Chapter 21: “Third-Class Merit”

Xia Mi’s first thought was: My Third-Class Merit is finally showing up!

A second later, she realized with a start that since she was trapped inside the wall, she would most likely never get that Third-Class Merit.

The agony of missing a promotion and the fear of death sent Xia Mi’s brain into overdrive.

Her machine gun lay on the floor, slowly melting.

With her gun and axe both destroyed by the Auntie, she had nothing left on her but a single Purification Grenade.

But the grenade was reserved for the Third-Class Merit. If she used it now, what would she do when she actually encountered the target later?

Xia Mi agonized over whether to use the grenade, racking her brain for any other way to fight back.

If Shield were still here, she might have been able to directly manipulate the helmet—the only piece of equipment not stuck in the wall—to beat the Auntie and her son to a pulp. But Shield hadn’t returned yet.

Thinking of Shield triggered a reflexive memory of the knowledge Shield had taught her, and a sudden flash of inspiration struck.

This house… it counted as a Zhuo-contaminated part, didn’t it?

If she could use Silkworm to devour the Zhuo-contaminated parts of other people, why couldn’t she devour this house?

She couldn’t use Silkworm on a Zhuo-contaminated part while it was still attached to a person, but this house was separate from the Auntie. The Auntie merely controlled the house; her body wasn’t physically connected to it.

Xia Mi’s axe had been completely absorbed by the floor, and half the gun had vanished, as if being slowly digested by something’s stomach.

If the house could digest her weapons, why couldn’t she devour the house?

Once she reached this conclusion, Xia Mi stopped struggling. Instead, she leaned back into the wall, letting her body sink deeper into it.

She was still protected by her Protective Suit, so her body wasn’t in direct contact with the wall yet.

Fortunately, the wall was working hard. The Protective Suit covering Xia Mi’s limbs gradually softened and was absorbed.

Finally, Xia Mi’s hands touched the wall.

Recalling the sensation of using Silkworm, she focused her mind and stilled her breath. Opening all five senses, she used her entire body’s sense of touch to feel for the presence of “silk threads.”

She felt them, but the silk threads in the wall were like a cocoon, tightly wound together. It was difficult for Xia Mi to unravel them.

Not only that, but this cocoon was actually drawing power from her body.

The energy Xia Mi had previously absorbed turned into white threads, slowly oozing out from her skin.

What followed was a sensation of hunger and impending death.

Hunger!

It was the kind of hunger one feels during a diet—an egg for breakfast, an apple for lunch, and by nighttime, feeling capable of ordering a hundred takeout meals.

Xia Mi’s current state was that of a starving dieter in the middle of the night who would absolutely gorge herself even if she died of obesity the next morning.

She lost her reason, wanting nothing more than to feast recklessly.

Beneath her helmet, Xia Mi’s eyes glowed with a predatory green light.

“Since you can steal the energy from my body, I can steal yours!” Xia Mi thought spitefully.

She clenched her fists hard, and the silk threads oozing from her body suddenly stopped.

They stuck to the “cocoon,” pulled taut by the opposing forces of both sides.

“Come back, come back, come back!” Driven by an intense appetite, Xia Mi pulled on the silk threads with all her might.

It was as if she were back in those late nights when she insisted on eating spicy hot pot no matter how much her roommates tried to talk her out of it.

That unwavering appetite allowed Xia Mi to emerge victorious in this tug-of-war.

Her silk threads were pulled back into her body. Not only that, but the threads slowly pried open the rock-solid “cocoon.” The wall’s energy was drawn in by Xia Mi’s silk, turning into countless threads that flooded into her body.

At first, Xia Mi’s power was insufficient, and the devouring speed was slow. Once she absorbed the first strand of energy, the speed accelerated.

After a whirlwind of consumption, Xia Mi was eighty percent full, and her rationality returned.

She patted her stomach, savoring the energy she had just devoured for a second. It tasted much better than the Zhuo-contaminated parts she had hacked off before.

It was like the difference between fresh meat and “zombie meat” that had been frozen in a fridge for over six months.

“I hope I didn’t actually eat ‘fresh meat’!” Startled by the thought, Xia Mi quickly looked toward the mother and son from 704.

The room had returned to normal. The walls and floor were no longer flesh-colored. The Auntie lay on the floor, her status unknown.

Considering that the invisible Xiao Pi was still lurking in the room, Xia Mi didn’t immediately step forward to check if the Auntie was alive. Instead, she turned on her wristwatch, which surprisingly still worked.

The watch showed two life signs within two meters, meaning the Auntie wasn’t dead, just unconscious.

Only then did Xia Mi breathe a small sigh of relief.

Now, only Xiao Pi remained.

This time, Xiao Pi wasn’t even making a sound of breathing. Xia Mi couldn’t use the trick of turning off the lights to find him again.

