Chapter 87
"You brat, didn't I tell you to be home for dinner at seven? Where have you been playing again, getting yourself all dirty?" Xu Qing pulled Xiao Shengyun in. He was carrying a tattered backpack, his clothes had several holes, and his hair was a mess like a clump of straw.
"I got into a fight." He pouted.
"Fighting? You even laid a hand on him! Who did you fight with? How is the child? Is he hurt anywhere?" Xu Qing's first reaction was fear, and only then did she feel anger.
“I beat up Wang Wen because he said I didn’t have a father.”
Xiao Shengyun's hands itched even more when he thought of Wang Wen's smug face.
"Mom, don't worry, I didn't hit you too hard."
"I see." Xu Qing remained silent. "I'll apologize to their parents tomorrow. You should wash your hands and eat first."
She went into the kitchen, poured the marinated fish into the pan with a "sizzle," fried it on both sides, added seasonings, and soon a steaming plate of braised fish was served.
There were several other dishes on the table. Xiao Shengyun washed his hands and was about to grab a chicken foot when his hand was knocked off.
"Get the chopsticks."
Xu Qing said coldly.
"Oh." He had done something wrong today, so he was inevitably a little guilty and kept his head down, eating obediently.
"What did you do at school today, besides fighting?" Xu Qing asked.
"That's all." Xiao Shengyun found his mother a bit annoying, always asking questions during mealtimes.
Xu Qing took meticulous care of him in daily life. She would wash his clothes in the washing machine and then scrub them again. She cooked all three meals a day by hand. It was hard to believe that a middle school teacher like her had so much time.
After finishing his meal, Xiao Shengyun tried to sneak into his room, but he failed. Xu Qing slapped him and pinned him to the bathroom sink.
“I can wash myself.” Xiao Shengyun struggled violently.
"You can't get it clean!"
Xu Qing turned on the tap, adjusted the water temperature, and then used the water to thoroughly wet her messy hair, her movements extremely gentle, as if she were stroking a cat's fur.
Then Xu Qing applied some cool liquid to her hair, probably shampoo or something similar.
This process was unpleasant. Xiao Shengyun felt like his face was covered in foam. He was bent over, and his back ached terribly after a short while.
So when the water washed away the foam, he quickly stood up like a spring, and even felt a "crackling" sound coming from his waist.
"I'm done washing."
"Don't even think about running away. Dry your hair before going to bed, or the blankets will get soaked."
Since this kid always just goes through the motions when blow-drying his hair, Xu Qing picked up the hairdryer again.
Xiao Shengyun sat down on a small stool, letting the warm air from the hairdryer blow on his head and face. A pair of hands ran through his hair, and the process felt very comfortable. He unconsciously squinted his eyes.
"Mom, are you not angry anymore?" he asked.
“I’ve said before that you can fight back, but you have to control the degree. You can also seek help from others, such as me or your teachers.”
"My grades aren't good, and my teachers won't believe what I say." Xiao Shengyun pouted.
"I believe you. If you are bullied, you must not take action on your own, or you will lose control. You must come back and tell your mother immediately."
"oh."
"Also, remember to come home for meals on time."
In a state of mental fog, this memory inexplicably intruded, and now, looking back, it's like a needle hidden in a cotton coat—warm yet painful. He was terrified, terrified that he would end up like Shen Yao, becoming a manipulated tool for that pitiful little bit of love.
If Shen Xiuping raised Shen Yao with ulterior motives, what about Xu Qing?
...
Zhou Zhi, who was not far from the ground, promptly sent a message that officials from the Xizhou region had arrived.
Not only them, but the commotion here was so great that the central government quickly sent people over as well.
He had to restore Xiao Shengyun to normal before those people arrived, otherwise there would be no room for maneuver.
Humanity will be forced to confront an even more terrifying being, and that being will return to where it belongs.
Zhou Zhi was not far from these two behemoths, yet he was almost unharmed; a force was protecting him and the city.
