Eaten Ch.160

Chapter 160: Replaced

When their scheme was exposed, Li Pingguo was so panicked she looked as if she might faint. Li Nian, however, remained calm and composed. “I didn’t do anything. She did it all.”

“Li Nian!!!” Li Pingguo screamed herself hoarse.

Crack.

“Qiu Li, get out of the way!” Blue Spider caught sight of the serrated edge on the beetle’s pincer suddenly starting to tremble.

Though he didn’t understand what was happening, Qiu Li quickly withdrew his hand and darted aside.

He had just steadied himself by the wall when the insect on the bed vanished without a trace. Li Pingguo clutched her palm—no longer able to bleed—and collapsed onto the floor.

At the very moment Li Nian turned to flee, a sharply curved, blood-stained insect scythe appeared. In his haste to escape, he didn’t notice it and ran straight into it at considerable speed.

Thud.

The heart, as the body’s main organ for pumping blood, sent far more blood spraying out than what had flowed from Li Pingguo’s palm.

Li Nian let his arms hang limply at his sides and lowered his head in disbelief.

It’s fine. It’s only the heart. I’m an ability user. As long as my energy core is still there, as long as—

A chilling chewing sound echoed through the room—from inside Li Nian’s body. Clearly, something hard was being gnawed on, crunch after crunch.

For an ability user, having their energy core devoured alive was the true, unbearable agony. Sweat streamed down Li Nian’s face. His entire body trembled, yet he forced himself to lift his head. Through the drifting black mist, he found the pink-haired ability user leaning against the wall.

“Save me.”

Qiu Li frowned and, almost unconsciously, began walking toward Li Nian.

Blue Spider spun into a blue ball on the windowsill. Xue Qi materialized and dashed into the room, tackling Qiu Li to the ground with force.

Injured, Li Nian’s ability had weakened significantly. Qiu Li struggled a few times beneath Xue Qi, then stopped, regaining his senses.

Footsteps sounded again outside the room—this time, a group of people.

The moment they appeared, the mist in the room and the faintly visible insect scythe vanished instantly. Li Nian’s body collapsed limply to the floor.

Lin Mengzhi ran so fast he nearly slipped and fell. The wall smeared with blood inside the room startled him into a daze. Li Nian lay sprawled on the floor, eyes half-open, hovering between life and death. Lin Mengzhi didn’t spare him a glance; he stepped right over him and rushed to the bedside, first making sure Wu Heng wasn’t hurt.

“What were you all doing?” Only after confirming Wu Heng was unharmed did Lin Mengzhi turn to Li Pingguo. “Wow, you really look so honest!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Dead?” On the other side, Xue Qi grabbed Li Nian by the collar and gave him a shake. “He’s still alive.”

Shen Ping’an’s figure emerged from the wall beside the windowsill. “Should we call his parents to deal with this?”

“Of course. This counts as attempted crime, right? But what exactly was he trying to do?” Xue Qi looked completely confused.

Lin Mengzhi’s body stiffened, his fists clenching instantly. He turned around and slapped the half-dead Li Nian twice. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s obviously some disgusting guy!”

“I’ll contact that couple,” Shen Ping’an said. After speaking, he retreated back into the wall, and the bluish-green vines vanished along with him.

“What about him?” Lin Mengzhi asked.

“Just throw him on the ground for now.” Xue Qi waved a hand and met the unmoving Li Pingguo’s gaze. “What were you two trying to do just now?”

Li Pingguo’s lips trembled, but no sound came out.

Everything had happened too fast. That insect—where had it come from? And these people—weren’t they in the cafeteria downstairs? How did they know, and how did they get here so quickly?

Her right arm had gone numb from the pain. After closing her eyes briefly, she told everyone in the room about Li Nian’s plan.

Lin Mengzhi sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m sorry,” Li Pingguo apologized again.

“What about them?” Xue Qi pointed at the unconscious dog and bird on the floor. “Were their energy cores something you wanted too?”

