Chapter 167.1: Returning Home
Only where there is love can a place be called a home. That place before was, at best, a monster’s nest.
Now he had Xie Chongyi, Lin Mengzhi, several friends by his side, and Wu Zhi who would eventually return to him. He already had something that resembled a proper family, and he was about to have the most wonderful home of all.
Xie Chongyi wiped the smile from his face and looked at Wu Heng quietly for a long time. Then, moving with lightning speed, he leaned in and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
Presumably no one saw it—after all, the number of people in their team who would consciously turn a blind eye to such things could be said to be zero.
Xue Shen’s estimate had been correct. In less than fifteen minutes, Ning Bizhen’s people arrived at the hotel where they were staying.
Ning Bizhen himself did not appear, but when everyone stepped out of the elevator, the lobby—just like the open-air restaurant earlier—was filled with people kneeling on the ground.
Wu Heng realized someone had suddenly wrapped him in a tight embrace. As expected, it was Lin Mengzhi.
“A’Heng, I can’t take this anymore. I grew up under the red flag—what comes next? Successor of socialism? I can handle people calling me ‘Dad’ or ‘Father,’ but I can’t handle this.”
“You’re a normal person,” Xie Chongyi said, pulling him away.
Lin Mengzhi grabbed Xie Chongyi instead and hugged him back. Staring up at him from below with narrowed eyes, he said, “Class Monitor, why are you pulling me? You want me to hug you too? Don’t stick me between you and A’Heng—you know I definitely wouldn’t choose you.”
With a faint smile, Xie Chongyi peeled him off.
Ning Bizhen’s men were standing outside the door. By the roadside were two cars marked with large white letter N’s.
Xue Qi squeezed out from the group, looking around. Finally, he spotted the front desk receptionist kneeling beside a trash bin. He hurried over and helped her up. “Please make sure to keep an eye on our car for us. Thanks, thanks.”
The receptionist murmured an “Mm,” and immediately knelt down again.
Xue Qi looked down at his empty hands. “…Tsk.”
“Xue Qi, let’s go.”
The two drivers were a man and a woman, dressed in black suits with white gloves, their faces expressionless like robots. Lin Mengzhi slid into the front passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt. “Load the cargo.”
The driver gave no response. Only after everyone had gotten in and settled did they press down on the accelerator.
The car drove along a straight, wide avenue by the riverbank. On the right, buildings that had once been mostly reduced to rubble by the earthquake now stood packed closely together again. Meanwhile, plants that could previously only be seen in untouched pre-apocalypse rainforests were now everywhere in the city.
Dark clouds loomed overhead. It seemed as if all signs of life had already vanished from this city.
“This road looks kinda familiar—damn,” Xue Qi said after staring outside for a long time, finally unable to hold it in. He rolled down the window and let the fine rain drift in. “Bro! Wasn’t there a noodle shop over there before? Old Xie, look! Do you remember? The owner who always secretly gave you two extra slices of meat!”
“The arcade! The arcade!”
“And that convenience store run by your dean’s wife—she’d give you expired cookies to eat, hahaha.”
The string of shops Xue Qi recalled all belonged to the past. The street had long since been completely transformed. Not only were there no signboards anymore, but the partitions between first-floor storefronts had all been knocked down. Each shop sold only a single category of daily necessities—once common and cheap homemade snacks and drinks that were now sold at steep prices, along with clothes and shoes that were far from attractive. Taking up the largest share of shelf space, however, were all kinds of weapons and rare plants and animals.
They chattered the whole way. Wu Heng, meanwhile, leaned against Xie Chongyi’s shoulder and dozed off for a while.
Considering the safety of X, Betta, and Shukui—dog, bird, and fish—if they were left alone at the hotel, they had all come along in the car. X lay sprawled across their laps, its upper body resting on Wu Heng’s legs and its lower half on Xie Chongyi’s, sleeping so soundly it had no sense of direction at all.
When the car reached its destination, it gave a noticeable jolt before gradually slowing to a stop.
Wu Heng opened his eyes and looked straight out the window. Outside, familiar weeping jasmine vines cascaded down, dense enough to blot out the sky—
Had they returned to their school?
The middle school they had attended in Hanzhou had ranked among the very best in the entire province—whether in teaching quality or university admission rates. Its facilities were second to none. All the teaching buildings were connected by several bridges, forming a massive ring. In the center lay the sports field, while the teachers’ office building and the multipurpose building were built along the lakeside. Behind them rose a green hill formed naturally by the terrain—there had always been plenty of rumors about teachers and students connected to that hill.
Now, the entire place—including the back hill—had become Ning Bizhen’s private residence.
The white and brick-red buildings had been painted over in black. The sports field had been rebuilt into a massive stage. The teaching buildings were wrapped and climbed over by all kinds of vines, their trunks thick and solid like pillars. Whenever a stranger stepped in, the plants seemed to come alive, swaying their branches and leaves. On their surfaces, clusters of red shifted like blood seeping out—
It wasn’t that the plants were alive. Their surfaces were covered in insects. They were the guards here.
