Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Lin Juan recoiled as if burned, flinging the tail away.

As luck would have it, it landed squarely on Lu Yanzhou.

Lu Yanzhou picked up the tail, gave it a playful squeeze, and asked deliberately, "What's this for, Juanjuan?"

Lin Juan's face flushed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier what was in the bedside drawer?"

"I wanted to remind you, but you were too quick," Lu Yanzhou said, walking over to Lin Juan and pinching the fluffy ears on his head. "The ears suit you."

Now that he knew the purpose of the items in the bedside drawer, Lin Juan couldn't bear to wear the ears any longer. He yanked them off and placed them on Lu Yanzhou's head. "I think they suit you better."

Lu Yanzhou didn’t dodge or resist, letting Lin Juan put the cat ears on him. Once they were in place, he shook his head slightly and leaned in close to Lin Juan's face. "How do I look?"

Lin Juan studied the man before him.

Lu Yanzhou typically wore suits, and today was no exception—a crisp, custom-tailored suit that accentuated his well-built frame. His demeanor was sharp and commanding, exuding the aura of a powerful, decisive figure. Yet now, this authoritative man wore a fluffy cat ear headband that completely clashed with his usual presence.

Surprisingly, the soft cat ears softened his imposing aura, yet instead of making him seem gentle, they made him even more captivating.

As if spellbound, Lin Juan slowly leaned closer.

An offered treat was not to be missed. Seeing the flicker of fascination in Lin Juan’s eyes, Lu Yanzhou lifted Lin Juan’s chin and kissed him gently on the lips.

When kissing, Lu Yanzhou had a habit of starting at the corners of Lin Juan’s mouth before moving to the center, savoring and swallowing softly.

The kiss didn’t last long—just a brief taste—before Lu Yanzhou pulled away.

Lin Juan instinctively leaned forward, following him.

A low chuckle sounded beside his ear. "If Juanjuan likes these, I’ll wear them for you when we get back."

Snapping back to reality, Lin Juan showed no shyness. Instead, he made a bold request: "I want to see you wear dog ears."

"Sure."

"And bunny ears."

"Alright."

Lin Juan’s gaze shifted to the fluffy tail still resting on Lu Yanzhou’s arm. Lu Yanzhou pinched his chin, turning his head back. "This, however, Juanjuan, you could wear."

Lin Juan politely declined. "No, thanks."

"Um..." A timid voice came from the doorway. "Mr. Lin, we’re here."

Lu Yanzhou stood between Lin Juan and the door, blocking the view. Lin Juan tiptoed to look past him. "Oh, you’re here already?"

Ping Yunhan and the other two stood at the door.

Ping Yunhan looked slightly embarrassed. Though he hadn’t seen the kiss—blocked by Lu Yanzhou’s body—he had overheard their conversation and noticed the open bedside drawer along with the toys inside.

Was this really something they should be witnessing?

Ping Yunhan’s eyes widened in shock, and he quickly averted his gaze.

"When we went to find Mr. Lu, we heard from the staff that the performance had ended, so we didn’t go there. Instead, we came here to look for you and heard some noise," Ping Yunhan explained.

"There’s a contaminated entity here. From what she said, she seems to be the victim from last year’s disappearance case. You can check her out over there," Lin Juan said, pointing toward the corner.

Ping Yunhan turned and indeed saw an unconscious monster lying against the wall.

The three of them approached the monster, and upon seeing its face, Ping Yunhan’s expression turned complicated. "This face... it matches the victim’s."

Lin Juan moved over. "I heard some things from her about the past, and it’s a bit different from what you told me."

Lin Juan recounted the past the Black Goat Girl had briefly recalled during her moment of clarity.

"In her memories, there was no mention of family," Lin Juan realized, after Ping Yunhan’s reminder.

Ping Yunhan stroked his chin, deep in thought. "Then, after she started working at Huadu Club, aside from her four-hour daily shifts, where was she the rest of the time?"

"Did you find out who started the fire?" Lin Juan asked.

"Our conclusion at the time was that it was an accidental fire," Ping Yunhan paused, "but now it seems it wasn’t an accident. The reason the police couldn’t figure it out back then was likely because it wasn’t a conventional case—it was related to the supernatural."

Lin Juan nodded.

They fell silent, but the two young superpower holders couldn’t hold back their anger.

