"Old Wang, he..." Zhou Yuan hesitated, looking blankly as he couldn't find the right words to start with.
"I'm gonna puke!"
Coach Wang dashed out of the room, hurriedly locked the door behind him, and slammed it shut.
Zhou Yuan eagerly followed, initially slipping a bit. He propped himself up with his hands and tail, quickly learning to slide on the floor and crawled to Coach Wang's door. He knocked:
"Old Wang, open the door!"
"Old Wang!"
"Bang, bang, bang——"
"Are you seriously not going to open the door for us? After all we've been through together?"
"Are you sick? Open the door, we're worried about you..."
Zhou Yuan had narrowly escaped and couldn't stop talking once he started. His voice sounded like a hundred cicadas all chirping at once, loud and chaotic.
"You little brat, get out of here!" Coach Wang yelled in frustration, slipping into his local dialect:
"What do you care!"
"If you knock again, I'll come out and break your—"
Zhou Yuan laughed, feeling smug, but then suddenly looked down in panic, searching his waist in vain. His expression dropped, and his voice faltered:
"My... my... I…"
"Could it be? No way, is he seriously…" Coach Wang trailed off, suddenly realizing that he only had a spider's abdomen and eight legs. He fell silent.
The two of them, separated by a door, shared an unspoken, almost mystical connection.
"Ai..."
Both sighed in unison, deeply melancholic.
"I've got stuff to do, go play by yourself." Coach Wang finally went completely quiet.
Zhou Yuan slithered back to his door, lifeless, leaning against the frame. He absentmindedly untangled a small snake that had gotten itself knotted up, then looked at Lin Yebai:
"Lin, what happened to Old Wang? Don't tell me he's really pregnant?"
"I don't know." Lin Yebai simply checked his pulse but wasn't sure.
Zhou Yuan's legs had turned into a snake's tail, and his hair had taken on a bizarre transformation. The idea of pregnancy couldn't be judged by normal logic.
Not only that, Zhou Yuan, who had once been delicate and handsome, now had fair, smooth skin, rosy lips, exquisite features, and an indescribable allure in his eyes and movements. He looked like a stunning beauty.
At first glance, one would mistake him for a woman.
[Plain Me]: Xiao Zhou is too cute, I seriously could...
[Mistaken in the Fields]: Was it fake before? I see through it all with these eyes.
[Master Memer]: Sometimes, gender transformation is the true beginning of life.
[Sexy Spider Louis]: Am I the only one still thinking about Old Wang, who's pregnant?
[Monk's Big Staff]: Amitabha, this poor monk is also concerned about Wang Shizhu.
"I wonder when Old Wang will come out."
"Hey..."
Zhou Yuan sat down, coiled his tail, and asked:
"Lin, what happened to that giant rat? How did it die?"
Lin Yebai told him about the shelter and Song Yao, as well as how the giant rat died—first blown half-dead, then cut in half.
"Serves it right," Zhou Yuan said, feeling like Lin Yebai had taken revenge for him. Then he asked curiously:
"How do we find the shelter? Is it far from here?"
"Song Yao left marks. If we follow them, we'll find the shelter."
Lin Yebai used a bone knife to carve the markings on the wall and waited for Zhou Yuan to memorize them before wiping them off.
"Tomorrow, we can go check the shelter. If it's reliable, it'll be safer to stick with the main group. That way, if we run into another rat swarm, we won't be as helpless." Zhou Yuan sighed, looking at his snake tail:
"Now that I've turned into this... What will I eat in the future?"
"Rats can mutate, and other livestock will also undergo changes. We'll never lack food." Lin Yebai's eyes closed slightly as his voice grew lazy and tired, his usual coldness softened.
But then his expression darkened, and he suddenly became alert.
For the past few days, they had been on high alert, barely getting any rest.
But the drowsiness hit him suddenly, and it felt strange—like a huge beast lurking in the dark, about to pounce. It gave him an unsettling premonition.
