Fear of food

Chapter 22 Mother's Love (Please read on for the revival round!)

"Mom's going to bed, you should go to bed early too."

Zhang Qin locked the door, went straight back to the master bedroom, and closed the master bedroom door behind her.

Chen Qi trembled all over, his heart pounding rapidly and violently like a drum.

He leaned against the wall and returned to his room, collapsing onto the bed, the pale face still haunting his mind.

Despite having been mentally prepared, he still harbored a sliver of hope, or rather, a sliver of unrealistic fantasy, always thinking that his parents would be lucky enough to escape the effects of the strange food.

But what he had just seen clearly told him that his mother had an abnormality far more serious than that of ordinary people!

Chen Qi had seen so many people affected by strange foods in the hospital and had even faced the food protection team, but he had only ever seen Dr. Zhao directly exhibit abnormal physical symptoms.

"How to do?"

"what should I do?"

Chen Qi's mind was in turmoil. His parents were the closest and most important people to him. Knowing that his mother had a problem, he couldn't simply avoid them and pretend nothing had happened.

He wants his mother to return to normal!
However, he didn't even know what had happened or why it all started, so how could he solve the problem?
"Momo!"

"He may not know much either, but he knows more than I do!"

Chen Qi quickly found the only hope amidst the myriad of thoughts. He calmed himself down and gradually sorted out his ideas.

"My first priority is to protect myself and make sure I don't get into trouble before I can think of a way to rescue my mother."

"I'm afraid I can't stay at home for long..."

Upon noticing the abnormality in his mother, Chen Qi knew that his home was not safe either.

He planned to pack his things and then leave when the opportunity arose.

As if wound up, Chen Qi quickly got up and rummaged through his desk drawer to find the spare phone he had previously used.

He tested it by charging, and it turned on smoothly. However, without a SIM card to receive the verification code, he was unable to log in to WeChat and the "Guoke" app.

"I'll go to a service center to get a replacement SIM card when it gets light, and then I'll contact Momo."

He didn't bother waiting for his phone to charge, so he unplugged the charger and put it in his bag.

Chen Qi casually stuffed some changes of clothes into his backpack, knowing that he probably wouldn't be back for a while after this trip.

It's already past 3 a.m., but fortunately Chen Qi slept from yesterday afternoon until night and is full of energy, not feeling sleepy at all.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, carefully walked to the living room, and glanced at the tightly closed master bedroom door.

"Mom should be asleep by now, right?"

A while had passed since her mother went into the room. She usually falls asleep quickly, so she should be sound asleep by now.

However, Chen Qi wasn't quite sure about his mother's current appearance, especially given her long face at the back of her head.

Therefore, he tried to walk quietly and tiptoed to the entrance.

Just as I was about to put on my shoes, my mother's voice suddenly came from behind me: "Didn't I tell you not to go out?"

My mother had already opened the bedroom door and appeared in the living room.

Chen Qi froze, then turned back and forced a smile: "I can't sleep, I want to go for a walk."

"Then you still need to bring a bag?"

"I brought some food in my bag, just in case I get hungry later."

"Are you hungry? Mom will make you dumplings."

"Well, let me eat when I get back. Mom, you can sleep a little longer."

Chen Qi made several excuses, and a hint of displeasure flashed across his mother's face.

"My mom makes all the dumplings at home by hand. The meat filling is made from black pork that she gets from her hometown. It's so fragrant, you have to try it!"

Chen Qi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try my mom's cooking."

Chen Qi pretended to give up going out, walked to the dining table and sat down, looking like he was waiting for the food to be served.

Once his mother went into the kitchen, he quietly got up, tiptoed back to the entrance, and prepared to put on his shoes and slip away.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, her mother suddenly came out of the kitchen carrying a plate: "The dumplings are ready, come and eat."

Chen Qi was stunned. In less than a minute, the dumplings were already cooked?

when!
The mother placed the plate on the dining table.

Chen Qi looked at the plate and saw ears twitching inside, as lively as fish that had just been caught.

"Eat it while it's hot, I'll go get you some vinegar."

The mother turned and brought over a small bowl containing a dark green liquid that smelled sour, which appeared to be bile.

Chen Qi stood there motionless for a long time until his mother urged him repeatedly. Then he sighed and finally made up his mind.

He stopped pretending and shook his head, saying, "I'm not eating, I'm leaving now."

