“Fine,” Old He said with a sense of resignation, gathering the flesh-eating Underworld Bugs on the ground with slips of paper, funneling them handful by handful into a bottle using the paper as makeshift tubes. Finally, he capped the bottle and handed it to Xiao Shu. “I only kept a few back; this bottle should be enough for self-defense. But remember, they can consume zombies or people. I recall Xiaoyu mentioning that the old women of Miao Village also sought to use them to end their own lives, so you must be extremely careful. Just one bug is enough to destroy anything. Once a zombie or whatever else is consumed by the bugs, the way to prevent further spread is to burn them. Listening to them pop and crackle in the fire brings a sense of security.” Having said this, Old He smiled gently at Xiao Shu, a flicker of triumph visible in his eyes.

Xiao Shu tremblingly took the bottle. The image of the girl in black flashed before her eyes again, and Xiaoyu, too. It was as if he could see himself and Xiaoyu standing on a cliff overlooking the Sea of the Dead, teasing the spectral fish gnawing at their heels. Glancing back at the bottle of flesh-eating Underworld Bugs glittering in the sunlight, he relentlessly questioned where the enemy truly lay, yet the answer remained elusive.

At that very moment, the person who genuinely hoped to use the flesh-eating Underworld Bugs to end their life was sitting in a rocking chair, basking in the setting sun, reminiscing about the bittersweet tapestry of the past. Once a person reaches a certain age, they become enamored with recollection, as if memory has become the most vital part of the day, spending the majority of their time adrift in this journey of the mind. The former agonies have slowly faded with time, and the endless loop of remembering has become like plain boiled water—both necessary and utterly flavorless.

Old He instructed Xiao Shu to wrap the bottle in a plastic bag and place it inside her coat pocket, preventing the glass from shattering during a fight and allowing the Underworld Bugs to escape and corrupt her body. Once ready again, Xiao Shu reached out and squeezed Old He’s shoulder, gazing at him deeply. “This is the third time, and the last. If I don't find Xiaoyu, I won't come back.”

“Don't talk nonsense. You will both come back together. Even if you can't find him, you still have to return here to help me on duty. We are desperately short-staffed here; I haven’t slept more than five hours in days,” Old He said, brushing her hand away, half-jokingly engaging her.

“Ah…” Just as the two were exchanging farewells, a shriek pierced the air from beside the heap of refuse—the same refuse Xiao Shu had pinched her nose against while holding her breath to traverse to Qinxin Park. Now, following the cry, seven or eight civilians instantly swarmed over. The boldest among them stepped forward, glanced in the direction the screaming woman was pointing, and quickly recoiled. “Where are the police? Where are the police? Someone's dead! Police, hurry!”

Old He, clad in his uniform, ran from Xiao Shu’s side toward the crowd the moment he heard someone call for the police. Seeing an officer arrive, the crowd surged forward, chanting, “There’s a dead body on the trash heap, a dead body! Police, look quickly!” Old He could barely withstand the pressure of the throng and nearly tumbled onto the refuse heap. He was forced to straighten his back, extending both arms with effort, holding the boiling crowd back, and shouting loudly, “Everyone, calm down! Don't crowd in! Maintain order, don’t move! Let me see what’s going on!”