Chapter 94: I’m here. I am Zhou You.
Only when all the prisoners had left Warehouse No. 0 did Gao Shu and Elephant emerge.
He put away his sword-nosed shark. Qin Yeshi, waiting on the surface, approached with bright eyes. “Gao Shu, your father is the director of the Crisis Office. Have you ever thought about working for the Crisis Office yourself?”
Gao Shu: “I haven’t. I’m quite happy running my gym business.”
Without exception, all the prisoners were extremely weak. The supply of food and water was severely insufficient. Although the Special Management Committee allocated a sum of money each year to maintain the operation of Warehouse No. 0, because of Rat’s death, Elephant’s agoraphobia became more severe. He dared not come among crowds, and his communication with the Special Management Committee was very, very infrequent. To reduce contact with people, he simply changed the daily supply of food and water to once every two days.
“This person is interesting,” Qin Yeshi said, watching his colleagues escort Elephant into the car. “He didn’t skimp on his own food, but he didn’t feed the prisoners. As long as they’re alive is fine; whether they’re full or not, he doesn’t care.”
“The entire system of Warehouse No. 0 is seriously flawed,” Qin Ge interjected. “Without reasonable supervision, without a sound system, it relies almost entirely on the personal morality of the administrators to maintain. How can this be sustained?”
“This is the last time we’ll come to Warehouse No. 0,” Qin Yeshi said. “It will never be opened again.”
The last person to be sent into the car was Xie Liang. He had been very resistant to entering the sealed vehicle. Since he had been injected with tranquilizers for a long time, the doctor did not recommend continuing their use. Qin Ge squatted in front of Xie Liang’s stretcher. The aura of his spirit body was peaceful and warm, like spring water, enveloping Xie Liang. He did not attempt to enter Xie Liang’s “Sea Area”; now was not the right time. This session of calming took a full half hour, and Xie Liang finally calmed down.
Xie Zijing held his hand, planning to get into the car with him.
“Xie Zijing, stay for a moment,” Qin Yeshi stopped him. “You still have things to deal with here.”
Xie Zijing was surprised. “I have nothing left to deal with. I’m going with my dad to the hospital.”
Qin Yeshi: “Wait a little longer. They’ve found traces of Zhou You and Lu Qinglai.”
He pointed in the direction of Luquan. “Those two are heading towards Luquan.”
Xie Zijing’s expression changed slightly, and in the end, he did not get on the car. Tang Cuo and Gao Shu comforted him, “Don’t worry, we’ll accompany Uncle.”
The convoy left. Xie Zijing turned to ask Qin Yeshi, “You have so many people. Why do you still need me to stay?”
“Just consider this an assessment,” Qin Yeshi said. “An assessment of you, and of Qin Ge.”
Xie Zijing became even more puzzled. “Zhou You and Lu Qinglai have reached Luquan. Do you think I’m really suitable to stay? What if I get too angry and just crush him to death right here?”
Qin Yeshi was amused by his words and laughed heartily. “Xie Zijing, you are indeed quite formidable. But formidable people should never be complacent. I am also here. Who do you think you can crush to death?”
Xie Zijing fell silent.
Qin Yeshi stood beside him and, after a long while, suddenly spoke. “Actually, Zhou You’s practical combat ability is very, very weak. Even if you were alone, you could defeat him.”
“Didn’t he annihilate the entire Falcon Squad?”
“At that time, more than half of the Falcon Squad was asleep. Zhou You immediately broke through their breakwaters and affected their ‘Sea Areas.’ The incident was sudden, and no one could react in time,” Qin Yeshi smiled. “Today is different. It’s impossible for Zhou You to invade you now.”
Qin Ge, who was at the side, asked, “But anger is also a gap in the ‘Sea Area’.”
“Is anger all you have?” Qin Yeshi turned to ask Xie Zijing.
Xie Zijing was silent and did not answer.
At this moment, he was indeed filled with anger. The fire of rage burned his heart, making him hot all over, his heart beating violently. But beyond the anger, there were other emotions simultaneously filling his “Sea Area.”
