Killing Trap

Frost Street.

Two disheveled figures stood at the doorstep, their faces full of hesitation.

This house, which had once belonged to them, had now been occupied by someone who had come back from the dead... or rather, some "thing." Mass Grave had been contaminated by the Ash Realm last night, so whatever was inside was most likely a Calamity disguised as Chen Ling.

"What do we do now..." Li Xiuchun swallowed.

"What else can we do?" Chen Tan took a deep breath. "Go in, grab all our belongings, and run! Run to District Five or District Six—anywhere far away from here!"

"But it's still inside. What if we wake it up?"

"It already left."

Chen Tan looked at the muddy footprints by the door and said with certainty.

Hearing this, the woman finally let out a breath of relief. She unlocked the door, and the two of them rushed inside.

"Only take money and valuables! Leave anything too heavy behind!"

"I'll go to the bedroom. You take the living room!"

"Quick, quick! We don't know when it'll come back!"

The two hurriedly pulled out burlap sacks and began stuffing their belongings inside.

The man opened a drawer and shoved all the money into his pocket. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted the axe by the bed that was used for self-defense. After a brief hesitation, he stuffed it into the sack as well.

Their family was not well-off and had few valuables, but that was precisely why they could not bear to abandon the meager possessions they had earned with their own hands.

Li Xiuchun stuffed three cotton-linen garments into her bag in one go. After making sure she had not left anything behind, she hurried into the living room.

The two slung the sacks over their shoulders and were about to leave when Li Xiuchun suddenly spoke.

"What if A-Yan comes back after we leave?"

"Then we'll go to Second District first! Once we bring him out, we'll take him and run!" Chen Tan answered decisively.

"He'll definitely look for his brother..."

"His brother is already dead."

As Chen Tan spoke, he reached for the door. Just then, they heard the faint scrape of a key entering the lock.

The two of them froze on the spot!

The front door slowly opened, and a young man walked in.

Chen Ling saw the two of them carrying sacks and paused in surprise before asking doubtfully,

"Dad, Mom, where are you going?"

Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun looked as though they had seen a ghost, their faces drained of color.

At the same time, a fast horse galloped past outside the window, and the Enforcers' shouts echoed over the street.

"A suspected high-risk Calamity has appeared! Third District is under full lockdown! No one is permitted to enter or leave!!"

"Watch for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings appearing out of nowhere, strange mysterious creatures, or even humans behaving abnormally!!"

"If you discover anything unusual, report it to the Enforcers immediately..."

The Enforcers' voices gradually faded into the distance.

Inside the cramped house, the atmosphere sank into an eerie, deathly silence.

"We..."

Hearing the announcement outside, both their legs began to tremble. They stared at the young man before them in terror, and in their daze, he seemed to transform into a fanged demon from hell!

Chen Ling's gaze fell on the two large sacks. Recalling what the Enforcers had just shouted, he tried to reassure them.

"Don't worry too much. That Calamity doesn't seem to be nearby. Isn't the street still perfectly normal?"

Chen Tan: ...

Li Xiuchun: ...

Chen Ling was helpless too.

When he first heard that some "World-Ending" Calamity had invaded, he had not thought much of it. But when he saw the Audience Expectation surge, he immediately sensed that something was wrong...

Zhao Yi had spent an entire afternoon getting beaten up, and that had only barely raised the Expectation Value by a dozen points. The Enforcers had merely shouted a few words, yet the Expectation Value had shot up to over sixty!

Based on what Chen Ling currently understood, that meant they had found something extremely exciting to enjoy.

Unfortunately, that something... might very well be him.

Doctor Lin had mentioned the Ash Realm's convergence and Calamities before. And he just happened to have transmigrated last night, while the original owner's memories of that night had vanished... Putting all the clues together, if that Calamity was not him, then who was it?

Chen Ling guessed that the thing these Enforcers were searching for was most likely the Audience in his head.

Chen Ling had considered turning himself in to the Enforcers and asking them to find a way to deal with the Audience in his mind. But judging by their attitude toward Calamities, they were more likely to kill him along with it.

In short, he would first try to lie low and observe the situation.

Seeing that the two were still tense from head to toe, nervous beyond measure, Chen Ling sighed and took the sack from Li Xiuchun's hands.

"Mom, where could you possibly run to at a time like this?"

"Second District and Third District are both sealed off. You can't get out at all. Are you planning to sleep on the streets?"

When Li Xiuchun heard his first sentence, she was scared stiff. Only after hearing the rest did she barely come back to her senses and force out a dry laugh.

"Right... you're right."

"Dad, put yours down too. Don't be so nervous... If we run away, what will happen to A-Yan?"

Chen Tan swallowed, his eyes fixed tightly on Chen Ling as he tried to find even the slightest trace of abnormality or killing intent on the latter's face... but he failed.

Every movement Chen Ling made was unlike that of a "Calamity." He was no different from the Chen Ling in Chen Tan's memories.

But Chen Tan knew very clearly... he was not Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was already dead.

