There are truly so many births in this world.
Fortunately, Yue Shi was no saint; he was darker and more vicious than any of them.
Perhaps it still wasn't enough, and he needed to keep up the good work.
He flipped to the later part of the diary.
【The offspring of transcendents seem to be no different from ordinary people.】
【Their physical structure is identical to that of normal humans, showing no special characteristics whatsoever.】
【Despite using all sorts of methods to stimulate them, they have failed to awaken any supernatural powers.】
【Two more children didn't make it through the experiments today. Must harvest them while they're fresh and break them down for parts.】
Following this were several surgical records, which Yue Shi only skimmed through.
【Supernatural forces are overturning the world. Order is collapsing faster than imagined.】
【The internet is flooded with talk that the apocalypse is coming.】
【There’s no time.】
【There is simply no time to wait for the children in the welfare home to grow up, no time to observe their changes.】
【I must make preparations in advance.】
The doctor seemed to want to flee. Judging by the subsequent entries, it was impossible for him to get out.
【The apocalypse has truly arrived.】
【I’m out of time...】
【What’s going on? Didn't this child die a few days ago!】
【There are ghosts! There are ghosts!】
【Don't haunt me! None of this has anything to do with me! I was forced into this!】
【Why? Why can't I leave this place!】
【I’m... I, I’m asking. I’m asking right now, what exactly do I have to do for you to let me go!】
【I want to go home!】
【My wife and child are waiting for me at home! Let me out!】
【Why can't I walk out of this welfare home!】
【Aaaaaah!】
The handwriting at this point had become completely chaotic. As he continued to flip through, the despair on the pages almost overflowed.
【Why did they turn into supernatural creatures!】
【Could it be that all supernatural creatures are transformed from things that originally existed in this world?】
【Damn it! Why won't you just let me go!】
【I’m not the culprit! Why are you only targeting me, the doctor?】
【If this continues, sooner or later I’ll be tortured to death just like the director!】
【No, I can't let that happen! My family is still waiting for me!】
The entries became fewer and farther between, and the handwriting grew increasingly illegible.
【The food here is gone.】
【I don't remember how long it's been since I last ate.】
【How strange. I don't seem to feel hungry.】
This passage was surrounded by dark stains, looking like blood that had been dried for a long time.
【My body seems to be undergoing some inexplicable changes.】
【I no longer remember how much time has passed.】
【A group of people broke into the welfare home.】
【I begged them for help, asked them to take me out. But why did they turn and run the moment they saw me?】
【I caught one of them. Somehow, I think he smells delicious.】
【What was I planning to do originally?】
【Hehe, I don't remember. Let's start the meal!】
The writing stopped abruptly there. The subsequent pages were soaked with stains and stuck together, making them impossible to separate or read.
Yue Shi flipped directly to the final page. Amidst a blur of filth, there was only one line of scribbled text that was nearly unrecognizable.
【Great! I finally understand everything!】
Closing the diary, Yue Shi felt a sense of clarity. He roughly understood what had happened here.
Calling itself a children's welfare home, it was actually a den of filth and iniquity.
Clad in the guise of charity, it secretly carried out loathsome deeds.
In the wave of the supernatural descent, it had gradually succumbed and become a supernatural domain.
He just didn't know who the master of this supernatural domain was.
Was it those children? Or the welfare home itself?
This underground operating room didn't seem to have anything related to the Life Vine.
"My head hurts so much!"
Huang Fengjing suddenly screamed, interrupting Yue Shi's thoughts.
His face was distorted, and his body was trembling violently.
The phone he was using for light fell to the ground, its screen shattering. He only tightly gripped that emerald green willow branch.
"There's something wrong with the diary!"
Huang Fengjing roared, and then his eyes grew vacant, his voice beginning to fluctuate.
"I am Huang Fengjing!"
"No, I am the doctor. Surgery... I should go perform surgery!"
"No, no, no! Who am I? I can't tell! I really can't tell!"
Yue Shi and the Ghost exchanged a look.
"This guy is actually somewhat useful," the Ghost said leisurely, his tone a mix of reflection and irony.
Yue Shi's defense was too high, and the Ghost's form was unique; general mental contamination was ineffective against them.
But Huang Fengjing was different. His supernatural power was purely passive; aside from that, he was no different from an ordinary person.
He was perfect for scouting the way.
...
Bureau Affiliated Hospital.
In a high-security sickroom.
The Resonant Daoist lay naked on a hospital bed, long since stripped of his former transcendent air, his breath weak.
His chest was rotted and blackened, a shocking sight.
Large areas of his head were also ulcerated, and his white hair had all fallen out.
