Chapter 84
“I heard you were deeply in love with me.”
In the lobby of the council building, the two doors were tightly shut, but the deafening slogans from outside penetrated through the cracks, making the ground underfoot shake slightly.
“Once we leave, these demonstrators will lose their emotional drive and disperse on their own.” Su Jiqiao extended his hand to Shen Zhuo, smiling gently. “Professor?”
Shen Zhuo’s eyes were cold and sharp as he stared at him, unmoving.
“Professor, to remove large-scale emotions, I need to continuously physically touch the subject of these emotions, which is you.” Su Jiqiao’s soft palm remained outstretched. “It’s only five hundred meters; I promise it won’t take long, okay?”
“…”
The lobby was crowded with council officials. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Shen Zhuo finally raised his right hand without a word, which was then tightly grasped by Su Jiqiao.
Even through the leather glove, the touch felt like holding a venomous snake.
Bai Sheng narrowed his eyes dangerously.
The doors finally opened, and a wave of sound surged in, almost materializing into a massive wave that swept through the entire hall. Su Jiqiao didn’t mind at all and, holding Shen Zhuo’s hand, walked step by step towards the outside. Millions of light points gathered from the sea of people, converging into an increasingly bright ball of light in his right palm.
Like Moses parting the sea, the demonstrators, who had been screaming at the top of their lungs, suddenly froze, collectively falling into an emotional void, not even understanding why they were standing there, and involuntarily retreated to both sides as Su Jiqiao walked by.
“See, professor.” Su Jiqiao looked at the countless murky black dots in the glowing ball in his palm, his voice only audible to the two of them. “They shout your name, hold signs supporting you, but beneath their fervent admiration lies sinister hatred. Do you know why?”
“…”
“Because lower beings are like this. They beg the moon to shine its light on the earth, and therefore also hate the moon for being high above, unwilling to reside with them. This foolish and unconscious inferiority is what constitutes the humans you wish to protect.”
The black stains in the light ball condensed like snowflakes, becoming denser. Su Jiqiao extended his hand towards Shen Zhuo, smiling. “May I ask what you feel now, professor?”
Shen Zhuo remained silent, refusing to look at the increasingly bright and dirty emotions in the light ball. But Su Jiqiao insisted on holding the light ball in front of him, showing no intention of stopping. After a long while, Shen Zhuo coldly said, “The world’s love and hate have nothing to do with me.”
“Don’t you care at all?” Su Jiqiao was a little surprised.
He paused, then understood something, and sighed in relief.
“Yes, the professor is indeed not someone who would lower his gaze to others. You choose to protect them, but it has nothing to do with them.”
The council guards escorted them through the crowd, and a few steps behind them was Bai Sheng. Su Jiqiao glanced back. “And what about those you’ve had feelings for? Aren’t you curious about their true thoughts about you?”
From all directions, countless light points like a meteor shower whizzed in, their black filth starkly reflected in Shen Zhuo’s eyes. Su Jiqiao smiled. “That double-S-ranked Bai Sheng seems deeply infatuated with you, but his negative emotions are also terrifyingly dark. Especially when you insisted on making a public speech just now, his momentary dark emotions really scared me. Mr. Cameron should be your brother, right? His seemingly bright feelings are also mixed with a bit of shadow, resentment, and unfairness masked by kinship. Ah, there’s Chen Miao at the front; he’s probably your longest-serving student. Let me see… It seems there’s not much shadow, but not enough intensity to surprise me.”
Su Jiqiao looked at Shen Zhuo, his gaze as if delineating the most perfect artwork in the world, complex and fervent beyond words, with a touch of pity.
“They don’t love you that much, professor,” he said softly.
“…”
“No one in this world truly loves you, they are not worth it.”
Around the convoy, the demonstrators scattered backward like a retreating tide. The bulletproof car was dented in several places, and the windows were covered with dense, spider-web-like bullet holes.
