Two-faced concerns
"I didn't say a specific time, and you've been waiting like this?" Compared to the heavily armed, newly recovered patient Shi Youchen, 07 was dressed much more casually. He wore only a black turtleneck sweater and a matching drop-shoulder coat, and even a pair of flimsy ankle boots. He stood out against the pure white backdrop of the snow.
Shi Youchen noticed that every time he saw 07 since that time in District 9, his hair had always been the same length, hanging softly over his shoulders. But today, there seemed to be a few strands of silver in his black hair, shining brightly against the backdrop of the snow.
07 His eyes passed by Shi Youchen, who was rubbing his ankle and struggling to get up, and fell on the dividing marker not far behind him. He asked, "Where are the things?" The purpose of his trip was not there.
"You didn't tell me what the pendant looked like." Shi Youchen looked at 07 and found that he was even taller than him. "I don't know what you want specifically."
07 had no expression on his face. He looked at Shi Youchen briefly for a few seconds and paused on the gray bear hat for a few seconds before saying, "If you ask that kid for something, he will definitely give it to you." He pronounced the word "kid" very lightly, but Shi Youchen could hear a hint of smile.
But it's not the kind of joke between friends.
"The only pendant he has is one he picked up." Ever since hearing Ying Yungui say that he picked up the pendant, Shi Youchen had a vague guess in his mind, "You know the man who attacked me on the Z City Intercity Bridge."
07 didn't describe the specific features of the thing he wanted to himself, most likely because he knew that Ying Yungui had no similar items to replace it. As for why he was so sure of this, the most direct and simple explanation he could think of was that this thing was just obtained by Ying Yungui, that is, from A Xian, whom he had recently contacted.
What 07 wants must be something useful to him. The pendant belongs to Axian. In other words, Axian is useful to 07.
"Since you've thought of this, and you're still asking him for the suspicious item, aren't you afraid he'll doubt your motives and stance?" 07 looked at Shi Youchen with a half-smile, seeming quite interested in his thoughts. He was even willing to say a few more words, and he held out his palms to him. "The Ying family isn't one to be fooled. Give me the thing."
Shi Youchen clasped his hands together in front of his face, exhaled a breath of warm air into them, rubbed his palms together and said, "I want to make a deal with you." After his palms warmed up a little, he reached into his collar, took off the pendant hanging around his neck, and handed it to 07, whose face suddenly turned cold.
The artificial snow was very hard, and Shi Youchen's face felt stinging when it was pressed into the snow. An unpleasant voice came from above his head: "You are just an ordinary person with low energy level and no background resources."
"What can a vulnerable guy like you have to make a deal with me?" A hint of blood suddenly flashed across 07's pale pupils, but unfortunately Shi Youchen couldn't see it.
"I know who Ah Xian is! I also know who you want to get rid of!" Most of Shi Youchen's voice was muffled in the snow, and the little that came out was mostly absorbed by the surrounding snow, but 07 still heard it clearly, so he released his hand that was pressing on the back of Shi Youchen's head.
"Cough! Cough cough!" The little bear hat on his head had fallen to the snow in the struggle and friction. Shi Youchen's lips turned purple and he shivered slightly, but he looked at 07 with a sharp gaze and said, "If you want to get rid of Lu Ming, Ah Xian is a very useful chess piece."
"Because he is Lu Ming's nephew, and his mother is from your Maintenance Bureau."
Shi Youchen spat out the melted snow he'd held in his mouth when he was pinned down. He picked up his flannel hat from the ground, patted it, and put it back on his head, pulling it down to cover his ears, which were almost numb from the cold. "You came to me for him in the first place, right? I don't have any family background, and my abilities are not rare, but I happen to have a connection with Ying Yungui, making me the best choice for contact with the Lu family." He spoke a little faster than usual, perhaps because 07's behavior had just made him feel a little scared again.
"I'll help you do what you want." Shi Youchen's tone was firm, and his determination was irreversible.
Faced with this surrender, 07 walked to the boundary marker with his hands in his pockets, brushed off the snow on top, and squinted his eyes. "You're very smart. Just for this reason, I can't bear to kill you." Just when Shi Youchen thought he was about to give in, 07 said, "But unfortunately, I don't need your help in this matter."
"But I've thought about it. I can make a deal with you, but there's only one thing you can offer that I want." The snow in 07's palm melted with his body heat. He pressed his palm, which was several degrees cooler, against Shi Youchen's chin. He clamped his five fingers around Shi Youchen's face and pulled it closer. Looking into his eyes, he said, "You."
Suddenly, the wind blew, and 07's black hair was blown onto Shi Youchen's face, brushing against the tip of his nose and the peak of his lips. He had stubbornly kept his eyes open, so he could clearly see the black earrings on 07's earlobes.
At this moment, 07 chuckled softly and suddenly tilted his head to lean closer. Shi Youchen instantly closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, then heard a whisper in his ear, "Don't think I don't know you're investigating Lu Shen. Are you trying to make a deal with me? I hate it most when people try to take advantage of me."
He walked away from the stiff Shi Youchen and threw the pendant into his pocket. "You'll be qualified to sit at my table only when you reach level 5."
As the speck of black vanished from the pure white, Shi Youchen's entire chest felt cold. But the intense physical discomfort couldn't mask the satisfaction of having achieved a mental leap. His long wait hadn't been in vain. Even if 07 hadn't agreed to his request, the conversation had confirmed a great deal.
