I pressed myself against the back of the elevator, not daring to even breathe.
The moment the doors slid shut, he suddenly whipped out a utility knife and slashed toward my lower left ribs!
The car was packed, making it impossible to dodge. However, the crowd worked in my favor; I managed to twist my body just enough so that the blade only grazed my arm. It was the kind of knife used for sharpening pencils, and my hospital gown was fairly thick, so the blade only managed to break the skin. Still, it was enough to incite panic. Women began to scream, and a burly, bear-like man shoved his way between us, bellowing at the attacker, "What do you think you're doing?!"
The attacker didn't even look at the man. He just kept smiling at me.
"You can't run," he said.
That slightly mocking yet refined tone was exactly the same as Zhang Litian’s.
The moment the doors opened, I bolted. I couldn't stay in this hospital for another second.
But as much as I wanted to run, someone was intent on stopping me. My classmates—the ones who had clearly undergone some terrifying transformation—were already waiting for me in the lobby.
And they were armed.
The lobby of the inpatient building was only about thirty square meters. Beyond the glass doors lay the sunlight; I told myself I had to break through, even if I had to ram my way out. With that single thought, I lowered my head and sprinted.
I slammed right into someone.
I’d been known to swing a brick or two back in middle school; if it came down to a fight, I was prepared to take a few of them down with me before I kicked the bucket. The moment I hit the person, I tried to pivot to the side while simultaneously aiming a kick at their knee. To my shock, all my evasive maneuvers and attacks were neutralized by a simple grappling move. I was hoisted up by the collar of my hospital gown.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ren Xing’s displeased voice drifted down from above.
Holy hell. In that moment, the stern, upright voice of the People's Police sounded like a choir of angels!
I immediately latched onto his arm. "Save me!"
Ren Xing realized something was wrong. Since most administrative business was handled in the outpatient department, the inpatient lobby was relatively quiet. At one or two in the afternoon, there weren't many people around. The sight of those students surrounding me with makeshift weapons made the atmosphere feel like a gang war about to erupt. Ren Xing stepped in front of me, shielding me. "What kind of trouble have you gotten into now?" he asked tonelessly.
"Can't you see?" I hissed. "Look at their eyes!"
Just as I said that, the elevator chimed. Another wave of them stepped out. For God's sake—these ones were clutching scalpels of various sizes. Fortunately, Ren Xing was actually carrying his service weapon today. He was a total badass; he drew his gun and flicked off the safety in one fluid motion. "Everyone, stay where you are."
No one listened.
Ren Xing remained on high alert, guiding me backward, but our retreat was cut off. I heard him click his tongue. He was in a difficult position; he couldn't actually open fire on students, yet a handgun clearly held no deterrent power over the people closing in on us with scalpels. They slowly tightened the circle.
Then, the twenty or so people forming the ring spoke at once.
"Hand him over."
They spoke in perfect, chilling unison.
I was scared out of my wits. I had just dreamt of my classmates having holes drilled into their heads, controlled by that hideous thing in the center of the altar, and now, in reality, it seemed their souls had been replaced. That dream definitely hadn't been just a dream. Had Jin Mu told me to take the stairs to warn me—to tell me that their bodies had been snatched by something dangerous?!
And the soul behind them, the one that kept mocking me... was it that dark green tentacled monster I saw in the dream?
Was it trying to silence me because I’d seen its true form?
Thank God Ren Xing was here. He was a true model of the People's Police; his grip on the gun didn't tremble in the slightest as he gave them a cold, three-word response: "Not a chance."
He followed that up with a rapid-fire question. "What exactly are *you*?"
He said "you," singular. Not "you all."
The crowd across from us curled their lips into a synchronized, subtle smile. Then, with a casual flick of a hand, Ren Xing was sent flying through the air! He soared halfway across the lobby before slamming heavily into the hospital's price list board. He and his gun crashed to the floor together. He rolled a few times, unable to stand, and I heard a groan of pure agony.
Are you kidding me?!
Officer, you can't be serious!
There were twenty-odd scalpels pointed right at me! They were going to slice me up like a vegetable!
I immediately prepared to abandon my teammate. I just needed to find a gap and run. They were after me, anyway; they probably wouldn't bother with Ren Xing once I was gone.
But when I reached the door, they didn't chase me. I couldn't help but look back.
Not far away, the group was frowning, their expressions shifting to one of displeasure. "He's here," they muttered.
Then, those twenty-some people scattered into various corridors, vanishing instantly like raindrops soaking into the soil.
Less than three minutes later, my roommate walked through the door, carrying a container of duck blood vermicelli soup.
I was struggling to help Ren Xing up. He wasn't in good shape; his arm seemed to be in a lot of pain, but he insisted on heading out. I asked him what he was doing—we were in a hospital, after all, so he might as well get his arm checked—but he didn't say a word. He stubbornly dragged me a few steps forward, leaned down to retrieve his gun, and tucked it back into his waistband. I was speechless. *You have a mouth, don't you? Just ask for help, stop being so distrustful.*
My roommate walked over, his lips pressed into a thin line. He handed me the soup and then shouldered his way in front of me to support Ren Xing.
"What happened?" he asked.
Ren Xing and I exchanged a bitter, knowing look.
"Now," Ren Xing said, "I finally understand what you meant when you said you didn't know how to explain things."
