Chapter 89 Little Sang Li: "Trying to run away after the kiss?"
Listen to the sound.
It's a little girl.
Lu Jin's heart tightened.
Really?
He already had an answer in his heart, but he didn't want to face it now.
They didn't even want to open the door.
The source of the sound was also a shelter.
Lu Jin saw it clearly.
The above is numbered [BEAM-071].
It's Sang Li.
He had always assumed that the number was randomly generated. After all, in the Bureau's sequence, gaps could occur under certain circumstances, so later anomalies would have earlier sequence numbers. He had always thought that Sang Li was for the same reason, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
The designation Sang Li appeared very early on.
No wonder Sang Li's number is so early; it starts with 0.
It seems they had discovered Sang Li long ago.
The BEAM file I received has always been a scam, or rather, incomplete.
What exactly is the Administration Bureau supposed to do?
Sang Li also noticed it: BEAM-071, isn't that herself?
She carried the raven's carcass toward the metal door.
“Open it,” she said to Lu Jin.
She wanted to see what was inside.
Lu Jin paused for a second, then manually activated the password device and pulled open the electronic latch.
The door opened slowly in silence, the mechanical clicking sounding.
From bottom to top, rising.
First a crack appeared, then more darkness and coldness poured out of the room.
Sang Li took a deep breath.
At this moment, Lu Jin took Sang Li's hand, which was very warm: "It's okay, don't be afraid."
A cold wind swept over me; it wasn't an airflow, but the scent of memories.
Cold, clean, medicine, and fresh blood.
The moment the light shone into the depths of the room, Sang Li inevitably froze.
She saw it.
A little girl.
She looked about five or six years old, wearing an oversized white lab coat with the sleeves dragging on the back of her hands, and stood barefoot in the corner. The floor was spotless, but a gray towel was curled up at her feet, like her only "bed." There was no other furniture in the room; there was a seamless light on the ceiling, and only metal walls remained.
She wasn't like a lab animal in a zoo; she wasn't dirty at all, and there was no dust on her clothes. But the cleanliness was a nauseating "sterile treatment."
Just like the experimental subjects on the lab table.
But clean is not an adjective; it refers to the atmosphere inside the room.
The little girl's body wasn't exactly "clean".
From my collarbone to my arms, neck, and knees, there were countless wounds.
They came in all shapes and sizes, some shallow like needle pricks, others deep like flesh being gouged out.
The wound has scabbed over.
The old and new are different.
It should be an object that is repeatedly recorded.
The little girl was calm, without any ripples, and completely lacked the innocence that children usually have. Her head drooped and her hands hung down.
It seemed they thought the lab technicians had come in.
Sang Li's throat tightened, and her breathing suddenly turned cold, as if a hand had covered her heart.
"Hello."
Sang Li didn't know what to say, how to greet her, or even if she could hear her.
The child looked up.
Her eyes are exactly the same as Sang Li's.
But those eyes were empty, devoid of light.
I guessed it.
BEAM-071, Sang Li.
To be precise, it was Little Sangli.
“This is... when you were little…” Lu Jin finally spoke, his voice extremely soft, almost hoarse.
But the moment he uttered those words, it felt as if his chest was being torn apart by some sharp claws.
He no longer cared about the fact that "Chi Du" and "Raven" were the same person; all Lu Jin could feel now was suffocation. He knew Sang Li was afraid of pain, delicate, and emotionally volatile. Sometimes, she could cry for a long time while watching a short video asking for help for someone with an illness, and then insist on donating money. She was like the Princess and the Pea in the fairy tale; if anything was slightly unsatisfactory, her lips would droop. Not to mention, at such a young age, she had to endure this kind of pain.
“Sang Li…” Lu Jin didn’t know what to say.
He had anticipated this, but the nightmare came true.
Upon entering, he surmised that Sang Li might be from the initial stages of a classified project, one of the experimental subjects. This could be one of the reasons for her initial amnesia. Or, he felt that the Bureau and Sang Li had a past that was difficult to disclose.
