Floating Island

It's called a dormitory, but in reality the environment is comparable to a pigsty. Qu Mengting stood at the door and was reluctant to accept that the large bunk bed with hundreds of people in front of her was their residence. Zhao Yan, who had been supported all the way here, collapsed again at the sight. She looked at the unconscious young lady and thought: She probably won't want to be a star in her life.

The sobbing and wailing sounded the displeasure of the "natives." Some of them looked at them with disdain and then went about their business, while others kept their gazes on them. She really disliked their eyes, which were filled with numbness, fatigue, and lifelessness.

As she walked in, she seemed to smell something, very pungent, making her want to cough. A woman stood up and brushed past her, her shoulder bumping hard into her arm. Qu Mengting staggered, turned her head to look at the person who was leaving, feeling angry.

If it were any other time, she would have lost her temper.

Qu Mengting helped them help Zhao Yan lie down on a bed, and looked around to find a target to collect intelligence, when the girl next to her suddenly poked her.

She turned her head, her delicate little face covered in tears. The girl grabbed her arm and asked, "Can I follow you?"

Qu Mengting couldn't remember her name. Looking at the red marks on her wrist, she only knew that she was someone Sister Li had abducted. Honestly, she didn't want to bring anyone along. It wasn't about whether they would be a burden, but rather that if her actions were exposed, this person would be implicated. This was something she figured out on the way back from separating from Jiang Li.

Now that she was in Jiang Li's shoes, she understood how he felt at that time.

Seeing that she was about to refuse, the girl added, "I won't bother you. I'm just a little scared, and we need someone to talk to so we can look after each other."

Who needs a speaker in a place like this? There are spies everywhere, and the more you talk, the more mistakes you make.

Qu Mengting took her hand away from her arm and smiled apologetically, "You should find someone else."

Afterwards, in order to escape from this environment, she walked out of the dormitory. Unfortunately, the woman who had just bumped into her was not far away. She was standing under a tree smoking and happened to see Qu Mengting coming out of the dormitory. Her cheeks were sunken, she exhaled thick smoke, and smiled contemptuously at Qu Mengting.

Qu Mengting cursed in her heart: You're crazy.

She continued walking out, and when she reached the next corner, the strange woman called out to her, "Hey, don't go any further."

Qu Mengting stopped and turned to look at her, keenly aware of something. Perhaps she could trick this woman into talking.

So, she pretended not to know, "Why?"

Sure enough, the woman pointed at the roof with her cigarette butt between her fingers, and the embedded camera flashed red light.

Qu Mengting thought: Maybe this person is not that bad.

However, she quickly dismissed the idea. She hadn't had much contact with this person, so she shouldn't let her guard down. After a moment's thought, she simply said, "Thank you."

The woman's thick eyelashes lightly touched her lower eyelid. She lowered her head, extinguished the cigarette, and turned to leave.

Qu Mengting followed her advice and did not go out anymore, but returned to the dormitory.

Her bed was next to the door and her cell phone was taken away, so she could only clasp her hands out of boredom. She lay there and accidentally fell asleep on the dry and hard bed. When she woke up, it was dark.

She separated from the group and was awakened by the woman.

Her hands were so cold that they made Qu Mengting shiver when she touched her cheek.

"It's too late to eat."

Qu Mengting looked around. There was no one left in the bunk bed except a few people still smoking. She got out of bed. Her neck and back ached. She frowned, rubbed her neck, and followed her.

That evening, their treatment was downgraded again. No surprise, lunch was supposed to be their last good meal. Faced with the bland vegetables and unappetizing expired meat, Qu Mengting had no appetite and nearly pierced the bottom of her bowl with her chopsticks.

She was waiting for Jiang Li.

We've already eaten, why haven't I seen him yet?

Just when she was confused, she said, "Don't look, men and women are not in the same cafeteria."

Qu Mengting felt a bit embarrassed. She had thought that dinner would be a good opportunity for her to meet Jiang Li openly, but...

"Waiting for your boyfriend?"

They were almost all gone, and she leaned back on the paint-chipped chair with a dull look in her eyes.

Qu Mengting rolled her eyes at her in her heart. Who would bring her boyfriend to a place like this?

Seeing that she didn't say anything, the woman said, "If it were before, it might be okay, but now... unless something unexpected happens, you won't see him again."

"Why?"

"Because... because." The woman frowned suddenly, as if she was reminiscing. She hadn't interacted with people for so long that it was a little difficult for her to dig out those old images from her rotten brain.

She said, "About six years ago, a woman tried to expose this place by stealing a customer's phone and taking some photos. At the time, the island was holding a grand celebration, with people from all walks of life attending. A wealthy and powerful woman took a fancy to No. 331 and wanted to take him away from the floating island. She contacted him several times under the guise of dining, intending to give him the photos and ask him to report them to the police. But before she could hand them over, her evidence collection was exposed."

"Then what?"

"Then management investigated the matter, and she insisted she had no accomplices. She spent two days in the torture chamber, her head separated from her body, and she died."

"Not only her, but all the men and women who came with her, as well as the delivery man, Jin Qiu, were executed. Floating Island hasn't held any events since then."

Her tone was flat, as if she was just telling a fictional story that had nothing to do with her.

Qu Mengting asked, "Then, what about him?"

"He left the island."

"You said this was six years ago. Why does this island still exist now..." Qu Mengting followed her words and thought, "Could it be that he didn't succeed in getting off the island?"