"Regardless of anything else, the people at Huadu Club are downright depraved! What they did is worse than animals!"

"Yeah, a young girl in her prime was ruined by them."

"What happened to those people? Are they still alive and well?"

"If you ask me, dying in the fire was too easy for them. They should suffer the same pain before they die!"

After they vented, Ping Yunhan interrupted them. "There’s a list of casualties, but I’m not sure if all of them were involved in harming the victim."

A fire that big couldn’t have happened without casualties. Among those who perished were both Huadu Club staff and customers.

"There were indeed a few managers on the list," Ping Yunhan recalled, thinking back to the casualty list he had seen. "But the victim wasn’t among them."

The disappearance case still had many unanswered questions. If they could confirm that the victim died in the fire, the case could be closed for good.

Lin Juan sat on the sofa. "It’s inconvenient for us to do anything like this. We need to find a way to return to our original forms before taking action."

The two young superpower holders agreed wholeheartedly.

But how could they return to normal?

Staying in the room certainly wasn’t an option.

Lin Juan had controlled his strength when knocking out the Black Goat Girl contaminant. By his estimate, she should be waking up soon.

Ping Yunhan and the other two hadn’t rested since entering the hot pot restaurant. Lin Juan suggested they take a break and wait for the Black Goat Girl contaminant to wake up.

After settling them, Lin Juan turned to Lu Yanzhou. "Do you want to rest?"

Lu Yanzhou shook his head. "I’ll wait with you."

"Aren’t you tired?" Lu Yanzhou kept a very regular schedule. Lin Juan sometimes wondered how he managed to stick to his routine as strictly as a robot.

For instance, he had a strict routine for when to wake up, when to exercise, and the latest time to work each day.

However, he only planned his own time and never held Lin Juan to the same schedule, cutting him a lot of slack.

"It's not too bad," Lu Yanzhou replied. When he first took over the Lu Corporation, he often worked late into the night, sometimes pulling all-nighters for a whole week. After he’d firmly taken control of the company, such situations became rare unless there was a major project.

The sofa was given to the three superpower holders, so Lin Juan and Lu Yanzhou sat on the bed. After waiting for about half an hour, Lin Juan heard a noise.

The Black Goat Girl Pollutant slowly woke up.

Its eyes were clear, indicating it was in a state where communication was possible.

Lin Juan asked, "You’ve been wandering around here for a while. Do you know if there’s anything unusual about this place?"

Remembering how it had been knocked unconscious, the Black Goat Girl Pollutant didn’t dare try anything. After thinking carefully, it said, "I’m only lucid for a limited time each day. I don’t know what I do during the other times. The only thing I know is that every time I wake up, I’m in a very strange room."

"What’s so strange about it?"

"It’s very dark there, with no lights or windows. There’s only a door that only works one way—I can go out from inside, but once I’m out, I can’t get back in. No matter how hard I push, the door won’t open."

"Moreover, when I’m conscious, I can sense a really powerful presence behind that door, something I can’t handle. To avoid danger, I don’t dare get close to it while conscious."

As for how it returned to that room or what it did when it lost its rationality, it had no idea.

"Take us there," Lin Juan said. Regardless, the strange room was their only lead, so he decided to check it out first.

Ping Yunhan and the other two didn’t object.

Their small size limited their mobility. Seeing how difficult it was for them to keep up, Lin Juan thought for a moment and asked, "What do you say to hitchhiking?"

Ping Yunhan and the other two: ?

"Is there hitchhiking here?" one of the young superpower holders asked.

No matter how you looked at it, this place didn’t seem like it had any vehicles.

"Right there," Lin Juan jerked his chin.

The young superpower holders turned and stared at the pollutant tied with a rope, stunned. "You mean... that’s our ride?"

"You’re small and light. This pollutant is big enough—it should have no trouble carrying you."

Even after sitting on the black goat’s back, the three still looked dazed.

They never thought they’d ever hitch a ride on a pollutant in their lives.

With a means of transportation for the three shrunken people, the group moved much faster.

The Black Goat Girl Pollutant was very familiar with the route. With it leading the way, they didn’t encounter anyone along the path.

When they reached the staircase, Lin Juan coiled his cumbersome tail. "Having such a big tail is worse than being small. At least when I’m small, it doesn’t get in my way."

