Chapter 1047: Lin Sanjiu
When Lin Sanjiu's face gradually became clear in the night, Meowie Hu couldn't help but stand up and greet her with a meow. It was a cat sound that seemed to contain the scent of milk, causing Lin Sanjiu to startle and quicken her pace. "Dr. Hu? Is that you? Are you really here?"
Just from hearing a single meow, she recognized it as Meowie Hu. The little cat became excited, raising its tail and rubbing against Lin Sanjiu's legs, nearly tripping her. In the midst of the overwhelming joy of their reunion, Bohemia stood aside with her hands bound, her mouth drooping like an old lady.
"You didn't need me when things were happening. You only show up after everything is resolved. You certainly know how to choose your timing." Bohemia crumpled the paper crane she used to guide Lin Sanjiu and tossed it back. "Why is Dr. Hu so close to you? It's really hard to understand."
"Perhaps it's the imprinting effect."
Meowie Hu finished rubbing against Lin Sanjiu's legs and sat on the ground, analyzing itself in a calm and objective manner. "Shortly after my consciousness evolved, I met her. We adventured and survived together for quite a long time. Cats, you know, always like familiar things. So whenever I see Lin Sanjiu, I feel safe. Not to mention, she usually carries a lot of corpses with her."
Lin Sanjiu chuckled softly, stroking its head a few times. Its two pointed ears were pressed down and sprang back up repeatedly. She asked Bohemia, "Are you okay?" and was about to put the person she was carrying on her shoulder down on the ground. The person in black leather clothes with pale and bloodless skin vaguely visible was Puppeteer, who was still unconscious. Bohemia with sharp eyes quickly exclaimed, "Don't put him there! Move him a little!"
"What's wrong?"
"That white line is a Descartes Spirit."
This explanation would probably not make any sense to anyone. Lin Sanjiu stared at the white line for a while, puzzled, until the white line, unable to bear the invisible pressure, finally twisted its body and greeted them, "Yes, it's me, a Pocket Dimension."
"It can talk!" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but be startled, almost throwing the Puppeteer in her hands. "A Pocket Dimension? What is it doing here?"
"It seemed like it wanted to absorb me," Bohemia bragged about her achievements, feeling proud once again. "But I quickly imprisoned it. It wasn't enough to give me a fight."
Immediately, Bohemia and Meowie Hu recounted everything that had happened from beginning to end. While Lin Sanjiu listened, she carefully laid Puppeteer on the side of the road and sat down beside them.
"It's quite interesting..." Lin Sanjiu sighed softly when they finished speaking, "There's actually a Pocket Dimension that evolved from a single sentence? And you know about Descartes?"
Bohemia blushed, feeling scorned. "Who are you looking down on?"
"You never went to school..."
"Just because I didn't rely on school, you think you know everything? I think you have cognitive dissonance!"
As the two of them argued, the Descartes Spirit remained silent, only watching. Only the buzzing sound of the white line resonated in their minds, "I respect your differences, but could I take a step first..."
"Don't even think about going anywhere." Bohemia stepped on the wriggling white line with her heel. "Once we finish talking, I still have some questions for you. Be quiet for now, or I'll sprinkle some salt on you and eat you."
The white line lay on the dark road as if it had died.
With the sudden reunion of the two, there were naturally many things to say. They talked in a chaotic manner, making noise for a while, and, in the end, no one could hear what anyone said. Finally, they resorted to playing rock-paper-scissors to decide the order of speaking. Dr. Hu could only throw out paper most of the time, and even the few times it made a different move, they could tell from the movement of its front paws. As expected, it was the first one eliminated, and Lin Sanjiu emerged as the winner.
"How did you all end up here? What happened to the trucks? What happened afterwards?"
This question sent shivers down Bohemia's spine. She recounted in detail about the meat sprouts, Old Da's strange condition, and restated his final words, "I don't know what's going on in this damned world... He told me that the brains of the people in this country have been invaded by foreign objects. If we leave them alone, the infected population will gradually expand until the whole world is beyond saving. Luckily, their country discovered the clues early and promoted structural surgeries, which prevented any signs of infection... These things are spread through the air, but they won't be expelled unless the meat sprouts are mature or under attack. So, when encountering such a situation, never breathe... Yes, you understand correctly. Those meat sprouts are one of the sources of the intruders. Their original mission was to steal some back and conduct research, developing targeted weapons. However, we had this accident on the way."
Bohemia took a breath and continued, "At first, his words seemed quite reasonable... You see, according to our timeline, the world hasn't reached doomsday yet. If the meat sprouts were the cause of the apocalypse, it would be normal to have some resistance forces until the world is destroyed. But then I encountered this guy—"
Bohemia did something, and the white line on the ground suddenly tightened as if it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.
