Chapter 93: He was not defeated by Zhou You.
The sword-nosed shark, only a dozen centimeters long, deftly drilled into the hole. Below the hole was a dark and vast space. It wandered for a moment but found nothing noteworthy.
Turning back, the sword-nosed shark looked up at the stone slab above.
Its body began to expand, bit by bit, adapting to the size of the hole. The swelling water-based protective shield almost occupied the entire space. The sword-nosed shark had to curl its tail, halting its expansion.
Its long snout pressed against the stone slab, twisting gently. The slab could only be opened from the inside, and it quickly found the mechanism. To eliminate the sound of opening the slab, the water-based protective shield clung tightly to the slab and the stone walls, swallowing any slight noises.
A moment later, the stone slab was removed.
Gao Shu was closest to the entrance. Without hesitation, he carefully jumped down. Landing on the water-based protective shield and the back of the sword-nosed shark, he stabilized himself. The sword-nosed shark turned its body, silently placing him on the ground.
Following him, Qin Ge and the others jumped down one by one.
Before Qin Yeshi went down, he instructed Lei Chi, who remained on the surface, “Report to me immediately if you find any trace of Zhou You and Lu Qinglai.”
Lei Chi quickly asked, “Captain Qin, I want to confirm one thing. Do I have command authority on the surface?”
Qin Yeshi: “You do. If any emergency occurs on the surface and you cannot get an immediate response from me, you can act according to your own judgment.”
Tang Cuo and Bai Xiaoyuan stood beside Lei Chi. Bai Xiaoyuan shook the liquor bottle in her hand and took a swig.
When Gao Shu put away the sword-nosed shark, the first sand cat jumped down from the opening on the ground. Its body was light, its movements skillful, and it made almost no sound upon landing. Lifting a front paw to lick it, the sand cat looked at Qin Ge and Xie Zijing with bright eyes.
A second, a third… more and more sand cats leaped in from the opening. They hardly paused, immediately darting into the dark depths according to Bai Xiaoyuan’s instructions.
Qin Yeshi had only heard about Bai Xiaoyuan’s special ability from Lei Chi before they set off. He had originally thought Bai Xiaoyuan’s spirit body was useless, after all, it was just a small cat—but Bai Xiaoyuan’s replication ability was astonishing. Each sand cat’s form was exceptionally complete, and their movements were all different. Interest stirred in Qin Yeshi’s heart again. “This Sentinel is not bad.”
Qin Ge was very vigilant. “Xiaoyuan is from our department. Don’t get any ideas about her.”
Qin Yeshi waved his hand, not taking his words to heart.
Unlike Jiang Yong’s memory at the time, there was no mist, no lights, and no giant white elephant spirit body here. Qin Ge guessed that the administrator Rat’s spirit body probably only appeared when the entrance needed to be opened.
The sand cats advanced silently along the stone path, each one diving into an opening as they passed it. After turning a few dark corners, a light finally appeared ahead.
Qin Ge looked back at the several openings behind them. Those were originally also cells of Warehouse No. 0. The two administrators should have been guarding closer to the exit. But after the Luquan incident, the cells of Warehouse No. 0 were damaged, and many prisoners died. The administrators must have compressed their management space, concentrating the prisoners at the bottom of Warehouse No. 0.
A sand cat carefully stepped into the range of the light. The moment its front paw entered the circle of light, the area behind the light suddenly stirred, like countless waves, rolling finely.
“…Who’s there?” a hoarse voice sounded from within the light, and then a person slowly walked out from deeper inside.
The person was tall and burly. Qin Ge recognized him as the administrator, Elephant.
“Elephant, I’m Qin Yeshi.” Qin Yeshi stepped out. “We should have met. Do you still remember me?”
Elephant’s gaze quickly rested on his face for a moment, then darted away. “I know you. You are Qin Shuangshuang’s brother.”
Qin Yeshi nodded with satisfaction. When Elephant and Rat entered Warehouse No. 0, Qin Shuangshuang was still the director of the Crisis Office; they certainly remembered. Qin Yeshi approached Elephant, his wolverine following behind him, standing upright on two legs like a person.
