After Being Parasitized by a Monster 8

Chapter 8: A childhood too beautiful seems to be a misfortune of its own.

At one-thirty in the morning, the bedroom light went out. Cheng Ming was asleep.

But Qu Ying hadn’t left.

She sat silently in the rocking chair next to the bed until Cheng Ming—no, Xiao Ming—on the bed opened its eyes, turned its face, and greeted her expressionlessly:

“Hello… oh, no, should I say, long time no see?”

“Don’t try to get chummy with me.” Qu Ying leaned forward and sneered in a low voice, “Professor Cheng Ran kindly spared your life, and this is how you treat her daughter?”

“I am saving her.” Xiao Ming didn’t even blink as it uttered a ridiculous, strange, and unverifiable statement. “I could never harm her.”

“That sounds ironic.” Qu Ying’s lips curled in contempt. She stood up, a strand of lackluster mycelium dangling from her fingertips. Her narrowed eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of ice, unfathomable and dangerous.

“I will keep this from the higher-ups for you, but I have already entered your information into the system. Don’t try anything funny.”

It was a threat.

Straightforward and easy to understand, very considerate of a fledgling parasite that probably didn’t yet understand the twists and turns of the human mind.

Xiao Ming turned its head back to face the ceiling and closed its eyes. “She won’t let me move her body. You can go now. Goodbye.”

Qu Ying: “…”

Who said newborn monsters didn’t understand the human mind?

She almost laughed out of anger.

…

Her body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, yet her consciousness floated lightly.

Cheng Ming had a very long yet very short dream.

So long that she had walked a very, very long road and endured a great deal of hardship, with the small seashell in her hand being her everything—all her hopes, all her strength, and all her past.

So short that she didn’t even have time to see that person’s face clearly, to remember her voice.

“Mommy! It’s a heart!”

She held up the “treasure” she had found after digging in the sand for a long time, happily saying she wanted to give it to her mother.

Back then, the ocean was only in the first stage of pollution. The danger was far from what it was now; it was just that radiation caused biological deformities, the fishing industry was affected, and the economy had declined. Some saw a business opportunity and, under the banner of making up for the regret of the new generation of children who couldn’t see the sea, created artificial seaside resorts dozens of kilometers from the coast, selling expensive tickets to tourists.

The two Professor Chengs were engaged in ocean-related research, so Cheng Ming had “seen the world,” but like all children, she also longed to roll around on the beach, build sculptures, and hunt for treasure.

“Hey, it really is! My baby is so amazing!” Cheng Ran was amused. She lifted her high, held her on her lap, and nuzzled her dirty face. “What does my baby want to be when she grows up?”

She clutched the seashell, as proud as if she had found a rare treasure, her little feet kicking up and down, her hands waving. “I want to be a great scientist, just like Mommy!”

Later, this gift, exquisitely packaged, its sharp edges smoothed, coated with a protective layer, and strung on a silver chain, found its way back to her.

A childhood too beautiful seems to be a misfortune of its own.

It made her willing, even if it might take a lifetime, to try to re-embrace the warmth of that memory, which had long since become a fleeting illusion.

…

“What did you dream about? Crying so sadly.”

Cheng Ming was patted awake.

Faint light filtered through the sheer curtains, brushing across her face like a feather. It was dawn.

She opened her eyes and saw a pair of beautiful woman’s eyes up close. In a daze, she struggled to recognize them, and finally realized, ah, it wasn’t her mother.

It was Qu Ying.

Most of the time, the other woman carried an air of someone who had been through wind and rain, to the point of being seasoned and impersonal. It was rare to see such gentle concern.

She wiped away the liquid that was blurring her vision and laughed softly. “It was a good dream.”

…

After changing her clothes and washing up, Cheng Ming came out of the bedroom and saw Qu Ying squatting in the living room, sorting through items. She suddenly felt a little emotional.

As expected, the more one sees, the more one’s psychological tolerance is pushed.

Having learned about the other’s non-human side, no matter how mysteriously this sister appeared in her home without warning, she accepted it well. As for privacy, she had learned to let it go since she had been entangled with the parasite.

She even suspected that if she went to work later and found Jiang Dexin turning into a sea cucumber, seaweed, sea lily, or something else right in front of her, she might not even care… Of course, it was better not to.

“This is a nutrient supplement, and this is an inhibitor.”

Qu Ying showed her small vials and sealed syringes, their appearance quite discreet, like insulin pens.

“One for intravenous injection, one for intramuscular injection. I’ll demonstrate once for you. Watch carefully and feel the effects.”

