Chapter 181 Heaven Grants My Wish
Shen Zhenzhu stared at her dagger, took a step back: "How did you get up here? I'm not leaving. I will follow the chairman and obey the chairman!"
"What's the use of saying this now!" The short-haired woman pointed urgently at the bungalow below the cliff and said, "I saw you walking this way with him while I was working in the kitchen. I knew he must have something on you. You're the only person here who helped me, and I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt. Someone's coming this way! Run, this way!"
Shen Zhenzhu hesitated as she watched her retreating figure, wondering what to do if she alerted the enemy, while she had no choice but to run down the cliff with the short-haired woman.
"Keep your voice down, there are patrols over there." As they walked through the woods, Chen Zhenzhu stopped and grabbed the short-haired older woman.
The short-haired woman had bruises on her face from being beaten. She said in a trembling voice, "Will I kill him?"
Shen Zhenzhu, keeping a low voice, dragged the short-haired woman around the patrol team and into the depths of the woods. The short-haired woman's knife struck Ma Lei precisely in the heart; he was already motionless when they left.
Shen Zhenzhu walked beside the short-haired older sister, waving a wooden stick to shoo away the mosquitoes in front of her, and tapping the drooping vines to prevent attacks from disguised venomous snakes.
"If it had been discovered in time, there might still be hope. Taking the cosmic energy pill might..."
The short-haired woman pointed in a direction and said, "Go that way." She waved aside the vines and branches blocking the way and said with a wry smile, "Those kinds of things are all scams. You must not eat them. If you do, you will have to go to the hospital for a check-up after you get out."
"Is it really okay to go out?"
"Believe me, I've been preparing for this day for a long time."
They walked for a while, and the short-haired older sister led Chen Zhenzhu to a cave, where there were oars and life jackets.
The short-haired woman handed the life jacket to Chen Zhenzhu: "Put this on."
Shen Zhenzhu took the life jacket and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
The short-haired woman slipped into the cave, pulled down the vines at the entrance, and made a "shh" gesture.
Shen Zhenzhu heard the sound of horns in the distance: "They've found Ma Lei."
The short-haired woman said, "Don't be afraid, they won't find you here. This is my secret base. Eat something first, and I'll take you to find the boat in a little while."
She walked into the cave, with Shen Zhenzhu following behind. It was dark and damp inside, with sleeping bats hanging from the ceiling. At the sound of footsteps, they awoke, spreading their wings and gliding above Shen Zhenzhu's head.
The short-haired woman led Chen Zhenzhu to the innermost part of the house, moved the stones on the ground, and revealed a box inside. She opened the box, took out a box of luncheon meat, and handed it to Chen Zhenzhu: "I secretly kept this while working."
Shen Zhenzhu took the luncheon meat, pulled out the screwdriver at the bottom, and slowly rolled it along the edge. The metal edge was rolled up, the lid was easily lifted, and the aroma of the luncheon meat immediately filled Shen Zhenzhu's nose.
"You eat too." Shen Zhenzhu used a screwdriver to cut out a piece and fed it to the short-haired woman's mouth. The short-haired woman ate it without hesitation.
Shen Zhenzhu also took a bite and chewed in silence.
“My younger brother used to be a businessman. Two years ago, he told me that he knew a high-ranking official who would help him get into government projects. He was with this person all the time, saying it was on business trips. I suspect that he was being controlled at that time.”
The short-haired woman, hugging her knees and gripping a dagger tightly, said, "His business grew bigger and bigger, but his health deteriorated, and his temper became increasingly erratic. One day, he suddenly said he wanted to meet the esteemed chairman. He excitedly told us he was the chosen lucky one, and that as long as we gave him a large sum of money, his wish would be granted. At that point, we already sensed something was wrong. But we were naive; we thought someone was deceiving him and forbade him to give any money. But he wouldn't listen to us. Not only did he sell the company, but he also went crazy borrowing money everywhere, even mortgaging his house to loan sharks..."
Shen Zhenzhu reached out and wiped away the tears of the short-haired older sister, then sighed.
The older sister, with her short hair, spoke of her younger brother, her thin face filled with sorrow. Her dry, yellow hair and the wrinkles on her face spoke volumes about the hardships she had endured over the years.