Even more tragically, his groin had rotted completely until it fell off, and he was currently hooked up to a catheter.
The Bureau had used every means at its disposal, but these wounds would not heal.
The malicious curse remained in effect.
The only thing to be thankful for was that the rounds of agonizing pain in his upper, middle, and lower sections had subsided.
It had turned into a long, grinding dull ache that slowly ate away at his will and life.
The Vice Minister of the Action Department stood by the bed, his face full of anxiety. "What are we supposed to do? If this drags on, The Resonant Daoist is going to die!"
Standing behind the vice minister were a man and a woman.
The woman had a pleasant face but a cold expression, remaining indifferent to the tragic scene before her.
The man, however, had his arms crossed, his face showing unmasked schadenfreude.
"Vice Minister, what exactly happened?" the man asked flippantly.
"The Resonant Daoist went to deal with an S-rank fugitive earlier and ended up cursed."
"Everyone at headquarters is at their wit's end, and he ended up like this."
Hearing the vice minister's words, the man's schadenfreude grew even more intense, mixed with a hint of disdain.
"Tsk tsk~ To be reduced to this state by some independent fugitive... it really shames the reputation of a Bureau captain."
The Resonant Daoist lying on the bed gave no reaction, his eyes only rolling occasionally, looking like a man who had seen through the world and lost all desire to live.
His pathetic state had been witnessed by far too many people.
A lifetime of fame, utterly ruined.
The cold-faced woman spoke up at this point. "Do not underestimate that fugitive. The Executioner has already died at his hands."
The gloating man reined in some of his flippancy, but his words remained sharp. "Hmph, so what? How does headquarters plan to handle it?"
"One captain dead, one injured, and two cities destroyed. We can't just let it go and let that guy continue to roam free!"
The vice minister sighed heavily and asked in return, "I'd love to bring that fugitive to justice immediately. Are you two willing to go?"
"I refuse! Let whoever wants to go, go. I’m certainly not going!" the man shouted.
Though he enjoyed seeing The Resonant Daoist's misfortune, he was well aware of the strength of The Executioner and The Resonant Daoist.
Two captains had fallen, and their fates were so miserable. Only someone with a head full of filth would voluntarily go to their death.
The cold woman said nothing, her gaze drifting elsewhere, her meaning clear.
The vice minister nodded with a smirk, his tone hardening. "Since neither of you is willing to go, then stop standing there making sarcastic remarks!"
...
The temporary base of the Ark organization.
"Boss, this is bad. Xiao Tong and Zhang Wu are both dead!"
"Hm? How is that possible! Even if those two weren't a match for Yue Shi, they shouldn't have been unable to even escape!"
The Ark Leader looked shocked.
Seeing that Xiao Tong and Zhang Wu hadn't returned for a long time, he had sent someone to find them.
He hadn't expected them to bring back two corpses.
The expressions of the others varied.
Judging from the state of the bodies, there were no signs of a struggle. They must have been killed in a very short amount of time.
The Ark Leader could obviously see this as well.
The thought that not long ago, he had confidently declared he would definitely take down Yue Shi made him feel like he'd been slapped in the face, losing all dignity before his subordinates.
The more the leader thought about it, the angrier he became. Yue Shi really wasn't afraid of offending Ark at all!
How dared he!
"Boss, what do we do next?" a bespectacled man asked cautiously.
As the person with the sharpest mind in the organization, the bespectacled man felt they should retreat now.
It was very clear that they had severely underestimated Yue Shi's strength.
After consecutive battles with two Bureau captains, Yue Shi still had the strength to easily take out Xiao Tong and Zhang Wu.
The deaths of their comrades were indeed regrettable, but Ark had to take the loss this time.
Don't oppose the strong, and don't try to reason with the strong—this was the basic law of survival in a chaotic world.
Insisting on a head-on collision with a powerhouse would only lead to greater losses.
However, the bespectacled man didn't voice his thoughts.
Because the boss had always been an obstinate and self-opinionated person.
Sure enough, he heard the leader ask in a low voice, "Where is Yue Shi now?"
"He seems to have headed toward Orphan's Grudge."
"What is he going there for?"
The leader lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, his eyes flashing with a murderous light. "Let's go. We’ll intercept him!"
Getting close to a powerful beast was certainly fraught with danger, but once tamed, it would be the most useful blade.
‘Although I’m not sure why Yue Shi entered Orphan's Grudge, if he happens to be weak when he comes out, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put a dog chain on that beast!’
The Ark Leader clenched his fist. His ability was best suited for taking advantage of weakness and overcoming the strong with the weak!
...
"Save me, save me..."
Huang Fengjing lay on the ground, crying out for help.
