Chapter 8: Killing Plot

Frost Street.

Two disheveled figures stood at their doorstep, their faces etched with hesitation. The house that once belonged to them was now occupied by someone—or something—that had returned from the dead. Given that the pauper's grave was contaminated by the Gray World last night, it was highly probable that the entity inside was a calamity disguised as Chen Ling.

"What do we do now...?" Li Xiuchun swallowed hard.

"What can we do?" Chen Tan took a deep breath. "Go in, quickly grab all our valuables, and then run! To District Five or Six, anywhere as far away from here as possible!"

"But it's still in there. What if we wake it up?"

"It's already gone." Chen Tan said with certainty, looking at the muddy footprints at the front door.

Hearing this, the woman finally let out a sigh of relief. She unlocked the door, and the two rushed inside.

"Only take money and valuables! Leave anything too bulky!""I'll go to the bedroom, you go to the living room!""Hurry! No time to lose! We don't know when it might return!"

The two frantically pulled out two burlap sacks and began stuffing them. The man opened a drawer and stuffed all the money into his pocket. As he was about to leave, he saw the axe by the bed, which they used for self-defense. After a moment of hesitation, he also put it into the sack. Their family was not well-off; they had few valuable possessions. But precisely because of this, they were reluctant to abandon the meager belongings they had earned with their own hands.

Li Xiuchun shoved three cotton and linen garments into her sack. After confirming nothing was left behind, she hurried to the living room. As they hoisted the sacks onto their shoulders, ready to leave, Li Xiuchun suddenly asked, "If we leave, what about A-Yan when he comes back?"

"Then we'll go to District Two first! We'll pick him up and then run together!" Chen Tan replied 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 rustle of a key inserting into the lock came from outside. Both of them froze instantly! The front door slowly opened, and a young man walked in. Chen Ling saw the two people carrying sacks, paused slightly, and asked, "Dad, Mom, where are you going?"

Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun turned deathly pale, as if they had seen a ghost.

At the same moment, a fast horse galloped past outside the window, and the cries of Enforcers echoed through the street: "Suspected high-risk calamity detected! District Three is completely locked down! No one is permitted to enter or exit!" "Be alert for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings appearing out of nowhere, strange-looking mysterious creatures, or even humans behaving abnormally!" "If anything unusual is found, report it to the Enforcers immediately..."

The Enforcers' voices gradually faded away. Inside the cramped house, an eerie silence descended.

"We..."

Hearing the voices outside, both of them began to tremble. They stared in terror at the young man before them, who, in their dazed perception, had transformed into a fanged demon from hell!

Chen Ling's gaze fell on the two large sacks, and connecting them to what the Enforcers had just shouted, he tried to reassure them: "Don't worry too much. That calamity thing doesn't seem to be around here. Isn't the street perfectly fine?"

Chen Tan: ...Li Xiuchun: ...

Chen Ling felt helpless. Initially, upon hearing about a "world-ending" calamity invasion, he hadn't thought much of it. But seeing the audience's expectation value surge, he immediately felt that something was wrong... Zhao Yi had been beaten for an entire afternoon and barely gained a dozen expectation points. Yet, a single shout from the Enforcers caused the expectation value to soar to over sixty! Based on Chen Ling's current understanding, this meant they had found some extremely exciting entertainment. Unfortunately, that entertainment... might very well be himself.

Doctor Lin had also mentioned the convergence of the Gray World and calamities. And he himself had coincidentally transmigrated last night, with the original host's memories of that night gone... Putting all these clues together, if he wasn't this "calamity," then who could be? Chen Ling surmised that what these Enforcers were looking for was likely the audience in his head. Chen Ling had considered surrendering directly to the Enforcers, hoping they could find a way to deal with the audience in his mind. However, judging by their attitude towards calamities, it was more likely they would eliminate him along with it. All in all, he decided to try to lay low for now and observe the situation before acting.

Seeing that both of them were still tense and visibly nervous, Chen Ling sighed and proactively reached out to take the sack from Li Xiuchun. "Mom, where else could you possibly go at a time like this?"

"Districts Two and Three are both locked down; we can't get out. Are you going to sleep on the streets?"

Li Xiuchun was scared stiff at his first sentence, but after hearing the rest, she barely managed to regain her composure, giving a strained laugh. "Yes... you're right."

"Dad, you should put it down too, don't be so tense... If we ran, what about A-Yan?"

Chen Tan swallowed, his eyes fixed on Chen Ling, trying to find even a hint of abnormality or murderous intent on the latter's face... But he failed. Chen Ling's every action seemed unlike a "calamity," no different from the Chen Ling in his memories. But Chen Tan knew clearly in his heart... he wasn't Chen Ling. Chen Ling was dead.

"You two should sit down for a bit. I'll go to the kitchen and pour you some water." Seeing their faces were still pale, Chen Ling pulled out chairs by the table, then turned and walked into the kitchen.

Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan exchanged glances, and finally, obediently sat down...

While pouring water in the kitchen, Chen Ling thought about how to ease the tension and casually remarked, "By the way, Mom, that grilled sausage you left for me this morning was really delicious. How did you make it?"

"Grilled... sausage?" Li Xiuchun looked bewildered. She and Chen Tan had gone to the pauper's grave last night; there was no way she had left any grilled sausage.

"The one on the cutting board," Chen Ling replied.

The bewilderment in Li Xiuchun's eyes deepened. She racked her brain, and then, as if something clicked, her face turned ashen white!

"When did you leave him grilled sausage?" Chen Tan asked in a hushed voice.

"I... I didn't," Li Xiuchun replied, her voice also low and trembling. "On that cutting board... there was originally a boning knife... But when I was packing just now... the knife was gone."

Chen Tan's face also changed dramatically!

Meanwhile, Chen Ling, standing with his back to them in the kitchen, slowly continued, "That grilled sausage smelled great, but it seemed a bit hard... Mom, remember to grill it softer for me tomorrow."

A deathly silence fell over the living room.

Chen Ling finished pouring the water and handed it to them, only to find their faces seemed even paler... "Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?" Chen Ling asked, puzzled, as he sat across from them.

"...We're fine."

Chen Tan took a deep breath, subtly pulling the sacks on the floor closer with his foot. His voice was slightly calmer. "A-Ling."

"Hm?"

"What happened yesterday... do you remember?"

"Yesterday?" Chen Ling tried hard to recall for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't remember clearly... Why?"

"...It's nothing." Chen Tan took a small sip of water, as if having made up his mind, and looked directly into Chen Ling's eyes. "How do you think... we've treated you?"

"Very well," Chen Ling replied matter-of-factly. "If you hadn't taken me in back then, I probably would have frozen to death on the street... My birth parents didn't want me; you raised me, worked tirelessly to send me to school. Everything I have, you gave me."

*Everything I have, you gave me.*

Hearing these words, a flicker of relief crossed Chen Tan's eyes...

"Then, if one day, A-Yan fell ill... and only your heart could save him... would you be willing to save him?"

Chen Ling froze. In that instant, the words struck him as familiar. Fragmented memories surged from the original host's mind, and Chen Ling's head began to ache again... He suddenly recalled that the original host seemed to have heard similar words last night.

"I... I..." Chen Ling clutched his head, his expression contorted in pain.

"A-Yan is our flesh and blood. Your mother ruined her health taking medicine just to conceive him... We tried for ten years before we finally had this one and only child..."

"A child truly ours!"

"Now he's sick, and we can't just stand by and watch him die... The divine shaman in District Two said that if we could get another young heart, no older than 20, it could replace A-Yan's failing one."

"A-Yan has called you his brother for so many years, and you've been a cherished son in our family for just as long. Your parents have never asked anything of you, but just this once... we beg you to save A-Yan."

"Tell me... you're willing, aren't you?"

Chen Tan's body trembled slightly. His eyes, fixed on Chen Ling, were filled with pleading and expectation. He was like a child who had done wrong, awaiting a delayed forgiveness.

At this moment, the fragmented memories buried in last night's downpour finally began to resurface for Chen Ling. While enduring the pain in his head, he took a deep breath and spoke hoarsely: "So... you killed him..."

"Him?"

"...Does A-Yan know?"

"He doesn't know. If he knew the heart he was about to receive was yours... he would rather die than accept it."

Chen Tan emerged from his deep internal struggle and guilt, reached into the sack at his feet, and slowly pulled out a sharp axe.

"A-Ling, you're already dead. You shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were bloodshot. He gripped the axe tightly and spoke hoarsely, "Whatever is occupying your body... I will set you free."

A low rumble of thunder flashed across the dim sky. A sharp axe was raised high... and brought down with force!

*Thud—*

A warm splatter landed on Chen Tan's face. Crimson blood bloomed on the floor like a gruesome flower, and Chen Ling's body fell stiffly to the ground with a dull thud. The axe was embedded in his neck, almost severing his head. His eyes stared blankly into nothingness, his face still showing traces of pain and bewilderment...

He was dead. There was no heartbeat, no breath. His body grew cold, like a martyr fallen amidst a field of crimson flowers.

Chen Tan's chest heaved violently. He stared intently at the lifeless body, sweat soaking his clothes...

"De-dead...?" Li Xiuchun stammered, slumped in her chair.

"...Dead."

"What about the calamity?"

Chen Tan paused. "...I don't know."

Li Xiuchun stared blankly at the corpse, then suddenly murmured, "Do you think... perhaps he wasn't a calamity... but God giving us another chance at redemption?"

"If that's the case..." Chen Tan let out a bitter laugh. "Then we truly deserve to go to hell."