Chen Miao stood guard by the car with armed evolutionists, still shaken.
Shen Zhuo finally stopped, his deep, elegant eyes fixed on Su Jiqiao.
He was not taller than Su Jiqiao, but his gaze held a calmness that looked down from above:
“There is no such thing as love without shadow, not even between spouses or blood relatives. But there is certainly aversion without any affection, like how I feel about you.”
Su Jiqiao stared at him, dazed, with the filthy, scorching light still in his palm.
Shen Zhuo forcefully pulled his hand back, stepped back half a step, and called out loudly, “Come!”
By now, they were surrounded by trusted personnel from the Shenhai City Supervision Office, and everyone immediately stood alert.
“Three years ago, Su Jiqiao and Fu Chen visited the EHPBC’s top wanted criminal, Rong Qi, at Quanshan County Hospital, strongly suspected of collaborating with Rong Qi in criminal activities. Arrest him and take him back for interrogation!”
“Yes!”
Several inspectors rushed up, handcuffed Su Jiqiao with electromagnetic cuffs, and pushed him towards an off-road vehicle.
Su Jiqiao wasn’t surprised at all by Shen Zhuo’s sudden change of face, nor did he resist, knowing Bai Sheng was watching coldly from not far away. Any form of resistance would be a waste of time. He simply turned his hand, dispelling the ball of emotions, then staggered a few steps backward as he was pushed.
“Do you hate me that much, professor?”
Su Jiqiao asked towards Shen Zhuo’s retreating back, then smiled, eyes full of joy. “Keep on hating, never let this feeling disappear, okay?”
Shen Zhuo’s response was to remove his right glove, forcefully throw it far away, and then bend down to sit in the car.
With a bang, the car door closed, driving towards the airport ahead.
·
The United Nations EHPBC council’s investigation into Fu Chen’s death in the Qinghai explosion officially concluded after this hearing.
The noose hanging over Shen Zhuo’s head completely vanished, and from now on, no one could accuse him of the baseless murder charges.
Fortunately, over the past three years, Yue Yang has firmly established his position as the leader of the central district. When the news broke, it did not cause a violent outcry or even riots. After a wave of internal protests, it was quickly suppressed, unlike three years ago, when it spread uncontrollably like wildfire.
In comparison, the internal focus of the central district’s inspection office leaned more towards Su Jiqiao.
Su Jiqiao was still the head of the second division of the central district’s inspection office. Shen Zhuo, however, publicly arrested him without any consideration for the central district’s reputation and immediately arranged for round-the-clock, high-intensity interrogation.
“Back in those days, rural health clinics were too remote, with only a few barefoot doctors, all of whom died in that fire, leaving no paper records at all. I suspect Rong Qi’s body was only given some saline and glucose there. Being able to survive for over twenty years must have been thanks to the first-generation HRG’s technology and ruthlessness…”
In the corridor outside the interrogation room, Chen Miao turned a page of the investigation report and took another sip of his milk tea—the continuous high-intensity work had left him extremely weak, and the yam paste glutinous rice sesame balls coconut milk bubble tea was his last bit of motivation to keep going.
Shen Zhuo, leaning against the window with his lower back, frowned and interrupted him, “Have you done a family line check on the clinic staff who died in the fire?”
“We’re on it, senior.” Chen Miao looked up, his eyes dark with fatigue, and said honestly, “Previously, we used the internal inspection system to do a round of checks and found no clues. This time, a nationwide search has been initiated from above. We should get results in a couple of days. Hopefully, we can find some traces in the old records.”
Shen Zhuo toyed with a cigarette case in his hand, his elegant eyebrows slightly furrowed, and exhaled slowly after a moment.
“The person who sent the vessel to Quanshan County Clinic must be related to the clinic staff to choose it as a place to leave a three-year-old child.” He said softly, “Continue the investigation from this direction, and it will ultimately lead to Su Jiqiao.”
“Understood!”
