Chapter 37.1 The Promised Land
“Get out of here!” Li Ye noticed that something was wrong and shouted at the two of them.
Lin Banxia and Li Su quickly retreated towards the door. More and more of these things came out, and the speed was getting faster and faster. In just a blink of an eye, an Irina fell from the ceiling and pounced on Li Su’s face. On the side, Li Ye reacted very quickly. He raised his hand and fired a shot. The bullet grazed Li Su’s cheek, leaving a few traces of blood, and directly shattered Irina into pieces.
Lin Banxia had never used a gun before, so though he could fight back with a pistol it was not accurate enough, so he had no choice but to use a dagger. However, the counterattack of the three of them was obviously of no avail. Shortly after they exited the room, the entire room they had just been in turned into a terrifying cavern. Countless Irinas kept pouring out, and the entire room was tightly packed. It was so tight that the doorway made of stone had exaggerated cracks.
“It can’t continue like this – Lin Banxia!! Go find Sergey and knock him out!!” Li Su shouted, “We are here to buy you time -”
Lin Banxia said loudly: “Okay!!!”
“Don’t look at that thing!!” Li Su warned.
Lin Banxia responded, turned around and ran. Trying to find Sergey in the dark room was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The worst thing was that he didn’t dare to look around because he needed to avoid those things in the center of the square. He didn’t know where Song Qingluo was and whether he would be affected by the Irinas. Lin Banxia gritted his teeth and kept searching with a flashlight. Amidst the constant gunshots of Li Su and Li Ye, Lin Banxia finally found Sergey in a corner curled up in a ball.
“Sergey…” Lin Banxia called his name and rushed towards him at a sprint.
Sergey lay motionless on the ground, as if he couldn’t hear the sound of Lin Banxia’s voice twisted because of anger.
Lin Banxia finally rushed to Sergey’s side and raised his hand to knock him out. At that moment, he heard a loud noise coming from behind him. He turned around and saw that the whole room was full of people. It was being stretched open by countless Irinas, she… no, it should be it… Its body was continuously squeezed in the stone room, and finally it was squeezed into a huge meat ball. The meat ball had countless hands, feet, and heads. Just one glance could make people feel seriously uncomfortable.
Lin Banxia blurted out a curse. Sergey turned his head and saw this scene. Under normal circumstances, he should have shown a look of fear. However, instead of feeling scared, Sergey showed a look of joy. He kept saying: “Irina, you are back! Irina, you are finally back…”
With that infatuated look, even if Lin Banxia couldn’t understand what he was saying, he understood what he meant. Lin Banxia was so angry that he laughed, stretched out his hand, grabbed Sergey’s collar, and pulled him in front of him and said viciously: “You’re not fucking thinking about Irina at all!”
Sergey looked at Lin Banxia blankly.
“If you really fucking want Irina back, how could you come up with such a thing? You just want to bury us all together!!! You damn b*stard!!”
At that moment, Lin Banxia finally understood that since he met Sergey, they had always encountered monsters related to Irina, but these monsters had none of Irina’s core and instead seemed to deliberately stop them. Yes, at first, Lin Banxia thought it was Sergey’s guilt about Irina that was causing trouble. Now, he suddenly realized…
What Sergey had in mind was not Irina at all, but a series of accidents caused by Irina’s death. He wanted to die on this trip to redeem himself from the guilt caused by Irina’s death. So, Sergey did not turn into mud because his wish had not yet come true. Even in the form of a moth, Sergei’s death-seeking thoughts continuously gathered these monsters, and eventually formed the insurmountable mountain of flesh behind them.
Lin Banxia was so angry when he saw Sergey’s innocent expression that he waved his fist without hesitation and hit Sergey hard in the face. Before Sergei could even react, he was punched. Several teeth came out of his mouth, and he stumbled to the ground.
Lin Banxia walked over and found that he was not unconscious yet. He picked him up again, raised his hand and gave him another hard blow. This time, Sergey looked at him and completely lost consciousness.
However, even though he had fainted, the terrifying monster behind Lin Banxia did not disappear. A series of violent explosions came from behind Lin Banxia. It seemed that Li Ye and Li Su had used explosives, but in the face of that behemoth it was a drop in the bucket. The huge mountain of flesh transformed from Irina almost filled the entire passage and began to spread towards the square.
Not knowing what was going on with Song Qingluo, Lin Banxia was extremely anxious and reflexively glanced at the middle of the square.
