Regretting Meeting So Late

What a pity. He hadn't managed to pull off the dramatic pose. Ji Jue had only counted to four when a blood-curdling scream echoed from the end of the hallway. Mid-sprint, An Jiexu suddenly stumbled and crashed to the floor. Collapsing in a wave of dizziness, he tried to prop himself up and scramble back to his feet, only to realize that his left foot had detached from his leg like a piece of overripe, rotting fruit. Then, layer upon layer of shattered skin began peeling from his hands and limbs. It was as though potent acid was raging inside him, churning and eating away at his viscera, organs, and flesh from the inside out. By the time his sluggish nerves finally registered the agony, it was already far too late. "What... is... this..." His eyes went wide with bewilderment. Then his vision plunged into darkness as his ruined eyeballs dropped from their sockets. He could no longer see his limbs undergoing rapid corruption. Once the Swarm ashes mixed into the shrapnel and mercury were activated, the corruption began to spread. Outside a Chrono Ruin, a dose like this might have allowed him to cling to life for two or three days before dying in torment and despair. But inside a Chrono Ruin steeped in the stench of corruption, the process unfolded with unbelievable speed. His blood mutated under the taint of the abomination, breaking down flesh and bone as rapidly as concentrated acid. As it clashed against his matrix and blessings, large swathes of blood bonded with metal, turning into sharp, faceted spires that burst through his body from within. Amidst the hissing stench and thick plumes of smoke, all that remained before long was a twisted metal shell resembling modern art, impaled by bizarre, protruding prisms. It was like a silhouette cast straight from hell—a condemned sinner enduring eternal agony amidst torment. In the end, the rolling cart bumped into it, and it shattered into pieces, littering the floor. "All done?" Ji Jue looked up and caught sight of Tong Hua dancing with excitement behind the corner. He couldn't help but shake his head. She had relied on stealth, poison, and support to take down just two opponents—why was she preening like this? Could it be that she had never scored a single kill back at the Security Bureau? Just look at how giddy the poor girl was. In truth, never scoring a kill was the norm. A handy Aether baby like Tong Hua ought to be tucked carefully back into a safe and double-locked the moment initial reconnaissance and investigation were done. Only then could her teammates feel secure as they stormed enemy nests to slaughter everyone in sight. Going to the front lines in person? What kind of madness was that? Hard, dirty grunt work was meant for the dogsbodies of the Desolate Ruins, Swarm, White Stag, and the like, wasn't it? Ji Jue sighed and glanced around, still feeling a distinct lack of reality. It was too dull. Utterly devoid of flavor. Shouldn't an encounter like this be a thrilling battle of wits and brawn, fighting while retreating, probing continuously, and finally seizing upon a weakness for a desperate turnaround? Now there wasn't an ounce of difficulty at all! A complete trio with damage, crowd control, and a tank had been chopped down like vegetables. When it was all over, they hadn't even broken a sweat, lounging around as if they were already retired. Was this what life in the Beishan District Security Bureau was usually like? Too decadent! How could anyone grow in such a pampered greenhouse?! No, such a handy too—teammate—had to be kept around by any means necessary. Thoughts raced through Ji Jue's mind. The gaze he turned toward Tong Hua softened, gentle as water, shimmering with an irrepressible sweetness. He had to seize the opportunity and get as much leverage on her as possible! *Miss Tong, you wouldn't want...* The moment Ji Jue sank into thought, Tong Hua, who had still been grinning foolishly, suddenly spun around with suspicion. "Are you thinking about something awful again?" *Tch...* "Not at all! I'm happy for you!" Ji Jue clapped his hands with an exuberant smile. Even the ghost fetus on the floor waved its four little arms and began clapping along. "Congratulations, Tong Hua! You've grown!" Amidst the eerie, chilling drafts, a man in a white lab coat and a grotesque, unrecognizable monstrosity were clapping for her. Blood was pooling from the corpses on the floor, while a man whose brain had been thoroughly fried by overdosing on drugs continued to twitch and foam at the mouth. There was no warmth to be felt—only a deep, creeping shiver. "This is getting weirder and weirder!" As the two spoke, a low sound suddenly rose from the far end of the corridor. Footsteps. They exchanged a glance. In an instant, Ji Jue reloaded the bullets into her handgun and tossed it over, and Tong Hua vanished into thin air. Only Ji Jue remained, turning to face the origin of the footsteps. Amidst the erratic, heavy shuffling, stiff figures emerged one after another like living corpses, heading straight in this direction as they caught the scent of blood. Rounding the corner, they abruptly halted upon noticing the unexpected presence. Their expressionless, pale faces looked like corpses, their eyes rolled back to reveal only white, devoid of any luster. Their movements were sluggish and rigid, saliva slowly dripping from the corners of their mouths. More importantly... All of them were alive! Yet despite still possessing life, they behaved just like corpses, completely unresponsive, reduced to puppets. They had become, in the most literal sense, the walking dead. "Hm?" As if surprised, a muffled voice came from among the crowd. From amidst the corpse-like puppets, a slightly hunched figure slowly stepped forward. He lifted his pale face to glance at Ji Jue, and before long, his gaze shifted toward Tong Hua, who was hidden in stealth nearby. After a long moment, he nodded in understanding. He inclined his head and spoke. "Please don't be nervous. I'm just a researcher passing through." "What a coincidence," Ji Jue smiled. "So am I." "I know. What a peculiar little thing... How was it made?" The newcomer crouched down and reached out, playfully teasing the hungry ghost fetus of his own accord. He extended his hand, examining it carefully. "Mm, while the biological aspect is an absolute mess, its spiritus preservation has quite a unique touch. "Ah, I see... It's the same style. Those spiders from before were your doing too, weren't they? I thought the sterile room had been infested with bugs and fretted over it for quite a while." As he spoke, he was caught off guard, and one of his fingers was snapped up by the ghost fetus, instantly crunched to bits and swallowed down. Yet he merely waved his hand dismissively, and a new finger rapidly grew back in its place. Just like that, he set the ghost fetus aside and casually kicked it away. He extended a hand toward Ji Jue in greeting. Ji Jue waved back without making physical contact. He scrutinized the visitor's appearance, but sensing no malice, he remained vigilant without initiating an attack. He simply asked, "How should I address you?" "Xie Lan. 