Yue Shi ignored him, standing in place and watching coldly, carefully observing his changes.
If Huang Fengjing could passively share damage, then who was the pain he was currently feeling being reflected back to?
Yue Shi looked down at the diary in his hand; there didn't seem to be anything unusual.
The Ghost stepped forward and asked solemnly, "Who are you?"
Huang Fengjing stopped crying for help, his eyes vacant and dazed as he muttered under his breath, "I am... I am Huang Fengjing..."
The Ghost breathed a sigh of relief.
At least his self-identity hadn't been compromised.
But before that breath could fully leave him, he heard Huang Fengjing ask in a completely unfamiliar, bewildered tone, "And who are you?"
Yue Shi and the Ghost both froze.
"Take me out. I can't leave this place anymore."
"There are ghosts here."
"I haven't seen living people from the outside in so long..."
"There’s no time."
Huang Fengjing began to ramble, his expression gradually becoming manic.
"Who exactly are you?" the Ghost raised his voice.
Huang Fengjing followed the sound and looked at the Ghost. After a moment of daze, he suddenly shrieked and scrambled backward on all fours. "Ghost!"
The Ghost rolled his eyes. "Great, his brain is completely fried."
Yue Shi stepped forward, his tall frame blocking the Ghost, his voice carrying a hint of guidance. "Are you the doctor here?"
Huang Fengjing nodded haphazardly, his movements stiff.
"What are you doing here?" Yue Shi stared at the now completely unrecognizable Huang Fengjing.
The other's expression looked slightly pained. He didn't respond to Yue Shi, only repeating over and over:
"I want to go home."
"Please, take me away."
"There’s no time."
"What do you mean, there's no time?" Yue Shi's voice became somewhat ethereal.
Hearing this question, Huang Fengjing clearly froze for a moment.
Suddenly, he clutched his stomach, his expression twisting in bewilderment as a rasping sound came from his throat.
"I’m hungry."
"Hungry."
"I haven't eaten in so long."
"It smells so good..."
Like a chaotic murmur from a dream, drool escaped the corner of Huang Fengjing's mouth. He abruptly snapped his head up, staring straight at Yue Shi.
"You smell so good."
"I’m hungry..."
"Want to eat."
His mouth opened to its limit, baring all his teeth. Saliva continuously welled up and dripped onto the floor.
In the next second, he pushed off with his legs and lunged forward, his target aimed directly at Yue Shi, who was inches away.
He was incredibly fast, even leaving an afterimage behind.
Thud!
A muffled sound echoed.
Huang Fengjing felt as if he had hit an invisible wall, his body coming to a halt just a step away from Yue Shi.
His body was pressed against the invisible barrier, the whites of his eyes completely gone, replaced by a pitch-black void. Only the primitive instinct of hunger remained as he snarled, "Hungry."
"He’s already been shaped into the owner of the diary."
Yue Shi raised his hand, intending to imprison Huang Fengjing in the extra-dimensional space before deciding what to do.
Right at that moment.
In the basement, the shadowless lamp hanging above the operating table—which had been out of commission for who knew how many years—suddenly flickered to life.
The ghastly white light dispelled the darkness, illuminating the entire basement area.
Following that, Yue Shi's figure seemed to split within the light, turning into countless blurred phantoms that overlapped and intertwined.
Each phantom was performing a similar movement.
"In the blue sky, in the Milky Way, there is a little white boat..."
The eerie nursery rhyme echoed faintly in his ears again.
The sound was clearer than before.
The shadowless lamp grew brighter and brighter, and Yue Shi couldn't help but squint.
His mind wandered for a moment.
He opened his eyes again.
"Is there anything to eat? I’m hungry," Huang Fengjing shouted, clutching his stomach, his voice perfectly normal.
Yue Shi subconsciously pulled a bag of bread out of his extra-dimensional space.
The sky was dim. They had already entered the range of the supernatural domain and were currently heading toward the core area, the Warm Children's Welfare Home.
Huang Fengjing took the bread from Yue Shi's hand, tore open the packaging, and stuffed the bread into his mouth.
Mmm, it was mango jam filling. Delicious!
The bread wrapper was discarded carelessly.
A breeze blew, and the wrapper rolled into the distance, its path blocked by a clump of withered grass.
"Look over there."
Huang Fengjing pointed toward where the wrapper had stopped.
Yue Shi's expression was dazed, as if he hadn't heard.
Huang Fengjing continued on his own, "There are trampling marks in the grass. They were left recently; they're very fresh. Maybe there are other living people here, we..."
The Ghost sensed Yue Shi's abnormality and quickly asked, "What’s wrong with you?"
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