Only then did Lin Banxia see that Song Qingluo had arrived near the stone platform. Those strange-looking companions were still standing nearby. They noticed Song Qingluo’s approach and began to chant in a low voice. Their bodies began to morph into round balls of flesh. These red flesh balls quickly turned into a group of weird-looking creatures with long fangs and wings, and they rushed towards Song Qingluo. At the same time, a cluster of green flames began to spread around the stone platform, and soon the entire stone platform was sealed. The incomprehensible whispers in their mouths once again floated in everyone’s ears. Lin Banxia’s heart was beating like a drum again, but he saw Song Qingluo, like a moth rushing to the fire, heading towards the green flames without hesitation.
Those strange creatures had arrived in front of Song Qingluo. They opened their sharp teeth and their limbs turned into sharp blades, seeming to rush towards Song Qingluo.
It would be impossible for ordinary people to pass through these things, but Song Qingluo was obviously not an ordinary person.
He jumped up from the ground in a completely impossible posture. His jump was more like flying. His body seemed to be light and weightless, and he jumped several meters high in the air. The swarm of weird creatures immediately reversed its direction and rushed towards Song Qingluo again. Song Qingluo was already on guard, so the gun in his hand moved instantly. There were more than ten gunshots in a row, and dark red snowflakes burst up all around, and the crushed insects turned into minced meat in the sky, falling to the ground like rain. The next moment, the scene around Song Qingluo became violently distorted. His expression condensed, and he no longer cared about anything else, and rushed towards the stone platform which was burning with green flames.
The remaining insects stuck to his skin. The sharp teeth and blade-like limbs dyed Song Qingluo’s pale skin blood red. Song Qingluo fell from mid-air and fell straight into the green. However, the green flames did not burn Song Qingluo’s clothes or skin. He stood up from the flames and seemed to want to move forward, but as soon as he took two steps forward, his movements stopped. The terrifying murmurs of the companions became louder and louder. Lin Banxia’s heart felt extremely uncomfortable, and his head was in pain as if it was being torn apart. His nose felt hot, and he reached out to wipe it away and found that it was bright red blood. Nevertheless, what made him the most anxious was that Song Qingluo had stopped.
Song Qingluo stopped moving. It was unknown what kind of impact the green flame had on him. He stood quietly inside, as if he had transformed into a stone statue that could not move.
Lin Banxia remembered what Song Qingluo said when he left – if he doesn’t move, just kill him. He spat fiercely on the ground and cursed: “Fuck, who the hell would shoot at his teammates!” He raised the gun in his hand and aimed at the companion next to Song Qingluo. He didn’t know if it would work, but at least he had to try to do something.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” There were three gunshots in a row, and after two missed shots, Lin Banxia finally succeeded in hitting the companion closest to him. A flower of blood exploded from the companion’s body, and he let out a shrill scream. At that moment, the green flames that trapped Song Qingluo flickered slightly. In just a moment, Song Qingluo jumped up from the ground again and jumped out of the green flames, and before his eyes… placed on the stone platform, was a freshly cut heart, still beating.
The swarm of insects rushed over again, almost completely covering Song Qingluo’s body, constantly cutting into Song Qingluo’s skin and bones. In an instant, Song Qingluo looked like a person made of blood. At the cost of this, he finally touched the stone platform, and the beating heart was about to be held in his hands.
Seeing this scene, Lin Banxia was ecstatic, thinking that it was finally over. However, the moment Song Qingluo held the heart, the ground of the square suddenly collapsed. Song Qingluo was unable to stop his body and fell along with the stone platform.
Lin Banxia looked at this sudden scene with bulging eyes, and his heart almost jumped out of his throat. For the first time, he felt such strong fear, as if he was about to lose everything he had. Just as despair surged into his mind, a strange thought suddenly emerged from Lin Banxia’s mind. He suddenly remembered something. This was their last hope, although it was as slim as the stars in the sky. “I hope Song Qingluo won’t fall.” He used his loudest voice to shout out what he longed for most at this moment.
The next moment, the collapse actually stopped.
Before Lin Banxia had time to smile, he felt a chill. He lowered his head and looked at his chest blankly. There was nothing there, but he had a feeling, as if someone was gently touching his chest with cold hands and pinchig his heart, as if to take his heart and soul out of his body… Lin Banxia looked up blankly and saw Song Qingluo, who was covered in blood.
In the distance, Song Qingluo successfully held the beating heart. He cut open his abdomen with a dagger and stuffed the heart into his body. After he finished all this, he raised his head and looked at Lin Banxia from a distance, showing a comforting smile.
This picture was so ridiculous that Lin Banxia was not even sure if he had seen it wrong. His vision began to distort, and there were murmurs around him. He saw the black ceiling and heard the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. After a while, he realized that the heavy object falling to the ground was his own body.
Lin Banxia closed his eyes, and the sound of the world collapsing gradually lingered in his ears. He fell into a peculiar situation, and his soul seemed to be rising continuously, as if he was about to enter the extremely beautiful night sky.
