Chapter 64 – Tongwan Hospital (18)
◎ I will never lie to you ◎
“Ah…,” Fang Zhixu yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he walked into the ward.
These past two days, they took turns staying up all night watching over Song Ke. No one had rested well, but thankfully, she had regained consciousness last night, and her vital signs had stabilized.
Postoperative rounds were the responsibility of the operating doctor. Even though he was now down and out, Fang Zhixu hadn’t lost his habits. As a result, halfway through a yawn with his mouth wide open, he got stuck—there was only a small bump left on the hospital bed, and his patient was gone!
Fang Zhixu quickly took a few steps and pulled back the blanket. Xu Xing’s furry head peeked out, sleeping soundly and blissfully. He seemed to be having a pleasant dream, smacking his lips and wetting the pillow with saliva.
Fang Zhixu’s anger surged. Without hesitation, he tapped Xu Xing’s head like a chestnut: “Still sleeping! Your sister has run away!”
Xu Xing sat up with closed eyes, bewildered for a moment, and groped the bedsheet beside him. “Run away? Sister? Where’s my sister?!”
How could such a big sister just disappear like that!
Xu Xing had been on night duty, but due to extreme tiredness, he had accidentally fallen asleep. In his dream, someone gently picked him up and caressed his head. Xu Xing felt as if he were sinking into soft clouds. He couldn’t help but curl up in the blanket like a caterpillar and then… he fell asleep.
Fang Zhixu looked around and, lo and behold, the IV bag and nutrition fluids were taken away, not to mention the medication box.
He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.
He wondered if Song Ke could be considered obedient. If we talk about being obedient, she had just woken up and already ran away. What kind of critically ill patient was she? But if we talk about not being obedient, she remembered the doctor’s orders very well; she hadn’t forgotten to take her medicine.
Fang Zhixu shook his head. It was his own fault for being presumptuous, stirring up trouble so early in the morning. Sleepiness crept back up on him: “Alright, go find her.”
“Why are you leaving?” Xu Xing grabbed his clothes.
“To sleep.” Fang Zhixu answered with a straight face and laid down on the nearby sofa, falling asleep in three seconds.
Xu Xing: “…”
This was too much. With such a big incident, they left a child to face it alone?
A few minutes later, Zhuang Qingyan, Lin Youyou, and Su Cha were informed one by one by Xu Xing and gathered in the ward.
“I just went to Manzoni Street to look, but she’s not there,” Su Cha said.
“Then let’s search further away. She just woke up and has such serious injuries; she shouldn’t have gone far,” Lin Youyou said anxiously.
“I want to go too!” Xu Xing, feeling responsible for losing Song Ke, raised his little hand and requested to participate in the “finding sister” activity.
“Ah…,” Fang Zhixu on the sofa turned over, completely unaffected by their conversation.
Zhuang Qingyan touched the already cold other half of the bedsheet and said softly, “There’s no need to look; I know where she went.”
*
Ferrara Public Cemetery.
This place was rarely visited, and it housed the remains of those without families, without backgrounds, the nameless and faceless deceased. The AI patrol team patrolled the streets and alleys every day. Once the bodies cleared exceeded the time limit with no claimants, they would be collectively placed here.
The body that passed away two days ago had been cremated into ashes and stored in a small box. In front, a light screen displayed a brief epitaph.
“Here rests an anonymous traveler, buried on December 24th, in the year 46 of the New Calendar.”
A pair of delicate hands placed the pure white calla lilies beside the light screen. Apart from some miscellaneous items, there were also several epaulets piled on the box, indicating the identity of the deceased. Song Ke picked out seven of them belonging to the 11th Squad, wiped their surfaces clean, and stashed them in her pocket.
When Zhuang Qingyan found her, Song Ke was sitting on the platform, quietly gazing at the graves in front of her.
The December wind tousled her hair, and her expression was an unprecedented calmness.
“Your heart has just been mended, and you dare to sneak out? Be careful not to get into trouble again; Fang Zhixu might not take action next time.”
“Shh,” Song Ke gestured silently towards him, “d-don’t report me. I’ll go back in a while.”
Zhuang Qingyan smiled. There was no need for him to report; when Xu Xing shouted through his little loudspeaker, everyone knew.