"Now I'm really confused. The doomsday hasn't come yet, so why did this Pocket Dimension show up first?" Lin Sanjiu's gaze also turned to the white line on the ground. It twisted back and forth like a wave, appearing to be in pain.
"Could it be because of the Great Deluge?" After hesitating for a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu asked in a low voice, "Since it can speak, we can ask it where it came from... but let's put that aside for now. I still have some unanswered questions."
The white line remained motionless.
"Forget about the Great Deluge, it's just stirring up trouble," Bohemia muttered, and Dr. Hu seemed to want to say something with a muffled "uh-huh". Bohemia raised her hand to interrupt and said, "Please, go ahead," but Lin Sanjiu cut her off first, "It's not your turn yet!"
The little cat looked restless, and, out of good manners, it had no choice but to close its mouth but kept glancing repeatedly at Puppeteer lying on the roadside.
"I'll let you treat him soon. Don't worry," Lin Sanjiu comforted it and then asked, "Did Old Da say anything about how to fight against these meat sprouts and intruders?"
"He said to squeeze the brain and push out the intruders," Bohemia said, her face looking rather unwell as she described this seemingly insane solution.
"But when we were in the city, we didn't even see a single meat sprout. Could it be because everyone has already been infected, so they don't bother planting meat sprouts anymore?" Lin Sanjiu pondered aloud, more like talking to herself.
"How should I know? Anyway, we can't completely trust Old Da's words. It's better for us to hide in the deep mountains and forests and rest for a lifetime," Bohemia impatiently said. "Now, can I ask my questions? In the paper crane you sent last time, you mentioned encountering danger. What kind of danger? You seem to have some scratches."
"That hospital was surrounded by people," Lin Sanjiu seemed to recall an unpleasant memory. Pausing for a moment, she furrowed her eyebrows and explained briefly, "They didn't speak or move. They just silently surrounded us in the darkness. At that time, I could only hear Puppeteer's breathing, and I started to panic... Later, I realized they seemed to be monitoring us. To avoid any trouble, I carried Puppeteer and seized an opportunity to escape. Now that you mention it, the people who surrounded us at that time have probably all been infected... But what did they want? Why did they surround us?"
Dr. Hu was like sitting on hot coals, standing up and sitting down alternately, never taking its eyes off Puppeteer. After listening to the two of them for a while, it couldn't help itself and walked towards the roadside. "You two go ahead, I'll go and check on him!"
"Wait," Lin Sanjiu hurriedly stopped it and instructed, "He has a serious old injury on his abdomen. The recent injuries he suffered shouldn't be fatal... If you're going to treat him, start by checking his stomach."
Dr. Hu nodded and quickly walked towards the roadside. When it lowered its head to inspect the figure on the roadside, it appeared even smaller, as if its head was smaller than Puppeteer's.
The two women stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Bohemia broke the silence first, "At least you managed to do what I asked... Give me back my drool bib."
Lin Sanjiu scratched her face.
"Um... It seems like I didn't tie it properly, and it fell off on the way..." She said this and quickly waved her hand at the other party, trying to appease her. "Don't worry! It must have fallen off not far from here. While Dr. Hu is treating Puppeteer, we can go back together to look for it."
"You really can't do anything right. Although I can't use it myself, I could have sold it for a good amount of money!" Bohemia stood up in frustration, stomping her foot angrily. "Don't you dare leave. Should I wait for you? Don't think that the Pocket Dimension can escape."
The tall and thin woman, who was becoming increasingly annoying to look at, sighed and stood up. However, before the two could take a step, a small figure rushed over. When she lowered her head, she saw Meowie Hu again. "Dr. Hu, you finished checking already?"
"No," Dr. Hu steadied its breath as if it had just run over, "I haven't had a chance to check yet. I suddenly remembered that I gave some medical tools to Bohemia, so now I have to go to the hotel to get my backpack... Come with me." The latter half of the sentence was naturally directed at Bohemia.
Bohemia walked over in a puzzled manner, and, along with Dr. Hu, they headed towards the white hotel sign not far away.
The silent shadow of the small cat led the way, and they walked for several seconds without speaking. It was Bohemia who broke the silence in a low voice, "Doctor, when did you give me your medical tools?"
Meowie Hu sighed.
"I know you don't have them," it jumped onto Bohemia's shoulder and lowered its voice, "I asked you to come over not because of that."
"Then why?"
"This person, Lin Sanjiu..." Dr. Hu hesitated, "She... places great importance on companions and friends. Sometimes I even have a feeling that she feels she must maintain connections with others in order to continue surviving as a human... And now, it seems that even Puppeteer is no exception."
The little cat seemed extremely distressed. "What I wanted to say is... she seems to have been mentally traumatized and is having a hard time accepting reality."
"You mean...?"
"Puppeteer is already dead," Dr. Hu said softly, "I've suspected this ever since she sat down. Although I only took a quick glance, it was enough for me to confirm it. He's dead, he has been dead for a long time."
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