CH 204

Everything was still going according to plan, but the plan itself wasn’t easy.

If there was one thing in Yin Ren’s career as a “wild animal” for over a hundred years had taught him, it was that no matter how formidable he may be, to survive, he must never underestimate any opponent.

Especially when it came to the terrifying visitors from the Other Side with formidable strength.

Yin Ren exerted all his strength to devour Mr. Le, making every effort to replenish his own power. Even though he weakened his perception, the pungency of the toxin still stimulated every nerve in his body.

Indeed, Mr. Le soon realized that something was amiss.

The young cub was consuming more and more, yet it showed no signs of being affected by the toxin. A quarter of Mr. Le’s body that had squeezed into the interstitial space had already disappeared, and his feet had turned into half-broken skeletons. No matter how he trampled, the young creature always narrowly avoided him. If things continued like this, he would gradually be worn down.

The situation was different.

Mr. Le immediately ceased the secretion of the toxin, and the countless feet that were trampling collapsed into dirty foam.

Accompanied by thudding sounds, more foam descended from the Other Side.

Mr. Le’s true form was becoming more squeezed, yet it always evaded Yin Ren. No matter how hard the mass of darkness tried to get closer, Mr. Le managed to keep his body away. At the same time, the surrounding foam became more and more dense, and Mr. Le used his own flesh to build a cage, trapping the dark and fluttering young cub in the center.

The physical-level biological toxin named “Joy” transformed into a spiritual toxin. Since one had no effect, he used the other. The two toxins intersected continuously, always forcing the cub to reveal its true nature.

Mr. Le no longer allowed the cub to touch his body. His enormous true form kept rotating, causing the foam to burst incessantly. With painful convulsions, Mr. Le relentlessly squeezed and wrung the bubbles of his true form.

His body structure was loose and lightweight, so this method was like forcing his body into a meat grinder—indescribably painful. Mr. Le was already weakened for nearly a hundred years. If he continued to destroy himself like this, it would take him a few hundred years to recover.

…But it was worth it, he thought.

They had come all this way, sacrificing so much; a little more wouldn’t matter.

This cunning cub could conceal its identity and single-handedly challenge the flourishing “Disgust”. If they didn’t use all their strength, it would undoubtedly become a scourge in the future.

Dirty bleak joy condensed into thin threads; the biologically manufactured forbidden drug coated with poison of extreme bliss. The thin threads shot out like piano strings, bombarding the mass of darkness from all angles, leaving no blind spots—

The mass of darkness desperately tried to evade, but it was surrounded by Mr. Le’s body. Even if it tried to devour on the spot, it couldn’t quickly find a place of refuge. Several threads pierced through the cub’s body, causing it to tremble a few times before completely collapsing.

Pain.

This sensation filled Yin Ren’s mind completely. Even without sensory perception, the pain still felt like being tortured with a hot knife. His body was instantly pierced, and Yin Ren almost lost consciousness.

After the pain came an almost ecstatic bliss.

Ice and fire intertwined, capable of cracking even the toughest of objects. Yin Ren’s movements stalled for a full second before hundreds of torturous cycles ensued.

Now Yin Ren understood why Mr. Qiu hadn’t used emotional influence in their previous encounter.

Disgust was useful for causing chaos but using it on an enemy was simply inviting discomfort upon oneself. It was different for Mr. Le; even with Yin Ren retaining only a slight awareness, the occasional invading pleasure made him instinctively relax. In a state of relaxed consciousness, Yin Ren could only choose to read the thoughts of Zhong Chengshuo and “blindly strike” with his body.

Let alone the current situation…

Satiated with selfish pleasure, mixed with the euphoria induced by drugs. More emotions were directly injected into his body, and if Yin Ren hadn’t experienced such suffering before, he would have likely perished in this attack.

In the midst of chaos, Yin Ren forced his body to continue evading according to Zhong Chengshuo’s instructions. The piercing threads continued to cut through his body, and even when he successfully moved, more poisonous threads pierced him.

What’s happening outside?

