The Heretical Husband Is Too Good at Acting! - Chapter 8

Ten-odd minutes later, the atmosphere inside the private room had returned to its original liveliness.

The dim yellow light spilled over the marble tabletop before them. The young students sat gathered together, their expressions relaxed and their postures casual as they chatted. Not far away at the bar, two girls held microphones in their hands and were conversing in low voices, discussing which singer’s song they should sing next.

A waiter pushed a small cart, bringing fresh fruit platters, alcohol, and drinks. He announced the orders briskly and moved with practiced efficiency, making slight clinking sounds as he set down the glasses and plates.

The classmates greeted one another, distributing these items amongst themselves. Everything was so bustling and natural, as if the chaos of a few moments ago had never happened.

Chen Mo looked through the glass window on the door at the two figures walking out along the corridor, his mood complicated.

Ten minutes ago, a weird severed hand had suddenly lunged out, attacking his classmate Wang Chaoyang without any warning. The severed hand had tightly strangled the other’s neck until Chen Mo spoke out to soothe it; only then did it slightly loosen its fingers, after which, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, it actually crawled straight back into his pocket.

Combined with the victim’s repeated behavior of being rude to him shortly before, this situation looked wrong no matter how one viewed it.

Even the class monitor, Lin Jun, who was on the best terms with Chen Mo, couldn’t help but speak up to inquire.

Just before Chen Mo could find himself unable to defend his position and the situation became even more awkward, finally, people from the Abnormalities Management Bureau arrived.

Zhang Tao appeared with another team member wearing the same uniform.

The two were well-trained and cooperated with a clear division of labor.

That team member was responsible for treating the wound on Student Wang’s neck and restoring the abnormalities of the scene, while Captain Zhang utilized that colorless and odorless substance Captain Shen had used last time to erase the memories of all witnesses in the private room regarding that “severed hand.”

Chen Mo felt very apologetic about the fact that the memories of his classmates were erased without their consent.

But this wasn’t something he could decide; it was a regulation of the Abnormalities Management Bureau.

Speaking of which, regarding today’s situation, he was actually somewhat grateful for the existence of this regulation.

Otherwise, how was he supposed to explain it to everyone?!

Thus, after a brief moment of trance and daze appeared on the faces of everyone in the private room except for Chen Mo, they completely forgot the small interlude from just now and continued their briefly interrupted entertainment and leisure.

Wang Chaoyang actually felt a faint sense of strangeness.

He clearly remembered that he had finally been unable to restrain the resentment in his heart just now and had spoken out to mock that certain “chosen son of heaven” surnamed Chen, who was being surrounded by everyone like stars around the moon. But strangely, everyone seemed as if they hadn’t heard him at all, ignoring his cynicism and continuing to drink and chat happily.

Even the guy he had mocked showed no reaction, giving him no attention at all; instead, he seemed to have something on his mind, looking out the door from time to time.

Wang Chaoyang intended to say a few more words, but Chen Mo, whom he was silently watching, suddenly stood up, smiled apologetically to the surrounding classmates, and said, “I still have some things to do tonight, so I’m afraid I have to leave first. Let’s get together again next time!”

Since it was hard enough to meet once, everyone was a bit surprised and reluctant to see him leave early. However, since Chen Mo had already said he would stay in the country for his future development, there would be many more opportunities to gather in the future, so no one forced him to stay. They all raised their hands to bid him farewell.

Wang Chaoyang blinked, becoming increasingly suspicious of whether there was a problem with his memory.

Had he really mocked the other party just now? Why did everyone’s behavior seem as if that had never happened?

Whether it was agreeing with him, opposing him, or hypocritically trying to smooth things over.

When a sentence is spoken, even if it’s just a butterfly flapping its wings, shouldn’t it trigger some chain reaction?

But to say there was absolutely no follow-up didn’t seem quite right either. Wang Chaoyang subconsciously touched his throat; he felt a mysterious dry pain in his gullet. Because of that inexplicable discomfort, for the remainder of the night, he didn’t speak a second word.