Lu Yanzhou walked beside Lin Juan. The tip of Lin Juan’s tail occasionally brushed up against him, though Lin Juan himself didn’t notice.

"Should I carry you instead?" Lu Yanzhou offered.

"Who goes into a fight being carried?" Lin Juan was tempted but said no.

Fortunately, the path wasn’t too long. After about ten more minutes of walking, the Black Goat Girl Pollutant stopped.

They were in a long corridor with walls on both sides. Lin Juan scanned the area but couldn’t find a door.

Ping Yunhan and the other two jumped off the black goat’s back.

"There’s no door here," Lin Juan said, feeling along the walls.

The Black Goat Girl Pollutant stood still, its eyes went blank.

Its condition had been off ever since they approached this area. Lin Juan noticed but didn’t say anything.

He needed a breakthrough to change their current situation and didn’t care if the Black Goat Girl Pollutant had any hidden agenda.

"Holy shit!"

A sudden exclamation echoed as the floor beneath them gave way, and they all fell unprepared.

"The door was under our feet?!"

The young superpower holders quickly used their powers to stabilize themselves.

Looking up, they saw the "door" above them had already closed.

Only they had fallen; the half-human, half-black-goat pollutant was gone.

Lin Juan summoned the "Forest Cabin," which transformed into a rope. Its forked roots stretched out in all directions, catching everyone in freefall and placing them safely on the ground.

Once steady, Lin Juan scanned their surroundings.

It was a huge, empty chamber.

The ceiling was very high. Lin Juan roughly estimated they had fallen from the fifth floor, and the roof was about seven stories above the ground. They had likely fallen straight into some kind of basement.

"Dammit, we’ve been tricked!" Ping Yunhan’s face fell. The black goat had always been a symbol of evil, and he’d dropped his guard because the pollutant had the face of a victim.

The pollution concentration here was very high.

Higher than anywhere else outside.

Lin Juan first checked Lu Yanzhou’s condition.

Lu Yanzhou had been caught by the "Forest Cabin" during the fall and landed safely, so he shouldn’t have been injured. However, Lin Juan noticed he looked really pale and was still worried.

"Lu Yanzhou, are you okay?"

Lu Yanzhou felt a tightness in his chest, a suffocating feeling, as if a seed struggling to sprout was trapped in hard soil, desperately trying to break through to reach sunlight and water.

"I’m fine," Lu Yanzhou said, pressing a hand against his chest. "I just feel a bit stifled."

"Is it because the pollution concentration here is too high?" Lin Juan had brought Lu Yanzhou along because he was confident he could ensure his safety but had overlooked how high pollution could hit ordinary people hard.

Not to mention, Lu Yanzhou still had some lingering aftereffects from pollution.

"Let me find a way to get you out first."

"I’m fine," Lu Yanzhou grabbed Lin Juan’s arm. "I just need a moment to catch my breath."

Lu Yanzhou wasn’t just saying that; he knew his own body well. Aside from the stifling feeling, he had nothing else wrong.

"You’re as pale as that—how can you be fine?" Even when he was out cold, Lin Juan had never seen Lu Yanzhou look this bad.

His heart aching, he gently touched the man's face. The soft sensation made Lu Yanzhou instinctively nuzzle against Lin Juan's hand.

"Juanjuan, let me hold you for a while."

Lin Juan embraced him.

Lu Yanzhou buried his head in the youth's neck and took a deep breath.

"I feel much better."

The faint scent emanating from Lin Juan alleviated much of Lu Yanzhou's discomfort.

"Really?" Lin Juan was skeptical.

He wasn't some miracle drug that could heal all ailments just by being inhaled.

But when Lu Yanzhou lifted his head, damn, his complexion had indeed improved significantly.

Lin Juan said in disbelief, "Since when do I have the power to instantly cure everything?"

Lu Yanzhou chuckled softly and stroked his head. "Let’s go see what this place is all about."

Ping Yunhan and the other two had already begun exploring the deserted room.

Looking around, Lin Juan saw many large egg-like shells. Uneasy about leaving Lu Yanzhou, he held his hand as they walked. "Wow, such huge eggs—what’s inside them?"

The giant eggs emitted a soft purple glow, the only source of light in the vast room. The further they went, the more eggs there were. Through the light, one could vaguely make out something curled up inside.