But he never expected that they would do such a thing to a child.
That's not containment, that's imprisonment.
That was a slow, agonizing death to a conscious being.
Lu Jin felt a metallic taste in his throat, as if some emotion was pressing down on him and making it hard for him to breathe.
“She is me,” Sang Li murmured.
She didn't actually feel pain or sadness; she was simply confirming a fact that was undeniable.
And, she wasn't actually afraid.
This is who I used to be.
BEAM-071.
Xiao Sangli slowly walked towards them, each step feeling like walking on glass. Her voice was extremely soft as she tilted her head and pointed, "This is, Chi Du."
She cherished the crow in her arms more than Sang Li.
"Um."
Little Sangli neither cried nor laughed, but simply whispered, "Can I have it back? It really likes me holding it. I even said I'd tell it a story yesterday."
Sang Li was silent for a few seconds, then gently handed the raven over: "Have you known each other for a long time?"
“Yes, it’s a very important friend of mine,” said Xiao Sangli. “Why isn’t it moving? It can talk and it can nudge me.”
Little Sangli showed her scabbed arm and obediently hugged the raven.
Her movements were so light they were almost imperceptible as she cradled the raven, which was growing cold, as if afraid of breaking it. With the fingertips of her other hand, she gently traced the black, glossy feathers, murmuring, "Why isn't it moving anymore?"
“Dead,” Sang Li said.
All the indicators just now showed that Chi Du, or rather, Raven, was dead.
“It’s dead.” Xiao Sangli repeated. “Oh, I thought it would pull through.”
"I don't want it to die."
"I don't think it will die."
"It can come back to life, it can come back to life."
She seemed to be speaking to Sang Li.
But he was talking to himself.
Sang Li swallowed hard: "Yes, he can."
Little Sangli repeated, "It can come back to life."
Very certain.
How can the dead be brought back to life?
But Ike Watari did indeed come back to life.
Sang Li couldn't understand how her younger self had managed to bring him back to life.
"Who are you?" Sang Li asked. "Are you new lab technicians?"
"no."
"Oh." Xiao Sangli didn't ask any further questions.
Sang Li's throat tightened, and his eyes trembled slightly. He slowly approached her, trying to crouch down: "We're not experimental personnel. We'll take you away. You...you come with me, okay?"
At least, don't be trapped in shelters right now.
She can hold little Sang Li.
So pitiful.
But she didn't pity herself.
Anyway, she wasn't as heartbroken as Lu Jin was right now.
All she wanted was a hug and to be taken out to see the sunshine.
However, just as Sang Li instinctively reached out to touch that small, thin figure, her fingertips were about to touch her forehead when little Sang Li vanished like a wisp of smoke.
It was as if what I just saw was merely a shadow.
The raven's carcass also disappeared.
Sang Li: "What happened?"
Lu Jin: "These should be memories. Memories are chaotic, so they are chaotic too."
Sang Li was about to say something.
Snap.
A drop of blood fell from the ceiling.
Red, thick, with a strange gelatinous texture, it dripped onto the ground.
"What the hell?" Sang Li frowned in disgust.
Before she could even look up, more blood fell on the ground beside her shoes, and then quickly spread across her face.
A prominent red nose, a wide grin, and bloodshot eyes.
“The Clown.” Lu Jin’s voice changed abruptly as he grabbed her wrist. “BEAM-439, [It]! Don’t be fooled by its face; if it targets you, it will mutate!”
How did a clown suddenly appear?
He thought about pulling Sang Li up and then backing away.
Squeak.
Squeak.
A strange, metallic laugh began to echo overhead, swirling and twisting between the light tubes, the sound high-pitched and distorted.
"Play...games."
"Come and play!"
"You two are so lonely."
The next second, all the shelters seemed to come alive.
The iron gate banged loudly!
