Phi-Fic Chapter 412 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (23)
Chapter 412 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (23)
Lu Liruan propped herself up and realized that her legs were as weak as noodles.
"You...are you dead?" Lu Liruan asked in that direction, and even she herself felt it was utterly absurd.
It's simply that I don't want to get any closer.
Lu Liruan's upper body had extended two meters out, but her feet remained in place, maintaining her balance in an extremely strange posture.
Liao Tingyuan leaned against the corner of the wall, sighed, and slowly moved to one side by touching the edge of the wall with his gloved hand.
She was worried that if Lu Liruan lost her balance, she might fall on top of her.
Liao Tingyuan felt that if he were hit again, he would really die tonight.
Fortunately, before he moved out of Lu Liruan's attack range, Lu Liruan was not injured and managed to reach the large spoon that had fallen to the ground at some point.
“Brother, you…” Lu Liruan turned around, wanting to speak to Liao Tingyuan, but inexplicably found that Liao Tingyuan was no longer there.
Turning her neck to look, Lu Liruan tilted her head, wondering why Liao Tingyuan had climbed two steps in a posture that looked exhausting.
One of his legs hung limply, and his whole body appeared even paler in the brighter light of the flashlight.
"Hmm?" Liao Tingyuan responded softly and weakly.
"It's okay..."
Lu Liruan originally wanted to say: What am I looking for in that pile of... meat? Why don't you come and take a look too, so I don't miss anything.
But seeing Liao Tingyuan's state, Lu Liruan swallowed her words again.
Never mind, I'll do it myself.
I feel like he's really going to die.
Lu Liruan took a deep breath, tiptoed forward two steps with her eyes closed, forced herself to lower her head, and looked at the piled-up objects that resembled parts of a person, parts... parts.
I'm really about to faint! Lu Liruan pinched her philtrum, feeling like she was about to roll her eyes back.
"clothing."
Behind him, Liao Tingyuan weakly uttered two words.
Lu Liruan nodded; she was also preparing to rummage through the clothes that had been torn to shreds.
The clues couldn't possibly be in the stomach and intestines, could they? Lu Liruan felt that her mental endurance had reached an extremely terrifying level.
The moment that thought crossed Lu Liruan's mind, she wondered if Liao Tingyuan had any rubber gloves at home.
Lu Liruan didn't know if she was seeing things or if she was about to have a mental breakdown and was hallucinating. She kept feeling that the pile of flesh was twitching. Wherever she stared, that place didn't move, but in her peripheral vision, there was always something moving.
"Damn it! I'm going crazy!" Lu Liruan pursed her lips, then picked up a large ladle and pounded it all over again like pounding rice cake.
Liao Tingyuan leaned against the stairs, wanting to speak up and stop her, knowing that Lu Liruan was probably affected.
But when he opened his mouth, no sound came out. Lu Liruan's hammering was just too lively and intense.
Forget it.
Let's hammer it.
Liao Tingyuan had never faced such a situation before. He himself was no better off than Lu Liruan. Lu Liruan had mental problems, while he himself had more physical problems.
Lu Liruan didn't notice Liao Tingyuan's hesitation behind her.
After she finished massaging around, she stopped, panting, and then, feeling a little more at ease, used the handle of a flashlight.
Pick out a piece of fabric that had long been soaked in blood and bodily fluids and had lost its original color.
That location was where the pocket of the shirt should be. Fortunately, the pocket wasn't torn. Lu Liruan held her breath, squinted, and found one pocket of the shirt and two pockets of the pants.
All of this stems from this newly appearing "person" today.
One of them made a soft "ding" sound when Lu Liruan pulled it out and threw it on the ground.
Lu Liruan paused, her gaze lingering.
He used his foot to hook the bag to the side, squatted down, and carefully grasped a small corner with his fingertips, shaking it.
A bunch of keys fell out of it.
Lu Liruan wiped the bag she was carrying with her, placed it in her palm, and examined it carefully.
The set of keys has three keys, one of which is very small and looks like the key to a small box or something similar, and a key card with a round clasp.
One game left.
It's just an ordinary key.
“Look at this…” Lu Liruan walked up the steps and plopped down next to Liao Tingyuan.
Liao Tingyuan glanced sideways: "The door key."
"Are we being taken to this 'person's' house?" Lu Liruan murmured. "The key question is, where is his house?"
