Rip—
A figure clad in an opera robe squeezed out from the red paper monster, hanging upside down in mid-air.
Sensing Chen Ling's imminent return, the red paper monster thrashed wildly. Its body began to grow transparent, like paper soaked by rain, becoming thinner and thinner.
Chen Ling, dangling from it, was dragged along the ground, swaying violently, his head spinning from the motion.
The torn gap in the paper writhed, seemingly trying to swallow Chen Ling back in, while Chen Ling clung desperately to his upper body, enduring the dizziness as he wrestled against it!
Just then, a drenched young boy ran across the scarred earth, heading straight for them!
"Brother!!"
A hand grabbed Chen Ling's arm and yanked him downward with force!
With the added strength, Chen Ling's lower body broke free from the paper, and he tumbled through the gap between the theater and reality, crashing heavily to the ground!
Chen Ling, still clad in the crimson opera robe, lay on his back in the muddy earth, breathing heavily.
The oppressive rain clouds loomed overhead, and scattered droplets slid down his hair.
As the world spun around him, Chen Ling saw a familiar face appear before him, shaking his body anxiously.
"Brother! Brother!! Are you okay?"
The dizziness gradually subsided, and Chen Ling focused his gaze, slightly stunned.
"A-Yan? What are you doing here?"
The boy before him was none other than his younger brother, Chen Yan.
In the original owner's memories, Chen Ling had only two things he was truly proud of in his life.
The first was passing the enforcer exam through his own efforts. The second was having a brother like Chen Yan.
This wasn't because Chen Yan was particularly smart or talented. On the contrary, Chen Yan wasn't clever at all. His grades were at the bottom of his class, and he often stumbled over his words when talking to others. He was the kind of kid who was easily bullied at school.
But ever since Chen Yan was a toddler, he had followed Chen Ling everywhere. Whatever Chen Ling told him to do, Chen Yan would do without question. Even when Chen Ling, as a mischievous child, once buried Chen Yan in the sand and nearly suffocated him, Chen Yan's first reaction after being rescued wasn't to cry but to grin foolishly at Chen Ling.
From then on, Chen Ling took Chen Yan with him wherever he went, and no matter what Chen Ling did, Chen Yan trusted him unconditionally.
Chen Ling was ordinary, but in Chen Yan's eyes, he saw a different version of himself... a version that was admired.
"I, I..." The drenched boy stammered,
"After I woke up from the surgery, I waited at the hospital for you to come get me... Then, I heard people outside saying an 'Apocalypse'-level Calamity had invaded, and I got really worried.
I sneaked out of the hospital when no one was looking and was heading home to find you when I saw you hanging from a monster..."
"Districts Two and Three are locked down. How did you get here?"
"The enforcers don't seem to have enough people. They only locked down the outer areas of Districts Two and Three. There weren't many guards between the two districts, so I sneaked through."
Chen Ling shook his head, finally managing to sit up. He looked at the worried face before him, his emotions a tangled mess.
Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan had plotted to kill him to give his heart to Chen Yan... to save his life.
In a way, Chen Yan was the reason Chen Ling had died.
But on second thought, Chen Yan himself didn't know any of this. He was just a fifteen-year-old boy who trusted his parents when they said they could cure him. He had obediently lain down on the operating table...
Even if he were cured, he would never know that the heart beating in his chest had come from his brother.
Thinking this, Chen Ling's gaze softened with a hint of sorrow.
"Brother... did you kill someone?"
Chen Yan's eyes fell on the blood-soaked Han Meng, his young face pale as paper.
"I didn't kill him," Chen Ling instinctively replied. "That wasn't me, it was..."
But before he could finish, he froze.
He didn't know how to explain all this to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan had seen him emerge from the red paper monster with his own eyes. And now, with the gruesome wound on his neck and covered in blood, Chen Ling looked anything but human. How could he explain that there was an "audience" in his mind? That he had just been possessed?
Chen Ling's mind was a mess. He had inherited the original owner's memories and his feelings for his brother. Deep down, he was even a little afraid... afraid that Chen Yan, like their parents, would see him as a monster.
But Chen Yan simply looked at him calmly, his chestnut eyes showing no trace of fear.
After a moment of serious thought, Chen Yan walked over to Han Meng, used all his strength to hoist him onto his back, and then staggered deeper into the wilderness.
"What are you doing?" Chen Ling was stunned.
The slender boy, carrying Han Meng, who was nearly twice his weight, left deep footprints in the wet wilderness with every step.
Even so, he gritted his teeth and stumbled forward.
"Brother, he's a judge."
"I know."
"Killing a judge is a serious crime. Once they find out, whether you killed him or not... they'll come after you."
"...I know, I..."
"Brother," Chen Yan said softly,
"I'll help you bury him."
Seeing the determination and seriousness in Chen Yan's eyes, Chen Ling's heart trembled slightly.
He stared for a long moment before finally finishing his sentence:
"No... A-Yan, what I mean is... he's not dead yet!"
Chen Yan: "?"
The bewildered Chen Yan turned around just in time to see Han Meng's eyelids flutter, a faint groan escaping his lips as if he were about to wake up.
With a startled cry, Chen Yan lost his balance and fell to the side, dragging the unconscious Han Meng down with him in a heap.
In his dazed state, Han Meng's eyes slowly cracked open...
A red figure rushed to his side, raised a fist, and slammed it into the back of his head!
Thud—!
Just as he was about to wake up, Han Meng felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and passed out again.
Chen Ling shook his sore hand and let out a long breath.
That was close! If Han Meng had woken up, they would've been in serious trouble!
Earlier, through the theater curtain, Chen Ling had seen Han Meng's battle with the red paper monster. Although he didn't understand the special ability Han Meng had used, without the red paper monster, Chen Ling knew he stood no chance against him.
"Let's go."
After knocking out Han Meng, Chen Ling glanced at the increasingly heavy rain and immediately pulled Chen Yan away.
Han Meng wasn't the only judge in District Three. He had likely arrived first because he was the fastest... If they lingered any longer, other judges would show up, and escape would be impossible.
Han Meng lay motionless in the mud, unconscious, as the two boys disappeared into the distance.
The rain washed over the scarred wilderness, the mud flowing and erasing all traces of their footsteps. A few minutes later, a group of figures in black-and-red uniforms hurried to the scene...