Screams, growls, and cries that sounded like cats, humans, or some unknown creature came from all directions.
They were all the cries of imprisoned abnormal beings.
Lu Jin felt a chill run down his spine.
It wasn't because the iron gates shook the ground, nor because the clown's sinister laugh was lingering deep within my eardrums.
It's because he knows BEAM-439 all too well.
Those were the abnormal entities that he personally led the team to eliminate.
Three years ago.
Numbered [BEAM-439], codenamed "It," it first appeared in a temporary containment facility and induced mental mutations in 52 people within 24 hours. Among them, 26 people were completely clownished, lost their minds, and had their facial muscles collapse and twist, becoming its puppets.
As for the files on BEAM-439, this anomalous entity has no history whatsoever; it's as if it appeared out of nowhere.
Cold sweat dripped down the back of Lu Jin's neck, his emotions rising faster than his breathing. He gritted his teeth and stared intently at the surging clown face in the distance.
If BEAM-439 is here, it means it left from the Authority.
This means that the "clown incident" was leaked by someone.
It was released intentionally.
It had been kept here until now.
They support me.
An abnormal entity capable of controlling people's minds, altering personalities, and creating clown puppets.
They should have been taken in long ago.
The clown's voice seemed to come from near and far.
Even if he were an S-rank, he couldn't catch up with Sang Li and Lu Jin.
After all, no abnormal being could defeat Lu Jin one-on-one.
Lu Jin pulled Sang Li along and opened the door at the end of the warehouse.
Flee the scene.
All sound disappeared.
The corridor was deathly silent, save for the two of them breathing heavily.
The clown was locked behind him.
There were no approaching footsteps heard.
Sang Li leaned against the cold wall, suppressing her pounding heart. After a long while, she finally murmured, "I... I'm actually a test subject. Has the Bureau lost its mind? I'm so young, why would they experiment on me? Are they crazy?!"
Acknowledging the facts and recognizing the facts are two different things.
"Knowing" does not mean "accepting".
In other words, everything is fake.
Her past twenty years have all been a lie.
Lu Jin was still holding her hand, their fingers intertwined.
"Yes." Lu Jin did not deny it, answering without the slightest hesitation.
Sang Li's eyelashes trembled slightly, her cheeks were wet with cold sweat, and she looked at Lu Jin again.
His expression was off.
Are they considering human experimentation?
Or... what happened with Chi Du just now?
Sang Li: "What?"
Lu Jin: "It's nothing."
Sang Li took a deep breath: "Alright, do you have any questions?"
I can answer anything about myself.
Lu Jin countered, "What do you think?"
He gazed into her eyes, which were as beautiful as ever.
There was no crying, no sadness, no melancholy.
Like a kitten.
Judging from her appearance, Sang Li doesn't seem to need much comfort right now.
She's actually a very adaptable person; even if she's a bit delicate, it's purely physical. She's incredibly resilient, able to bend and stretch, and doesn't suffer from internal strife when her emotions are calm. Her emotional fluctuations are likely similar to an illness, a physiological reaction. These are Bai Heng's exact words; the specific reasons are still under investigation.
But now, Sang Li is not as calm as Lu Jin appears.
She was actually a little nervous.
It wasn't because I discovered I was an experimental subject; there was something else.
She slowly turned her face, biting her lip as if a little embarrassed, and whispered, "Um... I just... mentioned that Chi Du is a raven."
"Um?"
She paused for a moment, her tone a little guilty, "I can explain."
Lu Jin looked at her; "Then explain."
Sang Li: "..."
That's it, I can't explain it anymore.
Like a student caught red-handed making a mistake, she subtly shrank her neck, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, her expression awkward and struggling.
"Or... should we just forget about it?"
Lu Jin didn't speak, but Sang Li felt his gaze gradually turn colder. His eyes were calm yet sharp, as if he had already seen through her evasiveness and was just waiting for her to tell the truth.