"My younger brother didn't die after jumping off the building, but he's now paralyzed and bedridden. My husband and I have been seeking medical help everywhere to save him. Then my husband suddenly told me there was a place that could cure him..."
At this point, the short-haired woman broke down, covering her face and sobbing: "His plan was to trick me into coming here and hand me over to that scumbag! Only at the end did I find out that the high-ranking official my brother was in contact with was someone my husband had introduced to him. The chairman told us that only one of my husband and I could live. I killed him. But even so, I can't leave this place."
Shen Zhenzhu said, "So you're trying to escape from here by any means necessary?"
The short-haired woman's eyes flashed with hatred: "I will avenge any wrong I have done. As long as I live, I will find a way to leave this place. Once I leave, I will make sure the police come and shoot them!"
"Shh." Shen Zhenzhu stood up, took a few steps, and heard a voice outside: "It seems someone is looking for us."
The short-haired woman grabbed Chen Zhenzhu and asked urgently, "Did you bring the account book I gave you?"
Chen Zhenzhu said regretfully, "I left it in the wooden house and didn't bring it out."
"That's evidence I spent two years collecting!" The short-haired woman stood up anxiously, pacing back and forth. "What are we going to do?!"
Shen Zhenzhu stood up and hugged her: "Don't worry, I'll find a way to get it."
The short-haired woman held Chen Zhenzhu's hand and said, "It's too dangerous outside. If they find you, you'll definitely be monitored, and then you'll be in the same situation as me."
Shen Zhenzhu observed her expression, while the short-haired older sister kept urging her, forcing Shen Zhenzhu to make a decision: "I'm the only one who can go now, there's no other way."
The short-haired woman nodded, made up her mind, and said, "Come here, I'll tell you where the boat is. When we go out in a bit, I'll distract the people outside so you can sneak back and get the ledger. They should all be sleeping at this time, so be careful of the patrols."
She picked up a stone, drew a simple diagram on the rock face, marked a dot on the map, and said, "We're here now. Let's agree to meet at the bottom shore in an hour. That's where I've hidden my little boat."
Shen Zhenzhu asked, "Will the small boat be able to handle it?"
The short-haired woman said, "Don't worry, there's another island a short distance ahead. Although there are many reefs and we might encounter strong currents, there are coast guards patrolling there. Once we get there, the chairman's men won't dare to do anything to us."
"Okay, it's settled then." Shen Zhenzhu had been here for three days and was certain that she had escaped the Liancheng Coast Guard's surveillance when she arrived by boat. The four teams must be frantic and searching the port area. Right now, there was no better option than to try and break in. It would be better if they encountered their own people; if not, encountering other coast guards would also be acceptable.
After agreeing on a meeting place and time, the short-haired woman went out of the cave first. Shen Zhenzhu waited in the cave for ten minutes, then quietly ran out as well.
The night was dark, and the woods were shrouded in mist.
Chen Zhenzhu stumbled back the way she came, sometimes sinking deep into the mud, and could hear the sound of iron whistles coming from the opposite direction.
The short-haired woman must have successfully attracted the attention of the search party.
Shen Zhenzhu continued walking, trying to keep her steps as light as possible. Alone in the unfamiliar forest, facing venomous snakes and an unknown future, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
She gritted her teeth, walked to the edge of the cliff, slowly lay down, and squinted at the beam of light sweeping across the ground below.
Huge mosquitoes buzzed in her ears. Chen Zhenzhu resisted the urge to swat them and tiptoed down the cliff.
The cabin was close at hand. Chen Zhenzhu bypassed the patrol team, crawled on the ground, and opened the door a crack. She went inside, pulled out an account book from under the bed, and stuffed it into her pocket.
She evaded the patrol and saw many people heading into the woods with flashlights. She retraced her steps and slipped back into the woods, where the silence was so profound she could hear her own heartbeat.
Reaching the edge of the cliff, Chen Zhenzhu touched her swollen finger joints and struggled to climb upwards.
The distance of 100 meters was like a chasm between heaven and hell. She used all her strength to climb halfway up when suddenly a beam of flashlight swept over her!
