Xin Nan frowned.
He hadn't expected that someone from the Materialist Bureau would be so dangerous!
This could no longer be simply described as being severely injured; it felt as if the other party was a walking bomb, filled with dark, negative emotions, and a terrifying thing had long since gestured within their flesh and blood.
At this moment, it was just at this time and place, due to this state, that this thing revealed its fangs beneath the iceberg, letting out a faint gasp towards the sky it had never seen.
However, before the somewhat stiff Xin Nan could respond, the malice that had just appeared abruptly vanished. The switch between the two was like a toggle; with a press, it would instantly reverse.
Unreasonable, incomprehensible, dare not glimpse.
That lazy and decadent feeling returned to him. The eyes on the youth's body closed one by one, and he soon returned to his normal human appearance.
If not for the faint traces left on his shoulders where Xin Nan had gouged out the eyes, if not for the two people who had fainted from fear lying on the ground.
Then perhaps no one would have been able to prove what had just happened here.
He had suppressed this brief split and loss of control.
Then Ye Lan became even weaker, and said in a barely audible voice:
"I thought you wouldn't be afraid. So you are. But don't worry, even if I really wanted to eat people, I wouldn't eat you. That little girl before was clearly much more appetizing than you."
As he said this, Xin Nan, who was to his side, could clearly see his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed.
Gulp.
"Heh, quite an ugly sight, isn't it?"
After this barely audible murmur, Ye Lan fainted.
At this moment, Xin Nan felt no fear, but rather a sense of sympathy.
Terrifying monsters naturally inspire fear, but the will that can suppress such monsters is also awe-inspiring.
In such weakness and loss of control, this man had likely pulled himself back from the abyss "again."
Xin Nan concluded that such a thing would happen again in the future.
If this was not an isolated case.
It would mean that the people of the Materialist Bureau were not only confronting those "things" but also their own mutations!
A sentence naturally appeared in his mind.
【We are guardians, and we are also a group of pitiful souls constantly fighting madness】
Ye Lan fainted.
After being severely injured and greatly depleted, and then fighting against his own mutation and split, he could no longer hold on.
Xin Nan stood up, walked past him, and looked towards the Hot Pot Restaurant in the darkness.
Inside, there was a mass of flesh, like a red heart, currently pulsing and emitting light.
After a glance at Ye Lan and careful consideration, he walked inside.
He dared to enter, not because of recklessness or greed for that thing.
But because the thing he saw with these eyes was in a very special state, and it did not feel dangerous to him.
Xin Nan approached quickly. For some reason, the light around the pulsing red object also brightened.
He saw the appearance of the thing clearly.
An indescribable mass of flesh.
It was alive, but in a deep sleep.
It appeared to be matter, but perhaps it was not.
It was emitting a strange hunger; even without contact, just looking at it made Xin Nan wish he could pick up the remaining flesh on the ground and eat it.
So hungry! I want to eat!
Xin Nan clutched his stomach.
As this thought was born in his mind, his gaze towards this mass of flesh changed.
His eyes immediately stung. The sense of danger, which had disappeared, became intensely sharp, as if warning him that terrible, terrible things would happen if he dared to eat it.
Xin Nan covered his mouth.
At this moment, perhaps because he had been staring for too long, vivid illusions began to continuously emerge from this mass of flesh.
It was a certain deep night, with the scent of rain in the air. After her divorce, she, who was traveling, came to this city from the north.
At night, still lost in that relationship and unable to sleep from silently weeping, she walked out of the hotel, wanting to take a stroll.
A hot pot restaurant caught her attention.
"A local delicacy I haven't tried before, let's give it a go."
She felt a bit hungry, and with that mood, she entered the hot pot restaurant. An enthusiastic waiter came to greet her, and she chose mild spice.
"Hoo! Hoo! So spicy!"
"But it's delicious, and very fragrant."
As she ate, the woman realized she no longer thought about that man.
Looking at the hot pot in front of her, she sat in a daze for a long time.
Another deep night, diners with rosy complexions crowded around the counter, giving the woman a thumbs-up.
"Boss Lady, your hot pot tastes amazing. Have you considered taking on franchisees?"
"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment. I haven't thought about franchisees yet, let's focus on perfecting the dishes, taste, and service first. I've recently improved the hot pot base, and it's about to be a success. Please be sure to come and support me then."
"Amazing, amazing! Your business can't possibly fail!"
In her own room, the Boss Lady scratched her hair, looking at the hot pot in front of her.
"No, why is there a bitter taste? Is it a problem with the spice preparation?"
"Still not right. Why isn't this flavor coming through? It needs to be more fragrant, more flavorful!"
It was a certain afternoon. A customer was making a scene, smashing the counter before leaving. The Boss Lady, who hurried over, didn't know what had happened. Suppressing the anger in her heart, she asked the waiter with doubt:
"What's wrong?"
"Boss Lady, a customer ate rotten meat, and in the brain flower..."
The Boss Lady's body instantly turned cold.
"And then what?"
"There were also... insects."
As if struck by lightning, the Boss Lady asked painfully, "How could this happen? Old Li's supply quality has always been very high."
The waitress's face turned angry. "It's Manager Zhang. While you were busy developing new hot pot, he switched to a cheaper supplier to pocket the difference."
"What!"
Even the cultured Boss Lady couldn't help but curse.
"Where is that scoundrel?"
"He ran off before you arrived."
"Damn it!"
The Boss Lady felt her vision spin.
Before she could recover, people from the Food Safety Bureau arrived.
Then came the suspension and rectification. Although it was proven to have nothing to do with her, the incident at the Boss Lady Hot Pot Restaurant inevitably affected her business.
After that came a long period of quiet business.
One day, a boy in a school uniform walked alone into the empty hot pot restaurant and began to order.
Xin Nan saw that face; it was himself.
"Ah! The landlord's handsome young man is here, please sit, please sit."
The Boss Lady, with a tired expression, greeted him enthusiastically.
Xin Nan sat alone in a corner.
These were all things that had happened in the past and remained in the Boss Lady's memory.
It was also the first time Xin Nan learned that his eyes had a tracing ability like this.
His mood suddenly became somewhat complicated.
Looking at himself from a bystander's perspective, the sight of him eating hot pot alone was truly lonely.
Soon, he finished eating and went to the counter to pay.
The Boss Lady said enthusiastically, "Young landlord, you're so handsome. I'll give you a 20% discount, sister's treat. Are you satisfied with the taste of my food?"
"It's very good. Also, the ingredients are very fresh."
The Boss Lady was stunned for a moment, then nodded:
"Indeed, our current ingredients are not even overnight."
No one could lie to Xin Nan.
At that time, he glanced at the empty hall and asked with doubt, "Then don't you lose a lot of money every day?"
"There's no way around it, but I believe that if I keep doing this, it will get better and better."
Seeing this scene again, Xin Nan remembered that the Boss Lady's eyes had a light in them back then.
The hot pot was something she was truly putting her heart into.
"I believe your business will definitely get better and better."
The Boss Lady smiled confidently.
"Come often. Sister will always give you a 20% discount."
Both the Xin Nan of that time and the Xin Nan watching this illusion now remained silent.
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