CH 22.2

Chapter 22.2 – Changes

Lu Tinghan was always busy when he was out, even replying to text messages would take a long time, not to mention two phone calls a day.

Or video call.

After accepting the call, a soft ball of Shi Yuan wrapped in a quilt appeared on the screen.

And Lu Tinghan, who Shi Yuan didn’t know where he was at, was wearing a military uniform, sitting in the bright light. The battle lasted for a day, but he was not tired. There were waves in his eyes that had not yet subsided – it was not easy to detect, but it was almost a belligerent light.

According to Su Enqi, Lu Tinghan was born for war, regardless of talent or character.

A commander who would get more and more courageous, tireless, and tough in battle was a nightmare to the enemy and a natural enemy to the monster.

When Lu Tinghan saw Shi Yuan, his emotions subsided.

He asked: “How are you doing today?”

Shi Yuan opened up the chatterbox and talked about the troupe as usual. He said that he cleaned up the backstage and found a lot of things. For example, the flower crown that Qin Luoluo had been looking for two months. He also emphasized: “I donated 20 yuan to Lady Isabella!”

“Quite good.” Lu Tinghan paused. “How about that thing in the morning? Still afraid?”

“I’m not afraid,” Shi Yuan replied.

Lu Tinghan obviously didn’t believe him: “Show me your tail.”

Shi Yuan hugged his tail and showed Lu Tinghan: “Look, it’s not knotted at all.”

A lively, smooth, and flat-scaled tail was indeed very convincing.

Shi Yuan can lie, but his tail can’t.

Lu Tinghan’s expression eased: “How come you’re only afraid of people and not monsters?”

“Hey, I said that a long time ago, it’s my anthropophobia,” Shi Yuan said. “But when will you be back?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Oh,” Shi Yuan thought for a while. “I listened about your battle on the radio for a long time today. You have to come back soon, no one is touching my head anymore.”

—This was indeed a very serious problem for Shi Yuan.

Lu Tinghan agreed, and they said good night to each other.

Two days passed like this, with constant battle reports on the radio.

Lu Tinghan and Su Enqi commanded together, destroying infected groups from multiple fronts, often winning big victories and losing by accident. It’s a pity that the fog lasted for a long time, slowing down their progress.

“I’ve never seen such a long fog,” Qin Luoluo said as she combed her hair in front of the vanity mirror, holding a hair tie in her mouth, “It’s like the world is about to be destroyed.”

Tracy said: “I like fog because I can play hide and seek.”

Cheng Youwen hummed: “Everyone doesn’t want to go out in foggy weather. Look at our tickets, the audience has dropped by 30% in the past two days. Yesterday, the little brat from the neighbor’s house couldn’t see the road clearly while riding a bicycle. He knocked on the steps and got four stitches.”

A few people were chatting, and Shi Yuan was in a daze on the side.

Everyone quickly realized his silence.

Qin Luoluo said in a low voice: “He must have been frightened by the monster, otherwise, why would he talk so little?”

Cheng Youwen: “Then he reacted too slowly. He was scared two days ago, but he only reacted now. How long is his reflective arc?”

Qin Luoluo asked rhetorically: “Don’t you think it looks like what Shi Yuan could do?”

Cheng Youwen: “…also.”

“Ah, what are you thinking?” Xia Fang crossed his legs. “His man is on the battlefield, can he not be anxious? Besides, the recent public opinion situation is not very good for his man—it’s that newspaper thing.”

Shi Yuan was indeed in a bad mood.

He hasn’t seen his human for three whole days. Yesterday, Lu Tinghan told him that he couldn’t come back on time, and he wouldn’t be able to catch the first snow to see the snowdrops bloom.

Without company, Abyss will become sad.

After get off work, he took the bus home.

The vehicle swayed forward until the road was blocked by people, and there was a lot of noise. He looked ahead and saw a large crowd of black marchers.

They held up a sign: [Oppose the power of the Watchers!]

[Don’t put our destiny in Lu Tinghan’s hands! Today’s bloody case is a wake-up call!]

[Why believe him? Why make every command a game with the devil?]

[We are not without a choice. General Su Enqi is not too old, support General Su in taking power!]

Shi Yuan had never seen so many marchers.

“…I heard that Editor-in-Chief Liu is dead,” a passenger whispered to a friend. “It happened 3 hours ago, and he couldn’t be rescued. It’s so pitiful…”

“Ah, no wonder,” the friend replied. “No wonder they are so angry.”

The marchers occupied the small square and the main road, and all public vehicles were unable to leave.

Shi Yuan walked to the car and said to the driver, “Hello, can you open the car door?”

The driver looked at him for a while: “Do you want to get out of the car now?”

“Well,” Shi Yuan said. “I want to go home.”

The driver opened the door, Shi Yuan got out of the car, and several passengers followed behind him.

