Chapter 35
Shen Huaixin remembered the setting in the article: people with stable minds and strengthened bodies are more resistant to pollution. She estimated that if she faced the source of the pollution directly, she would not survive tonight and would completely lose consciousness.
She put on a mask and took some protective measures. She swiped her citizen card to borrow a shared bicycle. Seeing that the distance was not far, the driver drove most of the way and it would take another ten minutes to get home.
Shen Huaixin pedaled quickly, the rushing wind whistling past her ears. The air on the roadside began to distort like heat waves. The street seemed to stretch endlessly, resisting her progress. The pollution factor was thick, like a substance. Her ears were buzzing, and she realized that her original estimate was too optimistic.
Indeed, facing a boss-level pollution concentration, according to the book's rating standards, it should reach SSS level. This fragile human body has no chance of survival.
Eight minutes later, Shen Huaixin was vomiting blood, fell off his bicycle, and staggered forward purely by willpower.
[System: When the host gets off the car, the host's aura has been automatically shielded, and surrounding pollution sources will not actively attack.]
[Chen Huaixin: What's the point of just shielding me? Isn't there something that can shield me from pollution?]
[System: ...If there were, this world would have been saved long ago. Therefore, the heroine with the power of purification is the only hope for this world.]
It made so much sense that she was speechless.
In the extremely high-pressure environment, Shen Huaixin's consciousness was already a little fuzzy. She didn't know how long it took her to walk just a few dozen meters.
Fortunately, facial recognition still works. As soon as the iron door opened automatically, she saw the familiar housekeeper with a pair of empty eyes. He glanced at her. The deep dark pupils lost focus and could not be seen at a glance. Shen Huaixin couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
[System: Don't worry, we have shielded the host from pain. No matter how severe the contamination is, you won't feel any pain.]
【Chen Huaixin: How long do I have left? 】
Shen Huaixin held onto the gate, his vision blurry. After a while, he was able to distinguish the location of his own house from the unfamiliar environment. The green plants in the garden that he had carefully cared for in the past had withered and died, and even worse, some had mutated into sharp fangs. In the dim light, they looked particularly white and strange. When swaying in the wind, the flowers drooped down little by little, as if smiling and nodding to the visitors.
She stood in the center of the flowerbed, feeling as if she were in a misty forest. It was still noon, but the surroundings were cold and dark, with a chilling chill. This was a scene Shen Huaixin had never seen in peacetime, far exceeding her initial naive and pale imagination.
Deep within the mansion, the demon lords beyond human understanding are indeed suppressed in a certain sense.
[System: In about ten minutes, the host will be assimilated into a source of contamination. Go to the kitchen and get a knife now; there's still time.]
[Chen Huaixin: ...How are Mom and Chu Mo? ]
[System: Mother Shen is undergoing a transformation. Shen Chumo is standing by her side.]
“…”
Shen Huaixin's heart sank, and he staggered forward involuntarily.
Yesterday's daily life was still vivid in her mind. She still remembered the loving and focused look of Shen's mother when she fell on her, willing to give her everything for the best. But... it seemed that all the partings were unexpected.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally, she never imagined that the last time she would see her would be on such an ordinary morning, and that her last words to her would be: "Mom, I'm leaving."
It's like saying goodbye to this world.
[System: Host, your scenes are about to wrap up. Don't invest too much emotion in the character. Excessive emotional fluctuations will lead to premature alienation.]
It took Shen Huaixin a while to regain consciousness from her drowsiness. She nodded and gritted her teeth before moving forward. Pushing aside the layers of branches and leaves, the towering buildings twisted and twisted, and a sharp and familiar voice whistled. She didn't dare to think who it was.
After pushing open the door, Shen Huaixin was shocked to find that the Shen residence had transformed into another dimension. Countless calendars hung in the air, their pages flipping as they wailed.
From upstairs, a sharp and mournful wail could be heard: "One year..."
Three hundred and sixty-five pieces of torn paper rustled.
"Two years..."
More pieces of paper flew out, forming a paper-like vortex. The snowflake-like paper pieces were like sharp blades, cutting the wall and leaving scars on the wall, with bright red blood flowing from the scars.
In the noisy and chaotic environment, Shen Huaixin's forehead was throbbing, and he was completely disoriented. A system prompt came from his mind.
[System: Host, the kitchen is on the left. Spread the calendar like a blanket. It will carry you to the second floor, to Shen Chumo's original room. You have ten minutes.]
Shen Huaixin took a deep breath and stepped to the left despite the increasingly loud buzzing sound in his ears. With every step he took, he felt like he was stepping on something wet and sticky, like chewing gum, which kept pulling at his feet and his spirits plummeted.
Walking into the kitchen... She couldn't tell whether this was a kitchen or not. Looking around, there seemed to be a stove, but the fire burning inside was a cold blue fire, emitting bursts of chill.
【Chen Huaixin: I can’t see the knife.】
[System: Right under your feet.]
