Chapter 37 You really didn't have me...
Ling Qiu, still shaken after logging out of the system, heard her digital watch beep a few times; it was a text message from Lu Lulan.
"What are you doing?"
Ling Qiu glanced at the time; it was almost dawn.
"Nothing happened, what's wrong?"
Lululan: "My company suddenly announced that we have a day off today. Do you want to go out and have some fun?"
Ling Qiu stared at the words in disbelief. Noah Company was actually giving out holidays?!
Wait, could it be because the higher-ups already know she hacked into the internal network and are therefore investigating? So fast? She just finished reading it, and she even took precautions.
It seems she has no choice but to go see Lululan; perhaps she can get some information from her.
If Noah catches her... her fate will definitely be terrible.
"Where shall we meet?" Ling Qiu asked.
"Let's go to that breakfast place we used to frequent!"
Ling Qiu let out a breath, got out of bed to wash up, and prepared to go out.
Lululan usually arrives on her way when she makes an appointment, so she will definitely be there within half an hour after the contact. Ling Qiu got dressed and went out, sighing as she looked at the still dark sky.
How could she possibly stand up to Noah all by herself? The eerie gaze she felt on the intranet just now was definitely coming from some kind of non-human entity; she was all too familiar with that feeling.
It was similar to the feeling that Cyrus initially gave her, but it wasn't quite like Cyrus.
Ling Qiu pursed her lips as she stood at the entrance of the breakfast shop, casually kicking pebbles on the road, pondering whether it was possible that there was more than one inhuman monster like Cyrus.
Could it be that the monster that made the deal with Noah back then wasn't Him?
Ling Qiu inevitably recalled her mother's words, in which she said she had seen the evil god with her own eyes; it was a cloud of black mist.
And last night she saw Cyrus's appearance clearly: pitch black, huge, and even somewhat intricate, but still with a general form.
There was not a single part of His body that appeared to be misty.
...Could it be that she's mistaken? Isn't that Cyrus? But if not, what is Cyrus's purpose in coming to find her?
"Qiuqiu!" Lululan's voice interrupted Lingqiu's thoughts. She walked over and patted Lingqiu's shoulder. "Why are you staying here? Come in and sit down!"
Lululan pulled her into the breakfast shop, found a seat at random, and ordered steamed buns—one basket of meat and one basket of vegetables.
Taking the opportunity, Ling Qiu asked, "Why is your company giving you a holiday today? When was the notice sent out?"
"I don't know either," Lululan said. "It was sent around 4 a.m., what's wrong?"
Ling Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. At that time, she should have just received the code from Li Jiale. So, Noah's sudden day off today was not her fault.
Ling Qiu smiled and said, "It's nothing, I was just curious. It's not easy for your company to give you a day off."
"That's right! When I saw the notice, I thought I was seeing things!" Lululan said, stuffing a steamed bun into her mouth. Then, remembering something, she asked, "By the way, where's your boyfriend?"
Ling Qiu felt a lump in her throat. She suddenly regretted introducing Cyrus to Lululan. If she hadn't mentioned it, no one would have known that she had a very short-lived romantic relationship.
"We broke up," Ling Qiu said.
Lululan slowed her movements as she stuffed the bun into her mouth, surprised. "When?" she asked.
“Just last night.” Ling Qiu slowly munched on her steamed bun.
"Why?" Lululan asked curiously. She still remembered Ling Qiu's incredibly handsome dark-skinned boyfriend. Even if she no longer liked him, could her body have grown tired of him so quickly? And why didn't she sleep with him for a few more nights?
“…Well, I don’t really know how to say it…” Ling Qiu stammered a bit, and she made up a reason on the spot, “He wanted to get married, but I thought it was too fast, so we broke up.”
“…Oh.” Lululan said in surprise, “I thought you were the kind of person who longed for family, Qiuqiu.”
"No matter how much I long for a family, I can't get married so soon."
“Hmm…that makes sense.” Lululan looked at her. “So you two still like each other? It’s just because of your differing views? Then you’re heartbroken? You didn’t cry last night, did you?”
"What's there to cry about?" Ling Qiu chuckled. "What kind of idiot would cry over a breakup?"
Lululan was silent for a while. She suddenly realized that she hadn't cried because of a breakup in a long time. It seemed that dating had become something dispensable at some point.
But she remembered that she used to be a bit love-struck, and worried that Ling Qiu would laugh at her, she would cry alone for a while after breaking up.
After breakfast, Lululan asked Lingqiu if she had any plans. Lingqiu said, "I want to go to the kindergarten I attended when I was a child. There are some things I want to confirm."
"Sure! I'll drive you!"
The kindergarten Ling Qiu attended as a child was only for free people. The area was very backward and is now basically deserted. It was also quite close to a slum.
But she had to confirm whether there really was something in the oak grove.
After an hour, Ling Qiu got off the bus at the playground near the kindergarten. She hadn't been here for more than ten years, and standing here again felt like a lifetime had passed, even though the surrounding buildings were dilapidated and all the amusement equipment was charred and rusty.
"What do you need to confirm?" Lululan asked her.
"I can only tell you when I find it," Ling Qiu said. She saw the oak grove. The once lush forest was now bare. Perhaps it was fortunate that wood was no longer a popular material in Mante City, otherwise these oak trees would have been cut down long ago.