*Crack.*

A faint sound reached Lin Juan's ears.

Not far away, a crack suddenly appeared on the surface of one of the giant eggs.

As Lin Juan watched, the crack grew wider. When it reached about the width of half a palm, something inside seemed as if impatient—a hand emerged from the fissure.

It was a human hand, but covered in non-human scales—snake scales.

The outstretched hand clenched into a fist and struck forcefully.

Spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across the egg's surface.

Then another punch landed.

*Crack.*

The eggshell shattered.

Lin Juan now saw the creature inside.

Its upper body was human, but from the waist down, it had a long, green snake tail. Unlike Lin Juan, this half-snake being had scales covering its arms, chest, back, face, and forehead to varying degrees.

The half-snake being opened its eyes.

Its eyes held only the whites, its all-white eyes stared fixedly, and from its slightly parted mouth, a long forked tongue flicked out, emitting a hissing sound.

The emergence of the first half-snake creature seemed to trigger a chain reaction. One after another, cracking sounds echoed as the giant snake eggs shook, and more half-snake creatures hatched from their shells.

Though their upper bodies closely resembled human forms, they bore varying degrees of serpentine features—they were more bizarre and monstrous than the half-beasts that Lin Juan had seen when he first grew his snake tail in that other place.

They crawled out of their massive shells, encircling Lin Juan and Lu Yanzhou in layers, their gazes cold and greedy.

The first half-snake monster made its move.

It sprang up from the ground, leaping swiftly toward Lin Juan.

In the instant it drew near, Lin Juan swung his tail, sending it flying and knocking back a large group of half-snake monsters behind it in the process.

Twitching his tail, Lin Juan murmured, "Still not as handy as legs."

The majority of the half-snake monsters in this vast structure had gathered around Lin Juan, leaving only a few for Ping Yunhan and his two companions to deal with.

Despite the small number, the considerable size difference made even a few of them challenging to handle.

Fortunately, the trio cooperated seamlessly, using their superpowers to jointly eliminate the half-snake creatures that had emerged from the eggshells.

They were exploring a different direction from Lin Juan. After dealing with the few half-snake monsters, the three continued forward.

Passing by the giant snake eggshells, they came upon cluster after cluster of enormous eggs.

These eggs were slightly different from the giant snake eggs they had seen earlier.

Some were harder, some softer, and others didn’t resemble eggs at all—instead, they were wrapped in reddish, flesh-like membranes, looking more like wombs than eggs.

Crowded together, each womb stood as tall as a person, with the red fleshy membranes occasionally bulging in one spot or another.

It was as if fetuses were moving inside.

Lin Juan, with Lu Yanzhou in tow, swiftly made their way out along the path they had smashed through. Moving quickly, they soon caught up with Ping Yunhan and the others and witnessed the bizarre scene.

"What is this?" a young superpower holder asked, standing beneath the massive, womb-like flesh masses and looking up.

"If I’m not mistaken, those half-human, half-beast creatures were hatched from here."

Lin Juan slithered forward a couple of steps. "I can hear faint heartbeats. Not sure when they’ll hatch."

"Help... help me..."

A faint cry for help echoed. Lin Juan paused and moved toward the source of the sound.

Behind these massive womb-like flesh masses was another mass of flesh, something struggling violently inside, faint pleas for help emanating from within.

"Is it about to hatch?" Ping Yunhan moved closer, ready to strike at any moment.

"No, the person here must have just been placed inside." Lin Juan held his palm flat and upward, and the Forest Cabin transformed into a giant scythe, landing in his hand.

Gripping the scythe, Lin Juan found the right spot and brought it down forcefully.

A sound of tearing flesh echoed, and dark red blood flowed from the cut, quickly staining the entire ground.

Inside the fleshy membrane.

Chu Cifeng felt a wave of despair.

He was just delivering takeout when he accidentally stumbled upon an illegal transaction happening here. Unfortunately, his luck was terrible—he was discovered. Without giving him a chance to say a word, those people knocked him unconscious.

Chu Cifeng thought he was done for. When he woke up, he saw a giant mouth coming right at him.

What the hell is this?!

Without a moment to think, Chu Cifeng scrambled backward, crawling and stumbling. But after just a few steps, he froze—ahead of him, another fleshy membrane with a gaping maw was moving toward him.