"Escapee spotted!"
"Grab her!"
"That mouse is crawling!"
"What rat? You're the rat!" Shen Zhenzhu tried her best to stick to the damp cliff, and when she turned her head, she could see more than a dozen people running up the cliff.
The beams of flashlights also converged below the cliff.
I can't go up. I can't go down.
Chen Zhenzhu felt anxious, and her hand suddenly slipped, causing her to slide down the cliff!
Oh no!
Shen Zhenzhu tried desperately to hook onto anything that could hold her, but the tiny gaps in the cliff face made it impossible to secure herself!
"She's there!"
"She's coming down!"
Shen Zhenzhu tightly closed her eyes, thinking her bottom was about to be smashed into eight pieces, when suddenly she reached out and hooked her hand on a tree branch. Before she could even catch her breath, the branch snapped, a sharp pain shot through her right hand, and then she fell into a hidden cave!
"Ugh...it hurts." Shen Zhenzhu lay on the ground, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, as if she was about to vomit blood.
Footsteps echoed overhead, accompanied by urgent inquiries: "Mingming fell down, where is he?"
"Where is he? A perfectly healthy person just vanished like that?"
"Find it! Dig three feet into the ground in this area if you must!"
Shen Zhenzhu struggled to turn over, lay on the ground for a while to recover, and then crawled up.
Touching her buttocks, not bad, still two halves.
She looked up and saw that the hole from the fall must have been for ventilation, as it was perfectly covered by the tree roots and branches.
The footsteps overhead grew louder and louder, leaving Chen Zhenzhu no choice but to grope her way into the cave along the path in the dark.
At first, she thought she had hurt her nose because she could smell the aroma of meat.
Later, I thought I had run into the kitchen of "Gao Hui" or the kitchen cellar.
But as she walked, a generator appeared in front of her, and then a blinding light shone before her eyes.
Standing in the corridor, she discovered that the cave was maintained like an air-raid shelter, divided into individual rooms, and even showed signs of living and working.
Shen Zhenzhu tried pushing open the door of a room and saw bookshelves filled with various chemical instruments. She reached out and touched them; the instruments were dust-free, indicating they had been used recently.
Aside from various medical books, the bookshelf is filled with professional psychology books used by academics, densely covered with notes.
Shen Zhenzhu's eyes darkened.
She came out of this room and went into the next room.
The place was filled with all sorts of bottles and jars, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of formaldehyde.
On the shelves, transparent jars contained internal organs and body parts: brain, lungs, heart, small intestine, stomach... as well as fingers, feet, large patches of curled skin, calves...
What horrified Shen Zhenzhu was that the internal organs and body parts inside were all human!
She swallowed hard, observed quietly for a while, and then walked out of the room.
After standing in the corridor for a while to calm down, Chen Zhenzhu smelled a rich aroma of meat again.
In the corridor, she saw fresh limbs laid out on a blood-soaked long table.
Like a pork cutting board in a market, it has parts waiting to be processed.
The severed hand has a six-pointed star on the back, a black mole on the ear, an electric leg that is thicker than an average woman's, and... a scarlet tongue that once performed for Shen Zhenzhu, capable of bending a silver spoon with its tongue.
"The missing people were all here." Anger made Shen Zhenzhu tremble all over.
The source of the meaty aroma was revealed in the iron pot simmering on the stove over the long table.
Shen Zhenzhu continued walking forward, and at the end of the corridor were two doors.
She carefully pushed open one of the doors, and inside lay a corpse with severed limbs and its internal organs removed.
Yesterday, this person with special abilities was laughing and talking, full of dreams for the future. He never imagined that he would be sleeping in an unknown underground place.
Shen Zhenzhu gritted her teeth and touched her forehead.
The Heavenly Eye Retrospection slowly unfolds before my eyes—
The day before.
The man who could telekinetically manipulate objects was named Han Jiefang. After his performance, he stood by the long table watching other superpowered individuals perform.
He had the simple, honest look of a typical farmer, and in his fifties, he kept clapping for the performance of his special abilities: "Great! One more!"