【Chen Huaixin: Isn't this a calendar?】
[System: ...Host, your cognition has been disturbed.]
Shen Huaixin rubbed her eyes hard. When she picked up the paper from the ground, she scratched her hand, and the black air entered through the wound. The wound was icy cold, as if it was wrapped gently and subtly by silk. She couldn't help but touch it again, and more warm blood fell.
Not enough… She swallowed and put the paper on her wrist.
[System: Host, wake up! Think about your bonus! Ten million!]
[Chen Huaixin: ...Thank you for the invitation. I'm sober now.]
Shen Huaixin followed the system's instructions, tore the calendar from the air, and spread it on the ground in a mess. The blood flowing from his hands soaked the paper, becoming a natural adhesive. Soon, a bloody red carpet that was unbearable to the eyes was made.
She sat on it, breathing heavily.
Despite blocking out the pain, the loss of blood and the acceleration of pollution still made Shen Huaixin exhausted. She wanted to close her eyes, but her obsession with money forced her to stay awake and look around.
The simple calendar blanket rose like an elevator. When it reached about the second floor, Shen Huaixin followed the system's instructions and looked in the direction of Shen Chumo's bedroom.
The surroundings were so dark that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She took one deep step and one shallow step, relying on the system navigation, stumbling along. With every step she took, she could see red words dripping from blood around her, as if they were telling her something.
My child is missing.
She took another step, and blood words appeared on the right.
I am not a qualified mother.
Shen Huaixin paused, but the blood words gushed out like a spring, flying everywhere, carrying the damp smell of a rainy night.
【He pretended to be my child, he deserves death! 】
【He killed Chu Mo! 】
[Chu Mo will die with his eyes wide open! I will avenge my child!]
Kill him, kill him, kill him!
Countless blood words surged like a tide, hitting Shen Huaixin, splashing salty white foam, and turned into countless claws scratching her legs and abdomen. Because the pain was blocked, Shen Huaixin's body lost some of the sense of touch, but she could still feel the other party's intense pain.
She shook her legs, held the hilt of the knife, kicked away the bloody words step by step, and walked forward with difficulty.
[System: Host, you have 5 minutes.]
She felt herself hitting an invisible barrier, and suddenly stopped. She slashed fiercely with the knife in her hand, and the dark black cracked. She finally saw that Shen Chumo was trying his best to absorb the contamination factors from Shen's mother, but the half-alienated Shen's mother was already unconscious at this time. Countless pieces of paper were cutting off the flesh of the boy like a slow slicing. He was already covered in blood and his body was completely broken.
"Monster! Bastard!" Mother Shen roared and screamed while attacking Shen Chumo wantonly.
Shen Chumo did not dodge, but the closer he got, the more serious the pollution of Shen's mother became, and black solid foreign matter began to extend from both sides of her cheeks, which was a sign that she was about to become a source of pollution.
"Mother……"
"You are not my son!"
Shen Huaixin made the crack bigger, enough for her to get in. The pollution concentration here reached an incredible level, and the system kept popping up red warnings, urging her to act quickly while the two of them didn't notice her.
Shen Huaixin looked at the scene in front of him, feeling indescribable sadness. The once noble and dignified Shen's mother was now disheveled, emitting a foul stench, and covered with black foreign matter. She could no longer be considered a "human".
She opened her mouth and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Mom."
The familiar and choked voice instantly attracted Mother Shen's attention. She turned her head to look at her, her eyes flashed with clarity, and her lips moved twice.
"Xinxin..." But soon, she was filled with hatred again, gritting her teeth, "Kill him, kill him!"
Pollution will amplify negative emotions in one's heart. Shen Huaixin knows that her mother will never come back.
Shen Chumo stood there in a daze.
As early as Shen Huaixin spoke, he looked at her, but... he didn't dare to believe it.
The girl's lips, which used to be as red as petals, now had a strange gray-purple hue; her bright eyes, which used to be clearly black and white, were now dark and hollow, like glass beads, without any highlights; her palms were covered with scars and bleeding, and the pollution factors were pervasive.
Shen Chumo could see that this girl whom he cherished so much had been completely polluted by him.
He stared at his hands, his fingertips trembling. Filthy sins piled up in his palms, in his chest... everywhere, rooted deep in his soul. A fishy-sweet taste suddenly surged in his throat, and he spat out blood, his throat constricting.
The emotion in his chest was more bitter than a lemon, more painful than a knife, yet powerless and filled with resentment. There was a lot of warm liquid on his face. He touched it, scooped out a handful of water, but it kept coming out, as if a valve had been opened, the barrier between the past and the world was ruthlessly pierced.
His ignorant emotions and understanding of the world... the chaotic fog in his mind dissipated, and everything became clear in an instant.
Shen Huaixin taught him what it meant to be heartbroken.
No, she taught him that all emotions, sweet and sour, happy and sad, were caused by her.
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