Song Ke tucked the scattered hair behind her ear, speaking in a low voice, “I always feel like, during this period, many people have died, so suddenly.”
She looked down at her palm; the blue light sphere was particularly dim. Trying to condense her abilities, it blinked a few times and then went out, her mental energy severely depleted, needing time to slowly recover. “I couldn’t save th-them—I couldn’t save Maeda—I couldn’t save Wu Juemin.”
Having a strong ability but seeing people around her die one after another, Song Ke felt for the first time that her power was inadequate.
“…No one could.”
Zhuang Qingyan already knew the details of what had happened; Song Ke had told them the truth after regaining consciousness.
A silver wheelchair stopped beside Song Ke. Zhuang Qingyan and she both looked at the small light screen.
“No one’s asking you to be a savior, and you’re not obliged to save everyone.
“The death of Wu Juemin wasn’t really sudden.
“You said it yourself; that Sanada and Punk were transported through a spatial rift. Even the ‘Bloody Hunter’ was mobilized, indicating that they had been targeting this place in advance, coming prepared.”
Song Ke frowned and thought slowly, “Came p-prepared… Could it be that Xie Ningyu was being tracked?”
“It’s not Xie Ningyu,” Zhuang Qingyan shook his head slowly, “it’s Wu Juemin.”
“If Xie Ningyu was the problem, he would have been pursued and killed on the way to Erjia. Since he arrived safely in Ferrara, it proves that, before this, he did not attract the Alliance’s attention.”
Zhuang Qingyan analyzed calmly, “The problem lies with Wu Juemin. The mission he took is a real hot potato. Many eyes are on him from behind, wanting to use him, seize the credit, or eliminate potential threats.
“After all, everyone wants Xie Zhu dead,” Zhuang Qingyan sighed.
Because it involved the key, every step Wu Juemin took was extremely dangerous, like walking on a tightrope.
And when he found the suspected key, Xie Ningyu, it was the moment the tightrope snapped.
Song Ke fell silent for a moment and quickly pointed out the error in Zhuang Qingyan’s words, “It’s not everyone.”
She recalled everything she saw on the rooftop that day, “Wu Juemin didn’t intend to kill Xie Ningyu; he wanted to e-escort him back and hand him over to that person, Xie Lan, for General Xie to deal with personally.”
Zhuang Qingyan was slightly stunned and spoke again in a calm voice, “Is that so? But from the outcome, there’s no difference.”
With people dead and buried, it was impossible to verify anything about Wu Juemin. Now, whatever was said would be futile.
Song Ke looked at the resting box one last time and walked out with Zhuang Qingyan.
“Lin Youyou and Su Cha, how do you plan to handle them?”
“Handle what?”
“Your heart can heal on its own. Do you know what that means?” Zhuang Qingyan’s tone was serious.
“Regardless of the reason, a heart that shattered like that can recover. This will bring you great trouble.”
“Fang Zhixu not mutating after being bitten was enough to cause a stir, and once your condition is exposed, do you know how many fanatical researchers will want to send you to the lab for dissection and thoroughly study every set of your cell genes?”
Song Ke imagined the scene Zhuang Qingyan described and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
She had noticed before that she possessed extraordinary healing abilities—no wounds left a trace, even the places where she was scratched by zombies didn’t mutate. She used to think it was a side effect of awakening her special abilities, but now it seemed that the real reason far exceeded her understanding.
She hadn’t figured it out herself and didn’t want to be studied.
“What does this have to do with them?”
“I won’t speak about your matters. Xu Xing and Fang Zhixu follow you every day. There’s no opportunity for them to spill anything.”
“As for those two…” Zhuang Qingyan’s voice was distant.
For Lin Youyou and Su Cha, they were “outsiders” to him, and with a criminal record, their level of trust was very low.
“She probably won’t betray us,” Song Ke already knew. It was Lin Youyou who had taken the risk to rescue her from Punk’s hands that day. She felt that the other party should not do something like that. “But you’re right, having a past of b-betrayal makes it difficult to trust again…”
“So, I suggest, kill them. It’s a clean sweep.” Zhuang Qingyan made the suggestion lightly.