A strange sound came from behind Elephant, as if countless small animals were scurrying about. Puffs of white mist rose one after another, seeping into his body.
Qin Ge looked at the sand cats on the ground and suddenly understood. The administrator Elephant’s spirit body was mice, but with so many sand cats here, the mice couldn’t appear normally.
The surroundings suddenly fell into a strange silence, with only the squeaking of mice and the occasional “meow” from a sand cat.
“Since you know who I am, don’t put up a pointless resistance,” Qin Yeshi said, looking at Elephant. “I’ve come under orders.”
“…Is Warehouse No. 0 going to be closed?” Elephant suddenly asked.
“That depends on what we find in our investigation this time,” Qin Yeshi said frankly. “Naturally, we’re not the only ones who have come. There are more people on the surface. The entire Western Office is also cooperating with us. Elephant, don’t be foolish.”
Elephant’s shoulders slumped as if all strength had left them.
“…You should have come a long time ago.” The man’s voice carried self-mockery, but also the joy of relief. “I was about to think that Warehouse No. 0 had been abandoned by the Special Management Committee.”
He turned and walked into the depths. The wolverine followed him closely. Qin Yeshi walked behind the wolverine, and the group followed Elephant into a brightly lit, spacious room.
Qin Ge also recognized this room. It was equipped with various instruments, the place where the two administrators regularly injected prisoners with tranquilizers and managed them.
Qin Yeshi looked around. “Where’s Rat?”
“Dead,” Elephant said. “He died a year ago.”
Elephant knew very well that the arrival of Qin Yeshi and his group must be related to the Luquan incident from many years ago. He just hadn’t expected that the incident, which could have been investigated further back then, would end up being shelved for a decade.
The Luquan incident was related to X—Elephant was used to calling him Zhou You—and also to Rat.
That thin administrator, who looked like a mouse, had recognized Zhou You when Xie Liang and Jiang Yong brought him to Warehouse No. 0.
He and Zhou You had met a few times before. In his own home, in a cheap little hotel, he would give Zhou You some money, and Zhou You would patrol his “Sea Area,” then stir up a storm of pleasure that far surpassed anything else.
He recognized Zhou You, but he couldn’t believe it. What had this young, handsome Guide done to be escorted to Warehouse No. 0?
Rat had been an administrator in Warehouse No. 0 for a long time, taking turns with Elephant to report back to the Crisis Office headquarters at the end of each year. During one of these reporting trips, he had met Zhou You.
Someone told him there was a little nameless Guide with a strange ability who could make people “feel good.”
Having suffered from scopophobia for many years, Rat had never had close contact with anyone besides his own family. He initially thought the other person was implying the Guide was selling his body, but the person repeatedly emphasized, “Only Sentinels and Guides can understand what I mean.” Out of curiosity, Rat asked for the location where the Guide often appeared and successfully met the young man.
“I don’t sell my body,” the teenage Guide said with a smile, “but I have other ways to make you happy.”
After one try, Rat’s interest became uncontrollable. He was infatuated with the stimulation Zhou You gave him, but the reporting period was too short. When the deadline came, he had to return to Warehouse No. 0. On the night before his departure, he met with Zhou You again. At that time, the little Guide had no name. He only said his surname was Zhou, both his parents were dead, and he had wandered from the south to here because he heard his mother say there was a Capital District where any kind of special human could find a place to live.
It was snowing lightly that day, the city’s first snow of winter. Rat took him to the Capital District and watched him walk into the dim road. The snow was translucent under the lights, light as a feather, bright as a star, falling from the black sky. That year’s winter was long and cold. Rat would occasionally think of this young, handsome boy during his idle moments. How would he get through such a cold winter? Would anyone be willing to give him a place to stay?
“I hoped he could live a little better,” Rat said. “In the Capital District, he should be able to survive. So young, he still has a long way to go—learn something, make new friends, get a name. Right?”
