Chapter 80.1 Savage Expansion (13)
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Lin Zhaohe was afraid that Zhuang Lao’s loud voice would attract the attention of the librarian, so he hurriedly walked over to the window and whispered, “Boss, please keep your voice down!”
Zhuang Lao asked, “Are you injured?” Lin Zhaohe appeared disheveled, with torn clothes and visible wounds on his cheeks and arms. The bloodstains on his body indicated that he had experienced many terrible things, but fortunately, he was still alive.
The fluffy and white ears seemed to recognize their owner, and they wagged happily, reminding Zhuang Lao of their warm and cozy touch. His fingers couldn’t resist moving slightly.
Not seeing each other was fine, but as soon as Lin Zhaohe suddenly saw Zhuang Lao, all his tense nerves relaxed. Being in the presence of his boss filled him with a sense of safety. The suppressed panic and exhaustion rushed over him. He unintentionally added a touch of playfulness to his tone. “Boss, you finally came. They really beat me up.” It was as if a bullied little dog had finally found its owner and desperately clung to their master’s clothes, seeking help to reclaim its dignity.
Zhuang Lao’s gaze also softened, and he said, “Don’t worry, we’ll go inside right away.”
Yun Yuzi and Lin Yan stood nearby, listening to the two of them interact. Yun Yuzi felt a pang of jealousy and said, “Alright, enough of your lovey-dovey behavior. Did you come all this way just to help the boss woo his wife? Can we focus on the task at hand?”
The phrase “woo his wife” immediately brought back the scene Lin Zhaohe had just witnessed. He blushed intensely, realizing that Zhuang Lao and the others were also about to enter. That meant everyone would see him and Zhuang Lao being affectionate. Oh no, it felt like his browsing history had been displayed on a company presentation for his colleagues to enjoy, giving off a strong sense of embarrassment.
Watching Zhuang Lao and the others walking towards the entrance, Lin Zhaohe turned his head to glance at his daydreaming spot.
Lin Zhaohe’s fiercely terrifying expression startled Huo Nanjing, who asked in a low voice, “Brother Lin, what’s wrong with you? Why do you look so angry?”
Lin Zhaohe: “Do I look angry?”
Huo Nanjing: “A little bit, as if you want to take a few bites out of someone.”
Lin Zhaohe maintained a tough facade and said, “Don’t think too much. It’s just your imagination.”
Despite saying that, Lin Zhaohe returned to his previous position and indeed saw the boss still hugging and being intimate with the person. The thought of the boss personally witnessing such a scene filled Lin Zhaohe’s heart with an indescribable urge to harm someone. He was seriously considering whether he should rush over and confront the person in front of him.
Huo Nanjing looked at Lin Zhaohe’s fierce expression, caught between embarrassment and the possibility of a real conflict. He silently leaned to the side. In fact, he could understand Lin Zhaohe. If some strange fantasy of his was exposed to the public, he would probably consider the feasibility of silencing it.
In the midst of Lin Zhaohe’s hesitation, the opportunity slipped away. Zhuang Lao and the others had already entered the library and were approaching Lin Zhaohe.
As they reunited, joy filled their faces—except for Lin Zhaohe. Amidst the joy, there was a complex mix of emotions, as if it would have been better not to meet at this moment.
“Lin Zhaohe!” Lin Yan was completely unaware of the complex expression on Lin Zhaohe’s face. “We were so worried about you. We searched for a long time and couldn’t contact you. We thought something happened to you.”
Lin Zhaohe quickly said, “Shh, keep your voice down. There are monsters in this library. If we make too much noise, they’ll come after us.” He looked around but didn’t see any librarians, which put his mind at ease.
Hearing this, Lin Yan immediately became alert and asked, “There are monsters here too?”
Lin Zhaohe replied, “Yes… but it’s not a big threat as long as we follow the library rules. Let’s not go further inside and just leave, okay?”
“No.” However, Yun Yuzi disagreed with Lin Zhaohe’s suggestion, extinguishing his last hope. She explained, “The fusion situation in this area is the most severe. The source should be nearby. This library is also strange. It’s so neat and bright amidst the surrounding darkness, which creates a stark contrast.”
“The source must be here.” Lin Yan also agreed. “Shall we search inside?”
Lin Zhaohe wanted to intervene, but at this moment, any excuse seemed powerless. He glanced behind him and said, “You’ve all come such a long way. Why don’t we rest at the entrance for a while?”
Yun Yuzi looked suspicious and said, “Lin Zhaohe, your reaction is quite suspicious. Are you secretly hiding something? Could it be that you’re cheating on the boss?”
Mr. Li didn’t mind getting involved in the drama. “It’s possible. I don’t think Lin Zhaohe is a very honest person.”
The two of them were in perfect harmony, as if they were roasting Lin Zhaohe over a fire. He wanted to explain that he and the boss were innocent, but Mr. Li said, “When I arrived, I saw you lying on top of your boss.”
Lin Zhaohe said, “Damn it, wasn’t I a dog at that time?”
Mr. Li: “Even if you turned into a dog, the boss didn’t mind you topping him.”
Lin Zhaohe: “……”
To make matters worse, Zhuang Lao didn’t help him either. He stood by, seemingly smirking, and when Lin Zhaohe ran out of words, he said thoughtfully, “Could Xiao He have hidden the cute girl he saved somewhere?”
