Fear of food

Chapter 94 Eat her!
Coffee transformed into a ruthless killing machine, the pistol aimed and fired, and as the gunshots rang out, one parasite after another fell to the ground.

This also greatly reduced the pressure on Chen Qi and his team.

As each parasite fell, the aroma of food that Chen Qi smelled grew stronger.

He couldn't help but wonder: Could the fragrance be emanating from the bodies of the killed parasites?

But that doesn't make sense... It's not like Chen Qi has participated in killing parasites for the first time.

He had never smelled this fragrance before, whether it was from killing Zhui Feng's younger brother and the butcher at the market, killing Madam Wu at the hospital, or killing his own mother and several parasites.

Why do only parasites killed by coffee emit this alluring aroma?
The last time I smelled this fragrance was in the coffee truck. Could it be that she killed a parasite in the truck?
Thinking about this, Chen Qi understood something.

The only parasites that could get into the coffee truck are probably her family members.

Chen Qi had known for a long time that Coffee's family members were also parasitized, but he didn't know who exactly they were, nor had he heard her mention it.

Based on this, it's not hard to deduce that Coffee and the parasitized family had a conflict in that Cayenne, and Coffee retaliated by eating the derivative food, killing the parasite.

As a result, a special fragrance lingered in the car.

That car probably also carries some unpleasant memories for Coffee, which is why it was left idle in the garage, gathering dust.

After Chen Qi drove it once, she asked him not to touch the car again.

Strangely, their parasite family members all appeared today, and even those who had been dead for only a few days were resurrected here. Why didn't we see Coffee's parasite family members?
While pondering these questions, Chen Qi didn't rest either, firing his rifle with all his might.

Chen Qi noticed that Coffee never fired at the Dean of Students.

She only fired when there was only one bullet left in the gun, aiming at the head of the teaching department.

boom!
The bullet still hit the dean of students precisely between the eyebrows. However, unlike the other parasites, the dean did not die immediately. Instead, a bloody hole appeared on his forehead, and he staggered and fell to the ground, letting out a painful roar...

But after a short while, he got up again.

Chen Qi and Zhui Feng exchanged glances, both recognizing the unusual nature of the situation.

Even when he was blown to pieces by a grenade, the head of the teaching department didn't utter a sound.

But now, a single shot is enough to send the head of discipline to the ground screaming in agony.

However, there was no time to think about it now. Chen Qi immediately handed Coffee his pistol. Coffee was the main source of firepower now, so he couldn't let his firepower be cut off.

But as soon as Coffee took the pistol, his eyes suddenly regained their emotion, and his face showed expression... Chen Qi understood that the effects of the derivative food had worn off.

At this moment, Coffee looked at his hands, and the expression on his face became complicated and strange.

Fear, regret, panic, helplessness...

Chen Qi had never seen any of these expressions on her usually calm face, but now these expressions and emotions were undisguised, filling her entire face and her eyes.

From the process of using the derivative foods, she seemed to have discovered some details that she had not noticed before.

Or perhaps it confirmed the worries that had always been in her heart.

Her gaze swept over the parasites she had shot and killed, finally settling on the headmaster, her eyes filled with a hint of schadenfreude and inquiry.

She had realized something, but hoped her guess was wrong, so much so that she panicked and hoped to get the answers she wanted from the enemy.

Blood was still gushing from the hole in the dean's head, but a smile appeared on his face: "That's right, your ability is very powerful, capable of directly harming the true form of our Nightmare Clan."

Zhui Feng and the others suddenly realized why a pistol could be so powerful in Coffee's hands!
They only attack the host's physical body, but after consuming the derivative food, Coffee can directly attack the invisible and intangible Nightmare entity hidden within the body.

Chen Qi also had a new speculation about the source of the fragrance: only when the Nightmare Eater itself, which was hidden in the parasite's body, was damaged would that fragrance be produced.
Just as humans bleed when they are injured and have a bloody smell, Nightmare might also produce something similar to blood when injured, and emit a scent that only it can smell.

But why did he think it smelled like food?
Could it be... that he can eat?

Suddenly, a pen appeared in the dean's hand. He played with the pen, a mocking smile playing on his lips, clearly showing a hint of sarcasm on his bloodied and mangled face. He said, "So much so that the Nightmare Clan you killed didn't even have a chance to be resurrected."

Upon hearing this, Ganshui and Dabing's expressions changed drastically!
Because both the wife of the swill-drinking man and the father of the pancake were killed by the coffee-drinking man.

Only Zhui Feng's younger brother was shot and killed by Chen Qi.

But the one whose expression changed the most at this moment was Coffee itself.

All the complex emotions on her face were replaced by one single emotion: despair!

A profound despair, a despair that overwhelmed reason and seeped into the very marrow of one's bones.

In an instant, she felt utterly hopeless. It was as if a hole had been punched in her heart, and all her longing for the beauty of this world slipped through the hole like sand in an hourglass, falling into the depths below...

Morgue!
A seemingly real yet unreal door suddenly appeared on the lawn, with a sign hanging on it that read "Morgue".

