Chapter 266: Monster

His heart heavy as lead, Zhang Wenda didn't take the elevator. Instead, he walked up the stairs, step by step, toward the fourth floor.

When he arrived at the familiar apartment building, Zhang Wenda finally understood why Hippocampus had said he'd known all along.

Yes, he should have known. There was no need to ask around. If he wanted to obtain blue by passing a red trial, then this place was definitely where he would find it.

He just hadn't wanted to face them. But he couldn't run anymore. He had grown up. It was time to put an end to it all.

Not long after he left, Black Coal's little head poked out from the shadows. The cat blinked curiously, let out two soft meows, and then carefully followed him, hopping up one step at a time.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP... Zhang Wenda's footsteps on the stairs echoed the pounding in his chest. Even though he had figured things out, his mind grew more chaotic the closer he got.

He wrestled with the chaotic thoughts in his mind, trying his best to calm down.

Having now experienced two "red" harvests, he had a general idea of what was going on.

First, it was certain that red represented violence, impulse, and slaughter.

Blue, on the other hand, represented rationality and calm. This time, he could only use blue to face this red ordeal.

If he wanted to obtain blue, then he absolutely could not use red this time. He absolutely could not use violence.

The last two times, he had used red and received red in return. If he couldn't stop himself from lashing out again, the harvest from this trial would inevitably be red once more.

He already possessed two instances of red and could barely suppress them, relying entirely on the special training he'd received before. But if he harvested red one more time, God only knew what he would become.

However, that was easier said than done. He understood the logic, and his reasoning was clear, but when Zhang Wenda stood at his own front door on the fourth floor, his breathing still began to quicken uncontrollably.

Then, fragments of past memories began to surface in his mind, and Zhang Wenda could even hear his own heartbeat growing faster and faster.

This familiar yet alien home seemed to have a natural magnetic field of its own. He didn't have to do anything; just being near it was enough to make Zhang Wenda's personality begin to shift toward extreme irritability.

Some happy things had actually happened in this home, but he didn't know why his heart instinctively recoiled the moment he reached the front door.

'Stay calm. You're here to get the blue back. You have to get the blue back, you promised! You have to avenge your uncle!'

'You have to learn to control your emotions! You can't let them affect you. They are them, and you are you!'

After repeating this to himself several times, Zhang Wenda finally felt a little better and reached out to knock on the door.

A few seconds later, the door creaked open on its own. The house was still the same house, except it was now covered in all sorts of scythe marks.

But when Zhang Wenda saw the very ordinary environment inside, he felt a profound sense of suffocation, so much so that even breathing became difficult.

He took a deep breath, pushed against the pressure, and walked inside, only to see a scythe monster about as tall as him emerge from an inner room.

"You're back? Son, are you hungry? Let me make you something to eat, okay?"

Her large mouth twisted upward in an attempt to form a warm smile, but framed by her sharp fangs, it looked utterly menacing.

Zhang Wenda realized he could actually understand what she was saying now. He recalled that back in Thought Wave One, he could only hear meaningless roars.

Suddenly, Zhang Wenda understood. He had grown up.

With the change in thought waves and the passage of time, not only had his own appearance changed, but his parents' appearances seemed to have changed as well.

They were originally a conjoined monster, but in Thought Wave Two, they didn't seem so tightly connected.

Perhaps time had changed the way they interacted. They had separated, now connected by a tube between them. The smaller one was heading toward the kitchen. That was his mom.

The larger one was in the study. That was his dad.

Even though he must have heard him return, the larger one showed no sign of coming out. It remained in the study, apparently on the phone with someone.

In the small room, no one spoke. Everyone went about their own business, and an invisible pressure weighed heavily on them all.

Just then, sensing something, Zhang Wenda suddenly looked out the window. His pupils contracted slightly. He saw a massive red orb, as large as the sun, floating right outside.

It was pressing against the security bars on the window, making them creak as if it might burst in at any moment. Red light shone through the glass, dyeing the entire room blood-red.

He didn't know how it had appeared, but Zhang Wenda understood: this was the red.

This time, the red was much larger than the previous two times—at least ten times bigger.

He wasn't sure if there were differences between the trials, but he was certain that if he absorbed this, his power would skyrocket to an incredible level. As for whether his sanity would remain, that was another question entirely.

CLINK. A fragrant bowl of seafood noodles, piled high with all sorts of seafood, was placed before Zhang Wenda. But that wasn't all. An array of exquisite side dishes was set in front of him, and even some washed fruit.

Seeing the bowl of noodles, Zhang Wenda almost let out a disbelieving laugh. He suppressed the feeling for a long moment before saying calmly, "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? I don't like noodles."

Zhang Wenda then saw her clap her hands together. "Oh, dear me! I just thought noodles were tasty and easy to digest, so I made them for you. I'll go make you something else right away."

Just as Zhang Wenda was about to speak up and stop her, a set of footsteps he would never forget for the rest of his life echoed as a larger scythe monster emerged from the study.

When it saw Zhang Wenda, it snorted in displeasure, and hot white steam shot from its nostrils. "Hmph. So you know how to come back? Why didn't you just die outside?"

Then it walked over, plopped itself down nonchalantly at the head of the table, and said in a disgruntled tone, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Zhang Wenda dug his scythe deep into his own thigh to stop himself from swinging it at the monster's face.

At that moment, he finally understood where his ability to freely control the red in others came from.

To make someone's inner red surge with a single sentence, to make them want to kill... only his own father could do that.