Song Zang closed his eyes briefly, then flipped the love letter over and displayed it to the camera.
The high-definition camera slowly swept across the stationery, capturing Yin Chen’s flamboyant handwriting in full, along with those vicious and downright bizarre words.
“No thoughts to share?” Yin Chen looked at Song Zang and urged him with an ambiguous smile. “Every single word I wrote was completely sincere.”
Song Zang’s thoughts were a mess.
It felt like half his secrets had just been exposed, though outsiders probably could not decipher Yin Chen’s riddle-like writing anyway.
Half exposed but not quite exposed. Which was basically exposed.
Besides, he was not nearly that bad. He was genuinely sincere toward the people he considered friends. Yin Chen simply thought too poorly of him.
A pervert saw perversion everywhere.
All kinds of thoughts were frantically surging through Song Zang’s mind.
Naturally, none of them showed on his face.
Like any normal person would, Song Zang merely displayed an appropriately “frightened” expression, his beautiful face seeming to lose a little color.
Tentatively, he asked in a small voice, “Ex-husband, you really don’t want to cut me to pieces anymore?”
Yin Chen’s gaze settled on his trembling black lashes, and his lips curved. “Really.”
It was admittedly a little pathetic, but Yin Chen knew perfectly well that his state of mind had gradually changed without him noticing.
His feelings had changed, so he would simply admit it. It was no big deal.
“Then do you still think I’m a bad person?” Song Zang probed further.
“Of course.” Yin Chen deliberately emphasized the next words. “But I don’t care.”
What Song Zang was really asking was whether, before losing his memories… he truly had been a bad person.
Yin Chen certainly understood that too.
But presented to the audience, this conversation would probably turn into an entirely different story.
—Billionaire CEO personally admits he has forgiven the washed-up actor who once cheated on him. Former spouses publicly profess their love through handwritten letters, shattered mirror soon to be made whole as reconciliation draws near.
Song Zang could already imagine the bloodbath once the episode aired.
Upright netizens would absolutely curse him to death, but Yin Chen would not escape unscathed either. He might even earn himself the nickname “Crazy Bastard.”
Just imagining it was funny.
“Thank you for the love letter. I really like it.” Song Zang seemed to quietly relax, his eyes curving gently as delicate dimples appeared on his cheeks.
He carefully folded the letter and pretended to put it into his suitcase, while actually slipping it into his final permanent storage slot.
The first two slots contained the healing coffee and a sturdy iron wok, neither of which he had gotten the chance to use yet.
Song Zang wanted to take this letter home and hide it inside his ice coffin.
He had not lied.
Although it read like a serial killer’s threatening letter, Song Zang genuinely loved it.
He loved Yin Chen’s particular brand of madness, and he loved that blatant, unapologetic favoritism Yin Chen treated as the most natural thing in the world.
After the love-letter-reading segment ended, the production team offered a wide variety of activities for dates involving either two or four people.
Beach volleyball, tandem parasailing, surfing, jet skis and speedboats, snorkeling in the shallows… They could even take a yacht out for deep-sea fishing.
The deluxe yacht was exclusively sponsored by the Lu family’s young master, who was still limping around injured.
Lin Wen Jing was still dressed in white today and seemed to have regained her usual rationality. She chose none of the dating activities and instead sat on the stretch of beach where Qiu Shuang had been found.
Yin Chen had sent her a copy of the surveillance footage and explained the players’ reasonable deductions, but Lin Wen Jing still wanted to see what had happened for herself.
She rested the tablet containing the footage on her lap and played it slowly at normal speed. Meanwhile, she held a sharp machete in one hand, using it to hack away at thick-husked wild coconuts as she watched.
Naturally, Chang Mei Jiang was not about to provoke her at a time like this.
Besides, Lin Wen Jing was not the only person left without a date. Lu Ren Jia was still confined to bed with his injury.
