The Hidden Call

My aunt was pregnant at the time. She was dragged out of the water vat by her hair by the Heavenly Ring People. The Heavenly Ring People used a samurai sword to cut open her belly and cruelly killed her along with the fetus. They cheered and sang happy songs as if they had done something great.

Ya Wen pressed Dai Sijia's head down and covered her mouth. They huddled inside the wall and buried themselves in bricks. The Heavenly Ring People ravaged the house for five or six days before leaving. By then, the two were starving and on the verge of death. When they crawled out, all they saw were ruins burned to ashes.

Even so, the Heavenly Ring People refused to give up. They used the half-living room as a battlefield to fight the guerrillas of the Rose Army. Bullets flew over their heads as they crawled forward through the mud and smoke, caring about nothing but their green eyes as they stuffed everything that smelled edible into their mouths.

Leather shoes, bones, charcoal, grass ash, ants, rats, crows, maggots—if the gunpowder hadn't been poisonous, they would have almost eaten Octogen too, but even so, they were still hungry.

Finally, Dai Sijia collapsed first.

"Sister, Dad is here, I saw Mom... alkaline noodles, white rice porridge, pork strips... I really want to eat them."

Her petite body collapsed into the mud, gradually ceasing its trembling. In the final moments, her voice suddenly became very clear. "Sister, I don't need to eat anymore. It's your turn to eat."

What she saw reflected in her eyes were not human eyes, but the eyes of wild beasts.

Hunger, greed, bloodlust.

—No, those are not the eyes of some wild animal.

Ya Wen raised her hand and covered her left eye.

"Those are my eyes..."

It was me who killed my sister.

The sinful memories surged into her mind, reality and recollection intertwined, the familiar cold and hunger blurred time and space, and for a moment Ya Wen could not tell whether she was in the Outland or on the battlefield of her childhood.

"... Jiajia."

But one thing is certain: whether then or now, she has lost Si Jia.

Suddenly, Ya Wen stopped in her tracks, a flash of understanding appearing in her dim, golden-green eyes.

"Yes... why should I insist on living?"

Twelve years ago, he had no choice but to kill Dai Sijia in order to survive. However, Dai Sijia became a ghost and began to protect him after her death.

Twelve years later, he set foot on foreign soil again, about to point his gun at the innocent Grantian, all just to survive.

"I shouldn't be alive anymore."

She stood in the wind and snow Outland, murmuring:

"Dad, I'm sorry, I killed my sister. I'm sorry, Dad... I can't save you, and I can't save Frostplate either. I have no right to do this."

Someone like me doesn't deserve to live.

Ya Wen removed her cloak, revealing a red and black Malefic Calamity resembling a burn, spreading from her right eye to her entire cheek. The curling red and black flesh threads resembled thousands of tentacles, seemingly possessing their own consciousness as they continuously coiled and twisted.

"I should have ended this sinful life long ago."

She spread her arms and lay down on the ground, staring blankly at the red and black sky, giving up all thoughts of struggling, letting the cold and Malefic Calamity continue to weaken her life.

The world was bleak, without a single glimmer of light, not even the false sun could be seen. She died here, forgotten by the entire world, with no one to remember her.

Ya Wen thought: Let it be.

At least, I will no longer hurt any innocent people.

Her body temperature kept dropping, yet she showed no signs of dying. At this point, she could still feel her body temperature rising, the cold transforming into an intense heat. She no longer had the strength to shiver; the high fever made her delirious, her mind unable to discern anything. She simply lay motionless on the ground.

"... What a pity."

In the depths of her being, she seemed to hear a voice whisper, "You've only just stepped into the realm of evolution, and you're already cutting off this gift. What a pity."

[Who? Who's there?] Ya Wen had just opened her mouth when she suddenly realized that she wasn't speaking with her vocal cords, but with her soul, directly resonating with that distant being.

"You have talent, you meet the standards, and you've paid the price—it would be a sin not to use you."

[Who are you?!] Strangely, she had never heard of this technology before, but in just a moment, she had grasped its principles and essence without any instruction.

"You don't need to know of my existence; my existence is a secret, and the truth is meaningless to you."

The ethereal voice had no discernible features, but Ya Wen instinctively felt that the owner of the voice must be a woman, and a kind and loving mother at that.

[You are binding your soul to mine with some kind of power... What is it? Why do I feel so close to you, a complete stranger I've never met before?] The only response to Ya Wen's question was a cryptic statement:

"I have three speakers, thirteen members of parliament, seventy-two juries, and six hundred and sixty-six citizens."

Speaker? Member of Parliament? Jury? Citizen?

"What is this? "Ya Wen asked blankly. "[What do you mean by that?]" The elusive, hidden presence seemed to be simply declaring a fact to her:

"Now, you'll be my representative."

Before Ya Wen could react, a strange word inexplicably appeared in her mind: "[Tailor]".

She said.

Then, Ya Wen showed a strange and bewildered expression. She raised her hand, as if she felt something inside her body had been permanently changed.

She sensed something was wrong and quickly stood up again. The red and black in her eyes suddenly began to expand rapidly. The intense pain caused Ya Wen to kneel down. Her skin turned pale. She gritted her teeth, and the red and black Malefic Calamity on her forehead multiplied rapidly like flesh and blood, gradually forming sharp tentacles.

