Chapter 64: Whisper of the God of Love (Part Four)
Dust filled the air.
The aftermath of the impact stirred up a fierce wind, tousling Muen’s hair.
Equally disheveled was his heart.
Fortunately, his heart was resilient.
Muen held the grilled fish in his hand, pondered for a moment, then silently turned his head back.
—Let’s just pretend we didn’t see it.
It’s just a mere meteorite impact. There’s no way an extraterrestrial symbiote would come out from it and try to take over the world or anything like that. There’s no need to make a fuss about it.
As a man who has endured the baptism of a mudslide and even experienced time travel, how could he lack such composure?
Just eat the fish, pay it no mind.
Creak—
Muen was about to take a bite of the delicious grilled fish when suddenly, amidst the smoke and dust shrouding the impact site, a piercing metallic sound rang out.
Like metal clashing.
Huh?
Muen’s mouth hung open, his expression slightly intrigued.
Metal clashing?
How could a mere meteorite produce such a sound?
Could it be…
Is it…
A spaceship?
Muen’s eyes widened suddenly.
The impact wasn’t from a meteorite, but from a lost spaceship!
And the sound now was the opening of the spaceship’s hatch, with the aliens inside about to embark on their thrilling first steps on solid ground.
“This is my small step, but a giant leap for all the Celestialians.”
Sorry for the diversion.
But aliens, huh? I really want to check it out…
No, wait, how could it be aliens? This is a world based on Western magical beliefs. If aliens really appeared, readers would definitely curse the author for writing nonsense.
It must be something else.
But that doesn’t matter.
Today, I must first finish eating the fish in my hand.
As I said, not even Jesus could stop me.
“Cough cough…”
As Muen attempted to put the grilled fish into his mouth again, he suddenly heard a cough behind him, choked by the smoke and dust.
That voice sounded familiar.
It seemed like An, huh?
Haha, how could that be possible? He had run so far, how could An find him?
An isn’t a bloodhound, able to sniff out scents from several kilometers away.
“…”
But, I mean, seriously.
Is there really just a tiny possibility that it’s An?
If that metallic sound was indeed An’s ability… it all makes sense now.
Muen lowered his head to look at the fish in his hand, silent for a moment… then suddenly threw it on the ground.
“Damn it, you’ve ruined it for me too!”
Without another word, he bolted, ready to make his escape.
Jesus couldn’t stop him, but An was far scarier than Jesus.
Jesus wouldn’t play the “imprisonment” card on him!
But—
“Young master?”
It seems like it’s already too late.
From behind came the familiar voice of confusion.
Indeed, it was An!
“Haha…”
Muen let out a dry laugh from his throat, awkwardly turning his head.
“It’s been a while, An. Have you been… well?”
Muen had initially planned to use his smooth-talking techniques to calm An down before revealing more, but before he could execute his strategy, he silently retracted it.
Something seemed off about An now.
Her hair was disheveled, her expression weary. The usually neat maid outfit she wore was now covered in dirt and even had some tears, revealing her fair skin in places.
Behind her, in the crater formed by the recent impact, the metallic sphere that An had voluntarily condensed lay quietly. However, the surface of the sphere was now covered with fierce scars and dents, as if it had suffered some brutal attack.
“An, what happened?”
Even if he were slow to grasp it, Muen had noticed the issue. He suppressed his smile, his expression becoming serious.
“Are you in a fight with someone?”
“…”
An didn’t answer directly. She stared at Muen intently for a moment, then took a deep breath. Her expression returned to normal, and she smiled gently.
“It’s nothing, young master.”
“Nonsense, look at you…”
“I just tripped, that’s all.”
“Are you trying to fool me?”
“I’m telling the truth.”
After a pause, he continued:
“Besides, young master, aren’t you supposed to run away? If you don’t, then I’ll have no choice but to bring you back.”
“This time, I’ll lock you up in a special cage, so you can never escape, young master.”
As An took a few steps forward, it seemed like she was really going to catch Muen.
But Muen didn’t move.
He stared straight at An, a rare display of dignity befitting a duke’s son, the young master of the Campbell family, appearing on his face.
“Then come and catch me.”
“…”
“An, come and catch me. I won’t run!”
“…”
As An’s hand reached halfway, about to touch Muen, she suddenly drooped wearily.
A helpless wry smile appeared on her face.
“At a time like this, shouldn’t the young master take the opportunity to escape? It’s clearly a rare chance.”
“You chase me to flee, but if you don’t chase me, why flee?”
Muen shrugged, giving a reason even he didn’t believe, then asked softly:
“Tell me, what really happened, An?”
“Well, actually…”
An sighed helplessly, about to say something, when suddenly, a loud roar interrupted her.
From behind the small mountain opposite Muen, a sound like an earthquake resonated.
At the top of the hill, numerous tall trees suddenly toppled, and migratory birds that hadn’t yet migrated flew out of the woods as if fleeing from something.
“Master—”
“Where are you? Come and accept my love.”
“I love you.”
As if hundreds of people were shouting together, numerous voices merged and echoed through the mountains, causing a painful ringing in people’s ears.
Muen instinctively covered his ears. Before he could even think about the meaning of those words, he saw…
A creature almost as tall as the small mountain itself slowly revealing its silhouette from the other end of the mountain.
“What is that—”
Muen stared at the creature, unable to help but widen his eyes, his mouth unintentionally gaping wide enough to fit a duck egg.
Misshapen flesh grew rampant, forming grotesque limbs that flailed wildly. It seemed like a conglomerate of countless human bodies stitched together, crawling slowly across the ground. The path it traversed left behind traces as if soaked in blood, causing plants to wither instantly upon contact.
Countless twisted hands or feet swung haphazardly on the creature’s skin, like weeds swaying in the autumn breeze.
And on the creature’s chest, hundreds of human faces were densely packed together, crying or laughing, expressing sorrow or anger, numbness or despair.
But regardless of the emotions reflected in their eyes, they all bore smiles on their lips, calling out affectionately:
“I love you…”
“Holy crap.”
Watching the creature, Muen couldn’t help but shudder, feeling his sanity slipping away.
Where did this bizarre-looking thing come from while he was just fishing? It felt like his Sanity Points were plummeting.
In his memory, there was no monster that looked so fresh and unconventional.
A new breed mutated by drinking nuclear waste?
No, wait, there’s no such thing as “Book Nation” in this world.
And…
Muen’s gaze swept over the creature once more, especially the multitude of faces covering its chest, feeling a creeping sense of horror.
No matter how you look at it, this thing… it’s somehow related to humans, isn’t it?
No chase then no run !