Chapter 75 Beijing Ruins - 11 Tang Bufan in Yin and Yang...
Tang Bufan was being sarcastic, and Anderson caught it. He smiled and squinted at the slightly arrogant man opposite him.
“No need to thank me, madam~” Anderson was a master of sarcasm, his eyes crinkling as he said, “Look how beautiful you are now. If it weren’t for me, you would still be that sickly woman who could trip over her feet when she walked.”
Tang Bufan was furious, and his smile faded slightly: "You're really shameless."
“I’m helping you come to your senses.” Anderson looked at Tang Bufan and couldn’t help but think of how he had floated in the air, so pale and ethereal, and how that face gradually overlapped with the one in front of him, solidifying from illusion into reality.
Anderson's feelings were complicated. Even though Tang Bufan had come back to life, the fact remained that he had driven Tang Bufan to his death.
Besides his wife, he had driven another person to their death. Anderson lowered his eyes, a tightness forming in his chest, and reached for his bracelet.
Tang Bufan noticed that something was wrong with his mood, so he also fell silent. He turned his head to look out the window. The RV was parked on an abandoned street, next to the wrecked coffee shop, which was gray and dark inside.
It didn't snow today, but there was no sun either. The air was filled with a strange-smelling dust, like gunpowder smoke, and the whole street felt eerie.
Tang Bufan squinted slightly. Even in such a dim environment, his eyes still felt uncomfortable, and the light seemed a bit too bright.
He then reached out and pulled the curtains closed, and the car door closed automatically; it was Kai who was controlling it.
The carriage suddenly darkened, and Tang Bufan's eyes felt much more comfortable. He looked at Anderson again, his face becoming more solemn.
Tang Bufan had no intention of settling scores with Anderson. Since things had come to this, he stood in the shower for a while, lost in thought, and then he figured it out.
"Actually, you're right," Tang Bufan said softly, reaching out to touch the red candle on the table. His hand was no longer trembling, and his fingertips were still pink. Even Tang Bufan himself felt that his hand looked so unfamiliar.
Five years of poisoning had made him used to his hands looking like an old man's, but now... he suddenly returned to his once healthy and young body, and he felt somewhat lost.
“The effects of traditional Chinese medicine are very weak. I’m in a coma all day long and have no way to survive on my own. I can’t reach Penglai, nor can I go back to the 21st century… Actually, I know all this in my heart, but I just don’t want to admit it.” Tang Bufan said in a complicated way, fiddling with the red candle with his fingers: “I was stuck in a rut, but after dying once, I feel much more at ease, so… I don’t blame you.”
Anderson listened with some surprise, but felt a little more at ease and less depressed.
Seeing Tang Bufan playing with the red candle, Anderson boldly stared at his face, but when Tang Bufan looked up, Anderson looked away again... He didn't know what he was avoiding.
“But things won’t end there.” Tang Bufan stopped playing with the red candles. He leaned closer to Anderson across the small folding table, looking him straight in the eye. “Even though I’ve become a sub-beastman, I still have to find that organization.”
Anderson frowned, looked at Tang Bufan again, and said in a deeper voice, "You still don't want to give up?"
“This isn’t just about me; it’s about the whole world.” Tang Bufan stared at him and said, “I know you’re a person with a strong sense of the big picture. You’re protecting Lu Yi for the Federation, aren’t you? Now the Western Federation is also affected by that organization. I don’t believe you can remain indifferent.”
Anderson raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "That organization originated from the Eastern Continent, and it's currently being most affected by the Northern Federation. Why should I be in a hurry?"
"If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold." Tang Bufan solemnly lectured him: "If you don't help others today, no one will help you tomorrow."
"..." Anderson looked at him strangely. Tang Bufan had a strong teacher-like demeanor. He used to be weak and liked to boss people around. Now that he was healthy, he had an even more superior air about him, making people inexplicably feel that they should listen to him.
"So? What does Madam want me to do?" Anderson asked him irritably.
Tang Bufan quite liked Anderson; he was smart enough. So he told him, "You go after Lermontov and investigate Penglai Island with him. Lu Yi and I will go to Taicheng, firstly to ensure Lu Yi's safety, and secondly to gather other information. We'll split up."