"Malefic Calamity... Ugh! Ahhhhh! Hiss—"

She raised her hand, her fingertips splitting in two, from which spiral-shaped nerve tendrils sprang forth.

Malefic Calamity is accelerating the infection; it's turning her into a monster.

"The curse has come."

For over a decade, the deep-seated evil within her heart was exposed, revealing a monster beneath the facade of a kind young woman who had devoured her own sister.

That forbidden curse, like her sister's nightmare, has been haunting her ever since.

I have no right to live. I have no right to live at all. I have no right to live...

A deep scar appeared on Ya Wen's neck, filled with countless eyeballs. Her hair gradually withered. She lay on the ground, blue Abandoned Mist constantly seeping from her mouth. Her memories were dissipating and disappearing in this form.

"Ya Wen, as agreed, you will take your mother's surname. You will inherit your mother's gentleness and strength."

The figure of his father, Dai Weilin, receded into the distance.

—But you didn't accomplish anything.

"Our little Ya Wen is going to be a big sister soon. This is your little sister, Jiajia. You have to protect her well."

Her mother turned her head away, refusing to look at her with disdain.

—You ate her instead.

"I'm sorry, Ya Wen. If my Big Brother were a girl, he could go to work in a company and support the family. We can only rely on you."

The Big Brother, with a wry smile, brushed past her as if they were strangers.

—You have not revitalized our family at all.

"Great! You've finally come to keep me company, dear sister. How am I feeling?"

With a sinister grin, Dai Sijia grabbed her by the neck, but she could no longer see her face clearly.

—She still won't forgive you. Ah, yes, how could she forgive you!

Many close and important people have left her. But unexpectedly, she saw a figure she never expected.

"On this planet, you are unique to me. Once lost, you will never be found again."

The handsome man with black hair and gray eyes was so close to him, his powerful charm was etched into his heart, unforgettable. He said to himself earnestly, "Live on."

Li Aoz said this.

"Your existence is very important to me. No matter what, you must ensure your safety and live well. Don't die in some remote corner where I can't find you."

Suddenly, Ya Wen's dark world was illuminated by sunlight.

Almost no one had any hope of living as ' Yawen·Hesksin '. She was the eldest daughter, the older sister, the pillar of the family, and a sinner, but she was not Ya Wen.

Only Li Aoz sincerely asked her to live.

Ya Wen's fingers dug into the sand, and her split eyes slowly focused, forming a cross-shaped pupil.

"I... I can't die yet."

There was another person who wanted to live.

At the very least, I need Li Aoz to deny my own worth and no longer need me before I can die. I need to live before I can die.

I am still a human being. As long as I am needed by others, I am still a human being, and I still have a reason to live.

Even if only one person, Li Aoz, is willing to affirm the meaning of my life, I will still live.

Ya Wen slowly crawled up, using both her hands and feet. Her head was deformed, resembling deer antlers, and her flesh was rotting and falling away inch by inch. Only a desire for life remained in her golden-green eyes.

'I have to survive.'

She straightened up, her hands transformed into membranous wings like a bat, staggered a few steps, and then collapsed heavily.

No... The cold wind has frozen me stiff. This deformed body can't withstand the cold and I can't move at all.

Frost and Snow covered her body, and Ya Wen's life gradually came to an end.

Is it over?

It lowered its head, but the longing for life in its eyes became even stronger.

It flapped its paws, wriggled forward, and rubbed its body little by little.

Even if it means crawling, you should crawl to Li Aoz's side and ask him if you are still needed.

He must not die before that—

Snap.

In its dim and blurry vision, a boot suddenly stepped down.

"Are you... a member of parliament? If the [Bellringer] hadn't forcibly woken me up, I really wouldn't want to run into any member of parliament here."

A young-sounding male voice rang out, and then Ya Wen saw a disheveled young man's face, unlike any other race on the Azure Planet —the man had short blond hair, light blue eyes, a full beard, and spoke with a strange accent.

His clothes made him look like someone from the steam-powered Industrial Era. He was tall, at least 1.9 meters, and his face showed a weariness and impatience that were extremely incongruous with his appearance.

"Let me make it clear beforehand, don't expect me to thank you, I was forced into this."

Seeing Ya Wen looking at him with a blank expression, the man casually pulled a test tube filled with a dreamlike silver potion from his pocket, uncorked it, and poured the blood-like liquid inside onto Ya Wen:

"Welcome to society, you poor unlucky Unlucky Guy."

As the white blood flowed into her body, Ya Wen felt no change. But when she regained consciousness, suddenly, the whole world became different. Her spine began to produce blood rapidly, and her body was filled with a soul power that was different from spiritual power, but far stronger than spiritual power. Her deformities were quickly healed, and her withered hair fell onto her pale skin, appearing as if she had lost her life.

"Cough cough—!"

Ya Wen coughed violently twice, spitting out a mouthful of dark reddish-black blood clots. Then, she suddenly stood up, raised her head, and looked at the tall man with her golden-green eyes in horror. "... Who are you?"

"Just a coward who hid for countless years but could not escape his fate."

The man's tone was very sorrowful:

"My name is Igolai·Matthew, Ms. Councilor. You may call me ' Sailor.'"