“His house feels like hell…” Lu Liruan complained helplessly.
Liao Tingyuan silently twitched the corner of his mouth: "Yeah, our neighborhood is practically hell now."
After hearing Liao Tingyuan's words, Lu Liruan suddenly paused, lowered her head, and looked at the buckle-shaped key again.
I understand what Liao Tingyuan meant.
This is their community gate card.
Lu Liruan uses an old-fashioned card; it seems like the ones she recently got were newly issued or replaced, and they're all clasp-shaped.
"Holy crap, the neighbor?" Lu Liruan murmured.
"So these two are going to die in our neighborhood?" Lu Liruan searched her memory carefully, trying to find any unusual events from a while ago.
But at that time, I worked three shifts at a hot pot restaurant, and I was exhausted every day. I didn't even come home properly.
I didn't notice anything strange at all...
"Tell me, did they die first and then the infected space was created, or did the infected space be created first and then the two of them died?" Lu Liruan wiped the key even cleaner with her clothes.
"I don't know. Maybe we'll be able to figure it out when we find his house and see more information." Liao Tingyuan had rested for half a day and his strength was slowly returning.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Lu Liruan saw him move first and then stumbled, so she quickly helped him up.
Liao Tingyuan shook his head and sighed: "It seems we won't be able to go out and take a look tonight. I was hoping that if we went out now, we might get some clues about where this thing came from."
"Since things are already like this, there's no need to rush. Why don't you stay here and I'll go down and take a look by myself?"
Lu Liruan is currently in a state of complete shock.
I used to think that I would be afraid to walk the short distance from my home to Liao Tingyuan's place by myself.
Even now, Lu Liruan feels completely unmoved when she thinks about going down to look for clues.
I don't know if I've really grown up...
He's completely gone mad.
Lu Liruan sighed along with her.
In the dimly lit corridor, the sighs of the two people rose and fell.
"No," Liao Tingyuan shook his head. "I'm not comfortable with that."
"What are you worried about?" Lu Liruan felt that if she encountered this thing again, her heart rate would no longer fluctuate, because it simply couldn't go any faster.
"I'm afraid...afraid you'll die out there." Liao Tingyuan's voice was as gentle as ever, but his words were concise and to the point, expressing his true feelings.
Lu Liruan: ...Although it is true.
But the two of us had already revealed our true colors and no longer cared about social etiquette.
Liao Tingyuan was amused by her deflated expression. He took a deep breath, panting, and said in a half-joking tone, "I've gone to so much trouble to protect you, you can't die. Be strong, sweetie..."
He spoke in a completely child-coaxing tone.
Lu Liruan didn't know if the children he used to coax would still listen or be able to be coaxed by him, but she herself would be completely coaxed by him.
Even in this setting, Lu Liruan still felt somewhat flattered by Liao Tingyuan's words...
Lu Liruan didn't realize she would fall for this.
It's probably because...it's been a long time since anyone has been so patient in comforting me. When I'm sad, I'm too lazy to even comfort myself.
"Alright, let's go inside then." Lu Liruan pursed her lips and used her strength to help Liao Tingyuan up from the ground.
The door was working now, but Lu Liruan felt it made no difference whether it was closed or not. She helped Liao Tingyuan to the sofa: "Where's the first-aid kit?"
"The bottom left of the wardrobe." Seeing Lu Liruan's anxious look, Liao Tingyuan said, "Don't worry, could you please get me a looser short-sleeved shirt first?"
"okay!"
Lu Liruan found a black T-shirt and handed it to him, while Liao Tingyuan went to the bathroom to change his clothes.
When he came out, Lu Liruan noticed that the wounds on his arm had been washed away by the water.
"Hey! Be careful not to get an infection!" Lu Liruan looked at his open wound, which had been washed away by the water and was now completely bloodless, and felt a pang of sadness.
He had about four or five long wounds on his arm, and quite a few more small, scattered ones from being poked and stabbed.
Lu Liruan felt a little faint at the sight of blood on the first day, but she is now completely cured.
This is a forced, high-intensity desensitization therapy, and Lu Liruan can only feel sorry for him as she watches.
"I'll be gentle..." Lu Liruan unconsciously puffed out her cheeks and gently blew on him while applying the medicine, as if that would help relieve his pain.
