Chapter 468: Twisted Contagion

I have to say, Sister’s worldview really needs a serious adjustment…

Lu Xin watched from the side, unable to keep his eyes from roaming.

To everyone else, it looked like the girl’s body was inexplicably contorting, folding, collapsing, and twisting—as if she had brought it all upon herself. Yet her face was etched with terror, and she weakly pleaded for help.

But what Lu Xin saw was his sister growing increasingly excited as her body split into parts that clung tightly to her.

Amid the heartbroken and fearful stares of onlookers, her whole form twisted into a bizarre shape.

Her limbs tangled, folded, and intertwined into a ball of writhing lines.

Her head was forced forward, with two hands curving up from behind to prop it on either side.

It looked like a living, postmodern, strangely sculpted figure.

“Don’t mind it—I know you like this. So I had the kid play along with you…”

In the midst of the girl’s near-desperate terror, Mom approached with scissors and a smile.

Holding a delicate pair of small scissors, she slowly opened them to the right arc before carefully moving them toward the girl’s eyes.

……

“Ah……”

Lu Xin heard a shrill, agonized scream.

Since Mom had her back turned, he didn’t see exactly what she did.

But amid that scream filled with terror and despair, he faintly heard a crisp “snap.”

At that moment, the suppressed emotions of those affected by the contamination in the small courtyard reached a fever pitch.

Many of them began to choke and scream as if driven mad.

It was as if an invisible blanket of agitation and fear had taken over, spurring them to the point of drawing their guns and readying themselves for a brawl.

They were desperate to use every method at their disposal to shatter that maddening atmosphere.

“Snap.”

The sound of the scissors cutting echoed at that instant.

All the agitation halted abruptly; the raised guns and frantic cries froze in mid-action.

Lu Xin noticed that even the wriggling in their eyes—the tiny bugs—had suddenly stopped moving.

That messy writhing, though repulsive, was also a sign of life’s stubborn persistence.

But then, as suddenly as it had begun, the wriggling ceased.

It was as if all the tiny bugs had lost their vitality at once.

……

The next moment, people gasped for air, staggered a few unsteady steps, some collapsing to the ground, others leaning against nearby objects, their faces contorted in confused terror as tears streamed uncontrollably—mixed in with remnants of half-cut bugs.

Even Gao Yan, who lay on the ground and hadn’t fully come to, shed a torrent of tears.

Injured so badly, his body trembled violently—as if trapped in a nightmare.

Or perhaps he was just waking from one.

Meanwhile, at a hospital in Second Satellite City, a patient with a knife wound on his stomach—whose emotions had been so high he needed sedatives at night—shook violently, his movements erratic as he suddenly sat upright.

After blinking a few times, fresh tears cascaded down his face.

The person by his bedside, startled awake, jumped up and cried, “What’s wrong with you?”

“I…”

The patient himself didn’t understand why his heart had suddenly pounded, nor why he was crying so uncontrollably.

His lips trembled as he muttered, “I think I suddenly understood something…”

……

……

“Is that it?”

Lu Xin observed how those around him, as if waking from a stupor, were now crying buckets with astonishment.

Seeing so many people affected by the contamination—even one of the leaders who had treated him kindly—he felt a pang of worry. None of them knew how long this contamination would last, whether it could ever be cured, or if they would be locked away or cleansed.

Earlier, Vice President Xiao had voiced concerns over Gao Yan, and Lu Xin had sensed them too.

In moments like these, handling the contamination wasn’t as important as protecting one’s friends.

That was why he had hesitated to take direct action earlier.

However, he hadn’t expected Mom to step in proactively and solve the problem for him.

With one snip, it seemed she not only eliminated the pollution source but cured everyone affected.

“Mr. Lu…”

“Brother Lu…”

“…”

After a long bout of heavy breaths and panic subsided, several voices broke out one after the other.

Big-Bearded Captain Wu Xiu and Vice President Xiao were in tears, yet their faces still betrayed lingering shock. They struggled to stand and glanced at the girl not far off, whose body had morphed into a bizarre shape, prompting a chaotic cry from deep within.

“What just happened to us?”

“My God, why did I just… why did I point my gun at Mr. Lu…”

“Ca—Captain, weren’t we ordered to protect Mr. Lu at all costs?”

