Chapter 1: Vegetative State

At 10:44 PM, in the outskirts of Qianjiang City, along the riverside road, in Taiping Lane.

At the entrance of the lane, there were only two street lamps. One was completely broken, and the other flickered intermittently, with the night sometimes engulfed in darkness and at other times lit up by a small patch of dim yellow light.

Under the light, a solitary figure hurriedly passed by.

By the light, one could vaguely see that this person seemed to be a thin middle-aged woman. She carried a plastic bag in her hand, appearing to be in a hurry, occasionally looking back.

Behind her, the night was quiet, devoid of any human presence, not even the slightest rustle of the wind in the grass.

However, this quietness did not calm her; instead, an inexplicable unease crept up in her heart.

The woman unconsciously quickened her pace, grateful that she wasn’t far from home. Within a few minutes, she arrived at the front of a one-story garage.

Swiftly, she pulled out her keys, skillfully unlocked the door, turned on the lights in the house, and then turned to close the iron gate.

This was a small room converted from a garage, already quite tiny, with just a dozen square meters. The furniture was simple, with the only decent item being a spacious large bed, taking up a considerable amount of space.

On the bed lay a man, covered with a blanket. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be under twenty, with handsome features, albeit looking a bit pale and lacking color in his face.

At this moment, he lay quietly on the bed, eyes slightly closed, not even reacting when Chen Yuehong returned.

The house was dimly lit, and even with the lights on, the room remained somewhat dim. However, when Chen Yuehong saw the young man lying on the bed, her fear gradually dissipated.

“Phew,” the woman leaned against the door, sighing deeply.

“I must remember to buy Xiao Fan’s medicine earlier next time; I can’t forget again.” Chen Yuehong muttered to herself self-reproachfully, then walked towards the bedside.

The man lying on the bed was Chen Yuehong’s adopted son, Yang Fan.

When Yang Fan was three years old, Chen Yuehong, who was unable to conceive, and her husband adopted him from the Qianjiang orphanage, treating him as their own.

Ten years ago, Yang Fan was a bright and lively boy with excellent grades. Even the teachers at school told Chen Yuehong that this child was a genius, likely to be accepted into the prestigious Hua University youth program at the very least.

However, no one anticipated that such a prodigy would, due to an unexpected accident, ending up in a vegetative state.

A decade passed in the blink of an eye!

To afford her son’s medical treatment, Chen Yuehong, disregarding her husband’s objections, sold their assets. Subsequently, her husband also left her. Their once affluent and harmonious household deteriorated from prosperity to destitution, drowning in debts.

A gentle look shimmered in Chen Yuehong’s eyes, and her inner turmoil subsided.

Approaching Yang Fan’s bedside, she placed the plastic bag aside, took his hand in hers, and gently stroked it in her palm.

“Son, you’ve been in a coma for a whole decade, but Mom believes you will wake up soon. Mom has always believed in you.”

Chen Yuehong’s voice was gentle yet firm, much like her slender figure that seemed fragile but obstinately sustained Yang Fan’s life for a decade.

“It’s getting hot. Mom will help you freshen up a bit and later hang some glucose for you,” Chen Yuehong said as she stood up and walked towards the small and rudimentary 2-3 square meter bathroom in the corner.

Just as she rose, a loud and violent crash came from the direction of the door.

Chen Yuehong quickly turned around, eyes wide, staring towards the door.

On the surface of the iron door, a bizarre distortion was occurring, as if there was a powerful force outside, effortlessly slamming the iron door, twisting and deforming it as if it were crushing a piece of paper.

Even though they resided in a garage rental unit, the main door was made of solid metal, making it impossible for a person to easily distort such a large iron plate!

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the iron door, twisted beyond its limit, directly detached from the door frame.

Chen Yuehong looked on in terror at the doorway. In that darkness, she faintly discerned a silhouette larger than the door frame…

In the darkness, the figure bent slightly, a pair of red bloodshot eyes slowly moving downward, stopping at the edge of the door.

Like the eyes of a wild beast in the dead of night, staring fixedly at its prey.

Chen Yuehong’s mind buzzed noisily, and in an instant, all those unbelievable things seen online flooded her thoughts.

Gazing at the iron door being forcibly removed, the dark mass outside, those terrifying bloodshot eyes, Chen Yuehong’s heart raced, and her legs weakened.

She couldn’t discern what was standing outside, but she knew it was something terrible.

Instinctively, she wanted to scream, but at that moment, she saw the immobilized figure on the bed!