The moment this guy woke from anesthesia last night, he immediately started crying and demanding to go home. He even flexed his trembling pecs and tried to seduce the director, insisting that he wanted to leave no matter what.
Speechless, Chang Mei Jiang let him go.
But after running halfway out of the resort with his freshly reattached hand held up, he discovered that his company had issued a harsh ultimatum forcing him to continue filming…
Outside the resort, everything was pitch-black and deserted.
Lu Ren Jia became frightened again.
So he ran back crying.
Now he had latched onto Chang Mei Jiang, trembling as he followed right behind her wherever she went and refusing to trust anyone else.
Chang Mei Jiang simply grabbed a cameraman and assigned him to film the behind-the-scenes daily adventures of herself and Mr. Severed Hand.
“What do you want to do? I’m fine with anything,” Yin Chen asked.
“Parasailing first!” Song Zang decided almost without hesitation.
He was secretly looking forward to it.
This was the kind of entertainment he could never experience at Helin Manor.
The two changed into simple, comfortable T-shirts, put on helmets, and donned their safety equipment under the guidance of a professional instructor.
Song Zang only needed to wear the harness and hang in front to enjoy the scenery, while the more experienced Yin Chen stayed pressed against his back, responsible for controlling the parasail’s direction and speed.
The sea breeze swept past, carrying the salty scent of seawater and the warmth of the summer sun. The wind was neither too strong nor too weak, but just right.
The parasail slowly swelled beneath the wind, rising into the air and lifting them little by little from the sandy beach toward the sapphire-blue, glittering sea.
A faint sensation of weightlessness lingered around them, making the experience of dangling above the ground and flying into the distance even more exhilarating.
Song Zang quickly forgot that trace of unease.
He raised his head toward the blue sky and white clouds that seemed close enough to touch, savoring the uninhibited freedom of the powerful wind tossing his black hair into disarray.
Something warm brushed beside his ear.
At some point, Yin Chen had removed his helmet and hooked it onto the harness. He rested his head on Song Zang’s shoulder, rubbing his chin lightly against the hollow of his neck.
Several strands of hair tickled Song Zang.
He raised a hand to brush them away, only to touch Yin Chen’s face directly.
Yin Chen’s skin was actually very smooth, delicate and softly warm beneath his fingers, nothing like the hard, cold texture Song Zang had imagined.
It was only the lightest touch, yet the tips of Song Zang’s ears immediately grew hot.
He jerked his hand back as though electrocuted. “…What are you doing?”
Yin Chen let out a muffled laugh. “We’re on a date. Of course there should be sweet physical contact.”
“Then put your helmet back on!”
“It gets in the way. It’s uncomfortable.”
Song Zang asked suspiciously, “You’ve really done this before?”
“Really. Don’t be scared. If we fall, I’ll cushion you.”
…
There was nothing Song Zang could do about Yin Chen’s habit of doing whatever he pleased.
Neither of them would die from a fall anyway, so he might as well let Yin Chen cling to him.
Song Zang gave up resisting and let Yin Chen nuzzle against him however he liked, the corners of his lips unconsciously curving upward.
Meanwhile, Wang Ming Yue chose to participate in the special Cupid-bribing activity available to the new guests.
Before sunset, she had to catch an entire bucketful of fish and shrimp and offer it to Cupid. Only then could she obtain the item that would forcibly bind her chosen CP.
Seeing Wang Ming Yue excitedly change into practical shorts and a T-shirt, put on a mask, and prepare to drive a speedboat beneath the blazing sun, Chi Yan could not help advising her, “You really don’t have to. Partnering with Lu Xing You would be pretty good. He can protect you.”
Wang Ming Yue shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m really good at catching fish. I really want to choose Sister Xiao!”
Just as she finished speaking, Xiao Xiao, who was playing volleyball, leaped into the air and smashed the ball over the net, completely overwhelming Xia Zhi Zhi on the opposite side.