Yin Ren exerted all his strength to devour, desperately avoiding each attack, yet the intense pain and extreme bliss mercilessly twisted his body, and the situation didn’t improve. Gradually, a hint of panic crept into his movements.

That was right… He and Zhong Chengshuo weren’t alone, and Zhong Chengshuo wasn’t an infallible machine either.

Was this a mistake?

Could Zhong Chengshuo have made such a mistake?

In a situation where he couldn’t perceive the outside world, such a predicament was especially terrifying. If it weren’t for centuries of experience keeping him steady, the tremendous pressure would have driven Yin Ren insane. Amidst the deluge of ecstatic euphoria, Yin Ren struggled to maintain a shred of clarity. But the pain was like an anesthetic, dulling his control over his body, and the small wings on his surface trembled uncontrollably.

Why hadn’t Zhong Chengshuo given him a strategy to change the situation? Could it be that this attack also injured him?

The will to survive churned Yin Ren’s thoughts, causing countless ideas to uncontrollably surface. He received signals from the outside through his hair—Huang Jin and Ge Tingting’s mission was going smoothly, and the mortal world’s reinforcement was ready.

Why not go all out and create an opening to escape?

The situation was worse than they had anticipated, and if they escaped now, they could all survive. Why did Zhong Chengshuo not recommend escape?

He had already exerted all his strength just to deal with the current battle… If things continued like this, could the plan really progress?

Yin Ren mentally clenched his teeth and pushed those thoughts deep into the recesses of his mind.

Don’t doubt. Don’t stop your actions. Zhong Chengshuo was his best accomplice; they made an agreement. According to the agreement, he must give it his all.

Sensing Yin Ren’s fear, Zhong Chengshuo gently curled up and lightly bit into the darkness at the corner of his mouth. Yin Ren happened to be pierced by a few threads of euphoric poison, and his thoughts began to falter.

[What are you doing?!] Yin Ren finally couldn’t hold back and mustered the energy to ask.

[Give me all your pain, panic, and fear—don’t leave a single bit.] Zhong Chengshuo commanded during the intervals, his thoughts incredibly clear.

[Brother, I’m reaching my limit. If you lose focus for even a moment, we’re both done for.] With the situation having reached this point, Yin Ren no longer had the strength to conceal his condition. His thoughts were fragmented, and his mental communication became sporadic.

[Give it to me.] Zhong Chengshuo’s thoughts calmly continued. [And then devour my eyes.]

With the situation being so tense, it took Yin Ren a full two seconds to react to that statement. [What?]

[The outside is narrow, the attacks are dense, and my vision can’t keep up.] Zhong Chengshuo’s thoughts instantly imprinted into Yin Ren’s mind. [My eyes haven’t fused with the host. If you devour them, it can help you recover a little.]

Yin Ren attempted to use his rusty thoughts to find the logic, but he couldn’t find it.

[Think again. I’m not at that point yet.] Yin Ren mustered his spirit, attempting to hide his weakness.

[Helping you recover is one aspect, but I can’t change my perception like you can. I can only abandon my organs.] Zhong Chengshuo calmly explained. [I’ve already taken out my eyes, so the situation has improved somewhat.]

[……]

[But I need more darkness, more pain, more of a sense of crisis that can push your instincts to the limit. This pain isn’t enough, far from it.]

[……Why are you…]

His consciousness was like a bird in a torrential rain, causing him to become disoriented. For the first time since the battle began, he didn’t feel like following Zhong Chengshuo’s commands.

Although the battlefield was ever-changing, Yin Ren had never seen anything like Zhong Chengshuo’s sudden mental and physical self-torture.

[Having walked this land for so long, it’s hard to express in thoughts ‘how to swim’. Only when you fall into the water can your body remember that feeling… Yin Ren, a long time ago, I was also a Primordial Elemental of the Other Side. But you transformed from a human and lack the instincts shaped by the Other Side’s environment.]

Yin Ren fell into silence.

[This might be the only thing I can teach you as an Elemental. Next, my commands might completely change.]

Zhong Chengshuo reached out his hand and touched Yin Ren’s body with two moist orbs.

[Do you trust me?]