“…”

Lu Xin turned away silently and scrutinized them. Their faces were pale and their muscles tensed.

They looked even more exaggerated than when they were contaminated, their emotions running even higher.

But it was clear that by then, no trace of those bugs remained in their eyes.

Even the bugs that had trailed down with their tears had vanished.

Curious, he kindly asked the unprofessional Big-Bearded Captain,

“How do you feel about what just happened?”

“…”

“We…”

Big-Bearded Captain Wu Xiu subconsciously pondered, his face marred by remorse and shame. “It’s my fault. I really—I don’t know what came over me. I just felt so sorry for that girl that I… Mr. Lu, I made a mistake. I’ll willingly accept any punishment.”

“I’m sorry for offending you just now. Please—please forgive me.”

“…”

Lu Xin stirred slightly, a mix of emotions swirling inside him.

This kind of contamination was incredibly insidious.

Even as they were affected, they retained their own memories and awareness.

In their own eyes, it wasn’t as if some force made them lose control—it was as if they suddenly became irrational, controlled by an inner impulse.

In short, not only was it hard to detect when they were contaminated,

but even after being cured, it was nearly impossible to tell.

Until now, none of them realized they had been contaminated, so their first reaction wasn’t panic.

It was guilt.

It was like two people quarreling when one suddenly ends up killing someone.

Neither knew whether they were controlled into killing or if they had acted out of emotional impulse.

……

“Don’t say that—you were also deceived.”

Lu Xin didn’t try to explain in detail, since it all involved too many complicated matters.

He glanced at Mom; from her look, he knew these people were indeed cured and free of lingering worries.

Then he addressed the remorseful Big-Bearded Captain, “Let’s get this under control first!”

“Bring in whoever’s needed—those who need to be hospitalized, send them to the hospital; those who should be jailed, get them to justice…”

“But leave that girl alone for now. I’ll handle her later.”

“…”

After saying that, he pushed his way through the crowd, patted Vice President Xiao’s shoulder—who was cowering behind the throng in regret and fear—with an encouraging look, and then followed Mom back into the villa.

Vice President Xiao was so startled by Lu Xin’s pat that he nearly fell to the ground.

Tears already streaming down his face welled up even more as he muttered, “We’re doomed. Brother Lu is definitely holding a grudge now.”

Nearby, the Armed Police reacted only after receiving orders from Big-Bearded Captain Wu Xiu.

One by one, they wiped away their tears and began to handle the chaos in the small courtyard, looking much like kids frantically trying to finish their homework while crying.

……

……

“What exactly was that contamination about?”

Inside the villa, Lu Xin quickened his pace to catch up with Mom.

He was surprised that Mom took the initiative to handle the matter, but even more curious was her choice of address.

She seemed to have said, “Sister, long time no see?”

Mom’s high heels clacked crisply against the marble tiles of the villa as she carried a small bag and walked straight toward the secret underground room, softly explaining, “It was just a malicious seed. Honestly, it’s nothing formidable.”

“Even so, this whole incident can only be seen as a minor misunderstanding…”

She smiled and said, “I have a close friend who probably caused that girl’s bizarre transformation.”

“…”

“Hmm?”

Lu Xin’s expression clearly showed his confusion.

“Don’t worry, she probably doesn’t want any trouble in Qinggang. This small place isn’t even worth her time.”

Noticing Lu Xin’s puzzlement, Mom added with a smile, “Her very presence leaves a trace wherever she passes. You can think of this contamination as the mark she left behind, and those bugs in the girl’s body are just a small part of her…”

“Just like dandelions scattering seeds on the wind.”

“The malicious thoughts she spread have parasitized, and you saw it as that malicious seed.”

“Although this girl has contamination powers, without her consent, she won’t trigger a third round of contamination.”

“Otherwise, the situation you’d face would be far graver.”

“…”

“If a third contamination occurs, it means Gao Yan would also contaminate others…”

Lu Xin understood what Mom meant by ‘grave.’

Yet, still only half understanding her explanation, he instinctively asked, “Then why did she come here?”

“She’s free, so she goes wherever she pleases.”

Mom gave Lu Xin a meaningful glance and said, “Of course… this time it’s probably because she sensed something extraordinary was about to happen in Qinggang, so she came to see for herself!”