Chen Miao, holding his fancy milk tea, was about to leave. After a few steps, he stopped, turned around hesitantly, and said, “Senior…”
Shen Zhuo was opening the cigarette case and looked up when he heard him.
“That day in the interrogation room, Senior Su… no, Division Chief Su said he felt particularly sorry for me because your emotions towards me were mixed with a lot of dark sediments…” Chen Miao was on the verge of tears and finally couldn’t hold back. “Why? Did I do something wrong? Have you always been dissatisfied with me?”
Shen Zhuo paused, looking at this junior, who had been with him for eight years since undergraduate studies, and after a moment, said:
“Did Su Jiqiao say that to you?”
Chen Miao nodded, looking aggrieved and about to cry.
“…”
Inside and outside the interrogation room, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
Shen Zhuo pulled out a cigarette from the case, held it between his slender fingers, and after a long while, said faintly, “Yes.”
Chen Miao: “!!”
“You spilled half a cup of milk tea on my office carpet. Even after wiping it three times with a wet cloth, it wasn’t clean, and you thought I wouldn’t notice.” Shen Zhuo said calmly, “If it happens again, I’ll throw you out of this window, understand?”
So that’s why Senior had a shadow about me!
Chen Miao, with a big heart, instantly let go of all his worries, his whole world brightening up. “Yes! Understood!”
Shen Zhuo waved his hand, and Chen Miao, holding his report and milk tea, happily returned to the interrogation room.
At the end of the corridor, by the window, Shen Zhuo placed the cigarette between his teeth and lit it with a click.
Light white smoke rose, reflecting in his gloomy eyes.
At this moment, a hand reached from behind, took the cigarette from his lips, and then leaned in to give him a deep, tongue-tangling kiss.
Their skin pressed closely together, his throat was gripped tight, teeth repeatedly invaded and licked, and faint wet sounds were forcibly swallowed down.
“…What?” Shen Zhuo arched his slender waist backwards, pressing his forehead against Bai Sheng’s, speaking in breaths mingled with each other’s, and asked softly, “Did Su Jiqiao also poison you?”
Bai Sheng’s face lacked his usual carefree and frivolous expression, revealing instead a cold and intense profile. His eyes were dark and deep as he looked at Shen Zhuo for a long moment before nodding with a hum.
Shen Zhuo was not surprised by Su Jiqiao’s methods. “What did he say?”
“Nothing,” Bai Sheng finally said in a low voice.
He leaned down to capture Shen Zhuo’s lips again, his voice raspy amidst the kiss. “Just a crude, flawed attempt to sow discord.”
The interrogation was still ongoing. The empty corridor was silent, and the daylight cast a faint, hazy glow on the white walls. The kiss was rough and forceful, making Shen Zhuo’s lips swell with blood until the unswallowed saliva seeped from the corners of his mouth.
“…Let me guess,” Shen Zhuo, forced to tilt his head back, asked in a breathless whisper, “He said that my feelings for you are chaotic and full of dark sediments, and that if you weren’t a double S-class, you wouldn’t even qualify to touch my bed, right?”
Bai Sheng watched him, not answering for a long time, before a knowing smile slowly appeared in his eyes.
Shen Zhuo’s breathing gradually steadied, and he shook his head with a faint smile.
“There are no ‘what ifs’ in this world, just as there is nothing that only has a front without a back. Cameron shot his mother to save me. For over twenty years, has he never thought, ‘If only my brother could escape on his own,’ or ‘If only it wasn’t me who entered the scene’? All the researchers chose to die together to destroy Rong Qi’s spiritual body. So many people died in one night—didn’t anyone ever regret and think, ‘If only we hadn’t dealt with the extraterrestrial spiritual entity 001,’ or ‘If only I hadn’t joined this experimental project’?”
“That’s impossible. Even I have regretted joining HRG and wished I could smash all the machines and drugs to pieces, burn them all to ashes on countless nights.”