Tang Bufan had thought it over. Lermontov was, after all, from the Northern Federation, and he had only met him once. He couldn't rely on him to get information about Penglai Island. They might not actually tell him. It was better to send one of his own people.
He really wanted to go by himself, but Tang Bufan couldn't figure out Lu Yi. He felt that even if he told him a thousand times, he would find that Lu Yi had still followed him when he turned around. That wouldn't do.
Just as Anderson said, Lu Yi's identity is special, so he cannot be allowed to get close to that organization, but Anderson is different.
Tang Bufan looked at Anderson, whose dark circles had returned to his eyes. Nearly a month of anxiety had given him the same neurotic temperament he had when they first met.
Anderson looked at Tang Bufan and smiled, "I get it, you want me to be cannon fodder, right?"
If that organization is really on Penglai Island, it doesn't matter if Anderson is captured, after all, he is a mentally ill person who escaped, and was originally a "discarded pawn" of the Western Federation.
"...No way." Tang Bufan quickly denied it, coaxing him in a serious tone, "I'm giving you a chance to make a contribution. Scout the enemy camp, gather information, and when the Federation destroys the organization later, you'll be a great hero!"
After saying that, he painted a rosy picture for Anderson: "Look at you, you're so young, handsome, and you have such strong snow leopard genes. If you achieve some merit in battle, you can go back to the Western Federation as a commander again, right? Your life can start over, can't it?"
Anderson scoffed, rejecting the offer: "I have no interest in returning to command."
"So you don't want revenge?" Tang Bufan continued to coax him, his tone firm and persuasive: "I know you were framed when you were admitted to the mental hospital. Don't you want to go back and take down the enemy?"
"..." Anderson fell silent, his expression turning somewhat grim as he spoke of the past, before letting out a cold laugh and asking Tang Bufan, "How do you know I was framed?"
“I don’t know, but I don’t think you can fight the sub-orcs.” Tang Bufan looked at him seriously: “Lu Yi also told me that you taught him his gentleness and politeness.”
Anderson fell silent again. He lowered his eyes, a complex mix of emotions welling up within them, and his hand unconsciously touched his "son," Anthony.
"You were framed, weren't you?" Tang Bufan could tell from his attitude. He felt sorry for him. "Don't give up. Some cases can be overturned even after ten years."
Anderson touched the bracelet, and after a moment asked him in a somber tone, "Overturn the verdict? Do you know who framed me?"
Tang Bufan frowned. He didn't know much about Anderson's interpersonal relationships, only that his father was General Angus, and that he had a younger brother named Andy...
"Is that my father?" A jumble of voices suddenly came from behind them. The two turned around and saw Lu Yi, who had finished showering, slowly closing the bathroom door.
He overheard their conversation.
"!" Tang Bufan looked at Anderson in astonishment, only to see that the silver-haired, silver-eyed man had an extremely gloomy expression.
“Only my father could do something like this in the entire Western Federation.” Lu Yi leaned against the kitchen counter and said in a low voice, “At first, I was very curious as to why you hated my father, but after thinking about it, I understood. In order to protect my mother, he chose to lock you up in a mental hospital.”
Tang Bufan listened in disbelief, and his gaze toward Anderson subtly changed, now filled with sympathy.
Anderson, who had been silent, suddenly curled his lip and said coldly, "Anna should be in a mental hospital. She was already possessed. She knew that my wife had become a subhuman and was pregnant, and that she could never return to the dungeon, but to satisfy her own desire to save her, she still encouraged her to escape... As a result, as you all saw, my wife died, my child was gone, and Anna? She was completely stripped of everything by Hans and continued to be his noble first lady..."
Anderson's eyes reddened as he spoke, and he looked at Lu Yi with a cold smile: "You too, still love your 'good' mother. You still think Anna was driven mad by your father, right? But she was already a madwoman before she married Hans! An anti-human being who developed infectious viruses! If the virus she developed had been a finished product, 99% of the low- and middle-class orcs in the Western Federation would have died!"