Chen Zhenzhu smashed ten bricks in one go, bringing the atmosphere to a climax. The goatee-bearded chairman ordered the gray-aproned man to bring over a beer barrel and served everyone a glass.
After finishing his beer, Han Jiefang followed the crowd and began meditating. Once finished, he and the others walked into the wooden cabin.
The night quickly quieted down, with only the ignorant seabirds flapping their wings and crying out.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of dampness.
Half-asleep, Han Jiefang heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he saw a woman with braided hair standing there: "The chairman wants to see you."
Behind her stood Electric Legs, Ears, and Tongue Strong, all dozing off.
Upon hearing that Chairman Goatee wanted to see him, Han Jiefang hurriedly got up from the ground, threw on a coat haphazardly, and came out.
"This way." The man with the braided hair didn't lead them to the three-story building where the goatee-bearded chairman lived alone. Instead, he led them toward the northern cliff.
When the patrolmen saw the man with the braided hair leading his group away, they nodded and continued walking.
She walked for half an hour before stopping at the foot of the cliff. She stroked the stone surface and pushed open a hidden wooden door.
Han Jiefang asked curiously from behind, "Is the chairman here?"
The woman with the braided hair said, "I'll know when I see you."
Her attitude was not good; she coughed lightly, her tongue lolling out, signaling Han Jiefang not to say anything more.
Many people have spent all their wealth but still haven't received a personal summons from the chairman, perhaps because they are given a special opportunity because they have all become people with special abilities.
Han Jiefang was a little nervous; his magic skills were learned from a circus troupe. The goatee-bearded chairman claimed to be omniscient and omnipotent—would he discover that Han Jiefang was actually a fake psychic?
Even Shunfeng'er was a little nervous. Walking in the pitch-black passage, he had difficulty breathing. He kept rubbing his chest, begging not to be discovered that he had bribed the person who wrote down the numbers.
Meanwhile, Electric Leg was still wondering if the modified small battery in her pocket still had power, and whether there would be any problems if the president asked her to perform again tonight.
They disguised themselves as they walked through the passage, when gradually they heard the sound of a generator ahead, along with an indescribable aroma of meat.
"You've arrived." The chairman stood at the door, holding a glass of red wine, waiting for them.
Han Jiefang, Dian Tui, Shun Feng Er, and She Tou Qiang immediately knelt on the ground to pay their respects to the chairman.
"You are the superpowered individuals I have high hopes for. Your special abilities are all excellent, and I like them very much." The president raised his glass high and said to the busy gray apron behind him, "Bring me some wine. I want to give them a drink."
The four men were flattered. The man in the gray apron carried a tray and handed them wine glasses one by one. They quickly took the glasses and looked at the chairman with excitement.
"I salute you for following me and obeying me!"
"Follow the chairman, obey the chairman!" the four shouted in perfect unison, downing their glasses of red wine in one gulp.
"May you rest in peace here as well." The goatee-bearded chairman put down his wine glass.
Han Jiefang noticed that Electric Legs and Wind-Following Ears were lying on the ground, and then looked at Tongue-Strong pointing at the chairman: "I...I can't...I can't stand up..."
The moment Tongue Qiang collapsed to the ground, Han Jiefang also felt dizzy, and the next second everything went black.
The goatee-bearded chairman walked to the door, took down the black robe hanging there, put it on, and nodded to the man inside wearing a gold robe.
The man in the golden robe wasn't as tall as him. He waved, and the women in gray aprons behind him pushed over surgical supplies: "After midnight is the fifteenth of the lunar calendar, the time when the energy of the sun and moon is at its peak. They've come at just the right time."
As she spoke, four people, bound in gray aprons, were placed on the table, their throats slit. After the blood was drained, the woman in the golden robe took a chainsaw and cut off a hand tattooed with a six-pointed star, legs that could generate electricity, ears that could hear everything, and a tongue that could speak.
"Take these corpses next door and wash the blood off here." After giving the instructions, the goatee-bearded guild leader stood respectfully next to the golden-robed man, took the chainsaw, replaced it with a kitchen knife, and handed it over: "Goddess, be careful."
The shrine maiden took the kitchen knife and said in a good mood, "He has loved my cooking since he was little. Every time he goes downstairs, he complains that he is hungry, and he can even smell what I have made for him."
