

Xie Linyuan also caught up in the next second, his left hand throwing out a black short-barreled gun, aiming coldly at the man sandwiched between Your Highness and him.

Yier gradually halted, casting a disdainful glance at the Cerberus growling deeply at him, then turned to face Jie Linyuan standing behind him.

He cradled a pale-skinned man in his arms, who was unconscious with his eyes closed, limbs dangling weakly, wearing a white shirt inappropriate for the season's temperature, his black hair damp, his hands and feet turned purple from the cold amidst the howling sea wind and the first snow.

"Relax a bit, Z," Yier said, "guns are useless against me."

"Hand him over to me," Jie Linyuan commanded sharply.

Yier's smile grew deeper and louder, showing no intention of action.

Jie Linyuan tensed warily, but Yier was right, guns had no effect on him. However... Jie Linyuan's breathing quickened as he discreetly switched on the ultrasonic sensor behind his back, causing His Highness to step back uncomfortably, while Yier's smile abruptly stiffened.

Would the sensor, adjusted by the princess to change frequencies, be effective against Yier, a special parasite residing within others' cores?

But before Jie Linyuan could confirm, Yier suddenly burst into a loud, eerie laughter. Underneath his fierce and bizarre expression, his eyeballs gradually became cloudy and swollen, and black blood vessels started protruding from the corners of his eyes, spreading across his face like cracked soil, extending down to his neck.

Suddenly, he collapsed like a puppet drained of its skeleton, completely limp.

Sensing trouble, Jie Linyuan quickly turned off the ultrasonic waves and rushed forward, firing a bullet into the brow of the man possessed by Yier before the contamination could fully take hold.

The contamination halted, the cloudy eyes staring blankly at the sky, in a deathly gaze, as dark red blood oozed from the back of the man's head, staining the soil beneath him and the white shirt under his corpse.

His Highness shook his head and cautiously approached, with a mutant green vine extending a tendril from behind a Border Collie's ear, tightly holding a transparent canister – a small ultrasonic device, the same one given to Xue Hongyi by the fishermen of Tongjia Islands, which had caused Gui You to suffer immensely.

After receiving it, the princess, with information on ultrasonics from Jie Zai and the engineers from the southern camp, worked overnight to modify the container, which was said to be capable of suppressing Yier's special parasitic core with its sound wave frequency.

However, all these studies were purely theoretical, with no practical evidence to support them. Jie Linyuan was reluctant to use this theoretical weapon rashly. Should Yier manage to escape by transforming his core again, Jie Linyuan would be helpless against such a special organ capable of disintegrating and re-integrating itself.

After a silent five-second wait, 'Wu Yin' moved his fingers, slowly propping himself up with his palms, struggling to sit upright – a task that nearly exhausted all his strength. His emerald eyes opened slightly, then closed again until they adjusted to the light, finally fully opening to look up at Jie Linyuan and His Highness surrounding him.

For a moment, no one dared to speak. His Highness, too, remained silent, his black hair dusted with a thin layer of snow, which then evaporated from his body heat. The silence spread quietly until 'Wu Yin' suddenly smirked, "Sorry, not the person you were expecting."

"..." Xie Linyuan's gaze suddenly turned dangerously sharp. He had to admit, for a fleeting moment, he harbored a hopeful delusion that it was Wuyin regaining consciousness from this body.

Unfortunately, this sliver of fantasy was mercilessly shattered by Yi'er, who also used it as a reason to mock Xie Linyuan.

Yi'er gradually stood up, his bare feet stepping onto the dirty, muddy ground, soles covered with mud moistened by snow and soaked with blood. He ignored the prince, whose eyes were filled with rage, and staggered back the way he came.

"It's a bit cold," he suddenly said, turning his head provocatively towards Jie Lin Yuan, "May I borrow your coat to wear? Otherwise, it's Wu Yin's body that will suffer from the cold."

Veins bulged on the back of Jie Lin Yuan's hand as he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't think I wouldn't dare to kill you."

"You're welcome to try," Yil responded, opening his arms amidst the snow, his slender frame swaying in the cold wind.

"Wu Yin's body," he said, then touched his left chest, "Wu Yin's core."

