After Being Parasitized by a Monster 33

Chapter 33: You’re beautiful even without clothes.

Han Xuhua and Cheng Ming had almost completely opposite personalities.

She disliked cultural classes, and biology was one of the subjects she often neglected. As the class representative, Cheng Ming couldn’t just ignore it… That was how the two of them first came into contact.

At first, their relationship was probably similar to the classic good student and troublemaker, mutually disliking each other. Their inner evaluations of each other were—

“The teacher’s lackey” and “not even a dog would care.”

Until they unexpectedly met during a wall-climbing incident.

A certain person who had to take a shortcut because she was late was squatting on the wall, like a wild and untamed stray cat, warily watching the people passing by.

But Cheng Ming just glanced at her and continued to walk forward as if she were blind.

Han Xuhua was surprised and called out to her, “Aren’t you going to report me to the teacher?”

Cheng Ming was baffled, “What does it have to do with me?”

In her youth, she was even worse at maintaining interpersonal relationships than she was now.

Han Xuhua jumped down and asked incessantly, “Where are you going?”

She didn’t quite believe her, afraid that this good student was the type who was one thing on the surface and another behind her back.

Cheng Ming said with a blank expression, “What does it have to do with you?”

Han Xuhua: “…”

Was this the legendary all-purpose sentence that could answer most of the questions in the world?

And then, they both unexpectedly found that the other was quite comfortable to be around, quite to their liking.

Cheng Ming found that she didn’t have any ulterior motives like asking questions or copying homework when she approached her—this girl had no self-awareness of learning at all. And Han Xuhua found that she didn’t meddle in other people’s business at all after shedding the shell of a class representative. To put it nicely, she had a strong sense of boundaries. To put it bluntly, she only cared about herself.

However, their relationship stopped there, and they were not close. It was just that Han Xuhua often called her “class representative” without any restraint, or would playfully flick her hair every time she passed by.

In short, their three years as classmates were quite pleasant.

After that, they went their separate ways.

Han Xuhua, not surprisingly, gave up the path of changing her destiny through knowledge and threw herself into the arms of a military academy. Although she still had to suffer from schoolwork, at least it was a way to survive compared to doing academic research.

After going their separate ways for many years, they had come full circle and met again at the Defense Center.

Her world was very new and distant to Cheng Ming.

But some people just had this ability, as if they would never change, and there would never be a gap.

Listening to her ramble on, the long years were leisurely smoothed over, as if it were just the end of a winter vacation, and after this meal, they would meet again on campus.

They exchanged their recent situations. As they were chatting, her second aunt brought over the dishes and interjected, “What a pretty girl, do you have a boyfriend?”

And then the topic was led astray.

“Oh yeah, are you seeing anyone?” Han Xuhua asked with great interest.

This should be the Spring Festival, not spring… After Teacher Jiang, she was unexpectedly hit by a second wave of questioning, and Cheng Ming almost choked.

She coughed a few times, helplessly put down her chopsticks, and looked up at the person opposite her, “I might not be interested in men.”

She said it quite tactfully.

“Huh?” Han Xuhua was stunned for a moment. She met her straight gaze and, as if enlightened, understood something. She tucked her hair behind her ear and was inexplicably a little shy. “Then, then what do you think of me—”

Huh?

This time, Cheng Ming really choked.

This joke had gone too far. She was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.

Did you misunderstand something… you definitely misunderstood something!

“I’m not interested in people.”

“Ah—” Han Xuhua dragged out the sound, with a look of deep regret. “Then you…”

She was about to ask something else when, whoosh, Cheng Ming stood up.

The bowls and chopsticks clattered together. She said apologetically, “I’m going to the restroom.”

The shop was a renovated residence, and the bathroom was also in the style of a normal home, a single room, and very clean.

Cheng Ming walked in and locked the door. She looked at the mirror in the sink and frowned, “What are you doing?”

She wasn’t the one who had just spoken.

The parasite inside her had suddenly spoken, and it had startled her.

Xiao Ming was quiet for a moment, then said, “Let’s go back. I’m just a little uncomfortable.”

Except for the time she had faced Qu Ying, this was the first time it had interrupted her in front of an outsider. Cheng Ming was already a little angry, but when she heard this, she was stunned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“…”

It was evasive, and the more she asked, the more it fell silent.

Cheng Ming became even more anxious and lowered her eyes. “Let me see.”

She had always been worried about what side effects the medicine might have. Unfortunately, she could only confirm that her own body was fine, and she never knew its condition.