Qin Ge held his hand. Xie Zijing only felt a boundless peace. The scorching fire burned in the sky, but gentle spring water flowed from beneath its feet, bit by bit submerging the burning traces.
Besides anger and resentment, other feelings accompanied him. They were the basis for his ability to stand here.
“I know why Zhou You did this.” Qin Ge changed the subject. “There are clues as to why Zhou You gave Xie Liang that kind of suggestion.”
Both Xie Zijing and Qin Yeshi looked at him.
“Before coming to Warehouse No. 0, he had also used the same method to drive a father mad,” Qin Ge said. “Zhou You placed a suggestion on Zhou Yiqing, making Zhou Yiqing kill his own son.”
Qin Ge suddenly thought, “No, they shouldn’t call that person ‘Zhou You’ anymore. He is the nameless X, not Zhou You. Not that intelligent and kind child.”
For X, what he did to Zhou Yiqing was an extremely successful experiment. Because of Zhou Yiqing’s “assistance,” he replaced the real Zhou You, and Zhou Yiqing went mad soon after and left home far away. Everything should have been in line with Zhou You’s design. He learned some precious experience from Zhou Yiqing.
For example, making someone commit an unforgivable, unforgettable crime against their closest relative can destroy a normal person.
The one who killed was Zhou Yiqing. The one who ate his wife was Xie Liang. The fault all lay with the parties involved, having nothing to do with X.
He floated lightly outside of crime and evil, learning evil from evil.
Even when treated with kindness, X could not reciprocate or learn the same kindness. He was seven or eight years old when he killed his father and left home. A child of this age already has a set of their own logic, and within this logic, he could convince himself and find a convincing answer. X firmly believed in the logic he learned from his parents, capable of fermenting evil into even stronger evil. He was the catalyst itself, and also the perpetrator of evil.
Qin Ge’s heart felt very cold. He had glimpsed a thick darkness and couldn’t fully digest it in a short time.
Qin Yeshi’s walkie-talkie crackled.
“Captain, as per your instructions, we did not obstruct Zhou You and Lu Qinglai,” a voice came from the other end. “The breach from the Luquan incident has been repaired, but those two are still walking towards Luquan.”
“Zhou You only recognizes that one entrance and exit.” Qin Yeshi turned back to call Xie Zijing, but a flash of golden light suddenly streaked before his eyes.
In just a breath’s time, a Barbary lion, shimmering with light like shattered gold, had landed.
“Wait, Xie Zijing,” Qin Yeshi stopped him. “I hope you and Qin Ge can coordinate. It must be fast and precise.”
X and Lu Qinglai walked to the center of Luquan. There was a faint light in the direction of Jiwu Temple, but it was no longer visible after entering Luquan.
“Do you still remember the location?” Lu Qinglai asked.
X: “I remember. The breach was opened by my gorilla. After I escaped, I couldn’t stand up right away and had to crawl to get out of Luquan. I remember how far it was.”
He stood still, looking at the ground beneath his feet.
The ground was flat, showing no signs of a previous breach.
X squatted down and patted the ground. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure. Was this the place? Were his calculations and memories really without any error?
Murky mist rose from his body. Lu Qinglai couldn’t help but take two steps back. His monkey had been perched on his shoulder, but now it flinched back as if startled.
A huge beastly claw tore through the mist, and a withered head emerged from it. X’s spirit body was a gorilla, and one that was already like a skeleton.
Lu Qinglai felt a sense of dread towards the giant creature before him. Just as the gorilla raised its arms, about to smash them down on the ground, his vision suddenly blurred—in an instant, the giant gorilla let out a deafening cry of pain. It seemed to have been cut in half at the waist by a golden blade.
The golden blade stopped just beside X. A majestic lion, as if carrying the starlight and sharpness of this cold night.
X instinctively jumped up. The gorilla instantly re-formed and swung its claws at the lion. The lion dodged the gorilla’s claws, which landed heavily on the ground with a loud bang. The lion used the momentum to leap up, flipping half a circle in the air, and landed with its front paws on X’s shoulders. Almost at the same time, a soft white furball fell from its thick mane.
Zhou You immediately let out a scream. He feared any spirit body touching him!
