Hui Tian Ch79

Chapter 79

Misty rain on the begonia flowers, drinking deeply on a serene spring night

“Is Mr. Cameron alright?” “Quick, help him sit down, slowly, slowly, slowly…” “Do you feel like throwing up? Do you?” “Is there a healer, any healer?”

…

The room was noisy with people talking all at once. Several pairs of hands carefully helped Cameron sit down. His mouth was cut, and blood flowed from his nose as he held a cold towel to his chin. He had probably never been so embarrassed in all these years.

This was a small room separate from the hearing room upstairs. Shen Zhuo stood at the door with his hands in his pants pockets, his indifferent profile outlined sharply in the light and shadow.

Bai Sheng stood protectively by Shen Zhuo’s side, rubbing his chin as he examined him. Then he looked at Cameron in the crowd, noticing that the two brothers actually shared some similarities from certain angles—they both had full foreheads and prominent brow bones. Aside from the curve from the brow to the nose bridge, there was no extra buffer, making their eyes look sharp and oppressive.

But the differences were obvious too. Cameron’s lower face was much rounder than Shen Zhuo’s, his jawline hidden in flesh. His thin, unkind lips barely moved when he smiled, giving him a perpetually mocking expression that made people want to punch him.

Bai Sheng leaned slightly toward Shen Zhuo and asked softly, “You hit him on purpose, didn’t you?”

Shen Zhuo raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s fine… it’s fine.” Cameron tasted blood in his mouth as he pushed away the officials trying to fuss over him, firmly refusing, “No need to call a doctor.”

A committee member walked in hastily from outside, glancing awkwardly at the brothers before bending down to Cameron. “The hearing has been temporarily suspended, and the subsequent procedures have been urgently halted. Also, regarding the recusal clause you proposed against Inspector Shen just now, and Inspector Shen’s accusation against you of… uh, shooting Ms. Shen Ruzhen…”

Cameron was not surprised. “The committee proposes to discuss it another day?”

The member nodded awkwardly, “…and the media has been banned from reporting it.”

No one knew the EHPBC committee’s style better than Cameron. The truth didn’t matter, nor did the charter clauses. No one cared how Shen Ruzhen died 23 years ago, or even how Fu Chen died. The point now was that he had proposed a recusal clause against Shen Zhuo, and Shen Zhuo had proposed a motion of no confidence against him, both with heavy and evenly matched reasons. The real power struggle was about to begin.

On one side were the human forces wanting to keep him in his position as interim director-general, and on the other were the evolutionists wanting to keep Shen Zhuo out of human hands. This wasn’t something that could be resolved in a day or two; the EHPBC committee would be embroiled in a prolonged debate.

Exactly as Shen Zhuo wanted.

This tactic was about delay, dragging everyone into endless arguments until they had to trade other interests, making the original issue likely to be forgotten or unresolved.

His brother was foolish, but his intelligence in political balance was at least a bit higher than that of a primitive animal. Truly comforting.

Cameron sneered, looking through the crowd at Shen Zhuo, waving away the water his subordinate brought:

“You may leave now.”

People hesitated, “But Mr. Cameron…” “What if…”

Their expressions were uniform: What if we leave and Inspector Shen beats you up again?

“I sincerely thank you for your concern,” Cameron showed his classic polite but impatient expression, “So none of you have anything valuable to do, gentlemen?”

“…”

The officials looked at each other, then sensibly left the room. The last one out politely closed the door.

Click.

Footsteps faded outside, leaving only Cameron, Shen Zhuo, and Bai Sheng in the small room.

Cameron sat on a high stool, his light brown plaid suit messy, dark green tie slightly loose. One hand held a cold towel to his face, and he stared coldly at the pair, then focused on Shen Zhuo.

He had no doubt or probing, and directly asked:

“You remember everything?”

In reality, Shen Zhuo only had fragmented memories of his childhood. His recurring nightmares only showed his mother’s blood-soaked hair, pale face, and the killer at the door with gray-green eyes after she fell.

Eyes that matched Elton Cameron’s exactly.

