bayedsolid Chapter 400 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (11)
Chapter 400 "Infecting the World" - Male Mother (11)
Lu Liruan used one, and he handed her one.
Lu Liruan's consciousness was somewhat blurred at the moment. Everything she did seemed to be instinctive. Her mind was buzzing, but she could still hear Liao Tingyuan speaking to her.
Clear and gentle, yet seemingly able to penetrate all the noisy buzzing, allowing her to hear clearly and soothe her throbbing nerves.
Lu Liruan hoped he could say a few more words.
"Shall I help you stand up?"
As if sensing Lu Liruan's thoughts, Liao Tingyuan moved closer, his shallow breaths landing near Lu Liruan's ear.
Cool.
It was the same temperature as his body.
He put down the tissue box, reached out his hand to Lu Liruan, and then hesitated.
I don't know where to start.
Lu Liruan's vision was blurry at this moment, but she could vaguely see Liao Tingyuan's hand, and subconsciously reached out her own hand as well.
Like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood.
Drowning people, especially those who have lost their sense of self due to their survival instincts, will cling tightly to the person trying to save them, with a strength that is completely different from their usual strength.
Lu Liruan grabbed Liao Tingyuan's arm at this moment, just like that.
She strained so hard that her fingertips turned white and bloodless.
Liao Tingyuan was caught off guard and was pulled forward by her, but he quickly regained his balance.
Without any panic or impatience, he bent down and freed himself from Lu Liruan's haphazard grasping.
Without further hesitation, he wrapped his arms around Lu Liruan's armpits and lifted her from the ground like a child...
It was pulled up.
If it were a very short child, their feet would already be off the ground, being lifted up and held.
But Lu Liruan is at least a normal adult woman of normal height and weight.
So Liao Tingyuan simply lifted her up like a long strip, and she swayed unsteadily, unable to support her own body.
Liao Tingyuan considered the possibility that he could walk through the living room to the sofa.
He sighed and straightened his arm, raising it a little higher.
Then, taking advantage of the height difference between him and Lu Liruan, he picked Lu Liruan up easily.
His handsome face, though somewhat tired and listless, remained unchanged, without a trace of emotion.
It felt as if he were holding a hundred pounds of weight, which was so light that it couldn't put any pressure on him at all.
Instead of the easier princess carry, he simply lifted her up and carried her to the sofa like he was moving an enormous child.
Then gently and softly lower her down, even when her arms are tilted and bearing Lu Liruan's entire weight, she still lands smoothly and evenly.
His strength was unbelievable.
It was completely mismatched with his thin figure, and even had a somewhat inhuman and bizarre feel.
He looked at the glistening tears that had spread across Lu Liruan's face, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently caught a drop with the tip of his ungloved finger.
Warm, moist...
He rubbed the water droplet between his fingertips, and it dried quickly.
Those light gray eyes, now, seemed just like the ones Lu Liruan had seen yesterday—deep and sparkling, as if shimmering silver were flowing within them. He stared at his fingertips, lost in thought…
Lu Liruan let out a soft sob, but he immediately returned to normal, as if his actions had never happened.
In that instant, Lu Liruan was overwhelmed by an indescribable and irresistible sadness and pain, as if an invisible hand was twisting and squeezing her fist-sized heart, squeezing out all the blood inside.
Stop the normal pumping, let that immense pain and sorrow, along with the last flow of blood, surge into every part of your body, so sorrowful that you want to curl up completely back into the womb.
Hopefully this will alleviate the situation somewhat.
But it was completely useless...
Lu Liruan choked on her own tears, her throat filled with a bitter, aching sensation.
The only thing that could alleviate her pain was the hands that were holding her and the voice that was speaking in her ear.
At this moment, all other thoughts were gone; Lu Liruan only wanted to cling to the person who could alleviate her pain.
Lu Liruan's head was throbbing with pain, and everything before her eyes spun, fell, spun, spun... through her tear-filled vision.
When she fully regained her senses, it seemed that only the nerves in her brain had recovered at first, so she couldn't even feel her own body, as if she only had a head.
"It's okay, don't move, it'll be fine in a bit."
Lu Liruan heard the voice that had just relieved her pain and realized whose voice it was.