The woman shrugged and spread her hands. "I don't know."

She put the food bowl into the sink, turned around and said, "Go back early. These things have nothing to do with us."

Qu Mengting glanced at the surveillance camera and followed her.

She felt someone poking her arm, and when she looked back she heard Qu Mengting ask, "Um, what's your name?"

She raised her eyebrows, and after a few seconds, she took her hand and wrote on her palm, "Fang Junwen."

Qu Mengting also wrote on her palm, "Qu Mengting."

When they returned, the woman who had been smoking was already asleep in bed. Qu Mengting keenly realized it was drugs. She had only seen anti-drug propaganda online, but only now did she realize how close drugs were to her, so close that the air she breathed was filled with the remains of the burning substance.

Zhao Yan seemed to be frightened silly. She hugged her legs and huddled in the corner, not saying a word.

The girl who had spoken to her during the day had gone to bed, and everyone was quiet. Fang Junwen took off her coat and collapsed on the bed. Someone turned off the lights. Qu Mengting lay in bed with her eyes open, her mind always preoccupied with something, unable to find peace of mind.

Thirty minutes later, Qu Mengting quietly opened the door and went out.

During the day, Fang Junwen said that there were surveillance cameras outside, but there were always blind spots. She didn't believe that they could find her so quickly in such a big castle.

Unafraid of the tiger, she dodged the surveillance cameras all the way to the main hall, where they'd spent the day. A nearby elevator was ascending, and she used the wall as cover to peek. The elevator numbers kept jumping, stopping at the seventh floor. She looked up. The beams of the castle were incredibly high. Their floor was at least ten meters high. If every floor was like that, wouldn't the seven floors below be comparable to a thirty-story building?

Out of curiosity, she decided to take the elevator up to take a look. Just as she was about to leave, she was grabbed by someone. Qu Mengting was startled and someone covered her mouth again, "It's me!"

After seeing who it was, the other party let go. Qu Mengting asked, "What are you doing here?"

Fang Junwen didn't fall asleep from the beginning, "What are you doing?"

Qu Mengting stammered and said nothing, "I came out for a walk."

Fang Junwen snorted, seeing through her. After a few minutes, she grabbed Qu Mengting's wrist and said, "Follow me."

She was taken to the flower garden outside the castle. She hid in the bushes of overgrown thorny roses while Fang Junwen carefully moved the iron net away.

Qu Mengting said: "Ventilation duct?"

Fang Junwen nodded, "Aren't you looking for something?"

Qu Mengting was afraid of being exposed and didn't dare to respond.

She said, "Your eyes are different from theirs. Theirs are filled with nothing but fear and resentment, but you are alert and perceptive. I heard someone was taken to the torture chamber after arriving on the island today. There should be police officers among you, right?"

Qu Mengting broke out in a cold sweat. She was indeed wary, so wary that she wasn't sure whether she should trust the man in front of her. Fang Junwen seemed to be waiting for an answer as well; she was actually much more nervous than Qu Mengting.

Why are you nervous? Because you have expectations.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Fang Junwen didn't point in asking further questions. She made way for the passage and said, "Go ahead."

Qu Mengting took a small step forward, suddenly alert. "What if you're lying to me? Where's the other end of the passage? You're not going to take me straight to the torture chamber, are you?"

When Sanlian asked in a panic, Fang Junwen was stunned for a moment and laughed out loud.

"Do I really have to? Why would I bother with so much?" Fang Junwen took a deep breath. His urge to smoke came back. He touched his pocket in annoyance. He had forgotten to bring it with him because he was in such a hurry to go out.

"I don't know where the other end of the tunnel is because I've never climbed there. But there are surveillance cameras everywhere. It's better to disappear than to be caught on camera and taken away."

Qu Mengting squatted at the entrance of the passage with a little hesitation. She was thin, so crawling should be no problem. After entering, she heard Fang Junwen's voice.

"I've put the iron gate here. Just push it when you want to come out."

After that, all that was heard was the sound of the man walking away on the lawn.

The passage was dark, but Qu Mengting mustered her courage and climbed forward. Along the way, she could see a tiny glimmer of green light, which allowed her to clearly see the passage. At a fork in the road, she chose to go straight without hesitation; it didn't matter to her which way she went. Fortunately, there weren't any strange creatures here, except for the dirt.

She actually had the idea of ​​hiding in the passage, no, no. She shook her head. What if she kept hiding from the task Jiang Li gave her? Besides, she still had to figure out Xiaoyou's situation, so she couldn't back down.

Crawling was very tiring. She didn't know how long she had been crawling before she finally saw the exit. She lay on the ground and looked outside carefully.

This seemed to be an office. After confirming that there was no one inside, she opened the iron mesh and was shocked when she looked down.

So high!

Fortunately, I didn't jump directly.

Qu Mengting used her legs to reach the cabinet next to her, sweat dripping from her forehead to the ground. She held her breath and finally stepped on the cabinet. She moved her body carefully and stepped on the cabinet, and finally landed steadily by holding onto the window edge.

The room was clean and smelled of old books.

She casually rummaged through the table, but there was nothing on it. She opened the drawer and found a thick stack of papers inside.

She took out all the papers, and red and black ink recorded the people who came to the island, with their names, numbers, and destinations all clearly visible!

Qu Mengting quickly flipped through the pages and found the number Fang Junwen mentioned.

“331…33…” His index finger traced the black line to a name, “…Lin Ran!”