“Yes.” Shen Zhuo stared at Cameron, his tone firm, without a trace of abnormality. “I remember everything.”

Bai Sheng glanced at Shen Zhuo from the corner of his eye, and instantly understood what he meant, without saying anything tacitly.

Sure enough, Cameron’s gaze changed subtly, like a civilized person on a deserted island finding a somewhat dull but communicable muggle. His gray-green eyes flickered with light, thinking about something.

The air was filled with tension and probing. After a while, Cameron slightly raised his chin:

“Did mother leave you any words back then?”

Shen Zhuo’s expression was unfathomable, unmoved: “Answer me first before I answer you.”

Cameron had an expression that said, “What’s wrong with a little Muggle like you?”

“Why did you abandon me alone in the hospital? What have you been doing all these years?”

Cameron looked like he couldn’t believe his ears, staring at his brother for a long time before slowly saying with an incredulous expression, “…I thought you had outgrown the child who cried at midnight for a hug… I was wrong. You haven’t.”

Shen Zhuo stared coldly at him.

“Grow up, brother. Why did I leave you in the hospital? Because you were useless. The HRG lab was destroyed, and the higher-ups wouldn’t allow such a dangerous project to continue. I had to take all the data and rush to a secret base in Washington overnight to continue mother’s research. Should I have taken you, a nearly dead, mute, and immobile doll, with me? Should I have taken a five-minute break from the base every day to feed you?”

Shen Zhuo said, “So you never cared about my life or death.”

Cameron retorted, “Did you die? Didn’t the central research institute take you in, raising you well? Does it matter where you grew up or who fed you? Does crying at night in the institute’s dormitory differ from crying in a secret base’s dormitory that much to you?”

“…”

Shen Zhuo took a deep breath. Bai Sheng whispered in his ear, “Give me a signal if you want me to hit him.”

“Face reality, my foolish brother.” Cameron straightened his tie, coldly. “If you hadn’t taken over the second-generation HRG after growing up, you’d never have seen or heard from me again. You’d just be a happy little lamb in distant Asia, bouncing around, eating grass, searching for a bit of illusory love all your life, understand?”

At that moment, even Bai Sheng’s fists itched, but Shen Zhuo showed amazing restraint and calm, without any sign of impulse.

Maybe he had anticipated this scene many times, so when the conversation actually happened, he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Second question,” Shen Zhuo said indifferently.

Cameron, holding the cold towel with one hand, gestured with the other, implying that Shen Zhuo could ask whatever he wanted.

“You took away a lot of key materials, which left me unable to reconstruct what exactly happened on the day of the incident,” Shen Zhuo paused, “How did the accident start, and why did Mother want to kill me?”

Cameron squinted suspiciously, then asked with a sarcastic expression, “You don’t need me to start with ‘Mom still loved you’, right?”

Shen Zhuo took one hand out of his pocket and casually flexed his fingers.

“I can’t be sure about that either.” Cameron immediately restrained his overt mockery, though his tone still carried a noticeable impatience: “You know, I was in Washington at that time. I wasn’t supposed to return to the Central Research Institute for a few more days, but coincidentally came back early. As soon as I walked in, I stumbled upon the disaster scene of that radiation accident…”

He paused for a moment and said:

“There was blood everywhere, and Mother had gone mad. If I hadn’t fired my gun, you’d be dead.”

Cameron was usually sarcastic and talkative, but these two sentences were brief and to the point, with a barely detectable hoarseness at the end.

For a moment, there seemed to be a rare and genuine emotion called “feeling” behind those annoying gray-green eyes.

“In short, that’s what happened.” Cameron took a deep breath, returning to his usual sarcastic tone: “I want to know what exactly happened that day even more than you do. Fortunately, I didn’t expect to get answers from you.”

But Shen Zhuo was indifferent to Cameron’s mocking words and stared straight at his brother: “Even I, hiding in the safety layer, was exposed to radiation that day, which means someone had turned the 001 extraterrestrial radiation instrument in the lab to its maximum value. Do you really know nothing about it?”