"you--"
Her throat hurt so much that it felt like it had cracked open with several bloody gashes. With a jolt of air, it would split open, and Lu Liruan felt as if she could see inside her own body.
This feeling is hard to describe; Lu Liruan has never felt so miserable in her life!
Every part of the body, every organ, gradually regains sensation due to the discomfort, intensely proclaiming its own existence.
"What's wrong with me?" Lu Liruan asked in a panic, enduring the pain. She even wondered if she was paralyzed.
"You just came into contact with something contaminated. It's okay. It's like this at first. It will be fine in a little while."
Liao Tingyuan comforted her, "I'm here, nothing will happen to you. Don't worry... everything is normal, and all the changes are within the normal fluctuation range."
As Liao Tingyuan's gentle and reassuring voice rang out, Lu Liruan's rapid breathing gradually calmed down.
“Actually, I should have told you beforehand, but I was worried that if I told you first, you would feel nervous. The more nervous and fearful you are, the stronger your reaction will be to contaminated things. Fluctuations in subjective emotions and mental strength will have an impact. So I’m sorry for not telling you in advance…” Liao Tingyuan frankly confessed to her.
Lu Liruan tried to force a smile, but couldn't.
"what time is it?"
Lu Liruan vaguely remembered that Liao Tingyuan had been looking at his watch ever since they entered the corridor.
As if noting down several key moments, just before he felt the impact, he saw Liao Tingyuan raise his hand.
How long have I been like this?
"Only eight minutes have passed since I entered the room."
"How can it be?"
Lu Liruan was speechless. From the moment she left until now, it felt like half an hour had already passed...
But Liao Tingyuan said it only lasted eight minutes.
"It's 0:58 now. Just now... the last time was 0:50."
"..." Lu Liruan knew that what he was referring to earlier was the moment when the last kitten appeared in front of her in a ferocious death.
Lu Liruan couldn't even bring herself to say it.
She only had to think about it briefly before those unsettling and sorrowful emotions surged up in her mind again...
Lu Liruan could no longer distinguish whether this was her own emotion or...
Actually, they should also have their own emotions.
Lu Liruan couldn't describe how she felt when she saw those scenes.
Shocked, frightened?
Sadness? Pity...
During the intervals, it was as if a guillotine was about to fall, its chilling gleam sending shivers down one's spine.
"What exactly happened?" Lu Liruan frowned.
Her vocal cords sounded as if they had been sanded and torn, the voice she managed to produce was distorted and hoarse, and her mouth seemed to have completely lost the ability to produce saliva...
The dryness was so intense that you could hear the "creaking" sound of your tongue rubbing against the inside of your mouth, echoing within your skull, which had been tortured to the point of feeling like an empty shell.
"Don't say anything yet... I'll get you a glass of water in a bit."
Upon hearing Liao Tingyuan's words, Lu Liruan suddenly regained sensation in her hands. Only then did she realize that her hand was being held, its coldness penetrating her skin.
Holding my hand, it was Liao Tingyuan's hand...
The texture feels a bit strange.
Lu Liruan's gaze was fixed on the small table, on the thin black glove.
Lu Liruan suddenly snapped out of her daze and turned to look at the things the two were holding.
The hand holding his own was the one Liao Tingyuan always wore a glove with.
When the gloves were removed, his hands and Lu Liruan's hands showed a distinct color difference.
Lu Liruan herself is very fair-skinned. She has been hardworking and resilient since she was a child, and her youth has given her a healthy complexion with a pinkish tint.
Like a plump, ripe peach, full of collagen.
Liao Tingyuan was also fair-skinned, but unlike Lu Liruan's fair skin, his complexion was pale to the point of being deathly white, but Lu Liruan felt it was still within the normal range.
But his hand was white in a different sense—completely bloodless, beautiful, pure, and flawless white.
Lu Liruan wasn't sure if it was her imagination or if her eyes were being affected, but she felt that his hand seemed to have a delicate luster.
Seeing Lu Liruan staring intently at his hand, Liao Tingyuan slowly released his grip, but did not retract it.
Lu Liruan always thought that his hand was injured or had some kind of scar, like a burn, which was why he had been hiding it.
