Chapter 27: “In my immortal verse you shall live…”
That night, not long after the two returned to their dorm, Tian Luxin came knocking. She said that Tong Yishuai had been in the office all afternoon, and despite trying several times, she couldn’t find an opportunity to steal the pills.
She was still wearing the cleaner’s short skirt uniform, obviously just having finished her shift and not yet had time to change.
Zhuang Ningyu patted the sofa. “Come sit here.”
He also handed over a blanket, while he himself pulled over a high stool from the side.
“The medicine isn’t urgent. First, tell me about your experience with the mental contamination.”
“It was the bartender.” Tian Luxin covered her legs with the blanket and honestly recounted what had happened in the hallway.
Severe-level contamination, especially a value around 100, doesn’t cause an immediate loss of self-control. There’s usually a process of development, fast or slow. That’s why from elementary school to university, “Perception and Protection from Danger” was always a required course. During the final exam, all students had to walk through an exam room with an artificial mental contamination source. The shorter the time from detecting the contamination source to activating the protective device, the higher the score.
As for why one couldn’t just keep the protective device on at all times for a once-and-for-all solution, it was because the global technology tree hadn’t been unlocked in that area yet. All current protective measures could only be used when there was contamination. Otherwise, they would most likely affect the wearer’s judgment in the opposite way.
Yi Ke brought a more comfortable chair for Zhuang Ningyu and stood beside him. “But why didn’t you notice the abnormality right away? This bar has always had mental contamination. Captain Zhuang has reminded you at least five times in the past two days to be careful.”
Reminders were one thing, and I did raise my guard, but… Tian Luxin answered in a mumble, “Because that bartender was just too handsome. So when I noticed my heart was racing, I thought it was a normal reaction.”
Yi Ke didn’t react to this because before he could even laugh, he was kicked from behind by Zhuang Ningyu and fell onto the refrigerator. It was just the right position to open the door and take out a drink. “You see me and Captain Zhuang every day, how can you still be infatuated with a wild man from outside?”
What a thoughtless, arrogant remark. Zhuang Ningyu deeply felt that his last kick had been too light. He turned to comfort Tian Luxin, but saw that her expression was a bit off, both conflicted and hesitant. He frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, it’s just… after hearing what Brother Yi said, my first reaction was actually to want to speak up for the bartender. Is that not right? Am I still not out of the contamination?” Tian Luxin asked cautiously. After all, the bartender in the rule zone, no matter how handsome, was essentially a monster, and a monster who had mentally attacked her.
“It’s fine, don’t worry. It has nothing to do with mental contamination. The bartender didn’t intentionally attack you either. This rule zone is full of mental contamination sources. You need to be vigilant at all times.” Zhuang Ningyu guaranteed, “You only wanted to speak up for the bartender, not slap him. You’re already a very restrained, rational, and well-mannered good girl.”
Tian Luxin was slightly taken aback before realizing that the last “him” did not refer to the bartender, but to Yi Ke.
“Th-that’s not necessary!”
Why was she stuttering now? Zhuang Ningyu tried to lighten the mood and took out another kitschy LOVE candy from his pocket.
This time, he ignored the person still standing in front of the refrigerator and handed it directly to Tian Luxin. But Tian Luxin, deep in thought, took it and, without a second’s hesitation, passed it on to Yi Ke, acting as an express delivery service.
Yi Ke clearly hadn’t expected this plot development. He stood in place for three seconds and chose to offer the peach soda he had just taken out as a gift in return.
Before the peach soda could be transferred and stuffed into his own arms, Zhuang Ningyu quickly said, “You drink it, you drink it!”
Yi Ke helped her open the drink. Although the fit girl had plenty of strength and means, she was clearly a bit absent-minded at the moment, probably still not over her first experience with mental contamination.
The “fizz” of the soda being opened naturally carried a refreshing coolness. Tian Luxin obediently took a big sip. Countless tiny bubbles exploded between her lips and teeth, moderately cooling her anxiety.
Holding the cold bottle, she remembered something else. “By the way, this afternoon, I heard Tong Yishuai on the phone with the printing factory. He said he had sent over the revision comments for the poster and asked them to make minor adjustments according to the requirements and print it as soon as possible.”
Minor adjustments, which meant it wouldn’t take long, possibly in the next day or two.
Zhuang Ningyu had already emphasized the relationship between the poster and this rule incident to Tian Luxin beforehand. She asked curiously, “Is Wen Yue’s phone still unreachable?”
Yi Ke shook his head. He had been trying almost every hour, but the phone was always out of service. Because of this, the colleagues in the Third Operations Division of the Order Maintenance Department were also under a lot of pressure, demanding Wen Yue from Zhuang Ningyu the moment they opened their eyes every day. “Not here? How can she still not be here? Does it take that long to shoot a poster? You know who, our team’s Xiao Liu, it only took him one day to shoot five different styles of wedding photos with his wife.”
