Chapter 72: Madness
“I… like you too.”
A subtle tremor ran through the universe. An Yue, speeding along on her motorcycle, suddenly lost control and crashed. A vegetable vendor by the roadside smiled vacantly. A child pointed at the sky, jumping and shouting, a slight disturbance in the world’s order.
It was the moment the Evil God faltered.
Weeds sprouted from the walls of the old residential building, tears of youth welling up in the eyes of the elderly residents, a hurricane of love, tinged with sorrow and despair, erupting from the building, sweeping through the city, monsters wailing and dissolving into nothingness, flowers and plants growing wildly, waves crashing against the shore, life itself bathed in the overwhelming power of love, an irresistible force…
Only love could make a Evil God lose control… and become human.
Shen Yuhe shed her human skin, but she truly, became human. She felt the full force of love, the fleeting nature of time, the enduring power of love, the preciousness of life, overshadowed by the immensity of love.
What did it matter that she was covered in tentacles, in black slime? What did it matter that she could destroy the world with a wave of her hand? She was as vulnerable now as Xiang Er!
A single look, a single gesture from Xiang Er, and she would wither, or be reborn.
She revealed her true form.
The human skin peeled away like a discarded garment, starting from her neck, slowly falling to the floor, swallowed by the black slime. Beneath the skin was chaos and darkness, a writhing mass of tentacles, their black and red suckers intertwined, a sight that would drive any normal human mad, or blind.
The tentacles pulsed and shifted, and one of them, extending from her neck, slowly, cautiously, reached towards Xiang Er’s hand.
As if offering her control. Like a leash, placed gently in Xiang Er’s hand, waiting for her to pull it tight, to strangle it.
But… Xiang Er didn’t move.
Xiang Er stared at the grotesque tentacles and black slime, frozen in place, the dried bloodstains from her own hand stark against her naked skin.
She suddenly smiled.
A smile that grew wider, more unrestrained, more… manic.
She said:
“Where’s Shen Yuhe?”
As if oblivious to the tentacles, she reached out and cupped Shen Yuhe’s face, her voice rising:
“Why is there only a head? Where’s your body? Where’s your body?”
Shen Yuhe… or rather, Akhe, all its tentacles froze.
It didn’t understand, what was happening? Something was wrong with Xiang Er.
After returning from the mall, It had only erased Xiang Er’s memories of the mall and the rescue. It had prepared Itself for the truth, had imagined countless reactions… but none like this.
This wasn’t her! This wasn’t her soul!
A thick tentacle extended, its suckers delicately touching the dried bloodstains on Xiang Er’s skin, absorbing them, tasting them.
Then, with a swift movement, the tentacles pulled the human skin back on, retracting, disappearing, the Evil God once again taking the form of Shen Yuhe.
Shen Yuhe, her face serious, asked:
“How did you get exposed to so much pollution?”
But Xiang Er, seeing Shen Yuhe’s human form, just smiled vacantly, and she lunged forward, embracing Shen Yuhe, their bodies, slick and damp, pressed tightly together.
She sighed and kissed Shen Yuhe’s face, her forehead, her nose, her cheeks… Her eyes were hazy, her face flushed, her body almost vibrating with a strange energy, her actions uncontrollable.
Shen Yuhe gently held her, the intense desire, a foreign sensation, assaulting her true form, and she let out a suppressed gasp.
“The pollution… must be purged.”
Thick tentacles emerged again, wrapping around Xiang Er, lifting her, still smiling vacantly, from the steamy bathroom, and carrying her to the bed in the master bedroom.
The door slammed shut, the world tilting, Xiang Er crying out, her arms tightening around Shen Yuhe’s neck, offering herself completely, utterly… madly, to the god!
Tentacles rose, their red tips dripping with transparent fluid, splattering the walls, the wardrobe, the sheets, the floor, the clear droplets mixing with the black slime, indistinguishable.
Thin tentacles, thick tentacles, black and red, covered in suckers, smooth and soft… a symphony of tentacles, a chaotic yet strangely beautiful melody, Xiang Er herself the instrument…
After an unknown amount of time, several flashes of white light, and Xiang Er’s mind cleared slightly.
She opened her eyes, her screams hoarse and broken, and saw Shen Yuhe’s dark, desire-filled eyes, and… countless writhing tentacles!
“Ah… you… aaaaaaaaaah!!!!! Let go… aaaaaaaaaah!!!”
Moonlight streamed in, desire consuming everything.
Lost in the overwhelming pleasure, Xiang Er’s mind finally shattered.
A few hours earlier.
An Yue, lifting her damaged motorcycle, ignoring her broken leg, limped to the roadside and grabbed a driver who had just stepped out of his car:
“Emergency requisition! Take this to the police station for compensation!”
She ripped a special badge from her uniform, shoved it into the driver’s hand, jumped into his car, and sped away!
It was dusk, but the sky was a sickly grayish-yellow, the air dry and hot, the temperature rising unnaturally.
People stumbled through the streets like drunkards, some suddenly bursting into tears, others tearing their clothes, some fighting randomly.
