Chapter 56

Chapter 56

When the second brother’s gaze fell upon the book on the floor, Su Ximu knew that his brothers had indeed attended class that day, and that the teachers at this school were genuinely teaching from that very book.

This was terrifying.

From a young age, Su Ximu had possessed keen intuition and a more sensitive observational ability than his peers.

He couldn't articulate why it was terrifying, yet he couldn't shake the fear.

It was a fear more profound than his first day here, more profound than the first time he saw his brothers’ injured arms.

If a clear-minded adult, with an occasional penchant for philosophy, were to arrive here, they would likely comprehend the source of this chilling and infuriating sensation.

In this world, unseen hands first transform their fellow humans into animals, then attempt to mold them into monsters.

They shackle the body and offer no quarter to the soul.

They are the raw materials, the foundation, the consumables of this city.

They are human-shaped meat.

An existence lower than livestock.

For no one would contemplate intellectual development for livestock.

As for the "higher-grade meat," in their brief lives, they acquire fleeting thoughts and superficial wisdom through passive intellectual development.

They inhabit a Truman Show world meticulously crafted by the educational facility, believing it to be happiness, believing it to be heaven and all there is.

Then, with a resolute determination to protect it, they are utterly consumed.

Like mayflies, born at dawn and dead by dusk.

They will never witness the true world.

Unless, amidst it all, a "what if" emerges.

To prevent his brothers from being led astray by detrimental books and individuals, Su Ximu resolved to reinforce their impression of "book beating."

They would beat it again today!

Not just today, but tomorrow and the day after.

He intended to transform this into a positive bedtime ritual, something they would consistently uphold.

Ten minutes later, the exhausted little one sat on the floor to rest. The moment he paused, his three brothers, regardless of their own fatigue, also stopped and sat down.

It was unclear whether the educational facility had anticipated the new students’ heavy-handedness, but the textbooks were exceptionally sturdy, with hard covers.

Despite being battered from yesterday until today, the few small books, apart from a light layer of dust on their covers, still appeared almost new.

243 mimicked his younger brother’s earlier action and, before the lights were extinguished, tossed the book back into the corner.

It wouldn't be too late to retrieve it tomorrow when it was time for another beating.

The educational facility enforced a centralized lights-out policy. After lights-out, the entire facility plunged into darkness, devoid of any other sounds.

Having thrown the book, 243 fumbled his way in the dark to his designated spot and lay down.

Su Ximu had already settled into his own bed, half of his small body embedded in the wall, and further obscured by his brother’s body, making him completely invisible from the outside.

242 found nothing strange or eerie about his brother’s body being half outside and half inside the wall. He continued to lull him to sleep as usual.

In the profound quiet, the little one lying by the wall blinked his eyes, then unconsciously brought his finger to his mouth and nibbled on it, his voice hesitant: "Brother, big brother, second brother, maybe… maybe many people in this world are like this."

"But even if everyone is like this, it’s still not right."

He grew more certain as he spoke: "Good is good, bad is bad. Brothers shouldn’t be tricked into thinking something bad is good~"

Just as Grandma’s kindness to him was good.

If someone acted contrary to Grandma’s kindness, that was bad.

Because he had witnessed and understood what true goodness entailed.

This was the most philosophical statement a child with a kindergarten-level education could conceive.

His words were met by a brief, chaotic flicker in the eldest brother’s eyes, a blend of clarity and bewilderment.

It was the brother’s continued soothing patting motion.

It was the second brother, though not fully comprehending, letting out a resounding: "Hmm!"

Next door to the four’s new home, the old man, who habitually slept by the wall, opened his eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he pressed his ear against the wall.

After a while, he sat up for the second time and began scratching at the smooth, hard wall.

Naturally, his efforts yielded nothing.

The old man lay down again and closed his eyes.

Yet, he still heard voices!

The old man opened his eyes once more.

Then, after about ten to twenty minutes, the voices within the wall finally ceased.

But then came the same breathing sounds as yesterday!

It was as if an invisible little person was hidden inside the wall. The old man couldn’t help but sit up again and start scratching at the wall.

He wouldn't sleep tonight!

Midnight

Su Ximu, already asleep, instinctively reached out a small hand to scratch his arm. He felt as if someone was constantly tickling his back, making him itch.

After scratching his arm, his back also felt somewhat itchy. The little one rolled over and began scratching his back.

On the other side, the old man stared in stunned silence at a leg that had suddenly emerged from the metal wall.

