Amidst the world of ice and snow, Zhao Yi slowly opened his eyes.
The first to reflect into his eyes, was a trash can full of dirt. Thick White Frost covered the surface of the trash can, as if even the foul stench soaring to the sky was frozen. He struggled to try and turn his head, and a pile of garbage then rolled down clattering from underneath his body.
"Where... is this?"
The image before Zhao Yi's eyes gradually became clear. A burst of intense pain appeared in his mind. He tried to recall the matters that happened just now... He only remembered, he was pushed into the laboratory, and then lost consciousness amidst the intense agony.
He vaguely remembered he seemed to have had a very long dream. In the dream, he stood on a mirror-like calm sea surface. Looking down, the profound sea bottom was countless bizarre creatures growing Curse Runes. Some were like octopuses, some were like Seaweed, some were like swimming snakes...
When he raised his head to look, above that sea surface, there seemed to be streak after streak of faintly discernible auroras flowing.
He seemed to have only stood there for an instant, but this instant was like ten thousand years. After that, he vaguely heard someone whispering beside his ear. That voice was too close, so close it was like it was right under his body.
He was awakened by that voice for a while. In a trance, he seemed to be strugglingly running, seeming to be putting in effort to escape some place.
Waking up again, he was right here.
After Zhao Yi signed his name on the form for donating his body, he had already prepared the resolution of certain death. He didn't expect that not only did he not die, but moreover he even escaped from the laboratory by a coincidental chance... He didn't know what happened during this process, but perhaps this was exactly the miracle belonging to him.
Zhao Yi struggled to move his body, slowly standing back on the ground from the garbage pile. His peripheral vision landed on his own both hands supporting the ground, his whole person suddenly blanking out.
At this moment, he seemed to have thought of something, desperately beginning to search for something inside the Alleyway.
Finally, he found a puddle of water frozen into ice. Zhao Yi stumbled and arrived before that puddle of water. Through the mirror-like smooth ice surface, he saw a reflection of a monster that resembled a human but wasn't a human...
That was a creature difficult to describe with language. Although it had the outline of a human torso, its skin was almost thoroughly covered by streak after streak of black Curse Runes. These Curse Runes were like living creatures swimming on the surface of his skin. Even inside his eyeballs there would also be Curse Runes crawling past from time to time, the image was incomparably bizarre.
Zhao Yi was startled by his own appearance. He fell kneeling beside the puddle of water, his eyes full of disbelief.
"How could it be like this... what did they do to me?"
Zhao Yi sat blankly on the spot for a long time, also not knowing what was good to do... He didn't know if this was temporary, or if he would always be this appearance forever? How should he live on with this kind of posture?
No... already turned into this, can he still live on? This looked the same as a mutated monster, wouldn't he die right when he gets up tomorrow morning?
"Find something to block it first..."
Zhao Yi's gaze swept past the surroundings, subsequently running back beside that trash can again, rapidly rummaging inside it.
After dragging out a pile of weird garbage, Zhao Yi finally found a mottled piece of Fabric, like an abandoned blanket or curtain. He used this thing to wrap his head, only revealing a pair of eyes, inserting both hands into his pockets. Only then was the frightening appearance from just now gone.
However even so, if one got close to carefully size him up, one could still see streak after streak of Curse Runes crawling past the bottom of his eyes, this made him have no choice but to narrow his eyes to walk.
It wasn't easy to narrowly escape death, Zhao Yi was not willing to just die beside the trash can like this... At this moment in his heart, there was an urgent impulse.
He wanted to go home.
Perhaps because of experiencing purgatory, the desire to go home in Zhao Yi's heart was increasingly intense. At this moment in his subconscious, only there was warm and safe... even if it was just taking a glance from afar.
Zhao Yi wrapped his body well, then slowly walked towards the short building where the crowd of District Three resided. He still couldn't completely adapt to this body, so the walking pace wasn't fast, only able to act like a patient in rehabilitation training, stumbling forward.
But along with the passage of time, Zhao Yi began to gradually grasp the strength and speed of this body. His movements became faster and faster. Wait until he recovered his senses, his figure was already like a gust of wind, whistling to roll past the earth!
"I am..."
Zhao Yi felt the unprecedented sense of strength inside his body, his eyes gradually lighting up!
Although his external appearance was a bit uglier, however this body seemed to have also given him strength exceeding ordinary. To him, this was absolutely an unexpected pleasant surprise!
Previously when fleeing from District Three, Zhao Yi was endlessly envious of Chen Ling's strength. He had thought more than once, if he possessed strength, his father fundamentally wouldn't have died, he perhaps could rely on himself to change everything!
Now, his dream seems to have been realized!?
Although this strength came a bit late, however he could still rely on this strength, to protect Ling'er, to protect the crowd of District Three... Thinking of this, Zhao Yi's heart then felt incomparable ecstatic, even the disdain towards his own appearance had also dissipated quite a bit.
As long as he can possess strength, as long as he can protect the people he wants to protect, so what if he's a bit ugly?
Zhao Yi's speed was getting faster and faster, dragging out streak after streak of afterimages on the road full of ice frost. Not long after, he then returned to the front of that small building.
He rapidly charged up the stairs, loudly calling out:
"Ling'er!"
"Uncle Xu!!"
Zhao Yi arrived before the door of his own home, using the spare key in the corner to open the door lock. Just as he was about to push open the door, he found that the entire door had already been frozen together by ice frost.
Zhao Yi blanked out for a bit. His palm slightly exerted force, then dragging the door open from the ice, a few wisps of crushed ice scattering on the ground.
"...What's going on? Is it this cold?"
Seeing the ice frost on the door, Zhao Yi realized that the surrounding temperature now should be extremely low, it was just with this body of his nowadays, he wouldn't feel the coldness, and even conversely felt this temperature was very refreshing.
That's not right ah... such a cold day, why isn't the heating turned on?
"...Ling'er?"
Zhao Yi tentatively called out once. There was no figure inside the empty room, and also no one responded.
His brows unconsciously frowned, but after carefully thinking about it, Ling'er was very likely called over to the next door by Xu Chongguo to live. After all he wasn't at home, for a little girl like her to live in one room was too dangerous.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yi immediately arrived before Xu Chongguo's home door.
This time, Zhao Yi didn't rashly open the door, but politely knocked first.
"Uncle Xu? Are you at home?"
"..."
Behind the door no one responded.
For some unknown reason, a burst of inexplicable chill surged into Zhao Yi's heart. He always felt somewhere was not quite right...
"Uncle Xu, I'm coming in."
Zhao Yi's hand gripped onto the door handle, forcefully dragging. Under the terrifying giant strength, the frozen door was forcefully dragged open by him!
Chill like an ice cave drifted out from inside the room. In the narrow living room, it unexpectedly was crowded with over twenty figures. Around them were scattered thick blankets and bedding, haphazardly surrounding a Brazier that had already been extinguished long ago, motionless...
The light outside the window sprinkled onto their bodies, as if plated with a layer of faint White Frost.