Chapter 73 – Choice

Translator: Xena

As Qin Zhuo finished speaking, the tentacles swept the green-haired man’s body directly under the hospital bed. If Jian Xie needed them, the clothes could be delivered to him immediately.

It was very efficient.

But Jian Xie paused, thought for a moment, and then said, “No need.” 

Let’s not go through all that trouble.

It’s not really necessary.

Instead of taking off his raincoat, he pulled up the hood over his head.

All that’s left to do now is wait patiently.

Just as Qin Zhuo had said, within a minute, increasingly clear footsteps could be heard in the corridor, indicating that another party was gradually approaching the ward.

Jian Xie said, “They’re here.” 

The next moment, the door was flung open, and the monster’s full appearance came into view.’

Although the monster appeared to have a human-like appearance at first glance, it was actually more like a writhing mass of flesh. On it’s bloody and filthy husk, there were even animal-like hair and limbs, giving people a nauseating image of an experimental product that was a hybrid between an animal and human.

The raincoat that Jian Xie was wearing now was just something he grabbed from a convenience store, so he didn’t notice that the plastic was pure red.

…Like the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

However, contrary to the story, Jian Xie had already unleashed [Lonely Hell] that could alter the state of reality before the monster could react.

It lost its footing in an instant and half of its body sank into the swamp-like, sticky floor.

No matter how much the monster struggled, it was completely unable to break free from its restraints. It even sank deeper and deeper until only its head was sticking out.

“You—!”

A wave of panic washed over it as it looked up in surprise and uncertainty, its pupils suddenly contracting.

The monster got a clear look of the boy standing in front of it.

And behind him, on a hospital bed, a young man leaning back propped up on his hands, sitting in a lazy posture.

He was looking at itself over Jian Xie’s shoulder. Due to the high vantage point, his dark crimson eyes held a slight hint of condescension.

Although part of It’s body disappeared into a black mist, It’s terrifying and sinister aura was unmistakable to any monster that had ever been to hell.

“……”

The human in front of it—

Jian Xie’s tone was somber. “Lead the way.” 

The monster paused for a moment, but in those few seconds of buffer time without answer, its entire body had sank several inches deeper.

It looked like it was about to sink directly into the floor.

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” It immediately shouted, spilling everything it knew like beans out of a sack, terrified that if it was any later, it would be sent straight to hell. “I was just thinking that although this is a corridor, it requires passing through a predation field built by several Special A-level monsters, so I was afraid we might not make it through unscathed…”

This was to defend Jian Xie.

After the A-level monster crow went missing, they received energy fluctuations from the parent-teacher conference and encountered Green Hair bringing Minister Zhang along, so they had a premonition that he would come.

But it wasn’t as if they could just say “Welcome” and “Thank you for your patronage” and expect to escape smoothly.  Every monster was fully aware that it could end up on someone’s plate, because they were not waiters, but ingredients. The higher the level, the greater the danger.

For this reason, they jointly established a predation field and created a safe zone.

However, after it finished speaking, Jian Xie’s expression did not change much.

In the monster’s point of view, it was It, who was sitting on the hospital bed, that rested their chin on their hand and lazily, yet incisively, pointed out, “As long as the predation field is larger than their range and the level is higher than all of them combined, then we can just capture them directly.” 

Special A-level monster: “…”

Although it had a premonition, I was still greatly shocked to hear with its own ears that the god who was always looking down on everyone had clearly taken a clear stance.

However, it was only theoretically possible.

After all, even A-level monsters understand this principle. They bully Jian Xie because he was human, so there was no such thing as a predation field for him.

“Tha’s certainly more convenient than walking there,” Jian Xie said in a low voice. 

Then, it saw the other person turn their face. Their gaze slowly fell on the corridor outside the door and crease their brows slightly.

It was struck as if by lightning.

Wait a moment……

It shouldn’t be, right?

……

“Why is it taking so long?”

At the conference table, a monster dressed in a student uniform pushed back his chair and stood up, his face contorted with rage.

If the neighbor were here, they would immediately recognize this guy as the one who framed him.

Even after so much time has passed and other things have happened, it still continued to act with impunity using this identity, showing no regard for him or Jian Xie.

“Wu Qinghe didn’t come either. This is the second time it’s been late.” The student glanced around and scoffed, “They were terrified as soon as they heard that a human named Jian Xie was coming. He’s just a human. The reason we failed was at most because of him. As for him personally, what’s so special about him?” 

Its gaze lingered briefly on Minister Zhang, who was tied to a chair, and it let out a cold laugh.

With this woman present, and their connection to the predation field, the other party would likely hesitate to act rashly.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

Although quite a few A-level monsters have arrived, three of the six core members of the gathering who were the first to respond to the plan were currently absent.

They all made excuses and left as soon as they heard that Jian Xie would appear, not daring to gamble on Jian Xie’s position in It’s heart.

At that thought, its eyes revealed resentment and jealousy.

It was the first to respond to the plan of bringing It into the world, willing to play the lowly human to find sacrifices, and the result—

It never paid any attention to any of its requests.

It didn’t even give a cursory response, not even a glance.

Given It’s arrogant nature, such a cold attitude should have been perfectly reasonable, but It repeatedly treated a human differently, making it feel deeply unfairly treated.

Its gaze unconsciously fell on the small bust stone statue on the conference room table.

A pendant was hanging from the neck of the pristine white sculpture.

The pendant shimmered with a chaotic and captivating color, like an open eye, or a vortex reflecting the abyss, mesmerizing all who beheld it.

