Chapter 00166: Gratitude and Resentment (Thanks to Chen Er Gou for being the alliance leader)
# Gratitude and Resentment (Thanks to Chen Er Gou for being the alliance leader)
Chapter 166
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 166: Gratitude and Resentment (Thanks to Chen Er Gou for being the alliance leader)
Just like all unexpected troubles, bad news always comes suddenly.
For example, closing the door and realizing you forgot your keys or didn't turn off the gas, finishing a meal and finding half a cockroach in your plate, waking up to find your pet has left a mess on your pillow while you dreamt of eating chocolate...
Sometimes, a teammate suddenly loses their mind and decides to blow themselves up along with you.
In such situations, you can only feel helpless.
When people are utterly speechless, they can't say a word.
But this time was different from the usual.
This time, it might be the last time they ever speak.
Just as Kong Yebai picked up the walkie-talkie and cried out that something terrible had happened to the chief priest, everyone heard a faint ticking sound amidst their rapid breathing and pounding hearts...
It was coming from his rapidly rising chest.
When a bewildered teammate instinctively reached out and pulled open his collar, they saw a black stitch that even Kong Yebai hadn't noticed.
In that moment of realization, the person at the front couldn't help but exclaim:
"You son of a—"
BOOM!!!
And just like that, with half a curse on his lips, he closed his eyes forever.
Flames and shockwaves spread, and a massive amount of crushed explosive powder and mutated poison surged like a tsunami, engulfing everything.
Crimson waves danced like tides, sweeping through every inch of space.
Hot blood rained down like fireworks, merging into the violent heatwave.
With a deafening roar, limbs and body parts flew up to the ceiling, out the window, or over the collapsed walls, scattering across the hallway.
Countless unfortunate patients were instantly crushed to pieces, while more, ravenous patients rushed in, gleefully feasting, licking, and howling in excitement.
From within the thick smoke, came piercing wails.
In the corner, several writhing figures screamed and struggled, trying to crawl out of the inferno.
The hastily made nitroglycerin explosion was no match for Lu Feng's phlogiston explosives, and the resilience of the chosen ones was beyond common sense.
Even after taking such a terrifying explosion head-on, they still had a breath left.
A large group, a white deer, and a wasteland—all known for their toughness.
But now, suddenly subjected to such devastation, they were already on their last legs.
But as if bad luck wasn't enough, just outside the shattered walls, came eerie laughter and cries.
Ghostly fetuses, like wild dogs, crawled along the walls, their mouths wide open in hunger.
After inhaling a storm of flesh and residual spirits, they turned their gaze to a severely injured chosen one, opened their massive mouths, and pounced.
"Ahhhh!!! Help... help... help me... save me!!!"
Amidst the desperate screams, he rolled on the ground, but his less severely injured teammates were too preoccupied to care, crawling away as if they hadn't heard, ignoring the increasingly urgent questions from the walkie-talkie in the corner.
But alas, after passing through the thick smoke, the first thing they saw was a pale, ghostly face.
As the flesh wriggled, it transformed into a new face.
A smile appeared.
Reaching out to the survivor, gently, with a touch.
"Sleep, have a good sleep."
Xie Lan's voice was gentle.
"When you wake up, it will all be over."
Tiny particles, like dust, drifted into his nose and mouth.
Then, the living poison curse, a combination of poison and curse, took root in his spiritual essence and rapidly sprouted, spreading.
In an instant, the two survivors turned into stiff living corpses, standing by his side.
Materials +2.
"Wow, you're quick. Isn't that a bit too much?"
Xie Lan slowly stood up, hands in the pockets of his white coat, glancing at the carnage in the office and clicking his tongue.
"I was hoping to see a fierce battle..."
He asked curiously, "When did the Safety Bureau people go so crazy?"
"Talking behind people's backs isn't a good habit," came a voice from behind him.
Ji Jue, who had 'arrived late,' walked slowly down the hallway, reminding him, "Especially when you're stealing someone else's spoils, that's even worse."
"Who's stealing?" Xie Lan glared, feigning indignation.
"I did contribute just now. You can't just take everything for yourself, can you?"