Sang Li felt a little flustered by his gaze and finally muttered in a low voice, "Because he's my friend."
Lu Jin wouldn't ask Sang Li why she hadn't told him such important information.
If you can't find it, it's because you're incompetent.
Concealing it is also a result of one's own incompetence.
He wouldn't blame anyone for his own incompetence.
Besides, he already knows.
The air in the corridor was still cold, and the walls gleamed with a silvery metallic sheen, like some kind of lifeless mirror, reflecting their figures that were too close together.
*Smack*
Sang Li suddenly grabbed Lu Jin's hand and kissed the back of it: "It's my fault, you'll do it again next time! You can't tell that even if you're not as skilled, you still have to accept the consequences. But it's not too late for you to know now. After all, judging from what just happened, Chi Du and I have a life-or-death bond, right?"
"Oh."
"This is an apology!"
Sang Li wanted to turn around as if nothing had happened as soon as she left that kiss, but Lu Jin grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his side the moment she turned around.
He looked at her slowly and deliberately, his eyes fixed on her like those of a prey about to flee.
"You think you can just run away after kissing me?" he said in a low voice.
It's very dangerous.
Sang Li blinked but didn't say anything.
Lu Jin lowered his head, his lips close to her ear, almost touching her skin as he spoke: "Are you apologizing, or are you testing me?"
These words were spoken so intimately and so slowly, like an electric current shooting from my ear to my spine.
Sang Li's throat bobbed, and she tried to remain calm as she looked back at him: "Both. Are you going to think with your lower body and then let me off the hook?"
“That’s a bit too hurtful to say, but,” Lu Jin chuckled, his fingertip slowly tracing the corner of her lips, “you’re getting more and more honest.”
He didn't say anything more, and lowered his head to kiss her.
The kiss wasn't too forceful, but it was deeper than before, as if it were a punishment in lieu of force.
Or perhaps, it's to confirm that she's still here, that she belongs to him, and that she's truly standing before him.
"Hmm."
However.
The touch, however, inexplicably turned into an invasion in the next second. As if struck by something, Lu Jin's movements suddenly changed. He cupped her face and pressed his kiss down fiercely, slamming it down.
It is to engulf, it is to take.
Gradually, it enveloped her entirely in a burning and predatory emotion.
Lu Jin's fingertips slid down the back of her neck, the fine heat traveling along her spine, as if every inch of her skin was being magnified and perceived.
Even at one point, Sang Li suddenly realized that her clothes had been lifted up, the cold air was touching her skin, and his hand was on her waist, like a scalding wave.
She lost her balance and slammed her back against the wall, letting out a barely audible tremor.
The fingers, with distinct knuckles and slight calluses, were gently massaging her lower back.
It seemed intentional, yet also practiced.
My whole body felt like it was being electrocuted, and layers of dampness surged up from it.
It slowly crept up her skin, blood, and nerves, and then her vision went white, and her mind went blank.
how……
You've got the hang of it?!
She should have pushed him away, but she couldn't move.
My fingertips were trembling, and my legs felt like they were filled with lead.
She could only instinctively grab his collar, as if it were her only anchor point.
Their breaths mingled, their body temperatures surged, mixed with her sobs that she could barely breathe.
Like a spark falling into a dry meadow, it ignites the entire world in an instant.
He let her go.
Sang Li leaned back, panting.
She needs to take a break.
I closed my eyes, then opened them again, and paused for a moment.
This is definitely not the body of a fifty-year-old.
clatter.
clatter.
Footsteps sounded in front of me.
"Don't just stand there, let's go," Lu Jin said.
Sang Li looked over.
Lu Jin stood ten meters away from her, his hands in his pockets, his body in a state of semi-light and semi-darkness.
Wait, when did Lu Jin become so far away from me?
Weren't you kissing yourself just a second ago?
And then they ran to such a far place?
Could it be that the person who just kissed me wasn't him?
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