Bai Sheng suddenly looked at Shen Zhuo, catching the keyword – 001 extraterrestrial radiation instrument.

The words of Shui Ronghua in the cafeteria of the Shinhai City Supervision Office echoed in his ears: “…If you turn the 001 extraterrestrial radiation instrument to its maximum value, it will not only burn Italdo’s spirit body but also cause irreversible damage to the human brain…”

“When the accident happened, I was too young, and my brain was injured.” In the office of the Supervision Office, Shen Zhuo casually tossed the yellowed experiment record book back into the file box and said, “The doctor said it was because of lethal radiation, and it was a miracle I survived.”

…

So, the radiation accident of the first generation of HRG was caused by turning the 001 extraterrestrial radiation instrument to its maximum value, leading to the deaths of all the researchers. Even the six-year-old Shen Zhuo, hiding in the safety layer, couldn’t escape the deadly radiation damage?

Bai Sheng narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

But why did Shen Ruozhen want to kill her youngest son? Was it also because radiation damage to the brain caused her to “go mad”?

Was the extreme value of the deadly 001 extraterrestrial radiation an accident or intentional?

“No clues at all, but it definitely wasn’t an accident,” Cameron said indifferently, “I just want to know why Mother took such extreme measures. They must have discovered something and decided to burn the Extraterrestrial Spiritual Entity 001 for some reason.”

Bai Sheng glanced at Shen Zhuo, trying to find clues related to the term “Extraterrestrial Spiritual Entity 001” from his expression, but saw the same confusion flash in Shen Zhuo’s eyes.

“All right, question time is over. I won’t answer more until you agree to join EHPBC.”

Cameron changed his sitting position, leaning back slightly, and scrutinized his brother: “Now, it’s your turn to answer my question.”

Shen Zhuo said: “Mother didn’t leave any special words.”

“That’s not what I want to ask.”

“…”

Cameron’s sharp eyes seemed to penetrate Shen Zhuo’s pupils, directly into his brain: “I want to know, before the accident, did you see them destroy that ‘vessel’ with your own eyes?”

They had been conversing in Chinese, and for a few seconds, Bai Sheng thought he was talking about Rong Qi but then realized he wasn’t.

He was talking about the “vessel.”

“The body in the 001 incubator, the one you often went to watch through the glass,” Cameron stared at Shen Zhuo, emphasizing: “When I rushed back to the research institute that day, the incubator was already empty. Did you see it destroyed with your own eyes?”

“Or is it possible it’s still alive and was taken away by someone?”

The air froze for a moment.

Facing Cameron’s sharp gaze, Shen Zhuo’s mind raced in those few seconds, countless speculations crisscrossing into a chaotic web.

“…That body,” Shen Zhuo paused.

It was actually a split-second hesitation that only Bai Sheng, who was too familiar with all his micro-expressions, noticed.

“Which incubator are you talking about? I was in the safety layer at that time…”

Shen Zhuo’s voice abruptly stopped because Cameron’s face had already changed dramatically before he finished speaking: “——You have no idea what I’m talking about!”

Shen Zhuo: “…”

Cameron stood up abruptly, glaring sternly at his brother: “You’re lying. If you remembered even a bit of the details, you wouldn’t be unaware of ‘which’ incubator I’m talking about. You haven’t remembered that much, have you?!”

Bai Sheng: “……”

The two exchanged a glance, and Shen Zhuo shrugged, indicating he had been exposed.

“How much do you actually remember? Just a few fragments, right? And then you tried to waste my time to get information from me?!” Cameron looked furious, took a deep breath to calm himself, and without wasting any more words with Shen Zhuo, he immediately turned and walked out:

“Someone! Call the guards!”

However, he was stopped by Shen Zhuo raising a hand just as he reached the door. At the same time, Shen Zhuo and Bai Sheng exchanged a quick glance, understanding each other’s intentions without any need for words.

Cameron: “Guards!! I want to go back to the office…”

Snap! Bai Sheng snapped his fingers, and a transparent barrier extended in all directions, instantly enveloping the entire room—the Cage of Logic ability was activated.

