After Being Parasiticized By A Monster - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: I can’t leave you.

What was going on?

Had the person not actually died? Had someone else been here? Or was the fungal monster not completely dead?

Looking at the ground, with only scattered scratches and fragments of gray residue of unknown origin, thought after thought rose and burst like bubbles in boiling water. As Cheng Ming was in stunned confusion, she heard Little Ming speak again:

“I tested a new ability. I can still sense and control the asexual spores after they leave the body, but the distance is limited. I could only take him about two kilometers away at most… and whether it works the same way on living bodies remains to be seen.”

Cheng Ming paused.

It was it that cleaned up the mess during the night?

She couldn’t quite name the feeling, but the heavy burden on her heart was certainly eased.

She let out a silent breath and circled the room, carefully checking the damage to the furnishings. Finally, she retrieved her phone from under a displaced sofa—the contents of her pocket had been flung out when she fell last night, and luckily, it hadn’t been damaged.

She wondered how Qu Ying was doing and if he would be assigned to search for the fungal monster’s whereabouts. After careful consideration, Cheng Ming cautiously sent him a text message to let him know she was safe.

Then, she started cleaning the battlefield, clearing away all the debris she could. She wrapped them in black plastic bags, labeling sharp objects like glass shards with warning notes, planning to stuff them into the dumpster later.

The only remaining issue was the bullets embedded in the solid structures, which was a bit troublesome.

The only good news was that the defense center’s construction materials weren’t shoddy; there were no extra cracks besides the bullet holes.

Cheng Ming touched the damaged white wall, pondering whether to just paint over it, when her arm suddenly felt a tingling itch.

She looked down. A strand of hair had crawled from her shoulder to her fingertip, wrapped around her hand and onto the wall, reaching into the hole. It twisted a few times and soon pushed the object out.

She raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise but still said nothing, silently watching the parasite enthusiastically help.

Clang, clang. One by one, bullet fragments, either whole or fragmented, were squeezed out and dropped to the floor. She grabbed a bag and collected them one by one, placing them with the empty wrappers and syringes of the nutrient solution.

By the time she finished this task, the gray light of dawn had poured in, outlining all the contours of the room in a cold white color.

…

“I can’t leave you.”

“Why didn’t you go with it?”

Cheng Ming’s mood was finally settled and calm. Leaning wearily on the sofa, she looked down at the fungal threads, which were either overly nourished or trying to appease her by sticking and rubbing against everything. She asked in a low voice.

“I can’t leave you,” Little Ming replied.

Cheng Ming: “…”

If emotions could be symbolized, a massive question mark was slowly settling over her face.

“You, rephrase that.” Her expression was blank with a momentary twist of disbelief.

Did that sound right, even to itself?

“You and I are one body,” her parasite explained further. “I can’t abandon you; losing you is not good for me. I said this a long time ago, but it seems you never believed it.”

It was indeed a matter of wording. Cheng Ming took a deep breath, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and leaned against the sofa.

“After all, compared to you, I’m too passive. You can decide whether to leave or stay, while I lack the means to truly harm you, short of destroying us both.”

She stated the reality helplessly. The inhibitor only blocked some of its abilities and even had adverse effects on her. Any attempt she made to hurt it was predicated on hurting herself first.

Symbiosis, an insoluble symbiosis.

“I’m very glad you didn’t.” With a good start, it spoke more smoothly. “Cheng Ming, you are the dominant one between us. You are the host; I exist by depending on you. You can live without me, but I cannot live without you. Can you give me a little more trust?”

“…” Cheng Ming was silent for a moment. “Huh? So, does that mean I could have a way to get rid of you?”

“…” Little Ming also fell silent. After a full ten seconds, it spoke frankly, “Don’t even think about it. I will firmly occupy your body and won’t let go even if I die.”

“Pffft.” Cheng Ming burst out laughing.

If it were before, she should have felt afraid, but at this moment, there was a strange sense of calm. But then she felt she shouldn’t be laughing, so she bent over and covered her forehead, trying to cover it up.

During that period of silence, her mind was actually quite unsettled. Everything it said placed itself in a very low position, sincere and earnest, without a single discernible flaw. If it was trying to lower her guard, it was certainly succeeding… it was too adept at understanding people.

As she relaxed a little, she contradictorily felt a renewed sense of caution. Yet, she knew she had no reason to continue doubting.

“Okay.” With the conversation at this point, Cheng Ming lowered her hand, carefully weighing her confusion, and pressed the issue, “Then shouldn’t you explain your origin?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Little Ming said unexpectedly. “From the moment I gained consciousness, I was firmly bound to you. I don’t know more than you do. In fact, all my knowledge comes from you. Perhaps—” It paused, searching for the right description, “—you can think of me as another you.”