Shopkeepers smashed their own merchandise, couples arguing and making love in the streets, children acting like adults, dragging their parents, who were lapping at puddles like dogs… everyone seemed to have gone mad.
An Yue focused on driving, her mind on Xiang Er’s address, which she had looked up earlier. Although she didn’t know if Xiang Er had gone home, it was the most likely place… and she didn’t know what that Evil God wanted from her.
An Yue thought, someone like Xiang Er, an orphan, naturally sensitive and vulnerable, pale, melancholic, and pitiful, was exactly the type of person these pollutants liked to target, but… the fact that she had attracted such a powerful entity was troubling. And she seemed to be infatuated with it, even in love with it, which made things even more complicated.
Even she, a highly trained investigator with exceptional willpower, had been controlled and manipulated, what must be going on in Xiang Er’s mind now, perhaps… it was already too late.
But she still raced towards the apartment, calling headquarters repeatedly, but the communication systems were also malfunctioning, the calls constantly dropping, or connecting to random people, there was no way to call for backup…
A loud crash, and the hood of the car was caved in!
An Yue, as the giant thing struck a second time, rolled out of the car, grabbed her weapon, and prepared to fight!
How could… how could there be such a large pollutant on the main road! An Yue, her eyes fixed on the giant, cockroach-like monster, frowned and charged into battle.
After defeating the cockroach, her body bruised and battered, she commandeered an electric tricycle and finally reached the residential compound as night fell.
Darkness engulfed the neighborhood, the streetlights flickering erratically. People, their desires unleashed, were eating, drinking, laughing, shouting, fighting, self-harming, murdering, even assaulting passersby… Under the flickering lights, human society had descended into chaos, all morals and boundaries seemingly gone…
This pandemonium had been going on for over four hours now, explosions rocking the streets, buildings collapsing, fires spreading. An Yue, alone and injured, could barely do anything, occasionally stopping her tricycle to help a few people, but she couldn’t save everyone.
She was exhausted, she didn’t know where this madness-inducing pollution was coming from, but she had a feeling…
It had something to do with the woman Xiang Er was with.
That woman was the most powerful entity she had ever encountered, even though she had been concealing her true strength.
An Yue, her weapons ready, her special abilities activated, took a deep breath and entered the residential compound.
Unlike the chaotic world outside, the compound was eerily quiet, like the eye of the storm.
A few elderly residents sat in the darkness by the roadside, their gazes deep and unsettling, like a heavy rain falling on An Yue, a clinging, suffocating weight.
She held her weapon, carefully navigating the broken stone path, and reached the building in the furthest corner.
She looked up, but she couldn’t see anything, the building dark and silent, like a solid, impenetrable statue.
An Yue quietly entered the stairwell, the air damp and cold.
The stairwell was unlit, and not a sound came from any of the apartments, as if no one lived there.
An Yue’s forehead beaded with sweat as she carefully ascended the stairs. Reaching the fourth floor, her foot brushed against something, and she picked it up, a piece of fabric.
It was the hem of Xiang Er’s dress.
Xiang Er was here! An Yue’s spirits lifted, but a sudden, sharp pain pierced her head, and she shook it off, injecting herself with a tranquilizer.
She continued upwards. On the fifth floor, the thick layer of dust bore the drag marks of something large and heavy, like a serpent.
She looked up, and a dark stain on the wall caught her eye, something that clearly didn’t belong in this world, radiating a strong aura of pollution.
Such a thing… such pollution… a single drop could destroy human society… An Yue’s heart pounded with fear, knowing that she might not make it out of here alive, but she had accepted that risk the day she became an investigator, and she continued upwards.
On the sixth floor, the pollution was so thick it was difficult to breathe, and she turned on her flashlight.
Apartment 602, where Xiang Er lived.
Black slime oozed from beneath the door, almost covering the entire hallway.
Xiang Er… had she already been consumed by the slime…
An Yue couldn’t step on the slime, and she couldn’t fly. Carefully, she used the handrail, finally reaching the door of 602.
She hesitated, wondering if she should break down the door, or try a more subtle approach…
When the door suddenly opened.
“Creak—”
The old latch turned slowly, a rusty, groaning sound, and a pungent mix of sweet fragrance and stench assaulted An Yue, almost making her gag.
An Yue, suppressing the urge to vomit, looked inside.
And she saw… Xiang Er.
Black slime covered everything, flowing across the ceiling, the walls, the floor, blood-red eyeballs appearing and disappearing within it, tentacles reaching out from every direction, their huge suckers contracting and expanding…
And in the center of this hellish scene…
The girl, her naked body covered in black slime, was entangled in tentacles, her head lolling, unconscious.
Her long hair swayed, blood dripping from her neck, the droplets disappearing into the black slime.
Like a dove, caught in a spider’s web, its wings broken, its life slowly fading.
“Too late…”
An Yue murmured, her eyes stinging with pain, when a female voice, coming from the living room, said:
“Please… save her…”
The voice was familiar, and An Yue was stunned.
How could it be Shen Yuhe?
Wasn’t Shen Yuhe the one responsible for Xiang Er’s current state? Why would she want to save her?
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