Shackles of Humanity

Luo Kai walked over to Lu Qing to check on her. The girl was still unconscious, her eyelids twitching constantly as if she were trapped in a nightmare. He patted her cheeks and pinched the spot under her nose, but there was no response. He slid the Three-bladed Military Dagger from his hand back into the sheath on his calf, then bent down and lifted her onto his back.

He saw the ugly Red-haired Blood Monkey on the platform staring at him with wide eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he walked over and sliced through the shackles binding it. Grabbing the monkey by the scruff of its neck, he stuffed it into a leather suitcase, then stood and headed outside.

The chefs in the outer kitchen were still cooking up a storm, completely unaware of what had happened in the basement. They were all stunned when a strange young man suddenly walked out.

Luo Kai kicked over a wok full of hot oil on the stove, sending boiling oil splattering toward them like rain. He took advantage of the ensuing chaos to charge outside. With Lu Qing on his back and a suitcase in one hand, he couldn’t spare a hand to fight them. After bursting out of the restaurant’s back room, he glanced around and sprinted toward Lobster Lane.

When Luo Kai broke into a full sprint, he moved like a cheetah, weaving through streets and alleys with nimble speed. He vaulted over walls nearly two meters high with just a slight push-off. The best parkour athletes from his past life couldn’t even compare. It wasn’t long before he left the pursuing chefs far behind.

As he ran, he considered where to go. ’Lu Qing’s breathing is steady, but she shows no signs of waking up. A hospital would be the logical choice, but any organization that dares to commit such atrocities in Longyang City must have powerful backing.’ He mulled it over and over. Finally, a faint fragrance wafting from his back gave him an idea. ’Lu Qing must be connected to Granny Hua. I should just take her there.’

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the small courtyard. Just as he was about to knock, the gate swung open. Granny Hua’s aged face appeared, and her expression changed the instant she saw Lu Qing on his back. "What happened to Qing’Er?" she asked, her voice raspy.

"Granny Hua, it’s a relief you know her. I didn’t know where to take her."

Luo Kai carried Lu Qing into the courtyard and laid her on a lounge chair. Granny Hua leaned over, sniffed near Lu Qing’s mouth and nose, and her face grew grim. "Bone-Softening Needle! Young man, what exactly happened?"

"Granny, is she going to be okay? Why hasn’t she woken up?"

Granny Hua shook her head. "She’ll be fine. I’ll prepare a medicinal soup for her, and she’ll be alright after she takes it. Lu Qing is my granddaughter. Thank you."

Luo Kai recounted what had just happened. When she heard about the red-furred monkey, Granny Hua couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, "A Blood Monkey! To think there are still people doing such evil things!"

Luo Kai opened the suitcase, revealing the red-furred monkey. It had regained consciousness, but the effects of the anesthesia had not yet worn off its body. All it could do was glare at the humans before it with hateful, wide eyes.

Granny Hua examined the small, red-furred monkey closely and sighed. "It truly is a Blood Monkey. I didn’t think this species had survived."

"What kind of creature is this? I saw those men transfusing refined blood into its body, and there was no rejection."

Granny Hua invited Luo Kai into the house. After getting Lu Qing settled, she poured him a cup of herbal tea. She thought for a moment before speaking softly. "The Blood Monkey is a mutated species. Years ago, human geneticists discovered this creature experiences no genetic rejection with humans. In other words, its blood and even its organs can be transplanted into people without issue. Consequently, they were hunted to near extinction. Later..."

Granny Hua paused before continuing, "Later, an exceptionally vile organization appeared. They believed the power of life itself came from blood and called themselves the Blood Holy Sect. They developed a wicked method of infusing human Essence Blood into a Blood Monkey. When the Blood Monkey’s body could no longer hold the excess blood, a concretion would form over its heart. This concretion, which they called ’Blood Essence,’ contained a vast amount of pure energy."

"’Blood Essence’ can drastically increase cellular vitality, with effects on par with a Mid-Level Gene Potion. As a result, countless people became Blood Slaves, and for a time, the Blood Holy Sect grew immensely powerful. Eventually, the three great human federations banned this type of research and put out a warrant for the entire Holy Sect. Hundreds of years have passed, and the Blood Holy Sect should have been nothing but a footnote in history. I never imagined someone would still be using such a vile technique in the remote Southern Lordship Kingdom..."

Granny Hua then pointed to the Blood Monkey on the floor and sighed, "This is likely one of the few Blood Monkeys left in the world!"

Luo Kai thought of the desiccated corpses in the basement, and goosebumps broke out across his skin. "Granny Hua, I’ll leave it in your hands, then. You... you can do what you want with it."

Granny Hua nodded. "The creature itself is innocent. I’ll release it into the mountains."

The Blood Monkey on the floor seemed to understand their words. Its big eyes darted around, the earlier savagery gone.

Luo Kai glanced at Lu Qing one more time. The foolish girl was still fast asleep, mumbling in her dreams, utterly oblivious to the fact that she had just narrowly escaped death.

"Granny Hua, I’ll take my leave now."

Granny Hua glanced at his swollen shoulder and asked with concern, "Is that shoulder of yours alright? I have some ointment here that helps with bruising and circulation. You should take some to apply to it."

Luo Kai waved a dismissive hand. "Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine in a day or two." As he walked out into the yard, he couldn’t resist another glance at the purple flower. Its bud was blooming in his direction, and a light dusting of pollen drifted toward him on the breeze, instantly covering him in a sweet fragrance, as if he had been spritzed with perfume.

...

The next day, Luo Kai was back in the physical training academy’s library, absorbing all kinds of knowledge. In the centuries following the Great Cataclysm, humanity had all but abandoned its former industrial civilization, focusing instead on developing a biological one.

Industrial technology had stagnated, still relying mainly on steam and combustible fuel. Biological civilization, on the other hand, had undergone a revolutionary transformation. Powerful genetic technology gave rise to the Body Refining Dao and spurred research into the secrets of life on the most fundamental level.

He, too, needed to fill the gaps in his knowledge of genetics.

’A "gene" can be simply understood as a vehicle for inheritance. When a person dies, most of their memories vanish, but some are preserved, becoming an imprint etched deep within the genes, passed down from one generation to the next. For instance, acrophobia, trypophobia, and claustrophobia are all forms of genetic imprints. These imprints can awaken at any given moment.’

’Furthermore, when someone is doing something or sees a certain place and feels an inexplicable sense of familiarity, that is also very likely an awakening of inherited genetic memory, perhaps from the previous generation or even many generations prior...’

’Of course, apart from inheritance, genes also mutate. Strictly speaking, a living being’s actions are not self-determined but are controlled by its genes at the deepest level. Survival and procreation, for example, are also genetic instincts. When subjected to certain external stimuli, genes that feel their survival is threatened will mutate. The direction of this mutation is unpredictable—it can be either benign or malignant. A mutation the genes consider beneficial for themselves might actually be malignant for the organism. This is precisely how various cancers and tumors arise.’