The little Cupid mascot bounced around nearby, acting as referee and flipping the scoreboard while waving its golden bow and cheering for Xiao Xiao.
Xia Zhi Zhi picked up the volleyball and looked anxiously toward Wang Ming Yue. “If she chooses Sister Xiao, then what am I supposed to do?”
“Me, Li Jun, or Lu Xing You. Pick whichever one you want.” Chi Yan finished stretching, stepped barefoot onto the sand, and took her place beside Xiao Xiao. “Hurry up. Serve.”
“…Okay.”
Xia Zhi Zhi answered bitterly, tossed the volleyball into the air, and jumped to serve.
This was not voluntary.
Chi Yan had established the rule long ago.
They had to get plenty of physical exercise every day so their reactions would not become sluggish enough for someone to kill them before they could even run.
Lu Xing You had just woken up and was enthusiastically watching from the sidelines on his crutches, occasionally sticking out a foot to rescue the ball for Xia Zhi Zhi.
There was simply too much life and death in the Infinite Game.
Grief and fear were the most useless things of all.
Whenever they had an opportunity to breathe and enjoy themselves, of course they had to seize the moment and have some fun.
Lin Wen Jing, however, clearly could not adapt to such an almost cold-blooded mentality yet.
After cutting open her third coconut, she finally discovered something unbelievable on the tablet screen.
Just as Yin Chen had said, something was wrong with Qiu Shuang.
She struggled between lucidity and oblivion. She tried to escape…
Then she ran straight into a woman who looked exactly like Lin Wen Jing.
Qiu Shuang did not realize that woman was an impostor.
But Lin Wen Jing could read her lips.
Through her tears, Qiu Shuang said, “Run! Hurry, run! I can’t get away anymore. Don’t worry about me…”
The impostor took her hand and led her toward the sea.
—Toward the exact place where Lin Wen Jing was sitting now.
Qiu Shuang had been worried that Lin Wen Jing was in danger.
Even with her own life hanging by a thread, she had refused to drag Lin Wen Jing down with her.
Yet in the end, an impostor wearing Lin Wen Jing’s face had dragged Qiu Shuang into the abyss.
The tender white coconut flesh was slowly crushed into mush beneath Lin Wen Jing’s fingers, watery pulp leaking between them.
She threw aside the tablet and tightened her grip around the sharp machete.
The summer sunlight was painfully bright, reflecting silver-white off the blade and illuminating Lin Wen Jing’s deathly pale, gloomy face.
Then she noticed that her reflection seemed to smile.
Its lips curled upward unnaturally, its eyes filled with sticky, icy killing intent.
The reflection on the blade was smiling.
The reflection on the tablet was smiling.
Even her reflection among the rolling waves was smiling.
“I’m not smiling.”
Lin Wen Jing’s lips trembled as she spoke quietly.
“I’m not smiling. How could I possibly be smiling… That isn’t me…”
“Yin Chen! Look down there! What is she doing?!”
As the sea wind grew stronger, Song Zang lowered his head to admire the vast ocean scenery and happened to glance toward the boundary where the pale-gold beach met the water.
When his gaze swept across the girl in white, he almost thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
But when he looked more carefully, something was clearly wrong.
Lin Wen Jing’s slender arm trembled stiffly as she slowly and laboriously raised the machete.
The blade pointed directly at her own eye.
Yin Chen followed Song Zang’s gaze and immediately pulled the handle controlling the parasail’s direction. “She’s being controlled.”
“I know. Don’t move. I’m going to save her,” Song Zang said softly.
He was actually finding it a little difficult to breathe.
The moment he finished speaking, he ripped off his helmet and hurled it toward Lin Wen Jing with all his strength.
The helmet spun downward at an unimaginable speed, flying horizontally toward her and striking the gleaming machete with flawless precision.
Bang—!
The tremendous impact knocked Lin Wen Jing off balance and sent her crashing heavily to the ground.