She wanted it to show its original form.

Silence lingered in the locked space. She didn’t know how much time had passed before it called out to her in a low voice, “Cheng Ming.”

It was like a wisp of smoke rising from hot water, light and moist.

She looked over, and it was warmer outside the door. The mirror was slightly misty, and so through the light mist, she saw her own, or rather, “her” eyes.

A floating light flickered in the depths of her pupils, like a lake during a downpour. From this point, the surrounding skin also gradually rippled, and the fluorescent blue fine scales spread and flowed.

The siren hidden under her flesh and blood slowly revealed itself.

It was truly beautiful.

She looked at it, held her breath, and sighed silently.

It was probably the common reaction of all biologists when faced with a magnificent and strange creature. Cheng Ming was a little dazed.

She had already seen it once, and seeing it again, it was still so breathtaking. Her gaze was like being trapped in a swamp, unable to pull away.

It also looked at her, without blinking, its soul-stirring gaze blurring the line between the sacred and the demonic.

Knock, knock—

A knock on the door interrupted their gaze.

“Cheng Ming? Are you okay?” Han Xuhua asked from outside.

She didn’t knock very hard, but to Cheng Ming, it was like a balloon exploding by her ear, making half her head numb.

She suddenly came to her senses and was shocked to find that she was already very close to the mirror. She suddenly took a big step back, as if she had encountered a flood or a fierce beast.

The beautiful and strange fish scales quickly disappeared under her skin. Her chest heaved a few times, and she evened out her breathing. She closed her eyes and leaned against the door, replying, “I’m fine.”

Returning to the hall, the rest of the meal was tasteless.

Unfortunately, the person opposite her was careless and couldn’t tell. She was still constantly putting vegetables in her bowl.

In the end, it was Cheng Ming who suggested leaving first. She apologized and said with a smile, “This one’s on me. Let’s make another appointment next time, and remember to treat me back.”

“Huh? Do you want to take some back for a late-night snack?”

Han Xuhua was not a picky or pretentious person and had no objection to this arrangement, but she was puzzled as to why she was in such a hurry.

I think what’s left is not enough for you to eat… Cheng Ming was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry and declined her kind offer.

Watching Cheng Ming leave, her second aunt, who had been watching for most of the day, finally came over and nudged her with her elbow, gesturing meaningfully, “Hey, she’s not interested in men.”

“She’s not interested in people either.”

Han Xuhua’s shoulders trembled, and she hugged her bowl and shrank into a corner.

…

Cheng Ming was in a hurry to return to her apartment.

The parasite was silent all the way, which made her very uneasy.

Finally arriving at her destination, she slammed the door shut, threw down her coat, and walked into the inner room of the bedroom.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

Another long silence.

Xiao Ming did not answer directly, but asked an irrelevant question, “What does it mean to be in a relationship?”

“Why are you asking that?” Cheng Ming’s heart skipped a beat.

It was very abnormal.

It had been very abnormal all day.

Of course, she knew that she was also a little abnormal.

Ever since it had woken up.

Ever since the dozens of days of silent isolation.

Ever since she could no longer face the mirror with ease.

Cheng Ming’s expression couldn’t help but become gloomy. “Can’t you look it up yourself if you don’t understand?”

“I did.”

Under her gaze, it used its mycelia to hold the phone and read out the information on it, word by word.

“It is usually used to describe a relationship between partners who are dating and may consider living together in the future. From an emotional perspective, they will share joy and sorrow. From a social perspective, they will show a tendency for intimacy that is different from ordinary friends. From a life perspective, they will handle trivial matters together. From a life perspective, with the vision of spending a lifetime together, they will grow and change, and support each other…”

She seemed to have a premonition of what it was about to say, and her heart rate quickened.

Every word, every sentence, was like a flame that burned her heart. She wanted it to stop talking, but that would seem too much like she was trying to cover something up. She could only, in her heart that was about to burst, hear it continue to ask—

“So, are we partners?”

This question was so abrupt and bizarre that for the first moment, besides being stuck, she couldn’t give any decent response.

“No!” Cheng Ming denied it flatly.

“Why? Every point is very consistent with our current state,” it said. “You even wanted to kiss me.”

This matter was finally brought up. In an instant, Cheng Ming wished she could turn into a liquid and evaporate.

“That’s sophistry!”

She didn’t know how to reasonably refute it. Her speech was too fast, and her voice was too sharp. She couldn’t get enough oxygen, and her breathing became rapid.

