Chapter 88: Silent Frost Domain Continued

Chapter 88: The Dead Silent Frozen Wastes · Continued

"Warning!"

The system suddenly announced, "Pollution levels are rising!"

In truth, even without the system's reminder, Shen Ji could already smell the intense pollution aura—a scent of decay.

Like wood rotting on the ground after exposure to wind and rain, carrying a rank odor mixed with wet wood and rainwater. Yet even wood rotted to bits doesn’t emit a strong stench, only the damp, muggy smell unique to rainy days.

The Silent Desert and the Silent Frozen Domain ultimately gave off the damp, decaying odor of wood.

"Because memories are all decayed?"

Li Zhiyan clearly had smelled it too, so he asked curiously.

Shen Ji turned to look at him, "Why don't you say it's the 'golden years' instead?"

"Then it wouldn’t smell like metal," Li Zhiyan replied.

"..."

"No! You two! Seriously? The diary's right there, and you’re still talking about golden years?!"

The system complained, "Both of you deserve to fail spectacularly and get your asses kicked!"

Rain began to patter down. Li Zhiyan lifted his head, feeling the rain on his cheeks. The moment he confirmed it was really raining, the look on his face grew even more disgusted.

*He hadn’t brought a raincoat!*

Before Li Zhiyan could question whether the diary had rifled through his memories to make Puppet City rain, the synchronized tread of footsteps echoed around them.

Li Zhiyan and Shen Ji turned to see countless people surrounding them.

Each person’s eyes had turned into stalactites, their stone-like eyes gazed intently on the two, filled with resentment. A red thread was tied around each of their necks. They breathed heavily in the rain, their ragged breaths telling him they were still alive.

These were all the missing residents of X City.

"It’s all your fault!"

One of them shouted, "It's because you stopped me that my child died!"

Soon, others joined in, cursing them.

"Why did you let my child die? He did nothing wrong! Can’t you tolerate a child?!"

"I had finally been reunited with my family."

They hurled accusations and lamented, the stone of their eyes gradually turning crimson as their emotions intensified.

Countless people pointed at them, venting their anger.

"Simple memory alteration." The system analyzed, "The diary modified the memories of all contaminated patients present. In their memories, their loved ones didn’t die but were clinging to life. However, because you interfered, their loved ones didn’t receive treatment and died."

"That's why everyone’s anger is directed at you."

Wu Chi stood among the crowd, at the very back, holding a young boy by the hand.

He remained still, neither speaking nor attempting to attack anyone, bewildered.

He didn’t understand.

He knew these two—one was Li Zhiyan, an S-Class Mutant from the guard team, and the other was Shen Ji, who claimed to be an S-Class Healing-type Mutant here to assist with the mission.

Though he didn’t know why they had come to Puppet City, they are good people. In his three years with the guard team, Li Zhiyan had saved countless lives. He was the star of their team, respected by everyone.

Why were these people saying Li Zhiyan and his colleague had killed someone?

"Dad," the little boy tugged at Wu Chi’s hand, "Dad, why aren’t you going over there?"

Wu Chi looked down at the boy, "They didn't hurt my family. I can’t go over."

"They have," the boy smiled at Wu Chi. "See? They're the ones who killed me and Mom."

The next moment, the boy was severed in half in front of Wu Chi. His lower body slid to the ground while his upper half remained in Wu Chi’s grip. Wu Chi’s mind short-circuited. He stared wide-eyed at the boy in his hands and the pool of blood forming on the ground.

The blood diluted by the falling rain turned a pale, watery pink.

Wu Chi instinctively let go. The next moment, he felt a new memory forcing its way into his mind.

He saw his wife and child, cut in half by pollution, but they weren’t dead—they were suffering and begging him for help.

If only a doctor could suture them back together, they could survive. But ‘Li Zhiyan,’ his teammate, disagreed, saying they had already turned into contaminants and deserved to die. He insisted they be buried immediately and called more people to bury them alive in front of him.