When he said these words to Elephant, Rat had just thrown Zhou You into cell B0064.
Zhou You was trembling all over, screaming hysterically, his face covered in tears from a severe headache.
Elephant could see his brother was not indifferent to this little prisoner. Under his questioning, Rat finally admitted that he and Zhou You had known each other before.
Xie Liang and Jiang Yong didn’t tell the two what Zhou You had done. The file was vague. “Murder,” was the escort’s answer.
“What are you being foolish for?” Rat said to Elephant. “His ability is so good. If he studies hard and uses it well, he could definitely become a remarkable person. At least more useful than you and me.”
Elephant was puzzled. “Then why did you choose B0064? It’s so small, so narrow. You know him, you should have picked a better cell.”
“I feel sorry for him,” Rat said, looking at his brother. “But this isn’t pity. You and I are the absolute authority in Warehouse No. 0. He cannot try to challenge that.”
Rat was the older brother, and Elephant was the younger. Most of the time, Rat was the dominant one between the two brothers. Elephant dared not disobey or oppose Rat’s opinions. The two of them lived together under the ground of Luquan, avoiding others’ gazes, living a relatively peaceful life.
Therefore, when Rat released Zhou You from cell B0064 a few days later, Elephant did not stop him.
Zhou You hadn’t stretched his body for several days. This was a common form of punishment in Warehouse No. 0: prisoners could not leave the tiny cells. Food and water would be thrown in through an opening in the cell, and the administrators would use an injection gun to inject tranquilizers into the prisoners through a small hole in the opening. The punishment sometimes lasted for a month, leaving the prisoners in a daze, kneeling and crawling on the ground the whole time.
Many people simply couldn’t endure such pain and confinement. They would always, after repeating such punishment three or four times, completely lose the will to resist. The only exit of Warehouse No. 0 was guarded by Elephant and Rat; no one could escape.
During Elephant’s explanation, almost everyone showed an expression of intolerance.
Cai Yi was right. Qin Ge thought, this is not a prison, it’s a concentration camp. It’s a concentration camp created by the Special Management Committee and the administrators, under the guise of punishment, but in reality torturing prisoners with cruelty.
“Rat took Zhou You out… he wanted Zhou You to patrol his ‘Sea Area’ again?” Qin Ge asked.
This question hit the core of the matter perfectly. Elephant nodded silently.
How could Zhou You let such an opportunity slip? Qin Ge’s heart jolted. It was Rat who gave Zhou You the key to escape and control him.
He didn’t know what Zhou You had done, only the vague fact of “murder.” He had tasted pleasure from Zhou You’s ability, and compared to the boring days underground, that pleasure obviously had supreme attraction.
Moreover, he and his brother were the administrators of Warehouse No. 0, the absolute authority of Warehouse No. 0. What could Zhou You, a prisoner, do?
Rat tried to control Zhou You, but he himself became the biggest loophole.
“But Zhou You didn’t escape from the entrance,” Qin Yeshi asked. “He fled in the direction of Luquan.”
“Luquan is right here.” Elephant pointed upwards. “Warehouse No. 0 has a stable power supply system. It runs on the overall power supply project of the Western Office. The collection point for all kinds of circuits in Warehouse No. 0 is right here.”
This was clearly also information Zhou You couldn’t have known. He had obtained many things from Rat’s “Sea Area.”
“That day, my brother also let Zhou You out. They had done this many times. I had opposed it before, but it was useless,” Elephant said. “I remember that day’s events very clearly. During the day, people from the Falcon Squad came. They escorted three prisoners and drank tea with my brother and me. Very few people come to Warehouse No. 0. I knew both Bai Fan and Yang Chuan from the Falcon Squad; I wasn’t afraid of them. They chatted with me for a long time, so when they left, it was already night.”
Qin Ge closed his eyes. His legs felt weak. Xie Zijing supported his arm, letting him lean against him to stand firm.
If there had been no tea, if they had left immediately after finishing their work like Xie Liang and Jiang Yong, the Falcon Squad wouldn’t have had to camp at Luquan.
