VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 954: Lost Mortal Ties

Yi Qing and Vanilla raced downstairs, desperate to rush back for Ye Shisan, when he caught up, cradling You Long’er, shouting: “What’re you staring at? Run!”

Vanilla nearly sobbed: “Uncle Shisan!”

Yi Qing snapped at Ye Shisan: “What was that stunt? That was Elder Eon’s lair! You could’ve died!”

Ye Shisan grinned: “Worried about me? Elder Eon went all-out—his nest’s empty now. But you, Vanilla, weren’t you supposed to stay in the car?”

Vanilla stuck out her tongue: “Tch! Without me, you’d be done!”

Ye Shisan and Yi Qing spun on her, yelling: “Spill it, kid! How’d you make a bomb?!”

Yi Qing added: “Magnesium powder and hot water—simple, deadly, not something most would think of!”

Vanilla fessed up: “Fine, fine! Professor Pi taught me. He was a chemistry expert, remember?”

“Old Pi?”

“His body’s buried in the back garden…”

Ye Shisan frowned: “So Nether Crone was telling the truth… Everyone in the asylum’s long dead.”

Yi Qing blinked: “But… I checked with HQ, they said—”

“Reports and data don’t cut it without boots on the ground. Even I wouldn’t have noticed without Nether Crone’s hint!”

As they spoke, Dong the Guard strolled up, swinging a patrol flashlight, grinning: “Shisan, in a rush?”

Ye Shisan ignored him, hustling everyone to the car, settling You Long’er, and peeling out.

Dong the Guard scratched his head, muttering: “What’s their deal?”

The car sped from the asylum onto the highway. Yi Qing couldn’t hold back: “Ye Shisan, what happened in there? Why’re they all dead?”

Ye Shisan gave a bitter smile: “Dong the Guard said Old Pi died in an accident months after I left. Truth is, Old Pi was forced to death while I was there—for a special chemical formula!”

Yi Qing frowned: “If Old Pi died, how didn’t you know?”

“Hear me out. After Old Pi died, his personas broke free, latching onto other patients’ minds. Then Elder Eon devoured one, took their body, and hijacked the whole asylum!”

“It faked Old Pi’s survival, and under his final will, held a hearing to release me. I don’t know if Old Pi planned it, but since then, the asylum’s been a trap—no one leaves!”

“Elder Eon ate nurses, doctors, then every patient, but they didn’t know, thinking they were alive. Like Dong the Guard, still ‘patrolling,’ when they’re just tendrils of Elder Eon…”

Yi Qing nodded: “No wonder they hired loners, no families—perfect for Elder Eon to prey on!”

“Yeah, in just over a year, it consumed over a hundred people! Worst part? Elder Eon’s not from this planet. At its growth rate, it could become a nightmare.”

“No need to worry,” Yi Qing said. “I’ve called in a special unit. They’ll handle it—with fire, right?”

She glanced at Vanilla: “Little fairy, your turn. How’d you know Old Pi?”

Vanilla recounted her encounter, then handed Ye Shisan a notebook: “Professor Pi told me to give you this.”

Ye Shisan opened it. A letter was tucked inside:

Ye Shisan, my friend, by the time you read this, Old Pi’s long gone.

You know it’s not just the mad locked in asylums. Take Old Wang, Wang Haiping—a simple farmer. Where’d he get the cash for hospital stays? Branded a lunatic for resisting land grabs.

He Jun, three generations of railway workers. If not for a foreign relative’s inheritance and a powerful cousin, he wouldn’t be here.

I never told them. Human minds are fragile. Truths like injustice or betrayal by kin are too much.

They’re like me—sane. My body’s just… special, a magnet for Anomalies. No need to explain—you’ve felt it, returning here.

Yes, A-Ben, one of my personas, sensed an Anomaly in you.

We’re the same kind.

Don’t follow my path. Stay away from humans—they see us as monsters.

Keep your distance from Elder Eon, my nightmare persona.

One last warning: steer clear of Touxiang Village!

—Your friend, Old Pi

Ye Shisan closed the notebook, skipping the rest.

Yi Qing, driving, noticed his grim face: “What’s up? What’d Old Pi write?”

“Old Pi told me to avoid Touxiang Village.”

“What? Isn’t that where we’re headed?”

Vanilla piped up from the back: “Uncle Shisan, how’d Professor Pi know you’d go to Touxiang Village?”

That hit like a bolt. The key question!

A professor locked in an asylum, dead before Ye Shisan’s release—how’d he know Ye Shisan would return to his birthplace, Touxiang Village?

Ye Shisan mused: “Maybe A-Ben’s divination. Old Pi said A-Ben was a medium. Could be Old Pi foresaw this… But if it’s that dangerous, I should go alone.”

Yi Qing slammed the brakes, furious: “What’s that mean? Think I’m scared?”

Vanilla jumped up: “Uncle Shisan! Don’t ditch me!”

Only You Long’er stayed quiet. Yi Qing and Vanilla glanced at her, slumped in the back, eyes closed, mumbling: “I’m beat, done talking. Ye Shisan, leave me behind, and I’ll geld you with a knife!”

Her words were harsh, no trace of her usual haughty pitch. The low growl carried a fierce edge.

Ye Shisan sighed: “Fine, but we set rules. You stay put when I say. Anyone pulls a stunt like today, I’d rather get hacked to death!”

You Long’er shifted to a comfier position, murmuring: “Ye Shisan, as a man, you’re terrible at words.”

Vanilla nodded, backing her: “Yeah, Uncle Shisan thinks too much of others. Think about yourself! Like, where we sleeping tonight? I saw a ghost, I’ll have nightmares—I’m not sleeping alone!”

Yi Qing felt a chill, slamming the brakes again. In a tone brooking no argument, she declared: “All four of us sleep together!”