Chapter 128 Three Bloodstained Marks You are like a tree that will break through the stone even in the dead of winter...

Like a pebble thrown into an overflowing well, after the heavy sound of its fall dissipates, all that remains are the ripples on the surface of the water.

The ripples spread like the vague words that Dean Liang had just uttered, seeping into the depths of Liang Jun's heart.

With some of Xin Sang's flashlight beam still falling on him, Liang Jun was finally able to see a more complete picture of the other person.

And that increasingly ferocious face.

"GunGun, why do you always run around like that?"

Although Dean Liang didn't take another step forward, his chapped lips kept moving, as if he had endless things to say. "You have no idea how arduous my journey to find you has been, yet you..."

Seeing that the other party was about to make another move, Gu Keke, who was at the very back, instinctively rushed to Liang Jun's side.

But Geng Qing, who was right beside her, quickly stopped her, "Don't go!"

This was the first time everyone had seen the word "panic" on Geng Qing's face.

Perhaps she was so nervous that her voice was a little loud, because even Dean Liang, who only spoke to Liang Jun, noticed the white coat and the skull-like head that stiffly turned towards her.

Gu Keke's wrist was tightly gripped by Geng Qing. The moment Dean Liang's gaze fell upon her, Gu Keke could sense that the other party's grip tightened unconsciously.

It's as if... they're afraid of something.

Seeing that Dean Liang was about to shift his focus, Liang Jun decisively stepped forward, blocking his gaze.

“If the dean only came here because of me, then there is no need to involve others.”

She subtly gave a wink to the player beside her, who immediately understood and stepped back. "If there's anything you need, Dean, you might as well talk to me alone."

After saying that, she ignored Dean Liang's statement, turned around to face the crowd, and took a small step back, trying to create distance between them.

"Everyone, please wait here. I'll take the dean and be right back," Liang Jun said softly.

Everyone was shocked by her unexpected action.

Ge Lin slammed the wooden stick on the ground with a "bang," and said, "Sister Gan! I'll go with you!"

Xin Sang couldn't even hold onto the searchlight properly, and the precious prop fell to the solid ground, chipping off a small piece of metal.

Even Lao Ren was trembling at the back of the crowd, fearing that he would be the next one to be taken away.

Unlike everyone else, Dean Liang seemed quite expectant after hearing Liang Jun's words.

His hands were still clasped behind his hunched back, and even his fingertips were exerting a subtle force, pulling his remaining facial muscles backward to pull out a passable smile.

"Junjun, is what you said true?"

"Of course it's true."

To dispel the other party's suspicions, Liang Jun even suppressed her most primal fear and gently placed her hand on Dean Liang's high shoulder.

She could feel the non-human skin-like texture coming from her palm, and her brain was frantically reminding her of the fact that "the other party is just an NPC"—

But Liang Jun still wanted to solve this problem on her own.

Dean Liang came because of her, and she didn't want to implicate everyone here because of herself.

She has implicated many people, but none of them have had a good ending.

A bitter smile appeared on Liang Xun's lips, and she couldn't help but increase the pressure on her hand slightly. "Of course it's true... Dean, everything I've ever told you since I was a child has been the truth, not a single lie."

She was about to take a step to leave when Geng Qing's voice came from behind her once again.

Compared to what she said just now, she had calmed down considerably by now.

“It would be better to go to the center of the warehouse,” Geng Qing coughed lightly twice, “there is more space there…”

Liang Jun nodded but did not reply.

In the center of the warehouse.

She still remembers.

When the group first arrived, Geng Qing mentioned that there was a small elevator in the center of the hospital warehouse specifically for transporting medicines or goods.

This small elevator leads directly to the pharmacy in the lobby on the first floor.

In the course of her interactions with the other party, if Liang Jun were to encounter any accident, she could use this small elevator to return to the lobby on the first floor and secure a chance for survival.

With just one sentence from the other person, Liang Jun could guess what they were thinking.

But she didn't point this out in front of Dean Liang. The reason was simple: he was clearly not a basic monster like a zombie, who only attacked without thinking; Dean Liang in the current instance was a highly intelligent being with almost the same thinking ability as a normal person.

If Liang Jun were to expose their plan in front of him, it would be like shooting herself in the foot.

Thinking of this, she placed both hands on Dean Liang's shoulders and affectionately pushed him forward.

The hospital warehouse was completely dark, and Liang Jun had no lighting tools on her. However, Dean Liang, whose eyesight was already poor, seemed to have activated night vision, managing to perfectly avoid the intricate shelves in the warehouse and lead Liang Jun smoothly to the center of the warehouse.