Like a child.
Looking at her meticulous manner, Liao Tingyuan actually felt a bit like she was still taking care of a child.
“How about…” Lu Liruan looked up at him, her eyes almost overflowing with worry.
"I'd better go down and take a look myself, otherwise what will we do if this happens again tomorrow?" Lu Liruan was genuinely worried.
She has lived in a safe society for so many years. Not to mention armed combat, she has seen hand-to-hand combat between three or more creatures that can walk upright.
She really wanted to help but couldn't! She completely understood what it meant to be willing but powerless.
At most, not doing anything won't help, but taking action on your own might actually make things worse!
"We still have a day to prepare. Now that we know what we're dealing with, we can start preparing tomorrow. Don't worry so much." Liao Tingyuan's gloves, soaked in blood, had already been taken off and thrown into the trash can.
Before he could change into another pair, his beautiful, jade-carved hand raised its fingertips and touched Lu Liruan's furrowed brow.
"Who knows what else might happen tomorrow..." Lu Liruan muttered, feeling the icy sensation from his fingertips travel from her skin to her brain.
"Don't move!" Lu Liruan bandaged his arm with gauze.
After helping him get it sorted out, Lu Liruan changed her clothes and restyled her messy hair.
Lu Liruan walked to the door, opened it, and looked outside.
Liao Tingyuan is probably completely exhausted tonight, and he won't be able to deal with the things outside.
"Stop looking, just... stay there." Liao Tingyuan leaned back on the sofa, his head tilted back, revealing his pale and thin neck.
"That's it then." Lu Liruan gave up, slammed the door shut, and decided to avoid seeing it altogether.
Anyway, even if another one of her came, she wouldn't be able to move that pile of stuff.
"Get up, don't fall asleep here, go inside and sleep!" After Lu Liruan finished showering, she came out and saw Liao Tingyuan already curled up on the sofa, quietly closing his eyes.
"Go ahead... I'll just take a nap here." Liao Tingyuan glanced at his watch; it was almost 3 a.m. after all this commotion.
"You'd better go quickly! I'll stay here. You're injured now, like an endangered species between us. Go quickly, or we'll both die a horrible death tomorrow night if you don't get some rest!"
Lu Liruan clearly wanted to say something caring and thankful, but when the words reached her lips, they took on a slightly different meaning.
"Row."
But Liao Tingyuan understood. He slightly opened his eyes, looked at Lu Liruan, and curled the corners of his mouth: "You won't die."
"Yeah, neither of us will die! We have to get out of here alive together. I'm still waiting for you to introduce me to a high-paying job!" Lu Liruan laughed too: "Go quickly!"
Liao Tingyuan didn't offer her any more concessions; he was so exhausted that he was too tired to even say a single word.
Lu Liruan grabbed an air-conditioning blanket, placed a cushion under her head where Liao Tingyuan had been sitting, and lay down.
The moment I straightened my body, I felt like my soul had left my body.
As if his soul had been ripped out, he quickly fell into a coma.
Lu Liruan now believes what Liao Tingyuan said earlier: her mental strength has been affected, and the simplest and most common way to restore mental strength is to sleep. The more severely her mental strength is affected, the faster she can fall asleep.
The next day, Lu Liruan was awakened by the smell.
The stench seemed to seep into one's dreams, and Lu Liruan felt as if she had been having several nightmares in a row, so she suddenly sat up from the sofa.
Not a dream.
That suffocating smell is still there.
Lu Liruan paused for a few seconds before she remembered...
Liao Tingyuan once said that if you don't clean up the night before, it will look like this the next day.
Lu Liruan sighed deeply, feeling that no matter what, she still had to get out of this space as soon as possible.
Otherwise, if there was one body the day before yesterday and two yesterday, and we can't get out for another week, won't the outside become a mass grave?
"Good morning."
Liao Tingyuan's voice came from behind. Lu Liruan turned around and saw that he had already changed his clothes. The wound on his arm was covered by the sleeve of his shirt, and he looked like nothing had happened.
“You…” Lu Liruan thought to herself: You’re not quite… not quite human either.
"You mean this taste?" Liao Tingyuan thought she was asking about this: "It'll be fine if you just stay outside."
Lu Liruan checked the time; it was just before nine in the morning.
Are they going to be out there wandering for twelve hours?