All accidents turned out to be a series of coincidences.
After the Falcon Squad left, Rat took Zhou You to the surveillance room. And Elephant left as usual to patrol the cells.
He had only finished patrolling half of Warehouse No. 0 when he suddenly heard a chorus of warning sounds—the doors of nearly half the cells had suddenly opened!
Elephant immediately released his mouse spirit body. The spirit body, like a black wave, swarmed out, pressing hard against the cell doors. But it was too late. Even though the prisoners’ minds were not clear, the strange sounds still startled them. Before the other special humans could react, the Sentinels and Guides had already released their spiritual entities.
For a moment, Warehouse No. 0 was in chaos.
“Brother!” Elephant was furious. “Rat! What are you doing!”
He rushed into the surveillance room and found Rat collapsed on the floor, his face blank. Elephant didn’t know what Zhou You had done to him, but Rat clearly looked like he hadn’t recovered his senses. He picked up his brother and slapped him several times. Only then did Rat come to his senses.
“Zhou You… Zhou… where’s Zhou You!”
“He opened the cell doors!” Elephant roared. “You told him how to open them!”
“I didn’t! It was him… he from my…” Rat suddenly looked up. A hole had appeared above the surveillance room. That was the most fragile part of the entire Warehouse No. 0, where dense circuits gathered.
Both brothers’ faces changed. Zhou You had clearly escaped.
Due to the emergency power outage, Warehouse No. 0 had insufficient internal power supply, and a large number of protective measures failed. Elephant and Rat had to immediately drive their spiritual entities to control the prisoners.
“A lot of people died,” Elephant recalled numbly. “Because my brother was still dizzy at the time. His white elephant just stepped into several cells like that.”
The people around were completely silent, only the recording pen in Qin Ge’s hand was operating.
“Then, when everything calmed down, Zhou You came back.” Elephant suddenly trembled. “He was dragging two people and jumped down from there.”
Qin Ge was stunned. “Two people?”
Elephant nodded. “A man and a woman.”
Qin Ge subconsciously looked at Xie Zijing. Xie Zijing’s face was terrifyingly grim, his eyes bloodshot.
The night was like a thick curtain of gauze, draping over the earth.
Zhou You and Lu Qinglai walked forward in the night, each holding a flashlight.
“You wanted to come back here to destroy Warehouse No. 0 and Xie Liang, who once escorted you,” Lu Qinglai asked. “But what does this have to do with Qin Ge? Why did you want me to find someone capable of restoring a ‘Sea Area’?”
“I need to restore Xie Liang’s ‘Sea Area’ first,” Zhou You said in a deep voice. “I destroyed it without creating any illusions. As long as Xie Liang isn’t dead, he will live his whole life in a muddle, not knowing what he has done.”
Lu Qinglai let out a soft laugh. This was something Zhou You had never told him. He saw these secrets as a surprise and trust from Zhou You.
“What did he do?” A sudden thought occurred to Lu Qinglai. “Did you manipulate him to kill someone?”
“No.” Zhou You shook his head. The light illuminated his straight nose and flashing eyes. “The situation was too urgent at the time. I didn’t have time to implant those concepts in his mind. I just destroyed him, and… I don’t know who those people were, a few guys camping in Luquan. They were all very strong. I almost couldn’t handle them.”
But anger and the excitement of breaking out of a beast’s cage had unprecedentedly strengthened his abilities. He keenly captured the gaps in these people’s “Sea Areas”—because the incident was sudden, most of the people in that camp had fallen asleep. This was when the “Sea Area’s” breakwater was most vulnerable.
Zhou You easily invaded their “Sea Areas,” stirring up emotions of rage and frenzy the moment he entered.
Lu Qinglai nodded, lighting the uneven path ahead for Zhou You.
“You made those campers fight among themselves,” he said with great admiration. “You didn’t think Xie Liang would be there, along with his son and wife. What a surprise.”
Zhou You laughed a few times.