Her forearm fractured.
The machete shattered into pieces that scattered everywhere before a suddenly rising wave swallowed them whole and dragged them into the deep sea.
“Whew…”
Song Zang sighed in relief, his fingertips trembling faintly.
A broken arm was a broken arm.
At least the tip of the blade had not gone into her eye.
As he thought this, his vision suddenly went dark.
Yin Chen had placed his own helmet over Song Zang’s head.
Pressed close to his ear, Yin Chen said quietly, “Get ready. We’re landing now. The knife wasn’t the only reflective surface. She’s still in danger.”
The instant he finished speaking, a violent sensation of weightlessness swept over Song Zang like a tidal wave.
He hurriedly steadied himself and clutched the hem of Yin Chen’s T-shirt so the wind would not toss him around.
Pressed together, they hurtled toward the beach at a speed that felt like a plane crash.
Song Zang thought there was no possible way they could stop in time.
But Yin Chen really did know how to parasail.
Skimming just above the water, he reduced their speed and finally landed steadily in the shallows, where the water only reached their knees.
Song Zang did not even fall.
He immediately began undoing his safety straps, intending to hurry over and check Lin Wen Jing.
Yin Chen was faster.
With one hand, he tore apart all the restraints around himself, then hoisted Lin Wen Jing up like a sack.
—Because she appeared to have completely lost her mind and was struggling frantically to throw herself into the sea.
“What happened?”
Chi Yan heard the commotion and ran over without even having time to put on shoes.
The instant Yin Chen saw her, he released Lin Wen Jing without hesitation and tossed her into Chi Yan’s arms. “Hold her tight. Don’t let her run. She’s trying to kill herself.”
“Hm? Aberrant or suicide for love?” Chi Yan asked while decisively accepting the task, locking an elbow viciously around Lin Wen Jing’s neck and pinning the still-struggling woman to the ground.
“Twisted Chaos Type. Don’t knock her unconscious yet.” Yin Chen expertly pulled out a disinfectant wipe and cleaned his hands. “I suspect Qiu Shuang also made numerous suicide attempts before she died.”
Song Zang tried to move closer, but Yin Chen immediately pulled him back. “Careful. She might accidentally hurt you. Let me handle it.”
“Okay.”
Pale-faced, Song Zang stopped.
He rolled up his soaked trouser legs and observed carefully from a safe distance.
Not even half a day had passed, yet Lin Wen Jing’s face already seemed to have changed.
The apples of her cheeks twitched unnaturally, the corners of her lips jerking upward and relaxing again, while only disordered giggles and humming noises escaped her throat.
Chi Yan frowned. “It burrows straight into the brain and takes over the original person? What a disgusting parasite… How do we kill it?”
They could not exactly kill the original host along with it.
Yin Chen looked thoughtful. “If you want to keep her alive, I can offer the safest method.”
“Tell us, President Yin.”
“Raise her Resistance quickly, then put her in a safe room with absolutely no reflective surfaces and let her figure out how to kill the Aberrant herself.”
“Raise her Resistance quickly?” Chi Yan’s expression changed. “Wouldn’t that be practically impossible…?”
At that moment, Song Zang’s eyes lit up. “Use my wok!”
“Even with the wok, there are no monster ingredients in this world that can raise Resistance. Unless she’s willing to try eating human flesh, and even then it might not work.”
Yin Chen’s words immediately cut short Song Zang’s excitement.
Song Zang froze halfway through pulling out his wok.
He thought about it and realized Yin Chen was right.
Unlike the instances he had experienced before, this world barely contained any monsters he could eat.
【Perfect Copy Type】 Aberrants could even replicate DNA. Their outward appearance was virtually indistinguishable from humans.
They were nothing like the monsters whose flesh could potentially distort a person’s mind and drive them insane.
Eating this kind of Aberrant was essentially no different from eating human flesh.
