Chapter 11

Lin Juan did not understand. Lin Juan was bewildered.

Who would bind themselves for life to a complete stranger just to get remarried?

“On something like this, there’s no need to pursue perfection, right?” Lin Juan tried to persuade him. “Don’t you think marriage should be with someone you love?”

“What you say makes sense.”

See?

Lin Juan relaxed inwardly.

“But I don’t have anyone I like right now. Compared to ruining my second marriage for someone who might not even exist, I don’t think that’s a wise choice.” Lu Yanzhou crossed his hands over his knees, looking every bit like he was negotiating a billion-yuan deal.

That made a lot of sense.

Lin Juan was almost convinced.

No.

Lin Juan shook his head and settled for the next best thing. “How about this? In the future, if either you or I find someone we like one day, we end this marriage. How does that sound?”

Lu Yanzhou neither agreed nor refused, so Lin Juan took it as agreement.

Although the Lu Family offered a lot, Lin Juan had no intention of tying his life to one man.

On Tuesday afternoon, the car from the Anomalous Affairs Bureau arrived.

The one who came to pick them up was Sheng Tianzong, the captain of the Vanguard Squad whom Lin Juan had saved.

“Mr. Lin.” He was very respectful toward Lin Juan.

Old Master Lu gave the tall man an extra glance.

He had come through blood and fire in his early years and could tell at a glance that this man was no ordinary figure—he had truly been stained with blood.

They arrived at the hospital and went straight to the inner building. Zhuang Yufeng took the Lu Family for checkups, and Lin Juan got one too.

“This machine wasn’t here last time.” Lin Juan stood in front of the detector, eyeing the half-person-tall device.

“It’s a new development from the Research Department. It measures pollution values and has just been put into use,” Zhuang Yufeng explained.

The device wasn’t as convenient as later models, but it was sufficient for them now.

The Lu Family’s pollution values were all within normal range.

Including Lu Yanzhou’s.

Lin Juan watched Lu Yanzhou’s checkup the entire time. He hadn’t forgotten that Lu Yanzhou had absorbed that weird little mushroom. He wondered if it would show up as a pollution value on Lu Yanzhou.

He hadn’t sensed any of the rejection that weird phenomena gave off from Lu Yanzhou, which was one reason he dared to bring him to the hospital.

The other was that he wanted to figure out if absorbing the weird little mushroom had affected Lu Yanzhou’s body.

The result: no.

All the results came back expedited. The Lu Family was fine, though Lu Mingxuan’s was slightly elevated, still within normal range.

Lin Juan relaxed a bit. If Lu Yanzhou had an issue, he’d have to readjust his plans—too much hassle.

Fortunately, there were no signs of Lu Yanzhou turning into something weird.

Lin Juan let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief.

Everyone present could see how much attention he paid to Lu Yanzhou. Old Master Lu looked pleased, while Zhuang Yufeng curiously glanced at Lu Yanzhou a couple more times.

“He’s my little uncle,” said Lu Mingxuan, who had been quietly observing how his little uncle and little uncle-in-law interacted. He jumped in to explain. “He’s my little uncle-in-law’s marriage partner.”

Zhuang Yufeng knew Lin Juan had married the Lu Family Head for luck. Things the Lu Family kept secret from the public couldn’t be hidden from them.

But no matter what, he couldn’t connect the Lin Juan who could beat down weird phenomena with someone marrying for luck.

Too incongruous.

He wondered if Mr. Lin had done it willingly.

But thinking of Mr. Lin’s terrifying combat prowess, Zhuang Yufeng dismissed the idea that he had been forced.

In this day and age, anyone who could force Mr. Lin probably hadn’t been born yet.

He subtly sized up the man in the wheelchair.

Handsome and capable—good enough for Mr. Lin.

But why the wheelchair?

“Do you need to take a look at his legs?”

Since they weren’t planning to keep hiding things from the Lu Family anymore, someone had explained weird phenomena and ability users to them on the way. Old Master Lu knew Zhuang Yufeng was a purification ability user.

Lu Yanzhou’s legs were somewhat related to weird phenomena. Hearing this, Old Master Lu was overjoyed. “Then we’ll trouble Doctor Zhuang.”

Zhuang Yufeng crouched down and used his supernatural ability to check Lu Yanzhou’s legs. He had examined him before when Lu Yanzhou was unconscious and found nothing then either.

“There’s no residual pollution in his legs. What’s the specific situation?”

“He has no strength in them and can only stand for short periods,” Lin Juan answered.

“Doctor Zhuang can’t do anything either?” Lu Mingxuan was disappointed.

Lu Yanzhou didn’t mind. It was as if the person who couldn’t walk wasn’t him. He spoke with a hint of warning. “Mingxuan.”

The disappointment on his face was too obvious. Offending Doctor Zhuang over it wouldn’t be good.

Lu Mingxuan quickly caught on, bowed to Zhuang Yufeng, and said, “Sorry, Doctor Zhuang. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s fine. Supernatural abilities aren’t omnipotent. Mine mainly purifies pollution. Maybe a healing ability user could take a look,” Zhuang Yufeng suggested.

