Fu Gui: "I'm finally back! I never want to go to a Polluted Zone again!"

However, Ruan Xing did not relax immediately. He wasn't sure if more pollutants would appear.

The magic coursing through his body, the ring on the ground, and the damaged camera confirmed that what had just happened was not an illusion.

Ruan Xing immediately examined himself. His body now contained a small amount of magic, enough for him to cast some basic spells.

[Basic Healing Spell] was the most effective option available—just enough to keep him alive.

Ruan Xing gasped for breath. Even breathing felt scorching, as if a burning coal was lodged in his lungs. He could almost see the waves of heat in the air he exhaled.

He gently placed his right hand over his ribs, and a faint green glow slowly seeped into his body. The numbers on his detector began to rise.

The standard detectors circulating in the market had very limited functions. The disc-shaped detector that the mercenary Lao San carried was one of the earliest models used by the Investigation Corps. No one knew where they had acquired it since such devices had long been phased out and replaced with wristbands.

These wristbands could not only detect the external environment but also monitor internal body conditions.

At this moment, Ruan Xing's internal pollution level had surpassed 90%, yet the environmental reading remained within the normal range.

It was like a thermos—though the liquid inside was boiling at 100°C, the exterior remained cool.

This phenomenon was usually seen in S-class pollutants because they could effectively contain the radiation emitted by their pollution.

Yet now, it was happening to a human.

Unbelievable.

Fu Gui stared in shock.

At this moment, Ruan Xing was a completely sealed-off pollutant—the most dangerous kind.

After about five minutes, the numbers on his wrist began to decline slowly. At the same time, his originally ashen complexion turned sickly pale.

This was the first time the crow had witnessed Ruan Xing's abilities firsthand. He muttered, "Damn, I've never thought I’d live to see something like this."

Ruan Xing slowly opened his eyes. His external wounds showed no signs of healing, but his internal bleeding had stopped—he wouldn’t die anytime soon.

Regulating his breathing, Ruan Xing's hoarse voice came out, "Let's go and check out the other areas."

Fu Gui flew from the seat onto his shoulder.

After studying the layout of the cinema, they realized there were still a few unexplored areas—specifically, the third floor, which they had never been able to reach in the real world.

Over the past few decades, renovations removed the hidden suite from the boss's office on the third floor. What once consisted of two separate offices has been merged into a storage room.

Generally speaking, storage rooms were placed on lower floors to minimize labor when moving heavy objects in and out. It was unusual for a storage room to be located on the third floor.

Ruan Xing turned on the lights, and the sudden brightness made him squint. Within his field of vision, a spacious area of several dozen square meters was filled with neatly arranged steel shelves.

About half of the shelves contained everyday items, with stacked cardboard boxes arranged in an orderly fashion. The remaining area resembled a library filled with rows of film reels.

The reels were stored in black boxes, lined up neatly on shelves that reached the ceiling.

Walking through the space, Ruan Xing felt like he had entered his personal archive.

Fu Gui blinked his tiny green bean-like eyes. "Strange… there’s still pollution here. It's coming from the last row, on the last shelf."

Ruan Xing walked over.

There, he found a box. Inside lay a familiar-looking notebook; its scorched, yellowed cover bore the marks of the fire from decades ago.

It was the same notebook he had previously discovered at Wang Lian’s workstation—the one that should have been filled with Xiao Lian’s personal writings.

Now, after all these years, it appeared again.

Ruan Xing pointed his wristband at it and checked the readings. They were higher than usual but not dangerously so.

Fu Gui: "Maybe this is the cause of the latest pollution outbreak."

Did someone tamper with this notebook?

Ruan Xing opened it.

However, instead of the familiar delicate handwriting he expected, the pages were densely packed with scrawled, childish script—clearly a man's handwriting.

This wasn’t the same notebook.

Ruan Xing froze for a moment, then narrowed his eyes.

—

[New Calendar Year 29, June 23rd]

After working at this cinema for three months, I saw an angel.

She was incredibly beautiful, so kind and warm, always smiling at me. No one had ever treated me like that before. I really, really like her.

.

[July 1st]

I asked the other staff about her. They said they didn’t know why, but lately, she’d been coming here to watch movies a lot.

Why? I think it must have something to do with me. After all, she treats me differently. She even brings me biscuits! Who brings snacks for a cinema worker?

I’ve never had biscuits that tasted so good.

.

[November 3rd]

She hasn’t come in two months. Where did she go? Is she never coming back?

.

[New Calendar Year 30, January 1st]

Amazing! I saw her on the first day of the new year! But what if I never see her again? I’ve come up with a solution.

.

[January 3rd]

The camera was a bit expensive, but now I can see her forever—whenever I want.

She looks breathtaking in the photos.

—

The next page felt thicker than usual. Several pages were stuck together. With some effort, Ruan Xing carefully pried them apart.

Inside, he found over a dozen photographs.

Fu Gui: [Aren’t these the same stalking photos from that camera?!]

Ruan Xing rubbed the paper’s edge between his fingers and flipped through the pages, his lips pressing into a thin line.

When he checked the camera, the first batch of photos had been secretly taken. Based on the timestamps, they were from around the same period. He had originally assumed the boss had taken them.

But now, he realized—

Wang Lian had taken them himself.

—

[April 6th]

Turns out she was gone for two months because she was filming a movie! I knew she wouldn’t just avoid me for no reason. Fortunately, I was subtle, and she was still willing to talk to me.

