Chapter 158: Mother’s Approach

The air seemed compressed by immense force, developing visible folds layered upon one another.

The thin mist enveloping the small town and surrounding farmland, devoid of artificial lights, suddenly thickened significantly. Strangely, even as the fog grew denser, the Crimson Moon overhead became increasingly clearer and larger.

This change created an illusion, as if the Crimson Moon were drawing nearer to the earth.

Its light, vivid as blood, fell straight down.

…

Sandwiched between Lu Xin’s family of four and the Queen of Happy Town stood Qin Ran.

He was also an Ability User, capable of sensing the chaotic, fragmented Psychic Energy around him, feeling the disarray within his own mind.

This shocked him profoundly, nearly driving him to let out a maddening scream.

He hadn’t anticipated that this seemingly ordinary man from Qinggang City, associated with the “Escaped Laboratory,” would possess the audacity to confront one of the strongest Aberrations. This filled him with an absurd sensation, his head aching as if it might split open:

“Impossible…”

“Could the information I obtained be wrong?”

“He shouldn’t be capable of confronting the Queen at this stage… could it be…”

“…he’s already reached the Second Stage?”

“…”

“That Monster is truly terrifying… are they going to fight?”

At this moment, Lu Xin was also enduring intense pressure and agony, his head feeling like it might split open.

The moment he saw the mysterious Queen of the Small Town, he was subjected to indescribable, immense pressure. It was intangible yet palpably real, causing constant visions and Hallucinations to flicker before his eyes. Like shards of fine, broken mirrors, each fragment reflected fragmented scenes. Several times, he had almost been sucked into those illusions.

But he forcibly maintained his rationality, driven by an intuition that succumbing to those scenes might mean never waking up.

Right now, Lu Xin felt an instinctive urge to withdraw from the confrontation.

It wasn’t fear, but rather a primal Instinct triggered when facing a powerful and enigmatic unknown being.

Yet, he couldn’t retreat. Because he saw Mother and Little Sister staring intently at the mysterious Queen. Though he couldn’t see Father, he could hear Father’s heavy breathing, so he knew Father was also watching her.

This brought to mind scenes from daily life.

When facing a rabid dog, one must stare it in the eyes; otherwise, it might pounce at any moment.

He understood this was also a battle. So, he had to stand beside his family, supporting them.

It was this thought that sustained him, keeping him rooted firmly in place.

Even as his mind grew progressively more disordered, as strange and chaotic fragmented scenes and mad, incomprehensible whispers incessantly echoed in his ears, he persisted. He kept his gaze fixed on the Queen, even subtly positioning himself slightly in front of Little Sister.

Bright blood trickled from his nose, yet his eyes grew colder.

…

Mother noticed Lu Xin bleeding from his nose. Her expression seemed to turn slightly frosty.

Then, she looked toward the Queen. The Queen, appearing somewhat wary at this moment, had paused at the location of the Villa on the hill, uncertain whether to advance or retreat. Mother suddenly wore a faint, gentle smile — amiable and devoid of any hostility.

“Hello!”

She spoke softly, greeting the Queen.

The Queen seemed startled too. Her pitch-black, bottomless eyes seemed to shift slightly in their angle.

Mother’s smile deepened. She gave the Queen a slight nod. “Your little town is quite beautiful…”

On the Queen’s expressionless face, there seemed a faint sense of relaxation.

The oppressive air around them also appeared to ease slightly.

“Don’t be nervous.”

Mother said to the Queen gently, her smile warm. “Our family is just out traveling, while helping the child with a little errand. We unintentionally wandered into your domain. We’re truly sorry, but your place here is truly stunning, especially these flowers…”

“…”

Mother’s reaction surprised Lu Xin somewhat: “Mother can actually communicate with the Queen?”

Naturally, Qin Ran was even more astonished.

His worldview seemed on the verge of collapse. He stiffly turned to look at the refined woman who had spoken.

She was actually trying to chat with the Queen?

However, something clearly more astonishing came next.

In the air, a series of thin, indistinct voices arose, carrying an indescribable sense of discomfort and strangeness:

“Thank… you…”

“… …”

The Queen actually responded…

Both Qin Ran and Lu Xin were visibly stunned beyond words.

Meanwhile, Mother’s smile deepened ever so slightly: “It’s just that an all-pink field looks a bit plain.”