[…That’s needless to say!] Yin Ren reluctantly pushed back his thoughts.

[Even I feel like it’s a bit risky.] Zhong Chengshuo touched his lover with blood-stained hands.

Smack! A small wing popped out from the top of Zhong Chengshuo’s head and lightly tapped his scalp.

[Why are you still hesitating at this point?!] Yin Ren exclaimed.

In the next instant, Yin Ren fully opened up.

[Just do whatever needs to be done. Later, consume more ‘Joy’ and regenerate your eyes.]

Pain, panic, confusion… darkness.

Their consciousness merged completely, plunging together into the depths of agony.

……

The new tactic worked, and Mr. Le was pleased.

The black cub was being sliced and wounded by the threads, and its movements became slower.

Initially, it would still crash into the wall formed by Mr. Le’s flesh. Whether it was because the compressed flesh was too tough to chew or it had simply run out of strength, the struggles of the cub weakened before his eyes.

Above the flesh prison, a giant foot took shape once again. The infant creature, pierced by countless threads, was barely breathing and unable to make any more movements. Its wings collapsed completely and turned into a soft and lifeless mess, no longer displaying the momentum from when the space was torn apart.

…It’s almost over.

Mr. Le dragged his painfully injured body and let out a long sigh.

Considering the current losses, things were going more smoothly than he had imagined.

This giant foot was more solid than before. It transformed into a foot wearing sturdy shoes, and the heavy sole was directed towards the trembling cub.

[…Why…]

Just as the foot was about to step down, a deeply sorrowful groan came from the cub.

[…It was you who attacked me first and destroyed my head… I was only defending myself at the time…]

[I infiltrated Shian only to gather information, not to be loyal to humans… We’re of the same kind, so why treat me like this… I don’t understand…]

The cub’s questioning carried a hint of despair; its voice was filled with inconsolable sadness.

Mr. Le’s actions came to a halt.

An innocent cub, who had separated from the group early on, was now crying before him. Its death had already been predetermined, and the current situation was brought about by his own hands.

But…

[Even if you want to kill me… let me understand why…] The cub painfully whimpered.

Above the sky, the vortex continued to rotate leisurely, and the pounding sound still persisted. The dirty foam compressed and burst, and Mr. Le fell into silence for a long time.

Another thread pierced through the cub’s body, but this time, it brought not the poison of euphoria, but a memory.

Their thoughts connected closely, and Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo almost simultaneously received the information—

It was a story that borders on a warm fairy tale.

Long ago, the Other Side had its peculiar “day” and “night”. Based on their respective origins, they were called Satisfaction and Fear.

Their origins could be considered the oldest and most primitive emotions of all living beings. For other Primordial Elementals, their scale was like that of a human in comparison to the ocean. Perhaps due to their primordial nature and exaggerated size, they were closer to some kind of inorganic natural phenomenon than ancient life forms.

Regardless of whether they represented relatively powerful emotions like Sorrow and Joy, or more complex and subtle emotions, the smaller Primordial Elementals would eventually be swallowed and annihilated by Fear.

For countless billions of years, the night-like Fear washed over the Other Side. Each time the darkness swept through, it would take hundreds and thousands of lives. Age and strength made no difference; its destruction was impartial and resisted no rebellion. And when Fear subsided, the pure white Satisfaction would silently flow, giving rise to new Primordial Elementals in various emotions.

The ebb and flow, the cycle of life and death.

As time flowed on, with the proliferation of life, countless nerves and brain marrow constructed a broader world of consciousness. The Primordial Elementals swam in the sea of consciousness, living and dying with the “day and night”, and everything was relatively peaceful—there was no reproduction or aging ailments. The Elementals only needed to consume and would perish by devouring each other.

Until the emergence of humans.

Disgust and Love rapidly grew in strength due to the birth of humans. Perhaps because they absorbed too many emotions originating from humans, they possessed more human traits compared to other Primordial Elementals.

Such as “thoughts”.