“Alright…” Xiao Ming’s voice lowered. Cheng Ming thought it was about to express its grievance, but who would have thought that it would then say such a thing—

“Then you will never have a partner.”

A cool, gloomy tone.

The eyes of the person in the mirror were cold and heavy. When they looked out of the mirror, they made one’s heart tremble slightly.

“What do you mean?” her breathing slowed.

When humanity was faint and shallow, the paranoid, cruel, and selfish bestiality was particularly distinct, and it even aroused Cheng Ming’s instinctive vigilance. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

Not wanting to see those eyes again, she stepped back, avoiding the full-length mirror, and sat on the edge of the bed.

This monster that resided in her body had never been a good person.

It was just that they had been at peace for too long, and she had forgotten the bloody battles she had had with it.

She stared at the blank wall and slowly repeated, “What do you mean?”

“Literally,” it said softly. “If anyone is closer to you than I am, I will kill them.”

This possessiveness…

Besides being shocked and absurd, Cheng Ming inexplicably found it funny.

She really laughed, with a hint of sarcasm, “Who could be closer to me than you?”

How much closer could they get? Chew her up and swallow her?

“So, why can’t we be partners?” it asked stubbornly. “Is it because we’re missing one step?”

“What?” Cheng Ming’s smile faded, and she didn’t understand.

Its choice of words was very strange, and it gave her a sense of danger for no reason.

Her body felt a little cold. She wanted to get her coat, but just as she was about to move, she found that she couldn’t.

“What are you doing?”

She panicked.

It was unbuttoning her shirt.

One by one, like secretly picking cherries from a branch, it was clumsy and unfamiliar, but the secret joy and excitement could not be concealed.

Until its hand slid further and further down, Cheng Ming completely understood, “You stop—”

Before she could finish, a low cry escaped her lips.

Her own hand, her own skin, she should have been the most familiar with. However, when her fingertips brushed over those soft curves, she was jolted by the cold.

She couldn’t control her limbs, but her five senses were not deprived. On the contrary, when her body couldn’t move, all her senses were more sensitive.

Especially her sense of touch.

Not just her hands, but the hair that hung behind her shoulders also began to writhe on its own, wrapping and climbing up her body. The tips of the mycelia seemed to be covered with dense suction cups, leaving ambiguous red marks along the way.

“Mmph…” she panted rapidly, tears welling up in her eyes, and she cried out in a panic, “Stop!”

“You clearly want me. I could feel it in front of the mirror in the shop.”

With a tone that could be described as sexually frigid, it analyzed the shameful and infuriating fact, word by word—

You desire me, so I am now fulfilling your wish.

The room was as if it were isolated from the whole world, absurdly quiet, with only her, or rather, their breathing, clearly audible.

The mirror was not facing the bed, but the mycelia, which were so flamboyant that they had almost crawled all over the bedroom, slid over and turned the full-length mirror around.

And particularly maliciously, it brought it a little closer.

Cheng Ming’s eyelashes trembled, and she raised her eyes in a panic. In her chaotic and hazy vision, she had never seen herself look so charming.

The mirror reflected a naked female body, her long legs crossed and lying diagonally, her curves winding, and her figure was well-proportioned. Under the cold light, her skin was so white that it glowed.

But this white was soon occupied by black. The silk threads were everywhere, wrapping and twisting, like pure snow being defiled—desire and passion now had a stark, visible canvas.

Her face was flushed, and her heart was beating beyond its limit, so violently that it seemed to be about to jump out of her chest. All she could hear was her own panting.

“You’re beautiful even without clothes.”

It sighed.

“…”

You didn’t say that before! Cheng Ming really wanted to curse it, but she had no strength.

She couldn’t tell who was in control of her body.

Like a boat tossed by the wind and waves that needed an anchor, she tried her best to reach for something, but when she flipped her hand, she didn’t touch the bedsheet, but grabbed the dense mycelia, was pulled back, deprived of her initiative, and dragged into a new round of tossing and turning.

She also couldn’t tell if this feeling was hers or its.

The same body, their heartbeats intertwined, their hormones fused, and the neural signals were like surging fireworks. She didn’t know whose thoughts were influencing whom, and whose single thought could trigger whose passion.

She wanted to deceive herself, but it spoke, “You’re very comfortable, why don’t you admit it?”

And so Cheng Ming gritted her teeth and sobbed intermittently, “You, shut, up!”