“Does this mean he’s injured?” Li Feng pointed at the readings on the instrument.
“Yes,” Curator Wu’s fingers were somewhat uncontrollably tapping on the table, “but the transmission is already very unstable now, and the feedback information is incomplete…”
Li Feng took a thick book from the side and pressed it on Curator Wu’s hand.
Curator Wu turned to look at him.
“Is the injury serious?” Li Feng still looked at the readings and asked the technician sitting in front of the instrument, “Is it enough to determine what kind of injury it is?”
“It’s not too serious,” the technician replied, “Judging from the incomplete data, it’s most likely a gunshot wound, there are three places, none of which have injured vital organs.”
“It’s the kind that can self-repair, right?” Li Feng continued to ask.
“Yes.” The technician nodded.
Two minutes later, the transmission was interrupted, and the instrument could no longer receive Xing Bi’s data.
“Dead?” Li Feng frowned.
“It’s interrupted,” the technician said, “Out of range.”
“Now we know roughly what this maximum distance is.” Li Feng finished speaking and left the laboratory, entering Curator Wu’s office.
Curator Wu also followed him in, closing the door behind him. “I don’t know whether I should be worried about Xing Bi or Qiu Shi right now.”
“Worrying is meaningless,” Li Feng sat on the sofa. “For so many years, Yun City has been guarded like a prison, simply because the outside is full of danger, a chaotic and primitive world. They are bound to encounter all kinds of things once they go out.”
“Xing Bi is a rare level-one hidden guard,” Curator Wu pointed to his own head. “I mean his thinking. I’ve interacted with many level-ones over the years, but someone like him is rare. If we really lose him, it would be a huge pity.”
“What about Lin Sheng?” Li Feng asked. “I see you’re quite interested in him.”
“Still hard to say, very capable,” Curator Wu said. “The second generation as a whole is stronger than the first, but Lin Sheng’s thinking, compared to Xing Bi, is more… patternized.”
“Say something I can understand in one go,” Li Feng said.
“He’s not as human-like as Xing Bi,” Curator Wu said.
For someone like Curator Wu, who was obsessed with the boroids themselves, Xing Bi, who was more human-like, clearly interested him more.
“Why,” Curator Wu looked at him, “do you insist on having Xing Bi protect Qiu Shi? Even if Qiu Shi is immune, he surely won’t be the only one, and the inhibitors are already showing promise. He’s not so…”
“He’s a benchmark,” Li Feng said.
“A benchmark for what?” Curator Wu was somewhat puzzled.
“Humanity,” Li Feng said.
Curator Wu opened his mouth and took a moment to confirm, “Humanity?”
“We find it difficult to judge whether Xing Bi is controllable. According to you, he’s not a very patternized level-one,” Li Feng said. “Whether he is controllable and whether he will keep his original oath depends on how he views humans. Emotionally, Xing Bi leans more towards humans.”
“So Qiu Shi?” Curator Wu said. “A corpse collector who grew up outside the city…”
“Yes,” Li Feng nodded.
Curator Wu frowned, “Are you trying to say…”
“You, me, Zhang Qifeng, Mr. Long, the general,” Li Feng said, “From Xing Bi’s perspective, we might not meet the ‘human’ standard.”
“How could you say that?!” Curator Wu was somewhat displeased. “What kind of standard is this that only Qiu Shi can meet?”
“Certainly not only him, but definitely not us,” Li Feng laughed. “But among those who can meet the standard, finding someone who is immune, capable in combat, and has weaknesses that we can exploit, apart from Qiu Shi, there’s no one else for now.”
“…I can never out-argue you,” Curator Wu said.
“We need symbiotic bioroids like Lin Sheng, and we also need someone like Xing Bi,” Li Feng stood up. “I don’t know how to ensure Lin Sheng’s controllability, but as long as there are people like Qiu Shi, Xing Bi will choose to be controllable.”
.
The gunfire didn’t stop, one round after another, the dirt and debris around them constantly splashing onto their faces, making it almost impossible for Qiu Shi to keep his eyes open.
Except for the first round of gunfire aimed at them, the rest were aimed around them.
They were trapped in place, and the map in front of them still showed no sign of any people. Their ambushers’ range exceeded the map’s scope.
They didn’t know who these people were or what they wanted.