Unable to see or hear him, how was she supposed to subdue Xiao Pi?

Xia Mi thought for a moment and came up with a plan.

If she couldn’t find Xiao Pi, she would let Xiao Pi find her.

She acted as if she had forgotten Xiao Pi’s existence and ran toward the Auntie with a terrified expression. As she ran, she cried out, “Oh my god! The Auntie isn’t dead, is she? Auntie, you have to be okay! I don’t want to go to jail! Oh, my left hand!”

Xia Mi pretended her left hand was injured and immobilized, letting her arm hang limply at her side.

Her performance was extremely exaggerated; any normal person could tell she was faking. Fortunately, Xiao Pi wasn’t a normal person.

The intelligence of Zhuo-contaminated humans wasn’t very high. If it were, Sister Li wouldn’t have been pacified time and again by Xia Mi’s membership card trick. No one with normal intelligence would believe Xia Mi’s empty promises, but a Zhuo-contaminated person would.

Their desires were so intense that they easily lost their judgment whenever they heard something related to their wishes.

Through their two encounters, Xia Mi deduced that Xiao Pi had two wishes:

First, he wanted to be invisible so he would never have to face the eyes of those around him, face their accusations, or bear their burdens.

Second, he wanted to protect his mother.

Xiao Pi wasn’t a child without a sense of responsibility. His pressure was immense—so great that his young self couldn’t face it and could only choose to escape.

This pressure didn’t just come from his studies; it came from his desire to repay his parents.

If he truly couldn’t feel his parents’ efforts, he wouldn’t have felt the pressure. It was precisely because he felt their expectations that he felt too heavy to move.

His strength was too small, and there were too many things he wanted to do. He couldn’t carry so much responsibility.

After becoming an invisible man, the pressure Xiao Pi had faced vanished. Relaxed, he was finally free to do what he truly wanted.

Life had not been easy for the mother and son. It wasn’t just him being bullied; people bullied his mother too. He wanted to protect her.

When Xia Mi mentioned that his mother might be dead and then rushed toward the unconscious woman, Xiao Pi was guaranteed to attack.

Xia Mi couldn’t sense Xiao Pi’s presence. Her only chance to catch him was the exact moment he launched his assault!

When attacking someone, it was best to aim directly for the head or the heart, but Xiao Pi was shorter than Xia Mi, making it difficult to reach those high targets.

Since he couldn’t kill Xia Mi instantly, he had to choose a spot where he could inflict a heavy wound: the waist and abdomen.

Xiao Pi had already failed an attempt to strike Xia Mi’s right waist, so it was unlikely he would target that spot again.

Xia Mi judged that Xiao Pi would attack either her left side or the front of her abdomen.

There were too many angles to defend simultaneously, so Xia Mi decided to simply leave an opening, baiting Xiao Pi into attacking her left side.

With her left arm hanging limp and her left leg dragging as if crippled, she approached the mother and slowly crouched down.

A boning knife lunged silently toward Xia Mi’s left lower back.

Xia Mi was prepared. Though she appeared defenseless, she was actually focusing all her attention on that specific spot. Before the knife even touched her skin, she felt the chill of the sharp blade.

Xia Mi’s motor reflexes were highly developed, and after absorbing the Zhuo-contaminated parts, her physical capabilities had significantly improved.

She twisted her body violently, grabbing toward the direction the knife had appeared, and accurately caught an arm.

Xia Mi had intended to grab the wrist, but her judgment of the distance was slightly off, so she only caught the forearm.

Grabbing the arm wasn’t enough to force Xiao Pi to drop the knife through brute strength alone.

Fortunately, Xia Mi had just used “Silkworm” to eat the mother’s Zhuo-contaminated parts, and her mastery over “Silkworm” had reached a new level. She decided to devour the Zhuo-contaminated parts on the surface of Xiao Pi’s body.

Countless white filaments released from Xia Mi’s hand. She couldn’t see Xiao Pi, but these “Silkworm” threads could sense the presence of energy.

They rapidly enveloped Xiao Pi, and through the threads, Xia Mi saw the silhouette of a teenage boy.

This time, having already eaten her fill, Xia Mi showed restraint.

She had to control her appetite, consuming only the Zhuo-contaminated parts without harming Xiao Pi’s life.

Having gained experience from “scaling the fish” earlier, Xia Mi’s movements were practiced and skillful.

The “Silkworm” threads lightly peeled away the transparent skin from Xiao Pi’s body, transforming it into filaments that were drawn into Xia Mi’s body. This revealed Xiao Pi’s ordinary, somewhat rustic face.

“Let me go! You killed my mom! I’m going to kill you!” Xiao Pi roared.

This time, Xia Mi heard his voice.

“Be quiet!” Xia Mi barked.

