Next door to the Nancheng Public Security Bureau.
Qilin had branch offices in every city. Silver City's office was located in Nancheng, right next door to the Public Security Bureau.
Yu Xian and Jin Sheng sat inside an office. Looking through the window, they could see into an adjacent room where several doctors were conducting a physical examination on Zhang Shou.
"Can it be that a freak's friend is also a freak?" Jin Sheng remarked with an indescribable expression as he watched the energetic Zhang Shou next door, having learned of his situation.
In an era where web novels flourished, domestic readers' imaginations had been stretched wider and wider by online authors.
A "system" was nothing new.
Several centuries ago, someone had consumed a Forbidden Fruit and wished for a system, scheming to use it to become a god and patriarch. In the end, his wish came true, but the side effect was that he himself turned into a system that could only parasitize others. The moment the host died, he perished alongside them.
The final outcome was plain to see: he died together with his host, neither having attained godhood.
Logically speaking, Zhang Shou's wish was similar to that person's, so his outcome should have been similar too. Yet not only had Zhang Shou not turned into a system, but he was also bouncing around full of life, which was utterly bizarre.
Once the examination concluded, the results wouldn't be known until tomorrow.
Emerging from the room, Zhang Shou saw Yu Xian waiting for him in the corridor and asked somewhat nervously, "Salty Fish, are my side effects really bad?"
"We won't know until tomorrow's physical examination report comes out," Yu Xian replied.
Zhang Shou nodded, then gave an optimistic grin. "Looking on the bright side, maybe it's just my immense good fortune that granted me such a game-breaking ability?"
"Impossible. You'd better drop that wishful thinking. Even though your ability is only lower Insect rank, its potential is far too immense. Consuming a Forbidden Fruit to gain an ability of this caliber cannot possibly be without side effects," Jin Sheng said as he walked out of the office, looking at Zhang Shou.
After Zhang Shou had stepped out of the examination room, Jin Sheng had seen the doctors' expressions through the glass. Though the report wasn't out yet, he guessed the findings would not be good.
He took back what he'd said earlier. Sure enough, only Yu Xian was a freak; this chubby guy was just a lucky unfortunate soul.
The smile on Zhang Shou's face instantly froze. He thought he had been quite restrained when making his wish, never expecting Jin Sheng's appraisal to be so high.
"Captain, could my merits be transferred to Old Zhang so we can request state intervention to save him?" Yu Xian couldn't help asking.
Jin Sheng said calmly, "He stays tonight. You can stay and keep him company, or go home and rest. We'll wait until tomorrow's report comes out before discussing anything else."
Forbidden Fruits could be considered miraculous opportunities, but they could equally be deemed sources of disaster.
The vast majority of animals that consumed a Forbidden Fruit became threats to human safety. When humans consumed them, good luck meant soaring to the heavens, while bad luck spelled ruin for themselves and others.
The Progenitor Zombie, Progenitor Hanba, Progenitor Ghoul, and others—after consuming Forbidden Fruits, not only did their self-awareness completely vanish, but they also became disaster sources that wreaked havoc upon the world.
For example, after the Progenitor Zombie was slain by dozens of Qilin squads joining forces, its corpse erupted with an enormous quantity of corpse qi.
This corpse qi could not be thoroughly eradicated at all, spreading across the globe on the winds. Once a corpse was infected with corpse qi, it would mutate and eventually become a zombie.
Qilin had continuously been exterminating newly arisen zombies. Humans could reduce the likelihood of zombies appearing through prompt cremation, but animal zombies were an enormous hassle, impossible to wipe out completely.
For precisely this reason, whenever a new Forbidden Fruit consumer was discovered, Qilin would arrange a physical checkup, and they were forbidden from leaving without authorization until the report was out.
"I'll stay and keep Old Zhang company," Yu Xian said.
Jin Sheng nodded. "Yeah, it's good that you stay. It'll prevent him from overthinking and making an irrational choice in the end."
In the past, someone who ate a Forbidden Fruit had been invited to the office for an examination. That night, spiraling into internal turmoil, he grew increasingly terrified of learning the test results and, combined with a lack of trust in the authorities, quietly fled on his own.
By the time they finally found him, the backlash of his ability had already left him on death's door.
Night.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou shared a double room.
"Salty Fish, I can't sleep." Zhang Shou kept his eyes shut for quite a while before opening them to look at Yu Xian.
Yu Xian was hanging upside down from the ceiling. He said flatly, "Don't overthink it. Worst case, I turn you into a vampire. Either way, there's always a way to stay alive."
"I had my head turned by the Forbidden Fruit back then. If only I had asked you first," Zhang Shou sighed.
Yu Xian manipulated his Blood Energy to form threads. The red blood threads intertwined with the silver threads formed of Silver Blood to weave a net. Dropping down from the ceiling into the net, he lay there and said, "Impossible. The Forbidden Fruit itself holds an overwhelming temptation for living beings. Your sanity couldn't have held out long enough to ask me."
If two people discovered a Forbidden Fruit simultaneously in the wilderness, even sworn brothers bound by life and death would butcher each other under its influence; there had even been cases of fathers and sons turning on one another.
This was why people called the Forbidden Fruit the fruit from the Abyss.
Any living creature encountering a Forbidden Fruit would gradually lose its sanity. Zhang Shou couldn't possibly have held out for long, so swallowing the Forbidden Fruit immediately while he still possessed reason was the most correct choice.
The next day.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou sat on chairs in the corridor. Zhang Shou looked like a suspect awaiting sentencing, his face filled with anxiety.
Just then, Jin Sheng emerged from another office holding a report with a grave look on his face. He walked over, sat down next to Yu Xian, and handed him the report.
Yu Xian took the report and passed it toward Zhang Shou, but Zhang Shou waved his hand. "You look first. Give me a moment to catch my breath."
"Alright."
From Jin Sheng's expression, Yu Xian had already guessed the results were grim.
When he finished reading the report, his brows furrowed tightly, his face filled with worry.
"What is it? Are the results terrible?" Zhang Shou asked uneasily, seeing his expression.
Yu Xian pressed his lips together and replied, "Worse than imagined. Your body is currently filled with a special energy, and your telomeres are aging hundreds of times faster than a normal person's. Every time you expend physical stamina, you're essentially burning your lifespan. According to the telomere test results, you probably only have about a week left to live."
"Then what if I turn into a vampire?" Zhang Shou immediately pressed.
Yu Xian shook his head. "The energy in your body is extraordinarily exclusive. Vampire blood would probably be obliterated to ash the second it entered your body, so you can't be turned into a vampire at all. Similarly, other supernatural powers capable of extending lifespan likely won't work on you either."
"So I'm... going to die in a week?" Zhang Shou muttered, his face turning pale.
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
What was the point of three lives? When King Yan decreed your death at the third watch, even a hundred lives wouldn't save you.
The Forbidden Fruit had never been a magic lamp or a wishing orb. When one gained from using a Forbidden Fruit, a price had to be paid.
Chapter 18