But Qiu Shi knew that level-one hidden guards were no match for bullets, and now he also knew they weren’t bulletproof.
Xing Bi wasn’t bulletproof, and he had just blocked at least two bullets for him.
The rope that had previously been wrapped around Qiu Shi’s leg was pulled back by Xing Bi, who used it as a lasso to pull down the nearest two bioroid corpses to shield behind them.
“Where are you hurt?” Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi didn’t speak, reaching to touch his own side, frowning slightly. As Qiu Shi was about to speak, he flicked out a bullet.
In the midst of the dense gunfire, the sound of the bullet falling onto a small stone was faint yet clear.
“There are still two bullets in me,” Xing Bi said, “They’re not very deep, I can self-repair, but the bullets need to be removed.”
“Damn it,” Qiu Shi cursed through gritted teeth. Without hesitation, he reached out to touch Xing Bi’s back.
No need to search, his fingers quickly found the bullet hole.
“Can you block out the pain?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi responded.
Then why didn’t you block it out?
Qiu Shi could tell from Xing Bi’s slight frown earlier that he could feel pain, but there was no time to dwell on this issue now.
On the map, over a dozen small bright spots were approaching from the other side of the mountain at a very fast speed, far faster than if they were running down the mountain.
They had no tools now, so Qiu Shi quickly dug his fingers into the wound on Xing Bi’s back and removed a bullet.
He looked back and saw that these people were actually flying in from the air, like a dozen giant bats.
“This is too bizarre.” He gritted his teeth and quickly extracted the second bullet from the wound.
“Mark this location,” Xing Bi said. “These weapons and equipment aren’t something ordinary wanderers could have. They might have found an old weapons cache.”
Despite the situation, Xing Bi still thought to mark a possible weapons cache for Yun City, leaving Qiu Shi with a mix of feelings.
The gunfire stopped, and a dozen armed men surrounded them.
“Crouch down, drop your guns, and put your hands over your heads,” a man behind them said.
“We’re just passing through, trying to cross the river,” Qiu Shi dropped his gun and raised his hands with Xing Bi.
“Cross the river?” The man slowly moved to their right. “Why cross the river?”
“To go to Donglin, I heard it’s safer there.” Qiu Shi glanced at him, noticing his thick black eyebrows even in the dim light reflected off the water.
Thick Eyebrows was silent for two seconds before suddenly laughing.
The group of people all laughed along.
A sharp pain suddenly came from Qiu Shi’s arm. He withdrew his hand and saw a knife wound on his arm oozing blood. “Damn you!”
“This one is human!” a boy’s still somewhat immature voice shouted.
“We got it right!” Thick Eyebrows roared.
“A human with a bioroid,” a woman said, “and heading to Donglin.”
“What’s wrong with going to Donglin?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Land of Betrayal!” the boy spat.
Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi, who was also looking at him.
Land of Betrayal?
This seemingly nonsensical term seemed to vaguely hint at why Donglin and Yun City had lost contact.
“Betrayed what?” Qiu Shi asked. “Who betrayed whom?”
“You’re a traitor!” the boy suddenly charged at Qiu Shi, swinging something at his face.
Qiu Shi leaned back, dodging the blow, and saw it was a long knife curved into a hook shape.
One hook, one pull, the boy’s target was clear—he wanted to cut off Qiu Shi’s head.
Qiu Shi could see the hatred in the boy’s eyes, unlike the children he occasionally saw in the outer city, whose eyes were filled with more despair and numbness.
He couldn’t tell which of these two types of gazes was more unsettling.
The hooked knife missed its mark and did not retract.
As it passed in front of Qiu Shi, it was caught by Xing Bi’s hand.
The boy didn’t have time to react before Xing Bi grabbed the knife and pulled it to his side, causing the boy, who was holding the knife handle tightly, to stumble a few steps towards him.
Xing Bi simultaneously stood up, pushing the knife forward.
In that instant, Qiu Shi felt a bit suffocated, his mind went blank as if struck by lightning.
Don’t kill this child.
But this child just tried to kill me.
There aren’t many children left in this world.
But he is full of hatred and wants to kill.
The boy wasn’t dead; the blade stopped right against his neck.
Xing Bi had already moved behind him, holding his hair with one hand and the knife with the other, the curved blade steady against his throat.
