Chapter 159.2: The Li Siblings
Liu Shen was still sitting beneath the large tree, watching her walk back. It was impossible to tell from his expression whether he was pleased or displeased.
The others came running back as well, chattering all at once.
“We should just get rid of Wu Zhi. She’s always causing trouble and doesn’t know how to keep a low profile.”
“Still just a little girl, after all.”
“A ticking time bomb.”
Wu Zhi lowered her eyes and said nothing.
She knew Liu Shen was watching her. The others were too. But every pair of eyes held something different. As for their words, she wouldn’t offer any opinion—no rebuttal, no plea for mercy. Authority wasn’t won with words.
Liu Shen tapped his fingers against his knee. The tattooed Taowu beast on his face twisted into a snarling grin, replacing his earlier blank expression.
“Wu Zhi, do you think they’re right?” he finally asked, though it came out as a question.
Wu Zhi’s expression remained indifferent. “No.”
“How are they wrong?”
“We don’t need to keep a low profile.”
The Taowu on Liu Shen’s face suddenly seemed almost genial. He let out a long sigh, stood up, and reached out to ruffle Wu Zhi’s hair. “Very well said. Good girl.”
After that, he sat back down. “By seven tomorrow evening, I want each of you to hand over two ability users at S-rank or above. Then we continue on our way.”
“Then what are you going to do, Brother Shen?”
“I’m going to have some fun.”
One by one, the twenty-odd people headed off in different directions, leaving Wu Zhi standing alone beneath the tree for quite a while. She bent down, picked up the bags of clothes, and went first to where the team’s vehicle was parked. After loading the clothes into the car, she rummaged under the seat and pulled out a small packet of candy. She unwrapped them one by one and stuffed them all into her mouth.
“Hey there, little sister.” A slick male voice came from behind her. “What a coincidence, I’ve got white hair too.”
Wu Zhi slowly turned around. Seeing no one else nearby, she swallowed the syrupy sweetness in her mouth and asked indistinctly, “Are you an S-rank ability user?”
“How did you sense that?” The young man’s relaxed expression vanished, instantly replaced with vigilance.
Her response was a heavy punch.
He was knocked senseless on the spot, blood gushing from his nose. Before he even had the chance to use his ability, he’d already been beaten to his knees, clutching his face.
Wu Zhi grabbed his hair and slammed him to the ground. “Only higher-ranked ability users can accurately determine the exact rank of someone below them. How do you think I sensed it?”
“You’re S+!!!”
The young man’s scream was cut off as Wu Zhi yanked his hair and smashed his head repeatedly against the ground until the sound died away.
—
Wu Heng fell into a long, drawn-out sleep.
Xie Chongyi kissed him so much his lips were swollen, and he still didn’t wake up.
Awake or not, Xie Chongyi was completely satisfied. After tucking the blanket snugly around Wu Heng, he left the room and went downstairs to have dinner with the others.
Old Liu and Old Li, the couple, arrived through the rain, their faces lit with excitement and joy as they sought everyone out. Every word and expression of theirs brimmed with gratitude.
“We should’ve come as soon as you returned to the guesthouse, but we really couldn’t get away from outside. We’ve still been clearing out the crayfish that made it all the way to the walls. But finally, there aren’t endless waves of them pouring out anymore. We’re truly, truly grateful to you!”
“We didn’t really do much,” Xue Shen said. “The one who did is still upstairs asleep.”
“He’s still asleep? Then once he’s rested, please, tomorrow morning, all of you must come to the Warm Water Building in the city center for a meal,” Old Li said with a beaming smile, gesturing animatedly as she spoke. With the crayfish crisis resolved, their base could finally begin developing normally again.
“No need to be so polite,” Lin Mengzhi said, shaking his head.
“Old Liu,” Xue Qi turned to the genial middle-aged man, “does your base have an ability user who can analyze the composition of abilities?”
“What do you mean?”
Xue Qi didn’t quite know how to explain it. “Well… whatever you think that means.”