Though these things looked clumsy, they were actually incredibly fast. Chu Cifeng tried several directions, but every path was blocked by these monsters.

His room to escape kept shrinking until there was nowhere left to run.

Fear, despair.

As the enormous mouth closed over his head, Chu Cifeng thought about many things, and soon, everything went dark.

Just when he thought he was dead for sure, he realized he was still alive.

He was trapped inside something unknown, reaching out to touch something soft and slimy, flesh-like, warm and wet, pressing tightly against him.

His will to survive overcame everything. He struggled desperately, but every time he managed to break free a little, the constriction only grew tighter.

His strength faded, and his movements grew weaker.

His consciousness fading, Chu Cifeng felt he might not be able to hold on much longer.

In the last second before sinking completely into darkness, he heard noises from outside.

Chu Cifeng mustered all his strength and shouted for help.

Whoever it was, please save me—I don’t want to die like this, without knowing why!

He didn’t realize that what he thought was a loud cry for help was actually very faint. If Lin Juan hadn’t been close by with keen hearing, it might have gone unnoticed.

A powerful force struck, and he felt the fleshy membrane restraining him tremble. Dazzling light pierced the darkness, the crack widened, and his vision returned. He heard a young man’s gentle voice.

“Is someone in there? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Chu Cifeng spoke, realizing his voice was hoarse from shouting for so long. Instinctively, he cried out, “Save me…”

Lin Juan used his giant scythe to slice open the membrane. As it split apart, the person trapped inside was fully revealed.

Seeing daylight again, Chu Cifeng’s eyes immediately fell on the long-haired young man standing before him. Unconsciously, a look of awe flashed in his eyes. He collapsed on the spot, his legs too weak to move.

Lin Juan had the “Forest Cabin” revert to a wooden rope and dragged him out.

Chu Cifeng’s clothes were tattered and corroded, his face and body covered in unknown fluids—a complete mess. But he paid no mind to any of that, nearly kowtowing to Lin Juan in gratitude.

Lin Juan reacted quickly, using the wooden rope to stop him. “What are you doing?”

“Boss, I can never repay you for saving my life. From now on, you’re like a parent to me!”

“No, no, no—I couldn’t possibly have a son as old as you.”

Lin Juan had saved him in time, so Chu Cifeng showed no signs of turning into a half-beast. After a quick check, Lin Juan confirmed he was still fully human.

Were all these eggshells and fleshy membranes containing humans?

To test this theory, Lin Juan followed the same method and cut open the nearest fleshy mass.

As it opened, a curled-up half-human, half-beast creature appeared before everyone.

“What is this?” Chu Cifeng’s eyes widened, staring in shock at the half-human, half-beast being that clearly didn’t belong in the real world.

“He was just like you before,” Lin Juan said after checking. The person still had signs of life, but they could only wait and see if Zhuang Yufeng and the others could save him once they got out.

Chu Cifeng’s jaw dropped. “So you mean, if you hadn’t saved me in time, I would’ve ended up like that?”

That’s terrifying.

Lin Juan turned to look at the other fleshy membranes.

“Ping Yunhan, how many missing persons cases have there been in Rong City?”

The number of fleshy membranes represented the number of people who had been “transformed.” Based on the quantity here, the number of victims had to be significant.

“There were three last year—that’s just the reported ones. If some weren’t reported, they might have been missed.” Ping Yunhan also realized this, his mood growing heavy.

A hissing sound echoed. Lin Juan turned and saw a large group of half-snake monsters slithering toward them. His expression shifted slightly.

Earlier, he had only cleared a path—he hadn’t dealt with all these half-snake monsters.

“Hiss.”

“Hiss.”

The half-snake creatures surrounded them from all directions.

For some reason, these half-snake monsters only encircled them without taking action. Lin Juan looked past them, further into the distance.

He could sense something with even stronger pollution approaching from there.

“Will you come out yourself, or do I have to take care of all your lackeys first and drag you out?”

The constant hissing stopped abruptly the moment Lin Juan finished speaking.

Like Moses parting the sea, a path opened, and a half-snake monster with dense, seaweed-like long hair slithered forward from the back.

It looked at Lin Juan with a maternal expression. “Child, my chosen successor, come to me.”

Lin Juan: ???

Can’t beat me, so you want me to join you?