But the white furball turned into mist the moment it touched his chest. The mist wrapped around him, just like when Xie Liang’s peacock feathers tried to drill into his “Sea Area.” X screamed in terror. The familiar pain emerged from the depths of his mind, causing him to tremble in spasms.
He immediately erected his breakwater, desperately guarding his Sea Area.
The lion let out a loud roar, and then, a strong shadow landed beside X. The lion’s claws released him. X was first lifted up by his collar, then fiercely thrown to the ground. Before he could react, he had already taken a punch to the face.
The smell of blood and the pain in his mouth made X groan.
Xie Zijing raised his hand and punched him again, smashing his head hard onto the ground. X almost saw stars and couldn’t speak at all. He raised his hand to grab Xie Zijing’s wrist and weakly shouted, “Who are you!”
He stared wide-eyed at Xie Zijing, only now recognizing the person before him. First came alarm, but then he immediately started to laugh, so wildly he was almost convulsing. “You’ve come here! Hahahaha, you’ve come! Did you go into Warehouse No. 0? Did you see your father? Xie Liang, ah, the one huddled in that dark hole is Xie Liang, ah!”
His struggling form was reflected in Xie Zijing’s grim eyes.
“You saw it, right? Those bones…” His laughter grew louder. “You must remember to pick them up. Those are your mother’s bones. She was… by Xie Liang…”
“My father is very clear-headed,” Xie Zijing interrupted him coldly. “He did not do what you suggested he do.”
X’s pupils instantly shrank. The Barbary lion paced around him and Xie Zijing. Above their heads was a mass of chaotic mist. His gorilla was formless.
“Impossible! Impossible!!!” X roared hysterically. “He was controlled by me! He would definitely listen to me! He couldn’t possibly… impossible!!!”
At this moment, a strange and gentle aura seeped into his body.
Enraged, a crack finally appeared in X’s breakwater.
X trembled all over, tears streaming from his eyes. “Get out… get out!!!”
Lei Chi controlled Lu Qinglai. Bai Xiaoyuan stayed by Qin Ge’s side. Qin Ge’s eyes were tightly closed, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
It was very difficult, but he had finally entered Zhou You’s “Sea Area.”
What he saw before him was a sight he had never seen before.
This was a boundless “Sea Area.” It was mountains and lush green rice paddies. The damp green color spread from the base of the mountains all the way to the top, disappearing into a thick fog.
This was X’s “Sea Area.” Qin Ge immediately judged that it probably originated from the place where Zhou You lived in his childhood.
But this Sea Area was fragmented. The land and mountains had cracked into separate floating islands. The edges of the floating islands were bottomless darkness. There were no paths between the islands at all, making it impossible to pass. X’s “Sea Area” told Qin Ge in an unusually direct way: how Xie Liang had cut him.
Qin Ge was trapped on a floating island.
He couldn’t move forward and could only turn back. When he turned around, he found himself standing in front of a small courtyard.
This was an ordinary family’s home. The courtyard was narrow and messy. The house itself had been cut off onto another floating island. Qin Ge’s heart stirred. A courtyard that existed in X’s “Sea Area” was very likely his home.
Qin Ge walked into this courtyard. Almost at the moment of entry, he saw a pit in the yard.
The pit was not small, able to accommodate an adult lying down. The X who looked just like now sat in the pit with a numb expression, completely unresponsive to Qin Ge’s approach. Beside him was a small iron shovel, a size suitable for a child.
Qin Ge walked to the edge of the pit and carefully squatted down, looking at X.
“Where is your mother?” he asked in a low voice.
As soon as his voice fell, X immediately raised his head. His terrified eyes trembled, and he subconsciously hunched his shoulders, as if frightened by some unpredictable violence.
Qin Ge grabbed his shoulders. He found that X’s self-awareness had almost no resistance. Towards him, this outsider, the self-awareness was full of fear, even losing the strength to fight back.
Effortlessly, Qin Ge entered X’s body. He waded through the dark, cold water. When his skin felt the outside air, he began to breathe with his lungs. Oxygen entered his lungs through his nose and mouth, vibrating his vocal cords, and he let out the cry of a baby. His vision was still a dark expanse; he had not yet opened his eyes, but immediately, a pair of hands covered his mouth and nose.