“I’m not sure about that exactly,” Old Liu admitted, “but my daughter’s ability is decomposition.”
“Decomposition?”
“Yes. She can decompose anything that exists at present, whether it’s a person, livestock, or even an attack launched at her by another ability user. If the opponent’s rank is far below hers, she can directly decompose that person into… into an atomic state. So if you’re talking about the composition of ability users, she should understand it best. I’m just not sure if that’s what you mean.”
“That’s impressive,” Xue Shen nodded in approval.
“Meatballs? What meatballs?” Lin Mengzhi leaned over toward Xue Shen.
Just as everyone burst into laughter, two figures—moving at different speeds—entered the guesthouse doors. Familiar with the place, they headed straight for the elevator and went upstairs.
It was dinnertime. Most of the people staying at the guesthouse were in the first-floor cafeteria, or else in their rooms. The corridor was so quiet there wasn’t a single sound—except for one set of breathing that was growing faster and heavier.
“I really think this isn’t a good idea,” Li Pingguo said, her face flushed purple with nerves and fear. “If Mom and Dad and Big Brother find out, they’ll definitely beat us to death.”
“They might beat you to death,” Li Nian said indifferently. “They’d never beat me. You know how much they like me.”
Li Pingguo followed behind Li Nian. “But he’s so powerful. He’s not an ordinary ability user at all. Didn’t you see how he pressed those mutated crayfish to the bottom of the lake this morning so they couldn’t even surface? He didn’t even move from where he stood, and he accomplished what our entire base couldn’t! What good will it do you to touch him?”
“When I went to Jingzhou, the ability users at that base told me that as long as you obtain an energy core and find an underground trading market, they can test whether you’re compatible with the core in your hand. If you are, you can become an ability user.”
“But you’re already an ability user!”
“Didn’t you see? He’s dual-element.”
“So you want to become dual-element too?” Li Pingguo grabbed Li Nian. “If you don’t stop right now, I’m going downstairs to tell Mom and Dad.”
Li Nian shook off her hand. His expression turned helpless. “Sis, just help me, okay? We grew up together. We survived the apocalypse together…”
“I’ll help you.” Before Li Nian had even finished speaking, Li Pingguo found herself agreeing to his plea.
After swiping the room card, Li Nian stepped inside first. Shukui bared its fangs for only an instant before wagging its tail and trotting toward them.
X held out a few seconds longer than Shukui, but the result was the same.
“He’s sleeping so deeply? He’s not even waking up?” Li Nian pushed the dog aside and stared at the unmoving figure on the bed, surprise flashing across his face—followed by even greater delight. “That makes this much easier.”
“Sis, do it.” Li Nian grabbed Li Pingguo and forcefully shoved her toward the bedside.
The boy lying on the bed showed only half his face. Curled slightly on his side, he looked almost fragile. His green-tinted hair spread across the pure white pillow like trailing vines, and even his eyelashes seemed to cradle tiny green buds—damp, vivid, full of life.
“If only I could take his face too,” Li Nian muttered from behind.
Trembling, Li Pingguo slowly reached her hand toward the boy’s chest. Her breathing was so heavy it felt like meteors crashing to the ground. At the same time, she could hear her brother’s breathing behind her—but unlike hers, Li Nian’s was filled with anticipation, excitement, and wild exhilaration.
Before her palm even touched the fabric and padding over the boy’s chest, that section of cloth dissolved into white particles, drifting down like dust.
Li Nian swallowed, his anticipation growing stronger.
“Hurry up, hurry up!” he urged roughly.
“Li Pingguo! Damn it, move!” He shoved her hard.
Caught off balance, Li Pingguo stumbled forward.
But what happened next was even more unexpected. Her palm never made contact with the boy’s chest—she didn’t even manage to press down. A black, sickle-shaped blade shot upward from below and pierced straight through her palm. Blood burst forth in an instant, streaming along the blade.