"Fine, you take the bodies, I'll take the spiritual essence," Ji Jue nodded readily, as if he had expected this.
Xie Lan immediately shook his head, "What would I do with so many living corpses? A few test subjects are enough. You're taking all the valuable stuff, that's just too stingy!"
Ji Jue didn't care about Xie Lan's greed, agreeing easily, "Then reverse it, I don't mind."
If everyone can't be satisfied, then let no one be satisfied.
Ji Jue could still recycle these broken limbs and empty shells, maybe even cultivate some mutated poison to make bombs.
But what use did Xie Lan, a vortex user, have for so much spiritual essence?
He didn't even have a spiritual essence cage.
"Tsk..."
Xie Lan shook his head, realizing time was running out, and sighed, "Forget it, let's do as you say."
After a quick agreement, the two no longer guarded against each other, and a swarm of living corpses rushed in to clean up the scene as quickly as possible.
When Xie Lan sent a bloated corpse to swallow the last piece of limb, Ji Jue's spiritual essence cage at his waist was almost full, the skull's eyes glowing red.
The matrix decomposed by the disintegration spell finally filled the Mechanical God.
This skillful handling of spiritual essence and the thorough scavenging truly opened Xie Lan's eyes.
If they weren't from different factions with non-overlapping resource needs, he might have started thinking, 'This guy must not be allowed to live.'
Just as the cheerful scavenging ended, the patients gathered in the hallway scattered in terror, not daring to stay any longer.
Then, footsteps like a rainstorm hurriedly approached.
One by one, stiff-faced doctors emerged from the shadows.
At the front was Director Qian, his expression fierce, the stitches on his face splitting, blood slowly oozing out, his smile gone.
"What happened?"
His dark eyes scanned everyone present, landing on the carnage in the office.
"What's going on? How did such a big accident happen again?"
"Don't know."
Ji Jue shook his head, thinking carefully before concluding, "Maybe it was improper use of electrical appliances? Could be the microwave exploded?"
Director Qian suddenly approached.
Without warning, he was right in front of Ji Jue.
His hollow eyes stared intently at Ji Jue, holding half a broken skull in his hand.
"Wasn't he just with you?"
"Yes."
Ji Jue nodded, "Everything was fine when I left. Director Qian, you can vouch for me. But when I went back after my rounds, I found some precious personal items missing from the office, so I came over to ask... Ah, you never really know a person, who would have thought he was like this?"
As he spoke, Ji Jue bent down, picked up a blessed artifact in front of everyone, and put it in his pocket.
Under the cold gazes of countless eyes, he sighed deeply, his expression regretful.
Then, Director Qian turned to Xie Lan:
"And you?"
"I came to help."
Xie Lan smiled innocently, "We're all one big happy family here. The hospital is a big family, how could I stand by when a colleague is in trouble? It's a pity, everyone was too badly injured, no one survived. What a shame."
"Is that so?" Director Qian asked.
"That's exactly how it is."
The two nodded in unison, without hesitation.
Then, the sound of chewing echoed, so crisp, as if an invisible mouth was devouring the broken bones and flesh on the ground, all disappearing in an instant.
Following the wails of residual spirits in the air, the damaged walls quickly contracted and closed.
It was as if an invisible giant was slowly healing.
"Being loving and caring is good, keep it up, but don't forget your main duties."
Director Qian finally turned to the two, suddenly grinning, "The hospital is going to be busy for a while, you better work hard."
One by one, the strange, stiff figures disappeared into the hallway.
Director Qian, walking last, reached out and patted Ji Jue's shoulder.
Leaving behind a lingering cold aura.
From start to finish, Ji Jue smiled, watching them leave.
"Don't worry, as long as you don't act in front of them, they won't care."
Xie Lan said, "This time, causing such a big scene, it's probably because the work area was damaged. Don't get caught, or you'll be reprimanded and fired."
"I'll be careful."
Ji Jue smiled and nodded, "Next time, let's exchange experiences, Dr. Xie."
"Forget it, I'm just a researcher."
Xie Lan shook his head, admiringly sighing, "To be so ruthless so quickly, truly terrifying."