Chen Mo maintained an air of nonchalance as much as possible while saying goodbye to his classmates. After exiting the private room, he finally couldn’t help but quicken his pace into a light jog. He hurried downstairs, pushed through the revolving doors of the KTV, and came to an abrupt halt at the street corner.

This was because he saw Zhang Tao waiting for him under a nearby streetlight. The other team member was not there, likely having already departed.

Zhang Tao had one hand tucked into the pocket of his uniform coat, and the severed hand he was clutching was halfway exposed.

Chen Mo stepped forward, stared at that segment of the severed hand for a moment, and looked at the other’s expression with a tone that couldn’t be described as very polite: “Captain Zhang, perhaps I have the right to receive an explanation?”

“Indeed, we have an obligation to apologize to you and appropriately explain the situation.”

Zhang Tao smiled apologetically and brought the severed hand out to show him. “This is an abnormality we contained some time ago. It was supposed to be locked in the containment center, but clearly, an error occurred in some link, allowing it to escape. I will take it back and urge my colleagues in the containment group to find out the reason, ensuring as much as possible that similar incidents do not happen again.”

Zhang Tao had a very good attitude, but Chen Mo was a little angry: “Last time it was that mushroom, and now there’s a severed hand. Is the work of your Abnormalities Management Bureau always this careless?”

Zhang Tao was rebuked to his face but wasn’t annoyed. He explained patiently, “Xiao Wen is our partner; he is not of the same nature as this fellow.”

One does not hit a smiling face. Chen Mo’s mood hadn’t fully settled, but his tone improved slightly as he muttered, “I don’t see any difference.”

Zhang Tao looked at him, seemingly lost in thought. “Have you heard of Murphy’s Law?”

Chen Mo: “…What do you mean?”

Zhang Tao’s expression was somewhat subtle. He thought for a moment before saying, “There are many abnormalities in this world, but the vast majority of people go their whole lives without knowing of their existence or having much intersection with them. But once you are deeply tainted by them, it becomes very difficult to break away completely. The more you don’t want them to appear, the more they will continuously emerge in your life.”

Chen Mo couldn’t help but frown.

“From the moment you killed that Slit-Mouthed Freak, it has actually been very hard for your life to escape this possibility.” Zhang Tao looked at him. “That’s why we never intended to erase your memory from the beginning. You are different from your sister, who was almost eaten, and different from your classmate, who was strangled today. They can return to a peaceful and normal life after their memories of these events are erased, but your hands have already been stained with the blood of an abnormality. Your fate has already changed.”

Chen Mo: “…Are you saying that this guy’s appearance has nothing to do with your Bureau, and is a trouble I brought upon myself?”

Zhang Tao smiled peacefully. “It sounds like we are shrugging off responsibility, doesn’t it? But unfortunately, I’m afraid this fellow won’t be your last piece of trouble.”

These words really didn’t sound very auspicious.

Chen Mo’s unpleasant gaze fell upon that severed hand. Recalling what had happened not long ago, he asked, “Speaking of which, do you know why it suddenly attacked my classmate?”

Zhang Tao cooperated with him in changing the subject. “Based on our understanding of it, it should be that it likes you quite a bit, so it has been following you since an unknown point in time. And because it sensed that classmate’s malice toward you, as well as your disgust toward him, it launched an attack.”

Chen Mo refused to accept this “pot falling from the sky” (scapegoating).

“First of all, I don’t even know this fellow. Saying it likes me? Absolute nonsense. Secondly, that classmate has always talked with that kind of attitude. I’m not close to him at all; it doesn’t even reach the level of disgust.”

Zhang Tao looked at the severed hand in his hand, thought for a bit, and said, “It has a preference for humans with clever hands and a crafty mind. Perhaps you’ve showcased some talent in this area recently?”

Chen Mo: “…”

Does helping Chen Xiaomi with her winter break handicraft homework count?

