Chapter 268 is a good dog
The thing stood in the darkness, about five meters in front of them—or so it seemed; it was so dark around them, as if the light had been drowned, that Gu Heng could only make out a blurry image.
It stared at the two of them, its head turning back and forth with a very subtle motion, as if sizing up what kind of prey they were—whether they were edible, whether they were easy to kill—don't all carnivores think like that? It must have thought the same way.
The monster was seven feet tall, but its body was extremely... thin, even deformed, resembling a stick insect. Gu Heng couldn't see its true form clearly, but the numerous, chilling limbs were enough to prove that it was a hybrid.
But the thing seemed to have a human face—what kind of face, exactly?—he stared wide-eyed and finally saw clearly that it was the kind of face a baby would have.
It grew so strangely on the body of a giant insect.
Gu Heng suddenly remembered some very old things, and his brain uncontrollably pulled out those past events that had long been hidden deep in his memory.
It was a narrow mountain path leading uphill. Winter temperatures in Oymyakon can drop as low as -71.1°C—surprisingly, he remembered it so vividly now, recalling every detail—the rear wheels of the carriage slid back and forth on the ice, and through the headlights of the lead car, the snow had turned reddish-yellow, stretching from the roadside all the way into the forest.
It all started because of him, thanks to him, in that time, in that painful memory—this poor soul who had recently been parasitized by the forbidden substance and lost control, killing two innocent citizens, was captured by a C-level researcher who said he was going to conduct some kind of ecological experiment in an extreme environment.
Gu Heng stood quietly beside the carriage, watching from a third-person perspective, witnessing how the data recording took place.
It all started because of him.
He had no choice but to look, no choice but to recall.
This characteristic is a curse.
In the dazzling scene, someone commanded the poor soul: "Darling, you have to go out. I know it's cold outside, but Eoubs has very strict requirements for unstable species like yours. We must have absolute control, so thank you for your trouble, baby."
So the seven-year-old boy got off blankly and walked to the carriage. The other party even kindly took off his coat, which was stained with a lot of blood. He was shirtless and immersed in the blizzard's admonition. This cowardly little rascal who had just killed someone stared blankly at the headlights and the adults who were looking at him with ill intent.
"But I'm so cold."
He said that, in his memory, his childhood self said the same thing.
Upon seeing this, Gu Heng suddenly broke down, crying and laughing hysterically.
He was so cold at that time, he felt like every cell in his body was frozen, not to mention the stuff flowing in his veins—but he didn't run, he did nothing.
Across from him, the lead researcher complained to the others that the temperature in this godforsaken place was enough to drive a person to suicide. They drank a few sips of heated liquor and felt a little better—damn, they couldn't even light a cigarette; it was truly an extreme environment.
"It's really cold, can I put on my coat?"
The silly boy repeated himself, but his voice was so soft that it was completely drowned out by the wind and the roar of the engine. Maybe those people heard him, but they didn't react at all.
"Yes, it's really cold, but you have to bear it."
Only Gu Heng knelt down in his memories, murmuring to himself.
In that moment, the whole world abandoned him. No one hugged him anymore, no one gently asked if he needed help, no one asked if he was alright, if he was sad, or if he felt cold.
That damned curse.
Let him kill his own parents.
Then he started crying.
The drinking continued, and the researchers muttered that forbidden entities that could control time were truly rare—only 27 so far. This little bastard was quite something; the data clearly showed it could predict the future. And guess what? When we went to negotiate, we don't know what he saw, but the forbidden entities within him went berserk. The two unfortunate souls closest to him turned into mummies in just five seconds—I bet they died of old age.
They looked at each other a few times as they talked, then burst into laughter.
"Damn... that's hilarious."
"What kind of top-tier way to die is this?"
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was just a mess of action record reports written by those bitches in the Transportation Department."
The silly boy was still standing in the snow, shirtless, shivering.
One of the researchers seemed quite interested, telling him from afar that if he could just pull through, he'd be in for a life of luxury and wealth. One day, he'd be on duty like them, collecting these infected individuals, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, and handing them over to an agency that specialized in dealing with such people; one day, he'd understand what extreme environmental ecological experiments were—it was actually just a simple test to see if he had any practical value; one day, he'd experience the thrill of standing on another level of the world, even though he could die at any moment, but what else could he possibly have left?
One day, they will all die.
When that time comes, Eoubs may or may not exist.
Everyone knows these parallel comforting words are all lies—things like "you're destined to get what you want," "you'll regain what you've lost," "you're just an unlucky kid." It's this day and age, yet back then, this fool, this unstable experimental subject who had only recently been infected, believed what the researchers said.
They swore to him that one day, when he grew to be their age, he would understand. He might even take a trip back to Oymyakon, back to this forest, and he would find that what he had to do, the ideals he cherished, humanity—was just a matter of following a set procedure.
But before that, he would be half-frozen to death.
He was going to get severe frostbite.
He is going to get typhoid fever.
He will experience dizziness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, tuberculosis, and hypothermia.
it serves him right.
Then, the lead researcher pulled out a gun, smiled, and said to him, "27 minutes. This is the last test."
"There are 27 bullets in total. I want you to use your ability to predict the future to dodge them all."
"You have such enviable abilities."
"You'll be a good dog."
“I swear, if you pull through, you’ll be eternally grateful to me.”
Gu Heng straightened his body.
He witnessed it all; those experiences, repeatedly buried, were now exposed once more.
He knew he was destined to suffer this punishment.
...
...
"Hey, wake up."
"Gu Heng?"
"Wake up, I've already killed it."
Take a deep breath.
The first thing you see is An Rushi's worried expression.
He finally awoke from the prison of his memories.
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