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T/N: Please this is so SAD
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In Cold Frost Street
Worn and weary, two disheveled figures stood before their own doorway, etched with uncertainty on their faces.
This house used to belong to them, but now it has been occupied by someone who has come back from the dead... or rather, something. The burial mound was contaminated by the Grey Realm last night. Consequently, the creature inside the house, disguised as Chen Ling, was most likely a Calamity.
"Now what do we do..." Li Xiuchun swallowed hard.
"What else can we do?" Chen Tan took a deep breath. "We go in, quickly gather all our belongings, and then run! Run to Zone Five or Zone Six, anywhere farther away from here!"
"But it's still inside, what if we wake it up?"
"It's already gone."
Chen Tan looked at the mud footprints at the door, speaking with certainty.
Hearing this, the woman finally breathed a sigh of relief. She unlocked the door with her key, and the two rushed inside.
"Take only coins and valuables! Leave anything too heavy behind!"
"I'll head to the bedroom, you take care of the living room!"
"Hurry up! We don't know when it might return!"
The duo swiftly grabbed two hemp sacks and began packing.
The man quickly opened drawers, pocketing all the money he found. Just as he was about to leave, his eyes caught the self-defense axe by the bedside. After a moment of hesitation, he also stuffed it into the sack.
Their family was not wealthy, and valuable items were scarce, but precisely because of this, they couldn't bear to give up what little they had earned with their own hands.
Li Xiuchun, ensuring nothing was left behind, also tucked three cotton and linen clothes into her pocket before hurrying to the living room.
With hemp sacks on their shoulders, ready to depart, Li Xiuchun suddenly spoke up, "We're leaving, what about A-Yan's return?"
"Then we'll head to Zone Two first! Once we rescue him, we'll make our escape together!" Chen Tan replied decisively.
"He'll surely be looking for his brother..."
"His brother is already dead."
Chen Tan was in the middle of a sentence, poised to open the door, when the abrupt sound of keys sliding into the lock reverberated through the room.
They both stood still, motionless, as the door slowly creaked open, unveiling a young boy shouldering sacks.
Chen Ling, seeing the two with sacks, asked in confusion, "Dad, Mom, where are you going?"
Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun turned pale, as if seeing a ghost. Meanwhile, outside, a horse raced by, and the enforcers' shouts echoed in the streets: "Possible high-risk disaster detected! All three Zones are on lockdown! No one is allowed in or out!!"
"Watch out for any suspicious signs around you—roads or buildings appearing out of nowhere, strange mysterious creatures, or even humans behaving abnormally!"
"If you notice anything unusual, report it to the enforcers immediately..." The enforcers' voices gradually faded away, leaving an eerie silence in the narrow house.
"We..." Trembling at the sounds outside, both looked at the boy in front of them, seeing him as if he were a demon from hell! Chen Ling's gaze fell on the two large sacks and remembered what the enforcers had shouted, reassuringly saying, "Don't worry too much, that calamity doesn't seem to be nearby, the streets are still fine, aren't they?"
Chen Tan: ...
Li Xiuchun: ...
Chen Ling felt helpless. Initially not thinking much about the news of the "world-ending" calamity invasion, he suddenly felt uneasy as the audience's anticipation skyrocketed.
Zhao Yi had been beaten all afternoon and only raised his expectation score by a dozen or so points, but with just one shout from the enforcers, it soared to over sixty!
According to Chen Ling's current understanding, this indicated they had found something very stimulating. Unfortunately, that something... might just be him.
Dr. Lin had mentioned the convergence of the Grey Zone and Calamity before, and coincidentally, he had crossed over last night, with the memories of the original host disappearing... With all these clues combined, who else could this calamity be targeting if not him?
Chen Ling speculated that what the enforcers were looking for was likely the audience in his head. He had also considered whether to surrender directly to the enforcers and let them figure out how to deal with the audience in his head, but judging from their attitude towards the Calamity, there was a greater chance they'd just kill him along with it.
In any case, he decided to try and weather this storm first, observing the situation before making a final decision.
Seeing the two still tense and nervous, Chen Ling sighed and reached out to help Li Xiuchun with the sacks. "Mom, where could you possibly go at a time like this?"
"Zone two and three are both sealed off, we can't get out at all. Are we supposed to sleep on the streets?"
Hearing the first sentence, Li Xiuchun was stunned, and only after hearing the rest did she manage to come to her senses, forcing a smile and saying, "Right... you're right."
"Dad, you should relax too. What about A-Yan if we escape?"
Chen Tan swallowed, his eyes fixed on Chen Ling, trying to find any trace of strangeness or murderous intent... but he failed.
Every move Chen Ling made was nothing like a "calamity," and there was no difference between him and the Chen Ling from his memories.
But Chen Tan knew very well... he wasn't Chen Ling. Chen Ling was already dead.