Without thinking twice, he put on his shoes and was about to leave.

He really didn't know how to continue acting.

"You should at least eat one," the mother said softly in a low voice.

What seemed like a plea sent a chill down Chen Qi's spine.

He pretended not to hear and opened the security door of his house.

boom!
An unusually large hand suddenly reached out, grabbed the doorknob, and slammed the door shut again.

Chen Qi's eyelids twitched, and he quickly turned around, only to be met with a deathly pale face!

His mother had her back to him, and the face on the back of her head opened its eyes and stared at Chen Qi without any emotion.

What horrified Chen Qi even more was that his mother's body was swelling up like watered-down dough, and it seemed to be melting.

His hands swelled to several times their normal size, and the skin and flesh dripped down like heated cheese, stringy and stretchy...

"Eat."

"Have one."

"On a."

"Mom specially made dumplings for you, aren't you going to eat a single one?"

The face on the back of the head opened its mouth, but the voice that came out was that of a mother.

His face was expressionless, but his voice was full of emotion, pleading and sorrow, as if he were truly a heartbroken mother.

Chen Qi couldn't suppress the horror on his face. For the first time, the terror of this world was so nakedly displayed before his eyes!
And it happened to the person closest to him.

His mother, the person who loved him most in the world, and the person he loved most, had now turned into a monster in his eyes.

The shock was indescribable, leaving his mind blank and his body trembling uncontrollably.

He didn't know whether he was more afraid or more sad.

I don't know if I'm afraid of the monster's threat, or... afraid of losing my mother?
In a daze, he stared at the monster's deathly pale face before him, and another emotion surged within him like a volcano, overwhelming his fear and sorrow.

That's anger!
Anger made him lose his mind, but it also made him fearless.

He used all his strength to punch that pale face.

It was as if defeating the monster would save his mother.

"You fucking monsters, you fucking world, go to hell!"

Chen Qi screamed wildly in his heart and angrily punched that face.

But it felt like hitting dough; my fist sank right in.

When he withdrew his fist, his face quickly returned to normal.

Chen Qi wanted to continue throwing punches, but he saw that on the monster's swollen palm, five fingers rapidly grew into five slender arms.

Five arms wrapped around Chen Qi, holding him tightly and making him unable to move. Chen Qi tried his best to break free but could not. The five arms seemed slender, but they were as hard as steel bars, binding him from different angles, intertwining to form a cage that imprisoned him tightly.

The monster raised its hand, and Chen Qi's feet left the ground, being lifted up directly.

The monster's other hand also had five fingers that grew into five arms. One of these arms grabbed a "dumpling" and stuffed it into Chen Qi's mouth.

"Sweetie, Mommy will feed you."

"Just eat one."

"This is all my mother's love..."

The constant echoes of his mother's voice from the monster fueled Chen Qi's growing rage.

This is like constantly provoking him in the most disgusting way.

When anger and hatred reached their peak, Chen Qi actually felt himself regain his senses and his mind quickly calmed down.

"biscuit!"

"My funny face cookies!"

Faced with the vast difference in strength between himself and the monster, Chen Qi was powerless to resist. The only way he could think of to break the deadlock was the ghost face biscuit.

Momo once told him to eat a cookie when he was in dire straits, and isn't he in dire straits now?

But his arms were tightly bound, and he couldn't even lift them, making it impossible for him to put the cookies from his pocket into his mouth.

"obedient!"

"Accept your mother's wishes."

"You are Mommy's good child."

Her slender arms grabbed the "dumpling" and pressed it against Chen Qi's lips, forcefully stuffing it inside.

Chen Qi pursed his lips and gritted his teeth, refusing to give in.

The mother's voice gradually became serious and cold as she spoke from the monster's mouth.

"Open your mouth!"

"You don't want Mom to be angry, do you?"

“If you don’t listen, Mom will have to do it herself.”

The monster's other four slender arms moved, grabbing at Chen Qi's mouth from all four directions: up, down, left, and right.

They grabbed Chen Qi's lips, trying to force his mouth open.

The slender arm holding the "dumpling" was suspended less than a centimeter in front of Chen Qi's mouth.

As soon as Chen Qi's mouth is opened, it will quickly put the "dumpling" into Chen Qi's mouth.

Chen Qi struggled to twist his neck and dodge the four slender arms, but with the help of the other slender arms, his space to move became smaller and smaller, and he gradually felt powerless.