Cameron sharply sensed something was wrong: “What are you two trying to do—”

“Do you know why I hit you at the hearing earlier?” Shen Zhuo asked calmly.

Cameron: “……”

Shen Zhuo pulled a metal syringe from his suit pocket, and with a flick of his fingers, the cap, branded with the letter A, was revealed:

“Because I needed to get you out of the hearing, find a place where no one is around to test a new ability on you, and I thank you for giving me this opportunity so readily.”

Before Cameron had a chance to run, Shen Zhuo swiftly struck him on the back of the neck, thud!

Cameron wobbled for a moment and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Cameron, the king of verbal combat, was truly fragile. For a moment, Bai Sheng even thought he was pretending to be unconscious. He crouched down and patted Cameron’s head, but found that he was genuinely out cold. Speechless, he dragged Cameron to the wall to prop him up.

“I see you’re getting better at hitting your brother,” Bai Sheng turned to look at the genetic interferon in Shen Zhuo’s hand and knowingly asked, “Class A Mind Reading?”

“Anyone would get better at hitting him.” Shen Zhuo knelt on one knee, flicked the metal cap off the syringe with his thumb, revealing the gleaming needle, and said, “Cameron took away a lot of core materials from the first generation HRG, which left me at a loss about the research results when I took over the second generation HRG. What Extraterrestrial Spirit Entity 001, what incubator vessel, I have no clues at all. I have to probe his memory to find out what really happened back then.”

The room was already covered by the Cage of Logic ability. From the outside or through surveillance, the scene would continue to show the “normal logic” from before, with Cameron standing by the door talking to Shen Zhuo.

As long as Cameron didn’t wake up and struggle to open the door, no one outside would see what was happening inside the room.

“Based on my observation of those bureaucrats’ usual working speed, it’ll take at least another two hours before they realize something is wrong in this room,” Shen Zhuo said. “I need to immerse myself fully in his mental world, and you need to watch the door and make sure no one barges in.”

Just as he was about to insert the needle into the side of his neck, Bai Sheng stopped him: “Wait.”

Shen Zhuo raised an eyebrow, only to see Bai Sheng looking at him:

“I remember that when the mind-reading ability reaches Class A, the user can bring others into the mental scene too, right?”

“……”

They looked at each other, and Shen Zhuo slightly squinted his eyes.

“Darling,” Bai Sheng asked sincerely, “you don’t really think I followed you all this way, through all this trouble, only to easily pass up the only chance in my life to see your parents in person, do you?”

Shen Zhuo pressed a knuckle against his temple.

Bai Sheng didn’t need to elaborate, but the logic was clear—if he needed the protection of the Tyrant, then it wasn’t realistic to exclude Bai Sheng from everything.

“Of course, if you really want to keep it from me, I can leave…”

Bai Sheng put away his usual flippant expression and showed rare maturity and seriousness: “But I don’t want to be in the dark when you face danger in the future. I want to protect you, just like at the hearing, no matter what storms lie ahead.”

“At least, I want to know what happened before, just like you know what happened in my life.”

“……”

Shen Zhuo finally looked up, his expression revealing nothing, but he silently sighed.

“Hold my hand,” he said softly, “The timing to activate the ability is only a few seconds.”

Bai Sheng understood Shen Zhuo perfectly. In that instant, he saw through Shen Zhuo’s real thoughts—not a true compromise, but a temporary strategic concession.

But Shen Zhuo didn’t resist further. As Bai Sheng grasped his left hand tightly, he also clasped Bai Sheng’s palm, their fingers interlocking.

Then, he injected the gene interferon into the side of his neck, pushing the needle all the way in. The bright red label “A” quickly appeared on the back of his left hand.

Immediately, Shen Zhuo pressed his right palm against Cameron’s forehead. The mind-reading ability spread out silently like a thin veil from mid-air.

Bai Sheng felt a blur in front of his eyes, as if his soul was being pulled forward by Shen Zhuo with great force!

The space twisted and rotated, and suddenly receded.

