After Being Parasitized by a Monster 43

Chapter 43: Do you want to try it with me?

“Who did you hear it from?” Jiang Dexin asked back.

She had stopped first, and Cheng Ming had followed.

Perhaps because she had not brought her glasses when she had gone out, and her vision was blurry, she had squinted her eyes as she had looked at her. In addition, with the backlight, she had looked even more deep and unfathomable.

“Professor Jin Xia,” Cheng Ming replied.

They were a distance apart, and their shadows under the lights were stretched and straightened, clearly demarcated.

The authority of a deputy researcher might have been enough, but Jin Xia, who had given her the promise, had disappeared.

An abnormal meeting, inexplicable words, a mysterious note… the paper had already been burned, but the string of numbers was like a poisonous snake that was wrapped around her heart, leaving a deep brand.

The other had not given her a contact method, and her office was completely empty, with nothing left.

She had found her students who were working at the research institute and had asked to see their teacher, but the final reply was that the professor had gone on vacation and did not want to be disturbed, and they could not contact her either.

It was too strange.

Even, the time the other had applied for retirement was just a few days after they had parted from that mysterious room 10143.

At that time, Jin Xia had told her that she could go and find her.

Such a certain tone showed that she had absolutely no intention of leaving the research institute in a short period of time… what on earth had happened?

Cheng Ming couldn’t figure it out. She only felt that there was a huge mystery in front of her, like a vortex in the dark, and it was rolling and writhing, wanting to swallow her.

She could only start from Jiang Dexin’s side.

“Teacher Jiang, how much more do you know about my mother?”

According to Jin Xia’s description, this teacher of hers had a much deeper connection with her mother than she had originally thought.

The streetlights had no temperature, but her gaze was as bright as fire, as if it could ignite and burn through the night, and would not stop until it had achieved its goal.

Meeting such a gaze, Jiang Dexin was silent for a long time and sighed, “I know what you want to find out… Cheng Ming.”

She had called her by her full name.

Before answering her question, she had started with such a beginning—

“Although there has been no clear document about the incident five years ago, in fact, there has been a conclusion a long time ago. The higher-ups believe that it was a premeditated revenge by a highly intelligent mutated creature on an outstanding scientist. Your mother and the others, the chances of survival are not high… do you understand?”

It was very effective.

Cheng Ming was like being doused with a basin of ice-cold water in the middle of winter. She pursed her lips and gritted her teeth, and her muscles and bones were trembling slightly in the night wind.

Of course she understood. In the law, a person who had been missing for four years could be declared dead.

She was just unwilling to face it.

For a smart child, a single hint was enough.

Jiang Dexin moved her gaze away and unconsciously caressed the silver bracelet on her wrist, and she narrated her memories:

“I met your mother in university, to be precise, it was my undergraduate and her graduate studies. The same biology major, and we were assigned to the same dormitory. Like you, she had skipped grades to study, and I was older than her, but her grade was higher than mine…”

Cheng Ran’s family conditions were not so good, and she was not very familiar with the big city. In Jiang Dexin’s eyes, the other’s image had always been that of a reclusive genius.

Later, when their relationship had become close, she had only then known that Cheng Ran was not reclusive, nor was she arrogant, but was simply too focused on her own academics.

“At that time, she had wanted to change her name, but the city center was too confusing, and she was afraid that she would not be able to come back, so she had asked me to go with her…” as Jiang Dexin spoke, it was as if she had seen the scene of that year again, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Cheng Ming: “Change her name?”

“That’s right. Her original name was Cheng Buran.”

Jiang Dexin stared at the lingering lights and the night scene that stretched into the distance, her gaze long. “I still remember to this day, the student’s speech at the opening ceremony. In the end, she had talked about her motto on it, and had said, to enter this world and be stained by this body.”

“As expected of someone who had once studied literature, her words are really beautiful.”

She squinted her eyes and smiled faintly, her voice low and slow, like an old, dusty record, which was not playing a pleasant or unpleasant music, but just nostalgia.

Dust not stained.

Dust stained.

As Cheng Ming listened, her attention also drifted away in a daze. Following Jiang Dexin’s narration, she had passed through more than thirty years of time and had seen the high-spirited and talented young person.