“Dogs are only allowed to move around in Zone 3,” said the two guards who approached them after they got out of the car, addressing Wu Heng.
“Where is Zone 3?”
One of the guards pointed at the ring of buildings. “All of this is Zone 3. Behind it are Zone 2 and Zone 1. Your accommodations are arranged in Zone 2.”
“And if we insist on bringing the dog?” Lin Mengzhi asked, draping an arm over Wu Heng’s shoulder.
Shukui barked twice as well. It must have sensed that this was not a place that welcomed it. Its bark was rough and filled with warning.
“Then you can only stay temporarily in Zone 3,” the guard paused before adding, “But being allowed in at all is already your honor. Zone 3 isn’t bad. Follow us.”
Behind his back, Lin Mengzhi threw a silent left hook and right hook.
Following the two guards, they walked along the long running track. The red-and-white rubber track was smeared with stubborn bloodstains. Nearby, several flowerbeds that the principal had once valued highly had long since been buried beneath liriope grass that had grown taller than a person.
When they had left the school half a year ago, it had still looked like a school. Now, not only did they no longer resemble students, the school no longer resembled a school either—nothing more than a monster’s stronghold, using supernatural abilities to oppress ordinary people.
“Never thought we’d need outsiders to lead the way back to our own school,” Dou Lu murmured softly, tightly holding Ruan Silian’s hand.
But the ability-user walking ahead clearly paused mid-step on the track.
“You used to be students here? What grade?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Fine, don’t say.” The guard quickened his pace. “Just a reminder—whatever this place used to be, it now belongs solely to Emperor Ning. Behave yourselves.”
Lin Mengzhi and Xue Qi rolled their eyes dramatically at the same time, silently mouthing, “Emperor Ning~”
They were led to the building closest to the school gate. The desks and chairs inside had long since been cleared out, even the blackboards nowhere to be seen.
Each former classroom had been transformed into dining halls, bedrooms, even entertainment and leisure areas. The only thing that still hinted it had once been a school building was its most basic structural frame.
The guard stopped at the doorway and did not step into the guest rooms. From his coat pocket, he pulled out a ring of keys. “There are five keys in total, for Rooms 1 to 5 along this corridor only. The dining hall is in Room 8. I hope you won’t wander around—not only because Zone 3 houses many of Emperor Ning’s pets, but also because in the next few days there will be other guests, like you, arriving from various bases to celebrate Mr. Shen’s birthday.”
“Emperor Ning hopes everyone can get along happily, and even more so hopes to give Mr. Shen the most perfect birthday celebration.”
After the guard left, Wu Heng didn’t wander around the room inspecting it like the others. He released the dog leash and walked straight to the window. Raising his hand, he touched a green leaf. The massive plant covering the exterior of the teaching building trembled all over.
The two guards had not yet walked out of the building.
“I heard all their levels are above S-rank. So envious.”
“More than that—one of them is 3S+.”
“3S+?! Are you serious? There aren’t even two Double S+ ranks, and I didn’t sense that kind of overwhelming energy from any of those kids. That shouldn’t be possible.”
With that, they stepped out of the teaching building—only to realize that no lush shadows were being cast behind them.
They turned around.
—Brilliant red insects were being forced out from deep within the plants by some unknown power. They fell in rapid bursts, pattering down to the ground, where they instantly stopped moving. In no time at all, the ground was covered with a thick, dense layer of insect corpses. As far as the eye could see, it was a sea of blood-red.
Without the parasitic insects, the vines wrapped around the building thinned to threads, and daylight finally shone into the classrooms.
Several meters away from the two guards, a young man stood behind a first-floor window. His bright green eyes gradually dimmed as he watched them like a ghost.
Lin Mengzhi twisted on the light bulb in the room.
“So this is your old classroom?”
“Ours wasn’t in this building, and not on the first floor either. This building was all for first-years.”
“They’ve changed it so much you can’t even tell anymore. This spot used to hold the blackboard, right?” Lin Mengzhi stood beside an unframed ink painting hanging on the wall. “It’s more luxurious than that hotel room we stayed in outside.”
Xie Chongyi stepped closer to the painting. “Shen Miao’s work.”
“You’d know that?”
“There’s a signature.”
“What are those things? Are they all dead?” Dou Lu slowly walked over to Wu Heng. She noticed that the insects stuck to the walls and plants had inexplicably fallen to the ground. Being on the first floor, she could clearly see the still-twitching insect legs and the mindlessly opening and closing mouthparts.
“Gu insects. Don’t let them touch your body,” Wu Heng said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the red mass on the ground stirred. In the blink of an eye, they gathered together, not a single one left behind.
The enormous crimson gu insect approached the window like some mutated beast. Its hardened shell gleamed with a cold sheen. Its head was grotesquely swollen, and beneath it, hidden within its mouthparts, three or four rows of teeth grew in chaotic disorder, filling the interior completely.