In the next moment, a new scene constructed itself, erecting and presenting itself from all directions.

The sky was vast, filled with dark clouds, and an entrance gate with an architectural style from the last century stood ahead. A sign with black characters on a white background stood beside the cement gate, inscribed with five characters in flowing script—Center Research Institute.

Bai Sheng looked around but couldn’t see Shen Zhuo anywhere. However, he still felt the force of someone gripping his hand tightly. Looking down, he saw that his own body was also transparent.

It seemed that an outsider in a memory world did not have a physical form, resembling a ghost.

“—Mom,” a boy’s voice came from behind him.

Bai Sheng turned around and saw a thirteen-year-old Cameron.

At this time, he should still be called Eren van der Kasso, with black hair inherited from his mother. His eyes weren’t as gray as they would be in adulthood, having a slightly greener tint. Shockingly, he already had the mocking and disdainful demeanor he would later develop, squinting as he scrutinized the distant gate and asked skeptically:

“They detected a suspected extraterrestrial spirit entity in a place like this?”

In front of Cameron, a woman leaned casually against a suitcase, flipping through an English academic journal, and casually tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Mm-hmm,” she responded indifferently, “So they say.”

Cameron: “What if they’re lying to you, and there’s no such thing?”

The woman turned a page of the magazine: “Kill them, burn the building down, and take any useful experimental data. The next flight is at eight tonight; we’ll make it.”

Bai Sheng: “……”

Bai Sheng finally saw Shen Ruzhen from the photograph in person.

She was actually thirty-eight years old at this time, but she looked like she was in her early thirties. Her eyebrows, eyes, thin lips, and jawline were almost identical to Shen Zhuo’s, only slightly softened by her gender. Her hair was casually tied with a rubber band, shining with a captivating, silk-like luster.

Unlike the photo taken at the awards ceremony, where she had dressed up, she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans with soft-soled shoes. Despite her casual attire, she had an undeniable charm that made passing students gape and repeatedly look back at her with dumbfounded expressions, even after walking some distance away.

“What was the name of that astrophysicist?” Cameron frowned, “His surname was He?”

“He Yin.” Shen Ruzhen looked up from the magazine and said, “Oh, he’s here.”

A young man came running from the entrance of the Center Research Institute in the distance, clutching textbooks. His khaki shirt and pants made him look somewhat nerdy. Whether from running or some other reason, his handsome, fair face was flushed red:

“Hello, hello! Are you Professor Shen Ruzhen? I’m sorry. I just finished a lecture with the students. I’m sorry to keep you waiting! I’m so sorry!”

“……”

He Yin, the youngest astrophysicist at the Center Research Institute, had a rare scholarly air about him, looking even under thirty. His eyes were clear, and his temperament was very clean. He seemed less like a young scholar and more like a shy young man.

Shen Ruzhen looked him up and down, seemingly amused, and drawled:

“—Professor He?”

“Yes…yes, that’s me.” He Yin, holding his books in one hand, instinctively wiped chalk dust off his pants with the other. He wanted to shake Shen Ruzhen’s hand but was too shy, lowering his head and not daring to look at her directly, his fair ears turning red: “Um…you must be tired from your long journey. This must be your son?”

He Yin quickly thought about how normal people complimented other children when they first met and stammered: “Really…really smart, really cute!”

Cameron: “……”

Cute.

For the first time in his life associated with the word “cute,” Cameron stood there, staring straight at He Yin, momentarily forgetting to retort, his expression blank.

Shen Ruzhen burst out laughing.

She pursed her lips, raised her eyebrows, and studied the young man in front of her, who was blushing to the point of being somewhat flustered—a spark of interest in her eyes.

·

Shen Ruzhen’s return to the country was not a spur-of-the-moment decision; she had come back specifically for He Yin.

The academic team led by Professor He Yin had inadvertently discovered a highly suspected extraterrestrial communication signal using a special frequency of ultra-high-energy radiation. After a period of research and exchange, the academic team made a breakthrough, finding that this communication wave was highly likely an independent consciousness.

