Chapter 906: Forgot About This
Lin Sanjiu felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of icy water, standing in the shadows and gradually feeling her body grow colder.
Were these two people originally ordinary humans? Just in the short time she was away, they had turned—turned into this appearance?
Could it be that there was some power in this park that could distort ordinary humans into duoluozhong?
If that's the case... does she bear some responsibility for their transformation into duoluozhong?
She shook her head, not allowing herself to continue thinking along that line. The large, misshapen shadows at the intersection looked like clay molded by a child. They spun around in place, almost crashing into the wall several times, perhaps because they were not yet accustomed to their new forms.
As time passed, the shape of those things drifted further and further away from that of humans. They gradually shed black shadows onto the ground they wandered over, resembling hair and fragment-like skin that had originally grown on their heads. Their breathing became heavier, and after a while, the two things seemed to give up hope of finding Lin Sanjiu again. They swayed and staggered away in another direction.
Silently, she followed them.
"This is a new... new life..." The man's voice no longer sounded like that of a man. It became increasingly indistinct as he spoke, "Death... can be reborn... good, I will live well this time..."
The woman stumbled along behind him, and they became even more closely connected than before, as if devouring each other. Even taking a step seemed difficult for them. She murmured heavily, "I... want to be filled, I want to be filled with posthumans... I..."
Lin Sanjiu followed not too far behind, every step feeling like a small battle, sweat forming on her back. Clearly, these two things also didn't know where they should go. They aimlessly wandered through several paths, but it would be pointless to continue following them. She stopped in her tracks and watched them disappear around a corner, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"That won't do either."
A calm voice suddenly sounded from behind that corner.
Lin Sanjiu trembled all over and quickly held her breath. Then she heard the other person speaking to their companion, "Should we observe a bit more? There hasn't been anything good tonight."
"A human... a posthuman..." As the person spoke, the two things hissed excitedly from their chests, "That's great..."
"I don't think it's useful. Look, it can't even walk steadily," the first voice sighed, "And why are there two of them connected together? It's quite disgusting."
His companion laughed, "You don't see disgusting things often? Don't you look in the mirror?"
"Fuck off. I've seen enough of you," the first voice couldn't help but laugh, "Oh, here it comes—"
Here it comes?
Before Lin Sanjiu could react, a blinding light suddenly lit up from around the corner ahead. She instinctively closed her eyes and turned her head, but before she could open her eyes, she heard a "splat" sound as if something wet and slimy had splattered against the wall. Countless tiny droplets of liquid splashed onto her face and head.
She swallowed heavily, silently wiped her face, and slowly opened her eyes just a little.
The intense light had dimmed somewhat, but it still illuminated every detail on the path ahead. The figure formed by the man and woman now resembled a lump of dough that had been slapped against the wall by a powerful force, resulting in a mess. Their original shape was unrecognizable, as they had been reduced to a mass of flesh and blood, with half of a skull sliding down the wall, dripping wet.
The two elongated shadows on the wall were contorted by this bloody mess.
Flesh and blood, mixed with fragments of hair and clothing, splattered all over Lin Sanjiu's body. She felt a wave of nausea, but managed to suppress the rising acidic fluid. As she did so, she heard someone clapping their hands from behind the wall, as if trying to dust off something.
"What a pity," the first calm voice said. "We've wasted five or six people tonight."
His companion fell silent for a moment, seemingly gazing at the sliding chunks of flesh and blood on the wall.
"...Speaking of which," the second person suddenly asked in a low voice, "why do we have to cultivate these duoluozhong?"
"These aren't considered duoluozhong. This garden isn't a post-apocalyptic world," the first person corrected.
The two of them sounded unaffected by the gravitational field, speaking calmly and leisurely.
"Oh, right. Well, whatever it is, they are definitely not normal humans. They are all monsters."
"Whether they are monsters or not, as long as they are useful to us."
"Is our power as Evolvers not enough?"
The calm voice hesitated for a moment and replied, "No... that's not the point. It has nothing to do with us, right? As long as we can sell them for money."
His companion remained silent. Lin Sanjiu listened intently to their conversation, but she realized half a second late that the second person was moving forward. Once he turned the corner, he would immediately discover her presence. However, her body felt heavy at the moment, and she didn't have the confidence to quietly retreat without being noticed. She had no choice but to immediately crouch down and hide herself in the shadow of the wall.
One of the men walked steadily around the corner, and his black silhouette was clearly cast into Lin Sanjiu's eyes. He seemed to have a metal helmet covering his face.
"True," he said, looking at the half skull on the ground. After a few seconds, he said with some disgust, "But if we keep getting this kind of subpar merchandise, we won't be able to deliver tomorrow."
"Let's go back and increase the force on the ground." His companion also emerged from behind the wall. "After all, we still have three people left—Who?"
He shouted sharply, and both of them turned their heads towards Lin Sanjiu. When she realized that she had indeed been discovered, the two men rushed towards her with frightening speed. They were unaffected by the gravitational distortion here, and the shadows engulfed her in the blink of an eye.
In her current physical state, she couldn't run away, and she couldn't win in a fight either. The only option left for her in her weakened and heavy body seemed to be surrendering. However, Lin Sanjiu was not the type to obediently accept her fate.
Even if it was wishful thinking, she was going to fight for her life.
Just as the wind stirred up by the two men brushed against her face, Lin Sanjiu rolled on the ground and narrowly avoided them. Before they could gather themselves and strike again, she leaped up, gritted her teeth, exerted all her strength, kicked off the wall, and leaped into the night sky on the other side of the wall.
Success!
Just as she felt a sense of relief, everything went black before her— a huge shadow rose up, appearing blurry like a catfish yet human-like, and suddenly opened its mouth towards her.