“Among the campers, a few were on night watch. They were not easy to deal with,” he said, getting happier as he spoke. Recalling that past event, he only felt exhilarated and smug. “But people are really easily influenced by external things. When they discovered that the people in the tents were starting to fight each other and some were dying, their emotions immediately changed. Anger and grief are both cracks in the ‘Sea Area.'”
Lu Qinglai nodded again.
“I’m very good at seizing cracks. Find a crack, invade, destroy the ‘Sea Area,’ and then attack when they lose control. It’s very simple,” Zhou You lowered his voice. “So, soon only Xie Liang was left.”
He hadn’t thought so much at first. What drove him to escape Warehouse No. 0 was nothing more than anger and fear.
But fate was too good to him. It pushed Xie Liang’s family in front of him and even let him meet Lu Qinglai afterwards.
Lu Qinglai smoothly gained Xie Zijing’s trust, which gave Zhou You an idea. As the years passed, this idea grew stronger and stronger, until Lu Qinglai met Qin Ge at the Spiritual Harmonizer exam.
A Guide who could absorb the negative effects of a “Sea Area”—could he repair a damaged “Sea Area”?
Lu Qinglai knew Zhou You’s “Sea Area” was severely damaged. He told Zhou You this good news and strongly persuaded him: if Zhou You wanted Qin Ge to help him, Lu Qinglai was confident he could lure Qin Ge to Zhou You’s side.
Zhou You refused. He quickly remembered the memory he saw in the fragments of Xie Zijing’s “Sea Area.”
Before Xie Zijing encountered the Luquan incident, he had also had many happy times. The memory was very incomplete because almost all of it had been brutally destroyed by Zhou You. But he still remembered that in a particularly brilliant part of Xie Zijing’s memory, a young boy had appeared. Amidst the roaring cheers of the stadium, Xie Zijing had firmly remembered the little Guide named Yang Ge.
He looked extremely similar to the Qin Ge on the Spiritual Harmonizer exam registration form. Lu Qinglai had even directly asked Qin Ge and learned his former surname was Yang.
Fate had placed all the pieces of the puzzle in front of Zhou You and Lu Qinglai. Zhou You was very excited. “Let’s get Xie Zijing and Qin Ge involved, okay?” He was so excited he was almost shaking, pacing back and forth in Lu Qinglai’s office, his voice trembling. “You tell him he loves Qin Ge. Implant false memories into his ‘Sea Area,’ let him have a beautiful dream.”
If Xie Zijing remained immersed in the dream forever, he would eternally feel pain: that non-existent, false memory would deeply affect him, affecting every step of his long life. If he never met Qin Ge, he would be forever trapped in this beautiful dream, and an unrealizable beautiful dream is the embryo of a nightmare. If he was fortunate enough to meet Qin Ge, the baffled Qin Ge couldn’t possibly respond to his feelings. The moment the beautiful dream shattered, he would likewise fall into an abyss.
What if the dream was broken, and he learned that he actually only had a distant, one-sided encounter with Qin Ge? That would be even better—the false memory being broken meant his “Sea Area” had recovered. And once the “Sea Area” recovered, he would surely recall what happened on the night of Luquan. Then, he would go search for his parents.
After finding Xie Liang, both Xie Zijing and the people from the Crisis Office would have to be committed to restoring Xie Liang’s “Sea Area.”
“If Xie Liang returns to normal, he will definitely go mad,” Zhou You said with a smile, shaking the flashlight in his hand. “How terrifying. When I think of him remembering everything, I can’t help but laugh.”
Pain had tormented his body and spirit for a long time. He hated Xie Liang with gritted teeth. In this world, besides Xie Liang, there was no one else he resented who was still alive.
Lu Qinglai was infected by his emotions and couldn’t help but remind him, “After this slope, it’s Luquan.”
The two turned off their flashlights. Zhou You couldn’t help but look up. The moon was nowhere to be seen, but the starlight above was like diamonds, and the snow on the mountaintop was like frost. The meager light reflected in his pitch-black pupils, not giving off a single spark.
