Chapter 166 Later—end
At the same moment Arthur replied, gunshots rang out from outside, followed by... some horrific screams.
Andy's body trembled even more violently. He could clearly smell the odors—the smell of blood had become more distinct and thicker, but what terrified him was not the obvious human blood.
Instead, it was a different smell mixed with the stench of blood and gunpowder, damp and with a slightly fishy odor.
"Sizzle..."
"Sizzle..."
...
The sound of wet chunks of meat being dragged.
Occasionally, a few muffled sobs would be heard, but the sound would stop abruptly after a few seconds.
Andy's face was extremely pale.
At first, he was so panicked that his mind went blank, and he couldn't imagine what the mercenaries outside had encountered.
It wasn't until several "things" dragged pieces of human remains into the room through the crack in the window that Andy realized where the bloody smell was coming from...
Those "things" looked like a combination of a mantis and a spider magnified countless times, but that description alone is far from enough to depict their terror.
They are not just insects; there are also things about them that remind people of humans.
For example, the human-like features embedded in their distorted faces, and the soft skin faintly visible beneath their carapaces.
What Andy couldn't understand was that those monsters, which looked like they had crawled out of a horror movie or something similar, were unusually docile as they walked up to Arthur after entering the room.
“Arthur…”
Andy instinctively wanted to use his special ability to protect Arthur, but a wave of exhaustion suddenly hit him, causing him to stagger and kneel down once again.
"Andy!"
Elisa weakly supported Andy.
Her expression was strange, and she subconsciously turned her body to block Andy's view. But after pausing for a few seconds, she moved her body away again with a changing expression, so that Andy could see the interaction between the "monsters" and Arthur in its entirety.
"Hiss... hiss..."
The monsters hissed, emitting insect-like chirps that were inaudible to humans.
They seemed to sense Andy's gaze, silently turning their heads and staring intently at him with their red pupils.
Andy involuntarily flapped the heavy wings behind him (although this once again made him feel nauseous, dizzy, and weak).
"Don't be afraid, Andy, these are all... these are all..."
Andy heard Bryce and Elisa whispering something in his ear, but at that moment, he couldn't hear anything—the red-eyed monsters were still watching him.
His gaze was sinister, cold, and carried an inorganic judgment.
It was like... like judging whether Andy was the prey to be devoured.
"Hmm—"
Noah (which now looked like some kind of soft, fleshy white ball of thread) suddenly let out a somewhat abrupt mutter.
The countless nematodes, driving people mad, writhed and gradually pieced together a hazy human shape amidst the blood and mucus.
In that instant, all the monsters suddenly turned around and ignored Andy, who was terrified.
They approached Arthur, bowed slightly, and then sorted the mangled remains, placing them on the ground. Then, maintaining that strange posture, they quietly withdrew from the house.
With the departure of the last monster, the once terrifying and dangerous cabin instantly returned to normal, except this time the atmosphere inside was far less relaxed and pleasant than before.
...The wreckage is still lying on the ground.
If examined closely, one can even make out that the remains can be pieced together into a not-so-complete human figure.
Andy didn't want to think at all about where the missing parts of those "humanoids" went.
Andy turned to look at Bryce and Elisa, whose parents were staggering to their feet, and they looked...very calm.
It was as if the horrific scene unfolding right before their eyes was actually perfectly normal.
"Alyssa's mom... I... what is this... sob..."
Andy asked, trembling, his words somewhat incoherent.
"Um, well, actually our family situation is a bit complicated, honey..."
"Actually, we've always wanted to tell you..."
Bryce and Elisa looked troubled.
"I'm also curious to know what exactly happened."
Lin Xi's voice came from behind Bryce and Elisa.
"Lin Xi!"
Bryce jumped up and looked towards the door. His brother had returned home sometime earlier. They stood there calmly, staring at the blood-soaked living room, which resembled a slaughterhouse.
A few minutes later, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings, Xavier returned.
However, it was far less composed than Lin Xi.
"Damn it... How many times have I told you, if you want to eat, don't eat in the room! Do you know how much trouble it is to clean?"
Upon seeing the bloodstains in the living room, Xavier let out a painful howl.
When it finally saw the wreckage on the ground, its expression turned extremely grim.
"No...no no no no...no..."
Xavier clutched his head and cried out, “My carpet… my carpet… this is a genuine Persian carpet… it was my wedding gift to Lin Xi.”
Xavier was in excruciating pain; he looked like he wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the soft carpet…
"Cough cough—"
Lin Xi glanced quickly at the dumbfounded Andy, then let out a deliberate cough to remind Xavier.
"Waaaah...this is so expensive..."
"Xavier—"
It wasn't until Lin Xi had to call out Xavier's name that the latter sniffed and stood up from the ground in utter frustration.
"carpet……"
Even at this point, he was still muttering to himself.
“Arthur, I know this rug cost me a year’s allowance. You should keep an eye on those little bastards.”
"...I will make it up to you."
Arthur said expressionlessly.
"The point isn't compensation, but the sentiment; this is a wedding gift!"
...
"Shut up."
Lin Xi ultimately had to resort to somewhat violent means to suppress Xavier and Arthur's bickering.
Only then did he have the energy to focus his attention on Andy.
The young boy looked terrified, trembling and completely lost, which was truly pitiful... provided, of course, that you ignored the pair of wings on his back.
"Bryce, is this what you meant by Andy's special quality?"
Lin Xi rubbed his temples and said that he still looked like he had a headache.