“Does Doctor Zhuang know any healing ability users?” Lin Juan asked.

“The bureau doesn’t have any for now,” Zhuang Yufeng shook his head.

“Got it.”

No one at the bureau didn’t mean there were none elsewhere. Lin Juan pondered the possibility of finding a healing ability user for Lu Yanzhou somewhere else.

After the checkups, the group left the examination room.

Outside, two medical staff were rushing in with a mobile hospital bed.

“Doctor Zhuang, this patient’s about to lose control!” one of the medical staff shouted.

“What happened?” Zhuang Yufeng hurried forward to help, ignoring everything else.

He didn’t forget to instruct the masked middle-aged man behind him. “Director Liu, Xiao Liu, take them out first.”

“Please follow me.”

“Do you need my help?” Lin Juan saw the person under the white sheet struggling violently. The two medical staff were clearly struggling to hold them down.

The situation looked serious.

As Zhuang Yufeng approached, he caught a strong fishy stench. The thing under the sheet could no longer be called human. Scales grew on its face, its eyes bulged, gills like a fish’s sprouted behind its ears, opening and closing.

The thing’s mouth gaped wide, a hoarse voice rasping from its throat. “Water… I need water—”

“Give me water!”

Its voice grew louder, like a looping speaker blasting from all directions into their minds.

At the same time, the vital monitor started alarming.

Zhuang Yufeng made a snap decision. “Mr. Lin, please assist me. Everyone else, retreat quickly and take shelter in the examination room!”

Lin Juan handed the wheelchair to Lu Mingxuan and pushed them back. “You go in first.”

He closed the door and took two steps forward.

In that short moment, the mutating monster on the bed had broken free of its restraints. Like a lizard, it crawled on all fours toward the nearest medical staff.

Its limbs were unnaturally twisted, its exposed skin covered in pale blue-white scales. Its mouth gaped wide to its ears, foul-smelling saliva dripping out, splattering corrosive marks on the floor.

The nearest medical staff turned to run but tripped over the mobile bed’s frame and fell.

The monster lunged at him with its jagged fangs bared. Xiao Zhang’s mind went blank, overwhelming fear spreading as he screamed uncontrollably.

“Aaahhhhh!!!!”

He wanted to flee, but his limbs wouldn’t obey. The harder he tried, the less they moved. He could only watch helplessly as the monster drew closer.

A large, foul tongue lolled from the monster’s mouth. Xiao Zhang squeezed his eyes shut tight.

One second, two seconds, five seconds…

Nothing happened.

Xiao Zhang cautiously opened his eyes and saw the monster that had been right in front of him grabbed like a toy by the young man next to Doctor Zhuang and flung backward.

Zhuang Yufeng came over to help him up.

“Doctor Zhuang, he…”

Zhuang Yufeng’s gaze was stern. “You two go first!”

The other medical staff came over to support Xiao Zhang. They knew staying would only hinder them, so they stumbled away in the opposite direction.

Lin Juan swiftly wrapped the monster tightly in the sheet. It still struggled, so he smashed it twice with his fists, knocking it out. Then he tore off the bed sheet and wrapped the lump inside even tighter.

By the time Sheng Tianzong arrived with his team, the monster had been subdued by Lin Juan, bundled up like a rice dumpling, and tossed in the corner.

Lin Juan dusted off his hands. “How did a monster end up here?”

“Not long ago, he was still human.” Zhuang Yufeng walked over, crouched down, and probed with his supernatural ability. His expression turned sorrowful. “Mutated to this degree, he’s no longer human.”

Even at the peak of his supernatural ability, he couldn’t reverse a fully mutated monster back to human.

Zhuang Yufeng withdrew his hand and quickly composed himself. “Once the pollution value hits the limit, it’s no longer human. How did he mutate so fast?”

He remembered the man’s pollution value was only 29 when he arrived. How had he fully mutated in less than a day?

Sheng Tianzong waved, and the fully armed security team stepped forward to drag away the monster Lin Juan had knocked out.

Director Liu, mask removed, brought the Lu Family out. Before he could say anything, the piercing alarm blared again.

“What happened?!” Director Liu pressed his earpiece.

Whatever was said inside made his face darken, his brows furrowing deeper.

Releasing the earpiece, Director Liu forced a calm expression as he addressed Lin Juan and the others. “Sorry, there’s been an incident at the hospital today. I’ll have someone escort you out first.”

Soon, dedicated personnel arrived to guide Lin Juan and the group.

“What happened?”

“All the patients here have seen their pollution values rise for unknown reasons. If this continues, they’ll become new sources of weird phenomena, and this place will turn into a new eerie domain.”

Once a new eerie domain formed, none of the ordinary patients here would survive.

Director Liu immediately grasped the severity and ordered all ability users to mobilize, transferring ordinary people as quickly as possible.

The entire hospital sprang into action.

Chaos reigned—screams and shoving everywhere.

Bad news kept coming.

Lin Juan and the others sat in the car, about to drive out of the hospital, when it bumped into something with a “bang.”

The driving ability user got out, reached forward, and touched something like a hard shell at a certain distance.

Some invisible entity was blocking their path.

They couldn’t get out.