Li Pingguo replied, “They just fainted. They should wake up in a few minutes.”

“Why would you do something like this?”

“Probably because we wanted to become stronger.” Li Pingguo lowered her head and looked at her purplish fingers. She rolled up her sleeve; the skin on her upper arm had already begun to darken.

Dou Lu leaned against the doorframe. “This is how you become stronger?”

“I’ve never done something like this before,” Li Pingguo said. “I couldn’t refuse Li Nian’s request.”

“Then who are we talking to right now?” Xue Qi asked, puzzled.

“Xiao Qi, you mustn’t be rude to a lady.” Xue Shen’s voice arrived before he did. He walked into the room past Dou Lu. “Help her up first.” As he spoke, he stepped over Li Nian’s hand.

“Fine.” Xue Qi went over and helped Li Pingguo to her feet, settling her into a single-seater sofa. He kept a firm grip on her shoulder. “Are you going to run? If you are, I’ll tie you up. If not, just stay put.”

Li Pingguo shook her head.

Xie Chongyi was the last to appear. Ruan Silian saw him and told him in advance that Wu Heng wasn’t hurt. After entering the room, his gaze still went first to the person on the bed. Only then did he sit down silently in the single-seater sofa beside Li Pingguo.

The room fell quiet. The few people from the hallway walked in and shut the door.

“There’s so much blood on the wall. Are they going to deduct it from our deposit?”

“You paid a deposit?”

“If they had actually succeeded in digging out Wu Heng’s energy core just now, do you think he would’ve woken up?”

“No idea if he’d wake up, but he’d definitely be dead.”

“They’ve got some nerve.”

“A pork belly isn’t afraid of a tiger.”

“Isn’t it ‘a newborn calf’?”

“Li Nian’s ability is actually affinity. No wonder he made such a good first impression on me. I thought he was really sweet.”

“Wow, are you sure it was just the affinity that made you think he was sweet?”

“That’s hard to tell.”

No matter how the room buzzed with chatter, Li Pingguo kept her head lowered. She knew Li Nian had been firmly tied up. Surrounded by a group of boys and girls several years younger than herself, she felt a brief illusion—as if she had returned to the days before the apocalypse.

The world had already fallen into such a terrible state—so why were they still able to be this happy?

“Ah—your neck—” Ruan Silian gasped. She had only been cleaning up the mess on the floor, but out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the woman’s pale neck—now marred by a shockingly large patch of black discoloration.

Li Pingguo raised her left hand to cover her neck. Only then did she realize how stiff and cold her body had become. Even the breath she exhaled felt icy.

She’d been poisoned.

—

Before the two base leaders, Old Liu and Old Li, arrived, Wen Yuan and Wang Ruixiang came over from their own room first. They looked calm as ever, clearly accustomed to situations like this.

“As long as no one’s injured, let their superiors handle it.”

“What’s going on with her?” Jiang Xun asked, looking at Li Pingguo’s darkened complexion.

Xue Qi sat on the windowsill. “Bitten by a bug.”

Lin Mengzhi, beside him, shrugged. “The bug’s venomous.”

Dou Lu, on Xue Qi’s other side, added, “Can’t be saved.”

Wen Yuan looked toward Xie Chongyi. The latter was leaning sideways with one hand propping up his head, lost in thought. Only after noticing Wen Yuan’s gaze did he lift his eyes lazily. “If I knew how to cure it, maybe I’d be able to live to a hundred myself. Figure it out on your own.”

Wen Yuan knew Xie Chongyi wasn’t wrong. Though they called it poison, it was actually energy impurities. Xie Chongyi could force them out of Li Pingguo’s body—but without a host, those impurities would simply return to his own.

For every bit of impurity added, Xie Chongyi would be one day closer to death. Wen Yuan also felt there was no reason for him to trade what little time he had left to save someone who had launched an ambush.