"Uh...yes." At this point, Bryce seemed to finally appear a little nervous.
“Sorry, Lin Xi, we should have explained in more detail, but the phone isn’t safe. We were planning to discuss this with you after dinner, but who knew those guys would act so quickly.”
Elisa added.
"We thought we'd taken care of all those guys, who would have thought they—"
Elisa wanted to continue speaking, but at that moment, Andy suddenly let out a short gasp.
The adults present involuntarily turned their heads and found Andy with a pale face staring blankly in a certain direction.
"Sizzle..."
He was looking at Noah.
Countless slender white nematodes wriggled and swayed, struggling to re-compress themselves into a human mindset. The soft, moist, slippery surface of the nematodes gradually changed color, eventually mimicking the appearance of that human boy.
However, Noah's insect body was so obese that it was difficult for him to perfectly maintain a human appearance. As a result, although he still looked like a little boy, a few finger-thick threadworms would occasionally peek out from his eye sockets and ears.
"Andy, this..."
Elisa's expression shifted, and just as she was about to offer some words of comfort to Andy, she saw her son sway...
"Bang--"
Andy finally succumbed to the physical and emotional blows and fainted.
………
...
...
...
A few hours later, in the children's room on the second floor.
Bryce sat down next to sleeping Andy, looking at the peaceful sleeping face on the bed, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes.
Andy's wings had been folded back, making him look like any other ordinary little boy in the world.
Of course, years of fear and anxiety have caused the child to habitually furrow his brow while sleeping.
Bryce lowered his head and kissed Andy on the forehead.
Seemingly sensing that his father was nearby, Andy's expression gradually relaxed.
"Hey……"
A very faint noise came from the doorway.
Bryce tucked the blanket around Andy, then stood up and left the room.
Elisa was waiting for him at the door.
"Asleep?"
She asked.
Bryce nodded.
"The poor little guy, he was really terrified."
The man sighed, looking slightly dejected.
He then walked down the stairs with Elisa and came to the living room on the first floor.
The area has been largely cleaned up, although the slightly murky bloodstains on the floor and walls are still clearly visible.
Lin Xi was sitting on the sofa, while Xavier had already reverted to his half-human, half-insect form.
Huge wings unfurled behind him, and with the flapping of the wings, Xavier hovered in mid-air, holding a rag in one hand and cleaning fluid in the other. He was diligently wiping away the bloodstains splattered high above from the carnage.
"I know a pretty good brand of cleaning agent that's very convenient for removing blood stains. I think you should keep some of that at home..."
Elisa said.
"You look exactly like an obnoxious nobleman right now..."
As for Bryce, he raised an eyebrow and then spoke to his brother, the obvious schadenfreude in his tone making Xavier clench the rag in his hand.
Lin Xi simply gave a cold laugh indifferently in the face of his brother's teasing.
How is that child?
Lin Xi asked.
"He's asleep—Andy is exhausted. Spreading his wings is a huge drain on any Anya, let alone someone who is still a baby."
Elisa replied.
Yes, that's right, Bryce and Elisa's child... Andy... is not from Earth.
He was an Anya, but for some reason, he remained on Earth after his compatriots left, and then became a secret research subject for an illegal research organization.
That special research institution imprisoned many children like Andy in a special prison codenamed "Welfare Home," and used them as experimental subjects to conduct all sorts of inhumane research.
For some reason, Bryce and Elisa found out about this, they rescued Andy, and then... eventually adopted him.
"I'm so sorry, we never intended to get you involved in this trouble."
Alyssa's face darkened as she thought about what had happened.
"We just didn't expect those guys to be so troublesome..."
Bryce also said.
“I got a little carried away, and I need to reflect on that. Elisa had suggested eliminating them completely, but I thought they wouldn't find us…”
"It doesn't matter."
Lin Xi interrupted Bryce.
"You should know that I'm happy to be able to help you."
Lin Xi said.
He paused for a moment, then tilted his head slightly... as if he were listening to something.
A few seconds later, Lin Xi turned her head to look at the person opposite her.
Bryce and Elisa were watching him with some nervousness.
“Actually, it’s not that annoying…” Lin Xi said slowly, a gentle smile slowly appearing on her lips, “…They won’t appear again. I think Andy will have a very happy and peaceful childhood.”
Lin Xi added.
It took Bryce and Elisa a while to understand what Lin Xi's words really meant.
"What? Wait... Lin Xi, what did you do..."
"I just helped deal with what you called a minor problem."
The sound of flapping wings could be clearly heard from outside the porch of the cabin. Then the door was pushed open, and Arthur and Noah quietly entered the room.
They looked ordinary and normal, just like the first time Bryce and Elisa saw them tonight. They were clean, tidy, and cute, like any ordinary human child.
However, there were some bloodstains on Noah's collar.
Lin Xi turned around, looked at Bryce, and then lowered her eyes and spoke gently.
“Don’t worry, Bryce, it’s just some routine household punishment. If they hadn’t deliberately let it go… those human mercenaries wouldn’t have been able to get into this house. I think they probably just wanted to impress Andy.” Lin Xi looked at Noah, “But they’ve backfired a bit.”
After Lin Xi finished speaking, she sighed.
"No matter what, you shouldn't have let those people dirty the carpet—it was Xavier's wedding anniversary gift to me."
Lin Xi said to her child.
Under the light, his eyes gleamed with a scarlet, bloodshot light.
(The End)
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