Evil As Humans, page 228
“Mm, the opponent has become clever.”
Fu Xingchuan added, supplementing his old partner.
“If it were the Divine Descent twenty years ago, the situation would be critical, and decisions would be made quickly. Now, the corruption is simmering, seemingly under control. If your situations were to be reported, who knows how long it would take to resolve them.”
Yin Ren rubbed his temples. “So?”
Li Nian fell silent for a moment and then spoke with some difficulty. “My suggestion is to wage a protracted war. Since Love intends to continue its continuous assault on the gaps to interfere with the human world… We should utilize the power of Yin Ren and Qi Xin to reinforce all weaknesses and seal Love on the Other Side. During this time, we’ll mobilize all of Shian’s forces to completely destroy the sources of corruption. Love will be trapped in the gaps, either retreating back to the Other Side or deteriorating within the gaps. We just need to persevere through generations, and we will eventually find better solutions.”
‘Orderly and moderate, not much different from sealing,’ Yin Ren thought. In the past, he had sealed the Six Evil Spirits at the request of Huajisi because he couldn’t completely eliminate them. After so many years, it seemed that Shian’s approach to handling things hadn’t changed much.
“The way I see it, Love clearly has other ambitions, and delays can lead to unforeseen changes.”
Fu Xingchuan took a sip of tea and cleared his throat forcefully.
“According to Qi Xin’s statement, a new Joy and Disgust will be born, and Love can still persuade them to return. I suggest fully supporting Yin Ren to become stronger and deal with Love in one go.”
With the leader of the Human Harvesting Project gone, the next Love wouldn’t have the aura of a “Hero that slayed Fear”. It was hard to say what the situation would be on the Other Side. If the Elementals continue to cause chaos for tens of thousands of years, humans may disappear on their own in the river of history.
“But if Yin Ren becomes the main force, the higher-ups will certainly be concerned about this ‘new threat’ posed by Yin Ren,” Li Nian said helplessly. “His life will be severely affected.”
Fu Xingchuan smiled calmly. “Well, we can’t beat Yin Ren right now anyway. When the time comes, we can bring out the ‘Great Celestial Master’ card and scare those administrators—there are different ways to deal with strength.”
“You can do whatever you want, but I have only one request,” Qi Xin chimed in elegantly, turning her head to the side. “Once things are settled here, I want the Fear cub to willingly come back with me and restore order on the other side.”
As they spoke, Yin Ren’s mind was filled with endless chatter, like a never-ending parent-teacher conference. He stood up straight, causing the chair to emit a sharp creaking sound.
The arguments in the meeting room came to an abrupt halt.
Zhong Chengshuo: “Yin Ren?”
“Let’s eat. I’m hungry,” Yin Ren said in a deep tone. “Unit 9’s mission is to find the missing people; investigating the school’s corruption is just a side task. Now that Mr. Le, who was planning the school corruption, is dead, the mission on this side is complete.”
Lu Xiaohe suddenly raised her head, and even Li Nian was visibly taken aback. “You…”
“Unit 9 still has work to do. The missing people case hasn’t been solved yet, and the passage to the Other Side has been established, hasn’t it?”
Yin Ren waved his hand.
“You guys can argue about the follow-up tasks all you want. I’m definitely going to continue investigating the missing people case. Once the assignments are settled, we’ll do the assigned tasks and calculate the bonuses accordingly. I’ll cooperate.”
His tone was not much different from any other Shian employee, just with a touch of weariness, as if this was a regular work report meeting.
“Ma… Master Yin, this decision affects the future direction of humanity. In the worst-case scenario, the whole world could descend into chaos! How could you—”
Fu Tianyi finally caught his breath and exclaimed incredulously.
His hair was still standing on end from his “fortunate participation in an important mission to safeguard the world”.
“I was never interested in the bigger picture, and I don’t remember when I became a superhero. Let humans deal with their own affairs.”
Yin Ren forcefully rubbed his face.