Song Ke took a sharp breath, slowly clenched her fist, ready to hit him first, but as soon as her hand went up, she immediately expressionlessly covered her chest.
“Ah… My chest hurts.”
Song Ke wouldn’t act spoiled for no reason; if she said it hurt, it truly did.
Zhuang Qingyan teased her into a smile, “I know you don’t want to, so there’s only one choice left, let them join V587 and follow you from now on for easy supervision.”
“Join V587?” Song Ke was surprised; she had never considered this possibility.
“Well… using ‘join’ might not be appropriate. You can think of them as temporary companions, no need for real feelings.” Zhuang Qingyan explained.
“Will they agree?”
Zhuang Qingyan: “Shouldn’t be a big problem. The only conflict is the Throne Race, but don’t forget, what is our purpose for participating?”
Song Ke: “…Money.”
The three members of V587 participated at that time just to earn Alliance coins. Over time, this initial goal had been almost forgotten by Song Ke.
Zhuang Qingyan nodded, “So, what we want doesn’t conflict.”
Lin Youyou wanted a promise from Ilya, and they were just in it for the money. If they united and truly won, there wouldn’t be any conflicting interests.
“Oh.” Song Ke decided to go back and have a good talk with Lin Youyou.
The two of them walked quietly side by side for a while.
“Their problem has been solved,” in the atmosphere of calmness, Song Ke slowly spoke, “What about yours?”
“Mine?” Zhuang Qingyan was slightly taken aback.
“Yeah, S-level, psychic ability. That day… I sensed it.”
Zhuang Qingyan’s wheelchair stopped, not knowing how to explain for a moment.
Song Ke turned around, her expression fierce, stepping closer to him step by step.
“Weak researcher?”
“Nothing special, just an ordinary person?”
“Hugging thighs?”
Recalling that day, when Song Ke first sensed the powerful killing intent, it should have been from Zhuang Qingyan. His leg was injured for another reason, as Yang Bo and Wu Yarou were just two C-level awakeners, how could they kill an S-level like him?
Song Ke placed her hands on the wheelchair, her momentum overwhelming. As she spoke, Zhuang Qingyan took a step back, and with no further retreat, his back bumped against the wheelchair.
Their noses were but a short distance apart.
Song Ke lowered her head, her eyes burning with anger, “From the beginning, you’ve been lying to me.”
Zhuang Qingyan protested loudly, “I didn’t lie to you. You never asked me.”
Song Ke: “…”
Unbelievable. Was it all her fault?
Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly realized that she was too close to Zhuang Qingyan, close enough to count his long, dense eyelashes.
Song Ke paused and withdrew a little.
She asked very seriously, “Have you never, ever, believed in me?”
“…No,” Zhuang Qingyan remained silent for a long time, affirming, “Fully trusting someone is something I find difficult to do.”
Song Ke: “…”
She might not express her disappointment or sorrow, but Zhuang Qingyan’s honesty made it hard for Song Ke to find the right words.
“Song Ke,” Zhuang Qingyan’s low voice softly called her name.
Song Ke glanced at him, not pleased, and remained silent.
“Perhaps you think I’m full of lies and don’t believe me sincerely.”
Song Ke tilted her head, her expression clearly written with bewilderment, “Aren’t you?”
Zhuang Qingyan sighed, “I can’t fully entrust you with a hundred percent trust. But there’s one thing I can be sure of.”
“As long as you ask, as long as I can answer, I will never lie to you.”
“Oh,” Song Ke responded.
After a few seconds, she raised a question in a small voice, “Didn’t you lie to me before? About being a drug researcher?”
“I did that for someone else. If you believe it, can you blame me?” Zhuang Qingyan raised an eyebrow.
Song Ke’s temper flared up instantly. She kicked Zhuang Qingyan’s wheelchair with her toe, making him spin around.
Zhuang Qingyan had a headache, “Song Keke, behave yourself if you’re sick. Why are you still so mischievous? Hmm?”
Song Ke kicked faster, but accidentally used too much force, which affected the wound. With a sharp intake of breath, she covered her mouth and squatted down.
This weak appearance was very different from her usually lively self. Zhuang Qingyan flipped her hood, covering her head, and rubbed her head absentmindedly.
“Be good, stop making trouble.”