Song Zang certainly could not do it.
Chi Yan used an elastic belt to tie Lin Wen Jing’s hands, then looked up. “Any other options? Something less safe is fine.”
“Craniotomy,” Yin Chen answered calmly. “Find a reliable doctor to open her skull and see whether the monster has a physical body inside her brain.”
“Yes, yes, we can do that. I’ll contact Chang Mei Jiang right now!”
Chi Yan chose this method without hesitation.
Song Zang’s heart trembled. He could not help interrupting, “Do we really have to open her skull?”
“Relax. Before Chang Mei Jiang became a player, she was insanely good. She was a top neurosurgeon. Craniotomies were her specialty. She even operated on my grandmother before.” Chi Yan picked up Lin Wen Jing as she spoke. “No time to waste. While the monster is still inside her brain, let’s open her up and take a look.”
That settles it?
Song Zang still could not believe they were actually going with such a simple and brutal solution.
But Yin Chen caught his wrist.
“Go back and shower. Change into something comfortable. We’re going into the operating room together.”
“…Okay.”
Song Zang did not object.
He could not think of anything better either.
After taking turns showering with Yin Chen and changing into simple T-shirts and sweatpants, the two rushed straight to the operating room.
Following Chang Mei Jiang’s instructions, they repeatedly washed and disinfected their hands, put on surgical gowns, caps, and masks, then washed and disinfected their hands yet again…
Only then were they finally allowed into the sterile operating room.
Song Zang was stationed far away.
The nurses and assistants were all medical professionals permanently employed by the resort.
With expressions of regret, they shaved off half of Lin Wen Jing’s long hair.
Chang Mei Jiang was the lead surgeon.
Once the anesthesiologist nodded, she stepped into position with a serious expression.
“Incise the scalp. Clamp.”
“Saline gauze in place. Okay, you drill. Give me the wire saw.”
Once the skull was opened, the assistant immediately began irrigating the surgical field.
At the same time, Chang Mei Jiang turned around. “…Preparing to open the dura. Yin Chen, get over here.”
The scene was rather bloody.
Song Zang could clearly see the pink, healthy brain hidden beneath Lin Wen Jing’s skull.
Yin Chen showed no expression.
He slowly picked up an extremely sharp scalpel and stood silently beside Chang Mei Jiang, his gaze cold and predatory.
Squish—
Chang Mei Jiang froze and frowned. “What was that?”
“Ignore it. Keep cutting.”
“Fine.”
Squish—
As the dura was slowly opened, that strange, wet, sticky writhing sound became increasingly distinct within the silent operating room.
Something alive was hiding inside Lin Wen Jing’s brain.
Chang Mei Jiang’s hands remained steady.
The eerie sound did not affect her in the slightest as she continued cutting with clean precision.
The high-frequency electrosurgical knife emitted a faint electrical hum as she followed the source of the writhing sound deeper.
Bzzzt—
In the next instant, an extraordinarily foul stench flooded the operating room.
It was as if the odors of canned surströmming and fermented auk had been combined, then scorched by electricity at the same time.
“Fuck, what the hell did I just touch?”
Chang Mei Jiang could not help swearing, but her hands never stopped.
She held down the cutting button on the electrosurgical knife and aggressively shocked the monster hidden inside the brain.
“I see it! I burned it black! Fuck, this thing looks exactly like brain tissue…”
“Move.”
Yin Chen immediately ordered Chang Mei Jiang aside, took the electrosurgical knife himself, and continued shocking the creature without mercy.
Bzzzt—squish, squish, squish…
The foul-smelling monster had turned black all over. It curled and convulsed beneath the heat, struggling with increasing violence.
It wanted to escape.
Then let it escape.
“Everyone stay away from me.”
Yin Chen issued the order calmly as he slowly withdrew the electrosurgical knife.
The seemingly soft living mass suddenly shot out of Lin Wen Jing’s brain at a speed ordinary people could barely follow.