Shi Youchen was very glad that he had only briefly mentioned Jiang Da to Ying Yungui, but did not tell him in detail what he had found out in the village designed by He Xian. Therefore, Ying Yungui did not know. Jiang Da only knew that his good friend Lu Shen had a wife and children but had never seen them in person.
In 07, all the clues and ideas that Shi Youchen had so far successfully built a bridge, and the isolated islands were finally grouped together.
The Maintenance Bureau has existed far longer than they realize. Lu Shen, Lu Cheng's acknowledged illegitimate son, coincidentally falls in love with a woman from the Maintenance Bureau and fathers a child. However, due to his unique background, Lu Shen remains in the dark about his identity and is unable to bring mother and child home. Therefore, he plans to fake his own death during a mission to escape his family's control, but unexpectedly dies in the line of duty.
Because of his biological mother's previous career, he helped some women find alternative livelihoods, all of which he financed with points earned through his missions. However, everyone only cared about the romantic affairs of the Lu family's second young master, and over time, his behavior ingrained the image of a playboy within his family and the outside world. Even after he left, he still bore the stigma of being unfilial and unfaithful.
The image of Lu Shen spread by outsiders and the subsequent concealment of the truth ultimately caused his wife to turn from love to hatred, causing numerous supernatural events and remaining resentful and cursing until her death. Their child, Ah Xian, inherited his mother's abilities as well as her mental flaws. As "Ah Xian," he longed for family affection and sought a father figure. However, once his other personalities took over, he became a pure threat to social security, intent on destroying everything connected to his father.
Including Shi Youchen, who has been investigating his father.
07 As the head of the Maintenance Bureau, he wanted to get rid of Lu Ming and the Lu family, who were both level 8 mutants, so he chose and used himself, and also wanted to take advantage of Ah Xian's life experience.
In this case, he could have taken Ah Xian away from the Association's interrogation room, just like he had taken away Jiang Da and Wu Yan's bodies in District 9.
Thinking of this, Shi Youchen clenched his fists. It was too late. It was too late for him to understand all this. Even if he had predicted 07's actions, with what status would he have warned the association?
Sometimes Chen's fingertips touched his cracked lips.
It’s too late. Lu Shen is too late, and so am I.
...
Ying Yun returned to City A and personally inspected the place where Ah Xian was imprisoned. After confirming that everything was correct, he rushed back to the association base without stopping. He didn't even bother to look at Shi Youchen again before pushing open the door of the interrogation room.
Someone was already waiting for him inside.
"Are you really going to take this man back and lock him up?" The woman, still wearing her sunglasses in the dim room, wore a patent leather coat with a jumble of colors, making it impossible to discern the exact color or pattern. "If he dies on the way, it won't be our interrogation department's responsibility."
Ying Yungui closed the door and said to her, "You're talking as if his death here would be your responsibility. I never knew that you, Mai Er, were someone who was willing to take responsibility."
The woman turned around and smiled at Ying Yungui. She raised her hand to take off her expensive sunglasses and pinned them to her collar. Her eyes shone faintly in the darkness. "How can that be possible? I'll lose a lot of points."
Mai Er, a Level 6 Hypnotist, was the most distantly related of all the psychics from an ancient clan in a remote area of District 8, yet the most highly regarded by the Association. He oversaw the interrogation system for the District 8 branch, holding a rank even higher than Yan Zhiyuan.
Ying Yungui glanced at the time and said, "It's getting late. If you move him away, the responsibility will be completely lifted from your shoulders. You still have to thank me."
Mai Er played with a strand of her hair, the light in her eyes dimming. "Okay, I'll treat you to a meal some other day. The isolation chamber is ready, just go in."
...
Ah Xian felt like he had a very long dream. In the dream, his mother and father took him to the amusement park he had been talking about for a long time. However, the amusement park was really crowded. His father said he was going to buy him an ice cream, then turned and walked into the crowd and never came back.
My mother held my hand and waited and waited until the tourists gradually dispersed and someone came to urge them to leave, saying that the amusement park was about to close, but my father still didn't come back.
Later, his mother carried him like crazy and searched everywhere, calling his father's name, leaving those who were chasing them far away and out of sight. His mother was crying and looking for his father, but he was smiling and saying how great his mother was.
"I want to be as awesome as my mom..." A window opened on the top of the isolation chamber. Ah Xian muttered as he opened his eyes and saw a pair of purple eyes staring at him.
Ying Yungui heard his dream talk, but said without emotion: "Your mother is dead, and you will be too." Ah Xian's eyes became lonely: "Yes, they are all gone." Then he suddenly became cruel, "If it weren't for your sneak attack, I would never lose to you!"
Ying Yungui let him roar hoarsely with his teeth bared: "Whether it's you or that Yan Zhiyuan, neither of you can protect Shi Youchen! He will definitely die! Just wait and see!" After a while, he seemed to be short of breath, stopped talking and lowered his head.
When he looked up again, his eyes had changed again, and he said sinisterly, "Who do you think you're saving? I'm afraid your sincerity will be misplaced in the end. How much do you know about his secrets?"
Ying Yungui watched him go crazy in silence.
In the short time since then, "he" has already changed several people, a sign that this body is about to collapse. "It has to be quick," Ying Yungui thought to himself, tapping the window twice with his knuckles and saying, "He will never have to be a good person in my eyes. He's different from you."
"You are a self-indulgent sewer rat, and he will become a flower blooming in the swamp."
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