These were all things she did not know.

The life of her mother that she did not know.

“Later, she got married and had you. Her career was already on the right track, and she had free time. You had come into her life plan. But later… you also know what happened later.”

From here, Jiang Dexin’s tone had gradually changed from relaxed to heavy.

“Your health was very poor. She needed money, and she needed a way to get better medical conditions. It just so happened that that project had a lot of rich people investing in it at that time. I didn’t have time, so I recommended her…”

Cheng Ming immediately asked, “What project?”

“What else could rich people be interested in? Research on ways to prolong life,” Jiang Dexin smiled. “I don’t know the details. After all, by the time I wanted to participate, the project had already been called off and had died prematurely.”

Because, not long after, in 2143—the ocean nuclear pollution had broken out.

This had almost become the first place in the world to establish a defense center. The level four biosafety laboratory, which had been invested in a huge amount, had been requisitioned on the spot, and the biological research institute and the logistics security department had been established one after another.

The researchers who had participated in the original project had been recruited on the spot.

When the goal was crowned with the name of all mankind, the individual was too insignificant.

“She was even busier after she was transferred to the research institute. It was about the safety of tens of thousands of people, and the fate of mankind. She was under the pressure of countless experimental tasks and was at her wits’ end every day. At that time, the protective equipment was not yet perfect, and she was afraid of radiation, so she couldn’t go home at any time. On the contrary, she had even less time to take care of you, so much so that later, you had that kind of accident—”

That is, because of a persistent high fever, her central nervous system was damaged, and she had completely become a vegetable, and was almost declared brain dead by the doctor and was to be buried on the spot.

“She has always been very guilty for not taking good care of you.”

Jiang Dexin looked at her and said, “I don’t know if you have ever complained about her, but you should understand that she loved you very much.”

Although, it seemed that small love and great love were always contradictory.

“I don’t have children, but based on my understanding of her, I can imagine that her greatest expectation for you was a stable life and a stable life. It would be even better if you could inherit her ideals and complete her unfinished career, but no matter what, she would not be willing to see you like this now…”

As she spoke, she turned her head, wanting to judge from Cheng Ming’s expression how to give subsequent advice.

But before more words could come out, she was stunned.

Cheng Ming was standing in place, and the light was reflecting a little bit of crystal clear on her eyes and cheeks.

She was already in tears.

“But, Teacher Jiang,” she murmured, “she didn’t give up on me for twelve years. This is only the sixth year. How can I give up on her…”

…

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about how much of the truth she told.”

“You don’t believe her?”

“No…”

It was late at night. Cheng Ming pulled herself out of her deep thoughts and sat up.

In the dark, the mycelia slid from her waist to the bed. “I just feel that she must have hidden something.”

It was already twelve o’clock at night.

The bedroom lights were not on, and only the very faint light from outside was quietly passing through the sheer window. The pendant was hanging on her chest, and the red seashell seemed to be glowing on its own. It was swaying with her movements, like an external heart that was beating lightly.

Jiang Dexin did not want her to face danger, and would not tell her everything.

They had talked a lot tonight, and Cheng Ming was quite happy to know more stories about her mother, but there was not much useful information.

Her last question was—

“Teacher Jiang, do you know about mermaids?”

The answer was no longer important.

Just like her answer when she had fooled Jin Xia, the other had said without thinking, “I’ve heard of it. A mythical creature that is half-human, half-fish?”

It was impeccable.

She once again regretted that she had not studied psychology, and that the light was not good at night, so she could not see clearly if the other’s expression had changed for a second.

If this parasite was her mother’s work, where had she gotten it, when had she put it in, and what was her mentality and purpose…

Cheng Ming held the small “heart” on her chest, and her own heart was as if it had been squeezed, and it was sore and astringent.

She thought of Jiang Dexin’s advice to her not to be too immersed in the past.

Every word was still ringing in her ears.

She had thought that everything she had done was to go back to her mother’s side, but could time really go backwards? She was afraid that in the end, she would find that the so-called growth was just a constant break with the past, and a constant farewell to old friends.

The physiological signs were always direct. The suppressed emotions had caused a change in her hormone levels, and the cortisol and adrenaline were stimulating her blood pressure to rise and her breathing to accelerate… Xiao Ming could clearly feel her sadness.