A scream exploded in Li Pingguo’s mind, yet her mouth seemed sealed shut. Her face twisted violently in agony. She could feel the energy inside her body draining away at a terrifying speed. She tried to pull her hand back—but she couldn’t.
“Wh-what… what is that thing?!” Li Nian cried out from behind, completely unconcerned about his sister’s injury.
Behind them, Shukui and X were still pestering them to play, tugging at pant legs and shoelaces. They were so annoying it would’ve been better not to have used affinity on them at all—once they had, the animals only became more clingy.
“It… it hurts…” Li Pingguo trembled all over.
The scent of blood thickened in the room.
Beneath the pristine white quilt, something began to writhe. The movement was slight—but at a moment like this, any movement at all was profoundly abnormal.
Desperately, Li Pingguo tried to use her ability to decompose whatever this unknown thing was. But every bit of power she released was devoured by it. She could only struggle harder to yank her hand free.
Click.
A larger sickle-shaped blade extended from under the blanket and drove straight into the pillow beside the boy’s ear, piercing through into the mattress.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Li Nian and Li Pingguo slowly lifted their heads, their eyes widening to the maximum.
The creature that had pierced Li Pingguo’s palm finally revealed itself. It was a black beetle of bizarre and sinister appearance. Its body lines were sharp and menacing, glinting with a pitch-black, icy sheen. Several small, nimble sickle-like appendages fanned out from its underside, completely covering the boy on the bed.
Even more unsettling were the pairs of crimson eyes lining both its back and belly. At this moment, all of them had shifted and clustered toward its head, staring directly at the two standing at the bedside.
The thing that had pierced Li Pingguo’s palm was not one of its sickle-legs—it was the mandibles beneath its mouthparts, continuously draining energy from the ability user and drawing blood.
“What… what is this thing? I’ve never seen anything like it!” Li Nian began stepping back, leaving Li Pingguo behind.
“Li Nian! Help me! Hurry!” Li Pingguo shouted, her face pale.
Only then did Li Nian remember to use his affinity.
With his effort, the horrifying insect finally reacted.
Its shell spread outward like wings—but they weren’t wings. It was simply opening its carapace. Then, two crisp, horrifying clicks echoed through the room. From beneath its shell, it extended a pair of massive, scythe-like forelimbs folded underneath its mouth. These blades gleamed like black steel, lined with rows upon rows of jagged teeth, and were even larger than its own body.
The room filled with an unnatural black mist, as if alive, silently drifting and twisting. It unsettled everyone inside, gnawing at their nerves.
This was no ordinary insect. It was a monster—possibly not even native to Earth’s surface.
Li Nian finally understood why his affinity had no effect on it.
“Li Nian, help me! I’m going to die!” Li Pingguo was already feeling the icy aura radiating from the creature’s body. Her whole body was nearly frozen stiff.
“I’m helping, but it’s no use. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.” Li Nian shrugged and turned to walk away.
At that moment, a quick, light set of footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the room, growing louder as they approached.
Bang!
The door was kicked open.
Li Nian hadn’t even reacted before a chill pressed against the back of his neck. Qiu Li’s fingers, soft and layered like pink gauze, wrapped around the young man’s throat. “What do you think you’re doing?” His voice was icy.
At the same instant, green vines crawled across the window frame. Outside, in midair, the drizzle sharpened into countless needle-like points, poised to strike. A white crane darted through the rain like an arrow before perching on a nearby treetop, its red eyes fixed unblinkingly on the room.
Something stirred above the window as well.
Swish!
A snow-white spider silk descended, and a dazzling blue spider swayed violently as it fell too fast.
Its gaze did not land on the Li siblings but on the black insect in the center of the room, its mouthparts dripping with translucent saliva, quivering greedily.
Its long, elegant legs danced wildly, driven by a primal fear triggered by the forced presence of another of its kind.
“You’ve really got some nerve! You even brought out Wu Heng’s insect husband?!”
Zerg*
Zerg husband ദ്ദി╥ ᴗ ╥)