Qiu Shi didn’t wait, leaping up, picking up the gun from the ground, and standing next to Xing Bi, aiming the gun at the people behind Xing Bi.
“Let him go!” a woman holding a gun shouted, her voice trembling.
“Move aside,” Xing Bi ordered.
“Don’t move!” the boy shouted, his voice cracking, “Kill them!”
The people in the circle didn’t move.
Xing Bi tilted his head slightly, his hand pulling back slightly, and the boy’s neck started to bleed.
“It doesn’t hurt!” the boy shouted immediately, “Don’t move!”
Thick Eyebrows moved, and a few people followed him, opening a gap.
Xing Bi and Qiu Shi retreated through the gap out of their encirclement.
At that moment, the boy suddenly thrust his neck towards the knife blade.
Qiu Shi could only curse half a word in his mind.
Xing Bi reacted quickly, moving the knife forward with the boy, away from his neck, but following that motion, he threw a small silver sphere forward.
A strong white light burst from the small sphere in the air, instantly turning the entire field of vision bright white, accompanied by a sharp ringing in the ears.
Qiu Shi stood in place, holding the gun, feeling dizzy as both his sight and hearing vanished.
Counting silently to fifteen in his mind, the ringing in his ears began to fade, and blurry shadows appeared in his vision.
The boy was kneeling less than two meters in front of him, covering his ears.
Further ahead were the fallen bodies of over a dozen people, with Xing Bi bending down to pick up their weapons.
All dead?
Qiu Shi quickly walked over.
“Knocked out,” Xing Bi said softly. “Take their clothes; we’ll need them.”
“Okay.” Qiu Shi immediately squatted down, choosing someone who looked about his size, and started stripping off the outer bat suit.
When the boy recovered and saw the people lying on the ground, he rushed towards the nearest gun with a sob.
Xing Bi kicked the gun away.
The boy turned and grabbed his leg, biting his thigh.
Xing Bi frowned, kicking him away.
The boy rolled on the ground, grabbed his hooked knife again, and charged at Xing Bi, who kicked him away again.
“Unload the bullets,” Xing Bi said. “Leave the weapons for them.”
Qiu Shi quickly stripped off two sets of clothes, then removed all the bullets from the ground weapons and the ammunition from the people, tossing everything into the river.
He knew Xing Bi didn’t intend to kill these people and would leave the weapons, but to prevent the boy from shooting at them when they left, he had to dispose of the bullets.
The boy, almost frenzied, repeatedly charged at Xing Bi, only to be kicked or pushed away each time.
“Let’s go,” Qiu Shi said after finishing.
The boy charged at Xing Bi again, and this time Xing Bi didn’t just block him; he swept his leg at the boy’s calf, causing him to fall to the ground, clutching his leg with a pained expression.
“Don’t throw your life away,” Xing Bi said. “It’s meaningless.”
“I will kill you!” the boy glared at him.
Xing Bi said nothing, turning to leave with Qiu Shi.
“I will hang you all on those wooden stakes!” the boy shouted behind them.
Qiu Shi stopped.
He turned to look at the boy, then walked to the wooden stakes with bioroids impaled on them by the river, and kicked one hard. The stake made a cracking sound. He kicked it again, breaking the stake.
“Traitor!” the boy yelled.
“Qiu Shi,” Xing Bi called out to Qiu Shi, who was about to continue kicking down the pillars. “Let’s go.”
On the map in front of them, the small bright dots slowly moved out of detectable range, and no one was chasing them anymore.
Qiu Shi silently walked along the riverbank with Xing Bi.
The night wind blew across the water, bringing a chill.
Qiu Shi felt slightly calmer and turned to look at Xing Bi. “How’s your injury? Is it affecting you?”
“It’s fine,” Xing Bi said. “It’ll be better in a couple of days.”
Qiu Shi looked at his own hand, where traces of dried black and red blood remained on his fingertips. “Is that blood?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Xing Bi said. “But it’s not like human blood, not much.”
“Does it hurt?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi replied.
Qiu Shi then finally asked the question, “Why?”
“No reason,” Xing Bi said. “Just wanted to feel it.”
“To feel pain?” Qiu Shi said.
“Yes,” Xing Bi nodded.
“Is it necessary to evolve yourself to such a perverse extent?” Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi laughed.