Fatigue and sleepiness were often the precursors to becoming an abomination.
[Soft Cat Ears]: C'mon, rest well. You'll be fine.
[Truth Above All]: The abyssal mutation might cause a loss of sanity, but if you survive, you'll be strengthened.
[Lord of the Abyss]: Frowning, with a slight smirk, "Your constitution is too weak to handle this."
[Sexy Spider Louis]: Do red and blue bottles help in a situation like this?
[Wealthy Flower]: Of course not. He'll have to rely on himself to make it through.
[Divine God of the Gods]: You needn't worry. A noble soul will have divine protection.
[Super Rich Orange Chair]: Since Lord Si says so, Xiao Zhou will surely be safe. Sleep well. Good night, meow~
[Emperor of Transformation]: Good night, Xiao Zhou.
Lin Yebai glanced at the bullet screen, and his thoughts slowly calmed down.
Since Zhou Yuan mutated, he had become more sensitive to emotions. He could now sense the subtle changes in Lin Yebai, which he hadn't been able to do before.
They both instinctively avoided talking about the fatigue. It was something inevitable, and mentioning it would only bring more trouble.
Zhou Yuan's voice had become soft and neutral, difficult to distinguish between male or female, and very charming. He lowered his voice, sounding particularly seductive:
"It's almost midnight, Lin, you sleep for a while, and I'll wake you up later."
"Mm. When Old Wang comes out, wake me up."
Lin Yebai automatically used the viewers' nickname for Coach Wang, and didn't react to Zhou Yuan's voice at all.
Zhou Yuan, still not focusing on his strange voice, began sorting through the supplies that Old Wang had brought back, categorizing food, necessities, and electronic items.
He tore open a sausage, bit into it, but it tasted like chewing wax. His body instinctively rejected it as not being the food he needed.
The little snakes mimicked him, nibbling a bit of the sausage, quickly finishing it off. They rubbed against Zhou Yuan's palm and acted cute, asking for another one.
Zhou Yuan absentmindedly ignored the snakes, picturing them as round and chubby.
The building was relatively safe because of the aura of the mid-level mutation, but distant screams and fighting sounds could still be heard.
Lin Yebai was deep in sleep, his raven-black lashes casting a shadow across his pale face, resembling a lifeless statue of jade.
Zhou Yuan's eyes flashed with worry as he hugged his arms, staring vacantly.
In the past, during times like this, Lin Yebai would be meditating, always keeping a bone knife close, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
Though Lin Yebai appeared weak and sickly, Zhou Yuan always felt a sense of safety in his presence.
What would happen tomorrow? Would they see the sun again the day after tomorrow?
"Xiao Zhou, you keep watch tonight. We'll talk tomorrow. I'm too tired, I'm going to sleep for a bit."
Finally, the exhausted Coach Wang opened the door, seeing Lin Yebai already asleep. He whispered a few words to Zhou Yuan before shutting the door again.
Lin Yebai woke up to bright daylight. He was no longer at Zhou Yuan's house but in a strange room. The room was clean, and several lush plants were placed beside the bed.
There was an intravenous needle in his hand, and a thin, transparent tube was connected to it, delivering a cold liquid. It felt unpleasant.
Just as Lin Yebai was about to pull the needle out, Song Yao entered quickly, stopping him:
"This is glucose, to help with nutrition."
"Mr. Lin, wait until this bottle is finished before pulling it out."
Song Yao was not wearing his glasses and had removed his mask, revealing his handsome face, his expression cold and stern.
Lin Yebai recognized his voice but felt a little disoriented.
Everything around him felt unreal, while his dreams seemed more vivid.
In the dream, the blood moon hung high as he walked alone through the dark and icy wilderness, passing by countless powerful monsters, not knowing where the end was. Finally, he saw a throne made of bones, standing proudly on a sacrificial altar.