I didn't say it out loud, but I suspected Ren Xing and I were wondering the same thing. When they said "He's here," were they referring to my roommate? And if so, what exactly was my roommate?
However, I realized that regardless of what he was, I wasn't particularly afraid of him. Subconsciously, I felt he would never hurt me. Besides, look how powerful he was! He’d scared those twenty-odd hive-mind freaks so badly they’d scrambled away, even though they’d just swatted a police officer against a wall like a fly. My roommate was amazing.
Seeing us exchanging looks without speaking, my roommate didn't press for details, though he looked unhappy. With him there, even the hospital seemed less ominous. We walked through the corridor toward the adjacent outpatient hall, intending to get Ren Xing’s arm looked at. The hallway was fairly empty, with only the three of us. As we walked, my roommate suddenly asked me, his voice tinged with a strange caution, "Do you like him?"
"Huh?"
My roommate looked at Ren Xing, then lowered his head, stealing a few glances at me.
I was momentarily dazed. What kind of question was that? Which of his eyes saw an improper "male-male" relationship between us? And even if there was something, couldn't he wait until we were alone to ask? Ren Xing was right there! This was way too direct.
I could only thicken my skin and pretend I hadn't heard him. I tried to introduce them. "This is Officer Ren. He’s the one who took our statements the night Old Chu died. He’s been to our dorm before, don't you remember..."
My roommate looked impatient. He asked again, "So, do you like him?"
I realized then that my roommate was the type to get to the bottom of things no matter what. I decided not to waste any more breath beating around the bush. "I don't."
My roommate nodded with the expression of a supervisor who was grudgingly satisfied with an inspection.
I thought that was the end of it, but then he turned to Ren Xing. "Then are you the one pestering Ye Xiao?"
Ren Xing was also a stubborn one. Even though he was being supported by my roommate, he kept his chin up and ignored him. In response, my roommate actually stopped in his tracks and shoved him against the wall. He gripped Ren Xing’s throat with one hand and lifted him off the ground. That strength was nothing like a normal human fight; Ren Xing was six feet tall, yet my roommate held him up as easily as if he were holding a chopstick. It looked effortless, as if he wasn't even trying. Ren Xing’s face began to turn blue.
My roommate’s voice dropped an octave, turning cold. "I am asking you a question."
Ren Xing couldn't budge my roommate and had no way to defend himself. Likely feeling humiliated, he tried to reach for his gun. "This is... assaulting an officer..."
My roommate slapped the service weapon right out of his hand.
The corridor here was curved, with blue glass windows on both sides. I watched as the gun flew in a straight line, moving so fast it didn't even seem to drop, before slamming into a window with a loud *crack*. It became completely embedded in the glass. With a series of sharp snaps, a massive spiderweb of cracks radiated out from the gun.
Holy crap!
Stop it!
I’d always had bad luck with romance and never had a girlfriend, so I’d never sat through those pink-bubble-filled romantic dramas. I had no idea how girls usually handled it when two men fought over them.
Besides, this wasn't even a fight! What kind of freakish strength was that?!
I didn't have time to scream or cover my face. My first instinct was to rush forward and try to pull my roommate away. But he very calmly freed one hand and gently pushed me back to arm's length, looking like he was still ready to take a bite out of Ren Xing.
I couldn't move him. Fearing for Ren Xing’s life, I had to try and talk the officer down. "Officer! My roommate is just a bit emotional right now! Just explain it and it'll be fine!"
Ren Xing clawed at his own neck over my roommate's hand. Only then was he willing to speak. "I... I'm not gay..."
My roommate frowned, stealing a slightly awkward glance at me.
In my desperation, I pinched him. "He's not gay! Officer Ren has a girlfriend!" I made that last part up.
My roommate pondered this for a long time. I pinched him again before he finally lowered Ren Xing to the ground. I immediately grabbed my roommate and ran—what if the hospital made us pay for the window? Ren Xing didn't chase us; he was probably busy digging his gun out of the wall. In the end, we didn't help him register. My roommate pulled me over to a deserted flowerbed and sat me down. He opened the duck blood vermicelli soup and busied himself breaking apart the disposable chopsticks. "Eat. Then we're going for a CT scan."
"I don't want a CT scan."
"Then we won't," my roommate said, fiddling with the chopstick wrapper without looking up.
After all that excitement, I was actually hungry. I began to wolf down the noodles. "Why did you leave without saying anything... I didn't see you when I woke up."
My roommate started pulling tissues from his pocket. "I wanted you to have something to eat when you woke up. So you wouldn't be hungry."
I felt like there was something slightly off about the way he said that.
*Feed.*
He continued to say these flirtatious things with such a pure, innocent face that I couldn't tell if he was serious or joking.
"What?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Nothing," I said strainedly.
Leaving me alone in this terrifying hospital just to buy me soup... I really couldn't accept that as a valid excuse.
I focused on eating my soup while my roommate stood up. He walked to my left and stared at me for a while, then circled to my right and stared some more. Left stare, right stare. Finally, he reached a conclusion. "The sun hasn't even set, and you're already scared. That means I have to stay with you during the day, too. If you can't find me, you'll throw a tantrum, right?"
He leaned in close and tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
***
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My Roommate is a Non-Human | Chapter 12 | A Jealous Protector | Novela.app | Novela.app