She rested her head on her knees, like a fetus curled up in its mother’s womb.

The dead silence was like a curtain that had blocked all sounds.

Staring at a fixed point in the dark corner for a long time, Cheng Ming belatedly realized that it was too quiet.

At this time, even if the room was not noisy, her mind was noisy. But now the Fish-Fungus was quiet, and she didn’t know what it was up to.

She glanced at the phone screen in the corner, and click, click, click, a line of words appeared in the input box.

The mycelia had secretly opened the browser—

【How to comfort a partner who is in a bad mood?】

The first answer that popped up was: companionship.

Cheng Ming: “…”

This parasite was like a pseudo-human who had just invaded the earth from an alien planet. It was very focused on searching for a human learning manual, so focused that it didn’t even notice that its host’s attention was also focused.

Xiao Ming had roughly browsed through it and said to her, “I understand you…”

“What do you understand? You don’t have a mother.”

Cheng Ming was very impolite.

Xiao Ming: “…”

It had failed before it had even started.

Xiao Ming: “Mom.”

“…”

Cheng Ming was choked at once.

A huge question mark appeared on her forehead. The bedroom was even more silent than a dead silence.

She pressed her brow hard, trying to endure it. After a long time, she finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

She was both angry and amused as she cursed it, “You’re so shameless!”

“You’re smiling.”

It was not ashamed.

The mycelia instantly became active. They brushed past the bedsheet, and like a cluster of living threadworms, they arched into her palm through the gaps between her fingers. Just as her hand had moved slightly, they had entangled even tighter, and were doing their best to show their presence.

They were meticulously practicing the concept of companionship.

“Speaking of which,” before Cheng Ming could shake it off, it quickly entered the second stage—distraction. “Don’t humans reproduce through the union of two sexes? Why have you never mentioned your paternal parent?”

It was a second time. Cheng Ming once again felt that the world was filled with question marks—

Wait a minute, only those who are doing plant hybridization would call the two parents the maternal and paternal parent, right?

Isn’t this knowledge a bit too miscellaneous?

She rubbed her forehead in despair and ignored its unparalleled creativity. “There’s nothing worth mentioning.”

Cheng Jin might have been a good scientific researcher—although most of the time, Cheng Ming felt that he was just basking in Cheng Ran’s glory—but he was really mediocre as a father.

Compared to Cheng Ran, Cheng Jin had paid much less attention to her.

He was probably a very typical father. He was silent and indifferent all his life, and the biggest impact he had on his child’s life was that one sperm, which was less than one ten-thousandth of the meaning of a mother.

It seemed a little unfilial to describe it this way.

However, she felt that as a family, it was already very rare for both parties to be so polite and to get along peacefully.

In her earlier memories, Cheng Jin had not even been indifferent to her, but could be said to be disgusted. Perhaps he was annoyed that she had caused too much trouble for the family.

Given that books always portrayed a father’s love as being as vast as a mountain and as deep as the sea, when she was a child, she had been convinced that Cheng Jin was not her biological father. For this reason, she had very naively asked Cheng Ran:

“Mom, Mom, why could you give birth to me by yourself? You’re so amazing!”

She still remembered the complicated expression on Cheng Ran’s face at that time.

She didn’t know what had happened at that time, but she vaguely remembered that it seemed to be that day, after Cheng Jin had come home, the two of them had had a big fight.

After that, his attitude towards her had gotten better.

And then, when she had grown up and had had more contact with the outside world, Cheng Ming had suddenly discovered that, oh, it turned out that the books were fake. As long as he didn’t hit, scold, or point fingers and show his “masculinity,” he had already defeated more than 95% of human fathers… she had been relieved since then.

However, for a parasite with an insufficient level of socialization, these concepts were still too abstract.

“So strange,” Xiao Ming said with emotion. “Animals have single-parent and dual-parent modes of raising their offspring. Humans are said to have dual-parent parenting, but most people also default to the mother being mainly responsible for raising the child… in that case, why is the dual-parent system still advocated?”

Even though the actual situation in many “normal families” was widowed parenting, the secular concept would still look at single-parent families with a strange look.