Only at such close range could they clearly see the eyes on top of its head. It stared unblinkingly at the human behind the window—the one who had just humiliated it so thoroughly.
The stench coming off the gu insect was so foul that Dou Lu nearly fainted.
Behind them, everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing at the sight, ready at any moment to tear apart the very school they had once attended.
But it made no move.
After a long stare, its blade-like forelimbs swung upward. With two heavy thuds, they embedded into the wall above. Its massive body followed, and in the blink of an eye it climbed up to the upper floors. A rapid series of rustling crashes echoed out—then the world fell silent.
“Why didn’t it… die?” Dou Lu finally found her voice. “And it smells so awful—a disgusting, bloody stench.”
“It’s not very good-looking either,” Wu Heng said lightly.
“Are there any insects that are good-looking?” Dou Lu asked, confused.
Wu Heng lowered his eyelids slightly, thinking to himself: Xie Chongyi was good-looking. His head-to-body proportions were excellent, nothing oddly disproportionate or grotesque. He even had long, soft feathers on his head. He didn’t smell bad, either. He was very cool.
Shen Ping’an walked over.
“If we drive these gu insects away, will Ning Bizhen come looking for trouble?”
“Who the hell cares,” Dou Lu said.
Shen Ping’an glanced at her. “If what Wen Yuan and the others said is true—if Ning Bizhen is the mother worm and can plant offspring worms in all the survivors at Hanzhou Base—then why couldn’t he plant them in us as well?”
“And what happens if he does?” Lin Mengzhi’s gaze shifted back and forth between Shen Ping’an and Wu Heng. “Like the connection between A’Heng and you?”
“Not nearly that dignified,” Xue Qi said as he walked up from behind. “The mother worm and the offspring worms are technically symbiotic too, but the offspring are completely subordinate to—and food for—the mother. What they lose isn’t just independence of thought, but free will as well. And so far, when Wu Heng gets hurt, Brother Ping’an doesn’t feel it directly, right? At most he senses a little. But the offspring worms have to take on the pain the mother worm suffers in their place—without any room for resistance.”
“Aren’t they basically puppets?” Dou Lu said.
“Yeah.”
While they were talking behind him, Wu Heng took a step forward. He reached out the window, plucked a leaf, and stuffed it into his mouth. Crunch, crunch—it was crisp.
Xie Chongyi’s voice suddenly sounded by his ear. “What are you doing? Don’t eat things randomly.”
Before Wu Heng could even turn his head, a cool finger slipped into his mouth. The half-chewed mutated leaf was hooked out by the boy’s finger and flicked out the window.
“…”
The young man’s eyes were clear and slightly blank. The fresh taste of the tender leaf still lingered in his mouth, along with the sudden coolness of the finger brushing against his tongue.
He was only like this in front of Xie Chongyi—he had been from the very beginning. Well-behaved. Completely non-aggressive. If it had been anyone else, their finger would have been bitten off. By now it would probably already be in his stomach, halfway through digestion.
Shen Ping’an glanced at him, then out the window at the fuzzy-looking green leaves. “That’s pumpkin. Pumpkin leaves are edible.”
“Speaking of pumpkin leaves…” Lin Mengzhi looked at Wu Heng. “A’Heng, let’s go home for a bit. Let’s dig Grandma out.”
…
For the time being, Ning Bizhen hadn’t sent anyone over. Wu Heng and Lin Mengzhi left with only X and Shen Ping’an.
Xue Shen sat in a chair, leisurely counting down in silence.
“3, 2, 1—”
Xie Chongyi, who had stayed behind at the school, stood up. The corners of his lips curved up naturally. “I’m going to the restroom.”
Shukui watched the boy’s departing figure and let out an anxious whine. The tail that had been wagging soon drooped in displeasure.
Xue Shen crossed one leg over the other and patted Shukui lightly on the head. “Get used to it. Your dad’s only got this much self-control.”
“Woof—”
—
“Be back before nine tonight.” The same two guards were stationed at the entrance.
Seeing the three of them and the bird about to leave, the taller guard called out again, “Hey—who among you is the 3S+ ability user?”
The three of them exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
Perched on top of Lin Mengzhi’s head, X spread one wing. “I am.”
The two guards exchanged glances. The young guard who had spoken first couldn’t help but laugh. “What a vain chicken.”
Wu Heng didn’t sense any malice from him and simply walked forward.
No sooner had they taken a few steps than they heard the same sentence they’d just heard earlier behind them.
“Be back before nine tonight.”
The two of them stopped and turned around.
Lin Mengzhi widened his eyes. “Whoa, Class Monitor—why are you here too?”
“I’m not at ease,” Xie Chongyi said calmly.
Lin Mengzhi waved it off. “A’Heng’s so strong. What’s there to worry about?”
“I’m worried about you.” Xie Chongyi shot him a light glance.
“What, I’m not strong?”
Shen Ping’an said, “I don’t think that’s what the class monitor meant.”
“What do you mean, Class Monitor?”
“What do I mean?”
“I mean, what do you mean!”