Qiu Shi looked at him and sighed.
“Block it off now,” Qiu Shi said. “We’re on the move, with injuries on our back and waist, it’s painful to walk.”
Xing Bi looked at him.
“What are you looking at?” Qiu Shi said. “Do you want me to get a box to put you in, and then drag you up the mountain so you can feel it again?”
“So vindictive,” Xing Bi said.
“I remember everything,” Qiu Shi said.
After walking for a while, Xing Bi stopped.
“This is the narrowest part of the river,” he said.
“We’re crossing here, right?” Qiu Shi looked at the clothes in his hand and then around. “I don’t see any boat planks. Are we really going to fly across?”
“Donglin might have bioroids that entered,” Xing Bi looked down at the riverbank, pointing to a small metal pillar exposed from the mud. “The dock was dismantled.”
“To prevent the ones across from coming over?” Qiu Shi looked closer. If you looked carefully, there were traces on the riverbank stones that had been pressed by metal, indicating there indeed was something like a dock before.
It seemed unlikely they could find a boat to cross the river. Qiu Shi looked up, then turned to look at the mountain.
“Let’s go up the mountain,” Xing Bi said, heading towards the mountain.
“Can these clothes fly us across?” Qiu Shi asked, still walking and glancing back at the river. “The people just flew from the mountain to us and then landed.”
“In theory, yes,” Xing Bi said. “As long as we’re high enough.”
“This mountain is just a bit higher than the outer city tunnel entrance,” Qiu Shi said. “This side is lower than the other side.”
“Your visual estimation skills are quite lacking among humans,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi laughed.
“If we don’t fly, we’ll have to swim across,” Xing Bi said.
“Don’t provoke me,” Qiu Shi said.
“Or we could cut some wood and make a raft,” Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi sighed. “Let’s fly, let’s fly.”
The mountain range wasn’t particularly high, especially at the narrowest part of the river, but it was still much higher than the outer city tunnel entrance. It took them quite a bit of time to climb to the top.
Fortunately, there weren’t many trees at the top, and today’s wind was strong.
They found a steep cliff; jumping from here should allow them to fly.
They minimized the contents of their backpacks and secured everything. Then they put on the bat suits.
Qiu Shi wasn’t afraid of heights, but for someone who couldn’t swim, seeing the distant water surface still induced some fear.
“If I fall into the water, can you get me out?” Qiu Shi asked.
“Yes,” Xing Bi said.
“Alright,” Qiu Shi gritted his teeth. “Who goes first?”
“You go first,” Xing Bi put on his headset. “Headset.”
Qiu Shi glanced at him and put on his headset too. “Scared?”
“Right now,” Xing Bi said, “the wind is right.”
Qiu Shi gritted his teeth, rushed forward, and leaped into the air from the edge of the cliff.
Then he began to fall.
“Damn it!” he shouted, quickly spreading his arms and legs.
The wind immediately filled the suit, and he felt an upward force.
“Lift up,” Xing Bi’s voice came through the headset amidst the roaring wind.
Qiu Shi controlled himself, leveling his body parallel to the ground. The wind swirling around made it hard to distinguish up from down. As he felt the treetops below coming closer, he finally began to move forward.
“Xing Bi!” he shouted.
“Here,” Xing Bi’s voice came, followed by a dark shadow sweeping over him from above. “Follow.”
“This damn…” Qiu Shi cursed as wind filled his mouth.
Follow just like that?
Soon they flew out of the mountain range, over the rocky beach, and then the sandy beach by the river…
When the shimmering water below appeared, Qiu Shi couldn’t help but close his eyes.
Flying in the air felt wonderful, the wind whistling past, and even in the roaring wind, he could hear different pitches.
There was no boundary above, no boundary below.
The whole world was briefly serene.
“Qiu Shi.” Xing Bi’s voice came through the headset.
“Hmm?” Qiu Shi responded.
“We can’t make it across,” Xing Bi said.
“What?” Qiu Shi looked down at the water in shock.
“Get a good angle,” Xing Bi said.
“What the hell angle?” Qiu Shi asked.
“The angle for entering the water,” Xing Bi said.
Author’s note:
Swimming class is starting, will Qiu Shi be able to learn? ヽ(ー_ー )ノ
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