The crying stopped, and the vibration of the vocal cords also stopped.
Qin Ge was extremely shocked. He hadn’t expected X to retain memories from his own birth. Through skin contact, he had eternally remembered that hand that had stopped his breathing.
This was the beginning of his memory, and also the beginning of his life.
Qin Ge was still floating in the churning, black water. He would sometimes sink into the water, salvaging fragments of X’s memory.
Through the eyes of the childhood X, he saw his mother and Zhou Xuefeng.
X was digging a pit with all his might in the yard. His mother lay in the house, breathless, a pool of blood beneath her. Zhou Xuefeng sat in the yard smoking, his gaze completely cold. He urged X to work, urging him to “dig deeper,” “if you don’t do it well, I’ll throw you in too.”
When he pushed the boulder from above, X felt no guilt. His heart was full of excitement. He forgot about his mother’s body buried in the yard, carefully covered up the traces of the murder, and after returning to the village to report the news, he immediately began to pack his belongings. During the long, wandering journey, he always yearned for the Capital District. There lay the freedom of his dreams.
There were too many repeated fragments and records of others’ “Sea Areas.” Qin Ge felt unwell. His time was limited; he couldn’t waste an entire hour on these things.
Qin Ge dived into the dark seawater. He saw a faint light in the depths of the ocean.
Plunging into the light, he rubbed his eyes and heard some slight noises from the windowsill.
A small bicycle made of wire had been blown over by the wind and rolled to the ground. X didn’t pick it up. He just glanced at the curtain slightly lifted by the spring breeze and turned to look at the person beside him.
The handsome boy with thick eyebrows and large eyes opened his eyes. There were fine beads of sweat on his forehead.
X moved closer to his face, rubbing against him affectionately and dependently, and whispered as if in a dream, “Zhou You…”
The real Zhou You suddenly trembled. With his movable hand, he pushed X away.
“What did you say in my ‘Sea Area’?” His expression was filled with unmistakable fear. “What nonsense did you say!”
The bed was too narrow. X was caught off guard and was almost pushed off the bed by Zhou You. He climbed back up with a grin and hugged Zhou You, whispering, “Some nice things.”
“…You’re up to your old tricks again?” Zhou You didn’t believe his words at all. “I allowed you to enter my ‘Sea Area,’ but you can’t mess around!”
X was stunned. “I didn’t mess around. I just want you to like me.”
Zhou You: “I already like you very much.”
But X, as if he hadn’t heard, rubbed Zhou You’s ear with his lips and babbled, “You have to like me… you have to love me… only look at me, ignore everyone else, okay?”
Zhou You raised his hand and slapped him lightly on the face. “Listen to me!”
X frowned slightly.
“It’s not necessary, really not necessary,” Zhou You said, looking into his eyes. “You don’t need to use this method of suggestion to control me, to make me like you, love you… these suggestions won’t affect me.”
X’s voice suddenly became anxious. “Why? Why won’t they affect you?”
Zhou You still looked at him. “I like you very much, you know that.”
X stared at him blankly and suddenly asked, “How can you prove it? Are you going to say again that you and I are like brothers?”
Zhou You hesitated for a moment and whispered, “Not brothers… I… I’ve come up with a name for you. Do you want to hear it?”
But X jumped off the bed. He paced around the floor, tugging at his clothes, restless and agitated. “Why can’t I influence you!” He turned and roared at Zhou You, “I want you to love me!”
Zhou You couldn’t get up and could only watch him, repeating over and over, “I like you. Really.”
X didn’t believe him at all. He was extremely uneasy. He jumped back onto the bed and asked Zhou You somewhat fiercely, “Why don’t my suggestions work on you?”
“…Our feelings for each other don’t need suggestions,” the precocious boy said calmly, looking at X. “Or perhaps my feelings for you are deeper than what you want to suggest. These few words can’t shake me at all.”
“Liar! Impossible!” X roared. “Impossible! There’s no one I can’t control!”
