Chapter 43: You said it was a lie, Wei Yan was cheating?
late at night.
A massive searchlight beam swept the edge of the endless wall, continuously inspecting all areas. Beyond this endless complex of buildings stretching across the desert was an endless wall, with watchtowers built at intervals, where staff on duty kept an eye on the surroundings.
Xu Nuo, wearing her coat, walked along the cement avenue, surrounded by low flower beds and greenery. She glanced at the note in her hand: "Building 13, Room 205, here we are."
Zhou Xuanyi looked towards the lighted second floor in front of him. The curtains in the room within his sight were drawn, and through the dim light, he could see a blurry moving figure behind him.
Xu Nuo put away the paper and said, "Let's go."
The terrain of the building was not complicated. They stepped onto the second floor of stairs and reached their destination in just a few steps.
Zhou Xuanyi knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and a green head popped out: "Who?"
Xu Nuo crossed his arms and looked solemnly: "Do you still remember me?"
The green-headed man opened his eyes wide as if he had seen a ghost, and grabbed the door handle to close it.
"Wait." Zhou Xuanyi leaned against the door frame.
The other party turned his gaze away from Xu Nuo and looked at him: "Captain."
Zhou Xuanyi nodded: "Li Lu, let her in."
Xu Nuo: "Why don't I call you Master? You are the chairman's son."
Zhou Xuanyi said awkwardly, "I was the captain who led them last time."
Xu Nuo laughed coldly.
The green-headed man scratched his head and made way, and Xu Nuo squeezed into the room sideways.
This is a not very big dormitory, with two bunk beds and an iron wardrobe. At the corner is a crowded bathroom connected to the balcony.
The three roommates of Green Head were all low-level sentries. Their gazes were burning. Xu Nuo pushed open the balcony door despite their gazes. In the dim light, there was an endless desert outside.
There are no walls or searchlights.
Xu Nuo leaned on the railing and looked at the height of the floor.
"Estimating the height?" Zhou Xuanyi stood behind her. "If you jump from here without training, you might get hurt."
He knew exactly what she was thinking.
Xu Nuo: “Why doesn’t the staff dormitory have a wall?”
Zhou Xuanyi: "There's no need for a wall here, look."
He approached her and pointed to the dark area in the distance. "This is the world-famous Class A contaminated area, codenamed A01. It's known as the deadly land at the westernmost end of the continent."
"As we all know, contaminated areas are rated A, B, C, and D from high to low, but even within the same contaminated area, the density of mutants varies," he said. "Unfortunately, the mutant density in this contaminated area is A-level, meaning there's at least one A-level mutant per kilometer. Even an S-level Sentinel would have to consider their combat and endurance capabilities if they wanted to cross this nearly 200-kilometer-deep area."
Xu Nuo subconsciously gripped the railing tightly.
"If you want to avoid searchlights and tracking here, you must enter Area A01. Even if you don't go deep into the hinterland, just to bypass Fino's supervision, it will take about a week. And this week doesn't include the time it takes for the A-level mutants to come looking for you."
He placed his hand on the railing and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. "Even as a friend, I wouldn't recommend you...take such a risk."
Xu Nuo raised his eyelids: "Did I say I would do this?"
Zhou Xuanyi smiled and said, "I don't think you can do it either."
Xu Nuo turned away from the balcony in annoyance and said to the green-headed man standing there in a daze, "Your name is Li Lu? You really live up to your name. Where's your good partner Youjie?"
Li Lu hesitated for a long time, stole a glance at the man behind her, and then said, "Sister You is at 2, 211."
Xu Nuo walked up to him with his arms folded: "You acted really well with Sister You on the hill that day. You guys completely drew my attention away."
Li Lu obviously didn't understand the voiceover and scratched his head: "It's just normal. I'm just sorry for making you suffer."
Xu Nuo glared at him, pushed the door open and left.
She walked out of the dormitory very quickly, as if she was looking for an opportunity to escape, but the person behind her was like a shadow. No matter how her speed changed, he always followed her at a distance of one step behind her.
The girl's hurried footsteps drummed on the cement road, and she felt depressed and impatient. When she was away from the brightly lit staff dormitory area, her hands hanging on both sides finally couldn't stand it anymore, and she turned around and threw a punch.
He clenched his fist and hit the latter's chest with all his strength. The tight muscles brought a heavy reaction force, and Xu Nuo's fist soon turned red.
Zhou Xuanyi's expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his hand to move her fist away. "If you're going to vent your anger, don't just hit hard spots."
Xu Nuo pulled his hand back: "You follow me all day long, don't you have anything else to do?"
Zhou Xuanyi paused. "Yes. But following you is my top priority right now."
Xu Nuo: "That's a nice thing to say. It's your dad who told you to keep an eye on me and not let me get away."
Zhou Xuanyi: "You're smart, know some combat skills, and are a B-rank guide. I'm worried about leaving you to someone else."
Xu Nuo gritted his teeth secretly.
If she were guarded by any B-level sentry, she would have escaped from Fino or been out of supervision.
She said unhappily, "Whatever, follow me as long as you want. You can be my tour guide and take me around."
Zhou Xuanyi gestured "please." "It's a good idea to first figure out the map of Fino before planning your escape. However, Fino covers a large area. Perhaps by the time you figure it out, you'll be able to leave freely."
Xu Nuo sarcastically said, "Zhou Xuanyi, do you really believe that your father will let me go?"
Zhou Xuanyi lowered his head slightly: "...after finding Wei Yan."