Tang Bufan listened in a daze, Lu Yi clenched his fists in pain, while Anderson continued with a cold smile:
"But the reason I ended up in a mental hospital is my own fault for not letting it go and trying to frame your mother. Hans then came to me and threatened me with my family to shut me up. And he really had that power, after all, he was the all-powerful head of the Federation. After threatening me, he pretended to give me a wife and introduced me to a new wife. I was stupid and thought that I could get away with it by silently enduring it. Little did I know that my third wife was a trap he set for me."
Tang Bufan felt a deep sadness as he listened, while Anderson, his eyes red, continued to laugh: "But he really didn't break his promise. He didn't harm my father. After I went to the mental hospital, he even assured me that Andy would grow up safely and inherit my father's position as general. As long as I stayed obediently in the mental hospital, my family would be fine. But he probably didn't expect that Anna would jump off a building a year later. Hahahaha! Good riddance!"
Lu Yi listened intently, and finally understood: "So you want to kill me?"
“…I was thinking.” Anderson slowly calmed down again. He looked at Tang Bufan again, his eyes filled with complex emotions: “But you are still a good kid, just like your father, you have no bottom line for your lover.”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Tang Bufan maliciously and told him, "When Little Louis was about to bite you, I actually wanted to reach out and stop him."
"Then why should I let him save me?" Tang Bufan looked at him, puzzled.
“Yeah…why?” Anderson seemed to be puzzled himself. He looked up at the dilapidated roof of the car and recalled the scene of Tang Bufan floating in the air.
That was the first time he thought Tang Bufan was handsome.
"Maybe because..." he mumbled, "that you want to continue living in this 'nightmare,' in this broken world where no one can escape."
Anna's death was, in a way, a release for her.
He stood up after saying that and leisurely walked towards the bathroom: "It's my turn to take a shower~"
The silver-haired, silver-eyed man went inside. Lu Yi was still leaning against the kitchen counter when he heard the sound of a shower coming from inside. Only then did he turn his head to look at Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan was also looking at him. Neither of them had recovered from Anderson's incident, so they remained silent.
After a moment, Tang Bufan sighed softly and beckoned to Lu.
"come over."
Lu Yi went over, but seemed a little uneasy. Tang Bufan told him to squat down and then reached out to hold his head.
"It's not your fault," Tang Bufan comforted him, knowing he was upset. "Your parents' affairs have nothing to do with you."
As Lu Yi felt the man's gentle embrace, his pupils trembled slightly, and his throat suddenly felt even more sore.
“It can’t be unrelated…” Lu Yi choked up, “I finally understand why someone who used to be so good to me suddenly hates me so much.”
“He doesn’t hate you.” Tang Bufan reached out and tenderly cupped his head, gently stroking his handsome and young face. “You said you treat him like an older brother, and in his heart you are also his younger brother, but… the hurt your parents caused him was indeed too deep.”
Lu Yi squatted down and looked up at him. The man was gentle and beautiful, and his voice was like a hand caressing his heart.
His heart was pounding, but he felt a little better, so he asked the man, "How can I make it up to you?"
Tang Bufan sat there and thought for a while, then asked Lu Yi seriously, "Tell me honestly, do you really have any feelings for the Federation?"
Lu Yi chose to run away from home, saying he wanted to wander, but Tang Bufan felt that wasn't entirely true. He headed east because he was looking for a way for humans and beastmen to coexist.
Lu Yi remained silent for a moment, then shook his head at Tang Bufan with slightly reddened eyes.
Tang Bufan smiled and cupped his face, saying earnestly, "Then I'll be honest with you too. I still can't let go of that organization, but the power of the two of us is too insignificant. So... let's go to Taicheng together, use all the power we can to deal with that organization, get our own answers, and then take Anderson back to the Western Federation to get rid of your brother and father."
Lu Yi opened his eyes slightly, startled by Tang Bufan's words.
Tang Bufan told him not to panic: "What I mean is, to get your father removed from office."
Lu Yi stared at him blankly, then fixed her gaze on him and nodded vigorously: "Yes!"
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