"Really?"
Ji Jue looked puzzled, "When dealing with bad people, you should strike hard, right? Are you a bad person?"
"Not me."
Xie Lan firmly shook his head.
"What a coincidence, neither am I."
Ji Jue laughed, waving goodbye, "I'm just a passing righteous envoy."
And so, watching Ji Jue's figure disappear into the darkness.
A sneaky mouse crawled out from under Xie Lan's collar, inexplicably sighing in relief, "Damn, is the Safety Bureau recruiting such wild people now?"
"It's not about the Safety Bureau."
Xie Lan stared in the direction Ji Jue had left, slightly shaking his head, "That guy is an anomaly even in Yacheng. If it were you, would you dare to get involved in the election of a speaker during the summoning phase? Even the Lou family took a hard fall because of him. Do you believe he's a peace-loving, gentle, and kind-hearted good person?"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sneer, "Let's see, the Heretic Cult has really messed with the wrong person this time."
"I'm back from my mischief."
Ji Jue whistled, dragging the ghost fetus back to the office like a dog.
He casually patted the ghost fetus's butt, and the creature obediently opened its mouth, spitting out a pile of various alchemical items.
Most of them were shoddy works, not worth a second glance, with a few blessed items.
Unfortunately, it was unclear which grave the Heretic Cult had dug these out from, as they were riddled with backdoors and traps.
Some would drain half your blood with a single use, while others would curse you with prolonged use.
They could only be destroyed and fed to the Mechanical God, finally filling the number "2" on the dial.
With a blessed item already in hand, Ji Jue was just a step away from entering the final stage of the summoning phase.
He needed to expand his spiritual essence cage soon, or the sheer amount of spiritual essence would burst the hastily made container.
The Mechanical God was a power that consumed a lot of spiritual essence.
Even with his and his cousin's reserves, Ji Jue still felt it wasn't enough.
The more reserves he had to replace his own spiritual essence consumption elsewhere, the better.
Besides, with so much spiritual essence and materials...
Ji Jue pinched his chin, examining the skull before him, recalling the modern alchemy techniques Professor Ye had taught him...
Surely, he could make another big bomb, right?
It had been a long time since he had been so well-off.
The oppressive mood since entering the Time Ruins had finally lifted.
However, Tong Hua, who was organizing records beside him, seemed distracted.
Always zoning out.
Her mind elsewhere.
Ji Jue looked over, puzzled, "What's wrong? Did you find something else?"
"No, not yet. The archives are too messy, it's a tangled mess, I need more time."
Tong Hua rubbed her temples, hesitating for a long time before tentatively asking, "Are you... okay?"
"Huh? What about me?" Ji Jue was confused, then wary.
Was it some curse?
Had he been unaware all along?
"Uh, I mean..."
Tong Hua pondered, as if carefully choosing her words, cautiously peeking, "It feels like recently, you've been... maybe... a bit... extreme?"
"Ah?"
Ji Jue was stunned, bewildered.
Seeing Tong Hua point at the explosive barrel and the pile of bloody surgical tools, he finally understood and slapped his forehead.
"Ah, true."
He nodded after some thought, "Being so rough is indeed a bit uncouth. Killing is one thing, but this is over the top."
"Don't worry."
He waved, assuring her, "It won't happen again!"
After all, they were teammates.
He had to consider her mental health.
The silly young lady had never seen many B-movies, let alone such bloody scenes in real life...
In the future, he'd just do it behind her back!
Her response was a helpless sigh.
"I'm not talking about that. Trash can die however they want. Worshiping evil and destroying the foundation of reality is a crime deserving of death. How you handle it doesn't matter."
Tong Hua sighed, looking at him:
"I'm talking about you."
Ji Jue was taken aback, pointing at himself, tilting his head: ?
"What I mean is... you don't need to push yourself so hard. Besides, you have me!"
Tong Hua's words were only half out when she felt her example wasn't quite right, quickly correcting herself, "Even if I'm unreliable, there's still Wen Jie, Old Zhang, and Xiao An, right? Although Tong Shan always has a deadpan expression, he'd be the first to charge in such situations. The department has a complete process for dealing with Time Ruins disasters. Besides, the Tong family has coexisted with Yacheng for so long, they wouldn't stand by and do nothing now."
