On Cold Frost Street,
The two people who went out the night before are now standing at the doorstep, with hesitation written all over their faces.
This house that once belonged to them was now occupied by someone, or something, that had returned from the dead. The graveyard was contaminated by the Ashen Realm last night, so the occupant inside was most likely a disaster in disguise as Chen Yifei.
"What should we do now..." Li Xiuchun swallowed hard.
"What else can we do?" Chen Tan took a deep breath. "Go in, grab all our belongings quickly, and then run! Run to District Five or Six, as far away from here as possible!"
"But it's still inside. What if we wake it up?"
"It's already left."
Chen Tan looked at the muddy footprints by the door and said with certainty.
Upon hearing this, the woman finally relaxed. She unlocked the door with her key, and they both rushed inside swiftly.
"Only take money and valuables! Leave anything too heavy behind!"
"I'll go to the bedroom, you go to the living room!"
"Hurry, hurry! We don't know when it will come back!"
They frantically grabbed two sacks and began to fill them with their belongings.
The man opened the drawer, stuffed all the money into his pocket, and was about to leave when he saw the axe beside the bed used for self-defense. After a brief hesitation, he also put it into the sack.
Their family was not wealthy, and they had very few valuables. But precisely because of these two points, they couldn't bear to abandon what they had earned with their own hands.
Li Xiuchun stuffed three pieces of cotton and linen clothing into her pocket, confirmed that nothing was left behind, and hurried to the living room.
With the sacks on their shoulders, they were about to leave when Li Xiuchun suddenly asked,
"If we leave, what will happen when Muyu comes back?"
"Then we'll go to District Two first! After picking him up, we'll run together!" Chen Tan answered decisively.
"He'll definitely look for his brother..."
"His brother is already dead."
As Chen Tan spoke, he prepared to open the door. Just then, the sound of a key inserting into the lock hole came.
Their bodies froze in place!
The door slowly opened, and a young boy walked in.
Seeing the two of them with sacks on their shoulders, Chen Yifei was slightly taken aback and asked with confusion,
"Mom, Dad, where are you going?"
Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun looked like they had seen a ghost, their faces ashen.
At the same time, a horse galloped past the window, and the shout of an enforcer echoed in the street,
"A suspected high-risk disaster has appeared! District Three is fully sealed off! No one is allowed to enter or exit!!"
"Be vigilant for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings that appear out of nowhere, mysterious creatures with strange appearances, or even humans behaving abnormally!!"
"If you notice anything unusual, report it to the enforcers immediately..."
The enforcer's voice gradually faded away.
Inside the cramped house, the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.
"We..."
Hearing the voices outside, their legs trembled. They looked at the young boy in front of them in horror, who in their trance had transformed into a ferocious demon from hell!
Chen Yifei's gaze fell on the two large sacks and, considering the enforcer's words just now, he tried to reassure them,
"Don't worry too much. That disaster doesn't seem to be nearby. The street looks fine, doesn't it?"
Chen Tan: ...
Li Xiuchun: ...
Chen Yifei was also very helpless.
Originally, when he heard the news about the "world-ending" disaster invasion, he didn't think much of it. But seeing the audience's expectation skyrocket, he suddenly felt that things were not good...
Zhao Yi had been beaten for the whole afternoon, and his expectation had only increased by a little over ten points. Yet, with just one shout from the enforcer, it surged to over sixty!
Based on Chen Yifei's current understanding, this indicated that they had found something extremely exciting.
Unfortunately, this excitement... might be himself.
Previously, Dr. Lin also mentioned the intersection of the Gray Realm and disasters, and he himself had just traveled through the night before, with the original host's memories of that night disappearing... Combining all these clues, who else could this disaster be but him?
Chen Yifei speculated that what these enforcers were looking for was very likely the audience in his head.
Chen Yifei had also considered whether to directly confess to the enforcers and let them find a way to solve the problem of the audience in his head. But judging from their attitude towards disasters, they were more likely to eliminate him along with it.
In summary, he would try to avoid this trouble for now and observe the situation before making any moves.
Seeing that the two were still tense and nervous, Chen Yifei sighed and took the initiative to help Li Xiuchun carry the sack.
"Mom, where can you run to at this time?"
"Both Zone Two and Zone Three are blocked. We can't get out. Do you want to spend the night outside on the streets?"
Upon hearing the first sentence, Li Xiuchun was frightened. It was only after hearing the rest that she managed to regain her composure and laughed awkwardly,
"Right... you're right."
"Dad, relax too. Don't be too tense... What about Muyu if we escape?"
Chen Tan swallowed and stared intently at Chen Yifei, trying to find even a trace of abnormality or murderous intent on his face... but he failed.
Chen Yifei's every move and action didn't resemble a "disaster" at all, and there was no difference from the Chen Yifei in his mind.
But Chen Tan knew very well in his heart... he wasn't Chen Yifei.
Chen Yifei was already dead.
