Chapter 94

Chapter 94

The next several days saw continuous rain in the town.

While bathing Huo Changfeng, Bai Tu sniffled, his nose itching. "I hate rainy days... the clothes never dry... It never used to be acid rain here before..."

Huo Changfeng remained silent as ever, but the changes in his body grew more pronounced each day. The most obvious was his size—he had burst out of his original clothes. Bai Tu braved the rain and searched the town all day but couldn't find anything that fit. He had no choice but to take apart several pieces of clothing and stitch them together into one.

Huo Changfeng absorbed the energy from the crystal cores very slowly. After finishing the bath, Bai Tu picked out the ones that had already turned transparent and placed them into the glass jar, placing the red paper flower atop the crystals. He made a wish that by the time the jar was full, Huo Changfeng would wake up.

The rain stopped after a few days. Bai Tu went out every day, returning with a few new crystal cores each time, and before sleeping, he'd tell Huo Changfeng about his day.

He kept talking to Huo Changfeng, saying whatever came to mind. He mentioned how foggy the town always was, complained that animals from the mountains kept coming down to wreak havoc, mentioned that the zombies outside were getting smarter and harder to catch, occasionally brought up Fan Xinglu and the others, wondering if they'd survived. Sometimes he also talked about his hair getting too long with no one to cut it, or about his various injuries with no one to tend to them. But he would often fall silent mid-sentence, just staring blankly at Huo Changfeng. Only very occasionally, after snapping out of his trance, would he whisper that he was scared.

These repetitive days went on for who knows how long. The glass jar gradually filled up, and Bai Tu went from being clumsy and awkward to becoming skilled at threading needles and sewing.

One clear, sunny day, Bai Tu drove to a slightly farther place and returned later than usual. The moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was wrong.

It was too quiet.

Different from the usual silence, it felt as if even the air had stopped flowing.

Bai Tu set his things down and turned the bedroom doorknob. The bedroom light was off. Only the light from the living room illuminated a small area near the doorway. The rest of the room was shrouded in darkness.

Bai Tu stood frozen at the boundary between light and shadow.

From the corner came a soft, slow breathing sound. Even though it was almost imperceptible, it reached Bai Tu's ears clearly.

It took him a long moment to come back to himself. He asked, "Huo Changfeng, is that you?"

As so many times before, there was no answer. However, the breathing from the corner suddenly grew heavier, accompanied by a crisp slapping sound.

Bai Tu took a step forward, reaching out to feel for the light switch on the wall. He wanted so badly to see Huo Changfeng awake that the moment his fingers found the switch, he pressed it without a second thought.

In that instant, something thick and sturdy lashed out. Bai Tu was slammed hard against the wall, instantly dizzy and disoriented. It recoiled quickly after striking him. Bai Tu fell to the floor, and at the same time, he heard the loud shatter of glass.

He coughed a few times and hurriedly looked up, finally seeing the scene inside the bedroom.

The bed was smashed, the floor was cracked, and the walls and ceiling looked as if they had been smashed by heavy objects, leaving several craters that exposed the bricks beneath. Dust and plaster were everywhere, and the window was shattered, leaving a large hole. Only the glass jar containing the transparent crystal cores and the paper flower remained intact on the bedside table.

He was alone in the room. Bai Tu got up and walked to the window. The town was shrouded in pale moonlight and grayish-white thick fog. Except for the occasional moan of the wind, all was silent and deserted.

He grabbed a flashlight and shone it outside. In the powerful beam, he saw broken tiles on the roof of a nearby house, the break pattern clearly forming footprints. The footprints were a hybrid, both animal and human—the soles resembled human feet, but the five toes were thick and long, like the sharp claws of a beast. The footprints extended all the way, leaping across various rooftops before finally disappearing into the ink-black night.

Bai Tu dug his nails into his palm and turned to leave, but he stopped when he passed by the bathroom.