It flew straight toward Yin Chen’s right eye.
Song Zang’s entire body tensed.
He nearly rushed forward to help, but then noticed that Yin Chen did not raise a hand to block or resist.
That meant Yin Chen was deliberately allowing the thing to attack him.
The instant the monster touched his eye, it vanished from everyone’s sight.
Yin Chen’s lips curved.
Unhurriedly, he blinked.
His long, thick eyelashes trembled beneath the surgical lights.
Nobody knew what had happened.
But immediately afterward, the charred, sticky monster appeared out of thin air again.
Yin Chen reacted instantly, grabbing it in one hand while lifting the electrosurgical knife and slashing viciously toward his own palm.
His long, powerful fingers abruptly closed.
A wet squishing struggle and miserable shriek came from inside his fist.
Yin Chen lowered his eyes and slowly increased the pressure.
The bizarre, muddy sounds gradually faded away.
Silence returned to the operating room, broken only by the rhythmic sounds of the ventilator and monitoring equipment.
【Clearance Requirement: Catch every impostor in the show (9/?)】
Yin Chen opened his hand.
His pale, delicate palm was smeared with thick, foul-smelling black, pink, and white fluid.
His brow twitched violently.
A storm of irritation surged into his eyes.
With a dark expression, he immediately strode toward the operating-room exit.
If he did not wash his hands right now, he was going to lose his mind.
“Whew…”
At the same time, Chang Mei Jiang released a long breath and calmly addressed the NPCs who had already been scared senseless. “I know it stinks, so wake the hell up. Once we finish this, we can all go home. Anesthesia, how’s the patient’s blood pressure?”
“B-Blood pressure normal.”
“Okay. First assistant, get your ass over here and irrigate the wound.”
Everyone was so busy that they forgot one other person.
Song Zang had been abandoned in the corner of the operating room.
He did not follow Yin Chen out.
Because the instant Yin Chen walked through the door, the phantom that had been staring at Song Zang appeared again, almost as though it had deliberately come to irritate him.
Song Zang lowered his head and stared thoughtfully at the faintly smiling face reflected in the floor tiles.
If an Aberrant parasitized his brain in the near future…
Would he have to undergo a craniotomy too?
Song Zang was not actually opposed to surgery, but there was one crucial problem that could not be ignored.
—He was too strong.
Chang Mei Jiang absolutely could not cut his skull open.
Not even an electric saw would get through.
Even if Chang Mei Jiang used all her strength, she might only manage to leave a superficial wound.
In the end, Song Zang would probably have to solve the problem himself.
Aside from that troublesome matter, something else was bothering him too.
Why had the monster that attacked Yin Chen disappeared, then reappeared?
Suppose its goal had been to immediately transfer hosts and parasitize Yin Chen’s brain in order to survive…
Why had it come back out after Yin Chen merely blinked?
That made no scientific sense.
No matter how powerful someone was, they could not consciously control their cerebral cortex.
Unless Yin Chen was not human at all.
Or perhaps he simply did not have a brain.
Maybe the monster entered him and discovered there was nowhere for it to settle…
The more Song Zang thought, the more confused he became.
And the more he thought, the more ridiculous his theories grew.
His bewildered black eyes lost focus as they settled on the tiled floor beneath his feet.
The phantom face quietly grew clearer and more solid.
But it found no opening.
Song Zang’s confusion never lasted very long.
He glanced at the unconscious Lin Wen Jing, then turned and pushed open the door.
Yin Chen was still washing his hands.
His well-defined hands were submerged deep in disinfectant solution, almost up to his firm forearms.
Hearing footsteps, Yin Chen looked back. “What’s wrong?”
Song Zang’s gaze traveled downward to Yin Chen’s pale fingertips, perfectly smooth without so much as a wrinkle.
His voice was innocent and puzzled.
“Yin Chen, are you human? Do you have a brain?”
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