The energy around the feathered serpent and the bird was weakening. The rules of this world had intervened. They let out painful roars and their bodies shrank, slowly shrinking to human form.
Why did the anticipated deity not come into being?
Shen Xiuping, who was not far away, watched all of this and couldn't figure out what went wrong.
According to normal rules, god-level pollutants would devour each other, but Xiao Shengyun, lacking a source core, could only acquire limited power.
Therefore, he killed many pollutants without consuming too much of them, and was even able to maintain his sanity and human form.
Zhou Zhi walked to the center of the pit and saw the beautiful life form. Its huge wings covered the entire ground, and the blue wings on them shimmered with colorful halos in the light. Its tail was injured, and at this moment, a large amount of blood had soaked into the soil.
Its enormous head looked extremely ferocious, and its red eyes stared at this tiny human.
He was in great pain, his body was filled with a large amount of source matter, which brought him power but also weakened his sanity.
The feathered serpent opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth; it could easily pierce a hole in a human body.
But He did not continue, because He heard a sound—bang, bang, bang.
That was the sound of a human heartbeat before my eyes.
On the desolate plains where only the wind blew, the sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears countless times, like a thick barrier. He no longer wandered in unease, but was able to sleep peacefully behind the barrier for one night.
Zhou Zhi was not afraid. Just now, that soft force had protected everyone perfectly, and no one was harmed.
Do pollutants really possess human emotions, kindness, and compassion?
This topic has been around for a long time, but unfortunately, after hundreds of experiments, people have found that although pollutants also have high intelligence, their violent and bloodthirsty instincts have not disappeared.
Kindness and compassion can be replaced by another idiom—weakness.
Zhou Zhi prided himself on having a deep understanding of pollutants, but he had never personally experienced the feelings associated with them.
So when he realized Xiao Shengyun's identity, his initial reaction was disbelief. Before that, he had always thought that the other party was just a somewhat special human being.
He reached out, and some mental threads probed into the enormous head. The mental state of each contaminant was not chaotic, and these mental threads were able to calm them down.
The feathered serpent's eyes calmed down, and it slowly closed them.
When He Jingming arrived, he only saw Zhou Zhi kneeling beside the enormous monster, his eyes filled with a sorrow he had never seen before.
He gasped, his throat tightening: "What...what happened?"
The General Administration treats it the same way as other pollutants, strictly controlling it and detaining it in a specially made prison.
To He Jingming's surprise, Zhou Zhi blocked his way before he could make a move.
"Dean Zhou, what are you doing?" He Jingming frowned.
“Currently, there is no way for humans to imprison a creature of this level…” He paused, not wanting to use words like pollutant or monster, “It’s pointless for you to take it back.”
He Jingming glanced at the feathered serpent and had to admit that the man was right; both A and pollutants could escape, after all, the power of these things was too terrifying.
The next second, He Jingming's eyes turned to terror.
Because the enormous creature behind Zhou Zhi had awakened, its red pupils stared straight at He Jingming, making him freeze in place under its gaze.
Is it really possible for humans to defeat creatures of this level?
“I can try to appease Him.”
Zhou Zhi knew very well that it was pointless to talk about feelings with the people from the Bureau of Supernatural Abilities. However, if it were him in the past, he probably would have regarded the pollutants as enemies.
Of course, that's still the case now, except for one exception.
He is a miracle.
His hand rested on the feathered serpent's head; after the mental guidance he had just received, His condition seemed to have improved considerably.
Then He Jingming saw that the terrifying creature in Zhou Zhi's hand only slightly moved its head.
Is this some kind of god-level pollutant? It looks just like a pet.
In the distance came the sounds of bustling traffic and people; reinforcements had arrived.
When outsiders first arrived in this city, all they saw were countless corpses littered with pollutants and survivors, and they were shocked by the city's vibrant vitality.
But they didn't know what struggles the people here had endured, nor did they know what sacrifices the people who first built this city had made.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com