ID No. 019 - Chapter 6.1

The corpse had transformed!

Chen Yang stared at the dandelions drifting in the wind with his mouth agape. This wasn’t the change he had in mind. The corpse hadn’t transformed into a grotesque monster, but rather something that chilled him even more.

The dandelions were coming their way. Chen Yang gasped and said, voice trembling, “Will anything happen if it gets on us?”

“Forget about it. Let’s just run.” Chen Yang promptly ran off before coming to a sudden halt. He turned back to see the young man still seated on the ground, unable to run away.

The man was dressed entirely in black, blending almost seamlessly with the chilly night. Chen Yang glanced at the approaching dandelions and gritted his teeth.

“I’ll carry you.”

He swiftly pulled the man onto his back without waiting for a response. His actions were smooth and decisive.

The man’s pupils contracted and his body tensed. He had a very gloomy expression as he spoke, “Let me down. I’ll walk on my own.”

“Stop showing off. Take the crutch. I’ll carry you.” Chen Yang firmly handed him the crutch and dashed into the depths of the woods with him on his back.

Chen Yang gasped for breath, but his slender figure remained steady. The young man fell silent for a moment and expressionlessly observed the direction the wind blew.

“Turn left,” the man said.

Chen Yang did as ordered and ran even faster, making sure to strengthen his hold on the young man.

By the time Chen Yang came to a stop, he had already carried the young man through a very remote path out of the woods, circling around to the back of Old Madam Qi’s old house.

Chen Yang had underestimated the young man’s weight. He hadn’t expected him to be so heavy. His legs trembled, and he was covered in sweat as he leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Thankfully, he had played basketball for many years before the accident, and cooperated with the treatment in the rehabilitation center. His foundation was still there; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

Chen Yang wiped his face as he panted, but his hand froze and his body turned cold. He exclaimed, “I got it!”

The young man leaned on his crutch and looked at his injured foot. “What is it?” he asked.

“The smell. Other than fertilizer, I caught a whiff of something else. I know what it is,” Chen Yang said. He extended the hand that wiped the sweat off his face towards the young man, “Smell it. It’s this.”

The young man took a sniff and stated, “The smell of plant juice.”

“Yes,” Chen Yang nodded, pinching at the faint green color on his fingertip, not knowing when he got it. It turned out that the child was no longer human when he died.

“As you sow, so shall you reap,” Chen Yang murmured, recalling the sight of his sister lying in a pool of blood and the criminal who stopped breathing under his brick. His head throbbed from the piercing pain for a second before another thought popped up. What had caused such a disaster to befall the island?

Chen Yang was concerned when he noticed the young man still looking at his leg and asked, “Did I bump your leg while carrying you?”

“Yeah.”

“… I’m sorry. I was too careless.”

“Yeah.”

“…”

How about a ‘thank you’? Chen Yang helplessly shook his head, not bothering with such a trivial matter. He had carried the young man who’d given directions, and escaped the dandelions together. This marked the first real cooperation between them.

The young man took out the pill bottle and gave it a shake. There were six pills left. He put two in his mouth and swallowed them, then asked, “What makes me different?”

This question came abruptly, seemingly unrelated, but Chen Yang understood what he meant. He did not joke around or remain vague about it, and instead spoke frankly. “We’ve met in the real world, unlike the others. I also trust my instincts that you’re worth my trust.”

The young man fell silent and seemed a bit more relaxed after finishing the pills. Maybe even a little… at peace?

Chen Yang sighed. It was best to avoid inscrutable people like him in your life. They seemed quiet and reserved, but exuded a mysterious sense of danger. However, given the current situation, he had to be treated differently.

Chen Yang had an evil little thought. He would’ve had a hard time finding an opportunity to get close if it weren’t for the young man’s leg injury, which prevented him from walking without crutches. Another factor that helped was Zhang Yan and the group’s selfish, albeit rational, decision to neglect him because they had considered him a waste.

Moreover, the young man didn’t seem to reject him much.

The island had settled down for a brief moment before chaos erupted once more. None of the islanders suspected that the body in the coffin had been removed and replaced with dandelions. After all, dandelions were out of season and it wasn’t time for them to bloom. The body had indeed changed; it exploded.

Many people were saying that Mrs. Liu’s son must have done more than just be possessed by a spirit; he must have offended it by violating a major taboo. Even in death, he wasn’t spared. They shouldn’t get close to Mrs. Liu to avoid the bad luck from spreading to them.