He walked forward and walked into the marchers. He clearly saw the expressions of anger or perseverance on their faces… “Never compromise” was written in their eyes. They gritted their teeth, and they all wanted to pull Lu Tinghan off the horse.

Shi Yuan was very confused.

On the one hand, he felt that these people seemed reasonable. After all, it was reasonable to worry about a potentially dangerous person in power. Shi Yi was a living example.；

On the other hand, he remembered what Wang Yu had said, and everything he had secretly checked on the Internet about Lu Tinghan: Lu Tinghan guarded the city, many times, starting from when he used the military terminal when he was a Watcher, to returning to the city after leaving his post and visiting the battlefield in person, he won large and small battles, many of which were life-and-death battles.

They said that Su Enqi was getting older, and the Alliance decided to disperse his military power and cultivate new talents.

They said that Lu Tinghan refused to take power at first, but the Alliance granted him the right to command, allowing him to sit in this position step by step.

After all, when Lu Tinghan went to be a Watcher, he was ready not to be promoted and not to be an official for life. It was the Alliance who was reluctant to throw away such a talent like Lu Tinghan, so they took the initiative to break such a big example.

It’s still that sentence: No one knows why he wants to be an Abyss Watcher, and no one knows why he wants to guard the Abyss No.0.

Assuming that Lu Tinghan followed the rules and followed the process, all these contradictions should not have existed.

Shi Yuan walked in the crowd, sadly curling up his tail.

He really wanted to tell these people that he was really a good abyss, never infected creatures, and of course, he would not affect people’s minds. But no one would believe him, and if he confessed, he would only be killed as a monster.

He had no way to prove innocence for his human.

Through the mist, he saw a woman with a distorted face, and she shouted angrily: “The bloody case is already in front of you, why can’t you see it yet?! All Watchers in the city will be infected, and Lu Tinghan is still in high-frequency contact with monsters, how can he not be affected by them?! If he brings selfishness to his command, we all have to die.”

There was another man with blue veins on his neck: “How can such people be trusted, how can any normal person understand the thinking of monsters! One day he will be compelled by this kind of thinking, and then he will become the most terrible enemy! From the very beginning, he was not on the side of humans!”

The loud voices mixed together and made a lot of noise.

Shi Yuan didn’t dare to listen carefully, there was always the same picture in his mind.—

He remembered, in that early morning when no one was around, how Lu Tinghan walked alone into the fog. The fog was really terrifying, as if it was going to drown the world, but Lu Tinghan would not be afraid nor would he hesitate. Perhaps, there were many times when he moved forward like this, leaving the stable city and facing the most bloody gore and terror.

He remembered again when he and Lu Tinghan were standing side by side on the balcony. The night was too deep, he heard the death knell ringing over the city, three times, powerful and sad. Lu Tinghan didn’t say anything, but Shi Yuan felt that he was still a little sad.

He felt that no one hoped for the safety of mankind and the prosperity of the city more than Lu Tinghan.

A counter-argument soon came forward.

A passer-by shouted: “It is enough that he can lead us to victory and defend the city! This risk is completely acceptable!”

Several marchers stopped and surrounded him: “General Su can also win the battle, he is enough!”

“Su Enqi is getting old, and one day, he won’t be able to fight!” the man shouted. “When he is gone, will there be anyone in the entire Alliance who can compare with Lu Tinghan? Who else can be the general? You give up eating for fear of choking, you want to die, I don’t want to die yet!”

Another female passer-by bit her lip and said timidly: “This city was also guarded by General Lu… I think he is very good…”

The scene became more and more chaotic, the rebuttals and the marchers roared at each other and cursed each other, almost turning into a chaotic battle. The security team soon came, the fog obstructed their view and called their eviction plan very unsuccessful.

No one noticed Shi Yuan.

In the noise, Shi Yuan heard the song.

Strange, ethereal songs, large swaths of it drifting in from the wilderness.

…something is wrong.

The song approached quickly.

Shi Yuan grabbed a person and told him, “The monsters are coming, hurry up and hide.”

The other party spat on the ground: “How can you even come up with such a bullshit reason?” He knocked off Shi Yuan’s hand and continued to shake his arms and shout, “20 years have passed, and the peak of infection has not come again! The kind of monster tide that is enough to destroy the city? I have never seen it again!”

“Now is the best time! Take advantage of the favorable situation and dismiss Lu Tinghan. There are so many talents in the Alliance. It’s normal for another genius like him to come out. It’s not because of him, we can afford to wait!”

“Yes!” Someone next to him echoed him. “Now is the best time! Remove Lu Tinghan! We…”

A sharp siren sounded across the sky.

The argument came to a screeching halt, the action froze, and the world was suddenly put on pause.

The siren was louder and more piercing than any that had come before, a black alert of the highest order.

Among the countless frightened and stunned faces, someone murmured: “It’s them…they’re here…”

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**TN

Give up eating for fear of choking – be put off easily by a slight risk