With a snap, the sole light bulb in the room, seemingly unable to withstand the pressure, short-circuited.

At the moment the light vanished, the dark figure effortlessly broke through the door frame, blocking the entire exit securely.

In the darkness, a shadow darker than night itself swiftly lunged towards Chen Yuehong!

After a tumultuous noise, in an instant, the room was filled with a heavy scent of blood.

No one noticed that at this moment, a pair of eyes that had been closed for a decade slightly opened. He attempted to widen his eyes but failed, eventually closing them weakly once more.

…………………

In the early hours at 4:24 AM, a man and a woman, both dressed in black leather coats, crossed over the twisted iron door on the floor, passed through the collapsed door frame, and entered this garage room.

The man was approximately 1.8 meters tall, with a square face, slightly curled short hair, a well-groomed and stylishly trimmed beard, and sunken eye sockets that made his sharp eyes appear as keen as an eagle’s.

The woman, standing just over 1.7 meters tall, had long hair, delicate facial features, fair skin, and showed no signs of makeup.

Clad in the same material as the man, her attire did not give off the imposing and towering presence of a man beside her but rather accentuated her well-proportioned and shapely figure. The black high-heeled leather boots enhanced her already outstanding physique, making her appear tall, slender, and flawless.

With a wooden pipe in his mouth, the man pressed a button on the side of a liquid crystal device hanging from his chest and said, “Qin Hao from the Qianjiang City “Scavenger” 12th Squad, An Ya has arrived at the scene of the incident. Commencing video recording.”

He briskly approached the corpse in the corner, bent down to inspect it, and spoke into the microphone at his collar, “The victim is deceased, with limbs fractured and missing, wounds showing tearing patterns. There are three parallel wounds from the chest to the right side of the torso, with deep cuts affecting the skin, muscles, and bones, preliminarily classified as claw marks, with internal organs missing.”

“The victim’s head is intact, with an expression that is…” Qin Hao stood up, furrowing his brow in puzzlement, hesitated for a moment, and then professionally described, “calm.”

After examining the body, Qin Hao stood up, took a few puffs from his pipe, glanced at the damaged entrance, and squinted slightly, “It seems to be from the Beast Realm, and that fellow is of a high rank.”

An Ya calmly remarked, “No one heard any commotion around, and we didn’t find any footprints before. That guy’s abilities are terrifying… Despite the brutality of that person’s methods, the victim’s expression remains serene. It’s strange.”

Qin Hao refrained from commenting, proceeding with the investigation, “Has the victim’s identity been confirmed?”

“Confirmed. The victim is named Chen Yuehong, 47 years old, a cashier at Convenient Supermarket and part-time at Shuxin Housekeeping Services.”

“She also has a son named Yang Fan, who became a vegetable person ten years ago, whom she has been caring for.” An Ya mentioned while picking up the plastic bag by the bedside.

The medications in the plastic bag provided good proof supporting the information An Ya had just shared.

Qin Hao glanced at the plastic bag.

“It seems she was targeted while buying medicine for her son,” he remarked.

“Chen Yuehong has been murdered, and her son, being in a vegetative state, is even less likely to have survived.”

An Ya calmly added, “Truly leaving nothing behind, not even bones.”

“Captain, how should we close this case?”

Qin Hao stood in place, took two puffs from his pipe, pondered for a moment, and then calmly stated, “Report it as a missing person.”

“Let’s first handle the scene.”

As the two discussed their next steps, a voice suddenly emanated from under the bed.

The voice was extremely weak, deep, and chilling, sending shivers down their spines.

“Tell me… What is that thing!”

Qin Hao and An Ya exchanged a glance, then simultaneously crouched down to inspect under the bed.

Under the bed, a young man lay flat in the narrow space.

His body seemed immobile, but his eyes were bloodshot and teary.

An Ya promptly accessed her wristwatch, cross-referenced the personal information of Chen Yuehong’s son, nodded to Qin Hao, confirming the man’s identity as Yang Fan.

Qin Hao squinted slightly, despite having experienced many similar scenes, he couldn’t help but be stunned by this sight.

Why could Chen Yuehong remain so calm after enduring such cruelty? How could a person in a vegetative state still be alive?

He turned his gaze towards the bloody and mangled remains in the corner, a thought forming in his mind.

Ordinary individuals couldn’t escape from that entity. To the average person, that being was like a deity, beyond their reach.

But… maternal love could be faster than any deity!