He was mentally prepared to eat the dumplings, but he was also determined not to swallow them!

As long as you don't swallow it, it's just a momentary nausea; you won't be affected by the strange food.

But at that moment, the monster suddenly stopped moving.

Chen Qi looked up and saw emotions on the monster's dead face for the first time.

Even when she smiled at Chen Qi before, it was just a simple upturn of the corners of her mouth, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

But at this moment, one could clearly see anger and struggle in the monster's eyes!

The monster's head slowly turned, but when it reached ninety degrees, it suddenly snapped back to center.

Then rotate it again, and return it to center...

After repeating this several times, his head suddenly spun 180 degrees, turning back and forth, and his mother's face appeared in front of Chen Qi.

At this moment, the mother's face was full of pain, her features sometimes contorted and sometimes peaceful.

"mom……"

The moment Chen Qi's eyes met his mother's, his heart skipped a beat, and his defenses crumbled instantly.

Upon meeting his mother's gaze, Chen Qi instantly understood why he had always been wary of her.

Even though her mother was in pain, the subconscious tenderness and care in her eyes when she looked at her was an instinct that had been gradually etched into her bones over the past twenty-three years.

For the past twenty-three years, his mother has watched him grow up with the same unwavering gaze.

Whether she is happy or sad, praising or angry, the underlying love in her eyes as a mother will never change.

This is precisely what the seemingly normal mother did not possess.

At a glance, Chen Qi knew that the person standing before him was his real mother, not the physical body controlled by the anomaly.

This is someone he will never be wary of, someone he can trust without reservation.

"go!"

"Come on!"

"Get far away!"

The mother screamed desperately, and all five of her slender arms that were holding Chen Qi loosened.

Chen Qi fell to the ground and only managed to stand up by holding onto the security door behind him.

"Mom!" Chen Qi's eyes reddened, and he wanted to say something, but seeing the anxiety and struggle in his mother's eyes, he ultimately said nothing.

He is now very clear-headed. He can see how hard his mother tried to save him, and he cannot let her efforts go to waste.

"Time is running out!" The mother's voice was hoarse, but she shouted with all her might, making a low, almost beastly roar.

Chen Qi took one last look at his mother, imprinting that painful, struggling face, which was still trying to force a smile at him, deeply into his mind.

He pushed open the door and rushed out, immediately slamming the security door shut behind him.

I could still faintly hear my mother's last words: "Live well."

Before Chen Qi could grieve, violent crashing and smashing sounds came from behind the door, urging him to move forward quickly.

Chen Qi dashed out like a gust of wind, only glancing at the floor the elevator was stopping at as he passed it.

He found that the nearest elevator was stopped on the 12th floor, so he rushed into the stairwell.

He dared not stop at his doorstep to wait for the elevator, fearing that the monster might rush out at any moment.

Chen Qi took three steps at a time, practically jumping down the stairs, from the 16th floor all the way to the 12th floor before turning into the elevator lobby and pressing the elevator button.

The elevator, which had stopped on the 12th floor, opened quickly. The moment the elevator doors closed, Chen Qi collapsed to the ground, his eyes blank.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed the gag cookie.

When he first escaped from home, he had the urge to eat the ghoul-face cookie and turn back to fight the monster, but his mother's words, "Live well," kept echoing in his ears...

The elevator arrived smoothly on the first floor. Chen Qi got up and rushed out of the elevator. He quickly scanned his surroundings and, after confirming that there was no danger, walked out of the building and onto the internal road of the community.

He ran wildly toward the exit of the residential area, but just as he turned a corner and the exit was right in front of him, he suddenly stopped.

A hospital ambulance was parked outside the gate of the residential compound, less than 100 meters away from him.

The ambulance didn't sound its siren, its warning lights didn't turn on, and it didn't even start moving; it just sat there quietly.

Chen Qi's experience in the hospital during this period made him extremely sensitive to everything related to hospitals.

Moreover, he clearly remembered that when he returned home, there was no ambulance at the entrance of the residential area.

The appearance of an ambulance in the middle of the night is already suspicious.

Chen Qi did not continue forward. Instead, he turned into the adjacent apartment building, climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, and then looked down through the windows.

A few minutes later, he saw Dr. Zhao, wearing a white coat, get out of the car and walk into the residential area.

(End of this chapter)