It observed the world through her eyes, mimicked her every move to learn how to interact with the outside world. They shared the same body and the same mental frequency… Even at the most suspicious and guarded moments, there was no denying that they were the most intimately familiar with each other.

“Sounds like a wise philosopher,” Cheng Ming was amused and asked, “How old are you?”

“…” Little Ming was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t think age represents anything.”

“Your age—” She looked up in surprise, hesitating, “—do you mean it’s counted from the moment you parasitized me?”

“…”

No response.

If no response was the answer, she was right.

That was only a few months… This perspective was a bit bizarre.

This was different from her original impression of a cold, ruthless parasitic killer. What she had assumed to be inherently evil might actually be a blank slate?

…

The True Appearance

Staring at the white ceiling, she was silent with it for a moment. Cheng Ming suddenly sat up, “What do you look like?”

She had always been unwilling to accept her non-human side. Before this, she had never thought about revealing its complete monster form, and thus, had never truly seen it.

Her impression of it was like the blind men touching an elephant, just scattered fragments pieced together from fungal hair, scaly skin, and sharp teeth.

“You want to see?”

“Mm.” But she wasn’t sure if the monster’s “appearance” was the same as a human’s understanding. “You’re not going to say that my appearance is your appearance, are you?”

Having its words preempted, Little Ming choked for a moment and said, “It’s a little different.”

No sooner said than done.

Cheng Ming got up, walked into the bedroom, and stood in front of the full-length mirror.

Releasing control of her body and giving it room to act, she watched as the reflection in the mirror slowly changed.

The early morning light peeked through the window screen, filtering faintly into this corner, reflecting more scattered patches of light off the mirror, mingling in a phantom-like dance. It was like the undulating seawater under the thin winter sunlight, and a mysterious, magnificent creature gradually emerged in the water.

“To you humans, is it very ugly?” Little Ming asked during the long silence.

Her left hand gently touched the mirror surface, her fingertip slowly moving, tracing the outline.

“No… it’s beautiful.”

Cheng Ming felt she was probably finished.

She thought the parasitism must have affected her nervous system and thus altered her aesthetic sense.

In the hazy light and shadow, the slightly blue fluorescent skin, the dense, translucent fish scales that looked like shattered porcelain clinging to the body, the dark, seaweed-like hair floating… everything was unexpectedly beautiful and seductive.

When it spoke, the eyes in the reflection were deep and dark, as if a siren was observing itself through her irises.

Although it looked slightly comical because it was wrapped in wrinkled pajamas.

“Thank you. You are, too.”

Its voice was very light, ethereal, as if transmitted from another dimension.

The scales twisted and turned, with more parts hidden deep beneath.

Cheng Ming opened her mouth, looking at the curves simply wrapped and hidden by a layer of cotton fabric, and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words asking it to take them off and look… even though this should, technically, be her body.

Her attention was diverted, causing her to realize a moment late that it hadn’t used her vocal system to vibrate the air and produce sound.

It was neural communication.

“You—” Cheng Ming had just shown signs of frowning and uttered one word when Little Ming immediately interrupted, “It wasn’t me.”

It sounded a little wronged, “Your neural axons wrapped around me first.”

The deep, rich blue, jewel-like pupils in the mirror watched her without blinking. Her breathing felt constricted, her heart inexplicably skipped a beat, and the finger resting on the mirror edge felt a little stiff.

Suspecting that this siren might truly possess the ability to bewitch people as described in literature, she averted her gaze and lowered her head to carefully feel. She didn’t have the sensation of sharing a brain with another consciousness.

“So, you can now directly perceive my emotions?” Cheng Ming cared more about this.

“I could before,” Little Ming said honestly.

Since they shared one body, things like emotions could be reflected not only by electrochemical signals in the brain but also by the speed of the heart’s pacing, the volume of bl00d flow, and changes in hormone levels.

The unexpected answer, spoken by it, had a particularly provocative flavor. Cheng Ming’s eyes widened slightly, and she was almost angered.

Fortunately, Little Ming quickly added, “But if you don’t subjectively intend to transmit information to me, I won’t know what you are thinking.”

In other words, this mental communication was one-way.

Cheng Ming lowered her eyelids, unconsciously rubbing her knuckles a couple of times.

Because they were covered with fine scales, the sensation was cool and smooth, like jade sinking into the bottom of a lake.

Then she lowered her hand, “I’ve seen enough, put it away.”

She turned to change her clothes.

Sharing touch, Little Ming vaguely felt something was amiss but couldn’t describe it, so it obediently complied.

It wasn’t until later that it learned a new term—

Shǐ Luàn Zhōng Qì  finally discarding someone.

…

Now that Cheng Ming has seen Little Ming’s true appearance and confirmed their strong bond, what do you think she should prioritize next in terms of their relationship and future plans?