But... wasn’t that wrong?

Wu Chi pondered as he recalled, pressing his hand to his temple, searching for inconsistencies amid his mental collapse.

He was also part of the guard team, but by the time Li Zhiyan appeared, he had already been transferred to X City. He had never worked with ‘Li Zhiyan.’ Moreover, all protocol for handling contaminants required the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center to take over. Contaminants couldn’t be buried on the spot.

Most importantly: a person doesn't die instantly from being cut in half, but in that state, exposed to a high pollution level area, there’s a high chance of contamination.

That statement... was right. In such a condition, only contaminants could survive.

"Tch, he’s holding up too well."

Shen Ji turned to look into the crowd, spotting Wu Chi standing still. Wu Chi’s gaze was vacant, and he showed no hostility when his eyes met Shen Ji's.

"Even now, Wu Chi can maintain basic judgment. After being polluted multiple times, he still has the talent to advance to S-Class."

"After going through this and letting go of his attachment to his wife and child, he’ll be almost there."

Meanwhile, Li Zhiyan summoned numerous butterflies. They fluttered in front of each controlled person, including Wu Chi. Everyone paused, instinctively looking at the butterflies. The next moment, as the butterflies flapped their wings, everyone’s words cut off.

"I’m not good at memory influence, but putting people to sleep and making them dream is my specialty."

Li Zhiyan turned to look at the diary, but the next moment, he found himself standing on a cliff.

Puzzled, he lowered his hand and glanced around.

It was a very familiar place. A very familiar car was parked by the cliff. The moment he saw it, Li Zhiyan remembered the feeling of driving this car home.

He looked up again. The rain continued to patter down, soaking through his jacket.

It was the Butterfly Valley from back then.

The moment Li Zhiyan disappeared, Shen Ji realized the diary had summoned so many people just to make Li Zhiyan deal with them, then seize the chance to affect him while he released pollution.

"Li Zhiyan won’t be hurt that easily by you." Shen Ji turned to look behind him. The diary’s figure condensed in the rain, the thick, rotting scent grew even stronger.

"It's just a memory."

The diary let out a cold sneer.

"From the very beginning, I never thought I could kill him." The diary rested a hand on Shen Ji's shoulder, and the hyphae instantly wrapped around its wrist, digging viciously into its flesh.

*Don’t touch my master!*

*Let go of your hand!!*

*Get away!*

The diary did not release its grip; instead, its strength only grew greater.

It began to laugh, the sound growing more and more deranged and sinister.

"I almost miss the you who simply saw me as food. Back then, you felt nothing and none of humanity’s flawed concepts. You knew you were a pollutant, you came to devour, to become a higher-level pollutant—completely different from who you are now."

"But now, you are entirely human."

The diary's entire body was covered in mushrooms, until they spread to its face, leaving only a pair of eyes carved from stone.

"So, I want to bring back that version of you."

"At any cost!"

"Shen Ji!"

At the last moment, it was the system's voice. "Dodge, now!"

But it was unavoidable; it was purely the diary’s suicide attack.

Trapped within its death memory, the diary could not escape this inescapable loop. Pollutants are creatures of obsession. Born from polluted rifts, it had no obsession—it was a natural S-Level, as if it were a game, choosing a Puppet City each year and killing everyone inside.

Until Hui arrived.

Hui killed and devoured it, allowing it to be reborn with the resentment from death, finally granting it an obsession.

It could not escape its obsession, nor could it kill the present Shen Ji.

Then... let’s die together!

Wu Chi, the only one left standing in the rain, watched the confrontation between the human and the pollutant at the center. His mind was full of doubts, his brain screaming things he couldn’t comprehend.

Just as 'Li Zhiyan' took a step back and collapsed, Wu Chi couldn’t hesitate any longer.