But now Liao Tingyuan doesn't seem to care much. He flips his palm upward and hands it back to Lu Liruan so that she can see it more easily without having to tilt her head.
Seeing it more clearly, Lu Liruan felt that his hands were truly beautiful.
Her palms were thin, her fingers long and slender, her fingertips rounded and white...like porcelain sculptures.
Lu Liruan suddenly had this idea.
Then, unable to resist, I reached out and touched it. It was delicate, cold, and not soft at all...
"you……"
Lu Liruan was astonished. Could he really be made of porcelain? Could Liao Tingyuan be entirely carved from white porcelain?
Looking at the calm, downcast man in front of her, Lu Liruan had this absurd thought, so much so that she used her hand, which had just regained feeling, to pinch Liao Tingyuan's face with lightning speed!
Caught off guard, Liao Tingyuan's eyes widened in surprise, revealing a hint of alarm.
Lu Liruan didn't control her strength well. By the time she felt the soft touch of normal skin when she pinched it, it was too late.
Lu Liruan felt like a lecherous man who didn't know his own strength, pinching the other person's pretty face hard!
As for how much force was used...
After Lu Liruan removed her hand, it was immediately visible that the spot where Liao Tingyuan had been pinched turned red, forming a very abrupt mark.
"what!"
Lu Liruan pursed her lips: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me rub it for you..."
Lu Liruan had a sudden lapse in judgment and reached out to rub it again, which caused the red spot to spread even more.
Liao Tingyuan sighed and raised his hand to press down on her fingers that were messing with his face.
"It's made of flesh, it will hurt," he said calmly.
"And your hand..."
Lu Liruan pinched the fingers of his hand, and the feel was definitely different!
It feels like fine jade or porcelain when you squeeze it, yet its surface has the delicate texture of skin...
It looks like a layer of human skin has been pasted onto a porcelain sculpture!
Lu Liruan's mind keeps wandering to strange places, and after thinking about them, she gets goosebumps all over her body.
Liao Tingyuan picked up the gloves from the table and slowly and meticulously put them back on.
The black fabric began to wrap around his hands, which were like works of art, starting from his fingertips.
The alternation of black and white creates a striking yet bizarre beauty and sensuality.
Lu Liruan couldn't take her eyes off her.
But when the gloves completely covered his hands and wrists, she felt that she wasn't so attracted anymore.
"It's related to dealing with the source of infection. I'll explain the specifics to you later," Liao Tingyuan assured her.
"That function is..."
“I am a survivor of a severe infection myself. I will draw the infection radiation from your body to you, and you will recover quickly,” Liao Tingyuan explained why he had been holding her hand earlier.
Lu Liruan was taken aback.
She didn't know what the survivors were like, nor did she know how the radiation infection that had caused her so much pain would react to Liao Tingyuan.
Because I didn't know, I heard Liao Tingyuan speak so naturally, so naturally, and so calmly.
Lu Liruan was a little confused, but it was indeed helping her share the burden. It even looked like a sacrifice.
A generous and selfless dedication.
This feeling made Lu Liruan feel a little strange.
Liao Tingyuan possesses a quiet sense of selflessness, readily willing to sacrifice himself for others.
Lu Liruan didn't know if this was his true nature.
Or perhaps... it's because of what he calls "rare" high mental strength.
Is he protecting himself because of this?
"Drink some."
While Lu Liruan was lost in thought, Liao Tingyuan got up, swept the mess on the ground aside, and poured Lu Liruan a glass of iced cola.
"You bought it?" Lu Liruan remembered that his family didn't have it when she came in the afternoon.
"Yeah, didn't you say that drinking iced cola is fun when it's hot in the summer?"
Lu Liruan realized that she had indeed casually remarked that afternoon: "Drinking ice-cold soda on a hot day is so refreshing!"
I didn't expect Liao Tingyuan to make such a special preparation.
"Thank you, thank you." Lu Liruan took a few big gulps, the carbon dioxide bubbles seemed to burst open in her throat, and Lu Liruan felt her organs working again.
"Is it over for today?" Lu Liruan asked.
"In terms of time, it should end at 12:50..."