Frost Street.
Two disheveled figures stood at their doorstep, their faces filled with hesitation.
This house, once theirs, was now occupied by someone—or something—that had come back from the dead. The mass grave had been contaminated by the Gray Realm last night, so the thing inside the house was most likely a Calamity disguised as Chen Ling.
"What do we do now..." Li Xiuchun swallowed hard.
"What can we do?" Chen Tan took a deep breath. "We go in, grab everything valuable, and run! Run to District Five or Six, anywhere far away from here!"
"But it's still inside. What if we wake it up?"
"It's already gone."
Chen Tan pointed to the muddy footprints at the doorstep, his voice firm.
Hearing this, the woman finally relaxed. She unlocked the door with her key, and the two rushed inside.
"I'll take the bedroom, you take the living room!"
"Hurry! We don't know when it might come back!"
The two frantically pulled out two sacks and began stuffing them with items.
The man opened a drawer and shoved all the money into his pocket. As he was about to leave, he spotted the axe by the bed, the one they kept for self-defense. After a brief hesitation, he stuffed it into the sack as well.
Their family wasn't well-off, and they didn't have many valuables. But precisely because of that, they couldn't bear to abandon the little they had worked so hard to earn.
Li Xiuchun crammed three pieces of cotton clothing into her sack, made sure nothing was left behind, and hurried to the living room.
The two hoisted the sacks onto their shoulders and were about to leave when Li Xiuchun suddenly spoke up:
"What about A-Yan? What happens when he comes back?"
"Then we'll go to District Two first! We'll pick him up and then run together!" Chen Tan replied decisively.
"He'll definitely look for his brother..."
"His brother is already dead."
As Chen Tan spoke, he reached for the door. Just then, the faint sound of a key turning in the lock echoed through the house.
The two froze in place!
The door slowly opened, and a young man walked in.
Chen Ling, seeing the two with sacks on their shoulders, was momentarily puzzled. "Dad, Mom, where are you going?"
Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun looked as if they had seen a ghost, their faces pale.
At the same time, a fast horse galloped past the window, and the enforcer's voice echoed through the street:
"A suspected high-risk Calamity has appeared! District Three is now under full lockdown! No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
"Be vigilant for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings appearing out of nowhere, strange creatures, or humans behaving abnormally!"
"If you notice anything unusual, report it to the enforcers immediately..."
The enforcer's voice gradually faded away.
Inside the narrow house, the atmosphere turned eerily silent.
"We..."
Hearing the voice outside, the two trembled, their legs shaking. They stared at the young man in front of them, their minds conjuring images of a fanged demon from hell!
Chen Ling's gaze fell on the two large sacks, and recalling the enforcer's words, he tried to reassure them:
"Don't worry too much. That Calamity doesn't seem to be nearby. The street looks fine, doesn't it?"
Chen Tan: "..."
Li Xiuchun: "..."
Chen Ling sighed helplessly.
Initially, he hadn't thought much of the news about an "Apocalypse"-level Calamity invasion. But when he saw the audience expectation value skyrocket, he knew something was wrong...
Zhao Yi had been beaten all afternoon, and the expectation value had only risen by a little over ten points. Yet, the enforcers' announcement alone had caused it to surge to over sixty!
Based on Chen Ling's current understanding, this meant the "audience" had found something extremely thrilling.
Unfortunately, that something... was probably him.
Earlier, Dr. Lin had mentioned the Gray Realm convergence and Calamities, and coincidentally, Chen Ling had just transmigrated last night, with no memory of the original owner's final moments... Putting all the clues together, who else could this Calamity be but him?
Chen Ling suspected that the enforcers were looking for the "audience" in his head.
He had considered turning himself in to the enforcers and asking them to deal with the "audience" in his mind. But judging by their attitude toward Calamities, it was more likely they'd kill him along with it.
In short, he decided to lay low for now and observe the situation.
Seeing that the two were still tense and nervous, Chen Ling sighed and reached out to take the sack from Li Xiuchun.
"Mom, where can you even go at a time like this?"
"Districts Two and Three are both locked down. There's no way out. Are you planning to sleep on the streets?"
When Li Xiuchun heard the first sentence, she was terrified. But after hearing the rest, she managed to calm down a little and forced a smile.
"You're... you're right."
"Dad, put that down too. Don't be so nervous... If we run away, what about A-Yan?"
Chen Tan swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on Chen Ling, searching for even the slightest hint of abnormality or malice... but he found none.
Chen Ling's every move was no different from the Chen Ling he knew. There was no trace of a "Calamity" in him.
But Chen Tan knew deep down... this wasn't Chen Ling.
Chen Ling was already dead.
