In the blink of an eye, Ryann’s figure disappeared.
The crystal bones on his lower back expanded like a spider web, slicing through the sunlight leaking from the clouds.
The youth rose from the ground using the power of his crystal bones, his feet suspended in mid-air as he coldly surveyed the scene below.
Corpses lay scattered, while the living crawled about in chaos.
The refugees finally realized that misfortune had befallen them. Some screamed and ran towards the distance, only to be impaled by emerging crystal after just a dozen steps, like frogs skewered on a fork.
“Stop!”
Jiang Jianming turned back and shouted sternly, “Ryann!!”
“Mommy! Wauwuwu, mommy…”
A boy in his early teens was terrified, sitting on the ground just crying, “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have thrown stones at him before, wuwuwu don’t come over, don’t come over…”
Golden crystal bones pierced through the boy’s chest. He struggled for a moment before breathing his last, blood spreading across his dusty clothes.
“Devil!! You – you killed my son, I’ll fight you to the death—”
An old woman with unsteady steps and bloodshot eyes lunged at him with outstretched arms. She was instantly flung dozens of meters away, her head smashing against a large rock, dying with her eyes wide open.
“No, don’t kill me, I didn’t do anything!!”
“Help, save me…”
In just a few short seconds, the scene before them had transformed into a living hell. The snow was soaked with fresh blood, leaving almost no patch of white to be found.
“Ryann!! You… cough cough…!”
The pressure from the high-level crystal bones was overwhelming. Jiang Jianming had only taken a step forward when he was forced to his knees, coughing up more blood.
The handsome youth seemed oblivious. He landed, stepping on a corpse in black clothes. The person’s abdomen had been torn open by crystal bones, intestines spilling onto the ground.
Just a few steps away lay the scrawny young man who had once spoken up, but ultimately didn’t dare to stand alone and do anything.
“Don’t kill me!! I was wrong, don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!!”
The skinny man crawled pathetically in the snow, his face twisted into an ugly expression, “Who are you really, are you Jiang Jianming’s friend!?”
“It’s not that we didn’t want to help him! I wanted to, didn’t you see!? But those lords, they kill people at the slightest provocation…”
Crystal fragments glinted at the youth’s fingertips, “Then now you know, I can do the same.”
The man desperately reached out towards Jiang Jianming in the distance, crying out in a broken voice, “Jiang Jianming!! Help, save me, I don’t want to die!! You said—”
…Ryann’s gaze gradually darkened.
At this point, the foolish one was still hoping for that disabled human to save him.
Expecting that person who had just been abandoned by everyone, who could barely crawl now, to shield him from the bloodthirsty monster.
It was too ridiculous.
He didn’t like it.
So he gave in to his inner desire for destruction.
Odin had once told him, those who don’t want to be enslaved must become enslavers; those who don’t want to be confined must become confiners.
Overwhelm power with greater power, overpower fear with deeper fear. Until no one dares to disobey.
Until what he wants to destroy, will be destroyed.
So, actually, it wasn’t specifically to stand up for Jiang Jianming, the little monster thought to himself.
That was indeed a somewhat special person, like a pure and soft flower from a bygone era, blooming in the dark mire.
Worth appreciating, but nothing more than that.
Soon, he too would cast fearful or hateful glances at the bloodthirsty monster, perhaps criticize this slaughter with lofty morals… but he could do nothing about it.
How pitiful, it wasn’t his fault, who told Jiang Jianming to be a poor disabled human? Reality was cruel, this race was born inferior, without power they had no choice, they could only wait to be oppressed by fate, or to be saved by fate.
The youth thought this way.
But immediately after, that hand appeared before his eyes.
It was the thin, frail hand of the disabled human, blocking the sharp and scorching crystal bones.
Ryann’s expression changed drastically, but by the time he reacted it was already too late. With a crystal clear tearing sound, the crystal bones directly sliced open most of Jiang Jianming’s right forearm!
A hint of bewilderment appeared on Ryann’s face.
In less than half a second, his green pupils reflected the blood droplets flying into the sky, the figure before him — and the rapidly enlarging hand.
A dull thud.
That bloody right hand grabbed the little monster’s golden hair, slamming that exquisitely beautiful face forcefully into the snow.
“Mmph…!?”
Ryann slowly widened the eye that wasn’t buried, his eyelashes coated with snow particles.