"Sit down for a while. I'll go to the kitchen to get you some water," Chen Yifei saw that the two still had pale faces, pulled out the chairs beside the table, and then turned to walk into the kitchen.
Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan exchanged a look and ultimately sat down obediently...
While pouring water in the kitchen, Chen Yifei thought about how to ease the atmosphere and casually said,
"Oh, Mom, the sausage you left for me this morning was very delicious. How did you make it?"
"Sausage...?"
Li Xiuchun was somewhat bewildered.
She had gone to the mass grave with Chen Tan the night before. Where did she leave any sausage?
"It's the one on the cutting board," Chen Yifei replied.
The bewilderment in Li Xiuchun's eyes intensified. She tried to recall and finally seemed to remember something, her face turning ashen!
"When did you leave a sausage for him?" Chen Tan asked in a low voice.
"I... I didn't leave any," Li Xiuchun also replied in a low voice, shivering, "What was originally on that cutting board... was a bone-cutting knife...
But when I was collecting things just now, I found... the knife was gone."
Chen Tan's face also changed drastically!
Meanwhile, Chen Yifei, standing in the kitchen with his back to the two, continued slowly,
"That sausage tasted delicious, but it seemed a bit too hard... Mom, remember to cook it softer for me tomorrow."
There was a deathly silence in the living room.
Chen Yifei poured the water and handed it to the two, only to find their faces even paler...
"Are you okay? Not feeling well?" Chen Yifei sat down opposite them, puzzled.
"...We're fine."
Chen Tan took a deep breath, quietly pulled the sack on the ground to his feet with his foot, and his voice stabilized slightly:
"Yifei."
"Hmm?"
"Do you remember what happened yesterday...?"
"Yesterday?" Chen Yifei tried to recall again, then shook his head, "I can't remember clearly... What's the matter?"
"...Nothing." Chen Tan took a sip of water, as if he had made a decision, and looked directly into Chen Yifei's eyes,
"Do you think... how have we been to you?"
"Very good." Chen Yifei spoke as if it was a given, "If you hadn't taken me in back then, I would have probably frozen to death on the roadside... My biological parents didn't want me. You raised me and worked hard to support my education. Everything I have is given by you."
Everything I have is given by you.
Hearing this, a hint of relief flashed in Chen Tan's eyes...
"If one day, Muyu gets sick... and only your heart can save him... would you be willing to save him?"
Chen Yifei was stunned.
For a split second, he felt that this sentence was somewhat familiar.
Fragmented memories emerged from the original host's mind, and Chen Yifei's head started to ache again... He suddenly remembered that the original host had heard similar words yesterday night.
"I... I..." Chen Yifei held his head, and pain appeared on his face.
"Muyu is our biological child. Your mother took medicine to get pregnant with him, which ruined her health... We tried for ten years and finally had this only child..."
"A child truly belonging to us!"
"Now he's sick, and we can't watch him die... The sorcerer in Zone Two said that if we could get another heart from someone under 20, it could replace Muyu's failing heart."
"Muyu has called you his brother for so many years, and you have been our beloved son for so long. Mom and Dad have never asked anything from you, but just this once... we ask you to save Muyu."
"Tell me... you are willing, right?"
Chen Tan's body trembled slightly. His eyes, looking at Chen Yifei, were full of entreaty and expectation.
He was like a child who had done something wrong, waiting for a long-delayed forgiveness.
At this moment, the fragmented memories buried in the heavy rain of the previous night were gradually recalled by Chen Yifei. While enduring the pain of his headache, he took a deep breath and said in a raspy voice,
"So... it was you who killed him..."
"Him?"
"...Does Muyu know?"
"He doesn't know. If he knew that the heart he was about to receive was yours... he would never agree to it, even if it meant death."
Chen Tan regained his composure from the inner struggle and guilt, reached into the sack under his feet, and slowly pulled out a sharp axe.
"Yifei, you're already dead. You shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were red. He tightly gripped the axe and raspy said,
"Whatever is occupying your body... I will give you release."
A low rumble of thunder flashed across the dark sky.
A sharp axe was raised high...
And swung down with force!
Bang——
A warm sensation splashed onto Chen Tan's face.
Crimson blood bloomed like flowers on the floor, and Chen Yifei's body fell straight to the ground with a dull thud.
The axe was embedded in his neck, nearly severing his entire head. His gaze, dilated, stared into nothingness, and his face still bore traces of pain and confusion...
He was dead.
No heartbeat, no breath, his body gradually turning cold, like a martyr lying in a crimson flower bed.
Chen Tan's chest heaved violently. He stared fixedly at the lifeless body, sweat soaking his clothes...
"Dead... Dead?" Li Xiuchun slumped in the chair, trembling as she spoke.
"...Dead."
"What about the disaster?"
Chen Tan paused for a moment, "...I don't know."
Li Xiuchun stared blankly at the corpse and suddenly said, "Do you think... is it possible that he wasn't the disaster... but a chance given by God for us to redeem ourselves?"
"If that's the case..." Chen Tan let out a bitter laugh, "...then we really deserve to go to hell."