“But I promised Lu Xiaohe that I would save her mother. Now, does anyone have anything else?”
“There’s a special sale at the supermarket tonight, so I need to leave work early.” Zhong Chengshuo stood up as well. “Now that the situation has been explained, can I have my ‘relic’ phone back?”
After speaking, he solemnly nodded to several members of Unit 9 and sincerely apologized for keeping them in the dark, saying, “The situation was special, and I’m sorry for hiding it for so long.”
However, only Ge Tingting was able to respond with stable emotions, while Lu Xiaohe covered her mouth and her eyes turned red in the flickering light.
As soon as the two of them reached the door, the roots of the willow tree trembled as if afraid of being burned, and they moved aside. No one in the meeting room spoke until they left the room.
“Hahaha, I told you!” Fu Xingchuan punched Li Nian and laughed out loud. “Does that guy look like the type who cares about the world?”
Li Nian’s expression was somewhat complex, with a mix of surprise and melancholy, as if he had a bitter feeling that he couldn’t express.
“It seems we can’t come to a conclusion for now.”
“Well, it’s not urgent for the next day or two. Let’s take it step by step.” Fu Xingchuan shrugged his shoulders. “Yin Ren is right. The case of the missing corruption sources hasn’t been resolved yet.”
……
In the early evening of the dark autumn and winter days, the sky was already adorned with faint stars.
In Shian’s cafeteria, Yin Ren served himself six pieces of pan-fried duck breast. The six pieces of meat piled up into a small mountain on his plate, sizzling and emitting the aroma of oil and spices. Next to the duck breast were steaming fish-flavored shredded pork, scrambled eggs with scallions, and braised tofu skin with vegetables. With a side of piping hot multigrain rice and a simmering white fungus soup, it was another hearty work meal.
“What are you thinking?”
Yin Ren took a bite of the duck meat. The crispy duck skin released the flavor of the spices, while the tender duck meat oozed with juices, making him close his eyes in satisfaction.
“What do you mean, what am I thinking?”
Zhong Chengshuo was still faced with a plate of garlic-flavored boiled vegetables and a soft-boiled egg, but now there was also a dish of piping hot stewed beef with potatoes. He was currently using a spoon to mix the mashed potatoes and meat broth into the rice with an expression just as serious as if he was conducting an experiment.
“About what’s next.” Yin Ren puffed out his cheeks and his voice was slightly muffled. “Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian want to maintain the bigger picture, while Qi Xin wants to save the Other Side in her own way. They all have their own stances.”
Zhong Chengshuo paused his chewing motion and lifted his gaze, looking intently at Yin Ren.
Yin Ren picked up a piece of braised tofu skin with vegetables and held it out to him. “The problem is, you are the real party involved; it’s a murder case related to you. Now that things are clear, as the victim, what do you think?”
As the “Fear” on the Other Side, he had no thoughts, surviving solely on instincts. Since the inception of the Other Side, he lived a regular and comfortable life, eating and sleeping. But one day, he was suddenly trapped in a sack and beaten mercilessly, his body torn apart, and then left to die in the interstitial space.
He may not have had thoughts initially, but he felt pain. Perhaps one of the motivations was the chaotic rabbit climbing the cliff, fighting against endless pain.
If the two of them hadn’t met by chance, Fear would probably have perished in ignorance a thousand years ago.
“To be honest, I just don’t like everyone turning into lunatics. But I don’t believe I have an obligation to prevent all disasters.”
Yin Ren lowered his voice.
“But someone tried to murder my target, and now that I’ve found the culprit, of course, I want to ask about their intentions.”
“…Honestly, I don’t have any particular thoughts.”
Zhong Chengshuo bit onto the tips of his chopsticks thoughtfully.
“When I was being hunted by them, I didn’t have thoughts yet, nor did I harbor any hatred. Even if I did, prey resisting predators is only natural. If you want to seek revenge for me, personally, I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Hmm.” Yin Ren played with the end of his hair.