If this is death, then it was not as terrible as imagined, Lin Banxia thought to himself comfortingly.
However, at this moment, he felt pain, which forcibly pulled him out of his comfortable state. He heard fierce breathing, snapping sounds and pain. Lin Banxia finally realized that someone was f*cking slapping him.
Wanting to struggle to make the person stop, Lin Banxia returned to his heavy body again. Not only was he slapped, but someone was also pressing his chest hard. His lips felt cold. Hot oxygen was continuously breathed into his mouth, but unfortunately, he didn’t get enough oxygen, so he received two more slaps on the face. Lin Banxia exhausted all his strength and reluctantly uttered one word: “Don’t…” Stop slapping, stop slapping, I’m awake!! He didn’t know which beast could strike so harshly, but the slaps made his ears buzz.
Under Lin Banxia’s laborious efforts to stop them, and with a sigh that sounded like regret, the damn slaps finally stopped. Lin Banxia felt that he was being hugged carefully, but his ears were fuzzy, and he couldn’t hear clearly. He wanted to open his eyes, but failed, so he simply gave up and stayed in the man’s arms obediently, like a hibernating hamster.
Isn’t artificial respiration enough? Why slap someone in the face? Lin Banxia thought aggrievedly. It must be that b*stard Li Su. When he goes back, he must tell Song Qingluo that Li Su is calling him a dead man behind his back. With such thoughts, Lin Banxia fell into a sweet sleep.
He didn’t know how long he slept. When he woke up, everything around him had changed. Lin Banxia felt as if he was lying in a moving vehicle. All the wounds on his body had been bandaged. Someone was talking quietly in the cab. He opened his eyes with difficulty and saw Song Qingluo’s graceful figure. Chin and downcast eyes. Song Qingluo’s eyelashes were black and long and looked soft and fluffy. Lin Banxia blinked his eyes for a while, feeling a little weak, and was about to touch Song Qingluo’s eyelashes. Unexpectedly, the owner of the eyelashes suddenly opened his eyes. Those black eyes were as deep as the night sky.
Song Qingluo lowered his eyes and looked at Lin Banxia: “Are you awake?”
“I’m awake, where are we?” Lin Banxia twisted his body and realized that he was being held in Song Qingluo’s arms. They were both men, but he didn’t feel anything was wrong. “Is it over?”
“It’s over.” Song Qingluo said.
Lin Banxia struggled to get up but was unable to do so. Song Qingluo reached out to support him and let him lean on his shoulder. He saw the scene outside the car window. They were traveling through the wilderness they had walked through before. It was different from before. Surprisingly, the surrounding area was bustling with police and passing work vehicles. Lin Banxia even saw helicopters circling in the sky outside.
“So many people?” Lin Banxia was a little surprised.
“Well, they are here to deal with the aftermath.” Song Qingluo said, “Is there any discomfort?”
“It’s nothing, I just have no strength.” Lin Banxia replied, “What about you, are you okay?” He remembered that the last scene he saw before he passed out was Song Qingluo cutting open his body and the beating heart was stuffed into his body. Lin Banxia was so shocked by this scene that there was no way he could have seen it wrong.
“I’m okay.” Song Qingluo answered calmly.
“Are you really okay?” Lin Banxia didn’t believe it.
Song Qingluo nodded his head.
“But, I saw you stuff that thing… into your body. Are you really okay?” Lin Banxia still felt incredible.
“It’s okay, I’m just sealing the heresy temporarily.” Song Qingluo said, “If we let it work again, you will be dead.” He sighed, feeling helpless, “How could you make a wish casually?”
“I didn’t want everyone to die.” Lin Banxia said a little indifferently, “It’s better for me to die alone than for everyone to die together.”
Song Qingluo said nothing, rubbed his brown hair, and said, “You gave me a lot of surprises.” He thought Lin Banxia was gentle and harmless, but now it seemed that Lin Banxia still had a lot of potential.
“You too.” Lin Banxia gestured, “How did you jump like that? It’s amazing! It looks like a martial arts movie. Can you teach me?”
Song Qingluo laughed: “You can’t learn how to jump like that, but you can still learn how to shoot a gun. I’ll teach you how to shoot a gun first.”
Lin Banxia said, “Yes.” He was a little sleepy so he curled up in his seat and looked out the window. He saw the wasteland in the dark night. It was the same scene he saw yesterday. The sky was clear and bright. Everywhere he looked, there was a distant horizon. The moon was bright, and the stars were twinkling in the darkness. Lin Banxia heard a reassuring and clear chirping of insects.
“That’s great.” Lin Banxia said with a smile.
Song Qingluo said: “Well, go to sleep.”
Lin Banxia nodded and fell asleep leaning against Song Qingluo.
Translator’s comments:
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