The bathroom door was knocked inward, and the doorframe was shattered beyond recognition, as if crushed by a massive object. The inside was a wreck, as if a storm had swept through—nothing was intact. Not a single piece of the mirror in front of the sink remained on the wall; all lay shattered on the floor, mixed among various fragments, reflecting Bai Tu's bewildered face.

...

Walking through thick fog in the dead of night was not a pleasant experience. Bai Tu moved through the streets and alleys, carrying nothing but a flashlight.

He shone the light into every corner, entered every house to check, but found nothing. The moisture in the air grew heavier, cold threads of chill wrapping around him. Bai Tu's lips were blue with cold, his whole body shaking, but he doggedly kept searching the town.

He arrived at the main road in the center of town. The night fog blurred the buildings on both sides, and the flashlight could only illuminate within three meters. He hurried westward—the only area in the entire town he hadn't searched yet. Suddenly, a dark shadow flitted past from the side. Bai Tu stopped, quickly turned, and shone the light. In the afterglow of the beam, an unusually tall shadow flickered, disappearing within seconds.

"Huo Changfeng, is that you?"

Bai Tu turned to follow, but the shadow seemed to be toying with him, circling around him. Bai Tu spun a few times before finally stopping in frustration. He pointed the flashlight at his own feet, staring into the thick fog as he said:

"I know it's you. Please come out. I miss you so much."

"..."

"I'm sorry, I was wrong. I didn't mean to reject you; I just... I just didn't react in time. I really, really like the flower you gave me. I really, really like you. As long as you're willing to forgive me, I'll do anything."

"..."

"It's okay if you don't want to talk to me. At least let me see you, please."

Bai Tu racked his brains, saying everything he could think of, but the thick fog still drifted quietly around him. Bai Tu lowered his eyes and suddenly noticed a shadow slowly approaching on the ground. He held his breath, not daring to make a sound, until the shadow suddenly enlarged, and he looked up.

It wasn't Huo Changfeng, but a mutated jackal, lunging toward him.

Bai Tu's heart felt as if a huge hole had been punctured in it, suddenly empty. He reached for his gun, but his hand had long been numb from the cold, and he couldn't draw it immediately. The jackal was right in front of him, but just as Bai Tu was about to dodge aside, a thick, black, whip-like thing appeared out of nowhere and struck the jackal hard, sending it flying.

Bai Tu's heart gave a violent leap.

This was Huo Changfeng's tail. He recognized it.

He hurriedly took a few steps forward. "Huo Changfeng!"

Only the jackal's short whimper responded to him from within the thick fog, and then everything fell silent again.

Bai Tu followed the sound forward until his foot stepped on something soft. He lowered his head and shone the flashlight, seeing the jackal's entire head smashed to a pulp, dead beyond doubt. Next to it were messy gouges in the ground.

Bai Tu moved the flashlight beam over and saw two hastily scrawled words—

Go back.

He froze for a moment, then quickly said, "Okay, I'll go back. I'll listen. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"..."

Bai Tu's mouth twisted, his expression deeply sorrowful. Finally, he said, "Then I'm going back. See you tomorrow."

The next day was bright and sunny. Bai Tu returned to the spot where they'd parted the night before, but the jackal's corpse was gone. A drag mark scarred the ground. He followed the blood trail and, in a small alley, found the jackal's remains—its innards and flesh had been eaten clean, leaving only skin and bones.

At that moment, Bai Tu couldn't describe what he felt, but he might have guessed where Huo Changfeng was.

West of town, at the mountain's foot, was a small stream. Under the golden sunlight, the water was crystal clear, like a blue-green silk ribbon. The massive steel cage Bai Tu had once built still stood quietly beside the stream. The zombies had long since turned into dried bones, buried among the wildly overgrown weeds.

Beyond the stream lay the verdant mountains. Bai Tu hated mountains, especially those covered in trees, but now he waded across the stream and plunged into them without hesitation.

The mountain path was difficult to traverse—or rather, there was no path at all. Bai Tu stopped when he reached about one-third of the way up. He took a deep breath, pulled out a dagger, and cut a gash in his palm. Fresh blood welled up eagerly. The grass and trees rustled and swayed, and soon a pack of jackals came into view.