Through the transparent glass door, Chen Qi saw the familiar morgue cabinets inside.

Within that, he seemed to see another coffee appear, gradually solidifying from a faint, ethereal shape.

The humanity in coffee is fading at an alarming rate...

Chen Qi wanted to do something, to rush in and take the coffee from the morgue, but then he heard Dr. Zhao's words, "Stay away from the morgue!"

Is it advice or misleading?
Or perhaps the Nightmare Clan lured me here just to get me into the morgue?
Crunch!Crunch!
Chen Qi suddenly heard the sound of bones and joints twisting. He turned his head and saw Coffee's limbs twisting at an angle beyond human limits, with its bones piercing through its skin, as if it was about to burst out of its flesh and blood.

It turns out that the coffee is not just contaminated, but has been parasitized.

The key to combating parasites lies in humanity. The rapid loss of humanity, coupled with giving up resistance and the loss of the will to survive and the mentality of fighting back, will infinitely accelerate this process.

Before Chen Qi and the others could react, Coffee suddenly raised the pistol in his hand and pointed it at his temple.

bang bang bang...

Amidst a series of gunshots, a bullet pierced her head, and her body, which had just begun to mutate, collapsed limply. The illusory morgue also vanished.

Coffee's arms, which had lengthened due to her mutation, drooped down, and the small handbag she always carried with her slid down her arm and landed right at Chen Qi's feet.

Chen Qi was only a few steps away from Coffee when the warm blood spurting from Coffee's head splattered all over his face.

His gaze was blank as he mechanically picked up the handbag from the ground. Inside was a small thermos that always contained coffee, along with his phone and wallet.

He turned on his phone screen and saw a group photo as the lock screen background. Coffee's face was beaming with a happy smile he had never seen before, and a little boy of only six or seven years old was sitting on her lap, wearing a birthday hat and also smiling happily.

Chen Qi's mind went blank; he had no idea what he was thinking.

He felt as if a huge rock was pressing on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

First it was my mother, then Sun Xuechao, and now coffee... What exactly do they want?

Who's next?

When will this ever end?!
Chen Qi's eyes went unfocused, and he suddenly darted out like a wild beast hunting on instinct, grabbing Lin Ning who was standing nearby.

Ignoring the fear and pleas on the girl's face, he opened his mouth to bite her.

At that moment, a voice kept echoing in his mind.

"Eat her!"

"Eating her will turn everything around!"

"Sacrificing her alone can save everyone!"

"Eat it!"

But suddenly, the girl was forcibly taken from his hands, and he was immediately punched.

Zhui Feng, holding the girl, glared at her and demanded, "What are you doing!"

Chen Qi was slightly taken aback, but the voice in his mind kept echoing: "Eat, eat quickly..."

He suddenly realized that it wasn't his inner monologue, but rather—the voice of the Nightmare Eater!

Just as Chen Qi realized this, the Nightmare's voice abruptly stopped.

"Don't do anything you'll regret!" Zhui Feng warned.

Chen Qi nodded. The more the Nightmare Eater wanted him to do something, the more it proved to be wrong.

"Brother Zhuifeng, take her away first!" Chen Qi said decisively.

Since Lin Ning carries the source of pollution, either eating her or sending her away will free them from the influence of cognitive distortion.

Without hesitation, Zhui Feng carried Lin Ning on his back and rushed towards the nearest wall, preparing to climb over it and leave.

But before he could run a few steps, Chen Qi suddenly heard a series of familiar footsteps.

Immediately afterwards, Zhui Feng was picked up by something and thrown back.

It's that thing again... Chen Qi frowned. He had run away from Jingquan School before, and it was this invisible thing that had brought him back.

"By not letting Lin Ning leave, are you forcing me to take her?"

The remaining parasites quickly gathered and charged towards Chen Qi and his group.

Just then, gunshots rang out in the distance, several parasites were hit in succession.

Chen Qi looked in the direction of the gunshot and found Xu An'an holding a gun with both hands in a corner in the direction of the teaching building, with a golden retriever wagging its tail next to her.

Chen Qi was stunned. He had always thought that Xu An'an had been controlled by the parasites, but he did not expect that Xu An'an would be able to support them at the critical moment.

And she wasn't bragging; her marksmanship is indeed accurate!

But... why is she able to use a gun?

Wasn't she misled by her own perceptions?
Chen Qi always thought that cognitive distortion covered a wide range, so much so that he couldn't get rid of it even after running outside the school.

However, it seems that this is not the case now.

Chen Qi's eyes flickered slightly, and he said to Zhui Feng, "Brother Zhui Feng, take Lin Ning to the bread shop."

He wanted to see what would happen if Lin Ning, this "source of pollution," was sent to Xu An'an's side.
Will Xu An'an's gun still be usable by then?

Will things return to normal on their end?

Chen Qi vaguely felt that he had grasped something important. Perhaps his previous suspicions were correct. The source of his cognitive distortion was not Lin Ning, but something else!

(End of this chapter)