The door to the room suddenly opened. X was grabbed by the collar and dragged off the bed. Zhou Yiqing pulled him and dragged him viciously out of the room. “What are you yelling at Xiaoyou for?” Zhou Yiqing dragged him all the way to the first floor. “I’ve warned you, you must leave!”
X was thrown to the floor. He couldn’t get up for a moment, dizzy and seeing stars.
Zhou Yiqing ran up the narrow stairs to the second floor with a cloth bag. X’s luggage was not much at all—a few newly bought undergarments, a few books Zhou You gave him, and nothing else. Zhou Yiqing came down with the cloth bag and threw it at X, who had already sat up. “Get out!”
X grabbed the bag and looked up at him. “You were the one who brought me back. You said I could live here.”
“Not anymore. You’re a bastard. Get out of our house immediately!”
“This is my home too!” X screamed hysterically. “Zhou You said I could treat this place as home. He said I was his brother!”
“I am the master of this house, and I only have one son, Zhou You! Don’t think I don’t know what crooked ideas you have about him!” Zhou Yiqing cursed in a louder voice. “What do you think you are! I do a good deed for once, and I end up picking up a white-eyed wolf!”
Zhou Yiqing walked towards the main door, intending to open it and throw X out. X stood up behind him and swung the cloth bag in his hand fiercely at the back of Zhou Yiqing’s head. The few books in the bag were very heavy. Zhou Yiqing immediately stumbled and fell to the ground. X kicked him in the back, knocking the sickly middle-aged man down, his knee pressing on his spine, his hand pressing hard on the back of Zhou Yiqing’s head.
Invading Zhou Yiqing’s “Sea Area” was almost effortless.
At this moment, X hesitated for an instant. Qin Ge could sense his wavering. He didn’t know what he should do, but the impulse to stay in this house overwhelmed everything. Zhou Yiqing was right. He was nothing—no identity, no household registration, not even a name.
“…I am Zhou You,” X murmured. “I am Zhou You. I am your son. The other one… he is not. He is not good, not obedient. He… he wants to harm us.”
As he spoke these words, Zhou You’s eyes became moist. Thin tears blurred his vision. He raised his hand to wipe them away, his lips moving, and whispered a plan into Zhou Yiqing’s ear.
Killing Zhou You was simply too easy. Zhou Yiqing could do it with a pillow. X sat in the wheelchair in the living room, watching Zhou Yiqing come down from upstairs, dragging Zhou You’s limp body behind him.
A sharp pain instantly struck his heart and lungs. He bent over, curling up in the wheelchair, his mouth wide open, gasping for air laboriously and painfully. Unfamiliar tears flowed from his eyes, dripping onto the floor. He even had a runny nose, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably drooping, and his whole body trembled from the suffocating pain in his chest.
Various sounds came from the kitchen. Zhou Yiqing had started to build the stove. X stood up from the wheelchair. He wanted to take a look, he had to take a look—this would be the last one. But he couldn’t walk. His legs were weak. In the end, he sat back down in the wheelchair, grabbed Zhou You’s blanket, and covered his face.
Zhou Yiqing finished cooking and stood woodenly at the dining table, calling to X, “Xiaoyou, time to eat.”
X got up from the wheelchair and walked over, only to be met by Zhou Yiqing’s astonished gaze. “Xiaoyou, your legs… are better?”
As he asked, he trembled. The bowl and chopsticks in his hand fell to the floor. His eyes were bloodshot, and his thin hands clutched the clothes on his chest. X walked up to him and pressed his hand, which calmed Zhou Yiqing a little.
“Yes, you helped me heal my legs, Dad,” X said.
This unfamiliar address suddenly excited him. The excitement instantly overwhelmed all the previous pain and sorrow. He happily ate at the dining table with Zhou Yiqing, constantly asking him, “Who am I?”
“Zhou You,” Zhou Yiqing would always answer patiently. “My son, Zhou You.”
X spent some time cleaning up Zhou You’s things, such as Zhou You’s medicine, Zhou You’s clothes, and Zhou You’s assistive devices. But he was a little reluctant to part with the wheelchair. He liked sitting in the wheelchair, holding Zhou You’s blanket in his arms. Even though the scent of herbs on the blanket that belonged to Zhou You was fading, he still felt reluctant.
