Chapter 48.3 – Lovestruck (3/3)

Translator: Xena

After an unbearable silence, Jian Xie asked again, “How many anomalies, or monsters, are there in this building?” 

“…All I can say is, everything.”

So why did he lose his mind and foolishly followed Jian Xie into this building? Although the Special A-level objects were not impossible to handle, what humans feared the most was the unknown. Without knowing how many Special A-level objects were lurking inside, Xu Yujin would not have dared to come in lightly.

“What are you going to do?” He frowned and put the blade down. “I can contact the Bureau’s [Eye] right now to scan the building.” 

“You said Liu Qi was in charge of this area, didn’t you know I lived here?” Jian Xie smiled, which was extremely rare. He knew where the incongruity lay. “Since the [Eye] and the [Logistics Department] have no objections, how can you be sure that the data sent back is real?” 

Since Wu Qinghe, a Special A-level monster, was able to infiltrate the vital [Weapons Department], it was normal for other departments to have non-humans.

“……”

The elevator emitted an old-fashioned hum and the arrival indicator flashed. The doors opened, but no one got out.

“Are you suspecting that I’m a monster too?” Xu Yujin hesitantly asked. 

“You’re not.”

Just now, when Qin Zhuo was teasing him viciously, Jian Xie could see that he was indeed frightened, but Jian Xie did not taste food like he did with Dr. Li’s fear, which meant that the other party was indeed a pure human being and not a monster in disguise.

Eating was quite useful in identifying monsters.

“Your suspicion is justified. The Bureau’s arrangements for this year were very strange… It made me feel like something is going to happen.” Xu Yujin shrugged and frowned. “I and two other Special A-level investigators were frequently dispatched to the first three districts, which was equivalent to being kicked out of the mainstream team. I actually haven’t had contact with other investigators for a long time, and I don’t know which new people have joined.”

This year… it just so happened that Jian Xie was involved in a car accident exactly one year ago.

The eyeball monster at the subway station inadvertently mentioned that it heard many of its companions talking about Jian Xie’s name on the train, so it became curious about him.

It seemed that he was also quite famous in the other world.

“You don’t doubt me?” He asked. 

Xu Yujin showed a surprised expression and said with a smile, “That you’re a monster? I would have died long ago, given how powerful you appear to be. Then I should thank you for chatting with me. Is this deathbed condolence? After all, all the Special A-levels I’ve met hated investigators to the core, they wished they could just pull out their tendons and bones and eat them alive.”    

“……”

“In that case, I’ll be honest too. Actually, I lied to you. I didn’t receive any mission. In a sense, Yu Jinghe hasn’t gone missing. I was supposed to be in the first three districts.” The smile on Xu Yujin’s face slowly faded and he became a little gloomy. “But I didn’t receive any text messages from Yu Jinghe.”  

The other party was a rare A-level investigator. They have participated in many missions together and still kept in touch throughout the year.

Although Yu Jinghe had a bad temper, he would send him a text message every day, asking him awkwardly whether he was dead yet, and that he should come back quickly to help deal with Cheng Li if he was not. The guy had been too unbridled recently, and what was even more annoying was that he pretended that nothing happened after.

Although he never gave a clear reply, the feeling of being in touch with someone was comforting while traveling on business.

So when he didn’t receive any abusive text messages from the other party for several days in a row, he knew that something might have gone wrong.

His high authority allowed him to directly bypass notice and check the monitoring data of the [Eye]. Yet there, Yu Jinghe had been photographed conducting normal activities outside the facility over the past few days? How ridiculous. 

Next, he found Liu Qi’s body, who had been “notified to go on a business trip”. Although he had only been missing for a dozen hours, the signs of decay on his body showed that he had been dead for at least half a year, further confirming his suspicions.

Was there a possibility of parasitism?

“Do you think that person is still ‘Yu Jinghe’? …I just can’t believe he could have died so easily.” Xu Yujin said, shrugging. “If he really isn’t and he’s been transformed into a monster, I’ll kill him with my own hands. That’s why I’m here.” 

If the Bureau found out that he disappeared during a business trip, he would definitely be punished, so he would never return empty-handed, no matter what he ends up killing in the end.

Jian Xie put his hand into his pocket and touched the still-wriggling insect, his face expressionless. “Let me ask. I’ll find out.” 

It was quite good. If “Yu Jinghe” was in this building, he could save himself some effort.

He said “I” instead of “we”. Upon hearing this, Xu Yujin immediately showed a surprised expression, but soon, his expression froze on his face. Even the hem of his windbreaker that flew up because of the movement stayed in place, and the half-dripping mucus also froze midair.

Time stood still.

Seeing this, Qin Zhuo laughed, and his figure instantly dissipated into the air, turning into something invisible. 【I leave it to you, let me see what you can do. 】

[Eight Cold Hells]

Would it respond to him this time?

Perhaps due to deliberate control, the bone-chilling cold spread more slowly this time. Although all Jian Xie saw was the narrow and crowded corridor after the elevator was opened, he could feel orange-yellow dots lighting up in all directions, which were not things that could be seen with the naked eye.

He didn’t lower his head, but he knew there were two almost overlapping bright spots in his pocket.

What was hidden behind any door on any floor of the building hiding in the darkness trembling and dense small words appearing above their heads, listing the deep-buried crimes and writing down all the sins they have committed were all laid bare.