“But I do have some thoughts about the Other Side. No matter what decision we make, it wouldn’t be wise without proper investigation.”
Zhong Chengshuo toyed with the vegetables on his plate with a faint gleam shining in his black eyes.
“You want to fulfill Lu Xiaohe’s wish, and I want to conduct ecological research. Yin Ren, let’s go to the Other Side together.”
Yin Ren blinked in surprise.
Familiar location, familiar person. The only difference was the sight of fallen leaves and bare branches outside the window, compared to the vibrant green trees and sunshine back then. Compared to the Zhong Chengshuo he had first met, the person before him now exuded an indescribable liveliness.
At this moment, Zhong Chengshuo still looked at him with seriousness in his eyes. However, there was a hint of anticipation and barely detectable unease on his face. For this guy, the human crisis, the battle of the Elementals, and everything else probably paled in comparison to the importance of “finding Zhong Chengfeng and giving an account to the two elders”.
He truly deserved to be the cute accomplice he had personally chosen.
“Yes, we should definitely go together.”
Yin Ren took a bite of the last piece of duck breast, hiding the sudden surge of laughter.
“If the science post isn’t there, I can’t go out to do field work.”
……
Haigu Municipal Hospital.
Sun Qi’an opened her eyes, and the hospital’s snow-white ceiling welcomed her. She instinctively moved her head, but immediately winced—it was just a slight movement, yet her head throbbed painfully.
Her previous memories were hazy and vague. She racked her brain to recall but couldn’t make sense of anything.
She was working normally when suddenly there was commotion in Zhang Hejun’s ward. She went to see… to see… and then what?
Right, how is Zhang Hejun doing? The little girl’s condition remained poor even after being rescued. Earlier, her father was investigating her case and mentioned that the main suspect was particularly troublesome… The main suspect? Who was the main suspect again?
Her memories became increasingly chaotic, and the pain in her head intensified. Sun Qi’an gritted her teeth and let out a muffled groan.
Could it be that the tumor in her head worsened? Enduring the excruciating pain, she reached out her hand towards the nurse call button.
A hand pressed it down for her.
Yes, a hand, connected to a lone floating arm in mid-air.
The hand was fair and rosy, with a gentle and beautiful shape. The arm it was connected to had an extremely graceful curve, and the overly elongated arm gradually became transparent at the end, disappearing into thin air. However, just when she wanted to observe it more closely, the hand seemed to be enveloped in clouds and mist, obscuring the details from her view.
Shouldn’t she scream?
Sun Qi’an stood frozen in place, forgetting her headache completely.
The hand seemed to sense her tension. Its fingertips slowly left the nurse call button and gently caressed Sun Qi’an’s head. She stiffly withdrew into the covers, and the hand tucked her in with movements exuding utmost tenderness.
It was the same way her mother would tuck her in with the blankets.
Sun Qi’an tightly shut her eyes as a chill ran down her spine. Just when she didn’t know what to do, the door creaked open, and a nurse hurriedly walked in.
Upon hearing the footsteps of a living person, Dr. Sun forced her eyelids open, cautiously scanning her surroundings.
That arm had vanished in the blink of an eye.
The nurse seemed completely unaware of it, and only a black cat silently stared from the doorway, standing still for a while.
* * *
The author has something to say:
This arc is over!!!
* * *
Kinky Thoughts:
Arc is over. Summary below.
With Yin Ren’s memory uncovered, Sunken Society moved on to implement their next phase—a mass spread of corruption sources from Evil Force all over Haigu. With the spread of corruption source, Haigu saw a rise in crime and reckless behavior.
One such case was Lu Xiaohe’s mother, who, upon coming into contact with a corruption source, vanished out of thin air. This led Unit 9 to start investigating the case, which seemed connected to the rise in corruption sources that were spreading across Haigu.
While investigating, they stumbled upon Haigu Secondary School, which seemed to be a mass source of corruption and also a high-profile case of a live burial of a middle schooler. The mastermind behind the burial was Luo Chunlei.