He dropped the 'child' lying in a pool of blood, cut in half at the waist, and ran to 'Li Zhiyan's' side.

He shielded 'Li Zhiyan' behind him, his Talent activating on instinct.

A-Level Talent "Absolute Concealment" could conceal all traces from pollutants, an extremely powerful rescue Talent. He had protected countless survivors.

It was precisely because of this—saving so many people but failing to save his own wife and child—that caused his emotional breakdown.

"Captain Li."

He said, "I don't know what's happening, but I believe in you. Since you could come here, it must be because something happened in Puppet City, and I've been affected by pollution, unable to distinguish it."

"Captain Li?"

'Li Zhiyan' had not spoken a word, so Wu Chi looked back in confusion.

He saw 'Li Zhiyan' still lying on the ground, the rain tapping lightly against his face, soon soaking his clothes, including his short black hair.

His eyes were open, unblinking, the black pupils mirroring the rain’s descent.

Just as Wu Chi tried to call his name again, he was shocked to discover that 'Li Zhiyan's' pupils had instantly turned a pale color, with a faint hint of red within that pallor, like bloodshot veins moving within his eyes.

And his short black hair was lengthening, spilling across the ground.

The entire world turned black. Looking closely, Wu Chi realized it wasn't hair but spreading black threads.

What are these?

He reached out to touch the ground, but the next moment, the black threads, as if alive, burrowed into his fingers. Wu Chi completely collapsed to the ground.

"I’m so hungry."

Wu Chi heard 'Li Zhiyan's' voice.

Shen Ji sat up from the ground. His waist and legs didn’t exert any force, his arms offered no support, yet he sat up just like that.

"Hungry," he said. "I need to eat."

"Shen Ji? No, it should be Hui."

The system sighed deeply. "This is really going back to how things were."

Shen Ji glanced to the side, his pale eyes mirroring the outlines of the buildings.

"Who's talking?"

"Shao bing? You tiao? Or dou fu nao?" [Note: These are Chinese street foods—flatbread, fried dough, and tofu pudding.]

"...You're the shao bing, you tiao, and dou fu nao!"

/

Li Zhiyan's memories were damp and rotten.

Everyone has something they cannot forget. Perhaps it's just a small thing, but it becomes the final straw that breaks them.

Li Zhiyan even felt he had died in this rain.

The one who awoke was no longer Li Wuyan but a stranger named Li Zhiyan. He was a monster brought back from death, living in this unfamiliar world with memories of the past, forever unable to find a path forward. He believed it was because he had long since severed his own way ahead.

It wasn't until he met Shen Ji that he finally discovered a new path.

He could finally move forward.

The rain pattered down on his body. Li Zhiyan gazed at the cliff, sensing someone familiar behind him.

He didn't need to turn around to know who was standing behind him.

Er Gou and San Hua stood in the grass, their bodies full of holes, their eyes covered by a milky-white filmy layer, like birds’ nictitating membranes.

But they were not birds; they would never be able to fly out of this Butterfly Valley.

Li Zhiyan finally sighed. He turned to look at the two, his eyes holding their reflections.

"Let's talk," Li Zhiyan said. "It’s been too long since I last saw you."

Er Gou opened his mouth, but he couldn't make a sound. His entire body had exploded, including his vocal cords and throat, leaving him unable to speak. All he could do was mouth wordlessly.

In the end, it was San Hua who spoke.

"Da Li," he said, "you are the butterfly."

"The butterfly is the murderer."

Li Zhiyan knew exactly what they would say, as this was his memory. All his inner self-condemnation had manifested here, and he often felt he was the one who killed Er Gou and San Hua. The diary had simply turned this into reality.

It made the Er Gou and San Hua in his memory say it themselves.

"Yes, that's right, I am."

Li Zhiyan admitted it openly. "When I assimilated with the butterfly, I became it."

This was the source of Li Zhiyan's anguish, and also his... obsession.