Xu Nuo sneered: "You want to use me to lure Wei Yan out, capture him and continue your experiments? I don't care what your father's purpose is, creating a new world of sentinels or transforming Wei Yan into a monster, his hatred for the guides is obvious. He hates this world where the guides have the upper hand and the initiative. And I, as a guide he hates, know your secrets and am currently the best way to control Wei Yan, do you think he will let me go?"
She stared at the man's gloomy eyes with a half-smile: "Zhou Xuanyi, are you too naive, or do you think I'm a fool?"
Zhou Xuanyi was silent for a long time.
Xu Nuo kicked the sand under his feet and said: "It seems that what I said was right. You are still playing me as a fool. You fooled me once, and you want to fool me a second time."
She ignored him and walked forward. The shadow-like breath did not follow her, but remained silent there.
Just as she was about to leave his sight, a voice finally came from behind him: "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this. If... we had met in a normal competition, perhaps we could have become friends. As my apology, when Wei Yan arrives in Fino, I promise... I will send you away immediately."
Xu Nuo stopped and asked, "Even if your father doesn't allow it?"
Zhou Xuanyi hummed softly.
Xu Nuo folded his arms and looked at the dust rising from under his feet, without saying a word.
From a distance, Zhou Xuanyi's gaze was not directed towards her, but his peripheral vision seemed to see through her heart, and he couldn't help but observe her expression.
Xu Nuo was silent for a while, and finally asked: "How long?"
"What?"
"You promised to send me away. How long should I stay here before doing so?"
He seemed a little embarrassed: "Wei Yan..."
Xu Nuo: "Are you so sure of his feelings for me that he will come for me? I've only known him for a few months."
Zhou Xuanyi: "You once..."
She interrupted, "Perhaps I once knew him, but I have no memory of it. This proves that the impression wasn't deep enough to be remembered. Perhaps we only met a few times and spoke a few times. Are you sure that with such a relationship—just like I couldn't possibly cross that Class A contaminated area for him—it's worth him coming here knowing the danger?"
Zhou Xuanyi was stunned for a moment and looked at her directly: "You really don't remember anything?"
Xu Nuo was alert: "What do you mean?"
Zhou Xuanyi: "His appearance."
Xu Nuo: "I don't even remember meeting him when I was a child, how could I possibly remember his—"
wrong.
Normally, the first thing people forget about a person is their appearance, followed by their experiences together. She had clearly stated that she had no memory of Wei Yan, so why did Zhou Xuanyi insist on not remembering "what he looked like"?
Could it be that her amnesia is abnormal?
She was forced to forget what he looked like?
Fino tampered with her memory?
The two parties' thoughts connected in an instant, and Zhou Xuanyi rarely showed an expression of annoyance.
Xu Nuo: "You touched my memory?"
Zhou Xuanyi said: "Fino doesn't have the technology to be precise enough to change only part of a person's memory."
Xu Nuo: "Liar, this is the third time. I was planning to trust you again, but it seems you are not worth it."
Zhou Xuanyi sighed: "Knowing too much is not good for you."
Xu Nuo: "Stop talking nonsense and speak quickly."
Zhou Xuanyi said helplessly, "I don't know much. My father's plan to experiment on Wei Yan was top secret. Aside from the people who carried out the plan back then who were exposed to some parts, only my father knew all the details."
"Father once mentioned your existence to me. Back then, he believed Wei Yan lacked a soft spot and was filled with hatred. If he acted without authorization, the situation would spiral out of control. Father believed he needed to establish a connection with the world, to spontaneously generate a key factor that would allow him to find himself when on the verge of losing control. This factor had to be controllable, and animals couldn't do it, only humans could."
"So Fino deliberately let him escape, creating the illusion that they were chasing him but always nearly succeeded. They set countless warm and tempting traps along his path, waiting for him to fall into them."
Xu Nuo was a little nervous: "Did you succeed?"
Could it be that this body was deliberately arranged by Fino before she traveled through time, so she has no memory of meeting Wei Yan?
Zhou Xuanyi shook his head. "He seemed to have sensed something and suddenly deviated from his planned path, diving headfirst into the highly contaminated area. He eventually arrived at your base and met you."
Xu Nuo was bewildered: "...Me?"
She looked down at herself.
She never saved anyone else.
Since I traveled through time and could remember, the only person who could be said to have saved my life and had a deep relationship with me was one person—
But that was Qi Qian, the younger brother she grew up with, the family member she could entrust her life to, and besides, he didn't look like Wei Yan at all.
No... She couldn't remember what Qi Qian looked like.
It's been three years since I last saw you, so I can't remember much...
She looked rather flustered, as if she had just thought of something, yet was still apprehensive about such a guess.
Zhou Xuanyi lowered his eyes, as if he couldn't bear it. He was about to say something, but Xu Nuo felt a surge of foreboding in his heart. He raised his hand to stop him, but he opened his mouth cruelly.
"You saved him in Flying Old Man's pond."
Saved him, in Flying Old Man's pond...
Memories came flooding back.
"Wake up, wake up! Hold him down, I'll do CPR."
"Is this how you press it? Why isn't he waking up?"
"It's okay. We've rescued you. Is your family nearby? How did you fall into Fei Laotou's pond alone?"
…
The memory was followed by an inexplicable dizziness. The streetlights suddenly became blinding, stinging my eyes. My thoughts turned to a paste, tumbling into clumps, churning rapidly along the sticky and chaotic past of Wei Yan over the past three months.
Xu Nuo could hardly stand, his eyes widened, and he subconsciously dug his nails into his palms.
"You said, Wei Yan is Qi Qian?"
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