Tuer l'amour

Chapitre 4

“I’m sorry, I’m not targeting you. When I saw you yesterday, it suddenly occurred to me that these doctors can’t help me. They’ve never encountered a disease like this before, and they’ve never heard of a person’s number of pores increasing by one or two times in a short period of time, or hair growing at a rate of five or ten centimeters per day. Perhaps only you can help me.”

"Me?" I was stunned.

“You know many people whose skills are beyond the explanation of modern technology, so perhaps they can cure diseases that modern medicine cannot.” Liu Er looked at me with hope in his eyes.

That was his last hope.

"The only one I can think of is you. The things you told me before, those people, must be true, right?" Liu Er opened his left hand and stretched it out in front of me. In his palm, which he had just shaved clean, a group of black spots appeared again: "Look, they are so fast, so fast."

Liu Er stared at the black dots, his eyes filled with fear.

Yes, those are true.

Liu Er smiled. This was the first time I had seen him smile from the bottom of his heart all day, and even his face full of black fur couldn't hide it.

“I knew it,” he said. “I knew it. It’s all true.”

Even if it's true, it doesn't mean it can cure your illness. None of the people I know are skilled in treatment; in fact, they might not even understand the reasons behind their own abilities.

Of course, I can only think these words in my heart; I can't say them to Liu Er.

He put down the scraper, stood up, and said, "Where's the broom? I'll sweep this up."

"Let me do it." I took out the broom and dustpan, but Liu Er snatched them away.

His right hand, which held the broom, had its hair shaved off the back of its hand, but the hair on the back of his fingers remained, clearly distinguishable by black and white.

I looked away.

Liu Er swept all the fur on the floor into the dustpan and then emptied it into the trash can. I put the broom and dustpan back in their places, and when I returned to the living room, Liu Er was still standing in front of the coffee table.

"Can I stay here with you?"

"ah……"

“I ran away from the hospital. I don’t want to go back to my hometown. I’m afraid of being found by reporters. And those neighbors… I don’t want them to see me either.”

"And your parents?"

"I have no parents," Liu Er said. "They are dead."

"I'm sorry." I never imagined that Liu Er's parents had died young.

"I don't have many friends either."

I was surprised; how could someone with such an extroverted personality not have many friends? While in Fujian, although Liu Er was particularly clingy, he also had a good relationship with the others in the group.

"Okay, you can stay here with me. You'll have plenty of food and clothes, and I won't let you down." I deliberately made my words sound a little slick. Back in Fujian, I spoke to him like that every moment. But now, I had to try very hard to say it.

A smile appeared on Liu Er's lips: "Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble. I'll stay here and not go anywhere."

My heart is heavy. Will that boy from just over ten days ago ever come back?

"Could you buy me a pair of scissors tomorrow? Shaving like this is too slow."

And so, I gained a tenant who never saw the light of day.

I quietly pushed open the door.

The windows were completely covered by thick velvet curtains, and even when I opened the door to let in the light from the outer hall, the room remained dark and gloomy.

Liu Er sat on a chair in the corner, shirtless.

"You're back."

Liu Er put down the scissors, picked up a barber's folding razor, and carefully began to trim the short hair on his chest. He raised his head, his gaze passing over me, looking in a certain direction.

I bought the flat-tipped scissors and long razor specifically because Liu'er's hair is growing faster than usual, almost a centimeter per hour. So I have to cut it short first and then shave it with the razor.

Beside him was the windowsill, covered by curtains, and occasionally, through the gaps created by the wind, one could glimpse outside. Liu Er had been living here for three days, always sitting in this spot—the easiest place to see outside. But when the wind stirred the curtains, he rarely looked out. Even when he did, it was just a fleeting glance.

From morning till night, he sat there, shaving his body. He started with his left palm, shaving both hands and chest clean, and his feet as well. He only used scissors to trim the hair on his legs, cutting it extremely short. His hands were very dexterous; his arms could bend to any part of his back, and he would grope around, trimming the hair on his back as well, without ever needing my help.