What kind of leg was it?

A short, stubby leg, clad in yellow overalls, with a very small foot and a very short leg.

The old man gazed in fascination at the little white shoe on that foot.

After staring blankly at this short little leg for over half an hour, the old man finally took his next action.

He reached out, grasped the fleshy little leg, and with a gentle tug, as if pulling up a radish, he pulled.

Sure enough! A complete little child was extracted from the wall.

The little one was still in a deep sleep, completely unaware that he had transitioned from the wall to the neighboring room. He lay there obediently, his breathing even.

The old man’s gaze lingered on the child’s long eyelashes, chubby cheeks, and upturned little nose. Finally, he remembered something. Rolling up his pants leg, he looked down at his calf.

District 13 collected specimen samples every six months.

The old man had lived sixty years since birth.

Scars layered over scars on his arms until the collectors deemed that further sampling might compromise the accuracy of the tests, and his arms were finally granted a reprieve.

First his back, then his chest, and finally his legs.

First his thighs, then his calves.

These indelible scars, covering his entire body, were District 13’s "tattoos" upon him.

Only the last one, only the last one…

The old man’s fingers traced the spot where the last sample had been taken.

There was no scar there.

Upon arriving at the educational facility, the old man, whose transformation was nearing completion, underwent numerous tests and was finally identified as possessing a hunter ability.

In this world, those who have completed their transformation and possess special abilities are called hunters.

That is, they are the ones who hunt inhabitants of the new world for this world.

The old man’s ability was identified as an emotional ability—specifically, the perception and simulation of emotions.

This ability was immensely useful for hunting the new world, but it was also a double-edged sword.

Because the ability did not discriminate between friend and foe, the old man could perceive the emotions of the bizarre creatures from the new world, and naturally, also the emotions of all others who appeared before him in this world.

Perceiving emotions was not mind-reading, but if this ability were fully developed, it would undoubtedly approach mind-reading.

So, what would happen next?

The managers who raised the "meat people" were self-aware.

Therefore, until a method to precisely control the old man’s ability was developed, the managers could only keep him at the educational facility and inject him with a broad-spectrum inhibitor, temporarily returning him to his former state of obliviousness.

But what those managers and researchers didn’t know was that at the moment of his impending transformation, the first thing the old man encountered was not his equally disoriented neighbors.

He met a child who emerged from the wall to apply ointment to him.

As he was taken away by the vehicle, he simulated a smile and returned it to the child.

***

Su Ximu woke up this time to the sound of loud pounding on the wall.

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up in confusion, not realizing at first that he had somehow ended up in someone else’s house while sleeping.

It wasn’t until he saw the old man sitting beside him.

He looked at the old man, then at the still-pounding wall. Without time to dwell on it, he offered the old man an apologetic smile, then scurried back to his own home.

As he slipped through the wall back home, he was met with a punch that nearly hit him from his older brother.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, 242 and 241 reacted, grabbing the arm mid-swing from both sides.

243 also noticed that his younger brother had finally reappeared from the wall and quickly hugged him. "Where, where did you go?"

God knows how worried an older brother could be when waking up to find his younger brother missing.

The three brothers’ thoughts were still relatively simple. Since their brother had disappeared through the wall, they hadn't considered checking next door and had focused solely on digging into the wall.

Seeing how anxious his older brother was, Su Ximu opened his mouth to explain but suddenly felt himself hoisted up.

It was a height he rarely reached.

Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the neck of the person holding him. Looking down, he met the red-rimmed eyes of his eldest brother.

It was the first time he had seen such obvious emotion in his eldest brother’s eyes—worry, and even a hint of fear.

The little one was momentarily taken aback, then reached out to pat his eldest brother’s back, explaining, "Big brother, second brother, little brother, do you remember the old man next door?"

"The old man next door still lives beside us. Maybe I slept too close to the wall last night and accidentally wound up in his house."

"Brother, don’t be afraid. The old man next door is a good person. He didn’t hit me."

Moreover, when he saw him sleeping there, he didn’t shoo him away.

Clearly, the three brothers had little recollection of the old man next door that the little one mentioned.

However, now that the briefly missing child had returned, their agitation subsided.

241 seemed to have grown fond of holding the child. Even though he was no longer agitated, he continued to hold the child, standing in the room without letting go.

Seeing this, 242 came forward, patted his eldest brother, and extended his hands.

241 glanced down but ignored him.

242 became angry again.