Although they all say that these low-budget films don't get much attention, I think they are just as good as big productions—perhaps even better!

The movie didn’t have a promotional poster, so I secretly used the company’s printer to print one and stuck it above my bed. That way, I could admire it openly.

.

[May 2nd]

The boss found out that I had been secretly taking photos of her. I begged him not to fire me. I desperately needed this job—though in truth, it was because I wanted to stay close to her, to always watch her.

But that damn fat pig—he took my camera!

I lost her!

—

Ruan Xing turned to the next page, where he found lines of messy, frantic handwriting.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it…! That disgusting pig! Just seeing the way he looked at her with those lecherous eyes makes me sick! I want to gouge them out!"

Another page.

"How could he? How dare he?!

Last night, while cleaning the cinema, I found Xiao Lian covered in wounds. She lay there quietly, unaware of anyone approaching. Tears slipped down her face unconsciously while her eyes were empty and lifeless.

My light, my love—she was tainted.

The world is nothing but darkness."

The next page had neat handwriting, showing that the writer was in a good mood.

—

[June 31st]

I proposed to her in the hospital, and she said yes! That familiar warm smile returned to her face. My world finally became bright once again."

.

[July 4th]

The day before our wedding… she died."

—

Then, there were long stretches of blank pages.

Ruan Xing patiently flipped through them until he finally found more writing near the end of the notebook, seemingly scribbled without much thought.

"If only the boss hadn’t told her the truth. Why did it have to be right before the wedding? Why did he have to ruin everything for me? That scum—he deserves to be burned to ashes."

Wang Lian had been deeply obsessed with the girl’s kind smile.

As someone who had never received warmth or attention from those around him, encountering her was like discovering a ray of light in the darkness.

Like a rotting log drifting aimlessly in the darkness, he had always floated along with the tide. But when he saw the light, he couldn’t help but chase after it.

He agonized for many sleepless nights over how to get closer to that light. But it was too difficult—others were always trying to reach for her warmth.

Then, he came up with a perfect solution. A way to keep the light forever.

—By capturing her in his camera for eternity.

But even that couldn’t keep her by his side.

A beast had found the girl. It tore her apart and devoured her whole.

She knew it wasn’t her fault, but the abandonment of her family and the relentless whispers of those around her kept gnawing at her.

She survived, but her soul was already dead.

Perhaps it was Wang Lian’s persistence, his unwavering patience, that moved her—or maybe she just wanted an escape.

In the depths of her despair, she accepted his sudden proposal.

She thought she had found salvation.

But on the eve of their wedding, the beast returned, sneering at her for marrying a rat from the gutter.

He threw a stack of photos at her, tossing them as if they were mere scraps for a beggar.

With a mocking laugh, he said, "Do you know who took these? That person is finally getting what he wanted."

The light in her eyes vanished.

She had pulled someone out of the darkness, only to plunge into the abyss herself.

When Wang Lian excitedly returned to the hospital with their wedding rings, he was met with a crowd gathered in front of a high-rise building.

That pool of crimson on the ground forever stains his memory.

At the very bottom of the last page, a solemn sentence was written:

"Let’s go to hell together."

In the end, Wang Lian couldn’t bear the devastation. He chose to disappear in the flames alongside the one who had destroyed his happiness.

Perhaps neither of them expected that, for some twisted reason, they would both be reborn as pollutants, forced to exist in a never-ending loop.

One can only imagine what Wang Lian felt every time he had to welcome the boss at the cinema.

He must have known what the films were about. He watched Xiao Lian’s story play out on the screen again and again, torturing himself with every repetition. His smile frozen while his heart suffered in agony.

As for the other culprit, he was endlessly stripped of his memories, doomed to repeat his sins, burning over and over in a never-ending cycle.

They tormented each other in this hell, perhaps in an attempt to atone for their sins. Yet, driven by their nature as Pollutants, they continued dragging innocent souls into their abyss, sinking deeper with each cycle.

Until someone intruded and shattered the balance.

—

Ruan Xing closed the notebook.

Fu Gui sighed, "Men are all trash."

Ruan Xing understood what he meant but still glanced at Crow. The latter shuddered. "I meant those two men."

Ruan Xing slid down against the shelf, exhausted, and didn’t bother arguing.

Instead, he ran his fingers over the edge of the notebook. "This thing’s pollution level isn’t that high. Whatever you saw earlier must have been something else."

Fu Gui scoffed. "Hah? Are you saying I was wrong? There’s no way another pollutant is not lurking here—"

From within the box that held the notebook, a strand of pitch-black substance slowly rose. It was as thin as a finger, wriggling like a snail’s tentacle, stretching and contracting as if confirming Fu Gui’s words.

The crow let out a short laugh. "So it’s this little thing? An adorably tiny, cute little slime? Don’t tell me you’re scared of this."

Ruan Xing’s gaze shifted behind it.

Fu Gui slowly turned around and tilted his head up—then its expression froze.

A thick, mucus-like substance was oozing down the wall, dripping heavily and clinging to the surface with a dark green hue that radiated the presence of a pollutant.

Realizing it had been discovered, the thing stopped hiding. Like a soap bubble, it rapidly swelled in size as if someone had blown air into it.

Through its massive, translucent body, the wall behind it was faintly visible.

The tiny, snail-like tentacle atop the cardboard box let out a sharp "squeak," mocking their foolishness.

Ruan Xing tilted his head back slightly and sneered, "An adorably tiny, cute little slime?"

Fu Gui: "Damn it, how is this my fault?!"