“Then what if we cut off my hand? Would that work?”  Li Pingguo’s face trembled as she looked at Wen Yuan.

The three faces on the windowsill turned toward her in perfect unison, wearing identical expressions of shock.

Xie Chongyi rested his chin in his palm. “That’s worth considering.”

“But half her face has already changed color. Would cutting off just one hand really work?”

“Then what, cut off half her body?” Lin Mengzhi felt that Xue Qi’s intelligence might actually be worse than his own.

“Is that what I meant?!”

“I can draw it back into her right arm. But that’s all I can do—and all I’m willing to do.” Xie Chongyi lifted his eyes, his gaze carrying a sense of judgment. “When you’ve done something wrong, no matter how much, you have to face some punishment.”

Li Pingguo’s complexion had turned a bluish-purple; even her eyes had changed color. She didn’t hesitate any longer. Gritting her teeth, she nodded and placed her arm on the coffee table.

Compared to drying up and dissipating inside an ordinary human body, returning to its original host was the better choice. And besides, the host had an irresistible pull on it.

So Xie Chongyi didn’t even need to make a move. The layer of black mist lurking beneath the woman’s skin began retreating toward the tip of her arm.

“Is this really how fate’s decided?!” Xue Qi clutched his head. “Have you all figured out who’s doing the cutting?!”

“I will.” A faint golden light separated from Jiang Xun’s palm as she stepped toward Li Pingguo.

The three on the windowsill huddled together in horror.

“Ability users have a much higher tolerance for pain than ordinary people, so it shouldn’t hurt too much. You’re an ability user, you can also stop the bleeding yourself,” Jiang Xun said. Then she placed her palm against Li Pingguo’s shoulder.

Without even a sound, the woman’s arm fell cleanly from her body.

“Thank you,” Li Pingguo said, her voice strained with pain. She stopped her own bleeding, picked up the severed arm, and laid it across her lap.

Once detached, the arm began to decay rapidly. It lost moisture, the blood vessels shriveled, the muscles withered. Soon it was only half the original diameter and length of a normal arm, no longer even recognizable in shape.

“That was her right hand. What’s she going to do from now on?” Dou Lu sighed. “If it were me, I’d rather serve two years in prison than lose a hand.”

Wen Yuan said, “Some ability users can stimulate bone regeneration. It won’t be a problem.”

Jiang Xun withdrew her ability and shook her head. “Her situation isn’t the same as an ordinary amputation. No one can give her a new arm.”

The energy inside Xiao Xie was the filthiest kind. Wherever it had passed, life would never take root again. That was the true punishment he had meant.

“Isn’t bone overgrowth a disease?” someone whispered.

“That’s bone spurs,” another corrected quietly.

“Don’t help him do bad things again,” Xue Qi said.

“I…” Li Pingguo had just begun to speak when heated voices erupted outside the door. Knocking pounded loudly. Ying Liuquan, who had been standing guard, immediately opened it. Old Liu and Old Li rushed into the room at full speed.

Without a word, Old Liu slapped Li Pingguo across the face.

It was Lin Mengzhi’s first time seeing a slap make someone’s face swell up instantly. He was startled and exchanged looks with Xue Qi and Dou Lu. The same thought was written across all three of their faces: That old guy’s got some serious strength.

“Nian Nian!” Old Li rushed to Li Nian. She was an ability user—and a mother. The moment she touched him, she understood how severe his injuries were. She turned back uncertainly. “You… you didn’t just kill him outright, did you?”

Old Liu frowned. He reached to grab Li Pingguo, only to grasp empty air. Shock flashed across his face. “Where’s your arm?!”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Li Pingguo said softly. “I’ve already paid the price for what I did. Just take care of Li Nian.”

Old Li had a long face and frizzy hair. Age and exhaustion had dulled what traces of beauty she once had. She released Li Nian and stood up, smoothing her clothes. “It’s fortunate you discovered and stopped them in time. Otherwise, who knows how much trouble those two brats would’ve caused? However you choose to deal with them is justified. We have no objections.”

