Chapter 15: Go Away!
If 001 didn’t lack a physical body, it would have been pinned to the ground and rubbed by Cheng Ge long ago—a guy who specialized in poking people’s sore spots.
He also knew that little lunatic Wen Ling wasn’t normal, but wasn’t his goal to make him turn into a normal person!!
A month of getting along, Cheng Ge thought Wen Ling could change a bit, could have some empathy, at least have somewhat normal cognition, but no, no change at all!
[The Host wants Wen Ling to grow into a healthy sapling, but he grows in a space that blots out the sky and sun; sunlight never shines in. The soil cultivating him is rotten. No one waters him, fertilizes him, no one prunes him or straightens him.]
[The Host’s perfunctoriness, charity, that tiny bit of dew is not enough, equivalent to nothing.]
[It even led to the accelerated rotting of the sapling.]
Wen Ling was abnormal, but ultimately, who was to blame?
His father? That woman? Those who bullied him? The Cheng Ge in the book? Wen Ling himself? Or him?
Who was more at fault? Who could escape responsibility? Who knew.
Who could disentangle the cycle of cause and effect in this?
Cheng Ge was somewhat dispirited, sitting on the floor helplessly, burying his face in his palms. Suddenly realizing 001 talked a lot today and wanted to lead him into a pit.
[I have a fucking feud with Wen Ling. I was inexplicably slashed by him so many times, electrocuted, and had to sell my body so humiliatingly. Why should I water and fertilize him? Why should I cultivate him patiently?]
[I’m the miserable one, right?]
001: [Oh.]
[Besides, do you think watering and fertilizing that little lunatic can make him grow into a healthy sapling!? Is it that easy!? Can he grow well without digging out his rotten wood and replacing it with new soil? Even if I’m patient, wouldn’t the result be the same!]
001: [Hm.]
Cheng Ge: […]
All big dumbasses.
Speak of the devil, and the devil arrives. Wen Ling walked up to Cheng Ge holding that bird specimen. “For you.”
Cheng Ge stared at Wen Ling’s expression—calm, gentle, with even a hint of expectation in his eyes.
But what was Wen Ling doing under such a harmless mask? He turned the little bird that had accompanied Cheng Ge for so many days into a specimen.
If there was even a trace of unease in Wen Ling’s eyes, Cheng Ge would feel he could still be saved. But no, he had no guilt.
“Go away.” Cheng Ge turned his face away, not wanting to, and unable to communicate with Wen Ling.
Wen Ling’s smile could no longer be maintained. He had been tolerant and good-tempered enough with Cheng Ge.
Why!? Why did Cheng Ge lose his temper at him because of a little bird!?
Wen Ling pinched Cheng Ge’s chin, turning it straight, his tone carrying a sinister chill: “Say that again.”
Cheng Ge could distinguish every one of Wen Ling’s tones. Now Wen Ling was probably very angry, wanting to scare him, punish him.
Psycho, punishing all day long, why not just kill him directly!?
“I told you to get lost!” Cheng Ge slapped away Wen Ling’s hand pinching his chin, his tone very harsh: “You fucking want me to stay with you forever, be your obedient dog. Why don’t you turn me into a specimen like the little bird too!?”
Wen Ling looked at the hand slapped away by Cheng Ge, Cheng Ge’s very fierce words in his ears. His heart started feeling uncomfortable again, but he didn’t know what that was. Why did his heart hurt?
Why did Cheng Ge put his gaze on other things!? Why was he so fierce to him because of a little bird!? Clearly, it was Cheng Ge who was wrong!
Wen Ling reached out and choked Cheng Ge’s neck: “You are not good at all; you are provoking me again!”
“If you do this again, I will turn you into a specimen too! Make you stay with me forever, looking at me!”
Cheng Ge wanted to curse back, but looking up, he met Wen Ling’s slightly red eyes—that was a very hurt expression.
Cheng Ge was stunned. He hadn’t seen Wen Ling like this.
The little lunatic probably didn’t know what expression he had right now.
He understood nothing; even his basic emotional perception was extremely poor. No one taught him.
Many things suddenly flashed through Cheng Ge’s mind—Wen Ling as a child, the little Wen Ling beaten by the woman and his father, bullied by classmates, his desperate cry for help, and the dorky appearance of the grown-up Wen Ling, the normal smiles, the conquest value rising because of trivial matters.
Finally, it was his own sentence—Can he grow well without digging out his rotten wood and replacing it with new soil?
He seemed to understand. His anger like that wasn’t just because Wen Ling killed the little bird, not just because of his cold-bloodedness.
More so because he had expectations for Wen Ling.
Cheng Ge had to admit, unknown since when, the thought of wanting Wen Ling to become normal was stronger than the thought of revenge.
Cheng Ge was a decisive person. Even if he despised himself for being so overflowingly righteous, he still made up his mind when he understood what he really wanted.
[001, if I become a specimen, you’re dead.]
001: [……]
Seeing Cheng Ge’s expression was no longer as fierce as just now, Wen Ling thought his intimidation worked. His hand tightened slightly, “If you again…”
Wen Ling’s words stopped.
Because Cheng Ge seemed to, suddenly, stop moving.
“Cheng Ge?” Wen Ling thought Cheng Ge was joking with him, or tricking him. But no matter how he shook Cheng Ge, how he scared him, Cheng Ge had no reaction at all.
…Why?
…How did it become like this in an instant?
Wen Ling helped Cheng Ge up, his steps a bit staggering. He felt it was just because Cheng Ge was too heavy.
Helping Cheng Ge to the bed, Wen Ling pressed his ear against Cheng Ge’s chest. At first, there was no movement, but gradually he could hear Cheng Ge’s heartbeat. Cheng Ge was still breathing; he wasn’t dead.
Wen Ling finally called a doctor over.
“He…” The doctor weighed his words because the patient’s condition was really strange. Clearly, all functions were fine, but why wouldn’t he wake up?
Moreover, the boy in front of him looked in really bad shape. He was afraid the person couldn’t take the stimulation, but he still had to tell the truth: “Might become a vegetable.”
“Why!?” Wen Ling grabbed the doctor’s clothes: “Clearly nothing happened to him!”
“Kid, kid, don’t get excited first.”
“I’m not excited!”
“Deep breath, deep breath,” the doctor took two deep breaths himself, only to see the boy staring at him all along.
“…It’s like this,” the doctor quietly took two steps back, explaining: “You said someone choked his neck. Maybe it happened to hit a certain nerve, or a certain acupoint, uh, this remains to be researched.”
Wen Ling felt the doctor was unreasonable: “I didn’t use force!”
The doctor opened his eyes wide in horror: “You choked him?”
Wen Ling was afraid of scaring the doctor away—one was scared away online just now—so he had to lie and explain: “No, I saw that person didn’t use much force.”
The doctor rubbed his chin, half-believing, but seeing this boy so simple and so worried, presumably he wouldn’t do such a thing.
The doctor sighed and said: “Kid, what you said is wrong. People are very fragile, especially some parts. One careless touch and they might stop breathing.”
“In short… this male lad’s condition is symptoms of a vegetable. Of course, it could also be an ordinary coma…”
“I’ll give you money. I want him to change back, like before.”
“It’s not a matter of money. Vegetables have a probability of recovering,” the doctor paused, not adding “but very small” these discouraging words. “And if it’s just a coma, this male lad might wake up very soon. I will do my best. I’ll prescribe some medicine here first, and I’ll come back for a follow-up in two days.”
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