They named it “001 Extraterrestrial Spirit Entity.”

And the ultra-high-energy radiation that could communicate with this spirit entity was named the 001 Extraterrestrial Radiation Wave.

“We cannot determine where in the universe it comes from; we can only guess that it is a kind of higher-dimensional spirit organism that can exist independently as an electromagnetic wave and an ideological entity,” He Yin said, standing in front of a computer matrix. His deep pupils reflected countless intersecting curves. “Maybe it has been observing humans on Earth for a long time—ten years? Twenty years? Until it decided to communicate with humans.”

“It proposed the concept of evolution and repeatedly mentioned a radioactive energy source that would bring evolution to humanity. We’re not sure what it is… we can only call it the ‘evolution source.'”

In the giant circular magnetoradiation device, Shen Ruzhen sat on a chair, looking up at the densely packed and constantly changing peaks and valleys on the screen: “Can I communicate with it?”

“Yes, you can try.” He Yin readily agreed, made a phone call to the operator outside the circular matrix, and handed the microphone to Shen Ruzhen, earnestly reminding her, “Sometimes it takes hours or even days to get a response. We’re not sure if it’s due to signal transmission issues or simply because it is not interested in responding. But it doesn’t matter; you can ask any questions you have——”

As Shen Ruzhen took the microphone, their fingertips briefly touched.

The young scholar, who had just been talking eloquently, recoiled as if electrocuted. His heart pounded like a drum, almost leaping out of his throat.

Shen Ruzhen, showing no change in expression, lightly tucked her long hair behind her ear with a rhythmic motion. The line from her jaw to her neck was something even the best artists would struggle to capture, and her eyelashes curled like a feather.

“I want to know its terms.”

The female scientist’s voice echoed through the microphone, reverberating in the air above the circular, high-walled radiation device.

“If it has an energy source that can bring equal evolution to all humanity, I want to know what it intends to ask from humans in exchange.”

The operator quickly input these words into the magnetic tape and pressed the transmit button. Everyone simultaneously held their breath, involuntarily looking up at the large display screen overhead.

It didn’t take days, or even hours.

Almost in the next instant, a distinctive and unusual waveform appeared among countless curves, reflecting in the astonished eyes of all the researchers.

The translation system automatically started working, and a long strip of magnetic tape was extruded from the port and displayed before everyone:

[I need a body.]

[During the long drift, I lost almost all of my material existence. I need a body that can contain all the energy of my spirit body, allowing me to show you the perfect pinnacle of human evolution.]

[On this basis, humanity will receive a gift from the depths of space, leading your entire species into a new biological era.]

Silence enveloped the laboratory; the researchers were too shocked to react.

But soon, Shen Ruzhen’s voice rang out again, without any excitement, full of overwhelming calm:

“How will you prove to me that you have this ability?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the radio waves.

Humans thirty years ago could not see it with the naked eye, but Bai Sheng, an evolutionist from thirty years in the future, could clearly see a vague shadow floating in the air above everyone. It was like the shadow cast by a higher-dimensional being through radio waves, its edges constantly changing shape as it seemed to observe the humans below.

Finally, its attention focused on Shen Ruzhen. If it had a material form, it would have been “staring” at her, as if deeply intrigued by this woman who asked the question.

[I can show you my capabilities in human genetic editing.]

Invisible brainwaves emitted from the shadow, the translation system continuously spitting out results, and the port mechanically clicking.

[With slight adjustments under my guidance, you can have a genetically perfect offspring…]

[When humans encounter the evolution source in the future, the perfect genes of your offspring will have unparalleled evolutionary potential.]

In front of the display screen, Shen Ruzhen’s pupils slightly dilated, and after a long while, she squinted thoughtfully.

·

The world of memory shook and trembled, the ground twisting and cracking like a water-damaged image before reconstructing. The youthful scenes in Cameron’s memory rapidly changed, like a movie’s accelerated montage.

Outside the research institute’s experimental building, snow covered the ground, and winter turned to spring.