Xiao Liu’s full name was Liu Xiaoyang. He was Zhuang Ningyu’s number one fan and dreamed of going on a mission with Captain Zhuang. Unfortunately, he had bad luck. He had just been admitted to the Order Maintenance Department when Zhuang Ningyu temporarily retired due to injury. And because of a secondment, he missed the group visit to the hospital by his colleagues from the third division, which meant he still hadn’t officially met his idol—the few secret glances didn’t count.
“For you, Xiao Liu isn’t even in the mood to get married!”
Zhuang Ningyu felt he was carrying a lot of unnecessary blame.
That night, among the three, only Tian Luxin slept soundly. As for the other two, Zhuang Ningyu was on the phone all night, while Yi Ke leaned on the small sofa next to him, his legs comfortably propped up on a stool, listening to him take calls.
“Captain Zhuang, our colleagues in Yangcheng have sent two psychological experts, specifically choosing the gentle and kind older sister type, but Zhao Jiaxue’s cooperation level has not been high.” The person on the phone sighed. “As soon as she starts to recall, she trembles all over and says her head hurts and she can’t remember anything.”
The investigation team had re-screened all the victims’ social relationships. To ensure nothing was missed, this time they didn’t even distinguish by gender, but the result was the same—no one, male or female, was found to have had any contact with Zhao Jiaxue.
“Then what did she borrow money from Song Guan to buy? Can that be found out?”
“No, but it probably wasn’t to buy that Tiffany diamond necklace. We applied to retrieve all of Zhao Jiaxue’s consumption records before and after the incident and found that she had indeed saved up a small sum of money, which she later withdrew from the bank in one go, totaling thirty-five thousand.”
“She withdrew cash?” Zhuang Ningyu was surprised.
Because too much time had passed, the bank’s surveillance footage had been overwritten, and the teller couldn’t remember. Therefore, it was temporarily impossible to know whether Zhao Jiaxue’s withdrawal was done alone or with someone, voluntarily or under duress. But one thing was for sure: in a society where you could pay for green onions with your phone, something that required carrying three stacks of cash to buy was definitely problematic. Or, she hadn’t bought anything at all, but was simply scammed out of her money and feelings by an experienced scumbag.
“Scammed for money and sex by a man she met in a bar, and found out the truth on the night of the party, so she was traumatized. Does that logic sound reasonable?” Yi Ke speculated.
“The logic is reasonable, but Zhao Jiaxue’s subsequent reaction is not. She’s just introverted and shy, not feudal and conservative. A girl who has received a complete education and comes from a harmonious family has no reason to be so severely psychologically traumatized over a fake relationship and a few tens of thousands in cash,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Relatively speaking, the psychological experts’ speculation is more reasonable. They think Zhao Jiaxue might have unknowingly used the thirty-five thousand in cash to do something very serious, something that might have broken the law, like helping someone buy a batch of drugs. Once exposed, she would face legal sanctions, which is why she would have such an extremely intense reaction when the old matter was brought up again.”
Cults, drugs—after the incident, most of the speculation about Yin Bar was related to the darkest “evils” in the world. It was unknown if Tong Yishuai’s soul still remained, and if he knew all this, whether he would turn from a ghost into a super-ghost out of anger. After all, his lifelong pursuit was to make this bar the complete opposite of “ugliness,” the most dazzling “beauty” in the world.
The investigation team was still working hard. Nothing was set in stone yet.
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Go back to sleep.”
“No.” Yi Ke lay on the sofa. “I still have to call Wen Yue.”
He had already gone back to his own dorm to shower and brush his teeth, completing a full pre-sleep routine. Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t be bothered to expose his “I have to call Wen Yue” excuse and opened his computer to continue working. He had to submit the new weekly “Department Work Summary, Shortcomings, and Improvements” tomorrow. He opened the document and looked at it for a long time, then finally called Qian Yue out of bed and said angrily, “Rewrite this!”
Qian Yue burst into tears. “Boss, you know, my ability to make things up is really limited. Can this job be passed on to Xiao Yi in the future? He’ll do anything for you anyway.”
Zhuang Ningyu felt like he was hearing things. “Should he also collect your salary for you?”
Qian Yue: “…Just kidding, Boss, I’ll get right on it!”
Yi Ke, lying on the sofa: “I can—”
The rest of his sentence was muffled by a summer blanket that flew through the air.
Zhuang Ningyu finished his work in the rare quiet environment. When he looked back, he saw that Yi Ke had already fallen asleep on the sofa, properly covered with the blanket, his breathing even. He looked much more obedient than during the day. His phone had fallen on the floor. Zhuang Ningyu walked over to pick it up for him. The screen that lit up was a postcard they had won together at a book club event. It had a rose-colored background, with a line from Shakespeare handwritten by Zhuang Ningyu—
“You shall live in my immortal verse, one with time.”