Finally, there was his face. On the first day, he shaved in front of a mirror, but now, he takes a tissue, wipes it on the blade, sits down, and shaves his entire face clean. While shaving, he doesn't close his eyes, but stares blankly at something in front of him, as if there were an invisible mirror there.

A single shave takes over an hour, and the hair grows back on the palms that were initially cleaned. So he shaves again, and the process repeats itself endlessly. The thought of hair constantly growing on the palms of his hands as he shaves is terrifying, and all I can do is stand there, silently shaving and shaving.

Every day, I shave off the hair and put it in a large black garbage bag, filling it to the brim. I tie the bag tightly and go downstairs to throw it away at 10 p.m.

"I'm planning to order two bowls of tonkotsu ramen for delivery. What else would you like? I have their delivery menu here." I waved the beautifully printed promotional menu in my hand.

"Order one more serving, I'd like two, is that alright? My appetite is much bigger than before, and these things grow so fast, they must be very energy-consuming." Liu Er chuckled.

"Don't worry, there will always be a way to cure it," I said.

Liu Er's gaze shifted slightly and landed on my face.

"I'm going to call and order takeout." I turned and walked out. He placed all his hopes on me, but I didn't dare look him in the eye.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom. I heard a very faint sobbing coming from behind the closed door, or perhaps a low laugh; I couldn't tell.

I wanted to knock on the door, but my hand stopped at the last moment.

Lying on the sofa bed in the study, he carefully went through each of the so-called "non-humans" he knew, but still didn't know who to ask to help Liu Er.

Lu Yun excels at illusions that can mesmerize anyone; Shui Sheng retains some degree of body manipulation ability, and oh, he's also an excellent swimmer; Xiahou Ying's abilities are similar to Lu Yun's, subtly controlling others' behavior through suggestion. There's also Sir D, whose true nature is even more unknown than Xiahou Ying's. That's about it. Thinking about it, most of my friends are still normal people. Which of these people could cure this strange condition of hair growing all over the body?

The day before yesterday, I went to Huashan Hospital and found Liu Er's attending physician. Under the guise of a reporter, I asked for his opinion. This senior expert actually had no opinion at all, and kept expressing his surprise to me.

While atavism is rare, it's not unheard of. But someone like Liu Er, who suddenly grew into a hairy person overnight, would have seemed like an utterly absurd fabrication if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes. Even as Liu Er's attending physician, he couldn't comprehend how human hair could grow hundreds of times faster than normal. What astonished him even more was that after just a few days of itching, the pores all over the patient's body shrank to one-third of their normal size, while their number increased by 200% or more.

The initial blood tests showed no abnormalities, and all vital signs were quite normal, except for a temperature of around 37.2 degrees Celsius, slightly above the normal range. Just as a more detailed examination was about to begin, Liu'er escaped. The expert was extremely disappointed; if the cause could have been found, publishing a paper in a prestigious international medical journal would have been a certainty.

However, he frankly told me that even if the cause of the illness were found, it would be difficult to develop an effective treatment plan in the short term. After all, this was a strange disease that had never been seen before.

The doctor finally held my hand, hoping we could find this patient as soon as possible, and that Huashan Hospital could consider waiving his medical fees and providing him with the best team of experts.

It's hard to say whether this free treatment is more for the benefit of the patients or for the benefit of the hospitals.

The doctor's attitude was so clear, and I don't know any sorcerers who can solve everything by chanting "Disaster Retreat." How am I supposed to treat Liu Er's illness? Am I supposed to let him shave his hair in my bedroom until he dies?

I had a lot on my mind, and I don't know when I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was covered in sweat.

The bedroom. Liu Er was still sitting in the shadows, his three fingers gripping the scraper handle more carefully and gently than the day before.

I walked up to him and sat on the edge of the bed.

Liu Er stopped wielding his knife.

“I’ve been to Huashan Hospital and met your attending physician,” I said.

He stared at me intently, waiting for me to continue.

I told him everything the expert had told me, including the free treatment and the hope of a cure.

"You only went to Huashan Hospital?"

“I don’t know anyone who can cure this disease,” I told him frankly.

He was visibly shaken.

