As soon as Yan Qing said this, Chen Qi, who had been looking innocent, pitiful and helpless, lost her composure for a moment and her expression shattered.

She gritted her teeth and retorted, word by word, "Sister Yan, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. I know you don't like me, but—"

Before she could finish speaking, tears were already streaming down her face. She looked at Yue Qi with pleading eyes, as if grasping at a last straw.

"Brother Yue, you won't be as vicious as her, will you?"

Yue Qi sighed, his eyes filled with pity as he looked at her.

“You shouldn’t have lied to us. That girl really wasn’t you. We found out about that from the beginning, and we only saved you because we’re both adventurers.”

"Where's the evidence?" Chen Qi was still persistent. "Everyone is wearing the same black protective suits and ankle bracelets. Can you guarantee you won't make a mistake?"

“Zhou Ru, that girl, her name is Zhou Ru,” Yan Qing suddenly interjected. “And I also know that she was the guide for your team, am I right?”

"Uh—" Chen Qi's train of thought was interrupted by Yan Qing's sudden interruption, and she didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Yan Qing smiled, "That girl, Zhou Ru, is actually a very smart girl. She was able to find a way to send out a message even in extreme circumstances, and she really owes a lot to you."

Yue Qi's eyes also turned to look over; even he hadn't noticed what Yan Qing was saying.

"It's actually very simple. That girl was at the very back of the line. When you came out of the fire escape to clean up, she actually secretly left her name somewhere."

Yan Qing reminded Yue Qi, "Do you remember? That girl was probably being controlled from the beginning. They couldn't do anything except for a few fixed cleaning tasks. But Zhou Ru is a girl with a very strong will."

"Even though her body was restrained, she still managed to tilt her head slightly with her strong self-control, which is how she caught our attention."

Yue Qi nodded; he also had a deep impression of this action.

"However, we only remember that they went into the ward to clean up afterwards, but when Zhou Ru, the last one, was entering the ward, she accidentally tripped over the door. At that time, I felt that something was wrong."

"Later, when we passed by that ward again, I saw two English letters written in blood on the door of the ward—ZR. After asking around in the ward, I found out that the name was Zhou Ru. After all, she was a very popular figure when the team was first formed, and many people knew her."

Since Yan Qing had already put it that way, Chen Qi decided to stop pretending. She said with a resentful expression,

"I can't believe this bitch is even like this, still not behaving herself!" Turning to Yan, she added, "You're no better! You women are all treacherous and cunning!"

When it comes to verbal sparring, Yan Qing has never lost, so she retorted without hesitation.

"Although I don't know what happened between you and her, judging from your appearance, you've probably already become someone's lackey. Zhou Ru may have had bad luck, but I believe that a girl like her, even in dire straits, will try her best to fight for a way to survive!"

She looked at Chen Qi as if he were a pile of garbage, "People like you who only care about themselves and don't care about the lives of others are the real trash, scum! You think you can compare to Zhou Ru? You're not even worthy of carrying her shoes!"

"You bitch!" Chen Qi was completely enraged by her and stood up without paying any attention.

Just then, a voice rang in her ear, "Down!"

The next moment, Chen Qi found herself slowly falling down, her eyes still fixed on Yue Qi's direction, her face filled with disbelief.

"You guys—you tricked me!"

Filled with resentment, she slowly closed her eyes. Her last thought was that she had fallen for their scheme again, and it seemed her mission was doomed once more.

After Chen Qi fell, a small hole appeared behind her, just wide enough for one person to pass through. The black shadow was now crouching at the entrance of the hole, with half of its body blending into the wall.

Yan Qing pointed at the huge black shadow, "What exactly is that?"

The sphere in her hand seemed to possess a special energy; wherever the green light shone, the dark figure was firmly pinned to the spot. Due to its enormous size, Yan Qing couldn't even clearly see whether it was a human or a monster.

The shadowy figure looked like a bizarre creature, with eight arms and legs of varying lengths and thicknesses. It had three heads: one in the center and one on each side.

Its body looks somewhat like a combination of a chimpanzee and a black bear, exceptionally tall, yet giving off a very weak impression.

The dark figure was firmly trapped by the green light, struggling several times without success. It could only repeatedly kowtow to them, making a gesture of surrender.

Xiao Tao stood beside Yan Qing and clapped her hands vigorously. "Big sister, that's it! This is the source of pollution in this fire escape!"

"A source of pollution?" Yan Qing's expression turned serious. "What exactly is this thing?"

Xiao Tao thought hard for a long time, and finally murmured in defeat, "Big sister, I only know that it is weak, and I don't know anything else. But I must know that annoying big brother."

Only after her reminder did Yan Qing realize that Yue Qi had remained silent ever since the shadowy figure appeared, always looking at it with an extremely sorrowful expression.

Something seems off about this. It doesn't seem like there's any malice involved; instead, it gives off a particularly sad feeling.

Yes, sadness. Don't ask her how she could tell; in short, a woman's intuition told her that Yue Qi was very sad.

Even though he still looks expressionless.

Yan Qing didn't do anything else, but pulled Xiao Tao to sit down on the spot. She quietly waited for Yue Qi to recover on his own; for now, she would give him some time.

To prevent Xiao Tao from making a sound and disturbing him, Yan Qing took out a box of instant rice and handed it to her. Now that Xiao Tao had something to eat, she pouted and buried her head in her food.

Yue Qi remained silent for nearly ten minutes.

Yan Qing did not disturb him at all until he stood up again.

After Yue Qi recovered, he took the initiative to explain to her, "Although this thing is also a source of pollution, it should be the least harmful kind. Don't worry, it won't hurt us."

As Yue Qi spoke, the huge black shadow on the wall began to shed tears. Yan Qing, who was sitting directly below it, suddenly felt a cold drop of water fall onto her hand.

In the beam of the flashlight, she was astonished to discover that the cold droplet was actually blood, or more precisely, blood-like tears.