"Take a seat for now. I'll get you some water from the kitchen." Seeing that the two were still pale, Chen Ling pulled out chairs for them and then turned to the kitchen.
Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan exchanged a glance and finally sat down...
As Chen Ling poured water in the kitchen, he tried to lighten the mood and casually asked:
"By the way, Mom, that sausage you left for me this morning was really good. How did you make it?"
"Saus... sausage?"
Li Xiuchun was confused.
Last night, she and Chen Tan had gone to the mass grave. When had she left any sausage?
"The one on the cutting board," Chen Ling replied.
Li Xiuchun's confusion deepened. She tried hard to recall, and then, as if remembering something, her face turned as white as a sheet.
"Did you leave him any sausage?" Chen Tan whispered.
"I... I didn't," Li Xiuchun whispered back, trembling. "There was a boning knife on that cutting board...
But when I was packing up earlier, I noticed... the knife was gone."
Chen Tan's face also changed dramatically!
At the same time, Chen Ling, standing with his back to them in the kitchen, continued calmly:
"That sausage was really tasty, but it was a bit tough... Mom, remember to cook it softer tomorrow."
The living room fell into dead silence.
Chen Ling brought the water over and handed it to them, only to notice that their faces had turned even paler...
"Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?" Chen Ling asked, puzzled, as he sat down across from them.
"...We're fine."
Chen Tan took a deep breath, subtly pulling the sack closer with his foot. His voice was calmer now:
"A-Ling."
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember... what happened yesterday?"
"Yesterday?" Chen Ling tried to recall but shook his head. "I can't remember... Why?"
"...It's nothing." Chen Tan took a sip of water, as if steeling himself, and looked directly into Chen Ling's eyes.
"Do you think... we've treated you well?"
"Of course," Chen Ling replied without hesitation. "If it weren't for you taking me in back then, I probably would've frozen to death on the streets... My birth parents abandoned me, but you raised me as your own, working day and night to put me through school. Everything I have is thanks to you."
Everything I have is thanks to you.
Hearing this, a look of relief flashed in Chen Tan's eyes...
"Then, if one day, A-Yan gets sick... and only your heart can save him... would you be willing to save him?"
Chen Ling was stunned.
For a moment, the words felt familiar.
Fragmented memories from the original owner's mind surged forward, and Chen Ling's head began to ache... He suddenly remembered that the original owner had heard similar words last night.
"I... I..." Chen Ling clutched his head, his expression pained.
"A-Yan is our flesh and blood. Your mother ruined her health taking medicine just to conceive him... We tried for ten years before we finally had this one child..."
"Our one true child!"
"Now he's sick, and we can't just watch him die... The shaman in District Two said that if we can get a young heart from someone under 20, it can replace A-Yan's failing one."
"A-Yan has called you 'brother' for so many years. You've been our son for so many years. We've never asked you for anything, but this time... we're begging you to save A-Yan."
"Tell me... you're willing, right?"
Chen Tan's body trembled slightly. His eyes, filled with pleading and hope, locked onto Chen Ling's.
He looked like a child who had done something wrong, waiting for a long-overdue forgiveness.
At that moment, the fragmented memories buried in last night's storm finally resurfaced in Chen Ling's mind. Clutching his throbbing head, he took a deep breath and spoke hoarsely:
"So... it was you who killed him..."
"Him?"
"...Does A-Yan know?"
"He doesn't. If he knew the heart he was about to receive was yours... he'd rather die than accept it."
Chen Tan snapped out of his inner struggle and guilt, reaching into the sack at his feet and pulling out a sharp axe.
"A-Ling, you're already dead. You shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were bloodshot as he gripped the axe tightly, his voice hoarse.
"Whatever it is that's taken over your body... I'll set you free."
A low rumble of thunder echoed across the dark sky.
The axe was raised high...
And swung down with force!
Thud—
Warm liquid splattered across Chen Tan's face.
Crimson blood bloomed like a flower on the floor as Chen Ling's body collapsed with a dull thud.
The axe was embedded in his neck, nearly severing his head. His lifeless eyes stared into the void, his face still etched with pain and confusion...
He was dead.
No heartbeat, no breath. His body grew cold, like a martyr lying in a bed of red blossoms.
Chen Tan's chest heaved violently as he stared at the lifeless body, his clothes soaked with sweat...
"Is he... is he dead?" Li Xiuchun slumped in her chair, trembling.
"...Dead."
"What about the Calamity?"
Chen Tan paused. "...I don't know."
Li Xiuchun stared blankly at the corpse and suddenly said, "Do you think... maybe he wasn't a Calamity... but God giving us another chance to atone?"
"If that's the case..." Chen Tan let out a bitter laugh. "Then we truly deserve to go to hell."