—[Eagle Eye].

It found this.

Although it was not qualified to pick it up, it was okay, it just needed to wait a little longer.

Through this medium, It would soon break free from the bondage of that human and come to It’s true believers.

That human was just a mistake in its choice of sacrifice, and there is still a chance to salvage the situation.

However, the thought only flashed through its mind briefly—

When suddenly, all the monsters noticed the scene before them flicker, as if an old, short-circuited wire had broken down, and the world before them was constantly collapsing and rebuilding.

At the same time, the ground beneath their feet crumbled, turning into dust in less than a second.

Apart from Minister Zhang, who was tied to a chair, the monsters present suddenly lost their footing and fell to the ground before they could even react.

Their enormous, ugly bodies crashed heavily onto bone-chilling, solid ice, producing a series of cracking sounds as bones shattered.

They tried to move immediately, but their skin clung to the ice, tearing apart horribly in an instant. Screams echoed through the air, and their terrified gazes overlapped with the figures of the monsters struggling to climb upwards beneath the ice.

Where on earth did they end up?!

The student took the hardest fall.

It had suddenly stood up from its chair to speak, and with its balance already off, it was completely caught off guard when  unexpectedly thrown into this godforsaken place.

In front of it, there was only one figure standing alone.

An irresistible aura emanated from the other person, and even amidst excruciating pain, it left him briefly spellbound, unable to tear himself away.

It even began to fantasize about tearing the other’s flesh apart and devouring it immediately, otherwise, it would barely be able to relieve the burning sensation of its empty stomach…

Is that…a human?

It suddenly snapped back to its senses and struggled to lift its head to look at the figure clad in bright red.

Coincidentally, the other person wearing a bright red plastic raincoat was looking down at him with an indifferent gaze.

“Who are you—”

It would never forget that face. It said through gritted teeth, “Jian Xie!” 

It’s him again!

But what comforted it somewhat was that it found no trace of It around him.

It seemed It was not involved.

However, as soon as its voice fell, Jian Xie suddenly squatted down, ignoring the monsters that were also wailing around him, and examined its face without making a move immediately.

“I think I remember you,” he suddenly said. 

It wasn’t from the neighbors’ memories.

The scene was too dark at the time, and it was just a fleeting moment, so his attention wasn’t entirely focused on the guy.

But now, trapped in an endless ice field with the entire white world filled only with a few faces before him, the distinct background made their features more vivid.

The anonymous email Jian Ye received, containing several photos of dead bodies, brought back fragments of his memory.

“But not this outfit.”

It was not a school uniform.

He was also sitting with several other young people playing on their phones.

Right there… in the hotel where he and his parents were staying on vacation.

Upon hearing this, the student paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. “You remember? Don’t be ridiculous. If you remembered, how could you still be standing here?”  

It should have burned him as a sinner the moment It appeared, how could he still be so arrogant in front of It?!

Jian Xie’s expression remained unchanged. “This is the question I want to ask you.” 

“Isn’t it just because the anomalous object failed, allowing you to survive and be lucky enough to have a body personally chosen by It? If not, what else do you think happened?”

As it uttered this slightly sarcastic remark, it noticed the other monsters around it sinking into the ice, their faces distorted by the chill that seeped into their bodies, like pools of foul-smelling flesh being poured deep into the ice.

It was like a bucket of cold water poured over its head, making it shiver all over.

—This is the Eight Cold Hells!

Jian Xie didn’t speak.

He looked at it, seemingly deep in thought.

The student realized that the only reason they were still alive and standing there was because it still held value.

“Anomalous object… So, you were the one who did those things back then.” He looked at it, his eyes deep, and said, “As for the purpose, is it to make me like my neighbor, forced to make a deal with the anomalous object and merge with it, so that I can become It’s sacrifice the day after tomorrow?” 

His mind was in turmoil regarding the events before and after the car accident, filled with numerous contradictory images.

The email also implies that there were many ways to die.

In addition to the information obtained from Cheng Li—

“I know myself well enough to know that no matter what happens, I won’t make a deal with an anomalous object.”

This was the key difference between him and his neighbor.

He would never relinquish control, not even if he were in deep hell.

“To your surprise, I’ll just find a way to get revenge myself.” Jian Xie’s expression was cold, and his clean face revealed a cruel aura that did not match his age. “So, you reset time 67 times, forcing me to make a choice each time.” 

Those ways of dying.

It could be him, or it could be someone else.

Jian Xie believed that Qin Zhuo most likely appeared at that time, and that only that experience could be considered truly evil in his otherwise uneventful life.

The student’s facial muscles twitched.

Its eyes revealed terror as it stared at Jian Xie with an intensity it had never shown before.

“…Reset time? It wasn’t me.” It murmured subconsciously, “That anomalous object was only capable of inciting the evil within humans.”  

It was not capable of doing so.

It could only be the work of that guy lurking behind this incident.

And for ordinary humans, that was an experience that would be unforgettable even if they went through it just once—yet the person standing before it has actually gone through it 67 times…?

No wonder, no wonder he can use Hell…

That guy who said he wanted to cooperate with it actually deceived it, using it to hold so many gatherings. He totally took advantage of its lack of knowledge, which was why—

It raised its eyes, almost about to reveal what it had learned, but then, realizing its predicament, it shut its mouth.

“I won’t say another word.” It stubbornly insisted. 

Jian Xie glanced at it, then straightened back up. “I wasn’t planning on asking you anyway.” 

He can just search through his memories. The things Qin Zhuo taught him weren’t just for show.

Student: “……”