“I think it’d look lovelier to plant some blue irises among the flowers…”

“…”

“I also thought it too monotonous to have only pink blooms, but I couldn’t find better seeds…”

The Queen’s reply came again in her whispery voice.

They were genuinely chatting away…

…

Qin Ran seemed petrified.

The chaos and piercing agony in Lu Xin’s mind were fading, replaced instead by bewilderment.

“Seeds are easy to find. In Highwall City—”

Mother answered lightly, as if truly making casual conversation with a friend.

But just as she spoke, Lu Xin shot her a worried glance. He wanted to intervene yet hesitated.

Seeming to understand his thoughts, Mother softly rephrased her words, continuing with a smile: “Planting crops alongside the flower beds would weave both colors into charming patterns. Plus, croplands turn golden in summer and white with snow in winter. This ever-changing tapestry would be truly magnificent…”

“…”

“Mmm… thank you…”

The Queen’s murmured reply floated through the air as the surrounding pressure gradually diminished.

Even the Small Town residents by the roadside, guns lowered and retracting their grotesque mouthparts, visibly softened. Weapons now pointed downward, they retreated step by step toward their homes.

“You’re welcome, it’s truly awful about the mess we made…”

Mother offered a gentle, apologetic smile. “Since we’ve wrecked your space, it seems you’ll have to restore it yourself…”

“But perhaps, if there’s a chance… I’d like to visit you again sometime…”

“…”

“Alright. You’ll be… properly welcomed.”

The Queen’s delicate voice faded as her immense form began withdrawing into the little Villa.

The surrounding pressure had finally returned to its former state.

Meanwhile, Qin Ran, crumpled in the withered Flower Field and seemingly unable to rise, remained utterly stupefied.

He watched dumbly as the Queen silently retreated to the hillside Villa.

Then his gaze snapped toward the Ability User from Qinggang City, the Shadow clinging to his back, the woman in the wide-brimmed hat, and the distorted little girl.

All four turned simultaneously. Eight eyes fixed directly on him.

An indescribable terror clawed its way from the depths of his core.

…

Lu Xin hadn’t expected the Queen, fearsome as she appeared, to be quite reasonable and amenable to reasoning.

While the exact nature of the interaction eluded him, he keenly felt the absence of hostility emanating from her.

Observing his Family around him, he could sense Mother seemed to heave a faint sigh of relief; Little Sister merely wore an expression of mild perplexity; Father, however, radiated palpable resentment, yet appeared to begrudgingly accept Mother’s resolution.

With that matter settled, the remaining loose end was Qin Ran…

…

“Hihihihihi…”

Just as Lu Xin contemplated this, Father’s hollow, mirthless laughter abruptly scraped against his consciousness.

Lu Xin then watched as his own arm lifted—wreathed in a coil of Shadow.

His hand moved uncontrollably toward Qin Ran, who lay stricken with terror, bordering on catatonia. He felt Father’s fury surge, understanding precisely the grim intent. Desperately, Lu Xin strained to halt his arm’s advance…

“I still have questions for him…”

Lu Xin murmured, explaining to Father.

Qin Ran had mentioned unsettling revelations earlier—things demanding clarification first.

“HEHEHEHEHE!!!”

Father’s laugh crescendoed into a grating cacophony.

“What worth lies in such trash? Finish him! Obliterate him for good!!!”

“…”

The force propelling Lu Xin’s arm intensified, its trajectory fixed unflinchingly onto Qin Ran.

“I said I… need to ask him!”

Lu Xin clenched his teeth, marshaling every ounce of will to restrain his own limb.

“TRASH! YOU WORTHLESS, SPINELESS WORM!!!”

Father’s voice exploded with unbridled rage.

Lu Xin felt his mind abruptly fracture into stark whiteness—as though being crushed into some alien realm.

Blood gushed violently from his nostrils. His heart convulsed violently, crushed in the grasp of an unseen hand. Not just his right arm; his entire body teetered on the brink of total submission.

“You should go back now…”

Mother pivoted smoothly, her expression utterly void as she fixed her gaze upon Father.

“Go… back?”

Father’s tone warped with incredulous distortion before devolving into suppressed, guttural laughter.

Hollow. Profound.

“Hihihihihi…”