"Sit down for now. I'll get you both some water from the kitchen." Seeing that their faces were still pale, Chen Ling pulled out the chairs by the table and turned to walk into the kitchen.

Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan exchanged a glance before obediently sitting down in the end...

As Chen Ling poured water in the kitchen, he thought about how to ease the atmosphere and casually said,

"Oh, Mom, that grilled sausage you left for me this morning was really good. How did you make it?"

"Grilled... grilled sausage?"

Li Xiuchun looked bewildered.

Last night, she and Chen Tan had gone to Mass Grave. When had she left him any grilled sausage?

"The one on the cutting board," Chen Ling replied.

The confusion in Li Xiuchun's eyes deepened. She tried hard to remember, and then seemed to realize something. Her face went pale as paper!

"When did you leave him grilled sausage?" Chen Tan asked in a low voice.

"I... I didn't." Li Xiuchun lowered her voice as well, answering shakily. "There was originally a Bone-Slicing Knife on that cutting board...

"But when I was packing just now... I found that the knife was gone."

Chen Tan's expression changed abruptly as well!

At the same time, Chen Ling, standing in the kitchen with his back to them, slowly continued,

"That grilled sausage smelled great, but it seemed a little tough... Mom, remember to grill it softer tomorrow."

The living room fell silent as the grave.

Chen Ling finished pouring the water and handed it to them, only to find that their faces seemed even paler...

"Are you two okay? Do you feel sick?" Chen Ling sat across from them in confusion.

"...We're fine."

Chen Tan took a deep breath and quietly dragged the sack on the floor beneath his feet with one foot. His voice became somewhat steadier.

"A-Ling."

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember... what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" Chen Ling tried hard to recall again, then shook his head. "I can't remember clearly... Why?"

"...Nothing." Chen Tan took a small sip of water, as if he had made up his mind, then looked directly into Chen Ling's eyes.

"Do you think... we treated you well?"

"Very well." Chen Ling answered as though it were only natural. "If you hadn't taken me in back then, I probably would've frozen to death by the roadside long ago... My birth parents abandoned me. You raised me, worked from dawn to dusk to send me to school. Everything I have was given to me by you."

Everything I have was given to me by you.

Hearing those words, a hint of relief flashed through Chen Tan's eyes...

"Then if one day, A-Yan fell ill... and only your heart could save him... would you be willing to save him?"

Chen Ling froze.

In that instant, he felt those words sounded familiar.

Fragmented memories emerged from the original owner's mind, and Chen Ling's head began to ache again... He suddenly remembered that the original owner seemed to have heard similar words last night.

"I... I..." Chen Ling clutched his head, pain surfacing on his face.

"A-Yan is our biological child. To conceive him, your mother took so much medicine that it ruined her body... We tried for ten years before we finally had this one and only child..."

"A child truly belonging to us!"

"Now he's sick. We can't just stand by and watch him die... That shaman in Second District said that as long as we could obtain another young heart from someone under twenty, it could replace A-Yan's failing heart."

"A-Yan has called you big brother for so many years, and you've been our son for so many years. Your mother and I have never asked anything of you, but this one time... we're begging you to save A-Yan."

"Tell me... you're willing, right?"

Chen Tan's body trembled slightly. His eyes were filled with pleading and expectation as he looked at Chen Ling.

He was like a child who had done something wrong, waiting for a belated forgiveness.

At that moment, the incomplete memories buried beneath last night's torrential rain finally began returning to Chen Ling. Enduring the pain in his head, he took a deep breath and spoke hoarsely.

"So... you were the ones who killed him..."

"Him?"

"...Does A-Yan know?"

"He doesn't. If he knew that the heart he was about to receive was yours... he would rather die than agree to it."

Chen Tan snapped out of his struggle and guilt from the depths of his heart. He reached into the sack at his feet and slowly pulled out a sharp axe.

"A-Ling, you're already dead. You shouldn't be here." Chen Tan's eyes were bloodshot as he gripped the axe tightly and spoke hoarsely.

"No matter what has taken over your body... I'll set you free."

Low thunder rolled across the dim sky.

A sharp axe was raised high...

Then swung down with all his strength!

Bang—

Warm liquid splashed across Chen Tan's face.

Crimson blood bloomed across the floor like a bouquet of flowers. Chen Ling's body fell rigidly to the ground with a dull thud.

The axe was embedded in his neck, nearly severing his entire head. His unfocused eyes stared into the void, while pain and confusion still lingered on his face...

He was dead.

No heartbeat, no breath. His body gradually turned cold, like a martyr fallen amidst a field of scarlet flowers.

Chen Tan's chest heaved violently as he stared fixedly at the utterly lifeless body, sweat soaking through his clothes...

"D-Dead...?" Li Xiuchun slumped in her chair and asked tremblingly.

"...Dead."

"What about the Calamity?"

Chen Tan paused. "...I don't know."

Li Xiuchun stared blankly at the corpse, then suddenly said, "Do you think... it's possible he wasn't a Calamity... but that God gave us another chance to atone?"

"If that's true..." Chen Tan gave a bitter laugh. "Then we really deserve to go to hell."