As the original wise Elemental, “Love” couldn’t tolerate the large-scale randomness of death caused by Fear. It convinced Disgust and Joy, which were of comparable strength, to ultimately discover the secret of Fear—

It was nothing more than an ancient entity, larger than them and with almost no consciousness.

[Kill it, so that no one needs to fear anymore… Having to worry about the end of life every day, such a life is too burdensome. We don’t need this.]

Love proclaimed.

[Moreover, humans reproduce rapidly, providing an enormous quantity of emotions that we cannot consume. ‘Fear’ is merely a calamity of indiscriminate destruction and must be eradicated… It is time to bring an end to this chaos.]

That battle lasted for hundreds of years. Countless Primordial Elementals followed Love and ultimately dealt a severe blow to that ancient and immense Fear—space was torn apart by the clashing forces, and Fear fell into a trap constructed by gaps. Its body was shattered into pieces, and its remnants scattered throughout the Other Side and the present world, immobilized and destined for extinction.

The night would no longer come.

There was no need to worry about death suddenly descending. The lives of the Primordial Elementals have become much more contented. They could plan their lives as they please, and their beloved comrades wouldn’t suddenly disappear. Humans had multiplied and developed rapidly, and food was abundant everywhere. The chaotic Other Side had transformed into a utopia in the truest sense.

[…] Astonished, Yin Ren finished interpreting the memories and turned to Zhong Chengshuo—so, it turned out that the silly and naive rabbit, who could stop a child’s nighttime crying, had a much greater background than he had imagined. It could be considered a walking weapon of mass destruction.

What was even more intriguing was that with all the commotion on the Other Side, he had inadvertently become a younger and more intelligent “Fear”. No wonder Mr. Le had gone to great lengths to kill him. In the eyes of the Other Side, “Fear” could be seen as Death that harvested lives in one fell swoop.

[This is blind destruction of the ecosystem.]

The former “Fear”, who once lacked thoughts, made such a comment. Zhong Chengshuo’s thoughts emitted a faint scholarly dissatisfaction.

[When Love awakened, it coincided with the peak of human civilization’s explosion, generating resources that were indeed sufficient for the Other Side to consume. However, even after global population stabilization, the Other Side still lacked an appropriate ‘death’ mechanism, which will only lead to widespread famine.]

Indeed, Zhong Chengshuo’s speculations were perfectly reproduced in Mr. Le subsequent memories.

When shortages first appeared, Love established many rules, from the allocation of emotions within the groups to the punishment of non-compliant Primordial Elementals by devouring them.

The situation improved for a while, but Satisfaction continued to give birth to new Elementals incessantly, and famine continued to expand. The Primordial Elementals started devouring each other due to hunger, and if this continued, there would be large-scale chaos on the Other Side.

Love couldn’t bear such a tragic situation and shifted its focus to “food crops”—the human realm.

[They only need to descend into madness, and they will double the production of various emotions.]

Love came up with a solution once again.

[Don’t worry, the total number of humans won’t decrease too much. I understand humans—when all humans go insane, it’s as if no humans have gone insane. They will only adjust and establish new orders, which will have no impact on us.]

[We only need to invest a portion of our bodies into the ‘Other Side*’ and guide them… There is no need to worry about the gaps restoring themselves autonomously. As long as someone holds on in the gap, it will not close so easily. Didn’t Fear fall into the gap back then and create many weak points in space?]

*Clarity: Human side. They’re both technically “the other side” depending on the speaker’s perspective.

Like when they dispersed the night, Love’s expression remained gentle and confident.

[You ask who will hold it up? Of course, it will be me.]

[I will break through the space just like Fear did, creating opportunities for all of you. However long you need, I can hold on for that long. Whether it’s a hundred years or a thousand years, you will always succeed… If you need power, you can take my body and exchange it with humans.]

As the hero of the Other Side, Love’s thoughts were incredibly gentle.

[…The greatest responsibility for the current situation lies with me. I will never let our homeland fall into chaos. Please trust me.]

……

After Mr. Le imparted the memories, the cub indeed calmed down.

It must have deeply understood its own fate—given the great price the Other Side had paid, it was impossible to allow this young Death to return and undo all their previous efforts.

