Squatting down to pick up the photo, I discovered that it showed a young boy and girl with bright smiles, their brows and eyes bearing so resemblance, likely siblings. On closer inspection, the boy indeed had delicate features, looking quite handso when he smiled.
And the girl... wasn’t she the sa girl who was knocked out by Guan Changxi earlier? Feeling heavy-hearted, I placed the photo in the girl’s limp hand, watched as Changxi erased her recent mories, then carried her away to a distant place for a proper arrangent.
Both Xiao ng and Changxi were silent on their way back, their faces looking a bit unwell. Once ho, they saw the house dimly lit by a couple of faint orange lights, appearing warm beneath the cool moonlight.
"The Insect Race... are they finally appearing?" Su Jiang turned her head, her eyes filled with endless fatigue.
Having struggled to survive for decades in a previous life, now facing the war and death brought by the Insect Race once more, even soone as ntally strong as Su Jiang felt a bit lost and helpless. She truly couldn’t understand the purpose of her repeated ti travel. Was experiencing these hardships over and over ant to make her indifferent and numb, quietly accepting whatever tornt and suffering fate brought her way? She wasn’t willing to accept it! No matter what, she wouldn’t accept it!
According to those rebirth or ti travel novels, traversing ti was supposed to gain a more enjoyable and unrestrained life compared to the previous one, to live fully, and rebirth was ant to fill past life’s regrets, to complete one’s life...
But for her? For Su Jiang, every little bit of happiness was extrely precious, yet she wasn’t sure if these hands could keep this small fla of happiness burning. A reckless life? Without the strength to ignore all rules, there was never truly a reckless life. Filling life’s regrets? Her life was filled with voids, and even patches couldn’t cover them...
Not asking for a perfect life, she only wished that everything she cherished, loved, and protected could be happy and at peace.
Guan Changxi said nothing, just looked up blankly at the endless starlight. Although he possessed human intelligence and had his own consciousness, he ultimately lived by relying on external energy sources as a robot, with a cold, hard body. Human emotions, in his view, were rely responses to various hormones and nerves within the body; he might never experience such complex feelings in his lifeti...
He understood Su Jiang’s inner struggle, not because he could empathize, but because her ntal fluctuations were intensely active and suppressed; he detected these, converting them into data and results at a glance.
"Perhaps... things aren’t that bad yet," Guan Changxi said awkwardly as they walked to the courtyard, "After all, up to now, there hasn’t been any trace of the Insect Race, this incident... might have another hidden reason."
Suddenly reminded of sothing, Su Jiang asked with a bitter smile, "Don’t you think I’m heartless? That person, he practically died by my hands. In fact, it didn’t matter who was lying on the ground at the ti, even if they were close family, I wouldn’t hesitate."
Guan Changxi replied flatly, "His genes had been fused and devoured by the external Insect Race genes, he had already left the realm of humanity, his so-called rationality had vanished, turning him into a true monster, one that would even eat his kin. That he could die in a state of clear-mindedness was already fortunate; at least at the mont of his death, he was still considered a human."
Su Jiang remained silent; Guan Changxi’s words might seem indifferent to an outsider, even suggesting his worldview was problematic. If soone had been present, witnessing Su Jiang’s actions and hearing Changxi’s words, they probably would be furious, calling Su Jiang an executioner, for ending a person’s life without attempting a cure, too cruel, too cold, too heartless...
But in fact, this wasn’t the first ti Su Jiang had experienced such a thing. The first person she killed who had been swallowed by the Insect Race genes was her instructor, who taught her to grow and learn and played the "father" role in her fatherless life.
However, one day he received orders from his superiors, went to the frontlines for support in battle, returned acting normal but suddenly fainted so days later, waking up to a personality that slowly changed, transforming from a cheerful and sunny deanor to one dark and irritable.
At first, everyone didn’t pay much attention, but after a certain training session, he knelt before her, begging her to end his life.
It was only after this that Su Jiang learned he had encountered a new, evolved Insect Race, which could infiltrate its genes into another’s body through wounds, continuously devouring, rging, and eventually taking full control.
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