The goddess quickly cut the body into parts, taking only a portion of each and leaving the rest on the cutting board to be used next time.
The goatee-bearded guild leader lit the stove, poured in water, and personally served the goddess as she "cooked".
The goddess seemed to be preparing a home-cooked meal, throwing slices of meat and her fingers into the pot, adding oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar to season it, humming a tune as she waited for the broth to be ready.
Seeing the soup bubbling, she scooped up a spoonful, tasted it, and said, "It's a bit bland. It's not good for him to eat salty food all the time."
After waiting a while longer, the passageway was filled with an enticing aroma of meat; a pot of delicious meat soup was ready.
"Should I deliver it?" said the goatee-bearded chairman.
The goddess said, "I'll feed them."
She ladled out a bowl of carefully prepared "dishes," walked to the opposite side, and pushed open the door. A young man lying on a hospital bed stared blankly and desperately at the ceiling.
"You're awake just in time, time to eat." The priestess sat down next to the young man, and the goatee-bearded guild leader helped him up, smiling as he said, "You look better than last time."
The goddess wrapped a towel around the young man and said with a smile, "Of course it's good, eating such nourishing food every day. If it weren't for the accident last time, I wouldn't have had to move to this island, which made him sick and took a lot of effort to recover."
Ignoring the rejection in the young man's eyes, she fed him spoonful after spoonful of broth. The quadriplegic young man was forced to swallow the broth, tears streaming from his eyes.
The goddess gently stroked his face and said, "Listen to me, the ingredients in this soup are not ordinary; they are very nourishing. Once you have special abilities like them, you will be able to leave the bed."
The president hesitated and said, "That superpowered person named Shen Zhenzhu should be quite nutritious. Why didn't we stew her too?"
The Mother Goddess said calmly, "What kind of superpower does she have? It's just brute force. Can't you see that?"
The president chuckled and said, "Your eyes are sharp; I can't compare to yours."
The goddess forced the young man to finish the soup, wiped his mouth, and said to the goatee-bearded guild leader, "Alright, you can go back now. I still need to personally test this batch of new recruits."
The goatee-bearded chairman said dejectedly, "After all these years, you still don't trust me."
The goddess stood up, walked to the door and said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but the police are cunning and treacherous. If we're not careful, we could end up like last time, falling into an abyss of no return."
The goatee-bearded chairman lowered his head: "Yes."
The priestess added, "The believers we recruited recently were discovered before they even entered the public security system. It's better to recruit from within. Keep Chen Zhenzhu for me; I have a great use for her."
"Yes." The goatee-bearded guild leader roused himself, knelt on the ground, and kissed her shoes: "Goddess, my soul and life will follow you forever."
......
......
Shen Zhenzhu let out a deep breath, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and quickly walked to the other side to push open the door.
The young man seen in the telescope was still lying in the hospital bed. His eyes were tightly closed, and his eyeballs moved rapidly beneath his eyelids.
Shen Zhenzhu walked to his side and gently patted his face: "Are you awake? Who are you?"
The young man slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with astonishment. Then he kept moving his eyes, looking from the hospital bed toward the doorway.
Shen Zhenzhu thought for a moment and said, "You want me to leave?"
The young man moved his eyes up and down to indicate nodding.
Shen Zhenzhu said, "You can't move at all?"
The young man moved his eyes up and down again.
Shen Zhenzhu paused for two seconds and asked him, "Do you want to leave here?"
A dazed look appeared in the young man's eyes. He slowly moved his eyeballs from side to side, and a look of death appeared in his eyes.
He quickly looked up, then his eyes darted rapidly toward the door, as if he desperately wanted Shen Zhenzhu to leave.
Perhaps he heard their voices.
"You have nothing for me to convey?"
Shen Zhenzhu ran towards the door, but when she turned around, she found that the young man had already closed his eyes.
He refused to communicate.
Shen Zhenzhu gave him a deep look, memorizing his appearance. She closed the door, took something from the bookshelf, and quickly moved towards the exit.
No one expected that Shen Zhenzhu would fall from the cliff into the tunnel, and the narrow hole allowed her to see the absolute secrets of the island and the so-called "High Meeting".
