stjorthotic Chapter 14 One Drop of Blood, Breaking Through Myriad Illusions
Chapter 14 One Drop of Blood, Breaking Through Myriad Illusions
"Lin Shen... I almost died... Waaaaah..."
Ye Zhi Qiu clung tightly to Lin Mu's leg, crying her heart out, her tears and snot smearing all over Lin Mu's trouser leg.
Lin Mu withdrew his hand from her brow, his eyes showing no emotion.
He was about to turn around and ask Su Nianwei to take care of Ye Zhi Qiu when he suddenly realized that Su Nianwei, who had been following behind Ye Zhi Qiu, was now standing quietly in place, motionless.
"Su Nianwei?"
Lin Mu called out softly.
no respond.
Su Nianwei's gaze pierced through Lin Mu and looked towards a place that only she could see.
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, revealing a gentle smile that went straight to her bones.
That was an expression Lin Mu had never seen on her aloof face before.
She also contracted the virus.
Moreover, because she was in the middle of the bridge, closer to the source of the strange fragrance on the other side, she fell into the illusion even faster than Ye Zhi Qiu.
In Su Nianwei's hallucination.
She saw an extremely beautiful scene.
It was a towering mountain peak, its summit bathed in the golden light of dawn, a gentle breeze ruffling the stray hairs by her ears.
And standing beside her was a familiar figure.
Lin Mu.
He wasn't wearing the dusty black windbreaker, but a clean white shirt.
The morning light shone on his profile, outlining an extremely soft contour.
He turned his head and looked at her.
For the first time, an extremely gentle light appeared in those deep, calm eyes.
He smiled at her.
Then, he slowly extended his hand.
Su Nianwei's heart skipped a beat at that moment.
She instinctively reached out, wanting to grasp the hand that gave her endless sense of security.
In reality, Su Nianwei on the stone bridge also slowly raised her right hand and reached out to grab at the void, her body's center of gravity beginning to lean dangerously forward.
Lin Mu frowned, just about to use the same trick again to bite his finger to save her.
But when he glanced at the bridgehead he had come from, his pupils suddenly contracted.
At the bridgehead, the entire force came to a stop.
Chen Wentao was gesticulating wildly, Professor Zhou was kneeling on the ground with tears streaming down his face, and some of the security team members even started to pick up their rifles, aiming at the surrounding air with fear in their eyes.
The exotic fragrance wafting from the opposite bank completely enveloped the entire stone bridge as the wind shifted.
The entire group has been infected!
"Damn it..."
Lin Mu cursed under his breath, a rare hint of seriousness creeping into his usually cold voice.
He underestimated the power of this exotic fragrance.
Looking at his bitten index finger, he realized that the amount of blood was enough to save one person, but it was far from enough to wake up the dozen or so people at the bridgehead.
If they are not awakened quickly, the entire team will be wiped out on the stone bridge if someone fires a shot while in a hallucination.
Lin Mu's eyes sharpened, and without any hesitation, he pulled out the half-sharpened high-carbon steel entrenching shovel from his waist.
He aimed the sharp edge of the entrenching tool at the palm of his left hand, and without even flinching, he slashed down hard!
"Sizzle—"
The faint sound of flesh being torn apart sounded particularly jarring on the deathly silent bridge.
A five- or six-centimeter-long gash instantly appeared in his fair palm, and bright red blood gushed out like a spring.
Lin Mu clenched his blood-soaked left hand, letting the blood gather in his palm, and then without hesitation slapped Su Nianwei on the forehead.
"Smack."
A soft sound.
The illusion, like a shattered mirror, instantly disintegrates.
The golden dawn has vanished.
The mountaintop disappeared.
That gentle smile has also disappeared.
Su Nianwei suddenly opened her eyes.
What came into view was Lin Mu's face, which was very close to his.
There was no tenderness as imagined, only the usual calm and indifference.
What was pressed on her forehead was not a warm hand, but Lin Mu's bloody, mangled left hand that was still dripping blood.
Eyes facing each other.
Su Nianwei stared intently at the deep, bone-revealing gash on Lin Mu's palm. Her heart felt as if it were being gripped by a giant hand, the pain almost suffocating her.
"You...your hand..."
Su Nianwei's eyes instantly turned red, and tears welled up in them.