“That’s good.” Jiang Xun nodded. “Then take them away.”

Old Li’s face filled with gratitude. She turned her back to wipe her tears, then hurriedly helped Li Nian to his feet. He was a head taller than her, and the two of them staggered together. When she finally managed to look up again with effort, her expression froze completely—

Her face, like the cracked glass of an old oil lamp about to go out, was lined with fine wrinkles, as though it might split apart at any moment.

“Who are you?” Her fingernails dug into Li Nian’s arm as she demanded through clenched teeth, “Who are you? Who are you?! Where’s Li Nian?! Where’s my son?!”

Faced with the middle-aged woman’s gaze—one that looked at him as if he were a stranger—Li Nian did his best to soothe her. The energy inside his body was draining faster and faster.

Even so, he forced a smile. “I am Li Nian, Mom.”

But Li Xiuran slowly loosened her grip.

Sensing something was wrong, Li Pingguo braced herself against the foot of the bed and struggled toward her family. Tilting her head, she managed—despite Li Nian’s deliberate attempt to avoid her gaze—to clearly see that face. It was familiar, yet had nothing to do with Li Nian.

“Aren’t you the boss’s son from Li Nian’s workplace?”

“Where’s Li Nian? Where did Li Nian go?! Where’s my little brother?!”

At last, Li Pingguo understood the source of the discomfort she had felt every time she faced “Li Nian” these past few months. She had thought it was jealousy—jealousy of how their parents, their older brother, and everyone around them had grown increasingly fond of him. She had tried to restrain herself, to reflect on her own feelings.

But this person was not Li Nian at all.

“Mom, I’m Li Nian. Look at me again.” Li Nian forcibly grabbed Li Xiuran’s hand back. Enduring the searing pain in his chest, he turned a strange smile toward Li Pingguo.

She didn’t understand what he was smiling about.

Not until Li Xiuran slowly turned to look at her.

“Who are you?”

She heard her own voice, as if it had traveled to her ears from some distant direction.

Seeing Li Pingguo fall into stunned silence, Li Nian seized the initiative. In a reverent tone, he said, “Sister, we’ll still be a family from now on. Just pretend nothing has changed. Pretend you don’t know anything, okay?”

“My parents have treated you well too, haven’t they? Haven’t you felt it these past few months?”

“Yes, Pingping. Auntie has treated you very well these past few months. And just like your parents, we’ve done our duty protecting Qianzhou Base…”

The urgency with which “Li Xiuran” had been questioning Li Nian vanished. In its place was an expression of extreme fear. The source of the exhaustion etched across her weathered face was becoming increasingly clear.

Li Nian’s energy core had been gnawed down to almost nothing. The influence it exerted on those around him was weakening rapidly. Li Pingguo, who had been affected the most, was finally nearing complete clarity.

She stood there, mouth slightly open, then turned with a final thread of hope to look at her “father.”

But that, too, was a face that didn’t belong to her father.

Her real father had worked the fields for decades, facing the earth day in and day out. How could he possibly be so pale and plump?

“Pingping… I’m your Uncle Wang.” The man rubbed his hands together awkwardly.

Li Pingguo slowly turned back and forced a sorrowful smile at “Li Nian.” “Where are my parents? And my little brother, my big brother? Tell me. I won’t pursue what happened before.”

Silence answered her.

Her heart leapt into her throat, pounding wildly. Her throat went dry. “Please tell me. Even if it’s just one of them. Any one.”

“Pingping… it’s Auntie’s fault. Auntie is sorry to your family.” “Li Xiuran” hugged “Li Nian” tightly, shielding him protectively.

Li Pingguo’s chin trembled. “When the apocalypse first began, it was my parents who took your family in. It was my little brother who shared the food he found with you. It was my big brother who helped you get through your ability awakening!”

Her emotions spiraled out of control. Clutching her severed arm, her body swayed on the verge of collapse. “The farmer and the snake… you venomous snakes! I want you to pay with your lives!”