For the first time, Jie Lin Yuan saw such a nauseating smile on 'Wu Yin's' face.

Soon, Yil thought with satisfaction, he would fully merge with me.

……

"Wu Yin, I've decided. I want to leave this place, with Ji Mao and Gui Si, to a vaster, freer place to live a normal life."

— Isn't your current life normal?

"It's not normal, not at all."

— Honestly, I don't quite understand.

"Right, after all, you're just a core... Then let me put it another way, Wu Yin, do you want to become a person? To have your own body, to do things as you wish, to eat, to chat, to go wherever you want..."

— That doesn't seem very interesting, I think it's quite good as it is now.

"How can it not be interesting? Wu Yin, it's because you haven't experienced the outside world and know nothing about it that you think it's fine as it is. Once you fully 'open your eyes,' you'll understand the joy of being a truly free person."

— You're already very free.

"No, we are like lab rats trapped in a cage, tools for others, our lives in the hands of someone else, always on the brink of death."

— Did Gui Si tell you that? Ever since his core was formed, you've become more and more anxious. You used to be so happy.

"Perhaps it's because the more I know, the harder it becomes to feel happy."

……

Hearing the name Wu Hu, Gui Si also stood up with a serious expression: "Did you say Wu Hu is calling you? How is that possible, even if..."

Wu Yin closed his eyes, Wu Hu's call continuing, becoming clearer, like a prisoner trapped in darkness calling out to the faith that sustains his soul. Along with it, the sound of a heart beating rhythmically, thumping steadily.

"Even if what?" he asked with his eyes closed.

"Even if Yil has parasitized him, and we are currently in his original body," Gui Si said, "he wouldn't have any consciousness, let alone call out to you."

"...Not necessarily, he and I have a symbiotic relationship," Wu Yin said. "Yil is currently in my core, and perhaps Yil can't fully parasitize him. If Wu Hu's will is strong enough, he might even push Yil out."

"It's impossible to push him out. Yil will contaminate Wu Hu's body. Once he leaves, Wu Hu will undergo a transformation."

Wu Yin paused, "Are you sure?"

"Not sure," Gui Si said. "But do you dare to try? Does Wu Hu dare to try? And what about that lover who came to rescue you, does he dare?"

“……”

Wu Yin couldn't respond. The calls of Wu Hu grew louder and more urgent in his ears. He averted his gaze from Gui Si, lifted his head, and softly replied, "I'm here."

The intensifying heartbeat was steady and strong, and he heard Wu Hu's calls suddenly become faint and joyful.

— Wu Yin, you've returned?

……

"Yuxi's Second Campaign"

Mutants on the roof jumped down one after another, their gaze fixed on the 'Wu Yin' wrapped in a blanket in the center of the hall, who was fiddling with a delicate dagger, his neck wrapped in bandages dyed a light pink.

Xue Hongyi placed Yan Guangyu on the boat and upon his return, was greeted by this scene. He frowned, puzzled, and asked Jie Linyuan standing not far away what exactly had happened.

"The ultrasonic waves at the princess's adjusted frequency do work on him, but..." Jie Linyuan took a deep breath, "but the moment I activate the ultrasonic waves, he threatens to kill himself."

"Can't we tie him up?" Ah Cheng asked. "Catch him off guard. Are you slower than him?"

"He claims he has parasitized Wu Yin. Once he leaves, his original body will contaminate and mutate. The aberrations on this entire island are proof."

"…What if he's lying to you?"

Jie Linyuan clenched his teeth: "Are you willing to take that gamble?"

Everyone fell silent.

……

It was an exceptionally "noisy" day.

In fact, Wu Yin couldn't hear anything, but he could feel it. He felt the intensity of the heartbeat, fierce, rapid, tumultuous, as if strange sounds were entering his mind in a time that wasn't his own.

It was as if he were submerged in a warm current, constantly fluctuating, everything around him disconnected, leaving him feeling disturbed, unsettled, even suffocated.

Until a sharp howling pierced his mind, Wu Yin struggled unconsciously, trying desperately to break free, screaming in agony.

Suddenly, the perpetual darkness that enveloped him vanished, replaced by dazzling light.