For Jian Xie, it was like having a cheat mode activated in a game, allowing him to easily discern the locations and movements of monsters and humans.

Perhaps the Bureau was not wrong, and the number was indeed a hint of the game…

Jian Xie got 7, so he should be the all-knowing, all-powerful ruler!

The monsters were yellow, occasionally mixed with green and red, which were as colorful as candy, but humans were dull and monotonous black and gray, drowned in the colorful lights, like the root of a disease. They were not very eye-catching, which made separating them a little painful.

The predation field was the net that pulled the food in…

Jian Xie opened his eyes.

The wind was howled in his ears and the frost blew onto his face almost instantly, covering his eyelashes with snow. He found himself standing on a familiar ice field, and under the ice layer beneath his feet were countless wailing monsters, almost turned into ice sculptures, struggling to climb out of the icy depths.

Before him stood a twisted figure, its lower half completely encased in ice.

Jian Xie examined it and found that the process didn’t seem too difficult.

【I told you, you’re very talented.】 Qin Zhuo was not surprised by the result and sounded very satisfied. 【But, what about the other one?】

“If the anomaly is removed, he will die.” Jian Xie said slowly, “Let me think about it some more.” 

Hearing this, Qin Zhuo snorted lightly, but said nothing more.

Suddenly finding itself in a completely unfamiliar place, the other party looked surprised at first, then ecstatic. However, when it saw that only Jian Xie was standing in front of it, its eyes suddenly revealed fear and terror. “How could it be you? You shouldn’t be…” 

“Don’t talk to me with Yu Jinghe’s face.” Jian Xie said coldly, “I know you monsters don’t look like this.” 

As his words fell, the other party’s face was forced to melt. It wailed and writhed and its bones shattered, revealing the segmented limbs characteristic of insects emerging from the flesh.

After a while, it turned into a dying monster that looked like a cross between a human and an insect. Only in horror movies could one see such a deformed body.

“I shouldn’t be what?” Jian Xie said. 

He looked indifferent, not at all affected by the blood-splattering scene before him.

“You shouldn’t be the one using Hell!” The monster said restlessly, its gaze lingering on Jian Xie’s eyes, but it was obvious that the reason it answered its own question was because it was extremely confused. “If it was just a human, how could it devour a monster? Shouldn’t it be…” 

Before it could finish its words, Jian Xie had already slowly taken a step forward and lightly touched one of its limbs with his fingertips.

Almost at the moment of touching, that part of its body disappeared on the spot without even a bit of buffer and was directly absorbed into Jian Xie’s body.

What—?

The monster’s pupils shrank. It had no time to care that a part of its body was missing, it just stared at Jian Xie blankly.

“You seem disappointed.” Jian Xie withdrew his hand. “You seem to know that I can control [Hell]?” 

The monster gritted its teeth and refused to say more.

But Jian Xie said slowly, “You know I can keep you here. If that doesn’t work, I can also look through your memories.”  

“……”

“After leaving Hell, some of us decided that it would be beneficial for us to have ‘that being’ come to this reality as well.”

To be fair, the monster didn’t have the nerve to keep a secret.

Under the terrible threat, it immediately surrendered and gulped. “You’re the first sacrifice. Then, the human being who was raised by the Special A-level anomaly is the second sacrifice we prepared. This way, It won’t tear us apart…” 

In other words, the neighbor was a Super Special A-level food carefully raised by monsters, and Jian Xie was also one at first.

The reason why the entire building was filled with edible monsters was because they were afraid Qin Zhuo would think they were not pious or respectful enough and thus get angry.

All to please It who was so moody that even the most evil monsters were terrified.

The reason it joined the Bureau was just to pave the way for the future.

So Yu Jinghe became suspicious of Jian Xie at that time. In order to prevent the plan from going awry, it abandoned its original human form and occupied this guy’s body to prevent Yu Jinghe from reporting the situation and causing the management bureau to become suspicious of Jian Xie.

However, this move unexpectedly backfired, causing a Special A-level investigator to chase after it.

In a panic, it targeted the Super Special A-level food and stirred trouble, wanting Qin Zhuo to eat the sacrifice as soon as possible to avoid being discovered by the Management Bureau.

From just these few words, Jian Xie roughly understood what they intended.

They knew that this indescribable being was in his body, and they believed that Qin Zhuo’s indifference to humanity would make It stand on the side of the monsters.

…And, this group of monsters who escaped from hell actually want to reopen hell?

【They want to pull all the investigators in, shut down Hell, and then occupy the real world.】 Qin Zhuo sneered, sounding very disdainful.【After that, the whole world will be their slaughterhouse, and they can do whatever they want.】

“The descent ritual was clearly successful, so why weren’t you eaten? Why is it that you’re still the one in control of the body’s consciousness… We all thought that It was just playing a game and hiding It’s true identity like us, but it turns out, you’re still you?” 

Its voice gradually became lower and lower, turning into a murmur. “Could it be that it actually failed?” 

Jian Xie frowned.

“There was no failure.”

When it suddenly heard this voice coming from the void, the monster’s pupils contracted, obviously terrified to the extreme.

“I did want to kill all the investigators. Humans who are guilty deserve to die and should not escape from this hellish game.” Qin Zhuo’s figure emerged from the [Eight Cold Hells] for the first time. It’s eyes were almost expressionless as It crouched down and looked at the monster in front of It. “I just… accidentally fell in love with one of them.”

So I changed my mind.

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