He always felt he carried innate guilt. Even after meeting Shen Ji and receiving care from him, as if embracing life anew, Li Zhiyan still carried a sense of culpability.

It was something hard to deal with. Emotions could only be controlled by oneself, and regulating them was extremely difficult.

Li Zhiyan was a free and romantic person, and such people were more easily troubled and crushed by similar emotions.

So Li Zhiyan made himself not recall all this.

Suddenly having the past dug up by the diary today, he felt it was a good opportunity.

He needed to process these emotions properly and confront his past.

He thought: I know I merged with the butterfly that killed you, I know this is an unchangeable fact, and I accept your accusations.

He thought again: But I will never allow the diary to accuse me in your names. You shouldn’t be used.

So, I need to deny it here.

"Da Li," Er Gou looked at him, his eyes devoid of life that couldn't hold even a glimmer.

He spoke again.

"You are the butterfly," he repeated. "The butterfly is the murderer."

"But, you are not the murderer."

Li Zhiyan was stunned. He raised his head to look at the two before him.

The white membrane over their eyes crusted like scabs faded, finally revealing their original appearance. Though still pockmarked with wounds, their eyes held tenderness and comfort.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Da Li, continue your journey."

In that instant, the flowers in Butterfly Valley bloomed, the rain stopped, dewdrops trembled on the petals, and countless butterflies flew out from their hiding places, wheeling and dancing in the crisp air. The two pockmarked figures before him instantly returned to how Li Zhiyan remembered them.

Wearing their hiking gear, they smiled and waved at him.

Er Gou laughed and shouted, "Da Li, I've got to go."

San Hua nodded. "Yeah, it's time to go."

"We’re going ahead of you to see the end of the sky!"

They waved to Li Zhiyan one last time. He watched as they turned into birds.

The birds flapped their wings and flew toward the distant sky, their wings glowing with prismatic light, as brilliant as a rainbow.

Li Zhiyan lunged forward instinctively, chasing after them.

"Er Gou! San Hua!"

After running a few steps, Li Zhiyan stopped. He watched the birds gradually disappear into the distance and breathed softly, "The end of the sky... what a wonderful place."

"...Safe travels."

In reality, Shen Ji lay on the wall, his long black hair spilling meters-long down to the ground, long enough to rival Rapunzel's.

Wu Chi sat on the ground, still staring blankly at Shen Ji. The surroundings were cobbled with dense black fungal fibers, and the unconscious people were also shrouded.

But Wu Chi could sense they were still breathing, still alive.

"Seriously? Aren’t you the Contamination now?"

The system complained, "Even like this, you still have to invade Li Zhiyan’s memory? Are you serious? Do you know you’re the villain and Li Zhiyan is the protagonist?"

"Are you two just inseparable?"

Shen Ji gazed skyward, puzzled. "Who?"

"Li Zhiyan."

"Is he delicious?"

"Very! Remember to sink your teeth in when he comes out!"

Shen Ji turned to look into the air. After a long while, he spoke again, "More flavorful than you?"

"...Do you have nothing else on your mind besides eating?"

Shen Ji didn’t even move. His pale eyes remained void of emotion as he calmly replied.

"What does it matter?"

"Food is the purest satisfaction. Sating appetite releases immense joy. As long as there’s enough food, you can eat endlessly. No need to change anything, no need to understand anything."

"So, where are you? I want to taste you."

"I’m inside your mind. Why not try consuming your own flesh? Maybe you’ll find me eventually."

After saying this, the system wailed, "You’ve infected me with abstraction, you cryptic fungus! Don’t bite yourself!"

"Spit out that mushroom!"

Shen Ji kept the mushroom clenched between his teeth, utterly unfazed, listening to the system screaming at him to spit it out.

He wouldn’t spit it out. Just wouldn’t.

So, when Li Zhiyan emerged from the memory, this was the scene he saw.