The feeling of isolation disappeared, everything became exceptionally clear, as if waking from a distant dream, returning to reality.

Wu Yin opened his eyes to see an unbelievable face staring at him in astonishment; he looked back unconsciously, like a newborn, bewildered, ignorant.

"…Wu Yin?" the youth with black hair and green eyes quietly asked him.

Wu Yin had no reaction, just stood there blankly, taking a while before moving his eyes to the baton in his hand, not knowing what it was, lifting it curiously to observe.

The youth's breathing became more rapid. He got up from the ground, his clothes covered in dirt and grime, suddenly grabbed his hand, and hurriedly ran towards the shore. Behind them, the heat of the fire made the sea breeze scorching, explosions continuously booming from behind; Wu Yin turned back, not even understanding what the towering orange flames signified.

Many people like them were running, all looking exactly the same, being captured and killed in succession.

The sharp ultrasonic howls followed them, echoing around the entire island, causing Wu Yin unbearable pain.

Wu Hu had no reaction but seemed to realize something as he watched his companions fall one by one.

He boarded the boat agreed upon with his companions, but Gui Si wasn't there, Ji Mao wasn't there, no one was there, just him alone.

The pursuers caught up, he turned back to see Yi Er behind the crowd, as always cloaked in black robes, with Wu Chen timidly pushing the wheelchair behind him.

Wu Hu pushed the mercenary hosting Wu Yin into the sea, then dove into the water himself.

Two hours later, the unconscious "mercenary" was sent away from the island by his companions; meanwhile, Wu Hu was confined in a dark laboratory, where he heard Gui Si's breaths of frustration, cursing Wu Chen as a traitor, cursing Yi Er for possessing the ultrasonic waves that restrain parasites, lamenting his simple wish to become normal and questioning why it had to be so difficult.

Wu Hu suddenly chuckled, his voice timid but filled with genuine joy: "Wu Yin is gone, he's free now."

Gui Si fell silent, taking a while before consolingly saying: "We might still have a chance, don't give up."

"There's no more chance." Wu Hu closed his eyes, "Yi Er will parasitize you and me by dawn tomorrow, but... I sent Wu Yin away."

"Who?" Gui Si puzzled, "Wu Yin?"

Wu Hu covered his chest, his lips curling in an uncontrollable smile: "Let me tell you a ghost story."

……

"Yes, I'm back," Wu Yin said gravely, "Disappointing you, I fell into Yi Er's trap and returned disgraced."

Gui Si silently observed the man before him.

His knowledge of Wu Yin was limited to that night, narrated tirelessly by Wu Hu, detailing his capture by the mercenaries, how the baton never fell, and how upon first sight, he knew the soul within the shell had to be Wu Yin.

Gui Si couldn't empathize with Wu Hu, filled with unwillingness, anger, and jealousy at why Wu Hu's discarded "core" was so fortunate, having everything align perfectly on the day they acted, with all "cores" being reclaimed, allowing this unknown "core" to smoothly leave in a mercenary's shell.

He resented why the only "core" that could leave wasn't him.

After being parasitized by Yi Er, in the vast whiteness, he repeatedly reminisced, anguished, angry, jealous, until his hopes shattered, his edges smoothed, until he saw with his own eyes the lucky one mentioned by Wu Hu appear before him—

Gui Si finally let go completely, relieved that at least one "core" became free, growing into what it is now.

——Wu Yin, you're so weak

"Yes, I'm too weak."

——Wu Yin, is being human interesting?

"Interesting, very interesting."

—I knew it, I wasn't wrong, was I?

“……”

Wu Yin turned his head, saw Gui Si standing up, sensed something, and also lifted his head as if listening to the voice of Wu Hu.

……

Xue Hongyi suddenly patted Jie Linyuan's shoulder, his gaze firmly fixed on the center of the room. Lu Ti also sat up alertly, His Highness stood up, everyone put aside what they were doing, and all eyes converged on the person wrapped in a blanket.

Yi'er no longer had the look of ease on his face; he was desperately pulling his hair, emitting intermittent, painful sounds from his throat, as if he was struggling against something.