"Why don't you two sit down first? I'll go to the kitchen and pour you some water." Chen Ling saw that both of them still looked pale and pulled out chairs by the table before walking into the kitchen.
Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan glanced at each other and finally sat down obediently. As Chen Ling poured water for them in the kitchen, he thought about how to ease the tension and casually said, "By the way, Mom, the sausage you left for me this morning was delicious, how did you make it?"
"Sau...sausage?" Li Xiuchun looked puzzled. Last night, she and Chen Tan had gone to the unmarked graves, where would she have left sausages?
"The one on the cutting board." Chen Ling answered.
Li Xiuchun's confusion deepened, she tried to recall, and finally seemed to remember something, her face turning ashen!
"When did you leave sausage for him?" Chen Tan lowered his voice and asked.
"I... I didn't." Li Xiuchun answered in a trembling voice, "There was... supposed to be a boning knife on that cutting board... but when I was tidying up just now, I found... the knife was gone."
Chen Tan's face changed drastically too!
Meanwhile, Chen Ling continued in the kitchen, facing away from the two, "The sausage tasted delicious, but it seemed a bit tough... Mom, remember to cook it softer tomorrow."
Silence enveloped the living room. Chen Ling poured water and handed it to the two, only to find their faces even paler... "Are you both alright? Are you feeling unwell?" Chen Ling sat across from them, puzzled.
"...We're fine." Chen Tan took a deep breath, quietly pulling the sack on the floor closer with his foot, his voice slightly calmer, "A-Ling."
"Hmm?"
"Do you remember what happened yesterday...?"
"Yesterday?" Chen Ling tried to remember for a moment, then shook his head, "Can't recall... what's wrong?"
"...Nothing." Chen Tan took a sip of water, as if he had made up his mind, staring directly into Chen Ling's eyes, "How do you think... we've treated you?"
"Very well." Chen Ling replied matter-of-factly, "If it weren't for you taking me in years ago, I'd probably have frozen to death by the roadside... my biological parents didn't want me, but you raised me, worked hard day and night to put me through school, everything I have is because of you."
Everything I have is because of you.
Hearing these words, a hint of relief flickered in Chen Tan's eyes... "So, if one day, A-Yan falls ill... and only your heart can save him... would you save him?"
Chen Ling froze.
In that moment, he felt a sense of familiarity with those words. Fragmented memories surged from the original host's mind, and Chen Ling's head began to ache again...
Suddenly, he remembered that the original host had also heard similar words last night.
"I... I..." Chen Ling held his head, his expression filled with pain.
"A-Yan is our flesh and blood. Your mother took medicine to conceive him, damaging her health... We struggled for ten years before finally having this only child..."
"A child truly of our own!"
"Now he's sick, and we can't just watch him die... The divine witch in Zone Two said that as long as we can obtain a young heart under twenty, it can replace A-Yan's failing heart."
"A-Yan has called you his brother for so many years, you've been our son for so many years, we've never asked anything of you, but this time... we're begging you to save A-Yan."
"Tell me... you’re willing, right?"
Chen Tan's body trembled slightly, as he looked into Chen Ling's eyes, filled with pleading and anticipation.
He resembled a child who had done something wrong, waiting for a belated forgiveness.
At this moment, the fragmented memories buried before last night's storm finally came back to Chen Ling. He endured the pain in his head and took a deep breath, hoarsely saying:
"So... it was you who killed him..."
"Him?"
"...Does A-Yan know?"
"He doesn't. If he knew that the heart he was about to receive was yours... he would rather die than accept it."
Struggling with inner turmoil and guilt, Chen Tan came to his senses. He reached into the sack at his feet and slowly pulled out a sharp axe.
"A-Ling, you're already dead, you shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were bloodshot as he tightly gripped the axe and hoarsely said, "No matter what is occupying your body... I will set you free."
A deep thunder roared through the dim sky.
The axe was raised high...
And swung down with force!
Thunk—
A warm splatter hit Chen Tan's face, crimson blood blossomed on the floor like a bouquet, and Chen Ling's body fell stiffly to the ground, emitting a dull thud.
The axe was embedded in his neck, almost severing his entire head. His lifeless eyes stared into nothingness, still bearing traces of pain and confusion...
He was dead.
No heartbeat, no breath, his body gradually growing cold, like a martyr fallen among crimson flowers.
Chen Tan's chest heaved violently as he stared at the lifeless body, sweat soaking his clothes...
"Dead... he's dead...?" Li Xiuchun sat limply in her chair, trembling as she spoke.
"...Dead."
"And the Calamity?"
Chen Tan paused, "...I don't know."
Li Xiuchun stared blankly at the corpse, then suddenly said, "Do you think... it's possible he's not a calamity... but rather God giving us another chance at redemption?"
"If that's the case..." Chen Tan chuckled bitterly, "then we truly deserve to go to hell."