He glanced back—there were more behind him. But he took no action, simply standing there with his bleeding hand half-raised, staring unblinkingly ahead.

These jackals had no intention of circling him. They lowered their bodies into hunting stances and lunged at him one after another. Bai Tu remained motionless. Suddenly, a long roar sounded, and a black, whip-like appendage shot out from behind him, sweeping heavily toward all the jackals, encircling Bai Tu in a protective arc.

The jackals leaped back to the ground, glaring fiercely at Bai Tu, but the next second, they showed fear, tucking their tails between their legs and scattering into the woods.

Overjoyed, Bai Tu quickly turned around, but before he could complete the turn, his eyes were suddenly covered. He stopped in confusion. "Huo Changfeng?"

"..."

Bai Tu touched his eyes. The thing covering them was round, slender, and flexible, wrapped once around his head. He tried to pull it off, but it only tightened further.

Bai Tu parted his lips. "Huo..."

The thing covering his eyes slowly twisted, wrapping another loop and precisely sealing his lips, choking off all sound in his throat. Then something coiled around Bai Tu's waist, lifting him off the ground. Bai Tu was left dangling, his hands instinctively groping forward but finding nothing.

He groped behind him, again finding only empty air. He withdrew his hands in disappointment, but his palm suddenly brushed against something wet, warm, and soft. He froze, then tentatively reached again—this time, he made definite contact.

To be precise, it wasn't him touching something, but something licking his palm.

Bai Tu didn't dare move, afraid the thing on his palm would disappear if he did. After a few minutes, it left. Before he could react, a sudden chill spread across his back—a long tongue was licking his back, over and over, light and ticklish.

He had no idea how much time had passed before he was set down, and everything on him withdrew. He opened his eyes; in this grove, there was no other living creature besides him.

He looked at his palm—it was smooth, as if there had never been a wound. He stared blankly for a moment, then fiercely cut another gash in his hand. Before blood could even well up, his eyes were covered again.

A wet, soft tongue coiled around his palm. Bai Tu's voice trembled as he said, "Please don't go, okay?"

His wound healed once more, and when he opened his eyes again, he still saw no one.

Refusing to give up, he drew his dagger and aimed it at his palm. Suddenly, a slender thing shot out like lightning, snatching the dagger. Bai Tu turned and chased after it, managing only a glimpse of a fading shadow disappearing into the dense foliage.

He stopped, biting his lip, then drew his gun and aimed it at his palm. After a few seconds, he shifted the muzzle to his wrist. The moment he pulled the trigger, the gun was knocked away. He didn't care where the bullet ended up; instead, he reached out and tightly grabbed the thing that had knocked the gun from his hand.

It was a slender tentacle, covered in fine black fuzz, with a hard, arrowhead-shaped stinger at the tip. As soon as Bai Tu grabbed it, it tried to pull away.

"Don't go!"

The tentacle paused.

Bai Tu refused to let go, pleading, "I won't move, and you don't move either. Can we just talk like this for a while?"

The tentacle stopped. Then another identical tentacle extended from behind Bai Tu and wrote on the ground: "Go back."

"No, unless you come back with me."

"You're not listening."

"I am listening, but you have to give me a reward."

"What?"

"Can you please stop hiding from me?"

The tentacle didn't answer. Instead, it wrote: "The first thing to obey: Do not harm yourself."

After writing, it quickly vanished, and the one Bai Tu was tightly holding also retracted its stinger and slipped away.

Bai Tu walked back crestfallen. Passing by the stream, he stopped to look at his reflection. The back of his shirt was torn in several places, but the long-unhealed wounds were completely gone, without even a scar left behind.

He stared vacantly at his face in the water, then suddenly stood up, turned around, and shouted toward the mountains, "I promise you, I won't hurt myself! My first reward is for you to come back to town with me."

"We don't have to meet, but you have to come back with me. Otherwise, don't expect me to listen."

"If you agree, throw a stone out."

A moment later, a small stone was tossed out from the woods.