So hot, he thought.
Jiang Jianming’s blood, dripping onto his face, so hot.
Jiang Jianming breathed rapidly, his black hair disheveled. The cold wind seemed to sweep sternly from the sky into his eyes as he looked down.
“Who taught you to kill people like this.”
Why, Ryann wondered even more bewilderedly as he lay buried in the snow, his crystal bones drooping as if wilted. The remaining refugees rolled and crawled away, scattering in all directions, soon disappearing.
Why could he walk through such a torrent of crystal particles?
Why did he dare approach me, why did he dare to grab my hair?
Why were the words he spoke… like this?
“When I saw you that night, there was a royal emblem on your starship.”
Jiang Jianming knelt in the snow, saying coldly. “You’re a child of the royal family, aren’t you, Your Highness?”
“People shouldn’t kill like this, is this how Odin I taught you?”
“…”
Ryann breathed slightly, wisps of white mist escaping from between his lips.
In the blink of an eye, half of his face had already been stained red — Jiang Jianming was emotionally agitated, his right hand continuing to exert force, so the blood kept flowing, flowing faster and faster, as if it would drain all the remaining vitality from this person.
“…Hand.”
Ryann’s gaze finally wavered first, as he said hoarsely. “I don’t take lessons from Odin. Let go of your hand.”
Jiang Jianming loosened his grip slightly. “What relation are you to the emperor?”
Ryann raised his face, “Someone who wants to kill him.”
Instantly, an even greater force pushed the youth’s head back into the snow.
Ryann was shocked and enraged. “…!?”
“Then,” Jiang Jianming said coldly, “have you now been tamed by the emperor into becoming his kind?”
“—Shut up!” A look of ferocity flashed in the depths of Ryann’s pupils. His sore spot touched, his crystal bones suddenly clamped down on Jiang Jianming’s elbow. Crack!
Jiang Jianming’s whole body trembled, his bleeding right hand hanging limply, twisted at a strange angle.
“…Disabled human, you shouldn’t,” Ryann supported himself on one knee in the hard snow, slowly straightening up, “exceed the limits of my tolerance.”
The flames in the youth’s eyes ignited, his crystal bones instantly rising to form sharp spikes, “Did you really think I wouldn’t kill you?”
The cold wind happened to blow by. The disabled human gritted his teeth for a moment, then suddenly lost strength and lowered his head, weakly smiling. “No, of course you can kill anyone.”
After saying this, he collapsed, like a withered leaf dropped by the wind, falling onto the snow-covered ground soaked in blood.
Ryann stood up, quietly looking at the black-haired young man who had fallen at his feet, suddenly feeling a strange sensation in his heart.
This person would die soon, without him even needing to do anything.
His connection with him would also end here. They met, he was cared for a few days, ate an apple from him, killed some people who bullied him, and now let him die, just like that.
“Yes, I could even destroy all of humanity, at any time.”
Some unknown emotion made the young prince continue, “Didn’t you hear them shouting? I’m not human, I’m a monster.”
“Just because others said so…you believed it?” Jiang Jianming tiredly turned his head, black hair pillowed on the snow, his breath growing weaker and weaker, “You don’t even understand what it means to be human yet…”
His gaze became distant, as if looking at the youth in front of him, yet also as if looking at something far beyond.
“This universe… is so vast.”
“Is destroying humanity… all you can think of…?”
Ryann’s breath caught.
He felt as if something invisible had struck his chest, and he instinctively looked up, only to see the snowy clouds in the sky of the Blue Mother Star.
He heard a voice softly say: Go destroy things more worthy of destruction.
The youth looked down again.
Blood-red snow, silent broken houses, dismembered corpses scattered everywhere.
Jiang Jianming lay on his side at his feet, eyes closed, no longer speaking.
“…I don’t understand.”
Ryann slowly sat down, staring at the disabled human who had just been talking to him, asking like a lost child. “What are things more worthy of destruction?”
But there was no voice to answer him.
“What is a human?”
Ryann asked again, continuing to stare for a long time, thinking of those nights before when Aslan would open his eyes resignedly and tell him softly to stop fooling around and go to sleep.
It was just a chance encounter with a somewhat special disabled human.
But… there was no second disabled human like this in the world. No one else could answer his questions at this moment.