“The shadows exist because light shines in. Su Jiqiao’s goal is to make people see only the shadows and be haunted by them.” Shen Zhuo squinted his eyes and spoke softly, “To punish the matter and eliminate the will, to kill the person and the heart. His ability is far more than just extracting emotions.”
Maintaining their intimate posture, Bai Sheng cupped the back of Shen Zhuo’s head, his fingers deeply entangled in his black hair. He looked down at him from above and, after a long moment, smiled faintly:
“I know.”
“…”
“If one day he extracted my feelings for you, what color would they be?” Bai Sheng’s eyes sparkled with a mischievous smile. “They’d probably be mixed with countless dark impurities.”
“Love, desire, greed, darkness, even malice… But it’s okay, you have them all.”
The two leaned back together, and Shen Zhuo extended his hand, his cool fingertips brushing Bai Sheng’s cheek, with an imperceptible warmth hidden in his otherwise expressionless eyes.
“I heard that you’re deeply in love with me,” he said softly. “That should indeed encompass everything.”
From the distant corridor came the sound of footsteps, indicating someone was approaching.
Bai Sheng still held Shen Zhuo’s chin with one hand, stealing another quick kiss. As they stood up simultaneously, the door to the interrogation room opened, and a weary-looking clerk came out to change shifts, spotting them: “Supervisor! Mr. Bai!”
Shen Zhuo straightened his coat, and Bai Sheng asked, “How’s it going?”
The clerk shook his head with a complicated expression and looked towards the interrogation room: “Dr. Shui is assisting with the questioning, but there’s been no progress. We can’t get anything out of him, and… and…”
A cold glint appeared in Shen Zhuo’s eyes as he quickly walked into the interrogation room, Bai Sheng following with a frown.
Inside the interrogation room, Chen Miao and several inspectors stood outside the one-way mirror. In the center was Yue Yang—after the central district’s inspection office made a big fuss about taking back Division Chief Su, Yue Yang had to personally come to Shenhai, so Shen Zhuo simply let him observe.
Not observing would have been better; even Yue Yang’s face turned pale after watching.
Following everyone’s gaze, they saw Shui Ronghua sitting opposite Su Jiqiao at the interrogation table, one hand stopping an enraged Witch Italdo, who was invisible to others. Meanwhile, Su Jiqiao leaned back in the iron chair, smiling relaxedly:
“I guess it’s because the witch is parasitic in your body and thus lost her freedom. If not for you, the witch wouldn’t have to endure humiliation, obey humans, or even force herself to stay on this planet. So, it’s normal that her feelings for you are so dark…”
The witch, being simple-minded and irritable, fell right into the trap of self-incrimination: “Shut up! I don’t! What do you know?! Shut up, shut up!!—”
“There is no need for such low-level provocations. We all know what kind of junior you were at the central research institute. Those crude tactics won’t work on old acquaintances.” Shui Ronghua said coldly, “What is your relationship with Rong Qi? Three years ago, you took Fu Chen to visit Rong Qi at Quanshan County Clinic. Do I need to throw the ironclad evidence in your face, Su Jiqiao?”
“I didn’t, Senior.” Su Jiqiao calmly replied, “I don’t even know the person named Rong you’re talking about. Your so-called ironclad evidence probably can’t prove it was me who took Fu-ge to that clinic, right?”
Shui Ronghua paused.
Because she really couldn’t.
“That day, we were just passing by and saw a township clinic. Out of curiosity, we went in and saw someone lying in a coma in the ward. I casually asked what illness he had. Isn’t that a perfectly normal thing to do?” Su Jiqiao’s demeanor was even sincere and composed. “How could I have known that this person named Rong Qi would wake up three years later and become EHPBC’s number one wanted criminal? It was all just a coincidence. Do you think I can predict the future?”