She searched each oak tree carefully, first tapping the wood to see if it was hollow inside, then digging around the soil to see if anything was buried inside. After searching the whole area, Ling Qiu was covered in sweat, but she still didn't see anything.
"What are you looking for, Qiuqiu?" Lululan asked, puzzled.
Ling Qiu took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Would her parents leave something so easy to find? They were always very cautious; if something could be easily found by someone else, then it would be meaningless.
Therefore, this item should be something only she could find, or rather, even if others found it, they wouldn't understand what it was used for.
Ling Qiu thought carefully about what she used to play with her parents when she was little and was here.
Hide and seek, Red Light, Red Light, and... the most classic number games!
"Qiuqiu, each letter represents a number. Once you find all the numbers, you'll know what word it is!"
The words are usually related to food, and once she guesses them, her parents will take her to eat.
Back then, Ling Qiu's happiness was that simple.
She rallied her spirits again and carefully searched the oak grove for any numbers. Back then, they had arranged the oak trees in order, an order that only Ling Qiu herself knew.
Soon, Ling Qiu discovered that there were numbers carved on the oak tree, which could only be seen by squatting down; these were Ling Qiu's height when he was a child.
Her heart suddenly started racing as she searched for each number. More than a decade ago, her parents had carved numbers here one by one, hoping that one day she would discover this secret.
And now, she has finally discovered it.
Each number represents a letter. Ling Qiu searched through all the oak trees and collected all the letters. The word he spelled out was exceptionally long, or rather, it wasn't even a word at all.
This is... a string of code.
Ling Qiu quickly memorized them.
“I’ve found one!” Ling Qiu said.
"That's all? These numbers?" Lululan asked in surprise. "And then what?"
"Well...you might not believe it, but I dreamt about my parents. They told me they left something for me here, so I thought I'd come and see it. I never expected it to be true."
"Huh!?" Lululan, an atheist, was surprised by this statement. "So, these really were left to you by them?"
“Yes.” Ling Qiu nodded. “It’s a game we played together when we were kids. They left me a string of code, and I need to go back to see what it is.”
"Wow." Lululan exclaimed incredulously, "How did they know you were doing this kind of thing? It's like they knew you'd be a hacker."
“Ah...maybe it’s genetic?” Ling Qiu smiled wryly. “You know, that’s how the Ling family thinks.”
Ling Qiu's parents both have the surname Ling, but the surname Ling is not actually derived from any ancestral origin, but rather from the number 0.
It was the code name of the first group of free people who entered Mante City. It started with 0. Originally, there were some people with the surname Ling, but later everyone gradually drifted apart because of their own lives.
In the early days, the living conditions for freelancers in Mante City were not as bad as they are now. Most freelancers were able to support themselves and find decent jobs. There was no discrimination back then; otherwise, her parents would not have been able to work at Huanyu, and her mother would not have become a junior leader at Huanyu.
After obtaining the code, Ling Qiu and Lululan began their return journey. However, they were unlucky and ran into the temple procession coming from the slums halfway through their journey. Ling Qiu hurriedly said, "Quickly, go around them! Let's turn this corner and avoid them!"
Lululan smiled and turned away, "What? They're just a bunch of cultists, do you think they'd dare to lay a hand on us?"
“This temple is very sinister, you should be careful.” Ling Qiu said. The temple was a cult from back then, and according to her deduction, there really was an evil god in the temple.
But is this so-called evil god actually Cyrus?
Where did Cyrus go after he left her house?
Just as Ling Qiu was thinking about this question, she suddenly felt like she was being watched.
She was sitting in Lululan's car, and she subconsciously looked around but didn't see any eyes.
But the feeling of being watched grew stronger and stronger, as if he was getting closer and closer to her, almost touching her body.
Just as Ling Qiu was focused on finding the source of this gaze, Lululan suddenly cried out and slammed on the brakes.
Ling Qiu quickly turned around: "What's wrong?"
Ahead, a group of people wearing red armbands and dark red cloaks slowly approached their car. The man in the lead pulled down his cloak, revealing a thin face.
"Gentlemen, would you like to join the Temple? How about trying a new faith that transcends the company?"
Ling Qiu pursed her lips. Didn't they go around them? Where did these people come from?
Lululan was driving a convertible, and even though she reacted quickly enough to press the safety button immediately, the people had already surrounded the car and were looking for gaps, seemingly planning to climb in.
The car's roof kept closing, and someone stretched out their arm. Lululan pressed the safety button tightly, trying to make the person pull their hand back out of pain.
Unexpectedly, his hand was caught, but he didn't pull it back. Instead, as if he felt no pain at all, he excitedly grabbed at them wildly.
Ling Qiu and Lu Lulan could only huddle tightly behind their seats.
"Are these people crazy?!" Lululan shouted. If there hadn't been so many people, she would have already stepped on the gas and driven past.
Ling Qiu was speechless and could only hurriedly think of a solution.
Just then, a voice rang in her head.
The familiar voice, tinged with schadenfreude: "Let me see who's in jail now? Oh dear, Ling Qiu, you really can't do without me."
It was Yesheus, and His voice was cheerful: "Well? Now beg me, and I'll reluctantly rescue you."
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