Chapter 204: Mutation (Part II)
The other girl let out a sound of disgust.
“Are you serious? Logically, shouldn’t this kind of thing be handled secretly? Why would they suddenly broadcast it?”
“Who knows? Maybe there were too many witnesses and they couldn’t cover it up anymore?”
Hearing this, Xiao Ji frowned.
Rather than saying they couldn’t cover it up, it was more accurate to say that the situation had reached a stage where it was becoming uncontrollable. The authorities were issuing a veiled warning to the public.
Soon, the two girls changed the subject. Xiao Ji stopped eavesdropping and leaned against the window to rest his eyes.
The original host was poor. in this city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, he could only afford to live in the most remote suburbs. Once this bus reached its terminal, he still had to walk for more than twenty minutes to reach the apartment complex where he lived.
The two girls got off midway. The bus swayed along, finally reaching the terminal station after the sky had turned completely dark.
Xiao Ji got off the bus and stood by the roadside for a moment, observing the sparse pedestrians. For now, he didn’t notice anything unusual.
He walked unhurriedly back to the apartment. As soon as he entered, he saw a man and a woman arguing in the elevator lobby.
The man was wearing a shirt and tie, clutching a briefcase. The woman, however, had disheveled hair and was wearing pajamas and slippers. Her eyes were red as she stared at the man.
“Don’t go, alright? I don’t feel well. Can you stay home and keep me company?”
The man looked at his watch, sounding irritated. “You don’t have a job, but I have to earn money to support the family. I’m going to a business dinner, not a date. Can you stop being so crazy?”
Upon hearing this, the woman’s face suddenly contorted. With a ferocious expression, she lunged forward and slapped the man across the face, screaming:
“Do you think I didn’t see? That woman! The red dress, the high heels! You were walking with her!”
As she spoke, the woman suddenly collapsed to the floor and began to convulse.
The man was also startled. He began dialing emergency services while kneeling down to press the woman’s philtrum.
The elevator arrived at the first floor and the doors opened.
Xiao Ji stepped into the elevator and looked back. He saw something flicker across the whites of the woman’s eyes.
The elevator doors closed. Xiao Ji pursed his lips and did nothing.
Without a doubt, the mutation had begun.
But right now, there was nothing he could do. Global mutation was an inevitable trend; killing them one by one was merely treating the symptoms, not the cause. He couldn’t exactly wait for every symptomatic person to fully turn and then strike them down.
Xiao Ji returned home and threw out the host’s old bedding as well. He took another shower, changed into clean pajamas, and lay down on the hard bed frame, closing his eyes.
A surge of intense pain churned in his mind, spreading through his entire body like an electric current.
Xiao Ji woke with a start, opening his eyes and pressing his hand against his temple. Countless red lines flashed before his eyes and then vanished rapidly. The pain in his body subsided.
Drenched in a cold sweat, he turned on the bedside lamp and drank half a glass of ice water. The palpitations from moments ago were barely suppressed.
As Xiao Ji gathered his wits, he suddenly heard shouting and smashing sounds from next door.
The old apartment had twelve households per floor, and the soundproofing was terrible. Xiao Ji could clearly hear what the neighbors were arguing about. Based on the voices, it seemed to be the same couple who had been fighting in the lobby earlier.
The argument grew louder and louder. Soon, someone opened their door and went out to knock on the neighbor’s door, shouting:
“It’s the middle of the night! What’s with all the noise? Don’t people need to sleep?”
With this commotion, other people opened their doors and came out to ask what was happening.
The woman who had been shouting continued to curse: “Who the hell knows! They fight day and night. If you can’t live together, get a divorce already! Why make such a racket that no one can get any peace? I’ve had the worst luck having neighbors like this. They should just die and get it over with!”
Just as she finished speaking, Xiao Ji heard what sounded like glass shattering, followed by the heavy thud of an object hitting the ground.
A moment later, someone downstairs let out a piercing scream.
Xiao Ji walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. On the ground seventeen stories below, a woman lay sprawled, blood spreading rapidly beneath her. A few people were already gathering around the scene.
The neighbors’ apartment went completely silent.
Then, the sound of a door opening rang out in the hallway. The man who had been arguing moments ago cried out in terror:
“It wasn’t me! I didn’t push her! She jumped on her own!”
The hallway quickly turned into a chaotic mess. Someone called the police, and they arrived to take the man away. The noise continued until the early hours of the morning before finally settling into silence.
Xiao Ji never opened his door.
To be precise, he didn’t leave his home for the next three days.
During this period, a torrential rainstorm swept through the city. Xiao Ji had no television or computer, only the broken radio. The host’s phone was an ancient, traditional keypad model for the elderly. Over these few days, although the signal bar was full, he received no calls or texts.
The thing he did most was stand by the window, watching the people coming and going below.
After the storm, the number of people in the city seemed to plummet, and the streets became eerily desolate and cold.
After some thought, he walked out of his home and knocked on his neighbors’ doors.
He knocked on three doors consecutively, but there was no movement inside. It was unclear if no one was there or if they were simply pretending to be out.
It wasn’t until he knocked on the fourth door that a cautious, trembling female voice came from within:
“Who is it?”
Xiao Ji spoke: “Resident of 1704. I don’t have any electronic devices. Can I talk to you?”
The person inside seemed to look through the peephole for a long time. After confirming that Xiao Ji didn’t appear unusual, she opened the door a crack and said cautiously:
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
Xiao Ji hummed, maintaining a safe distance from the door. “I didn’t go out much before.”
The girl looked at the crutches in Xiao Ji’s hands. She thought for a long while before it seemed she suddenly remembered something. She said in surprise:
“It’s you?”
Before Xiao Ji could answer, the girl opened the door, yanked him inside, and locked it.
“Haven’t you seen the news? Something’s happened. We aren’t allowed to go out now.”
Xiao Ji shook his head. “Can you show me?”
The girl sized Xiao Ji up again and signaled for him to follow her inside.
She opened her computer and found the news from the last two days. The first video page showed a female reporter chasing after a man in a black military uniform with a rifle tucked under his arm. She shouted:
“Hello! Sir, is there anything you want to say to the citizens of this city regarding this?”
The man looked back, his expression grim.
“Reduce travel. Stockpile food. If someone in your home suddenly has convulsions or full-body pain, isolate them and report it immediately.”
Translator’s Note: The man in the uniform is our ML, Bai Yinnian! Talk about a dramatic entrance. The mutation is spreading fast, and the “red lines” Xiao Ji saw are the first signs of his unique evolution. Things are about to get very messy in that apartment building. Stay safe and keep your doors locked!
Recommended Reads