This was the first time Liang Jun had seen the small elevator that Geng Qing had mentioned.

The entire elevator shaft was built into the environment, like a range hood duct that went straight to the ceiling. The elevator car was also surprisingly small. Transporting medicine or system props was certainly feasible, but if a person were to be successfully transported up, the person would probably need to completely hug their legs and shrink into the car to barely fit inside.

Before Dean Liang could speak, Liang Jun's eyes kept darting around.

Because there was an elevator shaft in the center of the warehouse, several translucent hanging panels were added to the ceiling. With the help of the dim light, Liang Jun could just see that the shelf closest to her was full of invisibility cloths.

Just as she was pondering how to use these props, Dean Liang suddenly spoke up.

"Girl, won't you get tired of me always clinging to you like this?"

Liang Jun's breath hitched, and the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

Despite this, she quickly composed herself, saying, "How could that be? We haven't seen each other in so long. I'd love for the dean to spend more time with me!"

Dean Liang didn't care whether what the other party said was sincere or not; he only cared about the most basic logic formed by every word that came out of Liang Jun's mouth. That laughter, like a broken bellows, came again.

“The first time I saw you was at the gate of the orphanage,” Director Liang began to recall the past. “You were wrapped in a small blanket and crying loudly. It was hard not to notice you.”

Liang Jun's feigned smile froze somewhat—

This was the first time she had heard about her background.

Even though the other party was just an NPC in the system, and even though 99% of what the other party said might be fabricated, for some reason, Liang Jun really wanted to be patient and listen to more.

Listen a little longer, listen to what your imagined backstory is really like.

"The day you came to the hospital, it happened to be the first snowfall of the year in Nanchi City. Your little face was red from the cold, and your body was covered with a thick layer of snow. In such harsh conditions, it was unlikely that a newborn child would survive, but you did."

A hint of nostalgia flashed in Dean Liang's eyes, "You are like a blade of grass that will break through the rocks even in the cold winter, saving yourself with your tenacious vitality."

“You have been smarter than others since you were little. You can speak, walk, recognize characters, and read books. You are better than other children of the same age in everything. At first, I thought you had a congenital disease, which is why your family abandoned you. But before you were five years old, I would take you for a full-body check-up every few months at my own expense, and the doctors could not find anything wrong with you.”

“I had a dark thought at the time,” Dean Liang said, his loose eyelids lifting slightly as he stared intently at Liang Yun. “I was thinking, could it be that your family was biased towards boys, so even though you were born a healthy girl, they still had to abandon you in the dead of winter?”

Liang Xun lowered her head, a cold smile curving her lips.

"Maybe so..." she replied hastily.

“But you are very obedient and sensible. You can learn any new skill after hearing it only once, and you can even surpass your older brothers and sisters.”

Dean Liang's voice deepened slightly, "But precisely because of this, you're always ostracized and bullied by the other children in the orphanage—I know all of this, I know all of this..."

"So, before I sent you to school, I gave you a new name, '姰'."

As Dean Liang said this, he seemed to have a slight smile on his face. “This is a good word. It means ‘equality between men and women,’ which is my hope that you can be treated fairly by everything in this world; it also means ‘madness,’ which is my hope that you can always maintain the resilience that you were born with in the snow.”

His jagged neck twitched a few times, his joints cracking, while Dean Liang's faded glass beads stared at Liang Jun.

"GunGun, what do you think of the name I gave you?"

Liang Yan's throat felt dry.

This was the first time in her life that she had ever heard the meaning of her own name.

She tried to say something, but for some reason, she seemed to have no strength left to even control her lips.

Dean Liang didn't care about any of this. He continued talking to himself, "I thought these situations would improve after you started school, but I didn't expect that your excellent grades, the teachers' praise, and even my favoritism towards you would turn into sharp swords for other children to bully you."

“Hen-Hen, ever since you went away to school, you haven’t come back to the orphanage, and you haven’t contacted me either. Are you…”

Dean Liang mechanically twisted his neck, "Do you... hate the dean...?"

He finally separated his hands, which had been behind his back.

Dean Liang's remaining muscle tissue had long since lost the ability to control his arms. His arms swayed back to his sides under the influence of gravity, like two dried sausages, constantly attracting Liang Jun's gaze.

Liang Jun noticed that, apart from his thumbs and little fingers, the other three fingers on his hands had long nails.

The nails are as sharp as a dog's claws.

It felt as if those three fingers would climb up to his throat in the next second, leaving three unforgettable bloody marks.

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Author's Note: The Guardian Spirit will appear in the next chapter!