'Xie' as in thank you, and 'Lan' as in mountain mist." Without hesitation or concealment, he offered his name straightforwardly, even pulling a business card from his pocket and presenting it with both hands. Attending Physician at the Yacheng Sports Medicine Center, Director of the Xinxiang Sanatorium... The long string of titles made Ji Jue's brows twitch wildly. *Why do you have so many titles?* Immediately after, right before Ji Jue's eyes, that hunched body slowly straightened up. Amidst the cracking of popping joints, the man's features shifted, peeling away like old wallpaper. As flesh and blood writhed, they reassembled into an approachable face wearing a warm smile. "There are only so many Embers inheritances in Yacheng. You don't look like someone who trades in favors, nor do you hail from a prestigious family... Hm, could you be the prized disciple of that master from Tide Sound Workshop?" He nodded in sudden realization and said decisively, "You must be Mister Ji, am I right?" "..." Ji Jue's expression couldn't stop twitching. "Am I that famous?" "You're the genius who rediscovered Fluid Alchemy, after all. Having dabbled in similar research myself, I'm extraordinarily interested in it. I hope to read your paper soon." Xie Lan grinned. "Rest assured, if we're tracing connections, I'm technically a fellow junior under Old Mister Zhang's lineage. I won't come to blows with someone from the Security Bureau here." Pausing briefly, an eerie eye that constantly split and recombined shifted toward the space behind Ji Jue, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "I just didn't expect the Tong family of Heavenly Hearing to be as down on their luck as an ordinary Celestial Chosen like myself." He had glanced toward Tong Hua's position twice in a row, and he had even identified her background with absolute certainty. "You know him?" Ji Jue turned slightly and asked. Tong Hua did not drop her stealth, only replying, "We've met once." She had originally wanted to warn him that this guy was a lunatic from the Vortex branch and to be extremely careful. But on second thought, Ji Jue was a damn lunatic himself! Put the two of them together, and two negatives might just make a positive. As a mere ordinary mortal who only knew how to watch the drama, she was already trembling in her boots. What business did she have worrying about anything else? "You two have done me a massive favor this time." Xie Lan cast a half-smiling glance at the corpses on the floor. "When those fellows came knocking to urge me to join the Holy Spirit's fold, their tone was quite aggressive... "If not for you, they probably would have attacked me directly next. "I'm really not good at fighting." "Indeed, indeed. Same here. We intellectuals always get the short end of the stick." Hearing this, Ji Jue nodded in deep empathy, agreeing without a second thought as he let out a long sigh. They were all researchers—how could they possibly be good at fighting other people? Usually, their work was done *on* other people... During their brief exchange of pleasantries, Tong Hua was completely numb. Seeing these two lunatics confirm they were on the same side and immediately start exchanging flirtatious glances right next to the corpses—one praising the other's child as cute, the other calling the companion charming—their mutual rapport was skyrocketing by leaps and bounds. After a round of polite chatter to deepen their understanding and foster goodwill, they even exchanged contact information, inviting each other to visit and offer guidance another day. "Meeting is fate, Brother Xie." Ji Jue held the man's slender hand reluctantly. "Interested in joining forces?" "My apologies, I really don't have the time." Xie Lan shook his head firmly, glancing back at the 'zombies' behind him. "It's the first time I've encountered so many rare clinical cases since returning from advanced studies at the hospital. I haven't even had enough time to study them, let alone attend to other matters. "Besides, since I used them for experiments, I have to bring them out in one piece... The research isn't finished yet. It would be a terrible waste if they were damaged." "True enough," Ji Jue nodded, sighing in regret. "Right, if you simply want to leave, you only need to wait a little while longer." Before departing, Xie Lan looked down at the sole survivor still twitching on the floor. "Thanks to these fellows, this Chrono Ruin won't last much longer. "However, if you're planning to head to the Inpatient Building, you'd better be careful. That area is already heavily contaminated. What's more, there's a bunch of lunatics from the Evil Transmutation Cult over there... Who knows what kind of havoc they might unleash." "Safety first, safety first, of course. How could we possibly go barging in recklessly?" Ji Jue nodded in complete agreement. The two exchanged a smile, waved goodbye, and after taking two steps, simultaneously turned back to wave once more. Back and forth it went, turning back with every three steps. Until Ji Jue returned to the elevator. The instant the elevator doors slid shut, before Tong Hua could even complain about how quickly the two lunatics had taken a shine to each other, she watched the smile instantly vanish from Ji Jue's face. Just like Xie Lan's in the corridor outside. "*Tch!*" Two simultaneous sighs echoed through the ghostly hospital. *So much fine material, yet not a single chance to make a move?* "What a shame..."