The system, for once, was speechless and not very willing to talk.
Pushing the door open, a strong stench of corpses hit them. All windows were sealed with iron bars, and even in broad daylight, the curtains were drawn, resulting in extremely low visibility.
Lu Yan stood at the doorway without moving.
Even though it was pitch black, he could still see that every corner of the room was filled with fine silk threads. These threads were long and thin, with a surface coated in transparent mucus. They resembled spiderwebs yet also looked like silkworm threads.
"Teacher's wife has turned into a silkworm mother. Or should I say, a gu insect?" [These silk threads contain neurotoxins. Although the pollution level isn't high, it's better not to touch them. If Subject 07 were here, it would be good. His purifying fire is lethal to many animals and plants.]
Tang Xunan unsheathed his knife, and the jet-black blade swiftly cut through the death lines, causing them to wither and spread outward.
"Teacher's wife has a rare disease, progressive muscular atrophy. Currently, there's no cure for this disease. Your teacher was desperate, choosing to believe in a remedy provided by someone who raises gu insects."
"Who is this person?"
"You can call him the Gu Master."
"Professor Zhao raised a gu insect inside his wife. Later, she indeed improved day by day. However, her body started to deform gradually. Eventually, she transformed to the point where she couldn't leave the house anymore. So, Professor Zhao falsely claimed that his wife had died."
"People who live long-term with pollutants usually don't have a good outcome. If they can't complete the evolution, the body will gradually deteriorate under the influence of pollutants."
"Half a month ago, Zhao Ke died. His body died, but his consciousness was still alive, sustained by the offspring of the gu insect fed by his wife."
Tang Xunan used the knife to cut the silk threads, saying, "Why don't you wait for me at the door? It's a bit dirty in here."
He remembered Lu Yan's cleanliness obsession being quite severe.
"No problem."
Lu Yan entered the room, and the values on his detector fluctuated, finally pointing towards the bedroom. The air was filled with a murky stench of death, and the bedroom door remained tightly locked.
Tang Xunan pushed the door open. Inside was a large, white cocoon. The entire cocoon was over two meters long, semi-transparent, revealing the pollutants inside.
Lu Yan shone a light, revealing what looked like a coiled-up giant insect. On its fat and soft segmented body, short red tentacles were growing.
This pollutant clearly had consciousness. Upon seeing the two, its body wriggled continuously, attempting to break out of the cocoon prematurely.
Inside the bedroom, the pollution level had soared to 700. It could be imagined that once this insect broke out of the cocoon, it would be another pollutant that would give headaches to the local Disease Prevention and Control Center.
Without hesitation, Tang Xunan drew his knife. At this moment, a sound came from the entrance.
"Don't touch her!" Zhao Ke roared, stumbling towards the bedroom.
He ran too fast, and with no lights on inside, he inevitably tripped on the floor. His sunglasses fell from his face, revealing eyeballs clouded to the point of not seeing the pupils.
"Don't touch her! Don't touch her!" Professor Zhao knelt down with a thud, holding onto Lu Yan's ankles. "Sujian has never harmed anyone, never harmed anyone!"
"I admit, I stole some corpses to feed Sujian. It's all my fault," Zhao Ke's hands trembled violently, tears streaming down, "It's not Sujian's fault. If you want to catch me and lock me up, I accept it. Lu Yan, I've submitted my retirement paperwork. In a few days, I'll take Sujian back to my hometown... Teacher bows to you!"
However, his voice quickly choked in his throat. Tang Xunan drew and sheathed his knife swiftly, to the point that ordinary people only saw a faint flash of the blade.
Green blood splattered from the insect, and the silkworm mother let out a painful howl, being cleanly severed in two.
One side of her face remained humanoid, the upper body fell to the ground, emitting painful cries. The lower part had completely transformed into a soft worm, grotesque and disgusting.
Professor Zhao slowly opened his mouth, crawled forward, and blood vessels resembling bulging veins appeared on his neck.
"Sujian... wife... not in pain, not in pain, I'm here."
He couldn't speak further, embracing his wife, and tears silently streamed down.
His wife extended her arm, gently touching Professor Zhao's face. Despite her originally aged appearance, after becoming a pollutant, she rejuvenated, revealing an exceptionally young face.
This was the image in Zhao Ke's memory. They met when they were young, on the first day of high school, and Professor Zhao thought she was exceptionally beautiful.
Later, they fell in love and got married. Professor Zhao treated her like a daughter for over forty years. His wife never did a day of housework at home.
He cured countless patients but couldn't save his beloved. Large drops of tears rolled down Professor Zhao's face.
Lu Yan stepped forward and said, "Teacher, from the moment she became a pollutant, she ceased to be your wife."
When the cocoon breaks, it becomes a moth. Dealing with flying pollutants is always troublesome. They roam the city, harvesting lives. Professor Zhao sat motionless, seemingly oblivious, holding onto the silkworm mother.
With the death of the mother insect, Zhao Ke, as the offspring, wouldn't survive for long. Just a few minutes later, visible post-mortem marks appeared on his exposed skin.
Separations and farewells, Tang Xunan had witnessed many, yet each time felt burdensome. He felt the urge to smoke.
"She has never harmed anyone, why... why did this have to happen?" Zhao Ke murmured.
The silkworm mother wriggled in his embrace, opening her mouth as if trying to say something.
"You say, Sujian, you say." Zhao Ke lowered his head, speaking gently.
The silkworm mother held his head and bit Zhao Ke's face.
"Pollutants, when severely injured, need to consume food and energy for recovery..." the system interjected, its tone both sympathetic and mocking, "...that's the nature of most pollutants. They may have some consciousness, but they can't maintain reason forever. They're just failed evolutionary entities."
The long-dead body had little blood left, and the scene wasn't gory, just eerie. After Zhao Ke's death, the silkworm mother's body struggled for a moment and then became completely still.
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