"But..." I hesitated.

"But what? Tell me!" Liu Er suddenly became agitated, gripping the scraper tightly and leaning forward.

“Our country has a secret official agency with the best researchers and the most advanced experimental technology. They have extensive contact with the ‘inhuman’ things I’m talking about. I have a friend who is a researcher at that agency.”

“X Organization, you mentioned X Organization, and the person’s friend is Liang Yingwu, right? I remember. They can help me, right?” Liu Er’s hand tightened its grip, and his face was only twenty centimeters away from mine.

“I’m not sure if they can cure you, but there’s no doubt they’re much better than the expert team at Huashan Hospital. This is the place I can think of that has the best chance of curing your illness, and they probably won’t charge you. But…” I said “but” again.

"What's wrong?" Liu Er's rapid, hot breath sprayed on my face.

“But they’re not a medical institution; they’re a research institution,” I said slowly, staring at Liu Er. I had been thinking about Organization X for a long time, but I only decided to tell him today precisely because of this.

"Research...institution?"

"Yes, if they are willing to accept you, it will only be because you have research value, not because they want to save lives."

"You mean, you're using me as a research subject?" Liu Er's hand gradually loosened, and drops of blood fell to the ground. He had gripped the blade too tightly and forcefully, without even realizing it.

"Yes, I think they might be interested in this kind of mutation that occurs in the human body, and since you've volunteered to come here, some experiments are inevitable. Of course, they won't dissect you, but the way they treat you will definitely be different from patients in hospitals. If you want to cure this disease, you'll have to pay a price; maybe you can be cured in the end, or maybe you can't."

Seeing Liu Er staring blankly, I knew he was having a hard time making a decision. After all, no one would willingly become a guinea pig unless they were forced into it by dire circumstances. But I could tell Liu Er was close to that final step.

"I'm going to the newspaper office. Think it over carefully." I stood up and walked out of the room, so quiet you could hear the blood dripping. "Also, you cut your hand."

Around 2 PM, I received a call from Dali Zhang.

"Hey, Nado, let's play another game tonight. How about it? You're dominating the field." His energetic voice made me immediately keep my ear quite a distance from the receiver.

"I'm busy tonight, you should find someone else." I'm not in the mood to leave Liu Er at home and go play cards. Even when I'm with him, we just watch TV. He's become increasingly taciturn, which is worrying me more and more.

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow... I'm afraid it won't work for the foreseeable future." I said with a wry smile.

"What's going on?" The person on the other end of the phone muttered a few words, then suddenly said, "Who have you hooked up with? I saw a beautiful girl with you last time, what's her name, Ye Tong?"

"Nonsense," I solemnly rebuked him.

"No matter which one you date, let me tell you, quickly teach her all her skills so you can bring her out and have fun with her. That's the key," Zhang Dali said earnestly.

After chatting with Dali Zhang for a while before hanging up the phone, I saw Yuan Lie walking past me. I immediately thought of Liu Er at home, and my mood, which had just eased up a little, sank again.

Regarding the Six-Eared Serpent, I had a vague feeling that I had missed something, something I hadn't grasped. I frowned and thought for a while, but that tiny bit of tail had somehow slipped away.

"As for Organization X, perhaps we should wait a little longer. And could you keep an eye out for me on your own? Maybe one of your extraordinary friends has someone in their circle who can help," Liu Er said to me expectantly that evening.

I sighed and nodded.

It seems he hasn't been pushed to the brink yet. Let's wait and see. I believe that one day he'll have no choice but to choose Agency X. I can't think of any other way to help him.

At ten o'clock, I went downstairs with a full black garbage bag. At a small intersection in front of the garbage can, I turned right and handed the bag to a man.

"Did he agree?" Liang Yingwu asked.

I shook my head: "He doesn't want to be a guinea pig. Why don't you take these hairs and test them first?"

“These…” Liang Yingwu weighed them in his hand; they felt light as a feather.

"We don't need that much. Let's do a genetic test first, but it would be best if we could get his blood."

"I'll ask him when I have time. I don't think he'll be too averse to it, it's just a blood draw."