A strange silence spread. Zhang Tao probably understood.

Chen Mo quickly added, “I indeed don’t like that classmate very much, but I absolutely never thought about harming him!”

Saying this, he couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed: “Is it not even allowed for me to silently dislike someone in my heart?”

“You certainly possess the freedom to dislike a person.” Zhang Tao chuckled, then his expression became serious. “In this matter, it’s because your internal emotion of disgust was captured by this severed hand. It’s different from humans; it doesn’t know how to hide or endure. It likes you and discovered the clashing emotions between you two, so it took the initiative to launch an attack on your behalf. We don’t have the right to judge its behavior as right or wrong, but for the sake of public safety, its ending will be containment by us.”

Chen Mo’s mood was complicated.

He looked up at Zhang Tao and asked hesitantly, “So, are the abnormalities your Bureau usually deals with all like this?”

His subtext was clearly: If I join the Bureau, do I have to handle these kinds of things?

It sounded like a lot of trouble.

Zhang Tao clearly understood. Although he very much wanted to recruit him, he had no intention of hiding things or deceiving him. He explained patiently, “The types of abnormalities are far more complex than you can imagine. Some are like Xiao Wen, with gentle personalities and relatively friendly dispositions. Others are like this severed hand—neutral and harmless most of the time, but occasionally losing control and causing sudden accidents. However, the abnormalities our Hunting Group contacts are mostly those with significant harm to humans, the kind that need to be executed.”

“Executed?” Chen Mo’s brow furrowed even tighter. To a person raised in a peaceful world, this word felt naturally distant.

Zhang Tao nodded and said, “We certainly hope to coexist peacefully with abnormalities, but we are different species after all. For abnormalities that intersect with human society, we conduct a risk coefficient assessment. For abnormalities that exceed a certain range, we perform expulsions. As for those that cannot be expelled, we try our best to perform containment, isolation, and detention. If they still cannot eliminate their threat to humanity, we can only perform an execution—which is to say, killing or, rather, extermination.”

Chen Mo had previously delved into certain dangerous incidents out of curiosity and had directly faced moments of life and death. However, facing a job with “execution” as its core focus, his mindset was not as peaceful as he had initially anticipated.

He hesitated.

Zhang Tao saw his hesitation and reassured him, “It’s alright, you don’t need to decide in a hurry.”

Chen Mo felt embarrassed by his unspoken indecision, so he changed the subject: “Have you guys been busy lately? How is the progress of the mission you mentioned last time?”

At the mention of this, a trace of exhaustion appeared on Zhang Tao’s face. He sighed, “It hasn’t been very smooth. There hasn’t been much of a breakthrough even after all these days.”

“Is that so? What kind of mission is it?” Chen Mo asked casually, then immediately realized this might be classified information. He quickly said, “If it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to say.”

“It’s fine.” Zhang Tao didn’t seem to mind much and actively suggested, “It’s right near here, and the Captain is over there too. Do you want to go take a look?”

Chen Mo was stunned. “Me? Is it appropriate for me to go?”

The corners of Zhang Tao’s lips curled up slightly as he said casually, “But you might just be going to watch the excitement. This case is a bit thorny; there’s been no progress for many days. Come on, let’s go together.”

Chen Mo was actually quite curious about the work of the Abnormalities Management Bureau. Seeing that the other didn’t treat him as an outsider, he relented, “Okay.”

Zhang Tao drove. After turning through a few streets, ten-odd minutes later, they arrived in front of a brightly lit supermarket. Zhang Tao parked the car in the parking lot outside the supermarket and said, “We’re here.”

Chen Mo looked at the three-story building surrounded by police tape and guessed, “Is the abnormality trapped by you inside this supermarket?”

Zhang Tao slammed the car door shut, leaned his elbow on the roof of the car, and sighed while looking at the supermarket: “No. This supermarket is the abnormality itself.”

Chen Mo: ?