Old Madam Qi instructed a few relatively calmer people to take torches and burn the mountain, or more precisely, to burn the dandelions. There were too many dandelions and they had scattered everywhere, clinging to the plants and trees. Setting them on fire was the best solution.

Zhang Yan, Lin Yue, and Zhao Yuan were still at Old Madam Qi’s house. They had stayed hidden, and took advantage of her absence to search.

The three of them didn’t find the cellar. No matter how careful Zhang Yan and Lin Yue were, they found nothing. It was Zhao Yuan, in his messy search, who stumbled upon an old box. The box was empty inside.

However, the empty box wasn’t just casually thrown into a corner; it was placed very carefully, which drew their attention.

“That old lady isn’t easy to deal with,” Zhang Yan said, looking at the billowing smoke in the mountains, where the flames were raging. His tone was heavy.

“Obviously,” Lin Yue said, looking at the scattered prayer beads on the ground. When they sneaked in, Old Madam Qi was reciting scriptures. The string of the prayer beads snapped shortly after, but she didn’t pick them up. Instead, she opened a drawer and took out a new set, continuing to pray.

It wasn’t until the sudden change in the mountains, with cries coming from outside, that Old Madam Qi stopped chanting. She clutched the beads for about a minute.

From where Lin Yue was, she could clearly make out the fear on Old Madam Qi’s face during that minute, but it disappeared afterward.

Old Madam Qi remembered to close the door when she left. Her hurried but composed manner showed that even if she hadn’t taken charge of such matters before, she had at least experienced them firsthand.

The chaos outside continued. The children cried, while the adults shouted. The islanders were still in shock.

“Thank goodness I wasn’t the one watching the coffin,” Zhao Yuan said, holding the box. His youthful face was pale as he continued, “Did you hear the screams outside? The body turned into dandelions. It’s terrifying. I prefer the aliens in movies. I’d rather feel disgusted than have these bizarre and terrifying scenes.

“I wonder how the two who were watching the coffin are doing,” he added, genuinely worried for Chen Yang and that handsome guy.

Knock knock.

There was a sudden knock on the wooden window, startling the three in the room.

“It’s me,” Chen Yang’s voice came from outside the window. “Old Madam Qi’s back. Hurry up and come out.”

Before long, the five of them gathered behind the house. After exchanging information, they leaned against the wall and sat in silence.

The air was filled with the smell of burning vegetation. The fire was still burning, about to consume everything on the mountain.

The box passed from Zhao Yuan to Zhang Yan, then to Chen Yang and finally to Lin Yue. She glanced at it for a moment, snapped a few photos, and handed it to the young man, even giving it a little push toward him.

The scene, coupled with the moonlight spilling over their bodies, gave rise to a romantic atmosphere. Lin Yue, who was already immersed in the ambience, made such a girlish move in her absent-mindedness.

However, the young man didn’t take it.

Amidst Lin Yue’s embarrassed chuckle, Chen Yang took the box, continuing his examination. He carefully felt both inside and outside, repeatedly staring at the bumps on the lid, before he had an epiphany. “Do you think these are characters?”

Everyone was stunned.

Zhang Yan said, “The island uses Chinese characters.”

The box felt ancient as Chen Yang’s fingers glided over the surface. He asked, “Could it have come from outside?”

Lin Yue stared at him. “Then how did it end up on the island?”

Chen Yang continued to feel around the box. He carefully outlined the bumps, memorizing them. “Left behind, dropped, stolen, picked up, snatched… There are many reasons.”

“Whether it’s characters or not, we can’t understand it either.” In a rare instance of clear-headedness, Zhao Yuan added, “The stuff inside the box is gone. I don’t think it was taken by the old lady. If not her, then who? She’s so good at winning people’s hearts. Is there anyone left on the island who isn’t loyal to her?”

“And one more thing.” He scratched his short hair, sprinkling dandruff all over. “The box is empty, but she didn’t throw it away and instead hid it. Why so?”

Chen Yang looked at Zhao Yuan. “Where did you find this box? Under Old Madam Qi’s bed?”

“No,” Zhao Yuan shook his head, “It’s far from the bed.”

Chen Yang’s eyelids twitched when Zhao Yuan described the approximate location the box was placed. Old Madam Qi was very likely afraid of this box. Even though the item it held was gone, she was still fearful. She didn’t throw it away, not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t dare to.

As Chen Yang pondered seriously over the significance of it, Zhao Yuan suddenly exclaimed, “The scratches on your face…”

He was about to say it was from a tree branch, but he heard Zhao Yuan mutter, “They’re red.”