One of the interrogators could no longer contain his anger: “You obviously knew Rong Qi back then! And Chief Fu even said—”
“Fu-ge said he was curious about what the professor’s reaction would be if he met Rong Qi in the future.” Su Jiqiao shrugged regretfully. “To be honest, I didn’t understand why Fu-ge said that out of the blue. I also found it strange. Why don’t you dig Fu-ge out of the ground and ask him?”
“…”
The interrogation room fell silent for several seconds, and Shui Ronghua’s voice dropped to below freezing point: “After Fu Chen said that, you weren’t even a bit surprised, nor did you ask any curious follow-up questions…”
“Didn’t I? I really don’t remember.” Su Jiqiao interrupted, apologetically pressing his fingers to his forehead. “After all, I was in a coma for three years, and my brain was injured. What else do you want to know, Senior?”
“Can we use telepathy on him?” Even Yue Yang couldn’t hold back.
The inspector smiled bitterly and shook his head. “He’s an S-class psychic. A-class telepathy won’t work on him. We can only continue this hard questioning.”
“You really have a deep prejudice against me, Senior.” Su Jiqiao sighed lightly, with a bit of understanding and helplessness. “I really don’t know why, but since back then, you’ve been one of the few people who didn’t like me. And if I remember correctly, it was precisely because you disliked me that you gained the professor’s favor and eventually joined the project team, right? If you want to accuse me because of this, I can understand, but don’t you think using such methods to please others is quite pathetic? I can see the professor’s emotions towards you…”
With a bang, the door was pushed open.
“Supervisor!”
The interrogator hurriedly stood up. The humiliated Shui Ronghua hadn’t recovered yet, and they saw Shen Zhuo stride into the interrogation room.
Su Jiqiao’s eyes lit up: “Professor…”
Slap!
Shen Zhuo’s sharp slap sent Su Jiqiao and his chair crashing to the ground, creating a series of loud noises!
The force of that slap was at least a hundred kilograms. If Su Jiqiao were an ordinary person, he’d have a concussion by now. Su Jiqiao lay on the ground in a sorry state, his face quickly showing several red marks, breathing heavily and mockingly. “Professor, you can be this violent too.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Shen Zhuo grabbed Su Jiqiao and cleanly dragged him to the electric chair, snapping the handcuffs in place with two crisp clicks. Everyone’s faces changed color: “Supervisor!” “Don’t, Supervisor!”
Shen Zhuo looked down coldly: “What happened at Quanshan County Clinic three years ago?”
Blood trickled from Su Jiqiao’s mouth as he looked up at Shen Zhuo. “It was just a coincidence. I don’t know—”
Shen Zhuo slapped the power switch.
Bright blue arcs of electricity exploded, crackling madly. All the inspectors in the viewing room stood up in shock as the million-volt shock made Su Jiqiao’s entire body convulse!
The current stopped after a few seconds, filling the interrogation room with a terrifying burnt smell.
If Su Jiqiao were still A-class, he would be dead now.
Even so, he was half-dead, his pupils trembling and constricted, his limbs continuously twitching. The horrifying electric burns quickly spread across his skin, making the scene gruesome.
Su Jiqiao opened his mouth, but the violent spasms prevented him from speaking clearly. Shen Zhuo’s voice remained eerily steady:
“What happened at Quanshan County Clinic three years ago?”
“…”
Su Jiqiao finally squeezed out a voice from between his teeth, haltingly: “You know… it’s useless. You’re just… venting your anger. Why… why don’t you dare ask about that night… of the Qinghai explosion three years ago?”
Shen Zhuo stood there, unmoved, his figure tall and straight, his eyes as cold as ice.
“Fu Chen… Fu Chen doesn’t love you. He’s been deceiving you all along.” Su Jiqiao laughed hoarsely, his bloodshot eyes looking at Shen Zhuo with a chilling gentleness. “I made you witness me and Fu Chen kissing to save you from being deceived and from being assassinated…”
“Why do you refuse to see the true nature of others, Professor?”
This bastard! He’s so annoying I can die from just reading him shit talk