“What suggestion did you place on Xie Liang?” Lu Qinglai asked.
“Cannibalism,” Zhou You grinned. Overjoyed, his abdomen twitched in spasms. “I threw him and his dying wife into cell B0064, then told him he was hungry and needed to eat people.”
Lei Chi checked his watch.
It had been nearly two hours since Qin Yeshi and his team went underground, and communication had not been cut off. About an hour ago, Qin Yeshi told him that they were preparing to transfer the surviving prisoners from Warehouse No. 0 and asked him to have people ready to receive them.
Tang Cuo was restless. He couldn’t follow them into Warehouse No. 0 and could only pace around nearby, full of worry.
“He’ll be up soon,” Bai Xiaoyuan called to him from her seat on a slope. “Come over and chat with your sister.”
She had almost finished a bottle of wine. While hiccupping, she was still continuously releasing sand cats.
“Alright, alright, stop drinking,” Lei Chi walked over and took the bottle from her hand. “The sand cats are enough.”
“Only over two thousand,” Bai Xiaoyuan said. “I’m in good shape today. I can try to see if I can replicate eight thousand.”
Lei Chi looked at her. “You just really want to drink, don’t you.”
Bai Xiaoyuan fell silent. At this moment, Tang Cuo and the others, who were guarding the entrance, suddenly caused a commotion.
“Stretcher!” Tang Cuo shouted. “Doctor!”
The medical staff on standby immediately ran over with a stretcher.
A huge sword-nosed shark, carrying three people on its back, slowly approached the entrance. Qin Yeshi emerged first, holding a withered person, followed closely by Qin Ge.
After placing the person in his arms on the stretcher, Qin Yeshi let out a long sigh of relief.
The person was naked, emaciated to an extreme degree, truly skin and bones. His hair was extremely long, seemingly never trimmed or washed, matted into a large, foul-smelling mass on his head. His body was covered in scars, and his face was so dirty and dark that his features were completely obscured. One could only vaguely discern from his head full of white hair that this was an elderly man.
What was even more shocking was his posture on the stretcher. He seemed unable to straighten his waist, his hands and feet held in a strange position, trembling as if curled up in a womb. When the doctor tried to check his heartbeat and blood pressure, as soon as an outsider touched him, he would tremble violently, letting out muffled groans, unclear whether it was from pain or resistance.
Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo also walked over. Everyone looked at each other. Almost no one who came this time was familiar with the situation in Warehouse No. 0. No one had expected the “prisoner” coming out from under Warehouse No. 0 to be in such a state.
Qin Ge had returned to the entrance. At this time, Xie Zijing also emerged.
His expression was grim and terrifying. He was carrying a shriveled corpse in his arms.
Qin Ge accompanied him towards another stretcher. After placing the shriveled but intact corpse on the stretcher, Xie Zijing’s knees gave way, and he knelt down. He lowered his head, silent, his hands propped on his knees, trembling slightly.
The Angora rabbit slipped from Qin Ge’s hand into Xie Zijing’s embrace. Its small paws clutched Xie Zijing’s lapel, like a slowly beating heart.
A warm presence enveloped Xie Zijing. He felt a little better. Holding the Angora rabbit was like holding Qin Ge’s heart. He leaned slightly against Qin Ge, taking deep breaths to draw strength.
Gao Shu hadn’t come up yet. Tang Cuo looked around blankly. Bai Xiaoyuan came to Xie Zijing and Qin Ge’s side, crouching down in front of the stretcher just like them. Several sand cats emerged from her, snuggling up to Xie Zijing, leaning tightly against him.
This comfort made Xie Zijing feel slightly better.
When Qin Ge stood up, he signaled for Bai Xiaoyuan to leave with him, to give Xie Zijing some space.
“Who are these two?” As soon as they were far from Xie Zijing, Bai Xiaoyuan immediately asked.
“The people Zhou You stuffed into cell B0064,” Qin Ge said in a low voice. “Xie Zijing’s parents.”
Bai Xiaoyuan was so shocked she was momentarily speechless.
