Volume 1, Chapter 7: The Unrepentant Brothers

While the two brothers had committed many misdeeds in the past, they were ultimately nothing more than petty thefts. This was their first time stealing someone’s wealth and taking a human life. To say they weren’t panicked would be a lie.

However, rumors had been circulating that Island 9-22 would be submerged by the sea in four or five years at most. With only their own meager abilities, there was no way they could earn enough points for two ferry tickets in such a short time. They had no choice but to take desperate risks, targeting the elderly living alone and children without guardians.

This time, they had simply been a bit too ruthless.

Regretful? Not in the slightest. At most, they felt a bit of fear—fear of being discovered, fear of retaliation, fear of losing their credits, and a lingering anxiety toward the unknown.

Li Duocai, who had been somewhat flustered, felt his nerves steady the moment he saw his older brother, Li Duoshun, trembling in fear. "What are you afraid of? She’s just a little girl. Even if she’s possessed by a ghost or has come back from the dead, what can she really do to us? We’re two grown men; are you telling me we can’t handle a little girl?"

Although they had sustained some new injuries from the girl during the incident, those were merely the desperate struggles of someone on the verge of death. If her final resistance only resulted in such minor wounds, she was even less of a threat in her normal state.

Li Duoshun remained uneasy, but he didn't want to dwell on the supernatural. He changed the subject. "What if she goes to report us? Will the shelter send guards to arrest us?" If they were caught, the few points they had scrimped and saved would likely be confiscated. That was exactly why he feared being exposed.

"There are so many people killing for treasure, and none of them have faced consequences. With the pittance we stole, do you really think they’d come after us? Besides, the girl didn't even die! Even if she reports us, without proof, there’s nothing they can do. Stop being such a coward!"

Seeing that his brother remained silent, Li Duocai reached out and draped an arm over his shoulder. "At the very worst... we’ll just find another chance to finish her off once and for all."

Li Duoshun looked up at his brother, whose confidence had suddenly surged. He wanted to say something but ultimately kept his mouth shut. He didn't want his brother to accuse him of being paranoid. Besides, he felt his brother was right: given how frail and stick-like that girl was, if they could kill her once, they could do it a second time. There was nothing to fear.

Once he reached this conclusion, Li Duoshun asked, "When should we make our move?"

Li Duocai glanced at the pile of items in their cave. They hadn't finished testing the batch of leaves they had gathered that morning; they couldn't put the cart before the horse and lose out on points just to kill someone. "How about this: we finish testing this pile, and once the sun goes down and it's safer to go out, we’ll sneak over and find an opportunity to take care of her. Once she’s dead, we’ll just toss her into the woods to feed the mutant animals. It’ll save us the trouble of disposal."

"Agreed!" Li Duoshun silently vowed that this time, he would make sure Lin Yuyu disappeared completely, leaving no chance for her to return.

Lin Yuyu was, for the moment, unaware that anyone wanted her dead. She was currently lost in thought, staring at a rabbit that had seemingly "staged an accident" right in front of her.

She had been sitting on the ground, weaving a fishing net and a basket, when something suddenly lunged at her. It had bitten her calf without ceremony. Before she could even let out a gasp, the creature had collapsed and lay motionless on the ground. If this wasn't a setup, what was?

Picking up a stick, she flipped over the animal that had curled into a ball after its "accident," and Lin Yuyu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

A dog? No, wait—it was a rabbit! A rabbit the size of a small dog. But wait, did the rabbits here eat meat?

Lin Yuyu was stunned. She poked the rabbit for a long time, but it showed no reaction. She had to reach out, check its breathing, and feel its neck. It took her a while to realize, in a daze, that the rabbit was actually dead.

The rabbit bit a human, the human was fine, but the rabbit was poisoned to death by the human’s blood and flesh? So, human meat was poisonous after all?

After a fist-sized hornet, a multicolored pheasant, and a green snake as thick as her calf also collapsed around her, she finally remembered something she had forgotten. For a few minutes earlier that day, she had transformed into a deep-sea jellyfish. Most deep-sea jellyfish were venomous; perhaps after she merged with the original owner’s body, she had become toxic as well. That explained why these animals died the moment they touched her.

So, she was the one who was poisonous—and she alone.

Once the logic clicked, Lin Yuyu felt an immediate sense of relief. The idea that all humans were poisonous had just been a stray, bored thought she’d toyed with. But she had let her imagination run wild, and in doing so, she had terrified herself.

Just imagine: if everyone around her were poisonous, and they accidentally bumped into each other, or if saliva sprayed into someone’s mouth while talking, everyone would drop dead in an instant. How terrifying! How would she ever dare to leave the house, offend anyone, or do anything other than endure abuse without fighting back, hiding whenever she saw someone? That would be a miserable way to live.

If only she were poisonous, then it was fine. She wouldn't have to live in constant fear. Hahaha...

Wait, that wasn't actually good news either. If this were the case, could she even go to a hospital if she got injured? If someone discovered her unique condition, wouldn't she be captured as an anomaly and dissected for research? In novels, people captured for research were sliced up piece by piece, trapped in a fate worse than death. Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.

She pulled the cloth wrapped around her tighter. Lin Yuyu silently made a vow: she would ensure, absolutely ensure, that she kept her skin, fur, and dander well hidden. They must never fall into anyone’s pot, bowl, or mouth. Otherwise... if those people were finished, she would be finished too!

Looking down, her gaze fell upon the meat-eating creatures lying on the ground, and her lingering anxiety immediately shifted. Could she eat these things that had been poisoned by her? Could she? Should she? Perhaps she should boil one and see?