Whenever he saw the stove, X would always have a brief moment of trance. But as time went on, the existence of the stove became more and more faint. He became “Zhou You,” began to study the materials Zhou You left behind, and walked in the Capital District as “Zhou You.”
On the day Zhou Yiqing went mad and fled, he also took the wheelchair and the blanket with him. X wandered around the house for a long time. He could no longer find a single trace that belonged solely to Zhou You, unrelated to him.
Lying in bed, he saw the small bicycle on the window. He had twisted it for Zhou You. Zhou You couldn’t ride a bike, couldn’t run. He had once promised that he would drive Zhou You around the world in the future.
“Zhou You…” X mumbled softly. “Zhou You?”
His gaze remained fixed on the ceiling. There were mold stains on the ceiling, water stains, cracks. It was exactly the same as every morning he had woken up side by side with Zhou You.
“Zhou You,” X shouted.
He paused, then answered softly, “I am here. I am Zhou You.”
Qin Ge saw everything through X’s eyes. When X closed his eyes, the black ocean began to churn. Qin Ge was pushed out of his “Sea Area,” drenched in sweat, and opened his eyes. The Angora rabbit returned to his side, turning into a ball of mist and rolling in his palm.
“Are you okay?” Bai Xiaoyuan asked with concern.
“I’m fine…” Qin Ge looked up at Xie Zijing and X not far away.
X’s hysterical state had been eliminated by Qin Ge. He was half-lidded, not very conscious.
Qin Yeshi’s request to Xie Zijing was that he could hit him, but not injure him. No matter what, X and Lu Qinglai had to be captured alive. Qin Ge had to cooperate with Xie Zijing to ease the abnormality in X’s “Sea Area” and ensure he didn’t have any accidents during the entire capture process.
Above their heads, a turbid mist still swirled. A moment later, the mist finally began to descend slowly, about to enter X’s body.
At this very moment, a small golden monkey suddenly jumped out from Lu Qinglai’s back. But Qin Yeshi’s wolverine gave it no chance to escape, swatting it to the ground with one paw.
The sudden event here seemed to have startled the slowly descending gorilla.
Qin Ge’s heart skipped a beat—when he discovered that Zhou You’s “Sea Area” had been cut into pieces by Xie Liang, he had suspected: such a “Sea Area” could definitely not be called normal. Since it was not normal, did X really have complete control over his own spirit body?
Everything before him gave him the answer: the gorilla swung its arms again. This time, its target was Xie Zijing and the X he had subdued.
The Barbary lion moved extremely fast, almost instantly springing from the ground, opening its mouth, baring its claws, and once again cutting the gorilla that emerged from the chaotic mist in half at the waist. The damage to his spirit body caused X immense pain. He struggled under Xie Zijing, and Xie Zijing simply gave him another punch.
The gorilla also fell down. Before it could turn into mist upon landing, its heavy body slammed onto the ground with a thud.
The ground suddenly cracked open.
“Xie Zijing!” Qin Ge shouted in alarm.
That was the repaired breach of Warehouse No. 0, the collection point of the circuits!
The Barbary lion spun on its hind legs on the ground and immediately turned to pounce on Xie Zijing. It grabbed Xie Zijing’s lapel with its claws and leaped several meters.
The ground collapsed. The gorilla and X fell in together.
The wolverine and the sand cat immediately leaped up, their movements so fast they were almost completely invisible. But both spiritual entities stopped just short of the breach, hesitating.
Below the breach was the current surveillance and management room of Warehouse No. 0. Qin Yeshi’s people were dismantling the instruments and tools inside, digging a large pit in the ground.
The gorilla, carrying X, happened to land right on this pit.
The fragile earthen shell was crushed, and X continued to fall. Below was a bottomless darkness.
“…A dried-up underground water vein,” Qin Ge remembered. “A long time ago, there was spring water here.”
Everyone immediately evacuated Warehouse No. 0. Half an hour later, heated underground spring water gushed out. It first submerged Warehouse No. 0, then surged out from the breach, forming a real spring eye.