The air suddenly vibrated, becoming visibly distorted. Fine ripples spread rapidly outward from where Li Pingguo stood.

The onlookers in the room—who had still been piecing together the story from fragments—quickly realized that everything beneath their feet was turning soft, and the oxygen in the air was dropping sharply.

Xie Chongyi was the first to move.

He rushed straight to the bed, grabbed a corner of the blanket, and swiftly rolled Wu Heng up like a spring roll. Hoisting him over one shoulder, he grabbed Shukui’s harness with his other hand—then kicked X straight out the window in one smooth motion.

“Run.”

His casual voice served as a warning. Before the word had even fully fallen, he had already vanished from the room, carrying one and dragging another.

Xie Chongyi reappeared on the road across from the guesthouse, startling several passersby.

X was still midair. After setting Shukui down, he reached out and caught X just as he arrived in front of him. The plump bird was so heavy his arm dipped sharply.

From a second-floor window of the guesthouse opposite, ability users began jumping out one after another. A man leaned halfway out in panic, clearly trying to escape as well—only to be dragged back inside by a hand that suddenly appeared behind him.

Under everyone’s gaze, the walls and window of that single room seemed to soften and flow like water. The structure slowly deformed. More and more white, granular particles surfaced across the wall. Beneath the surface, the dark gray cement and steel reinforcement were exposed—then decomposed as well. Dust filled the air, only to vanish completely as it drifted upward.

At the main entrance, Li Pingguo stood with a deathly pale face, fists clenched tight. After walking out, she remained at the doorway for a long time. Only after what seemed like an internal struggle did she finally cross the street.

“That couple were both S-class ability users. One was earth-type, the other strength-type. These are their energy cores.” She carefully handed them to Jiang Xun. “Consider it my thanks for helping me expose this lie. You can go book another room at the guesthouse, just explain the situation truthfully.”

Jiang Xun took the energy cores from her hand. “They weren’t your parents? And that wasn’t your brother either?”

“He was my younger brother’s colleague. He must have used his affinity ability on everyone who had seen me and my family. That’s why none of us realized my family had already been replaced. They were able to step seamlessly into my family’s place. As for why they kept me…” She paused. “Probably because I’m one of the few S+ ability users in Qianzhou Base.”

“Then where did your real family go?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”

“And those people?”

“Dead.”

Li Pingguo forced a strained smile at them. “You should go rest. I’ll continue guarding Qianzhou Base. You can still sleep peacefully.”

After saying that, she covered her severed arm and slowly turned away. Her back was almost rigid—like a human-shaped icicle—moving stiffly down the road. Only after she had gone quite a distance did her shoulders begin to shake uncontrollably, accompanied by loud, grief-stricken sobs completely at odds with her usual personality.

Wind mixed with rain swept down the street, blowing without pause. All living things reacted sensitively to the storm.

That was when Wu Heng woke up.

He opened his eyes, closed them, then opened them again—several times—making sure. What he saw was uneven, pitted ground, not the guesthouse ceiling.

Realizing who he was slung over, Wu Heng frowned slightly and flexed his fingers.

Soon, though, a familiar scent drifted into his nose—it was Xie Chongyi.

The boy’s waist was lean and strong. Wu Heng was carried steadily, yet it felt as though he were very far from the ground—the person carrying him simply had legs that were too long.

Wu Heng’s arms hung limply, swaying back and forth. The others were still talking.

His eyelids drooped over his gaze. In his field of vision were Xie Chongyi’s long legs—and the slight curve of his hips.

He was fully awake now. He endured it for a moment, but in the end couldn’t resist. Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, he reached toward that curved outline in his sight and gave it a pinch.

The arm hooked beneath the back of his knees tightened noticeably.

Then Xie Chongyi slipped a hand into the blanket and, without the slightest politeness, pinched the tip of Wu Heng’s backside in return.

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