She unwrapped the package and shook the solution in the vial. Cheng Ming sat down on the sofa and cooperatively extended her hand, watching her operate.

“There are three more spares. Their expiration dates are three months, six months, and two years from now. You can decide when to use them.”

The nutrient supplement needed no explanation. It replenished various nutrients and directly provided small molecules that promoted cell division and differentiation, helping her in emergency situations. For example, right now, she had to rush to work and see people, but she still had some minor external injuries that hadn’t fully healed.

It worked quickly. Cheng Ming turned her hand over and saw some faint scars disappearing, and the dull ache in her bones was also significantly relieved.

When it was time for the other injection, Qu Ying gestured for her to lift her clothes, opting for an abdominal injection.

“An inhibitor?” Cheng Ming obediently sat up straight, hesitating for a moment. “Does it inhibit the monster itself or its abilities? It consumed a lot of energy yesterday, will it…”

Qu Ying knelt in front of her, her wrist pressing down on the rolled-up hem of her clothes, and administered the injection. “Who cares if it lives or dies.”

The drug was injected and held for ten seconds.

Qu Ying looked up and asked her how she felt.

The needle brought a slight stinging pain, and her hand on her belly felt strangely cold. Cheng Ming savored the feeling again and again, then shook her head with a blank expression.

Then, she saw her “beautiful hair” falling out, strand by strand.

Cheng Ming: “…”

“You really need a wig now,” Qu Ying chuckled, pulling out the needle and glancing at the clock. “On me, it inhibits abilities. The whole bottle is 25ml, and it’s effective for about 24 hours, with a linear relationship to the dosage. It’s 7:35 now, you should make a note of it.”

Unwilling to face the reality of being bald at such a young age, Cheng Ming painfully forced herself to look away, squinting at the number on the empty vial—

“This thing, is every single one of them on record?”

Giving it to her just like that, wouldn’t it cause trouble?

“I’ve privately stashed dozens of these over the years.” It would be foolish not to take advantage of public property. Qu Ying raised an eyebrow, telling her to relax.

“Don’t throw away the packaging when you’re done. Keep it, and I’ll come pick it up when I have time.”

She stood up straight, her height accentuated, and reached out to press down on the top of her head, with a hint of personal emotion. “I’ll emphasize this one more time: if you have a problem, contact me. Xiao—” She paused, sighed slightly, and called her by her full name, “Cheng Ming. Without your mother, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Just think of me as your sister from another mother.”

Sister, you really are my dear sister… Cheng Ming blinked, took a silent breath, and smiled with a mix of helplessness and emotion.

“I know, Sister Yingying.”

Having someone to back you up versus going it alone was indeed a huge difference. She could finally stop worrying about surprise raids from the Security Department all day, and she had another means to threaten the parasite.

The inhibitor seemed to have a great effect on the Fish-Fungus. It was not very active for the next few days.

However, given that her “hair” grew back the next morning and would even “hand” her a towel when she called for it while washing her hair, she was inclined to believe that it simply didn’t want to talk to her.

A week later, Wang Qi was officially classified as a missing person.

One person’s light disappearance didn’t bring many changes to the Defense Center. The institute was as busy as ever, and Cheng Ming was preparing for her promotion. Among all the steps, the formal defense was just a formality, as the head of the judging panel was Jiang Dexin.

The crucial review was behind the scenes: the background check and the physical examination.

Since the Investigation Department had already come, the physical examination data was still within its validity period and could be directly entered. As for Cheng Ming’s background, it was undoubtedly clean and outstanding.

Having grown up under the influence of the two professors, she went to a prestigious university in a neighboring province at the age of 16 to study marine biology, a major specifically created for pollution studies. She completed her studies a year ahead of schedule and entered the institute as an intern.

A year later, she graduated from university and was promoted from intern to research intern.

Now, at 21, she was about to be promoted to assistant researcher, an intermediate title equivalent to a university lecturer.

Even though the retirement age for personnel at the Defense Center had been reduced to fifty-five due to the changes in the marine environment, and there was a trend of rushing the training of scientific talent worldwide, her resume was still impressive enough.

The review panel nodded frequently as they looked at her file.

This was also like an informal defense. Several “experts” with mysterious backgrounds chatted among themselves while asking Cheng Ming some simple questions. Beside them, two staff members, one entering data into the system and one keeping a paper archive, were at work.

Cheng Ming sat opposite them, answering cautiously.

She suspected that there were high-level members of the Security Department among them.

“Huh?”

The archivist leaned over to look at the computer, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise and looked at Cheng Ming—

“Why does your ID card show that you were born in 2140, making you 33 this year?”