Sun Ya reached out with his knife and gently lifted the heart.
They had been focusing entirely on the front, completely overlooking a pointed tip protruding from its side.
As the blade tip levered it aside, what lay behind the heart was instantly exposed to their eyes.
A bright red, olive-shaped fleshy bulb.
The two leaned in close. Su Jin’s heart raced erratically, and his pupils contracted. "Is this... a lymph node?"
"It's not a lymph node." Sun Ya looked up at Su Jin in shock. "Myocardial tissue does have lymphatic capillaries, but even pathological changes wouldn't grow like this, let alone in this position. This isn't something that belongs in a human body... Has your heart rate sped up? Are you feeling ravenous?"
"Yeah." Su Jin nodded shakily, looking back at Sun Ya. "You... you feel it too?"
"What is going on? The feeling is getting stronger." Su Jin's expression twisted slightly.
The moment he saw the bulb in its entirety, an unprecedentedly fierce appetite had erupted inside him. The fleshy sphere seemed to possess an immense magnetic pull, urging him to consume it.
Even surrounded by a mess of revolting viscera, the urge was almost impossible to resist.
Fortunately, both men possessed strong wills and managed to cling to their basic reason.
Sun Ya let out a slow breath, his eyes fixed darkly on the fleshy bulb as he muttered as if to himself, "Under conditions of extreme starvation, the brain's physiological mechanisms redefine taste. Viscera—high in energy yet smelling vile and rancid—become the body's primary preference. Food that would normally be impossible to swallow becomes delicious. Nutrition is the core imperative."
"Elder Sun, what are you talking about? Are you all right?" Su Jin hastily reached out and gave Sun Ya a shake.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Sun Ya shook his head slightly, lost in thought. "I was just wondering... is this thing enticing us, or is our body craving it?"
"That makes sense. I feel like eating it would give me some miraculous power."
"Can you stop obsessing over those trashy web novels of yours? You're a grown man, why are you still so childish?"
With that, Sun Ya used his knife to sever the bulb.
He placed it on the counter, preparing to dissect it.
Su Jin reached out to stop him. "Wait a second, let me do it... I'm bundled up thicker. If corrosive fluid sprays out when it's cut open, we'll be in trouble."
Sun Ya nodded and stepped aside for Su Jin.
"Go ahead and cut it. Be careful."
The sharp blade pressed against the fleshy bulb.
The moment it made contact, it felt like cutting into a tough, elastic rubber ball.
It felt as though applying full force would send whatever might be inside erupting all at once.
Su Jin reversed the blade and stabbed down with the tip.
A little downward pressure pierced it like pigskin... and then he sliced downward at an angle.
He left a bit of connective tissue at the bottom without cutting through entirely.
The intense appetite surging within both of their bodies began to double, tormenting them as if they had gone days without food.
Gritting his teeth, Su Jin slowly pried the bulb open with his hands.
Sun Ya's pupils dilated immediately, and what was inside arrested both of their gazes.
Logically, when the bulb was cut in two, whatever was inside should have been sliced in half as well.
Yet that was not the case. Peeling back the two halves of the fleshy membrane was instead like peeling a lychee.
In the center rested a completely intact, impeccably clear and transparent sphere of water. It bore not the slightest mark of a blade; without looking closely, one would hardly even notice its existence.
Sun Ya examined it for a moment, barely holding back his discomfort, before looking up at Su Jin. "It looks like a water sphere... Your vision is different from normal people. Can you see anything special?"
"A water sphere? To me, it looks iridescent—gorgeous, like something good." Su Jin's nerves were taut.
Though he wasn't sure what the water sphere looked like in detail to Sun Ya, to his eyes it was undeniably seven-colored, with halos of light rolling within the liquid.
It was entirely distinct from the grey mist, brimming with beauty and lacking even the slightest hint of that ominous aura.
"Pour it into this tray." Sun Ya tapped the tray he had prepared on the counter beforehand.
Su Jin nodded.
Just as he tilted his hands, an abrupt change occurred!
The bouncy water sphere first dropped onto his index finger, then rolled down toward the tiger's mouth between his thumb and forefinger. The luminous glow within the sphere penetrated through his glove and vanished.
The water sphere dispersed across the crotch of his hand, evaporating into nothingness.
"What happened?!"
The water sphere's inexplicable disappearance made Sun Ya's hair stand on end.
Su Jin was equally bristling with shock, staring dumbly at Sun Ya. "It seems... it seems I absorbed it..."
No sooner had he spoken than a wave of heat surged straight into his head. His brain buzzed, his vision went black, and he collapsed into unconsciousness, faintly hearing Sun Ya's anxious shouts in his ears.
"Xiao Li! Xiao Li!!"
***
"Is the director ever going to wake up? It's already morning."
"He has a high fever. Don't touch him—if he turns, we'll have serious trouble."
"From our observations so far, it doesn't look like zombification... His rapid eye movement is intense. Zombies shouldn't be able to dream."
"He's waking up, he's waking up! Fu Hu, keep that gun ready!"
In the darkness, Su Jin struggled to open his eyes, his vision blurred.
He tried to move, only to discover his limbs were tied up.
Only after recovering for another two minutes did Su Jin gradually regain his senses. Shaking his head, he asked in a raspy voice, "What's... going on..."
"He can still speak! He's fine!" Fu Qingdai's previously gloomy little face erupted with delight.
Sun Ya crouched in front of Su Jin, poking his cheek with a small wooden stick. "Xiao Li... are you all right?"
"Water... get me some water, cough, cough!"
Hearing this, Fu Qingdai hurried to the kitchen to fetch water. Just as she was about to hold the cup to Su Jin's lips, Sun Ya caught her arm.
"Don't be so reckless! Feed him with a long ladle and stay back from him."
"Hehehehe..."
Hearing Su Jin let out a low chuckle, everyone in the room felt their skin crawl.
Sun Ya's expression turned stern. "What are you laughing at!"
"An elder at home is a treasure in the house... Caution is good."
"You little bastard! You still have the nerve to joke at a time like this? You scared the hell out of all of us!" Sun Ya grumbled as he took the water-filled long ladle and fed Su Jin. "Do you remember what happened?"
After drinking greedily, Su Jin recalled, "I remember. That water sphere was absorbed by me. I've been half-asleep and half-awake, feeling a current of air surging wildly through my body."
Sun Ya took notes with a pen, asked several follow-up questions, peeled back Su Jin's eyelids to examine him, and gradually began to relax.
"Clear-headed. Looks like there's no problem. Do you need me to untie you?"
Su Jin shook his head. "No rush, observe a bit longer. I feel something strange with my body... it feels light, like I'm about to float."
"As long as you're lucid, everything else is minor... Untie him and observe!" Sun Ya decisively ordered.
Hearing the command, Fu Qingdai paid no heed to Fu Hu's attempt to stop her and rushed forward to help untie Su Jin's ropes.
"Brother, are you feeling all right?" Fu Qingdai asked with concern.
Su Jin patted her hand and stood up under everyone's watchful eyes.
The instant he stood upright, that feeling of weightless buoyancy suddenly multiplied.
Su Jin glanced toward a nearby wall, an impulse sparking in his mind.
"Don't panic, everyone. My body's a bit unusual right now, and I want to test something!"
With that, he sprinted toward the wall and stepped onto it in two or three strides.
Twisting his frame and stepping sideways, he ran along the vertical wall, his body nearly parallel to the floor!
He traversed all the way to the corner of the room before, under the stunned, slack-jawed stares of everyone present, he fell with a thud to the ground.
Chapter 33