Jie Linyuan cautiously approached, just to see Yi'er suddenly raise his head, with terror and fury in the pupil of his left eye, and on the other side, a look he had never seen before—gentle, calm, and kind, as if it existed only in the description of Gui You's brother.

"Damn, how is this possible, uh..."

The curse squeezed from his throat disappeared, replaced by a voice tinged with laughter, "Is that a dog?"

Jie Linyuan paused, then turned to look at His Highness behind him, the golden retriever hesitated and gave him a glance, the border collie's eyes full of contemplation, not rashly approaching.

"Come here." Wu Hu raised his right hand, smiling and beckoning.

His Highness and Jie Linyuan exchanged glances, carefully stepped forward, a cold, slender palm touched the golden retriever's cheek, then slid down the damp fur to his head, pinching its broad ears.

"So this is what dogs look like," he sighed contentedly, "how cute."

The border collie also brought its head over, resting in Wu Hu's palm, looking up at him with eyes wide. Wu Hu's smile deepened, his eyes curving.

Jie Linyuan silently watched him, the others also gathered around, watching Wu Hu happily petting His Highness's fur.

After a while, he reluctantly let go of His Highness, looked up at the people around him, "Are you all... friends of Wu Yin?"

"Sort of," Xue Hongyi said, and Ah Cheng immediately added from behind: "Good friends!"

Xie Linyuan remained silent, declaring only when Wuhu's gaze fell upon him: "Boyfriend."

Wuhu took a moment to process these three words, then asked in surprise, "He's in a relationship?"

"..." Xie Linyuan inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt.

The mutated green ivy also began to sway its branches and leaves above the prince's head, rustling softly. Wuhu looked up at it, then lowered his gaze to the dagger lying next to his hand.

The next second, he grasped the knife in a reverse grip and plunged the blade directly into his chest, slicing open the flesh.

Under the shocked gazes of everyone, Wuhu, with his hands full of fresh blood, reached into his chest cavity and forcefully extracted a still-beating flesh orb.

Xie Linyuan quickly took the container held by the roots of the ivy. Wuhu threw the core into it, mixing with countless fresh blood, staining the entire bottle of saline solution red.

Lu Tie and Bai Jie rushed forward in horror, pressing down hard on his torn chest. The blood soaked the entire blanket. Xie Linyuan quickly sealed the bottle and left the room to turn on the ultrasound, while behind him, Lu Tie roared in anger, "You're insane! We could have found a chance to surgically remove it!"

Wuhu's eyes were cloudy, and black veins bulged on his face. Already weak, his voice was now barely a whisper, "By then, it would be too late..."

……

As Wuhu's voice faded, Wuyin suddenly felt a strong tremor, and the sound of his heartbeat grew louder again.

He turned around to see a large number of black shadows infiltrating the white boundary. Under Wuyin's feet, lightning-shaped black cracks spread outward, extending into the shadows.

Wuyin didn't know what Wuhu had done, but he sensed an opportunity. Darkness was a realm he was intimately familiar with.

"Guisi!" Wuyin turned back only to see Guisi standing disinterestedly in the white light, quietly watching him.

"What are you waiting for?" Wuyin asked. "Come over."

"That's not where I belong," Guisi said lightly.

"Try again," Wuyin urged, "There might still be a chance. Don't give up."

Guisi laughed again, "Don't worry about me, Wuyin... The life I longed for, the freedom I yearned for, I've heard it all, thank you for fulfilling my wishes."

"Don't you want to—"

Suddenly, Wuyin's words were interrupted by a figure, a man with his entire body covered in burns appeared between light and shadow, his skin rough and uneven, lacking eyebrows, lips, and a nose, with only overly protruding eyes and holes for breathing.

Yi'er was shocked to see himself back in this grotesque shell, seeing Guisi looking at him with scornful mockery: "It seems, no matter how many times you change your appearance, your heart remains as vile as ever."

"No, impossible!" Yi'er roared, suddenly lunging towards Wuyin in the darkness, intending to trap him there forever.

But before he could touch the hem of Wuyin's clothes, Guisi restrained him from behind, "Don't even think about it."