The weak can only wait to be oppressed by fate, or to be saved by fate.
But Aslan had saved the other refugees, facing that fat leader the first time, and facing him, this monster, the second time.
He even “oppressed” him, scolded him, pushed his face into the snow.
All around was silent. Ryann slowly extended his crystal bones, lifting the unconscious Jiang Jianming from the snow.
“If you don’t explain clearly,” he said hoarsely, “I won’t let you die.”
…
This was the first time the little monster truly felt how simple it was to kill a person, yet how difficult it was to save one.
He did everything he could think of. Stopped the bleeding, bandaged, kept him warm… But after just a few minutes, Jiang Jianming unexpectedly began vomiting blood non-stop—his chronic crystal disorder had flared up.
By the time Ryann realized how serious the problem was, his hands were already completely stained with warm blood.
In extreme pain, the disabled human in his arms shook repeatedly. Suddenly he let out a miserable whimper, his unfocused eyes abruptly opening wide, directly awakened by the pain.
The broken house whined as the wind leaked through. Ryann’s face was ashen as he held onto Jiang Jianming’s upper body, which was about to collapse again, and called out. “Aslan!”
“…” Jiang Jianming breathed weakly, managing to look at him for a few seconds, “It’s fine, normal… flare-up… you should… stay away… from me… can’t…”
After muttering a few words indistinctly, his eyes closed powerlessly, and he fell silent again.
“Don’t sleep, Aslan! Tell me how to get to the city district, I’ll take you there!!”
Jiang Jianming shook his head weakly, quickly falling unconscious again, his breathing erratic, alternating between rapid and slow, with no rhythm.
“You can’t sleep… you!”
Ryann felt ice-cold all over, his palms covered in sweat.
This wouldn’t do. The person had already lost consciousness. Once breathing stopped, there were no means of resuscitation in the wild zone. But…
In fact, he also knew that even if they went to the city district, or even if he took him to the Yongle Garden Star City, it would only mean more advanced life support equipment and more effective pain relief drugs.
Chronic crystal disorder was an incurable terminal illness. So far, humans had not developed any means to combat crystal disorder.
Moreover, there was no transportation available now. Ryann didn’t even know which direction to leave the wild zone. Outside it was bitterly cold. How could they go to the city district?
Ryann could only watch him suffer.
Time seemed to drag on endlessly. By noon, Jiang Jianming began running a high fever. Probably delirious with pain, at one point he rolled off the bed and grabbed a blade from the corner, about to cut himself.
Ryann snatched it away from him, breaking it into pieces and throwing them out the window. After that, he didn’t dare leave him for a moment, holding him tightly, struggling through to the afternoon.
As the sun was setting, Jiang Jianming woke for a while.
He lay on his back on the cold, hard wooden bed, covered with two thin, tattered blankets, the blood having soaked through the clumped cotton batting.
“Look what you’ve done,” Jiang Jianming stared blankly for a long time before managing a weak smile, “The blankets… like this, how will you… use them in the future…”
Ryann huddled by the bed, burying his face in his own golden hair, his voice extremely hoarse. “I’ll buy you new ones.”
“Has Lin Ge… come back?”
“Not yet.”
Jiang Jianming sighed softly, his fingers reaching towards Ryann, the red light of dusk flashing on his nails.
“Little monster.”
Ryann had never heard anyone call this name so softly and affectionately, like a term of endearment.
He didn’t react immediately, so the person on the bed changed his form of address and called him again. “Your Highness the Prince.”
“Can you listen to me say a few words?”
Jiang Jianming spoke with a peaceful expression, “It’s my last words.”
“Are you going to die?”
“Not necessarily, but… it’s just a matter of time.”
Ryann shook his head. He grasped Jiang Jianming’s cold hand, bringing his face closer, “I still haven’t understood what a human is, nor have I found things more worthy of destruction.”
Outside the house, the red clouds of the setting sun lingered, the corpses on the ground still untreated. The cold wind was full of the smell of blood and death.
Below the window, the little monster climbed onto the bed, whispering in the sick man’s ear, “So, if you die, I’ll go destroy all of humanity.”
Jiang Jianming raised his hand and slapped him. Ryann obediently took the hit without a word, though the man now had no strength at all, it was like being patted on the head.
“Since you think that way, it’s perfect for you to listen to my last words now.”
