Chapter 030: Shian Exterminators

A murky darkness spread before his eyes, the stench so foul it invaded his nostrils. Before the explosion hit, Li Tianque had already plunged his entire body into the sewage pool.

His plan seemed sound, but he hadn’t anticipated the pool’s overwhelming filth and force. The moment he entered, it was as if he’d fallen into endless darkness, pulled and dragged by a terrifying power.

Li Tianque intended to dive in and hold his breath immediately. Yet as soon as his face touched the sewage, murky water flooded his nose, leaving him dizzy; the intense stench shot straight to his head, nearly driving him unconscious.

He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed; all he sensed was the chaotic water enveloping him from every direction, tightening around him like cement, as if a giant serpent was coiling and constricting him. His limbs gradually stiffened, his body splayed out beyond his control.

Soon he began to drown. The pool wasn’t deep, but since he dove in headfirst, there was enough water to suffocate him.

Strangely, he didn’t hear the explosion outside the pool, nor did he feel searing heat or a blast wave. Everything beyond the pool remained as it had been—eerily calm.

Such terrifying tranquility… It felt almost like death.

Why was this happening?

Li Tianque couldn’t count how many times that question had surfaced in his mind today, but it appeared once again.

He’d clearly glimpsed his own death omen: according to its signs, he should have been consumed by flames from the fuel tanker’s explosion, transforming into the charred corpse that once walked toward him. Yet now, he was drowning in this pool, without warning.

Li Tianque felt as if his chest had been struck by a massive hammer, his shattered ribs stuffed full of cotton. Breathing was nearly impossible, his consciousness fading, memories beginning to flicker before his eyes like a lantern show…

This is bad… Am I about to drown?

Perhaps… this is how it ends…

Darkness swallowed him; Li Tianque finally surrendered, letting his awareness sink into endless chaos.

Stifling, weary, an irresistible lethargy.

Time lost meaning…

Until, somehow, Li Tianque felt his soul—or perhaps his consciousness—reemerge. He found himself standing in a vast, barren wilderness. Overhead, there seemed to be a bright moon, but all he could perceive was a silvery glow, no moon, no stars. The surroundings were cold and lifeless, devoid of any sign of vitality.

Li Tianque looked around, realizing that there was absolutely nothing here. The sole, raw impression in his mind: emptiness.

Everything was empty.

He looked more closely, startled to see that within this void an apparition resembling himself had appeared, its back turned toward him—a death shadow.

But this time, the shadow bore no visible wounds; it stood upright, though still facing away.

Li Tianque stared at the strange figure, attempting to approach. Every step he took forward, the shadow retreated by one step, always away, never facing him.

Curious, Li Tianque tried backing away; the shadow mimicked his movements. When he stopped, so did the apparition.

Despite the uncanny scene, Li Tianque felt no fear. He couldn’t fathom why he possessed such courage, why a scene that would ordinarily chill him to the bone now seemed almost mundane, even ignorable.

He continued toward the figure identical to himself, which retreated as he advanced.

In this dead silent landscape, neither made the faintest sound. When only a single step separated them, the strange apparition finally turned its head, revealing its true face.

At that moment, terror seized Li Tianque: the figure’s face bore only a pitch-black hollow, nothing else. That gaping void now drew closer, preparing to press its face to his, to envelop him and draw his body inside.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Li Tianque cried out, but his voice resonated only within his heart, unable to echo through the lifeless space—gone the instant it was uttered.

The void drew nearer, ready to swallow him.

As infinite darkness threatened to consume his vision, suddenly a beam of white light descended from above, striking the figure.

“Ah—”

Li Tianque shouted, springing upright from his bed.

He gasped for breath, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. Swallowing hard, he stared in astonishment at Lü Mou.

Lü Mou held a device resembling a temperature gun, his expression calm and composed, murmuring,

“Confirmed: nuclear substances detected. Tritium content twelve percent, radium seven percent, polonium one percent, uranium fifty-four percent… Another troublesome case…”

Li Tianque’s head throbbed. He instinctively reached up to feel it—and instantly discovered something terrifying.

“My… my head…”

As he touched his skull, it felt as if his hand met nothing but air—no sensation of solid matter.

Had his head gone strange?

Why did it feel so bizarre?

He quickly used his other hand to check the same spot, wanting to see if it was just his imagination or something else.

But on trying again, he realized it wasn’t an illusion—both hands felt only emptiness where his head should have been.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s just that a little something got into your head…”

“What? Something actually entered my skull?”

Hearing Lü Mou’s words, Li Tianque couldn’t sit still. He rushed to the nearby mirror to see what had been done to him.

The sight made him panic even more.

He saw that everything above his eyebrows had vanished, replaced by an indescribable mass of black matter. He tried touching it; there was no sensation—it was as though it were nothing.

“What did you do to me? Change me back!” Li Tianque cried.

“But you asked me to save you…” Lü Mou replied calmly.

“Are you joking? You call this saving me? What is this place?” Li Tianque shouted hysterically.

Lü Mou shook the test tube in his hand, slowly turning his gaze to the agitated Li Tianque, and said in a quiet voice,

“Welcome to Shian Pest Extermination Company!”

(End of this chapter)