Qiao Bei’s heart jolted violently, and he hastily called out in a low voice, “Sis...”
Yet she seemed completely insensible, giving him no response whatsoever.
Qiao Bei instantly panicked.
Tension and terror seized his heart like a giant fist, suffocating him. A sheen of tears welled uncontrollably in his clear eyes, blurring his vision.
“Sis...”
His voice choked as he called out again, not even daring to reach out and check her breathing.
“...Instead of standing there mourning me, hurry up and heal me already!”
As the feeble voice rasped, Ye Li pried her eyelids open with effort, thoroughly exhausted.
When Qiao Bei had scooped her off the cart just now, it had tugged at the wound on her belly, nearly claiming what little was left of her life and sending her into a brief blackout.
“Oh, right...”
Snapping out of his daze, Qiao Bei hurried to gently place both hands over her abdomen.
Ye Li felt a warm current gently flowing through her wound. Accompanied by a faint prickling itch, tiny buds of granulation tissue began squirming and knitting together.
Soon enough, the mangled wound across her belly closed at a visible pace until not a single trace of a scar remained.
Meanwhile, Qiao Bei’s face had grown visibly pale from excessive energy depletion.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Ye Li cut off the treatment and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
The missing piece of her liver wasn’t something that could regrow anytime soon; as long as her belly wasn’t gaping open, that would suffice.
Without even pausing to catch his breath, Qiao Bei hastily rummaged a parcel out from one of the small garbage bins.
Inside was a clean set of clothes along with some food and water—all items Ye Li had instructed him to prepare beforehand.
“Sis, change your clothes first. I’ll head down to keep watch and haul the other bin up while I’m at it.”
He handed the parcel over as he spoke.
“No rush,” Ye Li stopped him.
Utterly unbothered by her battered state, she tore open the parcel, pulled out an egg sponge cake, and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling, “First, tell me what’s going on out in the yard...”
...
Meanwhile, inside an examination room on the eleventh floor of the laboratory building.
Holding a blood test report, Dr. Xue was analyzing it with Huo Jingyang beside him. “...Judging by the test data, your current situation is looking less and less promising. Even with the vaccines suppressing it, your mutation indices are steadily climbing...”
Only the two of them were in the room, everyone else having long been dismissed outside. Thus, Dr. Xue spoke candidly without reservations: “You must prepare yourself early. At this rate, you could lose control at any moment. Furthermore, due to the excessive intervention from the vaccines, your likelihood of failing the mutation is far greater than an ordinary person’s. If it fails, you might even mutate directly into an Abomination.”
Huo Jingyang’s brow furrowed slightly, his stern face showing little emotion.
“Has there been any progress on developing the new vaccine?” he asked impassively.
“None so far.”
Dr. Xue shook his head, a look of reminiscence and regret washing over his face. “If Dr. Cao were still here, there might have been a way. His technical expertise and acumen were far superior to mine, after all. What a pity. He could have been humanity’s hope...”
“Do not mention that name to me again!” Huo Jingyang abruptly cut him off, his voice chillingly cold, a thick surge of hostility flashing across his eyes. “That fanatical lunatic was no fucking Savior! He would have only dragged every last one of us straight into hell!”
Admit it. Without him, you are nothing. He was right...
Stop your futile resistance. Give up. Obey your heart. Do whatever you please...
Don't repress it anymore. Don't hide it. Vent all your rage and bitterness...
...
The chaotic voices clamored in his head once more. Huo Jingyang felt a splitting headache, every single nerve enduring agony and torment.
A violent, bloodthirsty impulse began spreading through his chest, driving an irresistible urge to slaughter.
Huo Jingyang raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to stay lucid as he said to Dr. Xue, “Give me a vaccine injection first.”
“S-Sure, right away...” Clearly startled by his reaction, Dr. Xue didn’t dare dally and hurriedly turned to fetch a syringe from the temperature-controlled cabinet where the vaccines were kept.
What Dr. Xue failed to notice, however, was that the moment he turned his back, thick streams of bright crimson blood gushed from the man’s nose, and the clear light in his eyes was rapidly overtaken by a deep, blood-red pall.
Bizarre bulges swelled on either side of his forehead, as though some black, hardened objects were about to rupture from beneath the flesh. Across the pale skin of his cheeks, grotesque, terrifying purplish-black veins emerged, bulging and pulsing under his skin, interlacing and branching outward like a spiderweb as they crept down toward his neck...
This was the onset of mutation and turning into an Abomination!
An unspeakable, ravenous hunger surged wildly from the depths of his heart. Huo Jingyang fixed his blood-red eyes onto the middle-aged man before him, seductive voices resounding in his mind.
Eat him...
Hurry and devour him...
Tear his flesh, drink his blood, consume him whole...
As though possessed, Huo Jingyang slowly stood up, closing in on his prey step by step...
“Clatter—crash—”
Dr. Xue, who was preparing the vaccine, was suddenly startled by the strange noise behind him and hurriedly whipped his head around.
He saw that Huo Jingyang, who had been sitting in the chair, had walked over to the blood sample cabinet on the other side at some point.
His back was turned, obscuring what he was doing, but countless emptied blood collection tubes lay scattered across the floor at his feet.
Dr. Xue instantly realized what had happened. His nerves snapped taut, and cold sweat broke out across his back.
“G-General... are you alright?”
He asked trembling in fear, his feet already edging involuntarily toward the exit.
“I’m fine.”
Huo Jingyang slowly turned around, his voice low and hoarse. “I feel wonderful right now. Better than ever...”
By now, every sign of his abomination transformation had completely receded, returning him to his human form. His face wore a look of satiation, while an intensely destructive thrill and excitement blazed in the depths of his dark eyes, radiating a thick, bloodthirsty malice.
“What’s more, I seem to have found the true Savior!”
Slowly raising a hand, he wiped away the trace of crimson blood lingering at the corner of his mouth. Sharp, gleaming white canines peeked out from his faint smirk, resembling a bloodthirsty magical beast lurking in the shadows, quietly baring its razor fangs toward its prey...
Rate on N.U.
