223: 5.33 Darkest Nightmare

5.33 Darkest Nightmare

The ward Yves was in was a similarly private ward as Lu Yizhou, albeit a little smaller. Hence the cramped and straight hallway where he needed to go straight in order to make their exit. Lu Yizhou had no idea how many parasites had snuck their way in but on every intersection, there would be at least one who jumped in on them. The number of Lu Yizhou's bullets was rapidly declining and his body was splattered with green substance all over. Until when he finally ran out of ammo, he opted to throw the empty gun altogether and use his fists instead.1

Terra's presence was a silent anchor beside him. They fought back to back, watching over each other whilst Lu Yizhou mentally calculated where they should go for hiding. As much as he worried about Doctor Wyatt, going back to him was a big no and he couldn't go to where people were either. They were practically living targets and the parasites would follow wherever they went. Lu Yizhou had no problem doing everything alone, but Terra was with him. He couldn't risk his lover's safety. 

"Terra, are you okay?" He asked without looking back and received a brief grunt in response. "Hold on for a while, okay? Do you know where we can hide for a while?"

This time Terra tugged on his shirt and Lu Yizhou looked sideways to see the guide mouthing 'rooftop'. Lu Yizhou blinked. "That's a… good idea." If they were lucky, they could lock the rooftop door and take a short break. Below was a crowd of police, army and reporters. Lu Yizhou could get them to spread the air mattress in case they were going to jump. Either way, they would be able to escape safely. "Come on!'

The two wasted no time to run to the nearest emergency stairs so that they could directly climb to the highest floor. As Lu Yizhou had expected, the area was empty but as soon as they climbed one floor, the door burst open below them and a horde of parasites came in. Once again, Lu Yizhou cursed under his breath. He picked up his pace all the while scanning his surroundings warily. 

It was at that moment that the corner of his eyes inadvertently caught sight of shining metal reflected by the lightbulb overhead. He looked down and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he saw Joshua — bloody, eerily smiling Joshua — was pointing a gun toward them from two floors below. Where the fuck had he gotten a gun from?!

Lu Yizhou had no time to ponder on the question. His brain geared up to its maximum and in his calculation, he could indeed dodge it but in exchange, Terra would— The warning hadn't even fallen from Lu Yizhou's lips yet when a gunshot erupted. Lu Yizhou only had the time to tilt his body sideways and the sudden movement caused him to crash against Terra behind him who slipped and stumbled on his steps, landing on his butt a few steps below. 

"Fuck…"

Terra snapped his eyes up at the hoarse curse and his blood instantly ran cold when red filled his vision. Blood, blood, blood, there was so much blood running down Lu Yizhou's face to the ground. The man was covering one side of his face whilst checking on Terra, his eyes searching. "Are you okay?"

Terra's lips moved soundlessly, unable to tear his eyes away from the gash on Lu Yizhou's right cheek that went over his eyelids. His vision was swimming and it was like he was transported into his deepest and darkest nightmare. One moment he was still an eleven years old child who witnessed someone dying in front of him and the next moment, he was in a forest covered in snow, a man in light blue robe in front of him. There was blood on the man's body, so much blood, and Terra could do nothing but watch him fade away. 

Lu Yizhou looked between Terra and the parasites back and forth, cursing. After a split second consideration, he decisively picked Terra up into his arms and sprinted up the stairs. Terra's eyes were blank as he held onto Lu Yizhou's shoulders and he was only brought out of his reverie at the continuous gunshots that sounded close, only missing them by an inch or two.

His eyes instantly zeroed in on the perpetrator. Joshua. 

After firing the last two shots and emptying his gun load, Joshua clicked his tongue irritably and flung the gun away. When he turned his gaze back to them again, his green eyes glinted oddly and that was the only warning Terra got before he felt a pinprick of pain stabbing into his body.

Spiritual manipulation!

Sentinel and guide's spiritual manipulation held the same basis even though their execution was completely different. If sentinels used it to block any sensory perception on themselves and to restrain others, guide's spiritual manipulation was designed to sway, to influence. It was a double-edged weapon; if managed well, it could calm even a group of raging sentinels but the parasite was clearly controlling Joshua's body to give the opposite effect.

—To make a sentinel lose their mind. 

Lu Yizhou missed a step and promptly fell on his knees. As a result, Terra slipped away from him but as much as he wanted to reach for the guide again, he couldn't find it in itself to move. He was taken off guard by the sudden surge of spiritual elements in his senses. Colors burst behind his eyelids and the light around him seemed to stab his eyeball, the pain shot straight to the nerves on his head. Sounds exploded in his ears, so many voices, so many footsteps, so loud so loud so loud. The scents around him were overwhelming; rancid, bitter, foul, it caused him to wheeze, unable to take a single breath into his lungs. Lu Yizhou cradled his head with his palms and let out a pained groan, every single nerve in his body was frayed as if caught on fire. 

[666: Host! Host, put up your barrier! Right now, Host!]

Lu Yizhou wanted to, but every move he made, even just the flow of spiritual elements in his body, sent excruciating pain to every inch of his body. He had never thought that he would feel this kind of pain again. It was like that time, a long long time ago, when those people flayed his skin bit by bit, cut into his flesh and let him bleed, pushing past his limit again and again and numbing his pain perceptor, waiting for the time when he would finally break down and snap.

"You must hold on," they said. "There is no place in this world for the weak."

And Lu Yizhou gritted his teeth. Endure, choosing to bend rather than break. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him react as how they expected him to.

The sound grew muted into faint murmurs and all colors turned into black. He couldn't see, couldn't feel and couldn't hear anything. He was sinking, sinking and kept sinking. It was a boundless abyss.

In the next second, a voice pierced through the mist in his mind, bringing with it the burst of light that illuminated the dark. "Lu Yizhou!"

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