Her face turned red from her neck all the way to her ears at a speed visible to the naked eye.
She hurriedly looked away, her voice stammering, "I...I just..."
You're hallucinating.
Lin Mu withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent, as if the bleeding hand was not his at all.
"Take good care of her, and don't let her move around."
Lin Mu pointed to Ye Zhi Qiu, who was still sobbing on the ground, then turned around, holding his bleeding left hand, and strode back towards the bridgehead he had come from.
Su Nianwei stared blankly at Lin Mu's retreating figure.
Her heart was still pounding, her mind a constant interplay between the gentle smile in her hallucinations and the bloodied hand in reality, the hand that had been used to save her and everyone else.
Lin Mu quickly walked up to Chen Wentao.
The geology PhD graduate from a prestigious university was staring blankly into the darkness below the bridge, a fanatical and eerie smile on his face.
"I've found it... I've found it... the ultimate formula for rock fracture... the Nobel Prize is mine..."
Lin Mu remained expressionless, raised his blood-soaked left hand, and slapped Chen Wentao on the forehead.
The crimson blood of the Qilin instantly left a glaring bloodstain on his forehead.
Chen Wentao's body jolted violently, as if struck by lightning.
His unfocused pupils instantly regained focus, his fanatical smile froze on his face, replaced by utter bewilderment and the ensuing fear.
"What...what was I just doing?"
"Shut up and sit down." Lin Mu coldly uttered four words, not even glancing at him, and turned to walk towards the next person.
Chen Wentao's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at Lin Mu's bleeding left hand.
In the next few minutes, Lin Mu acted like a cold and ruthless judge of death, frantically snatching people from the brink of life and death.
Professor Zhou, graduate students, security guards...
Each time, he would use his bloodied hand to press heavily on their foreheads without hesitation.
Each time, those who were hallucinating or even preparing to attack each other would instantly wake up, gasping for breath as if waking from a nightmare.
The viewers in the live stream were completely stunned by Lin Mu's series of actions, leaving them speechless.
Holy crap! Cutting his palm to save someone! That's too ruthless!
[He's a ruthless killer! He's so cruel to himself, no wonder he became the Forest God!]
[His hands were covered in blood as he went against the flow to save the whole team. The imagery was incredible; even as a grown man, I almost cried.]
[This hallucination can only be awakened with blood? One slap each, a cure for all kinds of defiance and hallucinations!]
After Lin Mu woke up the last security guard, everyone collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, their faces still showing the fear of surviving a disaster.
Chen Wentao also got up from the ground.
He looked at Lin Mu's bleeding left hand, and his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty.
He pushed up his crooked gold-rimmed glasses, trying to use this gesture to mask his extreme panic and cognitive dissonance.
"Lin Mu... thank you for earlier."
Chen Wentao gritted his teeth, his voice trembling, but still carrying a trace of the last stubbornness of a scholar.
"However... the hallucination you just experienced was likely caused by a high concentration of neuro-hallucinogenic alkaloids secreted by some rare plant from the other side of the strait. As for your blood... your family may have been exposed to a special environment for many years, resulting in the production of some extremely rare broad-spectrum antitoxin enzyme in their blood..."
He tried to use the scientific system he had studied for twenty years to forcefully explain the miracle that had just occurred in order to maintain his crumbling worldview.
However, Lin Mu didn't even glance at him.
Lin Mu simply tore a strip of cloth from the lining of his windbreaker, casually wrapped it around his bleeding left hand, and tied a tight knot with his teeth, holding one end in place.
Then, he uttered two words in a low voice.
"casual."
This utter disregard left Chen Wentao speechless, his prepared scientific theories stuck in his throat, his face turning red with frustration, unable to utter a single word.
"Everyone, cross the bridge immediately, no stopping is allowed."
Lin Mu didn't waste any more words and turned to stride towards the other side.
This time, no one dared to hesitate.
Everyone followed closely behind Lin Mu, as if he were the only beacon in their lives.
Ten minutes later.
The team finally reached the other side safely.
Everyone collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Su Nianwei sat on a rock, her eyes fixed on Lin Mu's hastily bandaged left hand, which was still bleeding.
She gently bit her lip, a look of heartache and resolve flashing in her eyes.
She rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a first-aid kit, then stood up and walked towards Lin Mu.