She coughed twice, trying to put on a serious expression, patting his shoulder, "You don't need to shoulder so much. You've already done enough, no need to torment yourself. Yacheng is big, it won't collapse just because we didn't take down the Heretic Cult, right?"
Silence.
A long silence, Ji Jue didn't speak, just stared at Tong Hua.
Until Tong Hua herself felt uneasy, lowering her head, sitting back in her original position, awkwardly fidgeting, trying to quickly change the subject to erase this embarrassing moment.
Then, she heard Ji Jue's voice.
"So that's it..."
Ji Jue suddenly smiled, a genuine smile he hadn't shown since entering the Time Ruins, "Thank you, Tong Hua."
He had never expected to feel such sincere concern and comfort from the silly young lady.
Amidst all the difficulties and troubles, she still prioritized his well-being, truly seeing him as an important friend to console.
Touched, Ji Jue even let go of the thought of teasing her for a moment... just a moment.
And when Ji Jue's tone was no longer teasing, Tong Hua became even more embarrassed, lowering her head, avoiding eye contact.
"... Just knowing to say thanks is enough."
She glared at Ji Jue, "Stop teasing me, got it!"
Tsk...
"Did you just tsk at me again!"
Tong Hua glared, furious.
"Alright, alright, I promise, okay!"
Ji Jue, unusually sincere, raised his hand in a promise, calming the shy and flustered Tong Hua, then added, "But there's something you might have misunderstood."
"Huh?" Tong Hua was confused.
"Honestly, I don't have as much sense of mission as you think, nor do I have Wen Jie's sense of responsibility. I wasn't even interested in the Heretic Cult to begin with."
Ji Jue thought for a moment, shrugging with a self-deprecating smile, "The reason I'm doing this is purely personal, nothing more."
Tong Hua fell silent, saying nothing more.
When Ji Jue smiled now, there was no warmth in it, only a bone-chilling coldness.
Yacheng?
He might care about Yacheng, but only a little.
Even if the sky fell, Professor Ye's workshop would remain as steady as a mountain, not losing a single tile.
Even if Ji Jue's old house collapsed, rebuilding it wouldn't cost much.
But what about beyond that?
Beyond himself?
Brother Feng's company was already up and running, making good progress, becoming a good partner for various breeding bases.
Every day after installing cameras, he'd bring home cauliflower, tomatoes, and beans.
Though he'd curse the debtors every time, he'd do the same the next day.
Xiao Ling was doing well in university, her teachers and classmates liked her, and she even won a gold medal at the school sports meet.
Mother Lu had been smiling more lately, and there was more meat in her cooking.
The third child was a crybaby, not good at studies, but would smile sweetly when hugging his leg.
The youngest loved to play favorites, her clumsy attempts at being clever were adorable.
They were all good people, the best in the world.
Such people deserved a peaceful, happy life.
But then?
There's always some scum, trash, vermin, pests... who can't stand to see even a glimmer of light in others' lives.
Like clowns, reveling in filth, praising stench, worshiping evil and folly, thinking themselves grand and lofty.
If the Time Ruins truly erupted in Yacheng, under the pollution worse than dirty bombs and disasters, how many fragile glimmers of light would be destroyed? How many more pitiful creatures like Ji Jue would be created?
This world already has too many disasters.
Enough is enough.
Countless times, waking up in the middle of the night, Ji Jue often felt that perhaps he had already died in that fire ten years ago, and everything now was just a hallucination before death.
The cries and wails from that nightmare had echoed in his ears for over a decade, until now.
Until now.
Now, someone wanted to push him, and everything he held dear, into hell.
The Safety Bureau might strike with thunderous force, the Tong family might also act ruthlessly, and perhaps more righteous people would stand up to fight evil.
But that had nothing to do with Ji Jue.
In the shattered mirror, the smiling face burned, countless regrets and fury rising from the flames in his eyes, silently roaring and screaming.
Before that—
—I will tear you all to pieces!
(End of Chapter)