…
Daylight dispelled the dark night.
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t open the curtains. The room remained in a dark environment suitable for sleeping, so Yi Ke was able to sleep until he woke up naturally. He stretched his sore muscles and asked groggily, “What are you eating?”
Zhuang Ningyu replied, “Staff meal.”
Yi Ke was quiet for two seconds. His first reaction was, how could you eat food made by someone else behind my back? But then he remembered to look at the wall clock. Ten-thirty. It was already that time. It would be unreasonable not to let the man eat. So he changed to a gentler tone: “Why are you eating breakfast so late? Have you been waiting for me to wake up all this time?”
“You’re overthinking it. The bar chef doesn’t start work until ten,” Zhuang Ningyu said mercilessly, crunching on a youtiao. The crispy sound made Yi Ke’s mouth water too, temporarily pushing aside his workplace harassment. He got up, took a disposable toothbrush from the bathroom, and after brushing his teeth, went to the table to pick up half a youtiao. While eating, he habitually dialed a number—
“Du—du—du—”
Wen Yue’s phone went through!
The two people in the room simultaneously dropped the food in their hands. Yi Ke took out a tissue to wipe the grease from his fingertips, his eyes glued to the phone screen. One ring, two rings… The waiting tone was stretched out endlessly by time, until it was finally cut off.
No one answered.
Yi Ke dialed two more times, but still no one answered. Zhuang Ningyu grabbed his jacket and hurried out the door. A’Lin, who was standing by the corridor window smoking, was startled. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, bro. I heard there’s a new employee coming to the bar?” Zhuang Ningyu took a cigarette from the pack on the windowsill.
“No, there are no new hiring plans at the bar recently,” A’Lin said with a puzzled look. “Where did you hear that rumor?”
“Then maybe I misunderstood,” Zhuang Ningyu leaned against the window. “I heard the model for this poster is very beautiful. I thought the boss was going to hire her.”
“She is quite beautiful, but the boss has no plans to hire her. He does plan to invite her to the anniversary party, though.”
“Is that so.” Zhuang Ningyu held the cigarette in his mouth. “Bro, got a light?” He didn’t usually smoke, but at times like this, smoking was a social tool. But his request was rejected by A’Lin. He took the cigarette from his mouth. “What kind of pure white flower smokes this stuff? Don’t join the fun.”
“I don’t usually smoke. I’ve been a bit stressed these past two days,” Zhuang Ningyu said with a worried frown.
“I heard. You seem to be in urgent need of money,” A’Lin patted his arm. “You should have said so earlier. How about this, you can have the commission you were going to share with me the other day.”
Zhuang Ningyu thanked him. Just then, the door to dorm 501 at the end of the corridor suddenly opened. The bartender came out, yawning, greeted them sleepily, then swiped open the door to room 502 and went in.
“Oh, we slept together last night,” A’Lin explained proactively, seeing Zhuang Ningyu’s surprise. “There’s a family matter. We discussed it for a bit.”
Zhuang Ningyu remembered the empty bottle of Diazepam the bartender had thrown in the trash and asked nonchalantly, “What matter? Can I help?”
“It’s nothing. Just a little sister… she’s not in good health. It’s quite troublesome.” A’Lin took another deep drag from his cigarette. “We finally got her into Huayin Hospital. After the consultation, she went straight to the ICU. It’s been a while. We still don’t know when she’ll be able to get out.”
Zhuang Ningyu offered, “I happen to know a pretty good doctor with wide connections. What kind of illness does she have?”
“Thanks, but she probably can’t be transferred anymore. Even if she were, it wouldn’t be of much use. We’ll just continue the treatment here for now.” A’Lin stubbed out his cigarette. Just as he was about to turn back to his dorm, the door to 502 was violently pulled open with a “bang.” The bartender, wearing a messily thrown-on T-shirt, rushed out with chaotic steps. “Quick, the hospital just called. They said Xiao Mei is not going to make it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, A’Lin’s face also turned pale. Without even bothering to change his shoes or wait for the elevator, he and the bartender sprinted down the emergency exit. In the blink of an eye, the corridor was empty. Zhuang Ningyu didn’t chase after them. The bar was a rule zone. The world outside the rule zone was a perpetual, untouchable white fog for outsiders.
He tried calling A’Lin, and as expected, got a busy signal.
Yi Ke had been leaning against the dorm door the whole time, constantly calling Wen Yue while listening to the conversation in the hallway. The call never went through. This was an extremely abnormal situation because since the phone signal had been restored, it meant Wen Yue had completed the poster photoshoot and had entered the core area of the rule zone—this bar. In that case, the vast majority of volunteers should, at the first opportunity, actively contact the Order Maintenance Department members within the rule zone. But Wen Yue hadn’t. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
Did something happen? Yi Ke frowned. But in this bar that worshipped handsome men and beautiful women, who would be hostile to a newly arrived pretty girl?