In their second year of living there, Shen Ruzhen decided to remarry the young scholar, Professor He Yin.

“Ordinary people are boring.” Shen Ruzhen casually threw the marriage certificate into a drawer and said to her eldest son, “So you must find someone good-looking.”

Cameron wasn’t surprised at all.

As someone who inherited his mother’s intelligence, he could fully sense that after experiencing her first marriage, his mother had lost interest in exploring the wisdom of ordinary people. Shen Ruzhen’s only regret was that she couldn’t completely abandon her superficial pursuit of aesthetics. Since she couldn’t create a higher intelligence starting point for the next generation, she could at least find someone good-looking. Professor He Yin was indeed one of the very few who met her standards.

Another year later, a baby’s cry pierced through the late spring night.

Shen Ruzhen’s second son was born.

In the history of the first-generation HRG experiment, the birth of this child was a significant milestone.

The baby, born after genetic editing, had a healthier body, a more perfect immune system, and was naturally resistant to various genetic diseases, including diabetes, asthma, and cancer. His immune response to multiple super bacteria was excellent, and his physical fitness was destined to reach a peak unattainable by ordinary people.

At the same time, this baby symbolized that Extraterrestrial Spirit Entity 001 had finally proven its comprehensive understanding of human genetics. When it claimed it could bring evolution to all of humanity, its credibility undoubtedly increased significantly.

“What is his name?” Fifteen-year-old Cameron stood over the cradle, looking down at the wrinkled little baby who was crying hoarsely.

In the void, Bai Sheng couldn’t help but bend down and carefully rub the baby’s soft newborn hair with his index finger, only to have his non-physical hand pass right through.

From the kitchen came the sound of He Yin fumbling around, busy boiling chicken soup while making formula. Shen Ruzhen, already able to get out of bed, stood with her arms folded, observing her younger son for a while. She was a bit surprised at how the baby could cry so loudly and persistently, much more than his older brother did at that age.

“Misty rain on the begonia flowers, drinking deeply on a serene spring night“¹ (烟雨海棠花，春夜沈沈酌, Yān yŭ hăi táng huā, chūn yè shěn shěn zhuó)…” She pinched the baby’s red, moist cheek. “Since he was born in this season, let’s call him Shen Zhuo. I hope he will be a bit smarter in the future.”

After a pause, she chuckled with some amusement.

“If he isn’t smart, being good-looking is also fine. If he is neither smart nor good-looking… then let him be happy.”

“Being a happy little fool is fine too, Shen Zhuo.”

Thirty years ago, Shen Ruzhen might not have imagined that, among these three expectations, the only one Shen Zhuo would never fulfill in his life was the lowest one.

An indescribable feeling welled up in Bai Sheng’s heart. He looked at the baby, who only knew how to cry, and his smile slowly faded, replaced by a slight, complex bitterness.

He turned to look to his side but couldn’t see Shen Zhuo, who, like him, had no physical form in this memory world. However, he could still feel the steady grip of Shen Zhuo’s hand, their fingers interlaced and palms pressed together.

“…”

Bai Sheng squeezed his hand tightly, trying to convey a bit of comfort through the gesture. As he raised his head, something suddenly caught his eye, and he was momentarily stunned—

In the large mirror embedded in the wardrobe opposite the cradle, a shadow appeared.

It was Extraterrestrial Spirit Entity 001!

Had it escaped from the laboratory?!

There were no facial features on the shadow to discern what it was looking at, but Bai Sheng could instantly tell it was staring intently at the baby in the cradle, as if it would not blink if it had eyes.

He Yin hurried in with chicken soup and a bottle, concernedly urging his wife to drink the soup while it was hot. He skillfully picked up the baby, soothing and feeding him. Young Cameron watched the baby drink milk with an undisguised look of disdain. None of them noticed the eerie, sinister scene in the mirror behind them.

The shadow, silent and soundless, gradually faded and disappeared from Bai Sheng’s sight.

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  (烟雨海棠花，春夜沈沈酌, Yān yŭ hăi táng huā, chūn yè shěn shěn zhuó)