Shen Zhenzhu listened at the door for a while, then quickly opened the door and ran to the agreed-upon beach.
I wonder if the short-haired lady is still around.
Shen Zhenzhu ran faster and faster, weaving through the woods like a nimble deer. More and more people were searching the woods, and the beams of their flashlights would occasionally appear nearby.
Half an hour had passed since the appointed time with the short-haired woman. Chen Zhenzhu passed by the cave where she was hiding and discovered that it had been ransacked. The bats, disturbed, kept hovering and flying around inside the cave.
The moonlight pierced through the fog, and Chen Zhenzhu, dodging the increasing beams of flashlights, finally arrived safely at the beach.
She stood at the edge of the woods and saw a small boat moored in the moonlight. A woman on the boat was waving to her: "Here!"
Seeing Chen Zhenzhu standing motionless in the woods, she said anxiously, "Come quickly!"
Shen Zhenzhu shook her head and shouted, "Follow the guild leader, obey the guild leader!"
After shouting, he pulled an iron whistle from his pocket and blew it wildly!
To the short-haired woman's surprise, Chen Zhenzhu put down the iron whistle and noticed the flashlight beam gradually focusing on this spot. She shouted loudly, "Help! Someone here is trying to defect!!"
More and more footsteps echoed through the woods, and Chen Zhenzhu clearly heard someone shout, "Over there, hurry over!"
"Here! The defectors are here!" Shen Zhenzhu shouted, "Follow the guild leader! Obey the guild leader! Follow the guild leader! Obey the guild leader!"
The short-haired woman ran off the small boat, shouting, "Are you crazy? Run! If you don't seize this opportunity, there won't be another one!"
Ignoring her words, Shen Zhenzhu pulled out the ledger and waved it at the crowd that had come looking for her: "She's there, that means she's a defector! I am Shen Zhenzhu, and I'm going to report her!"
The goatee-bearded chairman and more than ten people with flashlights finally arrived. Upon seeing Shen Zhenzhu, they immediately snatched the ledger from her hand and quickly flipped through it to count the contents.
Shen Zhenzhu squatted on the ground with her hands raised, secretly observing them.
Everyone else ran to the boat and helped the short-haired woman out.
Under the moonlight, Shen Zhenzhu saw the short-haired older sister reveal a sinister and satisfied smile.
Her appearance gradually overlapped with that of the golden-robed goddess.
She is the Mother Goddess.
Surrounded by the crowd, the goddess walked to Chen Zhenzhu's side. Hearing everyone's cheers, she gently embraced Chen Zhenzhu: "Good child, you have indeed passed my test. I believe in your loyalty."
The goatee-bearded guild leader was the first to kneel on the ground, listening to the Mother Goddess's words. Seeing that Chen Zhenzhu remained kneeling motionless, he quickly said, "The Mother Goddess is our leader, the creator of the universe. Don't be rude!"
The goddess smiled and gently touched Chen Zhenzhu's face, saying affectionately, "From now on, you are a true member of our family."
The man with the goatee knelt on the ground and reminded her, "Aren't you going to thank the Mother Goddess yet!"
Shen Zhenzhu asked naively, "Goddess? Big sister, you're that amazing?"
Those around gasped, but the priestess smiled and said, "You were frightened, weren't you? You passed the test, my good child."
Shen Zhenzhu smiled excitedly and said, "Really? Haha... Thank you, Mother Goddess! Thank you, Mother Goddess, I'm so happy! I'm willing to follow you and obey you forever!"
"Heaven has granted my wish." The goddess was satisfied, spreading her hands to feel the cold moonlight.
Shen Zhenzhu and her followers knelt on the ground, chanting, "Heavenly Mother Goddess!"
"Heavenly Mother Goddess!"
At that moment, no one noticed that Chen Zhenzhu's back was soaked with cold sweat.
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Author's Note: Pearl: Whether she's a wolf or not, I don't know, but in short, she's a ruthless person.
***
See you tomorrow, there are 100 red envelopes!
I'm adding an extra 1000 words, please give me some nutrient solution! It's almost the end of the month, shower me with it!
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