By whatever means necessary, they had to reclaim that carefree time—a golden era without Fear, filled with abundant emotions.

The giant foot rose to an unprecedented height and ruthlessly stomped down on the silent youngling.

The might of that foot shook the heavens and earth. Just as Le Mister’s spirits loosened slightly, they tensed up again abruptly.

Something was off about the sensation.

It seemed like the foot had not crushed flesh.

In an instant, countless black threads emerged from the gaps of that foot. They rapidly spread along the giant foot, displaying none of the clumsiness and inexperience from before.

[What…?]

Mr. Le was engulfed by excruciating pain.

The previous cub had only nibbled with its baby teeth, but this devouring undoubtedly came from an even older and more mature Fear. In an instant, the flesh on the giant foot exploded into a fine mist, which was then absorbed almost completely by the spreading darkness.

The threads turned into streams, and the streams turned into an ocean.

That mass of darkness seemed to transform instantly into a strong acid. It surged within the flesh prison constructed by Mr. Le, rapidly corroding the flesh until nothing remained.

He fell into a trap.

…The cub had set him up!

After all, he wasn’t facing the mindless ancient Fear from a thousand years ago, but a more cunning and deadly enemy born from humans. In the blink of an eye, Mr. Le couldn’t react in time, and half of his being turned to ashes.

[Thank you for your information. I understand the cause and effect now… I understand the difficulties you all face.]

As it devoured the gap, the cub’s aura instantly stabilized, no longer resembling its pitiful appearance from earlier.

[Unfortunately, I’m a person who has never had much insight and doesn’t care about grand principles…]

In the narrow interstitial space, darkness spread madly, like the deepest of nights.

[…I only know that I don’t like living in a world of lunatics, and I don’t want my friends to become insane either.]

The cub’s body exploded, and darkness covered the filthy foam that filled the air.

[Hehe.]

In response to Yin Ren, there was a relieved smile.

[As expected of Fear…]

The foam quickly tightened and surged in one direction—

Encasing Luo Chunlei within a cocoon of flesh.

Snap.

The cocoon ruptured, and before Luo Chunlei could even open her eyes, she was instantly enveloped by countless bubbles. The bubbles rapidly merged into her body, like clear water seeping into a dried sponge. When she opened her eyes, the colors within her pupils melded together, revealing a fish-like white.

Completely identical to those filthy bubbles.

The girl died, silently and soundlessly, less substantial than a bubble popping. In her final moments, she was probably still intoxicated by this legendary experience, envisioning a future that no longer existed.

It made sense, after all. Mr. Le, as a great Primordial Elemental, had no reason to be so intimate with a human girl—perhaps he was confident they wouldn’t actively kill her, making her the perfect “escape pod”.

Squeezing his remaining body into a human vessel, was this his preparation for returning to the human world and seeking survival?

Without hesitation, Yin Ren regained consciousness and rushed towards the replaced girl. The external seal was already being taken over by his own allies, Mr. Le… No, Ms. Le could not escape.

He wouldn’t let sentimentality get in the way because of this appearance.

Just as he dealt with Mr. Qiu back then, as long as he captured Mr. Le’s true form, he would let destruction follow its body, chasing it all the way to the Other Side. Now, he was confident he could kill it and devour it completely.

The timing and conditions were perfect; he couldn’t let it escape.

But “Luo Chunlei” merely looked up and smiled at him.

That smile carried a sense of relief and sorrow, looking almost like…

Like a “hero” in the human sense.

In the next moment, “Joy” leaped into the void, soaring straight towards the vortex in the sky. The center of the vortex surged instantly, bursting with countless snow-white and emaciated arms. They gently opened, embracing the girl’s small body. Just by their movements, those arms did their utmost to cradle the girl tenderly in their palms. They closed slowly, resembling human fingers coming together—

Accompanied by a sigh, a chilling and horrifying chewing and devouring sound echoed from the gap.

Occasional scattered bubbles emerged from the gap, quickly disappearing. Meanwhile, the snow-white arms gained some color of blood and rapidly became plump and healthy.

“Joy” vanished at that moment.