In the distance, the clouds floating in the sky were slowly gathering, eventually forming a thick, gray-white sea of fog.
Everything was hazy.
The phone vibrated with a “buzz.”
On the cold ground, Wen Yue, enduring the sharp pain in her neck, struggled to open her eyes. She had just walked into this bar when she was attacked. Dizziness blurred the world. In her ears was an endless sound of water, like a stream rushing through a mountain gorge during a spring outing in her childhood. At that time, the two sisters held hands, shakily crossing a log bridge.
“Sister… sister,” she murmured.
For my sister, I can’t give up like this.
She used all her strength to prop herself up. Through her soaked hair, she looked at the person in front of her.
…No, I can’t.
Taking advantage of the other person’s inattention, she threw herself forward with all her might!
“Bang!” The person hadn’t expected her to still be able to move. Caught off guard, they were dragged to the ground. In the struggle, two slender arms, like a dying snake, wrapped tightly around the person’s neck! Wen Yue’s usually pale face was flushed red. She used all her strength. Her white dress dragged across the sewage-covered floor, the coldness enveloping the young girl’s body.
Wen Yue called out the obsession that had been circling in her heart for five whole years: Sister, sister. Her whole body was trembling.
“I will definitely save you.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“No one can stop me.”
“No one can stop me.”
In the echoing sounds, the “clacking” of the blinds being blown by the wind was mixed in.
…
The bartender and A’Lin never returned. At around two in the afternoon, listening to the busy signal on his phone, Zhuang Ningyu looked up and asked Yi Ke, “Any luck on your end?”
“Same as always, can’t get through.”
The two had already searched every corner of Yin Bar this morning but found no sign of Wen Yue. In this situation, it was highly likely that she had been trapped in a small rule zone within the larger rule zone, her appearance time uncertain. The captain of the Third Operations Division in charge of this operation, upon hearing the news, immediately grabbed the arm of the person next to him to prevent himself from fainting on the spot. “Captain Zhuang, Brother Zhuang, bro, I’m begging you, you have to bring the volunteer out safely!”
Zhuang Ningyu said, “Of course.” Out of professional duty, the operations team members were responsible for ensuring the safety of the volunteers. Out of basic human empathy, the Wen family had already lost one daughter. This time, they must have made a great resolution to allow their other daughter to enter the incident site. So, Wen Yue must not have an accident.
“Xiao Yu.” Someone knocked on the dorm door. It was the voice of a fellow promoter. “The boss said Donn and A’Lin have taken leave. We’re short-staffed in the bar. He wants you to fill in.”
Donn was the bartender. Zhuang Ningyu opened the door. “Okay. Do you know why they took leave?”
“This… sigh.” The promoter hesitantly revealed, “Donn has a very close sister who passed away in the hospital. A’Lin also liked her a lot. I heard he just… right in the ICU room… It’s quite pitiful. The family spent a lot of money. Donn and A’Lin even borrowed some from us, but in the end, they still couldn’t save her.”
“What illness?” Zhuang Ningyu pressed.
The promoter’s gaze flickered, looking secretive. “I-I don’t know. I have to go now. Remember to come to work early this afternoon.”
He left in a hurry. Zhuang Ningyu took out his phone to call the investigation team. “Help me check the information of all female deceased patients who died in the ICU of Huayin Hospital within one month before the doll party, under the age of thirty. Retrieval level three.” The higher the number, the more detailed the information. Level three was roughly basic information plus a biographical sketch within five hundred words.
The investigation team agreed and immediately arranged for an emergency special approval.
The elevator door “dinged” open. Tian Luxin ran out without even pushing her cleaning cart. “Captain Zhuang, I’ve been calling you for a while. Why has it been busy? Brother Yi isn’t answering either.”
“We were both a little busy just now,” Zhuang Ningyu steadied her. “Don’t be anxious. Take your time. What’s wrong?”
“The medicine is gone,” Tian Luxin said nervously. “I had even figured out how to block the camera, but the medicine on those shelves is gone. Not a single bottle left.”
“Including the other fish oil and vitamins?”
“Yes, all the medicine.” Tian Luxin paused, then added, “Also, the photo frame with Tong Yishuai and You Hong’s photo is gone too.”
“Let’s go.” As soon as she finished speaking, a figure flashed past them. Yi Ke pressed the elevator button. Tian Luxin followed in a daze and asked, “Where are we going? The boss’s office?”
“No.” Zhuang Ningyu closed the elevator door. “To the garbage room on the basement level.”