Elephant and Rat knew very well what Zhou You had done. But they didn’t dare to act rashly, nor did they dare to report it. The situation was extremely serious; they would definitely face an investigation from the Special Management Committee. Zhou You first successfully persuaded Rat not to make a sound, and Rat then convinced Elephant. The administrators dealt with the bodies of the dead prisoners in Warehouse No. 0, disguising the accident as a failed escape attempt.
At that time, the extremely exhausted Elephant and Rat could not fight against the highly agitated Zhou You. If Zhou You wanted to leave, they simply couldn’t stop him.
“Zhou You made a deal with them,” Qin Ge told Bai Xiaoyuan. “They did what Zhou You asked them to do, and Zhou You would never tell a fourth person about the accident that happened in Warehouse No. 0.”
“Th-how could they agree?”
“Elephant said that Zhou You already had Rat under control at the time,” Qin Ge said in a low voice. “But both Qin Yeshi and I believe that the one who was truly controlled was actually Elephant. Rat died a year ago. He said it was an accidental death. In everything Elephant told us today, he was innocent, and Rat was the one who made a mistake and was lured by Zhou You. If that’s the case, why did he stay here after his brother died? Why didn’t he report it truthfully to the Crisis Office? He was innocent, he was against all of it, but he clearly, during this one-year gap, continued to operate Warehouse No. 0 according to Zhou You’s instructions, without telling anyone that Zhou You had escaped.”
Bai Xiaoyuan understood. “Elephant is lying. He… his own brother…”
“We’re not sure. This still requires further in-depth interrogation.” Qin Ge glanced back at Xie Zijing. Xie Zijing had walked to Xie Liang’s stretcher, holding his father’s hand. With his company, Xie Liang’s resistance was much less.
What truly enraged them was what Zhou You had made Elephant and Rat do.
Locking Xie Liang and his dying wife in B0064 and placing the suggestion of “cannibalism” in Xie Liang’s “Sea Area.” Zhou You’s viciousness was beyond anything they could imagine. The moment they learned the truth, what surged up before anger was deep shock.
Bai Xiaoyuan’s chest tightened. “But…”
She remembered the desiccated corpse that Xie Zijing had carefully placed on the stretcher. Perhaps thanks to the temperature and humidity inside the cell, the body had not decomposed. The water had evaporated bit by bit, and it had become a shriveled, lifeless flesh.
But Bai Xiaoyuan saw very clearly: the body was intact, without even any trace of damage.
“Xie Liang didn’t harm the body,” Qin Ge said. “When we rescued him, he was still holding the body, refusing to let go.”
According to Elephant, Rat had completely followed Zhou You’s request, not giving Xie Liang any food for several days. Under the influence of extreme hunger and the chaotic thoughts in his “Sea Area,” Xie Liang had once looked at the corpse in his arms with the eyes of a starving wolf.
He had even opened his mouth, but in the end, he only moved closer to his wife’s cold cheek, lightly kissed her lifeless lips, and tightly hugged his lover in his confused consciousness.
“Then, he began to chew on his own fingers.” When Qin Ge said this, he subconsciously looked at his own hand. He suddenly felt pain. The pain was illusory, yet it appeared so clearly on his body. He looked back and saw Xie Zijing carefully wiping his father’s fingers with a damp cloth—those damaged nails and ulcerated fingerprints.
The one who truly felt the pain was Xie Zijing.
Bai Xiaoyuan bit her lower lip, her eyes full of tears. She couldn’t say a word, just kept sniffling, not even daring to look at Qin Ge. A sand cat wrapped its tail around her ankle and meowed softly.
“He wasn’t defeated by Zhou You,” she said suddenly. “Zhou You… he can’t control everyone.”
Author’s Note:
It was mentioned earlier that when Zhou Yiqing picked up X from the Capital District, it was winter.
Rat (actually Elephant) hoped X could find a place to stay to get through the long, cold winter, hoped he would make new friends and learn new knowledge. In fact, X had gotten all of that.
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