“…”

Cheng Ming opened her mouth but said nothing.

This discussion was a bit too profound. She had studied biology, but she had not yet studied human sociology.

“I don’t know…” her thoughts were unknowingly led astray, and she asked, “Then how do you reproduce?”

It was only after she had asked that she felt that something was wrong.

Where did “you” come from? Where did it have a kin?

There was no place for it in the five-kingdom classification system.

“I also want to know,” this monster was excited, and the mycelia were twisting in her hand. “Do you want to try it with me?”

Cheng Ming: “…”

Cheng Ming pulled off the mycelia and ruthlessly refused, “Different species, reproductive isolation.”

…

At the beginning of June, after a series of reviews, evaluations, and review meetings, the application for a deputy researcher was approved.

At this point, it had not yet been a year since Cheng Ming had become a research assistant.

Not surprisingly, she had set a record for the fastest promotion.

It usually took more than three years to be promoted from a research assistant to a deputy researcher, but those with a recommendation from a senior researcher or with outstanding contributions in a special field could apply for a special promotion. It was clear that Cheng Ming met both criteria.

The result was as expected.

But the moment she had really received the news, a restless ripple had suddenly risen in her heart, like a stone rolling into a still pool, thump—

“Employee ID 7086, Comrade Cheng Ming, congratulations on becoming a deputy researcher of the mycology research team. Please go to room 25013 in the North Building before June 13th to complete the following procedures…”

She had read this short notice back and forth three times, and finally, she had turned off the screen, had looked up, and had let out a light breath.

She knew that this would be a new beginning.

The warm breath brushed against the wall of the car. Through the blurry glass, she saw the vast and boundless ocean. The elevator was going up, heading for a brand new field.

250th floor of the North Building.

An even more strange height, she could see a further sea level, and there were basically no buildings that blocked her vision.

The sea surface under the sun was rippling with a thick, asphalt-like golden wave.

She looked into the distance, and at this second, she couldn’t help but think that if one day the seawater could return to its clarity, then perhaps, she would have a part in it.

The tediousness of research was beyond doubt, but when measured by human history, the romance, purity, and sublimity of research were also beyond doubt.

“Is persuading others to sacrifice themselves for the greater good a form of brainwashing?” Xiao Ming said, ruining the atmosphere. “Isn’t this very anti-human?”

A living being’s nature was to seek life, but their discipline required the individual to yield to the group, and even to sacrifice themselves.

Cheng Ming was not angry. She faced the sea and said with a light laugh:

“It can also be understood from a biological point of view, and can be attributed to the selfish genes of the group. When facing a disaster that risks the extinction of the race, it is natural that individuals with this ‘sublime consciousness’ need to stand up to ensure the continuation of the race.”

Ding. The elevator had arrived.

After leaving the hall, she walked towards her destination.

Although the functions of the various areas between the different floors were very different, from the outside, the basic structure of the corridor was the same.

She had passed three access controls along the way, and the walls on both sides had changed from a flat, white surface to a complex structure that was sometimes inlaid with glass or metal. Only then did she suddenly realize that room 13 was not a conference room, but a laboratory.

After passing through another high-tech biometric channel, a more normal door appeared in front of her.

Seeing the door plate number clearly, she went forward and knocked.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and a delicate, smiling face poked out first.

The woman in a strange, flowing material one-piece suit saw her chest tag and immediately grinned. “Cheng Ming? Welcome, come in.”

She followed the other in, and the first thing she saw was an experimental table. The space was orderly, and there were four or five people who were also dressed in the same clothes. Hearing the sound, they all turned their heads and smiled at her:

“Welcome, welcome!”

A strange enthusiasm… the smile made her hair stand on end for no reason, and she was a little tempted to take out her phone again to confirm the location.

Just as she was hesitating whether to feel her pocket, Cheng Ming’s gaze was fixed.

Opposite her, behind these people, and through several huge glass walls that went from the ceiling to the floor, she saw the dense “threads” with their coiled branches.

Slender, dark green, as dazzling as a gem, and also as soul-stirring as a ghost, it had made her unable to look away.

Buzz. A loud noise in her head, and she was so dizzy that she was dizzy—

That was the algaefungus that had wanted to kill her and take Xiao Ming away last November