In order to go undercover, Yin Ren used Yellow Millet to project a middle school version of Zhong Chengshuo while he remained invisible, sticking to Zhong Chengshuo’s side. While Zhong Chengshuo investigated the classroom, Ge Tingting and Huang Jin investigated the school and stumbled across an old janitor.
It was later revealed that the janitor is actually a Primordial Elemental representing “Joy” from the Other Side and had been providing the corruption sources to Sunken Society, which then distributed them across Haigu.
Yin Ren devised a plan to lure out the Primordial Elemental and eventually faced off in a confrontation against Joy in the interstitial space. It was then revealed by Joy the true background of the Other Side and why the events of the Divine Descent of over a thousand years ago happened (which I summarized in the previous chapter). The spread of corruption sources from the Other Side was to plummet the human world into madness and chaos, which would allow humans to produce twice as much emotional resonance that would feed the Elementals of the Other Side, which was going through famine.
Eventually, Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were able to defeat Joy, who then sacrificed himself to Love (the true mastermind behind everything). They were able to narrowly escape with the help of Sorrow, who wants to restore order on the Other Side by reinstating the Fear that was killed.
Meanwhile, Xiang Jiang turned out to betray Shian, and he faced off against Fu Xingchuan. With the help of Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, they were able to subdue him until Love interfered, allowing Xiang Jiang to escape with the help of Shen Mo.
With things coming together, Unit 9 now plans to embark to the Other Side to rescue the missing people with the help of Sorrow.
Evil As Humans Ch207
Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
* * *
Chapter 207: One Night in This World
The next day, after work.
Near Ping’an Manor, the night market was as lively as ever. With the change of seasons and the decrease in temperature, the street stalls underwent many changes. The chilled noodles and red bean shaved ice that Yin Ren loved had disappeared, replaced by street-side roasted duck and various fried snacks.
The cool evening breeze carried a mixture of oil fumes and water vapor, making the scene appear several times more vibrant than before.
Zhong Chengshuo had finally retrieved his phone. At the moment, he was holding a large pile of discounted vegetables from the supermarket with a box of fresh eggs in his other hand. Yin Ren also had various gifts in his hands. With a grilled squid in his mouth, he carefully carried a bag of crispy fried small fish—the kind Zhong Yude and Cheng Xuehua liked to have with their drinks.
Various cheap light strings flashed incessantly, and people came and went, chatting and laughing. The loudspeaker of a beverage shop played music with extremely poor sound quality, and the water stains on the roadside reflected shimmering neon lights.
Yin Ren sniffed the sweet fragrance in the air and turned towards the beverage shop. Just as his foot was about to step into the shallow puddle, a thin and weak boy fell into the water. Dirty water splashed in all directions, splattering onto Yin Ren’s sneakers.
The school uniform on the boy looked somewhat familiar—it was the style of Haigu Secondary School. The sewage from the night market instantly stained the fabric of the uniform brown, emitting an unusually strong fishy smell. The boy had just opened his bubble tea, but now half of it fell into the dirty water, and the straw was covered in filth.
The pinkish-white liquid dripped out of the straw and quickly mixed with the brownish-black sewage.
“Here, let me show you.”
The tallest boy deliberately twisted his body and imitated a high-pitched voice.
“Sweetheart Strawberry Milk Tea, my sisters must not miss it, so delicious it’ll make you stamp your feet~”
Amidst the laughter, the boy spat towards the smaller boy in the dirty water. “Is that sentence so difficult? I’ve said it too. Let’s entertain everyone. Why are you pretending to be high and mighty? You buy this stuff every day, but others can’t make jokes about it?”
The smaller boy didn’t say anything, but his face turned bright red.
“One of these days, we’ll bury you too, you sissy.” A group of several teenagers near the beverage shop jeered. “You have no face, Little Strawberry.”
They shouted and made a commotion around the boy.