She used the tone of a middle school headteacher, and Xiao Pi fell silent instantly.

Xia Mi said, “Your mother is fine. She’s just exhausted and fell asleep. If you don’t believe me, go check if she’s breathing and if her heart is still beating.”

She released Xiao Pi, letting him check on his mother.

When Xiao Pi saw his mother breathing steadily, he slumped onto the floor, unable to stop himself from crying.

“Don’t cry! Suck it up!” Xia Mi commanded again.

She knew Xiao Pi was pitiful, but she was pitiful too. Everyone in this building was pitiful. If they were going to cry, they could wait until the moment they escaped this place. Then, they could cry as much as they wanted.

Xiao Pi let out a sob and forced his tears back.

Xia Mi said, “I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

Xiao Pi sobbed, “My grades aren’t good. I won’t know the answers.”

Xia Mi replied, “You’ll definitely know the answers to these. Have you or your mother been bitten by mosquitoes? Not ordinary mosquitoes, but ones that are unnaturally large.”

Xiao Pi knew the answer to that. He replied quickly, “Yes! A few days ago, Mom said the water bill was too high and wanted to see if there was a problem with the meter. When she opened the water tank, a few huge mosquitoes flew out and bit both of us. Look!”

Xiao Pi bared his neck for Xia Mi to see. She saw a massive puncture mark on his neck.

“Only one?” Xia Mi asked.

Xiao Pi nodded. “Yes. The mosquito specifically bit this one spot. My mom was bitten in the same place.”

Xia Mi checked the mother’s neck and, as expected, found a puncture mark in the exact same location.

Xia Mi continued her questioning. “Who is the ‘It’ your mother mentioned?”

“It’s a voice that speaks inside our heads. ‘It’ told us that as long as we did things for ‘It’, our wishes would come true,” Xiao Pi said. “‘It’ helped me become an invisible man first, so I believed ‘It’.”

“When did you start hearing ‘Its’ voice?” Xia Mi asked.

Xiao Pi said, “It was around 10:00 PM last night. At first, the sound was very faint, just a buzzing. Later, it got louder and louder. By around 10:00 AM this morning, I could hear the words clearly.”

Twelve hours after the nest opened, the “Zhuo” had gained the ability to converse with humans.

The “Zhuo” was growing stronger over time.

If just the mother and son from Unit 704 were this difficult to deal with, there was no telling how powerful the main body of the “Zhuo” was.

If the “Zhuo” were truly allowed to develop for twenty-four hours, she didn’t know if her grenade would still be able to purify it.

Furthermore, based on the existing clues, there might be more than one “Zhuo”—perhaps four or five.

The good news was that there might be four or five Third-Class Merits available; the bad news was that she might not be able to claim any of them.

The mother’s strength had given Xia Mi a sense of crisis. She didn’t want the “Zhuo” to continue developing.

Sister Li also had a puncture mark. Xia Mi was afraid the “Zhuo” would control Sister Li to use against her.

She wouldn’t be able to bring herself to harm Sister Li, who had fought by her side.

Xia Mi wanted to find the “Zhuo” as quickly as possible, but the building was so large that she had no way to locate it.

The “Zhuo” was so cunning, knowing how to use the lives of others to wear her down. If there were still mosquitoes in the building, the other residents were in danger.

Understanding the current situation, Xia Mi realized she needed to make a choice quickly.

But how was she supposed to find the “Zhuo”?

Xia Mi gazed at the puncture mark on the mother’s neck, remembering that Sister Li’s mark and “Xiao Mi’s” mark were all in the same position.

But why was it that only “Xiao Mi” had died, while the other three had survived?

Xia Mi thought about the “It” the aunt had mentioned, and a theory began to take shape.

Was it possible that the mosquitoes themselves didn’t bite people to death, but rather they attracted “It”? And “It” was what decided whether the victim lived or died.

The first time “Xiao Mi” died, the cause wasn’t poisoning from mosquito bites, but rather that the bites had drawn out the true form of the “Zhuo.”

Back then, “Xiao Mi” had known nothing. She didn’t know Xiao Liao or Shield, she had no weapons for protection, and she hadn’t learned Silkworm. Facing the Zhuo, she’d had no means of resistance and could only wait helplessly for death.

The current Xia Mi was different.

If she drew out the Zhuo, she could attack it with a Purification Grenade, or she could try to use Silkworm to absorb it.

Should she let a mosquito bite her to test this theory?

Of course!

But she wouldn’t be the one testing it; “Xiao Mi” would.

Xia Mi pulled out her dead laptop and said to Xiao Pi, “Where’s the power outlet? Big sister is going to play a game with you.”

Xiao Pi looked pained. “Why don’t you go play at your own house? Electricity is expensive!”

Xia Mi: “…”