Wuyin observed everything around him, watching the white light area narrow and the black cracks become denser, he reached out his hand: "Guisi, don't you want to see for yourself what I was talking about? Don't you want to know what the outside world is really like?"

"It's merely what you like," Guisi said, tightening his grip on Yi'er's neck, finally cracking a smile, "I know it all now."

……

Inside the ultrasonic container, the core that had been tumbling and struggling suddenly calmed down, with the green light indicating operation still flashing, the small flesh orb settled at the bottom as if it had fallen asleep, releasing a stream of fine bubbles that rose to the top of the blood and disappeared.

Xie Linyuan didn't know what this meant, and after a while, gently tapped on the bottle, tentatively asking, "Wuyin?"

The flesh orb lay quietly, without any movement.

After a long time, Lu Tie, covered in blood, came to sit beside him. Xie Linyuan turned to look at him, only to see him shaking his head slightly, then silently gazing at the snow outside the eaves.

Wuhu saw the gift Wuyin had prepared for him, just as lovely as he imagined, and left contentedly.

Soon after, Wu Zhe also came over and sat down beside Jie Linyuan, his round black eyes unblinkingly fixed on the container in Jie Linyuan's hands.

"Is this him?" Jie Linyuan asked, as he tilted his head, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders, as if draped in falling snow.

"It should be," Wu Zhe observed for a moment. "Gengwu said it didn't react to ultrasonics, so it's not Yi'er."

"When will he wake up?" Jie Linyuan asked again. "Is he just exhausted and resting now?"

"Gengwu doesn't know," Wu Zhe said apologetically, looking at him. "Let's wait."

"…Okay." Jie Linyuan put away the glass jar. "Then we'll wait."

Perhaps when the snow stops, he'll wake up.

……

A week later, the mutants making their second landing on the island plowed the land for three days and discovered nine bionic bodies of Wuyin underground behind the external research center, all well-preserved in the operation cabin.

The princess borrowed one for experimental research, and after that, Guiyou expressed a wish to borrow one too. The remaining eight were left for Wuyin, but Jie Linyuan firmly refused.

Guiyou had no choice but to reluctantly return to the body of an immune infant, bothering Gengwu every day to ask if this body had any potential to grow.

Gengwu was currently busy with research on the vaccine for the disaster pollution, spending all his energy just to keep Wu Zhe seated still at the desk for three hours, leaving no room to entertain him.

As for Wuyin, he slept for more than half a month.

Jie Linyuan was like taking care of a water baby, changing the saline solution for the meatball daily, and occasionally having nightmares. In his dreams, Yi'er woke up from the meatball, and sometimes he dreamed it was Wuhu waking up, which was even more conflicting and painful.

These days, Xue Hongyi also started to indirectly inquire about borrowing Wuyin's bionic body from Jie Linyuan, asserting that he had contributed so much during the attack on the island. "You have eight bionic bodies, and using one a week, you'll never run out. What's the harm in sparing one for me?"

Jie Lin Yuan's response was to draw a revolver.

However, upon returning to his temporary residence and seeing eight fresh, intact bionic bodies in the vault, he too was caught in a dilemma about which one Wu Yin should parasitize once he awoke.

Should he take advantage of Wu Yin's unconscious state to modify one or two of them, adding some joyful gadgets, to surprise him upon waking?

In this cycle of anticipation and disappointment, time quietly moved on. Jie Lin Yuan simply moved a nutrition pod next to his bed, placing the transparent container on the bedside, even going as far as covering the pod with a blanket during the cold spell and tying a scarf around the glass container.

Even His Highness thought Jie Lin Yuan had gone mad.

On an ordinary morning, Jie Lin Yuan received a call from Z429, reporting that one of Wu Yin's bionic bodies was missing, specifically the one with a Z-shaped scar on its wrist.

Jie Lin Yuan knew without a doubt that it was Xue Hong Yi's doing, skillfully pushing aside the plush head of His Highness that was lying on him, only to find his right arm was also pinned down.

He opened his eyes impatiently, seeing a black head dampened with a bit of moisture.

The empty glass bottle sat on the windowsill, refracting a spectrum of colors under the sunlight's glow.

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