Lin Zhaohe gave up trying and said, “Alright, go ahead and search!” He sat down on the side, feeling defeated. Huo Nanjing leaned over and whispered, “Brother Lin, don’t worry. Your daydreams don’t seem to have any explicit scenes.”
Lin Zhaohe angrily retorted, “Explicit scenes? Are you suggesting that I should move to another planet and start my life all over again?”
While he was speaking, Zhuang Lao and the others had already reached the spot on the first floor where the scene appeared. Lin Zhaohe closed his eyes, prepared to face Yun Yuzi’s mockery. However, things didn’t unfold as he had imagined. The group stood still at the staircase, their expressions turning grave. Yun Yuzi took out a gun directly.
What’s going on? Even if they saw something like that, it shouldn’t have triggered such a strong reaction, right? Lin Zhaohe wondered if Yun Yuzi, as an employee, felt that he had defiled the boss and decided to take matters into her own hands and eliminate him…
“Actually, this has nothing to do with me. Even though I’m the author, I have never written anything about getting involved with the boss!” Lin Zhaohe was afraid of any dreadful misunderstandings and wanted to explain quickly.
“What do you mean, the author?” Yun Yuzi looked puzzled. “Are you the author of this thing?”
Lin Zhaohe said, “Huh?” He turned his head and realized that he and Zhuang Lao, who were previously engaged in sweet interaction, had disappeared. In their place was a horrifying creature of indistinguishable shape. The creature also sensed their presence and started rushing towards them. It looked like a distorted human, with twisted bones and faintly recognizable organs such as eyes and a nose. If one had to describe it, it was as if some force had crumpled a person, but they were still alive…
The creature had a terrifying appearance. Yun Yuzi didn’t hesitate to open fire.
The bullets pierced through its body, causing a burst of blood splatter.
In the instant the blood splattered, the ground beneath their feet violently trembled.
“Is this the source entity?” Yun Yuzi was stunned. It wasn’t just her. No one present had expected this turn of events. They had thought the source entity would be something more dangerous and horrifying, but instead, it was this small creature before their eyes.
Lin Zhaohe was still relieved that he hadn’t experienced a complete mental breakdown. He didn’t have time to worry about this.
“Kill it,” Zhuang Lao said. “It looks like it’s in pain.”
Yun Yuzi nodded and fired several more shots. The bullets effortlessly pierced through its body, creating several bloody holes. It twitched a few times, and after a pool of blood formed beneath it, it became completely motionless.
With such a commotion, the librarian who had been observing from the sidelines appeared once again, startling Lin Zhaohe when he saw him. He thought the librarian would confront Zhuang Lao, but to his surprise, the librarian remained in place, his green eyes fixed on Zhuang Lao, seemingly contemplating something.
Zhuang Lao noticed his gaze and looked back. Their eyes met, and the librarian smiled. “You gave me a scare.”
In the next moment, the lights suddenly dimmed, and the librarian’s green eyes gleamed in the darkness. He spoke slowly and deliberately, “In my territory, you must abide by my rules. No one is exempt, including you now.”
After saying these words, two icy glints flashed in the darkness. Lin Zhaohe’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that the librarian had unleashed his weapon, indicating his genuine anger.
Everything happened quickly in the darkness. Lin Zhaohe couldn’t even see clearly what had occurred. However, he caught a strong scent of blood in the air, accompanied by the sound of bodies hitting the ground heavily.
Someone let out a scream, but it was stifled into a muffled groan. Lin Zhaohe realized what was happening and grabbed Zhuang Lao’s hand before swiftly turning around to run. Zhuang Lao remained silent, silently following behind him.
Lin Zhaohe understood that no matter how powerful the characters he wrote might be, as long as they were outside his domain, there was still a chance. The moment Lin Zhaohe and Zhuang Lao stepped beyond the library’s boundaries, he let out a sigh of relief and said, “Boss, that person inside is incredibly formidable. We have to come up with a plan to defeat him.”
Zhuang Lao didn’t respond.
Lin Zhaohe turned around and said, “Boss?” He stared at the empty space behind him, his relaxed expression frozen on his face.
There was nothing behind him, but he was clearly holding his boss’s hand. Lin Zhaohe lowered his head and looked at his right hand—indeed, he was holding a hand, but the other end of it had been cleanly severed, revealing a cross-section of bone and muscle.
Lin Zhaohe’s mind went blank, unable to process this information in the moment of shock.
In the dark library, the lights came on again. He saw that the people who had entered the library with him moments ago had all vanished, leaving only Huo Nanjing and the librarian standing there, amidst a gruesome scene of blood and flesh.
Lin Zhaohe stood at the library’s entrance, his expression vacant, resembling a statue.
It wasn’t until Huo Nanjing rushed up to him, shaking his shoulders forcefully, that he snapped out of this stiff state.
“Brother Lin, are you alright, Brother Lin?” Huo Nanjing trembled as he spoke. Lin Zhaohe looked terrifying, his gaze fixed as if possessed. But it wasn’t his fault. If anyone woke up to find their friends turned into chunks of flesh, their reaction would likely be similar.
Lin Zhaohe blinked his eyes, finally showing some movement. He gently released his grip, and the hand that belonged to Zhuang Lao, tightly held all along, fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The sticky sound of the flesh hitting the ground was grating to Lin Zhaohe’s ears, causing him to instinctively shrink his neck.
“Boss…” Lin Zhaohe lowered his head, looking at Zhuang Lao’s hand, still adorned with the watch he usually wore. “Boss…”
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