The diary had disappeared, and its taint had nearly faded. The ground was strewn with unconscious bodies—those he had rendered unconscious before leaving. Wu Chi sat quaking in a corner, taking in the scene.

But most importantly: the entire ground was covered with black hyphae, which had already spread over the entire puppet city, making the whole city look like night.

Li Zhiyan looked up at the wall ahead and saw Shen Ji sprawled against it. Seemingly sensing Li Zhiyan's broken promise, Shen Ji tilted his head back, letting it hang down the wall, a small white jade mushroom dangling from his mouth.

The little mushroom whimpered but dared not escape.

"Shen Ji?" Li Zhiyan walked over.

He met eyes with the upside-down Shen Ji. Because of the inverted position, Shen Ji's posture was awkward, as if dangling by a thread—if it snapped, he would fall.

Li Zhiyan reached out and touched his hair.

The texture of the hair was strange—not like human hair, neither slippery nor soft, but more like something alive.

"Who are you?" Shen Ji asked him.

Li Zhiyan paused, "You're asking who I am?"

"Who are you?" Shen Ji repeated, "Why do you smell like me?"

Li Zhiyan instinctively sniffed his own arm but didn't detect any so-called "Shen Ji's scent." Perhaps it was because they had been together for so long that their scents had merged and become indistinguishable.

At this thought, Li Zhiyan nodded with great satisfaction.

He liked this idea.

Li Zhiyan chuckled softly, realizing that Shen Ji was not in his right mind but showed no intention of attacking.

"I am a butterfly."

With a wave of his hand, several little blue butterflies appeared in the air. They were as beautiful as ever, their glowing wings floating midair. Li Zhiyan extended his hand, and one butterfly landed on his fingertip. He then reached out to offer it to Shen Ji.

Curious, Shen Ji, still hanging upside down, reached out and took the butterfly. After staring at it puzzledly for a few seconds, Li Zhiyan watched as he shoved it into his mouth.

Li Zhiyan: ...

The butterflies were pure concentrated pollution. Once placed in the mouth, they dissolved into pollution energy and were swallowed.

Perhaps finding it delicious, Shen Ji licked the corner of his mouth, his thin lips and red tongue swiping across the corner.

Li Zhiyan swallowed hard, remembering the feeling when he had kissed Shen Ji before.

The warmth of his mouth and the softness of his lips, carrying a faint earthy, plant-like fragrance. Though mushrooms aren't plants, Shen Ji's scent was refreshing—the closer you got, the clearer that subtle aroma became.

Every time, Li Zhiyan wanted to bury himself in his embrace and just inhale his scent.

That sounded pretty creepy.

"Shen Ji," Li Zhiyan gently tugged his hair, "Where's the diary? What's the current situation in the puppet city we're in?"

"Who is Shen Ji?"

"Shen Ji is you," Li Zhiyan repeated patiently, as if coaxing a child, "Don't you remember your own name?"

Shen Ji sat up on the wall, looking down at Li Zhiyan from above. The hyphae on his body scoured the air, snatching up every last little butterfly.

His pale-colored eyes carried a heavy coldness as he stared back at Li Zhiyan.

"Pollutants have designations. All S-class pollutants do, but I don't."

"It's strange. Why do humans refuse to give me a name?"

Li Zhiyan said helplessly, "Maybe you've never been detected by humans? How can a pollutant that hasn't been detected be given a name?"

"Is that so?"

"That's how it is."

He really was like a child, completely different from the sharp, clever reporter Shen Ji that Li Zhiyan remembered.

What had the diary done to him? How had his intelligence dropped this low?

...Well, this little dummy's still cute.

"I gave myself a name: Hui (Filth)," Shen Ji said, "Butterfly, isn't it better than your name?"

Li Zhiyan nodded, "Hui (Wisdom)? That's actually pretty good."

"You seem really smart."

Shen Ji: ...

Though he didn't know why, he felt that Li Zhiyan was mocking him.