Chapter 217: Did I let you go?
It was quiet. Deathly quiet.
The crowd was plunged into deep shock.
Hadn’t that person been declared dead? Why had he suddenly woken up?
As they watched the man vomiting while looking around in a daze, everyone had only one thought in their minds: he had returned from the dead!
Was there really a medical art in this world that could bring back the dead? It was miraculous!
The crowd was shocked, erupting in gasps and exclamations.
However, the expressions on a few faces were exceptionally grim.
The burly man stared at his companion, dumbfounded.
The police officer looked at the "victim," who was vomiting forcefully, his face pale.
Doctor Ma looked at the "corpse" he had confirmed dead, his limbs trembling.
A man who was clearly dead had been brought back with just a few needles. This completely overturned their understanding of the world.
"Look, what is that?" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, pointing at the vomit on the ground.
At the sound, everyone hurried to look.
That one glance was enough to make the more faint-hearted scream and stumble back several steps. Some even began to vomit on the spot.
"My God, what is that thing?"
"What on earth did this person eat?"
"Yeah, that’s so disgusting!"
On the ground, amongst the vomit, was a black insect. That black insect actually began to lay eggs and hatch...
In just a few minutes, the ground was swarming with a dense carpet of black insects. The sight was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
Some people with a fear of dense clusters turned pale, growing dizzy and nearly collapsing.
"Lin Mu, what is this stuff?" Qin Luoli’s face was also a bit pale, her body swaying as if she felt unwell.
"A Southern Region Gu Insect."
Lin Mu explained briefly, then took Qin Luoli’s hand and channeled a surge of Mana into her to ease her discomfort.
"Southern Region Gu Insect?" Qin Luoli looked puzzled, but from the name alone, she knew it wasn’t anything good.
"Hmph. Southern Region Gu Insect? If you’re going to make up an excuse, at least find a convincing one," Doctor Ma scoffed. "I think it’s just an insect with a terrifying reproductive ability, and it came from your store."
"Didn’t you just say this person was already dead? How do you explain this now?" Lin Mu smiled nonchalantly.
"I..." Doctor Ma was rendered speechless by Lin Mu’s retort.
"Your medical skills are lacking, and you nearly got someone killed," Lin Mu snorted, his tone unfriendly. "What right do you have to speak now?"
He then turned to the burly man, who had already gone deathly pale, and said coldly, "As for you..."
The burly man was startled and stammered, "W-what about me?"
"You know perfectly well what you’ve done. Do I need to spell it out?" Lin Mu’s gaze was piercing, like a sharp blade stabbing straight into the man’s heart.
In that moment, the burly man felt as if all his secrets had been laid bare before this person. A surge of unease washed over him.
"It was your store’s food that nearly killed my brother, and now you’re trying to turn the blame on us? How can you be so malicious?" the burly man insisted, craning his neck stubbornly, refusing to admit anything.
Lin Mu let out a cold laugh. "It seems you’re unwilling to confess."
"If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. I did nothing, so what is there for me to confess to?" The burly man was certain Lin Mu had nothing on him, so he held his ground.
"Very well." A chilling smile touched the corners of Lin Mu’s mouth. "I gave you a chance. You’re the one who didn’t take it."
Lin Mu crouched down, glanced at the black insects on the ground, and swept his palm over them.
The crowd only saw the frantically multiplying insects vanish in an instant, but they had no idea how.
But the two police officers exchanged a look, and each saw a trace of shock in the other’s eyes.
This person isn’t afraid of the Feigned-Death Insect?
Immediately afterward, Lin Mu looked at the man who had stopped vomiting and said, "Alright, talk. Why did you come here?"
The man acted as if he still hadn’t recovered, feigning ignorance.
"It seems you’re truly not afraid of dying." Lin Mu chuckled softly, then spread his palm open. He held a few black insects, which seemed to be frozen solid, showing no signs of life.
But at the sight of these insects, the man’s pupils instantly constricted, and an unmistakable look of terror appeared on his face.
"It seems you know where this thing comes from," Lin Mu smiled. "Then this will be easy."
With that, Lin Mu grabbed the man’s mouth, about to stuff the insects inside.
"What are you doing?!" The two police officers were alarmed and moved to intervene.
"Get lost if you don’t want to die!" Lin Mu suddenly turned, a horrifying look exploding from his eyes.
The two police officers cried out and scrambled backward.
"Mmph... mmph..." The man’s cheeks were pinched by Lin Mu, and he couldn’t utter a word, only muffled whimpers.
Just as Lin Mu was about to force the insects into his mouth, the man summoned strength from nowhere and broke free from Lin Mu’s grip.
"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Just don’t make me eat that thing!" His voice was filled with terror, as if he was deeply traumatized by the black insects.
Lin Mu watched him with a half-smile. "Speak. Who sent you?"
"Hey! What do you mean, someone sent us? Kid, you’d better watch your mouth!" the other burly man blustered, sensing the situation had turned against them.
Lin Mu said faintly, "I wasn’t talking to you. You’d best shut your mouth. Otherwise, I’ll let you experience something worse than death."
The burly man flinched, terror on his face, and he immediately fell silent. For some reason, he felt an innate, gut-wrenching fear of Lin Mu.
The other man swallowed hard before cautiously saying, "Actually, I ate that insect to feign death."
A gasp went through the crowd. Feigned death?! What was going on?
Everyone was stunned. That disgusting insect could actually make someone feign death? Was he bluffing?
The man continued, "Someone gave my brother and me a sum of money. They said all we had to do was eat a meal at your restaurant and then ingest the insect."
His face was filled with lingering fear as he spoke. "That person said the insect wouldn’t cause any harm; it would just put someone in a deathlike state for a few hours before they woke up automatically. But..."
"But you didn’t expect that the insect would nearly kill you," Lin Mu finished for him.
"Exactly." The man trembled all over, still trapped in his fear.
"No, impossible!" The other burly man shook his head frantically. "He wouldn’t lie to me! I saw that insect myself. It really does just make you stop breathing, as if you’re in a feigned death state. It can’t be harmful!"
"He lied to you!" the man roared. "Just now, I thought I was really dead! In a daze, I could feel my whole body being covered in insects. Then, Silver Needles appeared one by one and killed them. If they hadn’t, I’d be dead by now!"
The man lunged, grabbing the other by the collar and bellowing, "You nearly killed me!"
"No, it wasn’t me..."
As the two scuffled, everyone else finally understood what had happened. This restaurant had been framed.
Seeing how things had turned out, the two police officers tried to slip away quietly.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Just then, a cold voice reached their ears.
They stopped in their tracks and turned around, only to be met with a smiling face.
"Without my permission, I’d like to see who dares to leave!"